3,720 research outputs found
On the interpretation of removable interactions: A survey of the field 33Â years after Loftus
In a classic 1978 Memory &Cognition article, Geoff Loftus explained why noncrossover interactions are removable. These removable interactions are tied to the scale of measurement for the dependent variable and therefore do not allow unambiguous conclusions about latent psychological processes. In the present article, we present concrete examples of how this insight helps prevent experimental psychologists from drawing incorrect conclusions about the effects of forgetting and aging. In addition, we extend the Loftus classification scheme for interactions to include those on the cusp between removable and nonremovable. Finally, we use various methods (i.e., a study of citation histories, a questionnaire for psychology students and faculty members, an analysis of statistical textbooks, and a review of articles published in the 2008 issue of Psychology andAging) to show that experimental psychologists have remained generally unaware of the concept of removable interactions. We conclude that there is more to interactions in a 2 Ă— 2 design than meets the eye
Cortical topography of intracortical inhibition influences the speed of decision making
The neocortex contains orderly topographic maps; however, their functional role remains controversial. Theoretical studies have suggested a role in minimizing computational costs, whereas empirical studies have focused on spatial localization. Using a tactile multiple-choice reaction time (RT) task before and after the induction of perceptual learning through repetitive sensory stimulation, we extend the framework of cortical topographies by demonstrating that the topographic arrangement of intracortical inhibition contributes to the speed of human perceptual decision-making processes. RTs differ among fingers, displaying an inverted U-shaped function. Simulations using neural fields show the inverted U-shaped RT distribution as an emergent consequence of lateral inhibition. Weakening inhibition through learning shortens RTs, which is modeled through topographically reorganized inhibition. Whereas changes in decision making are often regarded as an outcome of higher cortical areas, our data show that the spatial layout of interaction processes within representational maps contributes to selection and decision-making processes
Investigating the impact of mindfulness meditation training on working memory: A mathematical modeling approach
We investigated whether mindfulness training (MT) influences information processing in a working memory task with complex visual stimuli. Participants were tested before (T1) and after (T2) participation in an intensive one-month MT retreat, and their performance was compared with that of an age- and education-matched control group. Accuracy did not differ across groups at either time point. Response times were faster and significantly less variable in the MT versus the control group at T2. Since these results could be due to changes in mnemonic processes, speed–accuracy trade-off, or nondecisional factors (e.g., motor execution), we used a mathematical modeling approach to disentangle these factors. The EZ-diffusion model (Wagenmakers, van der Maas, & Grasman, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 14:(1), 3–22, 2007) suggested that MT leads to improved information quality and reduced response conservativeness, with no changes in nondecisional factors. The noisy exemplar model further suggested that the increase in information quality reflected a decrease in encoding noise and not an increase in forgetting. Thus, mathematical modeling may help clarify the mechanisms by which MT produces salutary effects on performance
Emergent excitations in a geometrically frustrated magnet
Frustrated systems are ubiquitous and interesting because their behavior is
difficult to predict. Magnetism offers extreme examples in the form of spin
lattices where all interactions between spins cannot be simultaneously
satisfied. Such geometrical frustration leads to macroscopic degeneracies, and
offers the possibility of qualitatively new states of matter whose nature has
yet to be fully understood. Here we have discovered how novel composite spin
degrees of freedom can emerge from frustrated interactions in the cubic spinel
ZnCr2O4. Upon cooling, groups of six spins self-organize into weakly
interacting antiferromagnetic loops whose directors, defined as the unique
direction along which the spins are aligned parallel or antiparallel, govern
all low temperature dynamics. The experimental evidence comes from a
measurement of the magnetic form factor by inelastic neutron scattering. While
the data bears no resemblance to the atomic form factor for chromium, they are
perfectly consistent with the form factor for hexagonal spin loop directors.
The hexagon directors are to a first approximation decoupled from each other
and hence their reorientations embody the long-sought local zero energy modes
for the pyrochlore lattice.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures upon reques
Spectroscopy with random and displaced random ensembles
Due to the time reversal invariance of the angular momentum operator J^2, the
average energies and variances at fixed J for random two-body Hamiltonians
exhibit odd-even-J staggering, that may be especially strong for J=0. It is
shown that upon ensemble averaging over random runs, this behaviour is
reflected in the yrast states. Displaced (attractive) random ensembles lead to
rotational spectra with strongly enhanced BE2 transitions for a certain class
of model spaces. It is explained how to generalize these results to other forms
of collectivity.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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