Influencing prior knowledge through a short reading impacts curiosity and learning

Curiosity predicts memory performance and it is influenced by prior knowledge. Reading a well-organized text can increase curiosity in a classroom setting, however it is not clear if reading a short text written in an encyclopedic style can increase curiosity and learning without explicit educational goals. We presented participants with a short text and examined if questions related to this reading could elicit higher curiosity ratings and better recall in a thematized version of the trivia task. In the first experiment, participants subjectively judged their prior knowledge of trivia questions. The curiosity of the participants was not influenced by the reading, but the memory effect of curiosity was amplified for the questions related to it. In the second experiment, we objectively verified whether the participants knew the answers. The curiosity ratings were higher for the questions related to the reading, but only the curiosity ratings influenced recall performance. These results show that prior knowledge induced by reading can have an effect on curiosity and learning, but it depends on how this knowledge is assessed by the learner.     

Ambiguity attitudes in qualitative contexts: The role of prior beliefs

Most studies of ambiguity aversion rely on experimental paradigms involving monetary bets. Thus, the extent to which ambiguity aversion occurs outside of such contexts is much less understood, particularly when the situation cannot easily be reduced to numerical terms. The present work seeks to understand whether people prefer to avoid ambiguous decisions in a variety of different qualitative domains (e.g., work, family, love, friendship, exercise, study, and health), and, if so, to determine the role played by prior beliefs in those domains. Across three studies, we presented participants with 24 vignettes and measured the degree to which they preferred risk to ambiguity in each. We also asked them for their prior probability estimates about the likely outcomes in the ambiguous events. Ambiguity aversion was observed in the vast majority of vignettes, but at different magnitudes. It was predicted by whether the vignette involved gain or loss as well as by people's prior beliefs; however, the heterogeneity between people meant that the role of prior beliefs was only evident in an individual-level analysis (i.e., not at the group level). Our results suggest that the desire to avoid ambiguity occurs in a wide variety of qualitative contexts but to different degrees for different people and may be partially driven by unfavorable prior estimates of the likely outcomes of the ambiguous events.     

Residence time and choice in concurrent foraging schedules

Five pigeons were trained on a concurrent-schedule analogue of the “some patches are empty” procedure. Two concurrently available alternatives were arranged on a single response key and were signaled by red and green keylights. A subject could travel between these alternatives by responding on a second yellow “switching” key. Following a changeover to a patch, there was a probability (p) that a single reinforcer would be available on that alternative for a response after a time determined by the value of λ, a probability of reinforcement per second. The overall scheduling of reinforcers on the two alternatives was arranged nonindependently, and the available alternative was switched after each reinforcer. In Part 1 of the experiment, the probabilities of reinforcement, ρ_red and ρ_green, were equal on the two alternatives, and the arranged arrival rates of reinforcers, λ_red and λ_green, were varied across conditions. In Part 2, the reinforcer arrival times were arranged to be equal, and the reinforcer probabilities were varied across conditions. In Part 3, both parameters were varied. The results replicated those seen in studies that have investigated time allocation in a single patch: Both response and time allocation to an alternative increased with decreasing values of λ and with increasing values of ρ, and residence times were consistently greater than those that would maximize obtained reinforcer rates. Furthermore, both response- and time-allocation ratios undermatched mean reinforcer-arrival time and reinforcer-frequency ratios.     

A bayesian approach to confirmatory factor analysis

Confirmatory factor analysis is considered from a Bayesian viewpoint, in which prior information on parameter is incorporated in the analysis. An iterative algorithm is developed to obtain the Bayes estimates. A numerical example based on longitudinal data is presented. A simulation study is designed to compare the Bayesian approach with the maximum likelihood method.Computer facilities were provided by the Computer Services Center, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.     

贝叶斯统计方法的应用与现状

贝叶斯统计方法是心理学数据分析的热门方法。研究全面论述贝叶斯方法在心理学领域的应用与方向。现阶段贝叶斯方法以模拟研究为主,应用方向为心理学研究常用的项目反应理论、认知诊断、计算机自适应、结构方程模型。同时,评述发现贝叶斯方法正逐步被国内心理学研究者所接受。最后,文章讨论了当下贝叶斯统计在心理学研究中应用的局限性及可能的原因,建议统计学者开发界面友好的贝叶斯软件,并在心理学课程中加入贝叶斯知识。     

领悟社会支持在老年人的居住地情感认同和控制感之间的中介作用：一个纵向模型

本研究以281名老年人为研究对象,探讨了城市变迁中的老年人居住地情感认同、领悟社会支持和控制感的关系。研究使用居住地情感认同问卷、领悟社会支持问卷和控制感问卷为研究工具,采用每次间隔6个月,共3次的纵向追踪设计。结果发现：老年人的居住地情感认同可以正向预测领悟社会支持,老年人的领悟社会支持可以正向预测控制感,老年人的领悟社会支持在居住地情感认同和控制感之间起纵向中介作用。本研究结果揭示了城市老年居民的居住地情感认同对控制感的影响机制,也对提升城市老年居民的控制感具有一定的实践意义。     

Alcohol and the prior residence effect in male convict cichlids (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum)

A series of experiments were undertaken to demonstrate the dominance advantage of a territorial resident over an intruder (the prior residence effect) in the adult male Convict Cichlid (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum) and to evaluate the effects of alcohol (ethanol) on this phenomenon. After successfully demonstrating the prior residence effect, additional experiments were conducted in which the resident or intruder was given one of three different doses of ethanol (0.15%, 0.20%, 0.35%). These doses have previously been shown to reduce or increase intraspecific aggression in this species Over the entire dosage range, drugging the intruder produced no changes in the dominance advantage of the resident. However, drugging the resident at the higher doses (0.20%, 0.35%) resulted in loss of the resident's dominance advantage. These effects were not due to impaired locomotor behavior of the drugged fish, as no abnormal motor behaviors were noted. In general, as reported in previous studies, the resident fish, whether drugged or not, typically attacked first. Also as has been previously shown, the fish that attacked (bit) first typically showed eventual dominance. The present results show that the dominance advantage of the territorial resident is not altered by giving an intruder a hypo- or hyperaggression-producing dose of alcohol. Changes in the dominance advantage occur only as a function of drugging the resident, thereby providing evidence that the behavior of the territorial resident is either directly or indirectly (reaction of the intruder to these changes) responsible for the prior residence effect. The present studies also provide some pharmacological approaches for determining the variables important in a laboratory analog of a naturally occurring instance of intraspecific aggression.     

先前知识经验对远距离水平映射规则内隐学习的限制

先前研究发现远距离规则能够被内隐地习得和迁移,表明内隐学习获得的知识是底层的抽象规则,那么这一抽象规则的习得和迁移是否会受到先前知识经验的限制?研究采用汉语声调的远距离水平映射规则为材料,通过创设不符合平仄知识经验的任意声调水平映射规则,在控制组块和重复结构等表面特征的条件下,探讨先前知识经验是否限制了远距离水平映射规则的内隐学习和迁移。结果发现相对于符合平仄知识经验的汉语声调水平映射规则,被试不能够内隐地习得和迁移任意声调的水平映射规则,表明先前知识经验在远距离水平映射规则内隐学习过程中发挥着重要作用。     

Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? The interweaving of values and science

The role of values in the scientific process is widely debated. But evidence and values cannot be neatly separated. Instead, values infuse the entire scientific process, starting with the choice of research questions. Research avenues are selected based on prior beliefs about the workings of the world. In fact, informally assigned prior probabilities and normalizing constants play an essential role in distinguishing causes from correlations and ignoring irrelevant associations that would otherwise be suggested by raw data. But since these initial probabilities often have a heterogeneous pedigree – often not all that went into their formation is known or knowable – it becomes difficult to cleanly separate evidence from values. At the same time, this reality does not undermine science’s unique status in generating knowledge. This is because it is not the evidence per se generated by science, but rather the method by which science generates it, that justifies science’s privileged role.     

A Cerebral Hyperventilation Index for Electroencephalography

This study was an attempt to determine the effect of drive on probability learning. Each of two groups of Ss was divided into high- and low-drive groups on the basis of MAS scores. Each S was given 200 trials on a probability learning task, with 70 per cent reinforcement on one side and 30 per cent reinforcement on the other. At the .05 level, there was no difference between groups in probability choices, and neither group differed from the objective probability scores. The results are discussed in terms of the number of trials involved, the introduction of emotional arousal, and Hullian theory. On the basis of a comparison with the results of previous studies, it was suggested that investigators be cautious in generalizing probability learning results from one species to another.