scholarly journals Memory patterns for choice adaptation in dynamic environments

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanouil Konstantinidis ◽  
Jason L. Harman ◽  
Cleotilde Gonzalez

An important aspect of making good decisions is the ability to adapt to changes in the values of available options. Research suggests that we are poor at changing behavior and adapting our choices successfully. This work contributes to clarifying the role of memory on learning and successful adaptation to changing decision environments. We test the effects of the direction of change and the type of feedback using a decisions from experience binary choice task, where individuals learn the outcomes and their associated probabilities from feedback received after selecting between available choice options. The results revealed a robust effect of the direction of change: risk that becomes more rewarding over time is harder to detect than risk that becomes less rewarding over time; and even with full information about the outcomes of choice options people showed sub-optimal adaptation to change. We rely on three distinct computational models to interpret the role of memory on learning and adaptation. The distributions of individual model parameters were analyzed in relation to participants' ability to successfully adapt to the changing conditions of the various decision environments. Consistent across the three models and two distinct data sets (our experimental data and other researchers' data), results revealed the value of recency as an individual memory component for choice adaptation. Individuals relying more on recent experiences were more successful at adapting to change, regardless of the direction of change. We explain the value and limitations of these findings as well as opportunities for future research.

10.29007/5xsb ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia Martínez-Flor ◽  
Esther Usó-Juan

Studies analysing the positive role of pragmatic instruction in formal settings have increased over the last decades. Within this area of interventional pragmatics, some studies have particularly examined whether the effectiveness of the instruction implemented is sustained over time. In order to shed more light on the long-term effects of instruction, this research investigates English as a Foreign Language learners’ use of complaining formulas not only after immediately receiving instruction, but also two months later. Results show that learners keep using a variety of appropriate complaining formulas two months after having participated in the instructional period. These findings are discussed and directions for future research suggested.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 430-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet R. McColl-Kennedy ◽  
Anders Gustafsson ◽  
Elina Jaakkola ◽  
Phil Klaus ◽  
Zoe Jane Radnor ◽  
...  

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide directions for future research on: broadening the role of customers in customer experience; taking a practice-based approach to customer experience; and recognizing the holistic, dynamic nature of customer experience across all touch points and over time. Design/methodology/approach – The approach is conceptual identifying current gaps in research on customer experience. Findings – The findings include a set of research questions and research agenda for future research on customer experience. Originality/value – This research suggests fresh perspectives for understanding the customer experience which can inspire future research and advance theory and managerial practice.


2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 1772-1788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milana P. Mileusnic ◽  
Ian E. Brown ◽  
Ning Lan ◽  
Gerald E. Loeb

We constructed a physiologically realistic model of a lower-limb, mammalian muscle spindle composed of mathematical elements closely related to the anatomical components found in the biological spindle. The spindle model incorporates three nonlinear intrafusal fiber models (bag1, bag2, and chain) that contribute variously to action potential generation of primary and secondary afferents. A single set of model parameters was optimized on a number of data sets collected from feline soleus muscle, accounting accurately for afferent activity during a variety of ramp, triangular, and sinusoidal stretches. We also incorporated the different temporal properties of fusimotor activation as observed in the twitchlike chain fibers versus the toniclike bag fibers. The model captures the spindle's behavior both in the absence of fusimotor stimulation and during activation of static or dynamic fusimotor efferents. In the case of simultaneous static and dynamic fusimotor efferent stimulation, we demonstrated the importance of including the experimentally observed effect of partial occlusion. The model was validated against data that originated from the cat's medial gastrocnemius muscle and were different from the data used for the parameter determination purposes. The validation record included recently published experiments in which fusimotor efferent and spindle afferent activities were recorded simultaneously during decerebrate locomotion in the cat. This model will be useful in understanding the role of the muscle spindle and its fusimotor control during both natural and pathological motor behavior.


2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Jussim ◽  
Kent D. Harber

This article shows that 35 years of empirical research on teacher expectations justifies the following conclusions: (a) Self-fulfilling prophecies in the classroom do occur, but these effects are typically small, they do not accumulate greatly across perceivers or over time, and they may be more likely to dissipate than accumulate; (b) powerful self-fulfilling prophecies may selectively occur among students from stigmatized social groups; (c) whether self-fulfilling prophecies affect intelligence, and whether they in general do more harm than good, remains unclear, and (d) teacher expectations may predict student outcomes more because these expectations are accurate than because they are self-fulfilling. Implications for future research, the role of self-fulfilling prophecies in social problems, and perspectives emphasizing the power of erroneous beliefs to create social reality are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 692-702
Author(s):  
Karen B Schmaling ◽  
Jessica L Fales ◽  
Sterling McPherson

This study investigated significant others’ behavior associated with fatigue, pain, and mental health outcomes among 68 individuals with chronic fatigue (43% also had fibromyalgia) over 18 months. More negative significant others’ responses were associated with more pain, poorer physical and mental health, and more fatigue-related symptoms over time. More fibromyalgia tender points covaried with more solicitous significant others’ responses over time. Better mental health covaried with more distracting significant others’ responses over time. The results are discussed in terms of theoretical models of the role of perceived significant others’ responses on patient outcomes and recommendations for future research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maike E. Debus ◽  
Dana Unger ◽  
Cornelius J. König

Purpose Research on the relationship between job insecurity and job performance has thus far yielded inconclusive results. The purpose of this paper is to offer a more dynamic perspective on the effects of job insecurity on job performance. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from cognitive appraisal theory, research on critical life events, and stress reactions as well as more general theorizing around the role of time, this paper proposes that individuals’ job performance reactions to job insecurity will be dynamic over time. Findings Adopting a person-centered perspective, this paper suggests that there are seven subpopulations that differ in their intra-individual job performance change patterns over time. Research limitations/implications This paper presents potential predictors of subpopulation membership and presents an agenda for future research. Originality/value We contribute to the literature by introducing a dynamic perspective to the study of job performance in the context of job insecurity. Delineating a set of open questions that follow from the presented theoretical arguments, the authors also hope to stimulate future research in the context of job insecurity and job performance.


2020 ◽  
pp. 194855062094937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto González ◽  
Belén Alvarez ◽  
Jorge Manzi ◽  
Micaela Varela ◽  
Cristián Frigolett ◽  
...  

The present research demonstrates intergenerational influences on collective action participation, whereby parents’ past and current participation in collective action (descriptive family norms) shape their children’s participation in conventional and radical collective action via injunctive family norms (perception that parents value such participation). Two unique data sets were used: dyads of activist parents and their adult children (Study 1, N = 100 dyads) and student activists who participated in a yearlong, three-wave longitudinal study (Study 2, Ns wave 1 = 1,221, Wave 2 = 960, and Wave 3 = 917). Parents’ past and current participation directly and indirectly predicted children’s protest participation in Study 1, while Study 2 showed a similar pattern longitudinally: Perceptions of parents’ participation (descriptive family norm) and approval (injunctive family norm) predicted change in collective action participation over time. Together, results highlight family environment as a critical setting for the intergenerational transmission of protest.


2001 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 771-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony B Atkinson ◽  
Andrea Brandolini

This paper examines the role of secondary data-sets in empirical economic research, taking the field of income distribution as a case study. We illustrate problems faced by users of “secondary” statistics, showing how both cross-country comparisons and time-series analysis can depend sensitively on the choice of data. After describing the genealogy of secondary data-sets on income inequality, we consider the main methodological issues and discuss their implications for comparisons of income inequality across OECD countries and over time. The lessons to be drawn for the construction and use of secondary data-sets are summarized at the end of the paper.


1998 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Odess

This paper discusses the role of interaction in prehistory, and the ways archaeologists have traditionally approached its study. Using two distinct data sets—artifact style and material exchange—derived from analysis of 11 Dorset (late Paleoeskimo) collections from Frobisher Bay in the Canadian Arctic, it explores the strengths and weaknesses of these methodologically distinct investigatory techniques. Each appears inadequate when used separately and in isolation, but when used in tandem they demonstrate considerable potential to yield epistemologically grounded insights into prehistoric interaction and, perhaps, changing dimensions in the symbolic use of style over time.


2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajarshi Dasgupta

This paper reviews the research on shore platforms since 1980. Although some quantitative work on platforms was conducted in the late 1970s, it was principally in the 1980s that there was a change in the research paradigm, from qualitative observations to quantitative analyses. Researchers are now closer than ever before on agreeing that no single process can produce shore platforms in itself. The last decade has seen remarkable proliferation of research interests in shore platforms. Consequently, there are much-improved data sets on the processes acting on them. Even so, it has not yet been possible to establish definitively the precise role of each individual process in shore platform evolution. Laboratory simulation of platform morphodynamics has received much less attention compared to field-based studies. There are also some other aspects, such as threshold determination, geological control, inheritance, application of geo-informatics and focus on low-energy and tropical coasts, that have received limited attention. These areas are avenues for future research. To enable a better understanding of platform dynamics in a particular area, fieldwork, laboratory simulation and numerical modelling should be carried out simultaneously. Shore platforms are a global feature, and their study should be undertaken in all parts of the world through increased collaborative work among researchers.


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