94 research outputs found
Connectionist simulation of attitude learning: Asymmetries in the acquisition of positive and negative evaluations
Connectionist computer simulation was employed to explore the notion that, if attitudes guide approach and avoidance behaviors, false negative beliefs are likely to remain uncorrected for longer than false positive beliefs. In Study 1, the authors trained a three-layer neural network to discriminate "good" and "bad" inputs distributed across a two-dimensional space. "Full feedback" training, whereby connection weights were modified to reduce error after every trial, resulted in perfect discrimination. "Contingent feedback," whereby connection weights were only updated following outputs representing approach behavior, led to several false negative errors (good inputs misclassified as bad). In Study 2, the network was redesigned to distinguish a system for learning evaluations from a mechanism for selecting actions. Biasing action selection toward approach eliminated the asymmetry between learning of good and bad inputs under contingent feedback. Implications for various attitudinal phenomena and biases in social cognition are discussed
A Genetic Algorithm for Assembly Sequence Planning
This work presents a genetic algorithm for assembly sequence planning.
This problem is more difficult than other sequencing problems that have
already been tackled with success using these techniques, such as the classic
Traveling Salesperson Problem (TSP) or the Job Shop Scheduling Problem
(JSSP). It not only involves the arranging of tasks, as in those problems, but
also the selection of them from a set of alternative operations. Two families of
genetic operators have been used for searching the whole solution space. The
first includes operators that search for new sequences locally in a predetermined
assembly plan, that of parent chromosomes. The other family of operators introduces
new tasks in the solution, replacing others to maintain the validity of
chromosomes, and it is intended to search for sequences in other assembly
plans. Furthermore, some problem-based heuristics have been used for generating
the individuals in the population
Contracting COVID-19: a longitudinal investigation of the impact of beliefs and knowledge
Recent work has found that an individual’s beliefs and personal characteristics can impact perceptionsof and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Certain individuals—such as those who are politicallyconservative or who endorse conspiracy theories—are less likely to engage in preventative behaviorslike social distancing. The current research aims to address whether these individual differencesnot only affect people’s reactions to the pandemic, but also their actual likelihood of contractingCOVID-19. In the early months of the pandemic, U.S. participants responded to a variety of individualdifference measures as well as questions specific to the pandemic itself. Four months later, 2120 ofthese participants responded with whether they had contracted COVID-19. Nearly all of our includedindividual difference measures significantly predicted whether a person reported testing positive forthe virus in this four-month period. Additional analyses revealed that all of these relationships wereprimarily mediated by whether participants held accurate knowledge about COVID-19. These findingsoffer useful insights for developing more effective interventions aimed at slowing the spread of bothCOVID-19 and future diseases. Moreover, some findings offer critical tests of the validity of suchtheoretical frameworks as those concerning conspiratorial ideation and disgust sensitivity within areal-world context.Social decision makin
Sensitive liberals and unfeeling conservatives?: Interoceptive sensitivity predicts political liberalism
The stark divide between the political right and left is rooted in conflicting beliefs, values, and personality—and, recent research suggests, perhaps even lower-level physiological differences between individuals. In this registered report, we investigated a novel domain of ideological differences in physiological processes: interoceptive sensitivity—that is, a person’s attunement to their own internal bodily states and signals (e.g., physiological arousal, pain, and respiration). We conducted two studies testing the hypothesis that greater interoceptive sensitivity would be associated with greater conservatism: one laboratory study in the Netherlands using a physiological heartbeat detection task and one large-scale online study in the United States employing an innovative webcam-based measure of interoceptive sensitivity. Contrary to our predictions, we found evidence that interoceptive sensitivity may instead predict greater political liberalism (versus conservatism), although this association was primarily limited to the American sample. We discuss implications for our understanding of the physiological underpinnings of political ideology.Social decision makin
Several small Josephson junctions in a Resonant Cavity: Deviation from the Dicke Model
We have studied quantum-mechanically a system of several small identical
Josephson junctions in a lossless single-mode cavity for different initial
states, under conditions such that the system is at resonance. This system is
analogous to a collection of identical atoms in a cavity, which is described
under appropriate conditions by the Dicke model. We find that our system can be
well approximated by a reduced Hamiltonian consisting of two levels per
junction. The reduced Hamiltonian is similar to the Dicke Hamiltonian, but
contains an additional term resembling a dipole-dipole interaction between the
junctions. This extra term arises when states outside the degenerate group are
included via degenerate second-order (L\"{o}wdin) perturbation theory. As in
the Dicke model, we find that, when N junctions are present in the cavity, the
oscillation frequency due to the junction-cavity interaction is enhanced by
. The corresponding decrease in the Rabi oscillation period may cause
it to be smaller than the decoherence time due to dissipation, making these
oscillations observable. Finally, we find that the frequency enhancement
survives even if the junctions differ slightly from one another, as expected in
a realistic system.Comment: 11 pages. To be published in Phys. Rev.
Quantum algebra in the mixed light pseudoscalar meson states
In this paper, we investigate the entanglement degrees of pseudoscalar meson
states via quantum algebra Y(su(3)). By making use of transition effect of
generators J of Y(su(3)), we construct various transition operators in terms of
J of Y(su(3)), and act them on eta-pion-eta mixing meson state. The
entanglement degrees of both the initial state and final state are calculated
with the help of entropy theory. The diagrams of entanglement degrees are
presented. Our result shows that a state with desired entanglement degree can
be achieved by acting proper chosen transition operator on an initial state.
This sheds new light on the connect among quantum information, particle physics
and Yangian algebra.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure
Thermal transport in one-dimensional spin gap systems
We study thermal transport in one dimensional spin systems both in the
presence and absence of impurities. In the absence of disorder, all these spin
systems display a temperature dependent Drude peak in the thermal conductivity.
In gapless systems, the low temperature Drude weight is proportional to
temperature and to the central charge which characterizes the conformal field
theory that describes the system at low energies. On the other hand, the low
temperature Drude weight of spin gap systems shows an activated behavior
modulated by a power law. For temperatures higher than the spin gap, one
recovers the linear T behavior akin to gapless systems. For temperatures larger
than the exchange coupling, the Drude weight decays as 1/T^2. We argue that
this behavior is a generic feature of quasi one dimensional spin gap systems
with a relativistic-like low energy dispersion. We also consider the effect of
a magnetic field on the Drude weight with emphasis on the
commensurate-incommensurate transition induced by it. We then study the effect
of nonmagnetic impurities on the thermal conductivity of the dimerized XY chain
and the spin-1/2 two leg ladder. Impurities destroy the Drude peak and the
thermal conductivity exhibits a purely activated behavior at low temperature,
with an activation gap renormalized by disorder. The relevance of these results
for experiments is briefly discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 6 eps figures, RevTeX
Using behavior-analytic implicit tests to assess sexual interests among normal and sex-offender populations
The development of implicit tests for measuring biases and behavioral predispositions is a recent development within psychology. While such tests are usually researched within a social-cognitive paradigm, behavioral researchers have also begun to view these tests as potential tests of conditioning histories, including in the sexual domain.
The objective of this paper is to illustrate the utility of a behavioral approach to implicit testing and means by which implicit tests can be built to the standards of behavioral psychologists.
Research findings illustrating the short history of implicit testing within the experimental analysis of behavior are reviewed. Relevant parallel and overlapping research findings from the field of social cognition and on the Implicit Association Test are also outlined.
New preliminary data obtained with both normal and sex offender populations are described in order to illustrate how behavior-analytically conceived implicit tests may have potential as investigative tools for assessing histories of sexual arousal conditioning and derived stimulus associations.
It is concluded that popular implicit tests are likely sensitive to conditioned and derived stimulus associations in the history of the test-taker rather than 'unconscious cognitions', per se
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