scholarly journals Systematic and Random Sources of Variability in Perceptual Decision-Making: Comment on Ratcliff, Voskuilen, and McKoon (2018)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan J. Evans ◽  
Gabriel Tillman ◽  
Eric-Jan Wagenmakers
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
External Noise ◽  
Cognitive Models ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Perceptual Decision Making ◽  
Choice Decision ◽  
Random Variability ◽  
General Existence ◽  
Item Effects

A key assumption of models of human cognition is that there is variability in information processing. Evidence accumulation models (EAMs) commonly assume two broad variabilities in information processing: within-trial variability, which is thought to reflect moment-to-moment fluctuations in perceptual processes, and between-trial variability, which is thought to reflect variability in slower-changing processes like attention, or systematic variability between the stimuli on different trials. Recently, Ratcliff, Voskuilen, and McKoon (2018) claimed to “provide direct evidence that external noise is, in fact, required to explain the data from five simple two-choice decision tasks” (p. 33), suggesting that at least some portion of the between-trial variability in information processing is due to “noise”. However, we argue that Ratcliff et al. (2018) failed to distinguish between two different potential sources of between-trial variability: random (i.e., “external noise”) and systematic (e.g., item effects). Contrary to the claims of Ratcliff et al. (2018), we show that “external noise” is not required to explain their findings, as the same trends of data can be produced when only item effects are present. Furthermore, we contend that the concept of “noise” within cognitive models merely serves as a convenience parameter for sources of variability that we know exist, but are unable to account for. Therefore, we question the usefulness of experiments aimed at testing the general existence of “random” variability, and instead suggest that future research should attempt to replace the random variability terms within cognitive models with actual explanations of the process.

scholarly journals Neo-mechanistic explanatory integration for cognitive science: the problem of reduction remains

Sofia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 124-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Azevedo Leite
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Cognitive Models ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Cognitive Sciences ◽  
Significant Challenge ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Cognitive Theories ◽  
Multi Level

One of the central aims of the neo-mechanistic framework for the neural and cognitive sciences is to construct a pluralistic integration of scientific explanations, allowing for a weak explanatory autonomy of higher-level sciences, such as cognitive science. This integration involves understanding human cognition as information processing occurring in multi-level human neuro-cognitive mechanisms, explained by multi-level neuro-cognitive models. Strong explanatory neuro-cognitive reduction, however, poses a significant challenge to this pluralist ambition and the weak autonomy of cognitive science derived therefrom. Based on research in current molecular and cellular neuroscience, the framework holds that the best strategy for integrating human neuro-cognitive theories is through direct reductive explanations based on molecular and cellular neural processes. It is my aim to investigate whether the neo-mechanistic framework can meet the challenge. I argue that leading neo-mechanists offer some significant replies; however, they are not able yet to completely remove strong explanatory reductionism from their own framework.

scholarly journals ‘Pure’ Constructional Apraxia—A Cognitive Analysis of a Single Case

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Trojano ◽  
Dario Grossi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Cognitive Models ◽  
Motor Output ◽  
Cognitive Analysis ◽  
Cerebral Lesions ◽  
Recent Information ◽  
Geometric Figures ◽  
Constructional Apraxia

We report on a patient affected by selective drawing disabilities. The patient could correctly reproduce and draw simple geometric figures on request, but when he tried to reproduce more complex drawings or to draw common objects he performed very poorly. To identify the cognitive impairment in this patient, we adopted two test batteries based on recent information-processing models of drawing. Results showed that the patient’s drawing disabilities were independent of visuo-perceptual and executive impairments. These findings support recent cognitive models of drawing abilities: some intermediate stages of drawing exist at which information is processed to prepare and guide motor output, and which may be selectively disrupted after discrete cerebral lesions.

Making one-sided exercise decisions: The influence of exercise-related cognitive errors

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (9) ◽  
pp. 1240-1249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean R Locke ◽  
Lawrence R Brawley
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cognitive Errors ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Cognitive Error ◽  
Biased Processing

Exercise-related cognitive errors reflect biased processing of exercise-relevant information. The purpose of this study was to examine whether differences existed between individuals reporting low and high exercise-related cognitive errors on information processed about a relevant exercise decision-making situation. In all, 138 adults completed an online questionnaire. The high exercise-related cognitive error group primarily focused on negative content about the situation compared to the low exercise-related cognitive error group who focused on both positive and negative content. The high exercise-related cognitive error group displayed biased processing of exercise information, as suggested by the cognitive errors model. Future research should examine whether biasing information processing caused by exercise-related cognitive errors can be modified and attenuated.

Understanding the Reasons for Gender Difference in Online Information Processing of Consumers

2019 ◽  
pp. 230-252
Author(s):  
Ceyda Tanrikulu
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Consumer Behavior ◽  
Gender Difference ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Online Consumer Behavior ◽  
Online Consumer

This chapter aims to provide proposals about understanding the gender difference in online information processing that have been developed based on the theories and the findings of the current research. Major findings in the literature indicate the gender difference in online information processing. This chapter can be used to help gain insight about the online consumer behavior based on gender approach by presenting theoretical perspective, providing basis for future research, enrich the understanding about gender differences in online information processing, and to give suggestion for implications requiring strategic decisions.

Frameworks and Models in Decision-Making and Judgment in Child Welfare and Protection

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-26
Author(s):  
Rami Benbenishty ◽  
John D. Fluke
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
False Negative ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Specificity And Sensitivity ◽  
Predictive Risk

This chapter presents the basic concepts, theoretical perspectives, and areas of scholarship that bear on decisions in child welfare—making choices in decision environments characterized by high levels of uncertainty. The authors distinguish between normative models that predict what decision-makers ought to choose when faced with alternatives and descriptive models that describe how they tend to make these choices in real life. The chapter reviews those challenges that may be especially relevant in the complex context of child welfare and protection. One way in which decision-makers overcome task complexities and limitations in human information processing (bounded rationality) is by using heuristics to navigate complex tasks. The chapter reviews strategies to correct some limitations in judgment. The authors examine the relationships between workers’ predictions of what would be the outcomes of the case and the actual outcomes and describe two types of error (false positive and false negative) and the related concepts of specificity and sensitivity. These issues are followed by a description of the Lens Model and some of its implications for child welfare decision-making, including predictive risk modeling and studies on information processing models. The final section presents current theoretical models in child welfare decision-making and describes Decision-Making Ecology (DME) and Judgments and Decision Processes in Context (JUDPiC). The chapter concludes with suggestions for future research on child welfare decision-making that could contribute to our conceptual understanding and have practical utility as well.

Information management in lean office deployment contexts

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1175-1206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo de Castro Freitas ◽  
Maria do Carmo Duarte Freitas
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Information Management ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Quality Information ◽  
Information Flows ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Lean office covers the improvement of administrative processes and information flows. In offices, one of the essential challenges is to coordinate the development of information management capabilities. Thus, this paper aims to identify the key factors of information management in lean office deployment contexts. Design/methodology/approach By adopting a qualitative approach, it consists of theoretical research that applies grounded theory's coding technique and exploits 27 scientific studies on lean office published in the past 20 years. Findings It identifies five key factors for managing information into an organizational structure that optimizes information flow, such as “information-seeking,” “access to information,” “information quality,” “information processing” and “use of information and communication technology”. Research limitations/implications Data analysis was restricted in scientific research regarding lean office deployment. Therefore, the accuracy of the concepts and categories of information management proposed in this paper can be adjusted and validated in future research, thus deepening the discussion of its findings. Practical implications It highlights issues for managing information in contemporary organizations such as failures in information retrieval, restrictions on access to information, lack of quality information, inadequate information processing criteria and inefficiency of information systems infrastructure. Originality/value It analyzes the lean office deployment from the theoretical framework of information management. Thus, it differs from other studies in this field because it is not limited to the operational aspects of lean management. Nevertheless, it shows that lean office reconfigures information flows and continually improves organizations’ strategic management.

A De-Construction of Wireless Device Usage

2011 ◽  
pp. 194-204
Author(s):  
Mary R. Lind
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Communicative Action ◽  
User Interaction ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Wireless Devices ◽  
Information Richness ◽  
Wireless Device

In this article, wireless technology use is addressed with a focus on the factors that underlie wireless interaction. A de-construction of the information processing theories of user/technology interaction is presented. While commercial and useful applications of wireless devices are numerous, wireless interaction is emerging as a means of social interaction—an extension of the user’s personal image—and as an object of amusement and play. The technology/user interaction theories that have driven the discussions of computer assisted communication media are information richness, communicative action, and social influence modeling. This article will extend this theoretical view of wireless devices by using flow theory to address elements of fun, control, and focus. Then, these technology/user interaction theories are used with respect to wireless devices to propose areas for future research.

scholarly journals Entropy and the Brain: An Overview

Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soheil Keshmiri
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Conscious Experience ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Fundamental Property ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Processing Capacity ◽  
Information Processing Capacity ◽  
Ageing Brain ◽  
The Brain

Entropy is a powerful tool for quantification of the brain function and its information processing capacity. This is evident in its broad domain of applications that range from functional interactivity between the brain regions to quantification of the state of consciousness. A number of previous reviews summarized the use of entropic measures in neuroscience. However, these studies either focused on the overall use of nonlinear analytical methodologies for quantification of the brain activity or their contents pertained to a particular area of neuroscientific research. The present study aims at complementing these previous reviews in two ways. First, by covering the literature that specifically makes use of entropy for studying the brain function. Second, by highlighting the three fields of research in which the use of entropy has yielded highly promising results: the (altered) state of consciousness, the ageing brain, and the quantification of the brain networks’ information processing. In so doing, the present overview identifies that the use of entropic measures for the study of consciousness and its (altered) states led the field to substantially advance the previous findings. Moreover, it realizes that the use of these measures for the study of the ageing brain resulted in significant insights on various ways that the process of ageing may affect the dynamics and information processing capacity of the brain. It further reveals that their utilization for analysis of the brain regional interactivity formed a bridge between the previous two research areas, thereby providing further evidence in support of their results. It concludes by highlighting some potential considerations that may help future research to refine the use of entropic measures for the study of brain complexity and its function. The present study helps realize that (despite their seemingly differing lines of inquiry) the study of consciousness, the ageing brain, and the brain networks’ information processing are highly interrelated. Specifically, it identifies that the complexity, as quantified by entropy, is a fundamental property of conscious experience, which also plays a vital role in the brain’s capacity for adaptation and therefore whose loss by ageing constitutes a basis for diseases and disorders. Interestingly, these two perspectives neatly come together through the association of entropy and the brain capacity for information processing.

Cognitive Approaches to Understanding Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Taylor ◽  
Jonathan S. Abramowitz ◽  
Dean McKay ◽  
Carrie Cuttler
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Body Dysmorphic Disorder ◽  
Cognitive Models ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Conceptual Problems ◽  
Cognitive Approaches

This chapter focuses on cognitive models of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders. It begins with a historical perspective, in which the antecedents of cognitive models are described. Contemporary cognitive models are then reviewed, predictions derived from the models are identified, and empirical evidence for these predictions is summarized. This is followed by a review of cognitive models of four OC-related disorders: hoarding, hypochondriasis, body dysmorphic disorder, and trichotillomania. Finally, the conceptual problems with cognitive models of OCD and related disorders are identified, suggestions for improvements to the models are made, and potentially fruitful directions for future research are proposed.

scholarly journals The Downsides of Cognitive Enhancement

2020 ◽  
pp. 107385842094597
Author(s):  
Lorenza S. Colzato ◽  
Bernhard Hommel ◽  
Christian Beste
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Scientific Investigation ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Nootropic Drugs ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
The Public ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Stimulation Method ◽  
Exclusive Focus

Cognitive enhancement is becoming progressively popular as a subject of scientific investigation and by the public, although possible adverse effects are not sufficiently understood. We call for cognitive enhancement to build on more specific, mechanistic theories given that a-theoretical approaches to cognitive enhancement are both a cause and a consequence of a strong, if not exclusive focus on the benefits of procedures suited to enhance human cognition. We focus on downsides of cognitive enhancement and suggest that every attempt to enhance human cognition needs to deal with two basic principles: the neuro-competition principle and the nonlinearity principle. We discuss the possibility of both principles in light of recent attempts to improve human cognition by means of transcranial direct current stimulation, a well-established brain stimulation method, and clinically relevant nootropic drugs. We propose that much stronger emphasis on mechanistic theorizing is necessary in guiding future research on both the upsides and the downsides of cognitive enhancement.

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