Hypertemporal Imaging of NYC Grid Dynamics

Hypertemporal visible imaging of an urban lightscape can reveal the phase of the electrical grid granular to individual housing units. In contrast to in-situ monitoring or metering, this method offers broad, persistent, real-time, and non-permissive coverage through a single camera sited at an urban vantage point. Rapid changes in the phase of individual housing units signal changes in load (e.g., appliances turning on and off), while slower building- or neighborhood-level changes can indicate the health of distribution transformers. We demonstrate the concept by observing the 120 Hz flicker of lights across a NYC skyline. A liquid crystal shutter driven at 119.75 Hz down-converts the flicker to 0.25 Hz, which is imaged at a 4 Hz cadence by an inexpensive CCD camera; the grid phase of each source is determined by analysis of its sinusoidal light curve over an imaging "burst" of some 25 seconds. Analysis of bursts taken at ~15 minute cadence over several hours demonstrates both the stability and variation of phases of halogen, incandescent, and some fluorescent lights. Correlation of such results with ground-truth data will validate a method that could be applied to better monitor electricity consumption and distribution in both developed and developing cities.Comment: This paper uses astronomical techniques applied to the study of urban lights. This research is reproducible but the data access is restricted. A Github repository contains all code supporting this research as well as additional material: https://github.com/fedhere/detect12

Relations between theory of mind and executive function in middle childhood: A short-term longitudinal study

Studies with preschool children have shown significant links between children's executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM), but few studies have examined these associations in primary school children. To address this gap, we designed a three wave cross-lagged longitudinal study in which we followed a group of 113 children (61 boys) across three time points from age 9.5-10.5 years (mean age at Time 1 = 1123 months, SD = 4.18; mean age at Time 2 = 118.3 months, SD = 4.15; mean age at Time 3 = 124.7 months, SD = 4.06). At each time point, we measured EF (working memory and inhibitory control), ToM, and language. Our analyses showed (a) moderate rank-order stability of individual differences in both EF and ToM and (b) growth in ToM task performance across time. Cross-lagged longitudinal analyses revealed an asymmetric developmental relation between ToM and working memory. Early working memory predicted later ToM but not vice versa. Our results suggest a specific role for working memory in the ongoing development of ToM in middle childhood

Translating child development research into practice: Can teachers foster children's theory of mind in primary school?

Background: Translating research findings into practice should be one of the objectives of developmental psychology. Recently, research demonstrated the existence of individual differences in theory of mind (ToM) during middle childhood that are crucial for children's academic and social adjustment. Aims: This study aims to transfer the results of recent experimental studies on ToM interventions into primary‐school teachers’ practices. It examines whether a ToM training programme, based on conversations about mental states, can be effective under real‐world school conditions and if it can be translated in such a way that it becomes suitable for primary‐school teachers. Sample: Seventy‐two 8‐ to 9‐year‐old children took part in the study. A total of four classes were recruited and randomly assigned to the experimental (34 children, 18 boys) or to the control condition (38 children, 18 boys). Methods: The ToM group and the control group were matched at pre‐test for age, ToM, socio‐economic background, verbal ability, working memory, and planning. Teachers were trained in four teacher‐training sessions; the classroom‐training programme was delivered by teachers in four sessions (each 50 min long). Children were assessed before the intervention, after the end of the programme, and 2 months later. Results: The ToM group improved ToM skills significantly more than the control group both in the short and in the long term. Conclusions: Teachers can successfully promote their pupils’ ToM development during their regular teaching hours. Results are discussed in the light of the importance of ToM promotion for children's school adjustment

Conversations about mental states and theory of mind development in middle childhood: A training study

Despite 30 years of productive research on theory of mind (ToM), we still know relatively little about variables that influence ToM development during middle childhood. Recent experimental studies have shown that conversations about the mind affect ToM abilities, but they have not explored the mechanisms underlying this developmental effect. In the current study, we examined two potential mechanisms through which conversations about mental states are likely to influence ToM: an increased frequency of references to mental states when explaining behavior and an increased accuracy of mental-state attributions. To this aim, we conducted a training study in which 101 children were assigned to either an intervention condition or a control condition. The conversation-based intervention was made up of four sessions scheduled over 2 weeks. Children completed a battery of assessments before and after the intervention as well as 2 months later. The groups were equivalent at Time 1 (T1) for age, family affluence, vocabulary, and executive functions. The ToM group showed an improvement in ToM skills (as evaluated on both the practiced tasks and a transfer task). Mediation analyses demonstrated that the accuracy of mental-state attributions, but not the mere frequency of mental-state references, mediated the positive effect of conversations about the mind on ToM development. Our results indicate that conversational experience can enhance mental-state reasoning not by simply drawing children’s attention to mental states but rather by scaffolding a mature understanding of social situations

Chasing Shadows in the Outer Solar System

The characteristics of the populations of objects that inhabit the outer solar system carry the fingerprint of the processes that governed the formation and evolution of the solar system. Occultation surveys push the limit of observation into the very small and distant outer solar system objects, allowing us to set constraints on the structure of the Kuiper belt, Scattered disk and Sedna populations. I collected, reduced, and analyzed vast datasets looking for occultations of stars by outer solar system objects, both working with the Taiwanese American Occultation Survey (TAOS) collaboration and leading the MMT/Megacam occultation effort. Having found no such events in my data, I was able to place upper limits on the Kuiper belt, scattered disk and Sedna population. These limits and their derivation are described here

Training for generalization in theory of mind: A study with older adults

Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability to attribute independent mental states to self and others in order to explain and predict social behavior. Recent research in this area has shown a decline in ToM abilities associated with normal aging that is of a moderate magnitude or greater. Very few studies have investigated whether it is possible to improve older adults' ToM abilities. The present study was designed to address this gap in the literature by evaluating the impact of a ToM training on practiced and transfer tasks. We provided older adults with a variety of activities designed to facilitate the generalization of benefits to other ToM-demanding tasks. Participants were 63 healthy older adults, native Italian speakers (M-age = 71.44, SD = 5.24, age range: 63-81 years). Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the ToM training (age range: 63-81 years) and the physical-conversation training (age range: 64-81 years). Training effects were measured using the strange stories (practiced task) and the animation task (transfer task). Results revealed the efficacy of the training in producing improvements on practiced but also on transfer tasks