Mental Rotation and Real-World Wayfinding

2001 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon C. Malinowski
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Real World ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Mental Rotations ◽  
Spatial Tasks ◽  
New City

Sex differences in mental rotation skills are a robust finding in small-scale laboratory-based studies of spatial cognition. There is almost no evidence in the literature, however, relating these skills to performance on spatial tasks in large-scale, real-world activities such as navigating in a new city or in the woods. This study investigates the connections between mental rotation skills as measured by the Vandenburg-Kuse Mental Rotations test and the performance of college students ( n = 211) navigating a 6-km orienteering course. The results indicate that mental rotation skills are significantly correlated with wayfinding performance on an orienteering task. The findings also replicate sex differences in spatial ability as found in laboratory-scale studies. However, the findings complicate the discussion of mental rotation skills and sex because women often performed as well as men despite having lower mean test scores. This suggests that mental rotation ability may not be as necessary for some women's wayfinding as it is for men's navigation.

scholarly journals Sex differences in virtual navigation influenced by visual factors and individual differences

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lace Padilla
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Morris Water Maze ◽  
Water Maze ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Standard Design ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Virtual Morris Water Maze

The Morris water maze is a task adapted from the animal spatial cognition literature and has been studied in the context of sex differences in humans, particularly because of the standard design, which manipulates proximal (close) and distal (far) cues. However, there are mixed findings with respect to the interaction of cues and sex differences in virtual Morris water maze tasks, which may be attributed to variations in the scale of the space and previously unmeasured individual differences. We explore the question of scale and context by presenting participants with an outdoor virtual Morris water maze that is four times the size of the mazes previously tested. We also measured lifetime mobility and mental rotation skills. Results of this study suggest that for the small-scale environment, males and females performed similarly when asked to navigate with only proximal cues. However, males outperformed females when only distal cues were visible. In the large-scale environment, males outperformed females in both cue conditions. Additionally, greater mental rotation skills predicted better navigation performance with proximal cues only. Finally, we found that highly mobile females and males perform equally well when navigating with proximal cues.

scholarly journals Attention Enhanced Serial Unet++ Network for Removing Unevenly Distributed Haze

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (22) ◽  
pp. 2868
Author(s):  
Wenxuan Zhao ◽  
Yaqin Zhao ◽  
Liqi Feng ◽  
Jiaxi Tang
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Convolutional Neural Network ◽  
Real World ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Image Dehazing ◽  
Atmospheric Scattering ◽  
Real World Datasets

The purpose of image dehazing is the reduction of the image degradation caused by suspended particles for supporting high-level visual tasks. Besides the atmospheric scattering model, convolutional neural network (CNN) has been used for image dehazing. However, the existing image dehazing algorithms are limited in face of unevenly distributed haze and dense haze in real-world scenes. In this paper, we propose a novel end-to-end convolutional neural network called attention enhanced serial Unet++ dehazing network (AESUnet) for single image dehazing. We attempt to build a serial Unet++ structure that adopts a serial strategy of two pruned Unet++ blocks based on residual connection. Compared with the simple Encoder–Decoder structure, the serial Unet++ module can better use the features extracted by encoders and promote contextual information fusion in different resolutions. In addition, we take some improvement measures to the Unet++ module, such as pruning, introducing the convolutional module with ResNet structure, and a residual learning strategy. Thus, the serial Unet++ module can generate more realistic images with less color distortion. Furthermore, following the serial Unet++ blocks, an attention mechanism is introduced to pay different attention to haze regions with different concentrations by learning weights in the spatial domain and channel domain. Experiments are conducted on two representative datasets: the large-scale synthetic dataset RESIDE and the small-scale real-world datasets I-HAZY and O-HAZY. The experimental results show that the proposed dehazing network is not only comparable to state-of-the-art methods for the RESIDE synthetic datasets, but also surpasses them by a very large margin for the I-HAZY and O-HAZY real-world dataset.

scholarly journals Comparing different response time threshold setting methods to detect low effort on a large-scale assessment

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James Soland ◽  
Megan Kuhfeld ◽  
Joseph Rios
Keyword(s):  
Response Time ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Response Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Large Scale Assessment ◽  
Different Response ◽  
Threshold Setting ◽  
Scale Data

AbstractLow examinee effort is a major threat to valid uses of many test scores. Fortunately, several methods have been developed to detect noneffortful item responses, most of which use response times. To accurately identify noneffortful responses, one must set response time thresholds separating those responses from effortful ones. While other studies have compared the efficacy of different threshold-setting methods, they typically do so using simulated or small-scale data. When large-scale data are used in such studies, they often are not from a computer-adaptive test (CAT), use only a handful of items, or do not comprehensively examine different threshold-setting methods. In this study, we use reading test scores from over 728,923 3rd–8th-grade students in 2056 schools across the United States taking a CAT consisting of nearly 12,000 items to compare threshold-setting methods. In so doing, we help provide guidance to developers and administrators of large-scale assessments on the tradeoffs involved in using a given method to identify noneffortful responses.

scholarly journals Investigating sex differences, cognitive effort, strategy, and performance on a computerised version of the mental rotations test via eye tracking

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam J. Toth ◽  
Mark J. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Cognitive Psychology ◽  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Large Male ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Mental Rotations ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Different Parts ◽  
Male Performance

AbstractMental rotation tests (MRTs) have previously shown one of the most prominent sex differences in cognitive psychology, marked by a large male performance advantage. However, debate continues over the reasons for these sex differences. Previously, we used pupillometry to demonstrate sex differences in the cognitive effort invoked during the original MRT. Here, we evaluated the magnitude of sex differences during performance on a computerized version of the Vandenberg and Kuse MRT. Secondly, we examined whether fixation metrics could illuminate strategy use by participants. Finally, we used pupillometry to investigate whether cognitive effort differed between sexes and trials of different difficulty. While our results demonstrate no performance differences between sexes on the computerized MRT, fixation patterns provided evidence that gaze strategy was associated with performance on different parts of the test. Moreover, we show the cognitive demand of the V&K MRT, evidenced by large task dependent increases in participants’ pupil diameters.

scholarly journals Large-Scale Recurrent Neural Network Based Modelling of Gene Regulatory Network Using Cuckoo Search-Flower Pollination Algorithm

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudip Mandal ◽  
Abhinandan Khan ◽  
Goutam Saha ◽  
Rajat K. Pal
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Recurrent Neural Network ◽  
Real World ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Cuckoo Search ◽  
Genetic Networks ◽  
Computational Time ◽  
Flower Pollination Algorithm ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Flower Pollination

The accurate prediction of genetic networks using computational tools is one of the greatest challenges in the postgenomic era. Recurrent Neural Network is one of the most popular but simple approaches to model the network dynamics from time-series microarray data. To date, it has been successfully applied to computationally derive small-scale artificial and real-world genetic networks with high accuracy. However, they underperformed for large-scale genetic networks. Here, a new methodology has been proposed where a hybrid Cuckoo Search-Flower Pollination Algorithm has been implemented with Recurrent Neural Network. Cuckoo Search is used to search the best combination of regulators. Moreover, Flower Pollination Algorithm is applied to optimize the model parameters of the Recurrent Neural Network formalism. Initially, the proposed method is tested on a benchmark large-scale artificial network for both noiseless and noisy data. The results obtained show that the proposed methodology is capable of increasing the inference of correct regulations and decreasing false regulations to a high degree. Secondly, the proposed methodology has been validated against the real-world dataset of the DNA SOS repair network of Escherichia coli. However, the proposed method sacrifices computational time complexity in both cases due to the hybrid optimization process.

scholarly journals Processing of different spatial scales in the human brain

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Peer ◽  
Yorai Ron ◽  
Rotem Monsa ◽  
Shahar Arzy
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Real World ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Conceptual Spaces ◽  
Spatial System ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Parahippocampal Place Area ◽  
Posterior Anterior

Humans navigate across a range of spatial scales, from rooms to continents, but the brain systems underlying spatial cognition are usually investigated only in small-scale environments. Do the same brain systems represent and process larger spaces? Here we asked subjects to compare distances between real-world items at six different spatial scales (room, building, neighborhood, city, country, continent) under functional MRI. Cortical activity showed a gradual progression from small to large scale processing, along three gradients extending anteriorly from the parahippocampal place area (PPA), retrosplenial complex (RSC) and occipital place area (OPA), and along the hippocampus posterior-anterior axis. Each of the cortical gradients overlapped with the visual system posteriorly and the default-mode network (DMN) anteriorly. These results suggest a progression from concrete to abstract processing with increasing spatial scale, and offer a new organizational framework for the brain’s spatial system, that may also apply to conceptual spaces beyond the spatial domain.

Relationship of Initial and Final Scores on a Qualitative Analysis of Movement Test

1998 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 651-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig S. Morrison ◽  
Christina M. Frederick
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Mental Rotation ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Movement Analysis ◽  
Instructional Unit ◽  
Embedded Figures Test ◽  
Mental Rotations ◽  
Male Undergraduate ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Movement Test

The present study examined the relationship of initial qualitative analysis of movement scores, disembedding scores, and mental rotation scores on terminal qualitative analysis of movement scores. The subjects were 19 female and 17 male undergraduate majors in physical education, 14 from Oklahoma State University and 22 from Southern Utah University, with a mean age of 23.0 ± 4.5 yr. The test and instructional unit on qualitative analysis of movement were developed by Morrison and Harrison in 1985. The Group Embedded Figures Test was used to discern disembedding scores and the Mental Rotations Test scores on mental rotation. The means and standard deviations for the pretest and posttest measures on the movement analysis test were 72.08 ± 7.06 and 78.30 ±4.21. Analysis indicated instruction improved scores on the qualitative analysis test. Also, initial movement test scores and those on disembedding were significant predictors of scores on the posttest qualitative analysis of movement but not of mental rotation test scores.

scholarly journals Sex differences in moral judgements across 67 countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1937) ◽  
pp. 20201201
Author(s):  
Mohammad Atari ◽  
Mark H. C. Lai ◽  
Morteza Dehghani
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Moral Foundations ◽  
Moral Foundations Theory ◽  
Cultural Variations ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Moral Judgements ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
And Gender

Most of the empirical research on sex differences and cultural variations in morality has relied on within-culture analyses or small-scale cross-cultural data. To further broaden the scientific understanding of sex differences in morality, the current research relies on two international samples to provide the first large-scale examination of sex differences in moral judgements nested within cultures. Using a sample from 67 countries (Study 1; n = 336 691), we found culturally variable sex differences in moral judgements, as conceptualized by Moral Foundations Theory. Women consistently scored higher than men on Care, Fairness, and Purity. By contrast, sex differences in Loyalty and Authority were negligible and highly variable across cultures. Country-level sex differences in moral judgements were also examined in relation to cultural, socioeconomic, and gender-equality indicators revealing that sex differences in moral judgements are larger in individualist, Western, and gender-equal societies. In Study 2 (19 countries; n = 11 969), these results were largely replicated using Bayesian multi-level modelling in a distinct sample. The findings were robust when incorporating cultural non-independence of countries into the models. Specifically, women consistently showed higher concerns for Care, Fairness, and Purity in their moral judgements than did men. Sex differences in moral judgements were larger in individualist and gender-equal societies with more flexible social norms. We discuss the implications of these findings for the ongoing debate about the origin of sex differences and cultural variations in moral judgements as well as theoretical and pragmatic implications for moral and evolutionary psychology.

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