scholarly journals Reconstructing the Einstellung effect

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Binz ◽  
Eric Schulz

The Einstellung effect was first described by Abraham Luchins in his doctoral thesis published in 1942. The effect occurs when a repeated solution to old problems is applied to a new problem even though a more appropriate response is available. In Luchins' so-called water jar task, participants had to measure a specific amount of water using three jars of different capacities. Luchins found that subjects kept using methods they had applied in previous trials, even if a more efficient solution for the current trial was available: an Einstellung effect. Moreover, Luchins studied the different conditions that could possibly mediate this effect, including telling participants to pay more attention, changing the number of tasks, alternating between different types of tasks, as well as putting participants under time pressure. In the current work, we reconstruct and reanalyze the data of the various experimental conditions published in Luchins' thesis. We furthermore show that a model of resource-rational decision-making can explain all of the observed effects. This model assumes that people transform prior preferences into a posterior policy to maximize rewards under time constraints. Taken together, our reconstructive and modeling results put the Einstellung effect under the lens of modern-day psychology and show how resource-rational models can explain effects that have historically been seen as deficiencies of human problem-solving.

Author(s):  
Auður Anna Jónsdóttir ◽  
Ziho Kang ◽  
Tianchen Sun ◽  
Saptarshi Mandal ◽  
Ji-Eun Kim

Objective The goal of this study is to model the effect of language use and time pressure on English as a first language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL) students by measuring their eye movements in an on-screen, self-directed learning environment. Background Online learning is becoming integrated into learners’ daily lives due to the flexibility in scheduling and location that it offers. However, in many cases, the online learners often have no interaction with one another or their instructors, making it difficult to determine how the learners are reading the materials and whether they are learning effectively. Furthermore, online learning may pose challenges to those who face language barriers or are under time pressure. Method The effects of two factors, language use (EFL vs. ESL) and time constraints (high vs. low time pressure), were investigated during the presentation of online materials. The effects were analyzed based on eye movement measures (eye fixation rate—the total number of eye fixations divided by the task duration and gaze entropy) and behavioral measures (correct rate and task completion time). Results The results show that the ESL students had higher eye fixation rates and longer task completion times than the EFL students. Moreover, high time pressure resulted in high fixation rates, short task completion time, low correct rates, and high gaze entropy. Conclusion and Application The results suggest the possibility of using unobtrusive eye movement measures to develop ways to better assist those who struggle with learning in the online environment.


1983 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 690-694
Author(s):  
Nancy M. Morris ◽  
William B. Rouse

The question of what the operator of a dynamic system needs to know was investigated in an experiment using PLANT, a generic simulation of a process. Knowledge of PLANT was manipulated via different types of instructions, so that four different groups were created: 1) Minimal instructions only; 2) Minimal instructions + guidelines for operation (Procedures); 3) Minimal instructions + dynamic relationships (Principles); 4) Minimal instructions + Procedures + Principles. Subjects then controlled PLANT in a variety of familiar and unfamiliar situations. Despite the fact that these manipulations resulted in differences in subjects' knowledge as assessed via a written test at the end of the experiment, instructions had no effect upon achievement of the primary goal of production; however, those groups receiving Procedures controlled the system in a more stable manner. Principles had no apparent effect upon subjects' performance. There was no difference between groups in diagnosis of unfamiliar events.


1992 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Vaughn ◽  
Jeanne Shay Schumm ◽  
Jane Gordon

This research evaluated the efficacy of handwriting, letter tiles, and computer-based instruction on the early spelling acquisition of normal achieving (NLD) and learning disabled (LD) elementary students. The study replicated and extended the Cunningham and Stanovich (1990) study. Forty-eight primary-grade students (24 non-learning disabled; 24 learning disabled) received spelling training under three experimental conditions that involved different types of instructional activity: writing, sorting letter tiles, or typing on the computer. Results indicated no significant differences between the LD and NLD groups on words spelled correctly for any of the three conditions. Since the number of spelling words learned was low across conditions and groups, the number of correctly learned bigrams was examined. No within-group differences emerged for condition (writing, tile, computer); however, significant differences between the groups were found on number of bigrams learned for writing, tile, and computer, with the NLD group outperforming the LD group on all three conditions. Statistically significant time effects for bigrams were also noted for all three conditions. Unlike the Cunningham and Stanovich (1990) study, results did not replicate the superiority of the handwriting condition for the NLD group, nor was the handwriting condition found to be significantly more effective for the LD group.


Reactions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-46
Author(s):  
Léa Vilcocq ◽  
Agnès Crepet ◽  
Patrick Jame ◽  
Florbela Carvalheiro ◽  
Luis C. Duarte

Three different types of biomass sourced from forestry waste (eucalyptus residues), agricultural waste (wheat straw), and energy crop (miscanthus) were used as starting materials to produce hemicellulosic sugars, furans (furfural and hydroxymethylfurfural), and oligosaccharides. A two-step hybrid process was implemented; biomass was first autohydrolysed without any additive to extract hemicelluloses and dissolve it in water. Then, the hydrolysate was treated with a solid acid catalyst, TiO2-WOx, in order to achieve hydrolysis and produce monomeric sugars and furans. This article investigates the role of the biomass type, autohydrolysis experimental conditions, polymerisation degree and composition of hemicelluloses on the performance of the process coupling autohydrolysis and catalytic hydrolysis. The highest global yields of both oligosaccharides and monomeric sugars were obtained from Eucalyptus (37% and 18%, respectively).


1973 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. C. Thiel ◽  
Carol L. Cousins ◽  
D. R. Westgarth ◽  
F. K. Neave

SummaryLarge differences in new infection rates occurred with half-udder milking machines in which one half of the cluster operated substantially free from vacuum fluctuations while the other half was subjected to various combinations of different types of fluctuation in vacuum. To increase the rate of new infection all teats were contaminated before and after each milking by immersion in a suspension of Streptococcus agalactiae and Str. dysgalactiae. A series of short-duration trials indicated that neither irregular nor cyclic fluctuations in vacuum acting alone were able to increase new infection rate. However, either the Nyhan and Cowhig irregular fluctuation, or a variant of it in combination with cyclic fluctuations in vacuum, was able to do so under the particular experimental conditions used.


KronoScope ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-157
Author(s):  
Mats Edenius ◽  
Hans Rämö

AbstractBased on extensive studies on the new working conditions for senior managers in a leading telecommunication company, and a previously unstudied form of mobile management practice by the use of mobile handheld smartphones (handling calls, data, emails, sms), this paper focuses on unexpected time-saving limitations and other constraints that result from the implementation and internalization of the mobile devices. Aspects of independence that were initially anticipated from the use of mobile smartphones are increasingly offset, not only by the well-known time pressure of swiftly filtering, replying and being online, but also by some less known and unexpected limiting and constraining factors of temporal freedom.


2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graziella Turdean ◽  
Ionel Catalin Popescu ◽  
Liviu Oniciu

The purpose of this study is a comparative presentation of the different types of the amperometric biosensors based on cholinesterases for the determination of organophosphorous pesticides using the bibliographical information of the last 20 years. The study contains the presentation of the structure and properties of the cholinesterases, the main reactions implied in the functioning of the amperometric biosensors, their applications and factors influencing the detection or (and) the inhibition process. The detection limit of the mono- or bi-enzymatic amperometric biosensors are relatively higher than those corresponding with the immunobiosensors or with gas and liquid chromatography, which are still considered as the reference methods. As shown, for many other amperometric biosensors, the Michaelis–Menten's kinetic treatment used for reactions catalyzed by free enzymes can be extended to describe the response of amperometric biosensors based on immobilized cholinesterases. The positive compromise between advantages and drawbacks, as well as the "soft" experimental conditions, point to the amperometric monoenzymatic bioelectrode, as an attractive analytical tool for the detection of organophosphorous pesticides.Key words: amperometric biosensor, acetylcholinesterase, organophosphorous pesticides, kinetic, inhibition.


2003 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 305-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuji Fujita ◽  
Kenichi Matsuoka ◽  
Hideo Maeno ◽  
Teruo Furukawa

AbstractWe studied the scattering of radio waves off strata within the ice sheet at Mizuho station, Antarctica, to determine the most plausible scattering mechanisms at this location. We measured the effects of birefringence and anisotropic scattering boundaries on the return signal using the following set of experimental conditions: (1) co-polarization and cross-polarization antenna arrangements, (2) all orientations of the antenna system, (3) 60 and 179 MHz frequencies, and (4) pulse lengths of 150–1000 ns. Analyses of the propagated radio waves suggested that the signal is dominated by anisotropic scatter-ingboundaries at 179 MHz, but effects from birefringence also occurred. At depths of 250– 750 m, the scattering was stronger when the polarization plane was along the flowline. In contrast, at depths of about 900–1500 m, scattering was stronger when the polarization plane was perpendicular to the flowline. We suggest that the scattering below about 250 m is related to a layered ice stratum of crystal-orientation fabrics with different types or different cluster strengths. Although our study was at a single site, similar remote measurements over wider regions should provide valuable information about the physical structure of this vast ice sheet.


2010 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregor Betz

AbstractFrank Knight (1921) famously distinguished the epistemic modes of certainty, risk, and uncertainty in order to characterize situations where deterministic, probabilistic or possibilistic foreknowledge is available. Because our probabilistic knowledge is limited, i.e. because many systems, e.g. the global climate, cannot be described and predicted probabilistically in a reliable way, Knight’s third category, possibilistic foreknowledge, is not simply swept by the probabilistic mode. This raises the question how to justify possibilistic predictions-including the identification of the worst case. The development of such a modal methodology is particularly vital with respect to predictions of climate change. I show that a methodological dilemma emerges when possibilistic predictions are framed in traditional terms and argue that a more nuanced conceptual framework, distinguishing different types of possibility, should be used in order to convey our uncertain knowledge about the future. The new conceptual scheme, however, questions the applicability of standard rules of rational decision-making, thus generating new challenges.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 902-911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Venn ◽  
Jane Dixon ◽  
Cathy Banwell ◽  
Lyndall Strazdins

AbstractObjectiveTo examine socio-economic status (SES) and time-related factors associated with less healthy food purchases in Australia.DesignData were from the 2009/10 Household Expenditure Survey (HES) conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Regression analysis was used to examine the associations between the proportion of the household food budget spent on various food types (processed and unprocessed foods, foods purchased from takeaways and restaurants) and SES and time constraint variables.SettingAustralia, 2009–2010.SubjectsNationally representative sample of Australian households.ResultsHousehold income seems to be the most important correlate with food expenditure patterns once other SES indicators are controlled for. Time constraints appear to explain some, but not all, of the adjusted SES gradients in food expenditure. Comparing home food consumption categories (processed and unprocessed foods) with foods purchased away from home (takeaway and restaurant foods) shows that wealthier, more highly educated and least disadvantaged households spend relatively less of their total food budget on processed and unprocessed foods prepared at home and more on foods purchased away from home at restaurants.ConclusionsSimple SES gradients in dietary behaviour are influenced by correlations between different SES indicators and between SES and time constraints. Examining these factors separately obscures some of the possible causal effects of disadvantage on healthy eating. When formulating policy responses to unhealthy diets, policy makers should consider alternative sources of disadvantage, including time pressure.


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