scholarly journals Voluntary choice tasks increase control settings and reduce capture

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Dion T. Henare ◽  
Anna Schubö
Keyword(s):  
Voluntary Choice ◽  
Choice Tasks

Gender Differences in the Mental Rotations Test (MRT) Are Not Due to Task Complexity

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 130-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinna Titze ◽  
Martin Heil ◽  
Petra Jansen
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Time Constraints ◽  
Medium Effects ◽  
Performance Factors ◽  
Mental Rotations ◽  
Sufficient Power ◽  
Forced Choice Tasks ◽  
Choice Tasks

Gender differences are one of the main topics in mental rotation research. This paper focuses on the influence of the performance factor task complexity by using two versions of the Mental Rotations Test (MRT). Some 300 participants completed the test without time constraints, either in the regular version or with a complexity reducing template creating successive two-alternative forced-choice tasks. Results showed that the complexity manipulation did not affect the gender differences at all. These results were supported by a sufficient power to detect medium effects. Although performance factors seem to play a role in solving mental rotation problems, we conclude that the variation of task complexity as realized in the present study did not.

Temporal Discounting Across Adulthood: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendra Leigh Seaman ◽  
Sade J Abiodun ◽  
Zöe Fenn ◽  
Gregory Russell Samanez-Larkin ◽  
Rui Mata
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Intertemporal Choice ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Temporal Discounting ◽  
Total N ◽  
Adult Age ◽  
Adult Age Differences ◽  
Choice Tasks

A number of developmental theories have been proposed that make differential predictions about the links between age and temporal discounting; that is, the valuation of rewards at different points in time. Most empirical studies examining adult age differences in temporal discounting have relied on economic intertemporal choice tasks, which pit choosing a smaller, sooner monetary reward against choosing a larger, later one. Although initial studies using these tasks suggested older adults discount less than younger adults, follow-up studies provided heterogeneous, and thus inconclusive, results. Using an open science approach, we test the replicability of adult age differences in temporal discounting by conducting a preregistered systematic literature search and meta-analysis of adult age differences in intertemporal choice tasks. Across 37 cross-sectional studies (Total N = 104,736), we found no reliable relation between age and temporal discounting (r = -0.081, 95% CI [-0.185, 0.025]). We also found little evidence of publication bias or p-hacking. Exploratory analyses of moderators found no effect of experimental design (e.g., extreme-group vs. continuous age), incentives (hypothetical vs. rewards), amount of delay (e.g., days, weeks, months, or years), or quantification of discounting behavior (e.g., proportion of immediate choices vs. parameters from computational modeling). Additional analyses of 12 participant-level data sets found little support for a nonlinear relation between age and temporal discounting across adulthood. Overall, the results suggest that adult age is not reliably associated with individual differences in temporal discounting. We provide recommendations for future empirical work on temporal discounting across the adult life span.

scholarly journals Understanding the influence of physical resources and social supports on primary food providers’ snack food provision: a discrete choice experiment

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany J. Johnson ◽  
Rebecca K. Golley ◽  
Dorota Zarnowiecki ◽  
Gilly A. Hendrie ◽  
Elisabeth K. Huynh
Keyword(s):  
Discrete Choice ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Choice Experiment ◽  
Social Supports ◽  
Social Condition ◽  
Parent Support ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Utility Weight ◽  
Physical Resources ◽  
Choice Tasks

Abstract Background Snack eating occasions contribute approximately a third of children’s energy intake, with approximately half of all unhealthy foods consumed during snack times. Therefore, it is critical to understand the drivers of primary food providers’ snack provision. The study aims were to determine the relative importance of physical resources and social supports when primary food providers are choosing snacks to provide to their child, and to investigate how these attributes differ in social versus non-social occasions, and between subgroups of primary food providers based on socio-economic position. Methods Primary food providers of three to seven-year olds completed an online discrete choice experiment, by making trade-offs when completing repeated, hypothetical choice tasks on the choice of snacks to provide to their child in: 1) non-social and 2) social condition. Choice tasks included two alternatives consisting of varying attribute (i.e. factor) levels, and an opt-out option. The order of conditions shown were randomized across participants. Multinomial logit model analyses were used to determine utility weights for each attribute. Results Two-hundred and twenty-five primary food providers completed the study, providing 1125 choice decisions per condition. In the non-social condition, the top three ranked attributes were type of food (utility weight 1.94, p < 0.001), child resistance (− 1.62, p < 0.001) and co-parent support (0.99, p < 0.001). In the social condition, top ranking attributes were child resistance (utility weight − 1.50, p < 0.001), type of food (1.38, p < 0.001) and co-parent support (1.07, p < 0.001). In both conditions, time was not a significant influence and cost was of lowest relative importance. Subgroup analyses revealed cost was not a significant influence for families from higher socio-economic backgrounds. Conclusions Type of food, child resistance and co-parent support were of greatest relative importance in primary food providers’ snack provision decision-making, regardless of social condition or socio-economic position. In designing future interventions to reduce unhealthy snacks, researchers should prioritize these influences, to better support primary food providers in changing their physical and social opportunity. Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry no. ACTR N12618001173280

scholarly journals Application of Psychometric Approach for ASD Evaluation in Russian 3–4-Year-Olds

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (14) ◽  
pp. 1608
Author(s):  
Andrey Nasledov ◽  
Sergey Miroshnikov ◽  
Liubov Tkacheva ◽  
Kirill Miroshnik ◽  
Meriam Uld Semeta
Keyword(s):  
Autistic Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Compact Set ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Screening System ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Discriminant Analyses ◽  
Biological Problem ◽  
Choice Tasks

Background: Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is a significant socio-biological problem due to its wide prevalence and negative outcomes. In the current study, we aimed to develop an autism scale for early and accurate differentiation of 3- to 4-year-olds at risk for ASD since there is no systematic monitoring of young children in Russia yet. Methods: The total sample (N = 324) included 116 children with ASD, 131 children without ASD (healthy controls), and 77 children with developmental delay (DD). An online survey of specialists working with children was conducted based on a specially designed autism questionnaire consisting of 85 multiple-choice tasks distributed across 12 domains. Initially, each child was assessed by 434 items using a dichotomous scale (0 = no, 1 = yes). Factor and discriminant analyses were performed to identify a compact set of subscales that most accurately and with sufficient reliability predicted whether a child belongs to the ASD group. Results: As a result, four subscales were obtained: Sensorics, Emotions, Hyperactivity, and Communication. The high discriminability of the subscales in distinguishing the ASD group from the non-ASD group was revealed (accuracy 85.5–87.0%). Overall, the obtained subscales meet psychometric requirements and allow for creating an online screening system for wide application.

scholarly journals Information Rate in Humans during Visuomotor Tracking

Entropy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 228
Author(s):  
Sze-Ying Lam ◽  
Alexandre Zénon
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Information Transfer ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Task Demands ◽  
Information Rate ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Visuomotor Tracking ◽  
Processing Rate ◽  
Choice Tasks

Previous investigations concluded that the human brain’s information processing rate remains fundamentally constant, irrespective of task demands. However, their conclusion rested in analyses of simple discrete-choice tasks. The present contribution recasts the question of human information rate within the context of visuomotor tasks, which provides a more ecologically relevant arena, albeit a more complex one. We argue that, while predictable aspects of inputs can be encoded virtually free of charge, real-time information transfer should be identified with the processing of surprises. We formalise this intuition by deriving from first principles a decomposition of the total information shared by inputs and outputs into a feedforward, predictive component and a feedback, error-correcting component. We find that the information measured by the feedback component, a proxy for the brain’s information processing rate, scales with the difficulty of the task at hand, in agreement with cost-benefit models of cognitive effort.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document