scholarly journals Choice Under Conditions of Uncertainty

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Jensen

All behavior varies, and behavior under a wide range of circumstances displays high levels of variability. This is especially true under many concurrent schedules of reinforcement, despite those schedules not being designed to elicit unpredictable behavior. A generalized matching analysis was performed to measure the effects of reinforcement on 5-item choice under two conditions: Probabilistic concurrent schedules and threshold-based operant variability schedules. Behavior was analyzed in terms of conditional probabilities, incorporating trial-by-trial response dynamics into the model. Performing this analysis meant overcoming a major difficulty: Obtained reinforcement is not a valid independent predictor of behavior the two are causally interlinked. The method of instrumental variable estimation is utilized to overcome the “endogeneity” of reinforcement, which permits unbiased estimation of the causal influence of reinforcement on responding. The analysis revealed a simple relationship between choices made and the distances traveled to make them. Subjects were more willing to travel through the chamber under the Concurrent schedule than under the Variability schedule. As a result, with respect to predicting a subject’s next response, Concurrent schedules elicited higher levels of behavioral variability than did Variability schedules. However, longer-term behavior under the Variability schedules better resembled a steady-state random process.

Author(s):  
Magda Nikolaraizi ◽  
Charikleia Kanari ◽  
Marc Marschark

In recent years, museums of various kinds have broadened their mission and made systematic efforts to develop a dynamic role in learning by offering a wide range of less formal experiences for individuals with diverse characteristics, including individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH). Despite the worthwhile efforts, in the case of DHH individuals, museums frequently neglect to consider their unique communication, cognitive, cultural, and learning characteristics, thus limiting their access and opportunities for fully experiencing what museums have to offer. This chapter examines the potential for creating accessible museum environments and methods that reflect an understanding of the diverse communication, cognitive, cultural, and learning needs of DHH visitors, all of which enhance their access and participation in the museum activities. The role of the physical features of museum spaces for the access and behavior of DHH visitors is emphasized, together with attention to exhibition methods and the communication and cognitive challenges that need to be considered so DHH visitors can get the maximum benefit. The chapter emphasizes the right of individuals who are DHH to nonformal learning and analyzes how museums could become more accessible to DHH individuals by designing, from the beginning, participatory learning experiences that address their diverse needs.


2021 ◽  
pp. 074873042098732
Author(s):  
N. Kronfeld-Schor ◽  
T. J. Stevenson ◽  
S. Nickbakhsh ◽  
E. S. Schernhammer ◽  
X. C. Dopico ◽  
...  

Not 1 year has passed since the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Since its emergence, great uncertainty has surrounded the potential for COVID-19 to establish as a seasonally recurrent disease. Many infectious diseases, including endemic human coronaviruses, vary across the year. They show a wide range of seasonal waveforms, timing (phase), and amplitudes, which differ depending on the geographical region. Drivers of such patterns are predominantly studied from an epidemiological perspective with a focus on weather and behavior, but complementary insights emerge from physiological studies of seasonality in animals, including humans. Thus, we take a multidisciplinary approach to integrate knowledge from usually distinct fields. First, we review epidemiological evidence of environmental and behavioral drivers of infectious disease seasonality. Subsequently, we take a chronobiological perspective and discuss within-host changes that may affect susceptibility, morbidity, and mortality from infectious diseases. Based on photoperiodic, circannual, and comparative human data, we not only identify promising future avenues but also highlight the need for further studies in animal models. Our preliminary assessment is that host immune seasonality warrants evaluation alongside weather and human behavior as factors that may contribute to COVID-19 seasonality, and that the relative importance of these drivers requires further investigation. A major challenge to predicting seasonality of infectious diseases are rapid, human-induced changes in the hitherto predictable seasonality of our planet, whose influence we review in a final outlook section. We conclude that a proactive multidisciplinary approach is warranted to predict, mitigate, and prevent seasonal infectious diseases in our complex, changing human-earth system.


2012 ◽  
Vol 488-489 ◽  
pp. 253-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Hadipramana ◽  
Abdul Aziz Abdul Samad ◽  
Zi Jun Zhao ◽  
Noridah Mohammad ◽  
W. Wirdawati

Foamed concrete is material that can be used in wide range of constructions and produced in high density. This investigation examined effect of chopped Polypropylene Fiber (PF) that mixed into admixture concerning strength of foamed concrete high density. Mechanical test were performed to measure effect of PF on improving compressive and splitting tensile strength. Result indicate that PF significantly improving compressive strength and behavior of PF where drawn into foamed concrete similarly with normal concrete. The fibrillated PF has been occurred and reduced the micro crack of matrix and prevented propagation crack growth. The presence of PF improved splitting tensile strength was not significantly. Influence of porous of foamed concrete is considered. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) exhibits condition microstructure of foamed concrete reinforced PF that alter microstructure, especially interfacial bonding due to PF presence.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (08) ◽  
pp. 1181-1190
Author(s):  
Liz Ford ◽  
Peter Rudge ◽  
Kathy Robinson ◽  
John Collinge ◽  
Michele Gorham ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTObjectives:Prion diseases are rare dementias that most commonly occur sporadically, but can be inherited or acquired, and for which there is no cure. We sought to understand which prion disease symptoms are most problematic for carers, to inform the development of outcome measures.Design:Self-completed questionnaire with follow-up of a subset of participants by structured interview.Setting:A nested study in the UK National Prion Monitoring Cohort, a longitudinal observational study.Participants and measurements:71 carers, of people with different prion diseases with a wide range of disease severity, identified 236 of their four most problematic symptoms by questionnaire which were grouped into ten domains. Structured interviews were then done to qualitatively explore these experiences. Eleven family carers of people with prion disease were selected, including those representative of a range of demographics and disease subtypes and those who cared for people with prion disease, living or recently deceased. Interviews were transcribed and formally studied.Results:The six most problematic symptom domains were: mobility and coordination; mood and behavior; personal care and continence; eating and swallowing; communication; and cognition and memory. The prevalence of these symptoms varied significantly by disease stage and type. A formal analysis of structured interviews to explore these domains is reported.Conclusions:We make suggestions about how healthcare professionals can focus their support for people with prion disease. Clinical trials that aim to generate evidence regarding therapies that might confer meaningful benefits to carers should consider including outcome measures that monitor the symptomatic domains we have identified as problematic.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (99) ◽  
pp. 2-7
Author(s):  
Olga Aftimichuk

Background. The coordination development level influences the execution of any human activity, which is very important for the general perception of this activity and behavior in general. It is especially relevant for to coaches in wellness and sports gymnastics. The aim of the present study was the identification of the coordination skills of coaches of different types of gymnastics, which would improve the process of their professional training. Material and Methods. This review presents a synthesis of research conducted by the author. The following methods of theoretical research were used: abstract and axiomatic methods, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, idealization, comparison and generalization, and projecting. Results. The coaches’ training in different types of gymnastics includes the development of a wide range of professional skills: the tandem of communicative and motor skills that determine one type of complex coordination. The realization of complex coordination presupposes the participation of sensor systems (analyzer systems), which are visual, auditory, tactile, vestibular, and motor systems. The basic speech component of complex coordination in coaches’ activity/behavior determines his/her communicative orientation in the process of teaching. It is explained by the connection between the cultivation of complex coordination skills with the congenital and genetic, anatomical and physiological particularities of the human organism. We determined the coordination abilities, the formation of which contributes to the development of complex coordination skills. Conclusion. Development of integrative coordination abilities is an important part of professional activity of coaches of gymnastics, which requires such preparation.


Psihologija ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milos Kankaras

This article reviews concept of metacognition, defined as: (a) knowledge about ones own cognitive activity, (b) strategies to monitor and regulate cognitive activity and behavior, and (c) subjective or metacognitive experiences which comes from some changes or temporary difficulties in cognitive functioning. While describing different conceptualizations of metacognition, its development, fields of application, relation with intelligence, and its constrictions and ambiguity, we attempt to present new and emerging metacognitive paradigm, which is, for a relatively short period, succeeded to improve, expand, and redefine wide range of theoretical and practical fields in psychology, on new and original way. How do we become conscious of our own cognitive processes? What role and significance that consciousness has, what is the functional level above thinking processes and how that level, which monitor and control cognitive activity, works. Metacognition is concept that presents, as so far, the most important insight in those human mind areas, which, although very important, remained on the margin of psychological investigations until now.


Humans are becoming increasingly reliant on interconnected technologies to go about their daily lives in the personal and professional spheres. From finding romance, to conducting businesses entirely online, receiving health services, shopping, banking, and gaming, the Internet and World Wide Web open up a world of possibilities to people across the globe. Understanding the psychological processes underlying and influencing the thinking, interpretation, and behavior associated with this online interconnectivity is the core premise of Cyberpsychology. This book explores a wide range of cyberpsychological processes and activities through the research and writings of some of the world’s leading cyberpsychology experts. The book covers a broad range of topics spanning the key areas of research interest in this emerging field of enquiry and will be of interest to those who have only recently discovered the discipline as well as more seasoned cyberpsychology researchers and teachers. The book contains eight sections, and includes contributions spanning the breadth of current academic and public interest. Topics include: online research methods, self-presentation and impression management, technology across the lifespan, interaction and interactivity, online groups and communities, social media, health and technology, video gaming, and cybercrime and cybersecurity.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron P. Ragsdale ◽  
Simon Gravel

AbstractLinkage disequilibrium is used to infer evolutionary history and to identify regions under selection or associated with a given trait. In each case, we require accurate estimates of linkage disequilibrium from sequencing data. Unphased data presents a challenge because the co-occurrence of alleles at different loci is ambiguous. Commonly used estimators for the common statistics r2 and D2 exhibit large and variable upward biases that complicate interpretation and comparison across cohorts. Here, we show how to find unbiased estimators for a wide range of two-locus statistics, including D2, for both single and multiple randomly mating populations. These provide accurate estimates over three orders of magnitude in LD. We also use these estimators to construct an estimator for r2 that is less biased than commonly used estimators, but nevertheless argue for using rather than r2 for population size estimates.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Rizwan ◽  
Wanggen Wan ◽  
Luc Gwiazdzinski

Location-based social networks (LBSNs) have rapidly prevailed in China with the increase in smart devices use, which has provided a wide range of opportunities to analyze urban behavior in terms of the use of LBSNs. In a LBSN, users socialize by sharing their location (also referred to as “geolocation”) in the form of a tweet (also referred to as a “check-in”), which contains information in the form of, but is not limited to, text, audio, video, etc., which records the visited place, movement patterns, and activities performed (e.g., eating, living, working, or leisure). Understanding the user’s activities and behavior in space and time using LBSN datasets can be achieved by archiving the daily activities, movement patterns, and social media behavior patterns, thus representing the user’s daily routine. The current research observing and analyzing urban activities behavior was often supported by the volunteered sharing of geolocation and the activity performed in space and time. The objective of this research was to observe the spatiotemporal and directional trends and the distribution differences of urban activities at the city and district levels using LBSN data. The density was estimated, and the spatiotemporal trend of activities was observed, using kernel density estimation (KDE); for spatial regression analysis, geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis was used to observe the relationship between different activities in the study area. Finally, for the directional analysis, to observe the principle orientation and direction, and the spatiotemporal movement and extension trends, a standard deviational ellipse (SDE) analysis was used. The results of the study show that women were more inclined to use social media compared with men. However, the activities of male users were different during weekdays and weekends compared to those of female users. The results of the directional analysis at the district level reflect the change in the trajectory and spatiotemporal dynamics of activities. The directional analysis at the district level reveals its fine spatial structure in comparison to the whole city level. Therefore, LBSN can be considered as a supplementary and reliable source of social media big data for observing urban activities and behavior within a city in space and time.


2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 939-951 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Calonne ◽  
C. Geindreau ◽  
F. Flin ◽  
S. Morin ◽  
B. Lesaffre ◽  
...  

Abstract. We used three-dimensional (3-D) images of snow microstructure to carry out numerical estimations of the full tensor of the intrinsic permeability of snow (K). This study was performed on 35 snow samples, spanning a wide range of seasonal snow types. For several snow samples, a significant anisotropy of permeability was detected and is consistent with that observed for the effective thermal conductivity obtained from the same samples. The anisotropy coefficient, defined as the ratio of the vertical over the horizontal components of K, ranges from 0.74 for a sample of decomposing precipitation particles collected in the field to 1.66 for a depth hoar specimen. Because the permeability is related to a characteristic length, we introduced a dimensionless tensor K*=K/res2, where the equivalent sphere radius of ice grains (res) is computed from the specific surface area of snow (SSA) and the ice density (ρi) as follows: res=3/(SSA×ρi. We define K and K* as the average of the diagonal components of K and K*, respectively. The 35 values of K* were fitted to snow density (ρs) and provide the following regression: K = (3.0 ± 0.3) res2 exp((−0.0130 ± 0.0003)ρs). We noted that the anisotropy of permeability does not affect significantly the proposed equation. This regression curve was applied to several independent datasets from the literature and compared to other existing regression curves or analytical models. The results show that it is probably the best currently available simple relationship linking the average value of permeability, K, to snow density and specific surface area.


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