Aging effects in cueing tasks as assessed by the ideal observer: peripheral cues.

Previous aging and cueing studies suggest that automatic orienting driven by peripheral cues is preserved with aging; however, inconsistencies can be found. One issue might be the use of response times (RT) to assess cueing effects (invalid RT--valid RT), which, in many cases, may not have clear quantitative predictions. We propose an ideal observer (IO) analysis of accuracy estimating participants' internal value of cue validity, or weight, which should equal the actual cue validity. The weight measures the use of information provided by the cue and is insensitive to variations in set size and difficulty, thus potentially providing advantages to RT. Older (n = 54) and younger (n = 58) participants performed a yes/no detection task of a two-dimensional (2-D) Gaussian (60 ms). Square peripheral precues (150 ms) indicated likely target locations (70% valid) across two or six locations (set sizes). For cueing effects, (valid--invalid hit rates), younger participants had set-size effects (larger cueing effects for set size 6), while older participants did not. The opposite pattern was found for weights (younger: no set-size effects, older: set-size effects) due to the IO predicting larger cueing effects for larger set sizes. Comparisons to the ideal weight (cue validity) suggested that older participants used the cue information effectively with set size 2 (as or more so than younger participants), but not with set size 6. These results suggest that attentional deficits from aging in peripheral cueing tasks may only arise as difficulty increases, such as larger set sizes

State funds

This thesis is focused on financing of public goods through state funds, especially on the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure. The work consists of a general part, which is divided into three chapters focused on state funds, and special part, which is divided into two chapters focused on the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure. The first chapter of the general part at the beginning explains the terms of the budget and the budgetary system, and then presents the budgetary system of the Czech Republic. The second part deals with the term of fund management and explains setting of public funds system in the CzechRepublic. The second chapter of the general part deals with the general characteristics of state funds. At the beginning discusses the benefits of financing through state funds, then provides a brief overview of the history of state funds in the Czech Republic and at the end discusses the common characteristics and differences of the budgetary process and organizational structure of state funds. The third chapter of the general part is concerned on revenues and expenditures of state funds. The first subpart at the beginning compares the legal regulation of revenues and expenditures of state funds, then derives a typology of revenues and expenses and finally classifies legal categories..