90 research outputs found
Learning from the behaviors and experiences of others
Learning to fear and avoid what is dangerous is crucial for survival. Perhaps equally important is the ability to learn that something which was previously dangerous is now safe. Although we can learn about dangers individually, through our own experiences, it is likely more safe to learn about them from others, by observing their behaviors and reactions. In a sense, this allows us to learn through the experiences of others. The overarching goal of this thesis is to deepen our understanding of how we learn about fear and safety through observation of others.
In Study I we let participants undergo an observational extinction paradigm to investigate if safety learning was facilitated through observation of a calm learning model. In a direct conditioning stage participants first learned to associate a stimulus with fear. Next, they learned through that the previously feared stimulus was now safe. This extinction of fear was either direct or vicarious (observational). We demonstrated that attenuation of fear was greater following vicarious rather than direct extinction. We further showed that this was driven by the learning model’s experience of safety.
Although learning through others is likely an efficient way of learning, observational learning also has to be applied critically, for instance by not copying the choices of someone that performs poorly. In Study II and Study III we investigated how people learned to make choices through observation of others, demonstrators, which had either a high or low ability. In both studies, participants learned a simple probabilistic two-choice task to avoid shock. Results from Study II demonstrated that people were able to use the observational information to improve performance regardless of the ability (skill) of the demonstrator. They only copied the choices of the demonstrator with high ability and they were able to learn from observing the consequences of a demonstrator’s choice regardless of the demonstrator’s ability. In Study III we also provided participants with descriptions of the abilities of the demonstrators. Our results showed that describing the demonstrator as low in ability impaired observational learning, regardless of the actual ability of the demonstrator and that this is likely driven by a difference in attention directed towards the observational information.
An inability to discriminate threatening from safe stimuli is typical for individuals suffering from anxiety. In Study IV we investigated how observational fear conditioning is affected by the learning model’s expressed anticipatory anxiety. Results showed that participants were able to discriminate the threatening from the safe stimuli equally well from a learning model that behaved anxiously (i.e. did not discriminate) as from one that did not behave anxiously (i.e. did discriminate).
The results presented in this thesis increase our understanding of how healthy individuals learn about aversive events and stimuli through observation of the behaviors and reactions of others and how these reflect the observed individuals’ experiences
Downflows in sunspot umbral dots
We study the velocity field of umbral dots at a resolution of 0.14". Our
analysis is based on full Stokes spectropolarimetric measurements of a pore
taken with the CRISP instrument at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. We
determine the flow velocity at different heights in the photosphere from a
bisector analysis of the Fe I 630 nm lines. In addtion, we use the observed
Stokes Q, U, and V profiles to characterize the magnetic properties of these
structures. We find that most umbral dots are associated with strong upflows in
deep photospheric layers. Some of them also show concentrated patches of
downflows at their edges, with sizes of about 0.25", velocities of up to 1000
m/s, and enhanced net circular polarization signals. The downflows evolve
rapidly and have lifetimes of only a few minutes. These results appear to
validate numerical models of magnetoconvection in the presence of strong
magnetic fields.Comment: Final published version. For best quality figures, please download
the PS versio
CRISP Spectropolarimetric Imaging of Penumbral Fine Structure
We discuss penumbral fine structure in a small part of a pore, observed with
the CRISP imaging spectropolarimeter at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST),
close to its diffraction limit of 0.16 arcsec. Milne-Eddington inversions
applied to these Stokes data reveal large variations of field strength and
inclination angle over dark-cored penumbral intrusions and a dark-cored light
bridge. The mid-outer part of this penumbra structure shows 0.3 arcsec wide
spines, separated by 1.6 arcsec (1200 km) and associated with 30 deg
inclination variations. Between these spines, there are no small-scale magnetic
structures that easily can be be identified with individual flux tubes. A
structure with nearly 10 deg more vertical and weaker magnetic field is seen
midways between two spines. This structure is co-spatial with the brightest
penumbral filament, possibly indicating the location of a convective upflow
from below.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL 17 Oct 2008. One Figure adde
Temporal Evolution of Velocity and Magnetic Field in and around Umbral Dots
We study the temporal evolution of umbral dots (UDs) using measurements from
the CRISP imaging spectropolarimeter at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. Scans
of the magnetically sensitive 630 nm iron lines were performed under stable
atmospheric conditions for 71 min with a cadence of 63 s. These observations
allow us to investigate the magnetic field and velocity in and around UDs at a
resolution approaching 0.13". From the analysis of 339 UDs, we draw the
following conclusions: (1)UDs show clear hints of upflows, as predicted by
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. By contrast, we could not find
systematic downflow signals. Only in very deep layers we detect localized
downflows around UDs, but they do not persist in time. (2) We confirm that UDs
exhibit weaker and more inclined fields than their surroundings, as reported
previously. However, UDs that have strong fields above 2000 G or are in the
decay phase show enhanced and more vertical fields. (3)There are enhanced
fields at the migration front of UDs detached from penumbral grains, as if
their motion were impeded by the ambient field. (4) Long-lived UDs travel
longer distances with slower proper motions. Our results appear to confirm some
aspects of recent numerical simulations of magnetoconvection in the umbra
(e.g., the existence of upflows in UDs), but not others (e.g., the systematic
weakening of the magnetic field at the position of UDs.)Comment: 27 pages, 26 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
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