scholarly journals Connecting conceptual and spatial search via a model of generalization

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charley M. Wu ◽  
Eric Schulz ◽  
Mona M. Garvert ◽  
Björn Meder ◽  
Nicolas W. Schuck
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Sampling Strategy ◽  
Parameter Estimates ◽  
Model Combining ◽  
Spatial Domains ◽  
Mechanism Parameter ◽  
New Research ◽  
Level Performance ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe idea of a “cognitive map” was originally developed to explain planning and generalization in spatial domains through a representation of inferred relationships between experiences. Recently, new research has suggested similar principles may also govern the representation of more abstract, conceptual knowledge in the brain. We test whether the search for rewards in conceptual spaces follows similar computational principles as in spatial environments. Using a within-subject design, participants searched for both spatially and conceptually correlated rewards in multi-armed bandit tasks. We use a Gaussian Process model combining generalization with an optimistic sampling strategy to capture human search decisions and judgments in both domains, and to simulate human-level performance when specified with participant parameter estimates. In line with the notion of a domain-general generalization mechanism, parameter estimates correlate across spatial and conceptual search, yet some differences also emerged, with participants generalizing less and exploiting more in the conceptual domain.

The Cooking Ape: An Interview with Richard Wrangham

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-37
Author(s):  
elisabeth townsend
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Harvard University ◽  
Primate Research ◽  
Social Organizations ◽  
Cooked Food ◽  
New Research ◽  
The Brain

Humans: The Cooking Ape Perhaps the first to suggest that humans were cooking as early as 1.9 million years ago, Richard Wrangham shows through his new research and his imagination how and possibly when cooking changed humans dramatically. Wrangham, Harvard University primatologist and MacArthur Fellow, has been studying the evolution of human cooking. After 25 years of primate research at his site in Kibale, Uganda, Wrangham is best known for explaining the similarity and differences across species of primate social organizations. In Kibale, he has analyzed chimpanzees’ behavior: how it’s changed when they interact with the environment and how their social groups have evolved. In particular, he noticed how food changed their interactions with each other. Like that of chimps, human behavior has been affected by food, especially as they shifted from raw to cooked food. Moving from eating food as it was discovered to collecting edibles and cooking them altered our social relationships. Cooked food has changed Homo sapiens physically by making food more digestible thereby altering jaws, teeth, and guts, and providing more calories for more expensive organs such as the brain. Wrangham discusses when and how humans may have started using fire to cook food, what they cooked, and the transition from cooking in an outdoor fire to hearths and open ovens.

Statistical Properties of a DNA Sample Under the Finite-Sites Model

Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 144 (4) ◽  
pp. 1941-1950 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziheng Yang
Keyword(s):  
Process Model ◽  
Random Mating ◽  
Major Effect ◽  
Statistical Properties ◽  
Parameter Estimates ◽  
Rate Variation ◽  
Markov Process Model ◽  
D Loop ◽  
Infinite Sites Model ◽  
Segregating Sites

Statistical properties of a DNA sample from a random-mating population of constant size are studied under the finite-sites model. It is assumed that there is no migration and no recombination occurs within the locus. A Markov process model is used for nucleotide substitution, allowing for multiple substitutions at a single site. The evolutionary rates among sites are treated as either constant or variable. The general likelihood calculation using numerical integration involves intensive computation and is feasible for three or four sequences only; it may be used for validating approximate algorithms. Methods are developed to approximate the probability distribution of the number of segregating sites in a random sample of n sequences, with either constant or variable substitution rates across sites. Calculations using parameter estimates obtained for human D-loop mitochondrial DNAs show that among-site rate variation has a major effect on the distribution of the number of segregating sites; the distribution under the finite-sites model with variable rates among sites is quite different from that under the infinite-sites model.

scholarly journals Influence of Retail Therapy upon Shoppers Experience in Organized Retailing at Select Retail Malls in Grater Hyderabad

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 3644-3649
Keyword(s):  
Dominant Role ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Shopping Malls ◽  
Normal Functioning ◽  
Movie Theaters ◽  
Impulsive Buying ◽  
Shopping Experience ◽  
Good For ◽  
New Research ◽  
The Brain

We humans live life for attaining happiness by the way of fulfilling our needs wants & desires. We work hard to earn and satisfy all our requirements. We strive to derive a better experience upon our every shopping attempt which we make. Retail therapy in shopping is to improve the shoppers mood or disposition which is seen among people during depression or stress, in normal context it is a small duration-lived habit. Products purchased during period of retail therapy are also referred to as "comfort buys". in shopping experience, human brain apparently releases the chemical known as dopamine, a natural messenger required for the normal functioning of the brain, and it plays dominant role in our ability to experience pleasure and pain. It appears also to have a role in addictive behavior. The most important reason shopping malls are so popular is due to convenience. Which include clothing stores, a food court, movie theaters, etc Shopping might not be good for wallet, but it could be good for health, new research suggests. Walking within the mall between stores, multiplex, food court, gaming zone etc provides better enjoyment experience which ultimately results into shopper’s satisfaction. “Therapy” denotes the favorable impact of shopping experience of shoppers at shopping malls, there are indeed psychological rewards. This article discuses about retail therapy from shoppers’ experience point of view as depending upon the experience, knowledge & situation the shoppers intend to make compulsive or impulsive buying which impacts behavior of shopper & emotions which are been motivated by desire to fulfill material needs and wants.

scholarly journals A neuroscientific grasp of concepts: from control to representation

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1435) ◽  
pp. 1231-1240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vittorio Gallese
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Semantic Content ◽  
Macaque Monkey ◽  
Conceptual Representations ◽  
Neurophysiological Data ◽  
Neural Underpinnings ◽  
Crucial Part ◽  
The Brain

Abstraction denotes the cognitive process by means of which general concepts are formed. The dominant view of abstraction considers it not only as a complex and sophisticated cognitive activity, but also as a distinctive hallmark of mankind. The distinctiveness of abstract thought has indeed been closely related to another feature peculiar to our species: language. Following this perspective, the possibility to entertain conceptual representations is thus precluded to animals devoid of full–blown language. I challenge this view and propose that the representational dynamic of the brain is conceivable as a type of self–organization, in which action plays a crucial part. My aim will be to investigate whether, and to what extent, conceptual knowledge can be attributed to non–linguistic animal species, with particular emphasis on nonhuman primates. I therefore introduce the notion of semantic content as a type of ‘relational specification’. A review of recent neurophysiological data on the neural underpinnings of action end–states in the macaque monkey brain is presented. On the basis of this evidence, I propose that conceptual representations can be conceived as the expression of a coherent internal world model. This model decomposes the ‘outer’ space inhabited by things in a meaningful way only to the extent that it accords to biologically constrained, embodied invariance. Finally, I discuss how the ‘comparative’ neuroscientific approach to abstraction proposed here may shed some light on its nature and its evolutionary origin.

The Engineer

Rebel Genius ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara H. Abraham
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Reticular Formation ◽  
Research Laboratory ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Theoretical Modelling ◽  
Research Culture ◽  
Cognitive Sciences ◽  
New Research ◽  
Scientific Identity ◽  
The Brain

This chapter examines the ways that McCulloch’s new research culture at MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics shaped the evolution of his scientific identity into that of an engineer. This was an open, fluid, multidisciplinary culture that allowed McCulloch to shift his focus more squarely onto understanding the brain from the perspective of theoretical modelling, and to promote the cybernetic vision to diverse audiences. McCulloch’s practices, performed with a new set of student-collaborators, involved modeling the neurophysiology of perception, understanding reliability in biological systems, and pursuing knowledge of the reticular formation of the brain. The chapter provides a nuanced account of the relations between McCulloch’s work and the emerging fields of artificial intelligence and the cognitive sciences. It also highlights McCulloch’s identities as sage-collaborator and polymath, two roles that in part were the result of his students’ observations and in part products of his own self-fashioning.

Spatial Relations

2019 ◽  
pp. 179-216
Author(s):  
David Kemmerer
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Neuroscience ◽  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Semantic Representation ◽  
Spatial Relations ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Linguistic Representation ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Brain

Ever since the 1980s, research on the cross-linguistic representation of spatial relations has burgeoned. Surprisingly, however, very little of this work has had any impact on cognitive neuroscience, and most researchers who study the cortical underpinnings of concrete conceptual knowledge have ignored spatial relations completely, preferring to focus on objects and actions instead. Due to this rather stark asymmetry, this chapter has a different organization than the previous two. The first section focuses entirely on cross-linguistic similarities and differences in the grammatical-semantic representation of three main types of spatial relations: topological, projective, and deictic. Then the last section addresses a number of neuroscientific issues, including a review of what has been learned so far about the implementation of these kinds of concepts in the brain, and a discussion of how the typological literature can both inspire and guide future research in this important but relatively neglected area of inquiry.

scholarly journals COPE.er Method: Combating Digital Addiction via Online Peer Support Groups

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 1162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amen Alrobai ◽  
Abdullah Algashami ◽  
Huseyin Dogan ◽  
Tessa Corner ◽  
Keith Phalp ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Support Groups ◽  
Participatory Design ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Peer Groups ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Clinical Criteria ◽  
Digital Addiction ◽  
New Research

Digital addiction (hereafter DA) denotes a problematic relationship with technology described by being compulsive, obsessive, impulsive and hasty. New research has identified cases where users’ digital behaviour shows symptoms meeting the clinical criteria of behavioural addiction. The online peer groups approach is one of the strategies to combat addictive behaviours. Unlike other behaviours, intervention and addictive usage can be on the same medium; the online space. This shared medium empowers influence techniques found in peer groups, such as self-monitoring, social surveillance, and personalised feedback, with a higher degree of interactivity, continuity and real-time communication. Social media platforms in general and online peer groups, in particular, have received little guidance as to how software design should take it into account. Careful theoretical understanding of the unique attributes and dynamics of such platforms and their intersection with gamification and persuasive techniques is needed as the ad-hoc design may cause unexpected harm. In this paper, we investigate how to facilitate the design process to ensure a systematic development of this technology. We conducted several qualitative studies including user studies and observational investigations. The primary contribution of this research is twofold: (i) a reference model for designing interactive online platforms to host peer groups and combat DA, (ii) a process model, COPE.er, inspired by the participatory design approach to building Customisable Online Persuasive Ecology by Engineering Rehabilitation strategies for different groups.

scholarly journals Mapping species richness using opportunistic samples: a case study on ground-floor bryophyte species richness in the Belgian province of Limburg

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Neyens ◽  
Peter J. Diggle ◽  
Christel Faes ◽  
Natalie Beenaerts ◽  
Tom Artois ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Sampling Bias ◽  
Parameter Estimates ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Ground Floor ◽  
Sampling Process ◽  
Ecological Predictors ◽  
Geostatistical Models

AbstractIn species richness studies, citizen-science surveys where participants make individual decisions regarding sampling strategies provide a cost-effective approach to collect a large amount of data. However, it is unclear to what extent the bias inherent to opportunistically collected samples may invalidate our inferences. Here, we compare spatial predictions of forest ground-floor bryophyte species richness in Limburg (Belgium), based on crowd- and expert-sourced data, where the latter are collected by adhering to a rigorous geographical randomisation and data collection protocol. We develop a log-Gaussian Cox process model to analyse the opportunistic sampling process of the crowd-sourced data and assess its sampling bias. We then fit two geostatistical Poisson models to both data-sets and compare the parameter estimates and species richness predictions. We find that the citizens had a higher propensity for locations that were close to their homes and environmentally more valuable. The estimated effects of ecological predictors and spatial species richness predictions differ strongly between the two geostatistical models. Unknown inconsistencies in the sampling process, such as unreported observer’s effort, and the lack of a hypothesis-driven study protocol can lead to the occurrence of multiple sources of sampling bias, making it difficult, if not impossible, to provide reliable inferences.

SUPER-SYNERGY IN THE BRAIN: THE GRANDMOTHER PERCEPT IS MANIFESTED BY MULTIPLE OSCILLATIONS

2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (02) ◽  
pp. 453-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
EROL BAŞAR ◽  
MURAT ÖZGÖREN ◽  
SIREL KARAKAŞ ◽  
CANAN BAŞAR-EROĞLU
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Work ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Present Report ◽  
Whole Brain ◽  
Animal Brain ◽  
Oscillatory Dynamics ◽  
New Research ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Face Support

The present report describes the dynamic foundations of long-standing experimental work in the field of oscillatory dynamics in the human and animal brain. It aims to show the role of multiple oscillations in the integrative brain function, memory, and complex perception by a recently introduced conceptional framework: the super-synergy in the whole brain. Results of recent experiments related to the percept of the grandmother-face support our concept of super-synergy in the whole brain in order to explain manifestation of Gestalts and Memory-Stages. This report may also provide new research avenues in macrodynamics of the brain.

scholarly journals Sampling and Evaluating the Peripheral Nervous System

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark T. Butt
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Sciatic Nerve ◽  
Peripheral Nervous System ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Sampling Strategy ◽  
Mechanisms Of Toxicity ◽  
Test Article ◽  
Ganglion Neurons ◽  
The Brain

Many preclinical investigations limit the evaluation of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) to paraffin-embedded sections/hematoxylin and eosin–stained sections of the sciatic nerve. This limitation ignores several key mechanisms of toxicity and anatomic differences that may interfere with an accurate assessment of test article effects on the neurons/neurites peripheral to the brain and spinal cord. Ganglion neurons may be exposed to higher concentrations of the test article as compared to neurons in the brain or spinal cord due to differences in capillary permeability. Many peripheral neuropathies are length-dependent, meaning distal nerves may show morphological changes before they are evident in the mid-sciatic nerve. Paraffin-embedded nerves are not optimal to assess myelin changes, notably those leading to demyelination. Differentiating between axonal or myelin degeneration may not be possible from the examination of paraffin-embedded sections. A sampling strategy more consistent with known mechanisms of toxicity, atraumatic harvest of tissues, optimized fixation, and the use of resin and paraffin-embedded sections will greatly enhance the pathologist’s ability to observe and characterize effects in the PNS.

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