363,844 research outputs found

    Autoplan: A self-processing network model for an extended blocks world planning environment

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    Self-processing network models (neural/connectionist models, marker passing/message passing networks, etc.) are currently undergoing intense investigation for a variety of information processing applications. These models are potentially very powerful in that they support a large amount of explicit parallel processing, and they cleanly integrate high level and low level information processing. However they are currently limited by a lack of understanding of how to apply them effectively in many application areas. The formulation of self-processing network methods for dynamic, reactive planning is studied. The long-term goal is to formulate robust, computationally effective information processing methods for the distributed control of semiautonomous exploration systems, e.g., the Mars Rover. The current research effort is focusing on hierarchical plan generation, execution and revision through local operations in an extended blocks world environment. This scenario involves many challenging features that would be encountered in a real planning and control environment: multiple simultaneous goals, parallel as well as sequential action execution, action sequencing determined not only by goals and their interactions but also by limited resources (e.g., three tasks, two acting agents), need to interpret unanticipated events and react appropriately through replanning, etc

    Adolescent Perceptions and Beliefs of Proactive-Reactive Aggression Explored Through the Social Information Processing Model of Aggression.

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    Human aggression is a frequently studied aspect of human behavior. Although great strides have been made not one single theory can fully explain the complexity of aggression. The Social Information Processing model of aggression (Crick and Dodge, 1994) has served as a useful tool to examine differences amongst individuals. This model considers mechanisms through which every individual processes social information, ultimately leading towards behavior. This study examined adolescent aggression through the Social Information Processing model. Participants consisted of 149 male and female students from a large urban school district in southwestern United States. Each participant was assessed with measures of attribution intent, quality of knowledge structures, and reactive-proactive aggression. Correlational analyses revealed significant correlations between attribution intent and aggression, attribution intent and hostile knowledge structures, and attribution intent and proactive aggression. Between group analyses revealed a significant difference between genders on the proactive subscale of aggression only. Between group comparisons failed to reveal gender differences of attribution intent, quality of knowledge structures, proactive-reactive aggression combined, and reactive aggression. Between group comparisons also failed to reveal grade level differences between middle and high school participants on attribution intent, quality of knowledge structures, aggression proactive-reactive combined, proactive subscale and reactive subscale of aggression. Results from this study are consistent with pervious research linking attribution intent and aggression. Findings from this study also support findings that the quality of ones knowledge structures may greatly influence social information processing. Contrary to previous studies, this study failed to support the belief that reactive aggression is specificity related to attribution intent. This study failed to reveal a significant correlation between attribution intent and the reactive aggression subtype. Gender analyses from this study revealed differences between males and females on the proactive subscale of aggression only. Although this study is consistent with previous studies regarding attribution intent and the impact knowledge structures play during information processing, there does remain findings which require further examination. Findings from this study are in contradiction with previous studies regarding attribution intent and reactive aggression. Gender differences may also be examined in future studies due to the ambiguous findings in this study.\u2

    Autonomic care platform for optimizing query performance

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    Background: As the amount of information in electronic health care systems increases, data operations get more complicated and time-consuming. Intensive Care platforms require a timely processing of data retrievals to guarantee the continuous display of recent data of patients. Physicians and nurses rely on this data for their decision making. Manual optimization of query executions has become difficult to handle due to the increased amount of queries across multiple sources. Hence, a more automated management is necessary to increase the performance of database queries. The autonomic computing paradigm promises an approach in which the system adapts itself and acts as self-managing entity, thereby limiting human interventions and taking actions. Despite the usage of autonomic control loops in network and software systems, this approach has not been applied so far for health information systems. Methods: We extend the COSARA architecture, an infection surveillance and antibiotic management service platform for the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), with self-managed components to increase the performance of data retrievals. We used real-life ICU COSARA queries to analyse slow performance and measure the impact of optimizations. Each day more than 2 million COSARA queries are executed. Three control loops, which monitor the executions and take action, have been proposed: reactive, deliberative and reflective control loops. We focus on improvements of the execution time of microbiology queries directly related to the visual displays of patients' data on the bedside screens. Results: The results show that autonomic control loops are beneficial for the optimizations in the data executions in the ICU. The application of reactive control loop results in a reduction of 8.61% of the average execution time of microbiology results. The combined application of the reactive and deliberative control loop results in an average query time reduction of 10.92% and the combination of reactive, deliberative and reflective control loops provides a reduction of 13.04%. Conclusions: We found that by controlled reduction of queries' executions the performance for the end-user can be improved. The implementation of autonomic control loops in an existing health platform, COSARA, has a positive effect on the timely data visualization for the physician and nurse

    A process-specific approach in the study of normal aging deficits in cognitive control: What deteriorates with age?

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    Bearing in mind that cognitive control is a complex function that includes several processes, it is not clear exactly which ones deteriorate with age. In fact, controversial results have been found. For example, some studies indicate that age-related deficits are observed in proactive and not in reactive control, others show that it is reactive control that is impaired and not proactive control, and some studies find no deficits at all (e.g., Kopp, Lange, Howe, & Wessel, 2014; Xiang et al., 2016). One possible reason is that the contribution of different processes to the deterioration of cognitive control was investigated separately, i.e., without testing all processes within the same paradigm. Therefore, the main goal of the present experiment was to study the impact of normal aging on several processes related to cognitive control within the same task, which included both Simon and Spatial Stroop trials. The study focused on the following processes: generation of conflict measured by automatic response capture (i.e., stronger task-irrelevant information processing compared to task-relevant information processing); conflict detection; and control implementation (which can be reactive control, both within trials and across trials, and proactive control, as a task-set strategy). The results showed larger automatic response capture for older adults when facing a stimulus-response conflict (Simon) but not a stimulus-stimulus conflict (Spatial Stroop). Similarly, older adults also showed larger detection effects for both conflicts. However, regarding control implementation, they only showed difficulties in inhibiting the early automatic response capture (within-trial reactive control) but not reactive control across trials or proactive control. In conclusion, it seems that older adults are more affected by the presence of task-irrelevant information, especially when it comes to resolving stimulus-response conflict. However, they showed no impairments in their ability to implement cognitive control both across trials and as a task-set strategy

    Social information-processing factors in children with internalizing and externalizing problems.

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    by Tam Miu Ping, Judy.Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-48).Abstract and questionnaire also in Chinese.ABSTRACT --- p.iiACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.ivTABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.vChapter CHAPTER I - --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1The Social Information-processing model --- p.1"Processing styles of reactive aggressive children, proactive aggressive children, and depressed children" --- p.3Purpose of the present research --- p.11Chapter CHAPTER II - --- METHODS --- p.13Subjects --- p.13Measures --- p.13Procedures --- p.15Chapter CHAPTER III - --- RESULTS --- p.16Internal consistency of independent variables --- p.16Correlation between independent variables and dependent variables --- p.18Multiple regression --- p.22Structural equation model --- p.26Chapter CHAPTER IV - --- DISCUSSION --- p.36Prediction of internalizing disorder tendency by social information- processing factors --- p.36Prediction of reactive aggression by social information-processing factors --- p.37Prediction of proactive aggression by social information-processing factors --- p.38Cognitive distortion --- p.39"Differentiation of internalizing disorder, reactive aggression, and proactive aggression" --- p.39"Implication to treatment of children with internalizing disorder, reactive aggression, and proactive aggression" --- p.40Cross validation of the structural model --- p.42Construct validity of the measures of independent variables --- p.42Limitations of the present research and future directions --- p.42REFERENCES --- p.45APPENDICES --- p.49Questionnaire --- p.49Correlation among variables --- p.6

    Social Status Differences In Hostile Attribution Biases and Reactive Aggression

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    A person\u27s standing within a social hierarchy can have a pervasive influence on patterns of attribution,especially when presented with an ambiguous social provocation. Those with low social status are devalued by society and this sense of threatened social worth motivates social vigilance and influences patterns of social cognition and behavior. Integrating Attribution Theory (e.g., Heider 1958; Weiner, 1986} with predictions of Social Information Processing Theory (SIP;Crick & Dodge, 1994; Dodge & Pettit, 2003) and Stigma Compensation Theory (STC; Henry, 2009; 2011), this research suggests the possibility that status-based differences in hostile attributions and reactive aggression are mediated by threatened social worth. Using survey methodology, Study 1demonstrates that non-Whites and those with lower SES reported significantly greater hostile a ttributions than Whites and those with higher SES even when controlling for relevant covariates. Additionally, non-Whites reported significantly greater reactive aggression than Whites even when controlling for trait aggression, relational aggression and normative beliefs about aggression. Social status is negatively associated with threatened social worth and together, threatened social worth and vigilance toward threats significantly mediated the relationship between social status and hostile attributions for ethnicity, SES and subjective status. Study 2 employed a modified Lexical Decision Task to test for status-based differences in activation of hostility related knowledge structures following ambiguous provocation stimuli. The results were mixed; regardless of social status, participants were generally faster to respond to benign compared to hostile words, indicating the ambiguous provocation sentences either facilitated processing of benign stimuli and/or inhibited processing of hostile stimuli. However, there was a significant interaction between ethnicity and reaction time, indicating that the ambiguous provocation sentences may have inhibited processing of hostile words for Whites only. Non-Whites were equally as fast to respond to benign and hostile words. Study 3 examined the effects of a social worth affirmation on the relationships between social status, hostile attributions and reactive aggression. If threatened social worth drives these processes, then affirming social worth should render the status differences on hostile attributions and reactive aggression non­ significant (compared to control). The results of Study 3 did not support this hypothesis. This research makes an important step toward understanding the influence of social status on hostile attributions and reactive aggression. Low social status can push people to be vigilant toward threats to social value, and thus increases their likelihood of interpreting ambiguous provocations as intentionally hostile. These data represent an integration of three relatively separate literatures and can provide an empirical foundation for research investigating the relationship between social status and a bias toward attributing hostile intent and reactive aggression. Additionally,this research makes theoretical advancements in terms of exploring predictions of both SIP and STC theory. Finally, these data can foster applied research aimed toward reducing reactive aggression, by highlighting the potential effects of low social status on psychological defensiveness and information processing

    A process-specific approach in the study of normal aging deficits in cognitive control: What deteriorates with age?

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    Bearing in mind that cognitive control is a complex function that includes several processes, it is not clear exactly which ones deteriorate with age. In fact, controversial results have been found. For example, some studies indicate that age-related deficits are observed in proactive and not in reactive control, others show that it is reactive control that is impaired and not proactive control, and some studies find no deficits at all (e.g., Kopp, Lange, Howe, & Wessel, 2014; Xiang et al., 2016). One possible reason is that the contribution of different processes to the deterioration of cognitive control was investigated separately, i.e., without testing all processes within the same paradigm. Therefore, the main goal of the present experiment was to study the impact of normal aging on several processes related to cognitive control within the same task, which included both Simon and Spatial Stroop trials. The study focused on the following processes: generation of conflict measured by automatic response capture (i.e., stronger task-irrelevant information processing compared to task-relevant information processing); conflict detection; and control implementation (which can be reactive control, both within trials and across trials, and proactive control, as a task-set strategy). The results showed larger automatic response capture for older adults when facing a stimulus-response conflict (Simon) but not a stimulus-stimulus conflict (Spatial Stroop). Similarly, older adults also showed larger detection effects for both conflicts. However, regarding control implementation, they only showed difficulties in inhibiting the early automatic response capture (withintrial reactive control) but not reactive control across trials or proactive control. In conclusion, it seems that older adults are more affected by the presence of task-irrelevant information, especially when it comes to resolving stimulus-response conflict. However, they showed no impairments in their ability to implement cognitive control both across trials and as a task-set strategy.Spanish Government AP2008-04006 PSI2008-04223 PSI2011-22416 PSI2012-34158 PID2020-114790GB-I0
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