Why Does the Cognitive Reflection Test (Sometimes) Predict Utilitarian Moral Judgment (and Other Things)?

The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) is thought to correlate with measures of utilitarian moral judgment because it measures system-2 correction of an initial intuitive response. And some theories of moral judgment hold that the same thing often happens when people arrive a utilitarian judgments. We find, however, that CRT-type items (using logic as well as arithmetic) can work just as well when they do not have obvious intuitive answers at predicting utilitarian moral judgment, assessed with self-report questionnaires as well as with hypothetical scenarios, and also at predicting a measure of actively open-minded thinking (AOT). Moreover, long response times, as well as high accuracy, also predict moral judgment and other outcomes. The CRT might thus be considered a test of reflection-impulsivity (RI). However, RI is only part of AOT, because RI is concerned only with the amount of thinking, not its direction. Tests of AOT also predict utilitarian moral judgments. Individual differences in AOT and moral judgments are both strongly (negatively) associated with belief that morality comes from God and cannot be understood through thought. The correlation of CRT and utilitarian judgment, when found, is thus likely due to the (imperfect) correlation of AOT and CRT. Intuition in these domains is thus not necessarily something that people overcome through additional thinking, but rather what they rely on when they do not think very much

Pattern languages in HCI: A critical review

This article presents a critical review of patterns and pattern languages in human-computer interaction (HCI). In recent years, patterns and pattern languages have received considerable attention in HCI for their potential as a means for developing and communicating information and knowledge to support good design. This review examines the background to patterns and pattern languages in HCI, and seeks to locate pattern languages in relation to other approaches to interaction design. The review explores four key issues: What is a pattern? What is a pattern language? How are patterns and pattern languages used? and How are values reflected in the pattern-based approach to design? Following on from the review, a future research agenda is proposed for patterns and pattern languages in HCI

Spacecraft Conceptual Design for the 8-Meter Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST)

The Advanced Concepts Office at Marshall Space Flight Center completed a brief spacecraft design study for the 8-meter monolithic Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST-8m). This spacecraft concept provides all power, communication, telemetry, avionics, guidance and control, and thermal control for the observatory, and inserts the observatory into a halo orbit about the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point. The multidisciplinary design team created a simple spacecraft design that enables component and science instrument servicing, employs articulating solar panels for help with momentum management, and provides precise pointing control while at the same time fast slewing for the observatory

New Magnetic Excitations in the Spin-Density-Wave of Chromium

Low-energy magnetic excitations of chromium have been reinvestigated with a single-Q crystal using neutron scattering technique. In the transverse spin-density-wave phase a new type of well-defined magnetic excitation is found around (0,0,1) with a weak dispersion perpendicular to the wavevector of the incommensurate structure. The magnetic excitation has an energy gap of E ~ 4 meV and at (0,0,1) exactly corresponds to the Fincher mode previously studied only along the incommensurate wavevector.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Morphology, carbohydrate distribution, gene expression, and enzymatic activities related to cell wall hydrolysis in four barley varieties during simulated malting

Many biological processes, such as cell wall hydrolysis and the mobilisation of nutrient reserves from the starchy endosperm, require stringent regulation to successfully malt barley (Hordeum vulgare) grain in an industrial context. Much of the accumulated knowledge defining these events has been collected from individual, unrelated experiments, and data have often been extrapolated from Petri dish germination, rather than malting, experiments. Here, we present comprehensive morphological, biochemical, and transcript data from a simulated malt batch of the three elite malting cultivars Admiral, Navigator, and Flagship, and the feed cultivar Keel. Activities of lytic enzymes implicated in cell wall and starch depolymerisation in germinated grain have been measured, and transcript data for published cell wall hydrolytic genes have been provided. It was notable that Flagship and Keel exhibited generally similar patterns of enzyme and transcript expression, but exhibited a few key differences that may partially explain Flagship's superior malting qualities. Admiral and Navigator also showed matching expression patterns for these genes and enzymes, but the patterns differed from those of Flagship and Keel, despite Admiral and Navigator having Keel as a common ancestor. Overall (1,3;1,4)-β-glucanase activity differed between cultivars, with lower enzyme levels and concomitantly higher amounts of (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan in the feed variety, Keel, at the end of malting. Transcript levels of the gene encoding (1,3;1,4)-β-glucanase isoenzyme EI were almost three times higher than those encoding isoenzyme EII, suggesting a previously unrecognised importance for isoenzyme EI during malting. Careful morphological examination showed that scutellum epithelial cells in mature dry grain are elongated but expand no further as malting progresses, in contrast to equivalent cells in other cereals, perhaps demonstrating a morphological change in this critical organ over generations of breeding selection. Fluorescent immuno-histochemical labelling revealed the presence of pectin in the nucellus and, for the first time, significant amounts of callose throughout the starchy endosperm of mature grain.Natalie S. Betts, Laura G. Wilkinson, Shi F. Khor, Neil J. Shirley, Finn Lok, Birgitte Skadhauge, Rachel A. Burton, Geoffrey B. Fincher and Helen M. Collin

Altered expression of genes implicated in xylan biosynthesis affects penetration resistance against powdery mildew

Heteroxylan has recently been identified as an important component of papillae, which are formed during powdery mildew infection of barley leaves. Deposition of heteroxylan near the sites of attempted fungal penetration in the epidermal cell wall is believed to enhance the physical resistance to the fungal penetration peg and hence to improve pre-invasion resistance. Several glycosyltransferase (GT) families are implicated in the assembly of heteroxylan in the plant cell wall, and are likely to work together in a multi-enzyme complex. Members of key GT families reported to be involved in heteroxylan biosynthesis are up-regulated in the epidermal layer of barley leaves during powdery mildew infection. Modulation of their expression leads to altered susceptibility levels, suggesting that these genes are important for penetration resistance. The highest level of resistance was achieved when a GT43 gene was co-expressed with a GT47 candidate gene, both of which have been predicted to be involved in xylan backbone biosynthesis. Altering the expression level of several candidate heteroxylan synthesis genes can significantly alter disease susceptibility. This is predicted to occur through changes in the amount and structure of heteroxylan in barley papillae.Jamil Chowdhury, Stefanie Lück, Jeyaraman Rajaraman, Dimitar Douchkov, Neil J. Shirley, Julian G. Schwerdt, Patrick Schweizer, Geoffrey B. Fincher, Rachel A. Burton and Alan Littl

Spin and charge excitations in incommensurate spin density waves

Collective excitations both for spin- and charge-channels are investigated in incommensurate spin density wave (or stripe) states on two-dimensional Hubbard model. By random phase approximation, the dynamical susceptibility \chi(q,\omega) is calculated for full range of (q,\omega) with including all higher harmonics components. An intricate landscape of the spectra in \chi(q,\omega) is obtained. We discuss the anisotropy of the dispersion cones for spin wave excitations, and for the phason excitation related to the motion of the stripe line. Inelastic neutron experiments on Cr and its alloys and stripe states of underdoped cuprates are proposed

Placing Poverty in Context: A Case Study

The “poverty-in-context” approach to understanding poverty is shaped by the needs and priorities of a particular context, and it can be used as the basis for identifying pro-poor projects in local strategies such as City Development Plans. A key argument for the introduction of the City Development Plans initiative (2007–2012) in India was to move away from national conceptions of and responses to poverty and to instead focus on engaging with local understandings of poverty. Through a case study of the City Development Plan initiative in Trivandrum, the capital city of the Kerala state in southern India, we argue that an understanding of poverty at the local level did not accommodate contextual needs and priorities; consequently, we develop a poverty-in-context approach based on semi-structured qualitative interviews with various stakeholders in the case study area. The article concludes by suggesting how in the future a poverty-in-context approach might be used to shape pro-poor policy in general and preparation of City Development Plans in particular