Evolutionary Psychology

Evolutionary psychology (EP) is an approach to the study of the mind that is founded on Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. It assumes that our mental abilities, emotions and preferences are adapted specifically for solving problems of survival and reproduction in humanity’s ancestral environment, and derives testable predictions from this assumption. This has important implications for our understanding of the conditions for human well-being

Tamper-proof secret image-sharing scheme for identifying cheated secret keys and shared images

[[abstract]]A (t,n) secret image-sharing scheme shares a secret image to n participants, and the t users recover the image. During the recovery procedure of a conventional secret image-sharing scheme, cheaters may use counterfeit secret keys or modified shared images to cheat other users’ secret keys and shared images. A cheated secret key or shared image leads to an incorrect secret image. Unfortunately, the cheater cannot be identified. We present an exponent and modulus-based scheme to provide a tamper-proof secret image-sharing scheme for identifying cheaters on secret keys or shared images. The proposed scheme allows users to securely select their secret key. This assignment can be performed over networks. Modulus results of each shared image is calculated to recognize cheaters of a shared image. Experimental results indicate that the proposed scheme is excellent at identifying cheated secret keys and shared images.[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]紙本[[booktype]]電子

BitFed, A Centralized Cryptocurrency with Distributed Miners

Bitcoin is a decentralized peer-to-peer electronic currency wherein all the payments are sent from one transactor to another directly [1]. Financial institutions are not present in the protocol, hence, there are lower processing fees. The distributed nature provides resilience to Bitcoin transactions, and it operates on mathematical principles and cryptographic proofs. As per Bitcoin generation algorithm, the number of bitcoins in existence will never surpass 21 million, which will lead to deflation and encourage hoarding. In this project, we have implemented a Bitcoin-like currency in order to mitigate the issue of deflation [7]. The idea for our protocol is based on the US Federal reserve, which is the gatekeeper of the US economy and promotes the stability of prices by preserving the purchasing power of dollar over a long period of time. Our approach to fix the Bitcoin deflation issue is by creating BitFed, a centralized authority that decides the rate of issuance of bitcoins each day while otherwise maintaining the decentralized nature of protocol. Specifically, the BitFed plays no role in verifying transactions. In order to prove that this approach is viable, we have developed a simulator in Java that emulates the Bitcoin protocol with the BitFed and tested it by introducing cheaters in the network. The system has no forks when majority of the miners are good (more than 51 percent). After this we see several forks in the system, since the network is controlled by cheaters

A CHEATER-DETECTION MODULE? DUBIOUS INTERPRETATIONS OF THE WASON SELECTION TASK AND LOGIC

People usually fail the Wason selection task, choosing P and Q cases, when attempting to validate descriptive rules having the form “If P, then Q.” Yet they solve it, selecting P and not-Q cases, when validating deontic rules of the form “If P, then must Q.” The field of evolutionary psychology has overwhelmingly interpreted deontic versions of the selection task in terms of a naturally-selected, domain-specific social-contract or cheating algorithm. This work has done much to promote evolutionary psychology as an alternative to a mindblind sociobiology that ignores the computational structure of cognitive mechanisms in producing people's behaviors. Nevertheless, evolution-minded researchers outside cognitive psychology know little of the ample literature challenging this interpretation and uncritically cite the “cheater-detection module” as a key insight into human cognition. Although a priori arguments for a specially evolved cheater-detection module are plausible, the selection task provides no direct evidence for such a module

Trends in testing: highlights of a global survey

B

A Discussion on Empirical Micro-Bases of Hayek’s Methodological Individualism

There are essential differences in ‘methodological individualism(MI)’ between neoclassic economics and Hayek’s theory. On basis of The Sensory Order, this paper shows relations between Hayek’s MI and it, the micro-bases of Hayek’s MI from contemporarily empirical disciplines, and some viewpoints verified by succeeding ones; then points out some questions that need to be answered henceforth between Hayek’s theory and interdisciplinary studies in modern economics. It is concluded that Hayek’s MI has its empirical micro-bases, and that his interdisciplinary exploration in the youth can help advance modern economics.methodological individualism; Hayek; the sensory order; empirical micro-bases; interdisciplinary research in economics