How Much as Compared to What: Relative Magnitude as a Key Idea in Mathematics Cognition

2018 ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Jirout ◽  
Nora S. Newcombe
Keyword(s):  
Relative Magnitude ◽  
Mathematics Cognition

Case Formulation and Design of Behavioral Treatment Programs

2003 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen N. Haynes ◽  
Andrew E. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Functional Analysis ◽  
Behavior Problems ◽  
Behavioral Treatment ◽  
Clinical Case ◽  
Relative Magnitude ◽  
Mechanisms Of Action ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
Case Formulation ◽  
Functional Relations ◽  
Causal Variables

Summary: We review the rationale for behavioral clinical case formulations and emphasize the role of the functional analysis in the design of individualized treatments. Standardized treatments may not be optimally effective for clients who have multiple behavior problems. These problems can affect each other in complex ways and each behavior problem can be influenced by multiple, interacting causal variables. The mechanisms of action of standardized treatments may not always address the most important causal variables for a client's behavior problems. The functional analysis integrates judgments about the client's behavior problems, important causal variables, and functional relations among variables. The functional analysis aids treatment decisions by helping the clinician estimate the relative magnitude of effect of each causal variable on the client's behavior problems, so that the most effective treatments can be selected. The parameters of, and issues associated with, a functional analysis and Functional Analytic Clinical Case Models (FACCM) are illustrated with a clinical case. The task of selecting the best treatment for a client is complicated because treatments differ in their level of specificity and have unequally weighted mechanisms of action. Further, a treatment's mechanism of action is often unknown.

scholarly journals The Utilisation of Payment Models Across the HIV Continuum of Care: Systematic Review of Evidence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiago Rua ◽  
Daniela Brandão ◽  
Vanessa Nicolau ◽  
Ana Escoval
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Relative Magnitude ◽  
Hiv Care ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Hiv Continuum Of Care ◽  
Clinical Conditions ◽  
Study Designs ◽  
Living With Hiv ◽  
Payment Models

AbstractThe increasing chronicity and multimorbidities associated with people living with HIV have posed important challenges to health systems across the world. In this context, payment models hold the potential to improve care across a spectrum of clinical conditions. This study aims to systematically review the evidence of HIV performance-based payments models. Literature searches were conducted in March 2020 using multiple databases and manual searches of relevant papers. Papers were limited to any study design that considers the real-world utilisation of performance-based payment models applied to the HIV domain. A total of 23 full-text papers were included. Due to the heterogeneity of study designs, the multiple types of interventions and its implementation across distinct areas of HIV care, direct comparisons between studies were deemed unsuitable. Most evidence focused on healthcare users (83%), seeking to directly affect patients' behaviour based on principles of behavioural economics. Despite the variability between interventions, the implementation of performance-based payment models led to either a neutral or positive impact throughout the HIV care continuum. Moreover, this improvement was likely to be cost-effective or, at least, did not compromise the healthcare system’s financial sustainability. However, more research is needed to assess the durability of incentives and its appropriate relative magnitude.

scholarly journals Temporal coherency of mechanical stimuli modulates tactile form perception

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masashi Nakatani ◽  
Yasuaki Kobayashi ◽  
Kota Ohno ◽  
Masaaki Uesaka ◽  
Sayako Mogami ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Neuron ◽  
Sensory Neurons ◽  
Contact Surface ◽  
Relative Magnitude ◽  
Form Perception ◽  
Tangential Displacement ◽  
Surface Geometry ◽  
Tactile Stimuli ◽  
Surface Patterns ◽  
Temporal Coherency

AbstractThe human hand can detect both form and texture information of a contact surface. The detection of skin displacement (sustained stimulus) and changes in skin displacement (transient stimulus) are thought to be mediated in different tactile channels; however, tactile form perception may use both types of information. Here, we studied whether both the temporal frequency and the temporal coherency information of tactile stimuli encoded in sensory neurons could be used to recognize the form of contact surfaces. We used the fishbone tactile illusion (FTI), a known tactile phenomenon, as a probe for tactile form perception in humans. This illusion typically occurs with a surface geometry that has a smooth bar and coarse textures in its adjacent areas. When stroking the central bar back and forth with a fingertip, a human observer perceives a hollow surface geometry even though the bar is physically flat. We used a passive high-density pin matrix to extract only the vertical information of the contact surface, suppressing tangential displacement from surface rubbing. Participants in the psychological experiment reported indented surface geometry by tracing over the FTI textures with pin matrices of the different spatial densities (1.0 and 2.0 mm pin intervals). Human participants reported that the relative magnitude of perceived surface indentation steeply decreased when pins in the adjacent areas vibrated in synchrony. To address possible mechanisms for tactile form perception in the FTI, we developed a computational model of sensory neurons to estimate temporal patterns of action potentials from tactile receptive fields. Our computational data suggest that (1) the temporal asynchrony of sensory neuron responses is correlated with the relative magnitude of perceived surface indentation and (2) the spatiotemporal change of displacements in tactile stimuli are correlated with the asynchrony of simulated sensory neuron responses for the fishbone surface patterns. Based on these results, we propose that both the frequency and the asynchrony of temporal activity in sensory neurons could produce tactile form perception.

scholarly journals Reanalysis of an Allocentric Navigation Strategy Scale based on Item Response Theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-105
Author(s):  
Jimmy Y. Zhong
Keyword(s):  
Item Response Theory ◽  
Item Response ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Relative Magnitude ◽  
Latent Structure ◽  
Response Theory ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Bidimensional Model ◽  
Navigation Strategy ◽  
Component Loading

AbstractFocusing on 12 allocentric/survey-based strategy items of the Navigation Strategy Questionnaire (Zhong & Kozhevnikov, 2016), the current study applied item response theory-based analysis to determine whether a bidimensional model could better describe the latent structure of the survey-based strategy. Results from item and model fit diagnostics, categorical response and item information curves showed that an item with the lowest rotated component loading (.27) [SURVEY12], could be considered for exclusion in future studies; and that a bidimensional model with three preference-related items constituting a content factor offered a better representation of the latent structure than a unidimensional model per se. Mean scores from these three items also correlated significantly with a pointing-to-landmarks task to the same relative magnitude as the mean scores from all items, and all items excluding SURVEY12. These findings gave early evidence suggesting that the three preference-related items could constitute a subscale for deriving quick estimates of large-scale allocentric spatial processing in healthy adults in both experimental and clinical settings. Potential cognitive and brain mechanisms were discussed, followed by calls for future studies to gather greater evidence confirming the predictive validity of the full and sub scales, along with the design of new items focusing on environmental familiarity.

scholarly journals Paucity of Entorhinal Cortex Pathology of the Alzheimer’s Type in SuperAgers with Superior Memory Performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamar Gefen ◽  
Allegra Kawles ◽  
Beth Makowski-Woidan ◽  
Janessa Engelmeyer ◽  
Ivan Ayala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Entorhinal Cortex ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Amyloid Plaques ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Relative Magnitude ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Superior Memory ◽  
Normal Controls

Abstract Advancing age is typically associated with declining memory capacity and increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Markers of AD such as amyloid plaques (AP) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are commonly found in the brains of cognitively average elderly but in more limited distribution than in those at the mild cognitive impairment and dementia stages of AD. Cognitive SuperAgers are individuals over age 80 who show superior memory capacity, at a level consistent with individuals 20–30 years their junior. Using a stereological approach, the current study quantitated the presence of AD markers in the memory-associated entorhinal cortex (ERC) of seven SuperAgers compared with six age-matched cognitively average normal control individuals. Amyloid plaques and NFTs were visualized using Thioflavin-S histofluorescence, 6E10, and PHF-1 immunohistochemistry. Unbiased stereological analysis revealed significantly more NFTs in ERC in cognitively average normal controls compared with SuperAgers (P < 0.05) by a difference of ~3-fold. There were no significant differences in plaque density. To highlight relative magnitude, cases with typical amnestic dementia of AD showed nearly 100 times more entorhinal NFTs than SuperAgers. The results suggest that resistance to age-related neurofibrillary degeneration in the ERC may be one factor contributing to preserved memory in SuperAgers.

scholarly journals Joint Impacts of Drought and Habitat Fragmentation on Native Bee Assemblages in a California Biodiversity Hotspot

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Keng-Lou James Hung ◽  
Sara S. Sandoval ◽  
John S. Ascher ◽  
David A. Holway
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Fragmentation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Relative Magnitude ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Floral Resources ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Drought Event ◽  
Fragmented Habitat ◽  
Native Bee

Global climate change is causing more frequent and severe droughts, which could have serious repercussions for the maintenance of biodiversity. Here, we compare native bee assemblages collected via bowl traps before and after a severe drought event in 2014 in San Diego, California, and examine the relative magnitude of impacts from drought in fragmented habitat patches versus unfragmented natural reserves. Bee richness and diversity were higher in assemblages surveyed before the drought compared to those surveyed after the drought. However, bees belonging to the Lasioglossum subgenus Dialictus increased in abundance after the drought, driving increased representation by small-bodied, primitively eusocial, and generalist bees in post-drought assemblages. Conversely, among non-Dialictus bees, post-drought years were associated with decreased abundance and reduced representation by eusocial species. Drought effects were consistently greater in reserves, which supported more bee species, than in fragments, suggesting that fragmentation either had redundant impacts with drought, or ameliorated effects of drought by enhancing bees’ access to floral resources in irrigated urban environments. Shifts in assemblage composition associated with drought were three times greater compared to those associated with habitat fragmentation, highlighting the importance of understanding the impacts of large-scale climatic events relative to those associated with land use change.

Causation Entropy Identifies Sparsity Structure for Parameter Estimation of Dynamic Systems

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pileun Kim ◽  
Jonathan Rogers ◽  
Jie Sun ◽  
Erik Bollt
Keyword(s):  
Parameter Estimation ◽  
Time Series Data ◽  
Multivariate Time Series ◽  
Measurement Data ◽  
Relative Magnitude ◽  
Initial Guess ◽  
Series Data ◽  
System Parameters ◽  
Estimation Problems ◽  
System States

Parameter estimation is an important topic in the field of system identification. This paper explores the role of a new information theory measure of data dependency in parameter estimation problems. Causation entropy is a recently proposed information-theoretic measure of influence between components of multivariate time series data. Because causation entropy measures the influence of one dataset upon another, it is naturally related to the parameters of a dynamical system. In this paper, it is shown that by numerically estimating causation entropy from the outputs of a dynamic system, it is possible to uncover the internal parametric structure of the system and thus establish the relative magnitude of system parameters. In the simple case of linear systems subject to Gaussian uncertainty, it is first shown that causation entropy can be represented in closed form as the logarithm of a rational function of system parameters. For more general systems, a causation entropy estimator is proposed, which allows causation entropy to be numerically estimated from measurement data. Results are provided for discrete linear and nonlinear systems, thus showing that numerical estimates of causation entropy can be used to identify the dependencies between system states directly from output data. Causation entropy estimates can therefore be used to inform parameter estimation by reducing the size of the parameter set or to generate a more accurate initial guess for subsequent parameter optimization.

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