Choices in a key press decision-making task are more optimal after gaining both aiming and reward experience

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (12) ◽  
pp. 2197-2216
Author(s):  
Joseph X Manzone ◽  
Saba Taravati ◽  
Heather F Neyedli ◽  
Timothy N Welsh

When presented with two different target–penalty configurations of similar maximum expected gain (MEG), participants prefer aiming to configurations with more advantageous spatial, rather than more advantageous gain parameters—perhaps due to the motor system’s inherent prioritisation of spatial information during movements with high accuracy demands such as aiming. To test this hypothesis, participants in the present studies chose between target–penalty configurations via key presses to reduce the importance of spatial parameters of the response and performance-related feedback. Configurations varied in spatial (target–penalty region overlap) and gain parameters (negative penalty values) and could have similar or different MEG. Choices were made without prior aiming experience (Experiment 1), after aiming experience provided information of movement variability (Experiment 2), or after aiming experience provided information of movement variability and outcome feedback (Experiment 3). Overall, configurations with advantageous spatial or gain parameters were chosen equally (Both-Similar condition) in all experiments. However, average behaviour at the group level was not reflective of the behaviour of most individual participants with three subgroups emerging: those with a value preference, distance preference, or no preference. In Experiments 1 and 2, these individual differences cannot be explained by MEG differences between configurations or participants’ movement variability, but these variables predicted choice behaviour in Experiment 3. Further in the Both-Different condition, participants only selected the larger MEG configuration at a level above chance when both variability and outcome information were given prior to the key press task (Experiment 3). In sum, the data indicate that prioritisation of spatial information did not emerge at the group level when performing key presses and more optimal behaviour emerged when information regarding movement variability and outcome feedback were given.

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Buchheit ◽  
Derek Dalton ◽  
Tom Downen ◽  
Sonja Pippin

ABSTRACT This study extends prior research by examining a fairly common sequence of business events: numeric outcome information is produced and reviewed, decisions are influenced by this information, and the process repeats (i.e., a feedback loop occurs). We find that incentivized decision makers exhibit substantial decision improvement after only one iteration of summary outcome feedback. In contrast, other between-subjects groups fail to improve performance across iterations of Luft and Shields' (2001) forecasting task. Our results suggest that financial incentives and outcome feedback are both critical to performance improvement in relatively complex iterative tasks. When either incentives or feedback is absent, performance suffers. While prior research has found outcome feedback relatively ineffective at improving complex task performance, our results indicate that outcome feedback and incentives complement each other to improve performance. We believe exploring the interaction of incentives and feedback offers interesting avenues for future accounting research. Data Availability: Study data are available from the authors upon request.


1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Bricker ◽  
Kevin Brown

In 1908, the American Sugar Refining Company (ASR) reversed its long-held policy of secrecy as to its financial condition and performance. Prior work, applying contemporary capital market methods to ASR security price data of that period, has suggested a value to ASR shareholders of this policy reversal. This paper examines the historical record of that time and presents additional evidence on this matter, particularly in terms of identifying potentially confounding events occurring during the period under study. The results of this analysis suggest a difficulty in attributing observed abnormal returns to ASR's secrecy policy reversal on the basis of the results obtained from applying capital markets methods. This analysis is useful for scholars interested in applying modern capital market methods to historical data. It highlights the significance of the possible effects of contemporaneous historical events, focuses attention on the importance of a deep understanding of the historical period studied, and suggests a value in combining historical and empirical-markets methods to gain a richer understanding of the events and conditions in the time period under study.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 796
Author(s):  
Micaela Maria Zucchelli ◽  
Laura Piccardi ◽  
Raffaella Nori

Individuals with agoraphobia exhibit impaired exploratory activity when navigating unfamiliar environments. However, no studies have investigated the contribution of visuospatial working memory (VSWM) in these individuals’ ability to acquire and process spatial information while considering the use of egocentric and allocentric coordinates or environments with or without people. A total of 106 individuals (53 with agoraphobia and 53 controls) navigated in a virtual square to acquire spatial information that included the recognition of landmarks and the relationship between landmarks and themselves (egocentric coordinates) and independent of themselves (allocentric coordinates). Half of the participants in both groups navigated in a square without people, and half navigated in a crowded square. They completed a VSWM test in addition to tasks measuring landmark recognition and egocentric and allocentric judgements concerning the explored square. The results showed that individuals with agoraphobia had reduced working memory only when active processing of spatial elements was required, suggesting that they exhibit spatial difficulties particularly in complex spatial tasks requiring them to process information simultaneously. Specifically, VSWM deficits mediated the relationship between agoraphobia and performance in the allocentric judgements. The results are discussed considering the theoretical background of agoraphobia in order to provide useful elements for the early diagnosis of this disorder.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Kuffer ◽  
Jiong Wang ◽  
Michael Nagenborg ◽  
Karin Pfeffer ◽  
Divyani Kohli ◽  
...  

The continuous increase in deprived living conditions in many cities of the Global South contradicts efforts to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable places. Using examples of Asian, African, and Latin American cities, this study shows the scope and limits of earth observation (EO)-based mapping of deprived living conditions in support of providing consistent global information for the SDG indicator 11.1.1 “proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing”. At the technical level, we compare several EO-based methods and imagery for mapping deprived living conditions, discussing their ability to map such areas including differences in terms of accuracy and performance at the city scale. At the operational level, we compare available municipal maps showing identified deprived areas with the spatial extent of morphological mapped areas of deprived living conditions (using EO) at the city scale, discussing the reasons for inconsistencies between municipal and EO-based maps. We provide an outlook on how EO-based mapping of deprived living conditions could contribute to a global spatial information base to support targeting of deprived living conditions in support of the SDG Goal 11.1.1 indicator, when uncertainties and ethical considerations on data provision are well addressed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 219 ◽  
pp. 10003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torsten Soldner ◽  
Hartmut Abele ◽  
Gertrud Konrad ◽  
Bastian Märkisch ◽  
Florian M. Piegsa ◽  
...  

Pulsed beams have tremendous advantages for precision experiments with cold neutrons. In order to minimise and measure systematic effects, they are used at continuous sources in spite of the related substantial decrease in intensity. At the European Spallation Source ESS these experiments will profit from the pulse structure of the source and its 50 times higher peak brightness compared to the most intense reactor facilities, making novel concepts feasible. Therefore, the cold neutron beam facility for particle physics ANNI was proposed as part of the ESS instrument suite. The proposed design has been re-optimised to take into account the present ESS cold moderator layout. We present design considerations, the optimised instrument parameters and performance, and expected gain factors for several reference experiments.


Author(s):  
Florea Nicoleta Valentina ◽  
Manea Marinela Daniela

The analysis of human resources function and its contribution to obtain performance dates back to the 1920s. Now, the HR is an equal partner on the board of the companies, having a strategic role in obtaining performance, thus we try to show that compensating appropriately, the human capital it will be motivated to obtain performance. This paper examines the two different visions of different managers in which the human capital is perceived as a major cost for organization and the others which perceive it as an investment on long run. In this article, we analyse the impact could have the direct costs of human capital on individual and organizational performance using samples of some variables from European level, data between 2005-2016. Data used for the different years were analysed using simulation methods. Findings of this study show consistency with the theory in the filed, bringing a value in motivation and accountability of human capital and performance obtained through human capital.


Author(s):  
Elizabeth Thorpe Davis ◽  
Larry F. Hodges

Two fundamental purposes of human spatial perception, in either a real or virtual 3D environment, are to determine where objects are located in the environment and to distinguish one object from another. Although various sensory inputs, such as haptic and auditory inputs, can provide this spatial information, vision usually provides the most accurate, salient, and useful information (Welch and Warren, 1986). Moreover, of the visual cues available to humans, stereopsis provides an enhanced perception of depth and of three-dimensionality for a visual scene (Yeh and Silverstein, 1992). (Stereopsis or stereoscopic vision results from the fusion of the two slightly different views of the external world that our laterally displaced eyes receive (Schor, 1987; Tyler, 1983).) In fact, users often prefer using 3D stereoscopic displays (Spain and Holzhausen, 1991) and find that such displays provide more fun and excitement than do simpler monoscopic displays (Wichanski, 1991). Thus, in creating 3D virtual environments or 3D simulated displays, much attention recently has been devoted to visual 3D stereoscopic displays. Yet, given the costs and technical requirements of such displays, we should consider several issues. First, we should consider in what conditions and situations these stereoscopic displays enhance perception and performance. Second, we should consider how binocular geometry and various spatial factors can affect human stereoscopic vision and, thus, constrain the design and use of stereoscopic displays. Finally, we should consider the modeling geometry of the software, the display geometry of the hardware, and some technological limitations that constrain the design and use of stereoscopic displays by humans. In the following section we consider when 3D stereoscopic displays are useful and why they are useful in some conditions but not others. In the section after that we review some basic concepts about human stereopsis and fusion that are of interest to those who design or use 3D stereoscopic displays. Also in that section we point out some spatial factors that limit stereopsis and fusion in human vision as well as some potential problems that should be considered in designing and using 3D stereoscopic displays. Following that we discuss some software and hardware issues, such as modelling geometry and display geometry as well as geometric distortions and other artifacts that can affect human perception.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Ying Zhou ◽  
Dazhuan Xu ◽  
Chao Shi ◽  
Weilin Tu ◽  
Junpeng Shi

In this paper, the mutual information between the received signals and the source in the coprime linear array is investigated. In Shannon’s information theory, the mutual information is used to quantify the reduction in the priori uncertainty of the transmitted message. Similarly, the spatial information in the coprime array is the mutual information between direction of arrival (DOA), source amplitude, and received signals. Such information content is composed of two parts. The first part is DOA information, and the second one is scattering information. In a single source scenario, we derive the theoretical expression and its asymptotic upper bound of DOA information. The corresponding expression of scattering information is also formulated theoretically. Besides, the application of spatial information is discussed. We can obtain the optimal array configuration by maximizing the DOA information of the coprime array. Similarly, the information is also used to quantify the performance difference between the coprime array and uniform array. In addition, the entropy error is employed to evaluate the estimation performance based on spatial information. Numerical simulation of the information content confirms our theoretical analysis. The results in this paper have important guiding significance for the design of the coprime array in the actual environment.


The authors study the performance consequences of exposure to corporate social responsibility (CSR) through stock holdings for mutual funds. Using a large sample of US domestic mutual funds, they find that funds overweighting low-CSR stocks outperform funds underweighting them by 1.7% to 2.6% annually. This outperformance, however, reverses during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. They also find similar performance patterns among stocks. An equal-weighted high-minus-low CSR stock return spread can explain the CSR-based fund performance spread, whereas a value-weighted spread cannot. These results are consistent with the interpretation that low-CSR funds overweight low-CSR small-cap stocks that offer high returns to investors who are averse to low-CSR investments. Investors tend to avoid low-CSR stocks due to either social norms against these stocks or risk of underperformance of these investments when overall trust in corporations suffers a negative shock (such as during a financial crisis).


Author(s):  
Jim Nixon ◽  
Sarah Sharples ◽  
Mike Jackson

An experiment was conducted to study differences in workload and performance of participants when navigating a route. Participants used a mobile device to navigate a route in a building. Different types of representation were used: a paper floor plan and three representations presented on a personal digital assistant (PDA). In the PDA based conditions, an overview of the floor plan was presented in a picture viewer. Since the plan was much larger than the PDA screen, participants moved different parts of the plan into view using a stylus. Floor plans were also presented as a sequence of plan fragments on the PDA which were advanced by the user according to location. Results show significantly shorter route completion times for participants using the paper plan compared with the PDA support. Significant differences in workload, effort and mental demand were also found between the types of representation. The paper plan condition elicited the lowest levels of workload and the shortest route completion times. Implications for the design of location-based navigation support are discussed.


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