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Sample records for perform spatial reasoning

  1. Connecting mathematics learning through spatial reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulligan, Joanne; Woolcott, Geoffrey; Mitchelmore, Michael; Davis, Brent

    2018-03-01

    Spatial reasoning, an emerging transdisciplinary area of interest to mathematics education research, is proving integral to all human learning. It is particularly critical to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This project will create an innovative knowledge framework based on spatial reasoning that identifies new pathways for mathematics learning, pedagogy and curriculum. Novel analytical tools will map the unknown complex systems linking spatial and mathematical concepts. It will involve the design, implementation and evaluation of a Spatial Reasoning Mathematics Program (SRMP) in Grades 3 to 5. Benefits will be seen through development of critical spatial skills for students, increased teacher capability and informed policy and curriculum across STEM education.

  2. Abstract Spatial Reasoning as an Autistic Strength

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevenson, Jennifer L.; Gernsbacher, Morton Ann

    2013-01-01

    Autistic individuals typically excel on spatial tests that measure abstract reasoning, such as the Block Design subtest on intelligence test batteries and the Raven’s Progressive Matrices nonverbal test of intelligence. Such well-replicated findings suggest that abstract spatial processing is a relative and perhaps absolute strength of autistic individuals. However, previous studies have not systematically varied reasoning level – concrete vs. abstract – and test domain – spatial vs. numerical vs. verbal, which the current study did. Autistic participants (N = 72) and non-autistic participants (N = 72) completed a battery of 12 tests that varied by reasoning level (concrete vs. abstract) and domain (spatial vs. numerical vs. verbal). Autistic participants outperformed non-autistic participants on abstract spatial tests. Non-autistic participants did not outperform autistic participants on any of the three domains (spatial, numerical, and verbal) or at either of the two reasoning levels (concrete and abstract), suggesting similarity in abilities between autistic and non-autistic individuals, with abstract spatial reasoning as an autistic strength. PMID:23533615

  3. Connecting Mathematics Learning through Spatial Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulligan, Joanne; Woolcott, Geoffrey; Mitchelmore, Michael; Davis, Brent

    2018-01-01

    Spatial reasoning, an emerging transdisciplinary area of interest to mathematics education research, is proving integral to all human learning. It is particularly critical to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This project will create an innovative knowledge framework based on spatial reasoning that identifies new…

  4. Reasoning with spatial plans on the semantic web

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoekstra, R.; Winkels, R.; Hupkes, E.

    2009-01-01

    There are several reasons why citizens, businesses and civil servants need access to regulations. Unfortunately, traditional approaches that aim to provide this access fall short, especially in the area of spatial planning. Fairly straight-forward questions such as "where will I be able to perform

  5. Spatial classification with fuzzy lattice reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mavridis, Constantinos; Athanasiadis, I.N.

    2017-01-01

    This work extends the Fuzzy Lattice Reasoning (FLR) Classifier to manage spatial attributes, and spatial relationships. Specifically, we concentrate on spatial entities, as countries, cities, or states. Lattice Theory requires the elements of a Lattice to be partially ordered. To match such

  6. Teachers' Spatial Literacy as Visualization, Reasoning, and Communication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore-Russo, Deborah; Viglietti, Janine M.; Chiu, Ming Ming; Bateman, Susan M.

    2013-01-01

    This paper conceptualizes spatial literacy as consisting of three overlapping domains: visualization, reasoning, and communication. By considering these domains, this study explores different aspects of spatial literacy to better understand how a group of mathematics teachers reasoned about spatial tasks. Seventy-five preservice and inservice…

  7. Decision Performance Using Spatial Decision Support Systems: A Geospatial Reasoning Ability Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erskine, Michael A.

    2013-01-01

    As many consumer and business decision makers are utilizing Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS), a thorough understanding of how such decisions are made is crucial for the information systems domain. This dissertation presents six chapters encompassing a comprehensive analysis of the impact of geospatial reasoning ability on…

  8. The Importance of Spatial Reasoning Skills in Undergraduate Geology Students and the Effect of Weekly Spatial Skill Trainings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gold, Anne; Pendergast, Philip; Stempien, Jennifer; Ormand, Carol

    2016-04-01

    Spatial reasoning is a key skill for student success in STEM disciplines in general and for students in geosciences in particular. However, spatial reasoning is neither explicitly trained, nor evenly distributed, among students and by gender. This uneven playing field allows some students to perform geoscience tasks easily while others struggle. A lack of spatial reasoning skills has been shown to be a barrier to success in the geosciences, and for STEM disciplines in general. Addressing spatial abilities early in the college experience might therefore be effective in retaining students, especially females, in STEM disciplines. We have developed and implemented a toolkit for testing and training undergraduate student spatial reasoning skills in the classroom. In the academic year 2014/15, we studied the distribution of spatial abilities in more than 700 undergraduate Geology students from 4 introductory and 2 upper level courses. Following random assignment, four treatment groups received weekly online training and intermittent hands-on trainings in spatial thinking while four control groups only participated in a pre- and a posttest of spatial thinking skills. In this presentation we summarize our results and describe the distribution of spatial skills in undergraduate students enrolled in geology courses. We first discuss the factors that best account for differences in baseline spatial ability levels, including general intelligence (using standardized test scores as a proxy), major, video gaming, and other childhood play experiences, which help to explain the gender gap observed in most research. We found a statistically significant improvement of spatial thinking still with large effect sizes for the students who received the weekly trainings. Self-report data further shows that students improve their spatial thinking skills and report that their improved spatial thinking skills increase their performance in geoscience courses. We conclude by discussing the

  9. Fluid intellingence and spatial reasoning as predictors of pilot training performance in the South African Air Force (SAAF

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    François de Kock

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Pilot selection is a form of high-stakes selection due to the massive costs of training, high trainee ability requirements and costly repercussions of poor selection decisions. This criterion-related validation study investigated the predictive ability of fluid intelligence and spatial reasoning in predicting three criteria of pilot training performance, using an accumulated sample of South African Air Force pilots (N = 108. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses with training grade achieved as criterion were performed for each of the phases of training, namely practical flight training, ground school training, and officers’ formative training. Multiple correlations of 0.35 (p 0.05 and 0.23 (p > 0.05 were obtained for flight, ground school and formative training results, respectively. Spatial ability had incremental validity over fluid intelligence for predicting flight training performance.

  10. Modeling mental spatial reasoning about cardinal directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schultheis, Holger; Bertel, Sven; Barkowsky, Thomas

    2014-01-01

    This article presents research into human mental spatial reasoning with orientation knowledge. In particular, we look at reasoning problems about cardinal directions that possess multiple valid solutions (i.e., are spatially underdetermined), at human preferences for some of these solutions, and at representational and procedural factors that lead to such preferences. The article presents, first, a discussion of existing, related conceptual and computational approaches; second, results of empirical research into the solution preferences that human reasoners actually have; and, third, a novel computational model that relies on a parsimonious and flexible spatio-analogical knowledge representation structure to robustly reproduce the behavior observed with human reasoners. Copyright © 2014 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  11. An API for Integrating Spatial Context Models with Spatial Reasoning Algorithms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjærgaard, Mikkel Baun

    2006-01-01

    The integration of context-aware applications with spatial context models is often done using a common query language. However, algorithms that estimate and reason about spatial context information can benefit from a tighter integration. An object-oriented API makes such integration possible...... and can help reduce the complexity of algorithms making them easier to maintain and develop. This paper propose an object-oriented API for context models of the physical environment and extensions to a location modeling approach called geometric space trees for it to provide adequate support for location...... modeling. The utility of the API is evaluated in several real-world cases from an indoor location system, and spans several types of spatial reasoning algorithms....

  12. A Matter of Balance: Motor Control is Related to Children’s Spatial and Proportional Reasoning Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frick, Andrea; Möhring, Wenke

    2016-01-01

    Recent research has shown close links between spatial and mathematical thinking and between spatial abilities and motor skills. However, longitudinal research examining the relations between motor, spatial, and mathematical skills is rare, and the nature of these relations remains unclear. The present study thus investigated the relation between children’s motor control and their spatial and proportional reasoning. We measured 6-year-olds’ spatial scaling (i.e., the ability to reason about different-sized spaces), their mental transformation skills, and their ability to balance on one leg as an index for motor control. One year later (N = 126), we tested the same children’s understanding of proportions. We also assessed several control variables (verbal IQ and socio-economic status) as well as inhibitory control, visuo-spatial and verbal working memory. Stepwise hierarchical regressions showed that, after accounting for effects of control variables, children’s balance skills significantly increased the explained variance in their spatial performance and proportional reasoning. Our results suggest specific relations between balance skills and spatial as well as proportional reasoning skills that cannot be explained by general differences in executive functioning or intelligence. PMID:26793157

  13. Training the elderly on the ability factors of spatial orientation and inductive reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willis, S L; Schaie, K W

    1986-09-01

    We examined the effects of cognitive training with elderly participants from the Seattle Longitudinal Study. Subjects were classified as having remained stable or having declined over the previous 14-year interval on each of two primary abilities, spatial orientation and inductive reasoning. Subjects who had declined on one of these abilities received training on that ability; subjects who had declined on both abilities or who had remained stable on both were randomly assigned to the spatial orientation or inductive reasoning training programs. Training outcomes were examined within an ability-measurement framework with empirically determined factorial structure. Significant training effects, at the level of the latent ability constructs, occurred for both spatial orientation and inductive reasoning. These effects were general, in that no significant interactions with decline status or gender were found. Thus, training interventions were effective both in remediating cognitive decline on the target abilities and in improving the performance of stable subjects.

  14. Encouraging Spatial Talk: Using Children's Museums to Bolster Spatial Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polinsky, Naomi; Perez, Jasmin; Grehl, Mora; McCrink, Koleen

    2017-01-01

    Longitudinal spatial language intervention studies have shown that greater exposure to spatial language improves children's performance on spatial tasks. Can short naturalistic, spatial language interactions also evoke improved spatial performance? In this study, parents were asked to interact with their child at a block wall exhibit in a…

  15. Spatial Reasoning and Understanding the Particulate Nature of Matter: A Middle School Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Merryn L.

    This dissertation employed a mixed-methods approach to examine the relationship between spatial reasoning ability and understanding of chemistry content for both middle school students and their science teachers. Spatial reasoning has been linked to success in learning STEM subjects (Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009). Previous studies have shown a correlation between understanding of chemistry content and spatial reasoning ability (e.g., Pribyl & Bodner, 1987; Wu & Shah, 2003: Stieff, 2013), raising the importance of developing the spatial reasoning ability of both teachers and students. Few studies examine middle school students' or in-service middle school teachers' understanding of chemistry concepts or its relation to spatial reasoning ability. The first paper in this dissertation addresses the quantitative relationship between mental rotation, a type of spatial reasoning ability, and understanding a fundamental concept in chemistry, the particulate nature of matter. The data showed a significant, positive correlation between scores on the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test of Rotations (PSVT; Bodner & Guay, 1997) and the Particulate Nature of Matter Assessment (ParNoMA; Yezierski, 2003) for middle school students prior to and after chemistry instruction. A significant difference in spatial ability among students choosing different answer choices on ParNoMA questions was also found. The second paper examined the ways in which students of different spatial abilities talked about matter and chemicals differently. Students with higher spatial ability tended to provide more of an explanation, though not necessarily in an articulate matter. In contrast, lower spatial ability students tended to use any keywords that seemed relevant, but provided little or no explanation. The third paper examined the relationship between mental reasoning and understanding chemistry for middle school science teachers. Similar to their students, a significant, positive correlation between

  16. Qualitative Spatial Reasoning for Visual Grouping in Sketches

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Forbus, Kenneth D; Tomai, Emmett; Usher, Jeffrey

    2003-01-01

    We believe that qualitative spatial reasoning provides a bridge between perception and cognition, by using visual computations to construct structural descriptions that have functional significance...

  17. Where Is the Square? Activities to Stimulate Spatial Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Obara, Samuel

    2013-01-01

    The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 1989, 2000) and the new "Australian Curriculum: Mathematics" for senior secondary (ACARA, 2010) highlight the importance of teaching spatial reasoning as early as preschool when mathematics is introduced. Studies have shown that there is a relationship between spatial abilities and…

  18. Spatial analogies pervade complex relational reasoning: Evidence from spontaneous gestures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooperrider, Kensy; Gentner, Dedre; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

    2016-01-01

    How do people think about complex phenomena like the behavior of ecosystems? Here we hypothesize that people reason about such relational systems in part by creating spatial analogies, and we explore this possibility by examining spontaneous gestures. In two studies, participants read a written lesson describing positive and negative feedback systems and then explained the differences between them. Though the lesson was highly abstract and people were not instructed to gesture, people produced spatial gestures in abundance during their explanations. These gestures used space to represent simple abstract relations (e.g., increase ) and sometimes more complex relational structures (e.g., negative feedback ). Moreover, over the course of their explanations, participants' gestures often cohered into larger analogical models of relational structure. Importantly, the spatial ideas evident in the hands were largely unaccompanied by spatial words. Gesture thus suggests that spatial analogies are pervasive in complex relational reasoning, even when language does not.

  19. Non-Monotonic Spatial Reasoning with Answer Set Programming Modulo Theories

    OpenAIRE

    Wałęga, Przemysław Andrzej; Schultz, Carl; Bhatt, Mehul

    2016-01-01

    The systematic modelling of dynamic spatial systems is a key requirement in a wide range of application areas such as commonsense cognitive robotics, computer-aided architecture design, and dynamic geographic information systems. We present ASPMT(QS), a novel approach and fully-implemented prototype for non-monotonic spatial reasoning -a crucial requirement within dynamic spatial systems- based on Answer Set Programming Modulo Theories (ASPMT). ASPMT(QS) consists of a (qualitative) spatial re...

  20. Equity and spatial reasoning: reducing the mathematical achievement gap in gender and social disadvantage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lowrie, Tom; Jorgensen, Robyn

    2018-03-01

    Since the early 70s, there has been recognition that there are specific differences in achievement based on variables, such as gender and socio-economic background, in terms of mathematics performance. However, these differences are not unilateral but rather quite specific and relate strongly to spatial reasoning. This early work has paved the way for thinking critically about who achieves in mathematics and why. This project innovatively combines the strengths of the two Chief Investigators—Lowrie's work in spatial reasoning and Jorgensen's work in equity. The assumptions, the approach and theoretical framing used in the study unite quite disparate areas of mathematics education into a cogent research program that seeks to challenge some of the long-held views in the field of mathematics education.

  1. Security Reasoning, Spatial Politics, Patriarchy and the Economic ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Security Reasoning, Spatial Politics, Patriarchy and the Economic Rights of ... find a job, start a business, and participate in the formal or informal economy. ... and engage in public policy dialogue will be an important aspect of this project.

  2. Student Moon Observations and Spatial-Scientific Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Merryn; Wilhelm, Jennifer; Yang, Hongwei

    2015-07-01

    Relationships between sixth grade students' moon journaling and students' spatial-scientific reasoning after implementation of an Earth/Space unit were examined. Teachers used the project-based Realistic Explorations in Astronomical Learning curriculum. We used a regression model to analyze the relationship between the students' Lunar Phases Concept Inventory (LPCI) post-test score variables and several predictors, including moon journal score, number of moon journal entries, student gender, teacher experience, and pre-test score. The model shows that students who performed better on moon journals, both in terms of overall score and number of entries, tended to score higher on the LPCI. For every 1 point increase in the overall moon journal score, participants scored 0.18 points (out of 20) or nearly 1% point higher on the LPCI post-test when holding constant the effects of the other two predictors. Similarly, students who increased their scores by 1 point in the overall moon journal score scored approximately 1% higher in the Periodic Patterns (PP) and Geometric Spatial Visualization (GSV) domains of the LPCI. Also, student gender and teacher experience were shown to be significant predictors of post-GSV scores on the LPCI in addition to the pre-test scores, overall moon journal score, and number of entries that were also significant predictors on the LPCI overall score and the PP domain. This study is unique in the purposeful link created between student moon observations and spatial skills. The use of moon journals distinguishes this study further by fostering scientific observation along with skills from across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.

  3. Equity and Spatial Reasoning: Reducing the Mathematical Achievement Gap in Gender and Social Disadvantage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lowrie, Tom; Jorgensen, Robyn

    2018-01-01

    Since the early 70s, there has been recognition that there are specific differences in achievement based on variables, such as gender and socio-economic background, in terms of mathematics performance. However, these differences are not unilateral but rather quite specific and relate strongly to spatial reasoning. This early work has paved the way…

  4. Spatial and Numerical Predictors of Measurement Performance: The Moderating Effects of Community Income and Gender

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casey, Beth M.; Dearing, Eric; Vasilyeva, Marina; Ganley, Colleen M.; Tine, Michele

    2011-01-01

    Spatial reasoning and numerical predictors of measurement performance were investigated in 4th graders from low-income and affluent communities. Predictors of 2 subtypes of measurement performance (spatial-conceptual and formula based) were assessed while controlling for verbal and spatial working memory. Consistent with prior findings, students…

  5. Colorful Success: Preschoolers' Use of Perceptual Color Cues to Solve a Spatial Reasoning Problem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joh, Amy S.; Spivey, Leigh A.

    2012-01-01

    Spatial reasoning, a crucial skill for everyday actions, develops gradually during the first several years of childhood. Previous studies have shown that perceptual information and problem solving strategies are critical for successful spatial reasoning in young children. Here, we sought to link these two factors by examining children's use of…

  6. Spatial Reasoning: Improvement of Imagery and Abilities in Sophomore Organic Chemistry. Perspective to Enhance Student Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hornbuckle, Susan F.; Gobin, Latanya; Thurman, Stephanie N.

    2014-01-01

    Spatial reasoning has become a demanded skill for students pursuing a science emphasis to compete with the dynamic growth of our professional society. The ability to reason spatially includes explorations in memory recollection and problem solving capabilities as well as critical thinking and reasoning skills. With these advancements, educational…

  7. Uncertainty management, spatial and temporal reasoning, and validation of intelligent environmental decision support systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sànchez-Marrè, Miquel; Gilbert, Karina; Sojda, Rick S.; Steyer, Jean Philippe; Struss, Peter; Rodríguez-Roda, Ignasi; Voinov, A.A.; Jakeman, A.J.; Rizzoli, A.E.

    2006-01-01

    There are inherent open problems arising when developing and running Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems (IEDSS). During daily operation of IEDSS several open challenge problems appear. The uncertainty of data being processed is intrinsic to the environmental system, which is being monitored by several on-line sensors and off-line data. Thus, anomalous data values at data gathering level or even uncertain reasoning process at later levels such as in diagnosis or decision support or planning can lead the environmental process to unsafe critical operation states. At diagnosis level or even at decision support level or planning level, spatial reasoning or temporal reasoning or both aspects can influence the reasoning processes undertaken by the IEDSS. Most of Environmental systems must take into account the spatial relationships between the environmental goal area and the nearby environmental areas and the temporal relationships between the current state and the past states of the environmental system to state accurate and reliable assertions to be used within the diagnosis process or decision support process or planning process. Finally, a related issue is a crucial point: are really reliable and safe the decisions proposed by the IEDSS? Are we sure about the goodness and performance of proposed solutions? How can we ensure a correct evaluation of the IEDSS? Main goal of this paper is to analyse these four issues, review some possible approaches and techniques to cope with them, and study new trends for future research within the IEDSS field.

  8. ASPMT(QS): Non-Monotonic Spatial Reasoning with Answer Set Programming Modulo Theories

    OpenAIRE

    Wałęga, Przemysław Andrzej; Bhatt, Mehul; Schultz, Carl

    2015-01-01

    The systematic modelling of \\emph{dynamic spatial systems} [9] is a key requirement in a wide range of application areas such as comonsense cognitive robotics, computer-aided architecture design, dynamic geographic information systems. We present ASPMT(QS), a novel approach and fully-implemented prototype for non-monotonic spatial reasoning ---a crucial requirement within dynamic spatial systems-- based on Answer Set Programming Modulo Theories (ASPMT). ASPMT(QS) consists of a (qualitative) s...

  9. Improving Junior High School Students' Spatial Reasoning Ability through Model Eliciting Activities with Cabri 3D

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartatiana; Darhim; Nurlaelah, Elah

    2018-01-01

    One of students' abilities which can facilitate them to understand geometric concepts is spatial reasoning ability. Spatial reasoning ability can be defined as an ability involving someone's cognitive processing to present and manipulate spatial figures, relationship, and figure formations. This research aims to find out significant difference on…

  10. The Importance of Gesture in Children's Spatial Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ehrlich, Stacy B.; Levine, Susan C.; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

    2006-01-01

    On average, men outperform women on mental rotation tasks. Even boys as young as 4 1/2 perform better than girls on simplified spatial transformation tasks. The goal of our study was to explore ways of improving 5-year-olds' performance on a spatial transformation task and to examine the strategies children use to solve this task. We found that…

  11. The effect of the Mozart Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major on the spatial-temporal reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katarina Habe

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available The influence of music on cognitive functioning was investigated with the Mozart effect, i. e. the increase in spatial-temporal reasoning performance immediately after exposure to the Mozart piano sonata K.448. The experiment was performed on the sample of 315 students. Based on the results of the main experiment, two groups were formed: the enhancement group (N = 30 and the stagnation group (N = 30. Differences between these extreme groups in intellectual, personal, emotional characteristics, and in the learning styles were examined. The Mozart effect on the spatial-temporal reasoning performance was confirmed. The effect was not influenced by gender, musical knowledge, or the study area. It was also not affected by personality and emotional characteristics. On the other hand, there was an influence of the general intelligence factor (the effect was more pronounced in the individuals with lower IQ in comparison with those with higher IQ and in the learning styles (the enhancement group processed information more on auditory and holistic level, while the stagnation group was more visual and analytical. Our study confirmed that Mozart's music has a positive influence on cognitive functioning, but this influence depends on intellectual capacities, perceptual style, and information processing style.

  12. Object-Spatial Visualization and Verbal Cognitive Styles, and Their Relation to Cognitive Abilities and Mathematical Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haciomeroglu, Erhan Selcuk

    2016-01-01

    The present study investigated the object-spatial visualization and verbal cognitive styles among high school students and related differences in spatial ability, verbal-logical reasoning ability, and mathematical performance of those students. Data were collected from 348 students enrolled in Advanced Placement calculus courses at six high…

  13. Understanding Gaps in Research Networks: Using "Spatial Reasoning" as a Window into the Importance of Networked Educational Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruce, Catherine D.; Davis, Brent; Sinclair, Nathalie; McGarvey, Lynn; Hallowell, David; Drefs, Michelle; Francis, Krista; Hawes, Zachary; Moss, Joan; Mulligan, Joanne; Okamoto, Yukari; Whiteley, Walter; Woolcott, Geoff

    2017-01-01

    This paper finds its origins in a multidisciplinary research group's efforts to assemble a review of research in order to better appreciate how "spatial reasoning" is understood and investigated across academic disciplines. We first collaborated to create a historical map of the development of spatial reasoning across key disciplines…

  14. LOGICAL REASONING ABILITY AND STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN GENERAL CHEMISTRY.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bird, Lillian

    2010-03-01

    Logical reasoning skills of students enrolled in General Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras were measured using the Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT) test. The results were used to determine the students' cognitive level (concrete, transitional, formal) as well as their level of performance by logical reasoning mode (mass/volume conservation, proportional reasoning, correlational reasoning, experimental variable control, probabilistic reasoning and combinatorial reasoning). This information was used to identify particular deficiencies and gender effects, and to determine which logical reasoning modes were the best predictors of student performance in the general chemistry course. Statistical tests to analyze the relation between (a) operational level and final grade in both semesters of the course; (b) GALT test results and performance in the ACS General Chemistry Examination; and (c) operational level and student approach (algorithmic or conceptual) towards a test question that may be answered correctly using either strategy, were also performed.

  15. Depressive symptoms and inductive reasoning performance: findings from the ACTIVE reasoning training intervention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parisi, Jeanine M; Franchetti, Mary Kathryn; Rebok, George W; Spira, Adam P; Carlson, Michelle C; Willis, Sherry L; Gross, Alden L

    2014-12-01

    Within the context of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly study (ACTIVE; Ball et al., 2002; Jobe et al., 2001; Willis et al., 2006), we examined the longitudinal association of baseline depressive symptoms on inductive reasoning performance over a 10-year period between the reasoning training and control conditions (N = 1,375). At baseline, 322 participants (23%) reported elevated depressive symptoms, defined by a score ≥9 on the 12-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Mirowsky & Ross, 2003; Radloff, 1977). Differences in baseline depressive status were not associated with immediate posttraining gains or with subsequent annual change in reasoning performance, suggesting that the presence of elevated baseline depressive symptoms does not impact the ability to benefit from reasoning training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

  16. The Design and Use of Planetary Science Video Games to Teach Content while Enhancing Spatial Reasoning Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziffer, Julie; Nadirli, Orkhan; Rudnick, Benjamin; Pinkham, Sunny; Montgomery, Benjamin

    2016-10-01

    Traditional teaching of Planetary Science requires students to possess well developed spatial reasoning skills (SRS). Recent research has demonstrated that SRS, long known to be crucial to math and science success, can be improved among students who lack these skills (Sorby et al., 2009). Teaching spatial reasoning is particularly valuable to women and minorities who, through societal pressure, often doubt their abilities (Hill et al., 2010). To address SRS deficiencies, our team is developing video games that embed SRS training into Planetary Science content. Our first game, on Moon Phases, addresses the two primary challenges faced by students trying to understand the Sun-Earth-Moon system: 1) visualizing the system (specifically the difference between the Sun-Earth orbital plane and the Earth-Moon orbital plane) and 2) comprehending the relationship between time and the position-phase of the Moon. In our second video game, the student varies an asteroid's rotational speed, shape, and orientation to the light source while observing how these changes effect the resulting light curve. To correctly pair objects to their light curves, students use spatial reasoning skills to imagine how light scattering off a three dimensional rotating object is imaged on a sensor plane and is then reduced to a series of points on a light curve plot. These two games represent the first of our developing suite of high-interest video games designed to teach content while increasing the student's competence in spatial reasoning.

  17. Applying spatial reasoning to topographical data with a grounded geographical ontology

    OpenAIRE

    Mallenby, D.; Bennett, B.

    2007-01-01

    Grounding an ontology upon geographical data has been pro-\\ud posed as a method of handling the vagueness in the domain more effectively. In order to do this, we require methods of reasoning about the spatial relations between the regions within the data. This stage can be computationally expensive, as we require information on the location of\\ud points in relation to each other. This paper illustrates how using knowledge about regions allows us to reduce the computation required in an effici...

  18. Reasons for Implementing Movement in Kinetic Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cudzik, Jan; Nyka, Lucyna

    2017-10-01

    The paper gives insights into different forms of movement in contemporary architecture and examines them based on the reasons for their implementation. The main objective of the paper is to determine: the degree to which the complexity of kinematic architecture results from functional and spatial needs and what other motivations there are. The method adopted to investigate these questions involves theoretical studies and comparative analyses of architectural objects with different forms of movement imbedded in their structure. Using both methods allowed delving into reasons that lie behind the implementation of movement in contemporary kinetic architecture. As research shows, there is a constantly growing range of applications with kinematic solutions inserted in buildings’ structures. The reasons for their implementation are manifold and encompass pursuits of functional qualities, environmental performance, spatial effects, social interactions and new aesthetics. In those early projects based on simple mechanisms, the main motives were focused on functional values and in later experiments - on improving buildings’ environmental performance. Additionally, in recent proposals, a significant quest could be detected toward kinematic solutions that are focused on factors related to alternative aesthetics and innovative spatial effects. Research reveals that the more complicated form of movement, the more often the reason for its implementation goes beyond the traditionally understood “function”. However, research also shows that the effects resulting from investigations on spatial qualities of architecture and new aesthetics often appear to provide creative insights into new functionalities in architecture.

  19. Studying visual and spatial reasoning for design creativity

    CERN Document Server

    2015-01-01

    Creativity and design creativity in particular are being recognized as playing an increasing role in the social and economic wellbeing of a society. As a consequence creativity is becoming a focus of research. However, much of this burgeoning research is distributed across multiple disciplines that normally do not intersect with each other and researchers in one discipline are often unaware of related research in another discipline.  This volume brings together contributions from design science, computer science, cognitive science and neuroscience on studying visual and spatial reasoning applicable to design creativity. The book is the result of a unique NSF-funded workshop held in Aix-en-Provence, France. The aim of the workshop and the resulting volume was to allow researchers in disparate disciplines to be exposed to the other’s research, research methods and research results within the context of design creativity. Fifteen of the papers presented and discussed at the workshop are contained in this volu...

  20. The Effect of Origami-Based Instruction on Spatial Visualization, Geometry Achievement, and Geometric Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arici, Sevil; Aslan-Tutak, Fatma

    2015-01-01

    This research study examined the effect of origami-based geometry instruction on spatial visualization, geometry achievement, and geometric reasoning of tenth-grade students in Turkey. The sample ("n" = 184) was chosen from a tenth-grade population of a public high school in Turkey. It was a quasi-experimental pretest/posttest design. A…

  1. Girls' Spatial Skills and Arithmetic Strategies in First Grade as Predictors of Fifth-Grade Analytical Math Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casey, Beth M.; Lombardi, Caitlin McPherran; Pollock, Amanda; Fineman, Bonnie; Pezaris, Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated longitudinal pathways leading from early spatial skills in first-grade girls to their fifth-grade analytical math reasoning abilities (N = 138). First-grade assessments included spatial skills, verbal skills, addition/subtraction skills, and frequency of choice of a decomposition or retrieval strategy on the…

  2. Depressive Symptoms and Inductive Reasoning Performance: Findings from the ACTIVE Reasoning Training Intervention

    OpenAIRE

    Parisi, Jeanine M.; Franchetti, Mary Kathryn; Rebok, George W.; Spira, Adam P.; Carlson, Michelle C.; Willis, Sherry L.; Gross, Alden L.

    2014-01-01

    Within the context of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study, we examined the longitudinal association of baseline depressive symptoms on inductive reasoning performance over a ten-year period between the reasoning training and control conditions (N = 1,375). At baseline, 322 participants (23%) reported elevated depressive symptoms, defined by a score ≥ 9 on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (12-item). Differences in baseline dep...

  3. The Effectiveness of Interacting with Scientific Animations in Chemistry Using Mobile Devices on Grade 12 Students' Spatial Ability and Scientific Reasoning Skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Balushi, Sulaiman M.; Al-Musawi, Ali S.; Ambusaidi, Abdullah K.; Al-Hajri, Fatemah H.

    2017-02-01

    The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of interacting with animations using mobile devices on grade 12 students' spatial and reasoning abilities. The study took place in a grade 12 context in Oman. A quasi-experimental design was used with an experimental group of 32 students and a control group of 28 students. The experimental group studied chemistry using mobile tablets that had a digital instructional package with different animation and simulations. There was one tablet per student. A spatial ability test and a scientific reasoning test were administered to both groups prior and after the study, which lasted for 9 weeks. The findings showed that there were significant statistical differences between the two groups in terms of spatial ability in favour of the experimental group. However, there were no differences between the two groups in terms of reasoning ability. The authors reasoned that the types of animations and simulations used in the current study featured a wide range of three-dimensional animated illustrations at the particulate level of matter. Most probably, this decreased the level of abstractness that usually accompanies chemical entities and phenomena and helped the students to visualize the interactions between submicroscopic entities spatially. Further research is needed to decide on types of scientific animations that could help students improve their scientific reasoning.

  4. Uncertain relational reasoning in the parietal cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ragni, Marco; Franzmeier, Imke; Maier, Simon; Knauff, Markus

    2016-04-01

    The psychology of reasoning is currently transitioning from the study of deductive inferences under certainty to inferences that have degrees of uncertainty in both their premises and conclusions; however, only a few studies have explored the cortical basis of uncertain reasoning. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we show that areas in the right superior parietal lobe (rSPL) are necessary for solving spatial relational reasoning problems under conditions of uncertainty. Twenty-four participants had to decide whether a single presented order of objects agreed with a given set of indeterminate premises that could be interpreted in more than one way. During the presentation of the order, 10-Hz TMS was applied over the rSPL or a sham control site. Right SPL TMS during the inference phase disrupted performance in uncertain relational reasoning. Moreover, we found differences in the error rates between preferred mental models, alternative models, and inconsistent models. Our results suggest that different mechanisms are involved when people reason spatially and evaluate different kinds of uncertain conclusions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Visuospatial training improves elementary students' mathematics performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lowrie, Tom; Logan, Tracy; Ramful, Ajay

    2017-06-01

    Although spatial ability and mathematics performance are highly correlated, there is scant research on the extent to which spatial ability training can improve mathematics performance. This study evaluated the efficacy of a visuospatial intervention programme within classrooms to determine the effect on students' (1) spatial reasoning and (2) mathematics performance as a result of the intervention. The study involved grade six students (ages 10-12) in eight classes. There were five intervention classes (n = 120) and three non-intervention control classes (n = 66). A specifically designed 10-week spatial reasoning programme was developed collaboratively with the participating teachers, with the intervention replacing the standard mathematics curriculum. The five classroom teachers in the intervention programme presented 20 hr of activities aimed at enhancing students' spatial visualization, mental rotation, and spatial orientation skills. The spatial reasoning programme led to improvements in both spatial ability and mathematics performance relative to the control group who received standard mathematics instruction. Our study is the first to show that a classroom-based spatial reasoning intervention improves elementary school students' mathematics performance. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

  6. PANTHER. Pattern ANalytics To support High-performance Exploitation and Reasoning.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Czuchlewski, Kristina Rodriguez [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Hart, William E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    2015-09-01

    Sandia has approached the analysis of big datasets with an integrated methodology that uses computer science, image processing, and human factors to exploit critical patterns and relationships in large datasets despite the variety and rapidity of information. The work is part of a three-year LDRD Grand Challenge called PANTHER (Pattern ANalytics To support High-performance Exploitation and Reasoning). To maximize data analysis capability, Sandia pursued scientific advances across three key technical domains: (1) geospatial-temporal feature extraction via image segmentation and classification; (2) geospatial-temporal analysis capabilities tailored to identify and process new signatures more efficiently; and (3) domain- relevant models of human perception and cognition informing the design of analytic systems. Our integrated results include advances in geographical information systems (GIS) in which we discover activity patterns in noisy, spatial-temporal datasets using geospatial-temporal semantic graphs. We employed computational geometry and machine learning to allow us to extract and predict spatial-temporal patterns and outliers from large aircraft and maritime trajectory datasets. We automatically extracted static and ephemeral features from real, noisy synthetic aperture radar imagery for ingestion into a geospatial-temporal semantic graph. We worked with analysts and investigated analytic workflows to (1) determine how experiential knowledge evolves and is deployed in high-demand, high-throughput visual search workflows, and (2) better understand visual search performance and attention. Through PANTHER, Sandia's fundamental rethinking of key aspects of geospatial data analysis permits the extraction of much richer information from large amounts of data. The project results enable analysts to examine mountains of historical and current data that would otherwise go untouched, while also gaining meaningful, measurable, and defensible insights into

  7. Music Exposure and the Development of Spatial Intelligence in Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rauscher, Frances H.

    1999-01-01

    Presents research on the effects of music instruction on spatial-temporal reasoning in children. Summarizes past studies that tested whether music training transfers to spatial-temporal task performance. A work-in-progress focuses on whether music training can improve economically-disadvantaged preschoolers' abstract reasoning and why…

  8. Genetic and environmental influences on analogical and categorical verbal and spatial reasoning in 12-year old twins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mosing, Miriam A; Mellanby, Jane; Martin, Nicholas G; Wright, Margaret J

    2012-09-01

    Research on the genetic influences on different abstract reasoning skills (fluid intelligence) and their interrelation (especially in childhood/adolescence) has been sparse. A novel cognitive test battery, the Verbal and Spatial Reasoning test for Children (VESPARCH 1), consisting of four matched (in terms of test-procedure and design) subtests assessing verbal [analogical (VA) and categorical (VC)] and spatial [analogical (SA) and categorical (SC)] reasoning, was administered to a population based sample of 12-year old twins (169 pairs). Multivariate analysis was conducted to explore the genetic relationship between the four cognitive sub-domains. Heritabilities were 0.62 (VA), 0.49 (VC), 0.52 (SA), and 0.20 (SC). Genetic influences were due to one common factor with no specific genetic influences. This shared genetic factor also explained almost the entire covariance between the domains, as environmental variance was largely specific to each subtest. The finding of no genetic influences specific to each subtest may be due to the uniquely matched design of the VESPARCH 1, reducing confoundment of different test modalities used in conventional tests. For future research or when interpreting previous studies, our findings highlight the importance of taking such potential artefacts (i.e. different test modalities for different sub-domains) into account when exploring the relationship between cognitive sub-domains.

  9. Componential Analysis of Analogical-Reasoning Performance of High and Low Achievers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armour-Thomas, Eleanor; Allen, Brenda A.

    1990-01-01

    Assessed analogical reasoning in high- and low-achieving students at the high school level and determined whether analogical reasoning was related to academic achievement in ninth grade students (N=54). Results indicated that high achievers performed better than low achievers on all types of analogical-reasoning processes. (Author/ABL)

  10. Comparing Psychology Undergraduates' Performance in Probabilistic Reasoning under Verbal-Numerical and Graphical-Pictorial Problem Presentation Format: What Is the Role of Individual and Contextual Dimensions?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agus, Mirian; Peró-Cebollero, Maribel; Penna, Maria Pietronilla; Guàrdia-Olmos, Joan

    2015-01-01

    This study aims to investigate about the existence of a graphical facilitation effect on probabilistic reasoning. Measures of undergraduates' performances on problems presented in both verbal-numerical and graphical-pictorial formats have been related to visuo-spatial and numerical prerequisites, to statistical anxiety, to attitudes towards…

  11. The Spatial and the Visual in Mental Spatial Reasoning: An Ill-Posed Distinction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schultheis, Holger; Bertel, Sven; Barkowsky, Thomas; Seifert, Inessa

    It is an ongoing and controversial debate in cognitive science which aspects of knowledge humans process visually and which ones they process spatially. Similarly, artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive science research, in building computational cognitive systems, tended to use strictly spatial or strictly visual representations. The resulting systems, however, were suboptimal both with respect to computational efficiency and cognitive plau sibility. In this paper, we propose that the problems in both research strands stem from a mis conception of the visual and the spatial in mental spatial knowl edge pro cessing. Instead of viewing the visual and the spatial as two clearly separable categories, they should be conceptualized as the extremes of a con tinuous dimension of representation. Regarding psychology, a continuous di mension avoids the need to exclusively assign processes and representations to either one of the cate gories and, thus, facilitates a more unambiguous rating of processes and rep resentations. Regarding AI and cognitive science, the con cept of a continuous spatial / visual dimension provides the possibility of rep re sentation structures which can vary continuously along the spatial / visual di mension. As a first step in exploiting these potential advantages of the pro posed conception we (a) introduce criteria allowing for a non-dichotomic judgment of processes and representations and (b) present an approach towards rep re sentation structures that can flexibly vary along the spatial / visual dimension.

  12. Reasoning with inaccurate spatial knowledge. [for Planetary Rover

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doshi, Rajkumar S.; White, James E.; Lam, Raymond; Atkinson, David J.

    1988-01-01

    This paper describes work in progress on spatial planning for a semiautonomous mobile robot vehicle. The overall objective is to design a semiautonomous rover to plan routes in unknown, natural terrains. The approach to spatial planning involves deduction of common-sense spatial knowledge using geographical information, natural terrain representations, and assimilation of new and possibly conflicting terrain information. This report describes the ongoing research and implementation.

  13. Assessing clinical reasoning abilities of medical students using clinical performance examination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sunju Im

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the reliability and validity of new clinical performance examination (CPX for assessing clinical reasoning skills and evaluating clinical reasoning ability of the students. Methods: Third-year medical school students (n=313 in Busan-Gyeongnam consortium in 2014 were included in the study. One of 12 stations was developed to assess clinical reasoning abilities. The scenario and checklists of the station were revised by six experts. Chief complaint of the case was rhinorrhea, accompanied by fever, headache, and vomiting. Checklists focused on identifying of the main problem and systematic approach to the problem. Students interviewed the patient and recorded subjective and objective findings, assessments, plans (SOAP note for 15 minutes. Two professors assessed students simultaneously. We performed statistical analysis on their scores and survey. Results: The Cronbach α of subject station was 0.878 and Cohen κ coefficient between graders was 0.785. Students agreed on CPX as an adequate tool to evaluate students’ performance, but some graders argued that the CPX failed to secure its validity due to their lack of understanding the case. One hundred eight students (34.5% identified essential problem early and only 58 (18.5% performed systematic history taking and physical examination. One hundred seventy-three of them (55.3% communicated correct diagnosis with the patient. Most of them had trouble in writing SOAP notes. Conclusion: To gain reliability and validity, interrater agreement should be secured. Students' clinical reasoning skills were not enough. Students need to be trained on problem identification, reasoning skills and accurate record-keeping.

  14. Model of critical diagnostic reasoning: achieving expert clinician performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harjai, Prashant Kumar; Tiwari, Ruby

    2009-01-01

    Diagnostic reasoning refers to the analytical processes used to determine patient health problems. While the education curriculum and health care system focus on training nurse clinicians to accurately recognize and rescue clinical situations, assessments of non-expert nurses have yielded less than satisfactory data on diagnostic competency. The contrast between the expert and non-expert nurse clinician raises the important question of how differences in thinking may contribute to a large divergence in accurate diagnostic reasoning. This article recognizes superior organization of one's knowledge base, using prototypes, and quick retrieval of pertinent information, using similarity recognition as two reasons for the expert's superior diagnostic performance. A model of critical diagnostic reasoning, using prototypes and similarity recognition, is proposed and elucidated using case studies. This model serves as a starting point toward bridging the gap between clinical data and accurate problem identification, verification, and management while providing a structure for a knowledge exchange between expert and non-expert clinicians.

  15. Midwives' Clinical Reasons for Performing Episiotomies in the Kurdistan Region: Are they evidence-based?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed, Hamdia M

    2014-08-01

    An episiotomy is one of the most common obstetric surgical procedures and is performed mainly by midwives. The decision to perform an episiotomy depends on related clinical factors. This study aimed to find out midwives' reasons for performing episiotomies and to identify the relationship between these reasons and the demographic characteristics of the midwives. This cross-sectional study was conducted between 1(st) July and 30(th) September 2013 in three governmental maternity teaching hospitals in the three main cities of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. All of the midwives who had worked in the delivery rooms of these hospitals for at least one year were invited to participate in the study (n = 53). Data were collected through interviews with midwives as well as via a questionnaire constructed for the purpose of the study. The questionnaire sought to determine: midwives' demographic characteristics; type of episiotomy performed; authority of the decision to perform the procedure, and reasons for performing episiotomies. THE MAIN CLINICAL REASONS REPORTED BY MIDWIVES FOR PERFORMING AN EPISIOTOMY WERE: macrosomia/large fetus (38, 71.7%), breech delivery (31, 58.5%), shoulder dystocia (29, 54.7%), anticipated perineal tear (27, 50.9%) and fetal distress (27, 50.9%). There was a significant association between the frequency of these reasons and midwives' total experience in delivery rooms as well as their levels of education. Most of the reasons given by the midwives for performing episiotomies were not evidence-based. Age, years of experience, specialties and level of education also had an effect on midwives' reasons for performing episiotomies.

  16. The Spatial-Temporal Reasoning States of Children Who Play a Musical Instrument, Regarding the Mathematics Lesson: Teachers' Views

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tezer, Murat; Cumhur, Meryem; Hürsen, Emine

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study is to try to investigate the spatial-temporal reasoning states of primary school children between the ages 8 and 11 who play an instrument, regarding mathematics lessons from the teachers' views. This current study is both qualitative and quantitative in nature. In other words, the mixed research method was used in the study.…

  17. A software system for evaluation and training of spatial reasoning and neuroanatomical knowledge in a virtual environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Armstrong, Ryan; de Ribaupierre, Sandrine; Eagleson, Roy

    2014-04-01

    This paper describes the design and development of a software tool for the evaluation and training of surgical residents using an interactive, immersive, virtual environment. Our objective was to develop a tool to evaluate user spatial reasoning skills and knowledge in a neuroanatomical context, as well as to augment their performance through interactivity. In the visualization, manually segmented anatomical surface images of MRI scans of the brain were rendered using a stereo display to improve depth cues. A magnetically tracked wand was used as a 3D input device for localization tasks within the brain. The movement of the wand was made to correspond to movement of a spherical cursor within the rendered scene, providing a reference for localization. Users can be tested on their ability to localize structures within the 3D scene, and their ability to place anatomical features at the appropriate locations within the rendering. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Spatial Modulation Improves Performance in CTIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bearman, Gregory H.; Wilson, Daniel W.; Johnson, William R.

    2009-01-01

    Suitably formulated spatial modulation of a scene imaged by a computed-tomography imaging spectrometer (CTIS) has been found to be useful as a means of improving the imaging performance of the CTIS. As used here, "spatial modulation" signifies the imposition of additional, artificial structure on a scene from within the CTIS optics. The basic principles of a CTIS were described in "Improvements in Computed- Tomography Imaging Spectrometry" (NPO-20561) NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 24, No. 12 (December 2000), page 38 and "All-Reflective Computed-Tomography Imaging Spectrometers" (NPO-20836), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 26, No. 11 (November 2002), page 7a. To recapitulate: A CTIS offers capabilities for imaging a scene with spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution. The spectral disperser in a CTIS is a two-dimensional diffraction grating. It is positioned between two relay lenses (or on one of two relay mirrors) in a video imaging system. If the disperser were removed, the system would produce ordinary images of the scene in its field of view. In the presence of the grating, the image on the focal plane of the system contains both spectral and spatial information because the multiple diffraction orders of the grating give rise to multiple, spectrally dispersed images of the scene. By use of algorithms adapted from computed tomography, the image on the focal plane can be processed into an image cube a three-dimensional collection of data on the image intensity as a function of the two spatial dimensions (x and y) in the scene and of wavelength (lambda). Thus, both spectrally and spatially resolved information on the scene at a given instant of time can be obtained, without scanning, from a single snapshot; this is what makes the CTIS such a potentially powerful tool for spatially, spectrally, and temporally resolved imaging. A CTIS performs poorly in imaging some types of scenes in particular, scenes that contain little spatial or spectral variation. The computed spectra of

  19. A hierarchy for relational reasoning in the prefrontal cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krawczyk, Daniel C; Michelle McClelland, M; Donovan, Colin M

    2011-05-01

    The human brain possesses a unique capacity to reason about abstract relationships among items in our environment. The neural organization of reasoning abilities has remained elusive. Two approaches toward investigating human reasoning have involved studying visuo-spatial reasoning abilities and studying analogical reasoning. These approaches have both revealed anterior prefrontal cortex (PFC) involvement, but no prior studies have jointly investigated these two forms of reasoning to understand any potential convergence of activation within the PFC. Using fMRI, we tested the extent to which these two forms of reasoning (visuo-spatial and analogical) overlap in PFC activation. We conducted a visuo-spatial reasoning task that required processing multiple changes across three abstract pictures. This task activated a progressively anterior series of PFC regions when multiple relations had to be integrated. We also conducted a four-term analogy task in a stage-wise manner and compared results from this task to semantic and perceptual control conditions that did not require integrating relations across the problems. We found greater activation for analogical reasoning in the series of PFC regions that were sequentially involved in the visuo-spatial reasoning task. These findings indicate that stages of neural processing overlap for different domains within human reasoning. The pattern of differences across the analogy task suggests a hierarchical organization for relational reasoning across domains in which posterior frontal cortex is active across concrete reasoning tasks, while progressively more anterior regions are recruited to process increasingly abstract representations in reasoning. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Srl. All rights reserved.

  20. Detaching reasons from aims: fair play and well-being in soccer as a function of pursuing performance-approach goals for autonomous or controlling reasons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vansteenkiste, Maarten; Mouratidis, Athanasios; Lens, Willy

    2010-04-01

    In two cross-sectional studies we investigated whether soccer players' well-being (Study 1) and moral functioning (Studies 1 and 2) is related to performance-approach goals and to the autonomous and controlling reasons underlying their pursuit. In support of our hypotheses, we found in Study 1 that autonomous reasons were positively associated with vitality and positive affect, whereas controlling reasons were positively related to negative affect and mostly unrelated to indicators of morality. To investigate the lack of systematic association with moral outcomes, we explored in Study 2 whether performance-approach goals or their underlying reasons would yield an indirect relation to moral outcomes through their association with players' objectifying attitude-their tendency to depersonalize their opponents. Structural equation modeling showed that controlling reasons for performance-approach goals were positively associated with an objectifying attitude, which in turn was positively associated to unfair functioning. Results are discussed within the achievement goal perspective (Elliot, 2005) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000).

  1. Spatial transformation abilities and their relation to later mathematics performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frick, Andrea

    2018-04-10

    Using a longitudinal approach, this study investigated the relational structure of different spatial transformation skills at kindergarten age, and how these spatial skills relate to children's later mathematics performance. Children were tested at three time points, in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade (N = 119). Exploratory factor analyses revealed two subcomponents of spatial transformation skills: one representing egocentric transformations (mental rotation and spatial scaling), and one representing allocentric transformations (e.g., cross-sectioning, perspective taking). Structural equation modeling suggested that egocentric transformation skills showed their strongest relation to the part of the mathematics test tapping arithmetic operations, whereas allocentric transformations were strongly related to Numeric-Logical and Spatial Functions as well as geometry. The present findings point to a tight connection between early mental transformation skills, particularly the ones requiring a high level of spatial flexibility and a strong sense for spatial magnitudes, and children's mathematics performance at the beginning of their school career.

  2. Geometric Reasoning for Automated Planning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clement, Bradley J.; Knight, Russell L.; Broderick, Daniel

    2012-01-01

    An important aspect of mission planning for NASA s operation of the International Space Station is the allocation and management of space for supplies and equipment. The Stowage, Configuration Analysis, and Operations Planning teams collaborate to perform the bulk of that planning. A Geometric Reasoning Engine is developed in a way that can be shared by the teams to optimize item placement in the context of crew planning. The ISS crew spends (at the time of this writing) a third or more of their time moving supplies and equipment around. Better logistical support and optimized packing could make a significant impact on operational efficiency of the ISS. Currently, computational geometry and motion planning do not focus specifically on the optimized orientation and placement of 3D objects based on multiple distance and containment preferences and constraints. The software performs reasoning about the manipulation of 3D solid models in order to maximize an objective function based on distance. It optimizes for 3D orientation and placement. Spatial placement optimization is a general problem and can be applied to object packing or asset relocation.

  3. Solution strategies as possible explanations of individual and sex differences in a dynamic spatial task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peña, Daniel; Contreras, María José; Shih, Pei Chun; Santacreu, José

    2008-05-01

    When individuals perform spatial tasks, individual differences emerge in accuracy and speed as well as in the response patterns used to cope with the task. The purpose of this study is to identify, through empirical criteria, the different response patterns or strategies used by individuals when performing the dynamic spatial task presented in the Spatial Orientation Dynamic Test-Revised (SODT-R). Results show that participants can be classified according to their response patterns. Three different ways of solving a task are described, and their relation to (a) performance factors (response latency, response frequency, and invested time) and (b) ability tests (analytical reasoning, verbal reasoning, and spatial estimation) are investigated. Sex differences in response patterns and performance are also analyzed. It is found that the frequency with which men and women employ each one of the strategies described here, is different and statistically significant. Thus, employed strategy plays an important role when interpreting sex differences on dynamic spatial tasks.

  4. INTERSECTION DETECTION BASED ON QUALITATIVE SPATIAL REASONING ON STOPPING POINT CLUSTERS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Zourlidou

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research is to propose and test a method for detecting intersections by analysing collectively acquired trajectories of moving vehicles. Instead of solely relying on the geometric features of the trajectories, such as heading changes, which may indicate turning points and consequently intersections, we extract semantic features of the trajectories in form of sequences of stops and moves. Under this spatiotemporal prism, the extracted semantic information which indicates where vehicles stop can reveal important locations, such as junctions. The advantage of the proposed approach in comparison with existing turning-points oriented approaches is that it can detect intersections even when not all the crossing road segments are sampled and therefore no turning points are observed in the trajectories. The challenge with this approach is that first of all, not all vehicles stop at the same location – thus, the stop-location is blurred along the direction of the road; this, secondly, leads to the effect that nearby junctions can induce similar stop-locations. As a first step, a density-based clustering is applied on the layer of stop observations and clusters of stop events are found. Representative points of the clusters are determined (one per cluster and in a last step the existence of an intersection is clarified based on spatial relational cluster reasoning, with which less informative geospatial clusters, in terms of whether a junction exists and where its centre lies, are transformed in more informative ones. Relational reasoning criteria, based on the relative orientation of the clusters with their adjacent ones are discussed for making sense of the relation that connects them, and finally for forming groups of stop events that belong to the same junction.

  5. Predicting space telerobotic operator training performance from human spatial ability assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Andrew M.; Oman, Charles M.; Galvan, Raquel; Natapoff, Alan

    2013-11-01

    Our goal was to determine whether existing tests of spatial ability can predict an astronaut's qualification test performance after robotic training. Because training astronauts to be qualified robotics operators is so long and expensive, NASA is interested in tools that can predict robotics performance before training begins. Currently, the Astronaut Office does not have a validated tool to predict robotics ability as part of its astronaut selection or training process. Commonly used tests of human spatial ability may provide such a tool to predict robotics ability. We tested the spatial ability of 50 active astronauts who had completed at least one robotics training course, then used logistic regression models to analyze the correlation between spatial ability test scores and the astronauts' performance in their evaluation test at the end of the training course. The fit of the logistic function to our data is statistically significant for several spatial tests. However, the prediction performance of the logistic model depends on the criterion threshold assumed. To clarify the critical selection issues, we show how the probability of correct classification vs. misclassification varies as a function of the mental rotation test criterion level. Since the costs of misclassification are low, the logistic models of spatial ability and robotic performance are reliable enough only to be used to customize regular and remedial training. We suggest several changes in tracking performance throughout robotics training that could improve the range and reliability of predictive models.

  6. Sex and cultural differences in spatial performance between Japanese and North Americans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakamoto, Maiko; Spiers, Mary V

    2014-04-01

    Previous studies have suggested that Asians perform better than North Americans on spatial tasks but show smaller sex differences. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between long-term experience with a pictorial written language and spatial performance. It was hypothesized that native Japanese Kanji (a complex pictorial written language) educated adults would show smaller sex differences on spatial tasks than Japanese Americans or North Americans without Kanji education. A total of 80 young healthy participants (20 native Japanese speakers, 20 Japanese Americans-non Japanese speaking, and 40 North Americans-non Japanese speaking) completed the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT), the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), and customized 2D and 3D spatial object location memory tests. As predicted, main effects revealed men performed better on the MRT and RCFT and women performed better on the spatial object location memory tests. Also, as predicted, native Japanese performed better on all tests than the other groups. In contrast to the other groups, native Japanese showed a decreased magnitude of sex differences on aspects of the RCFT (immediate and delayed recall) and no significant sex difference on the efficiency of the strategy used to copy and encode the RCFT figure. This study lends support to the idea that intensive experience over time with a pictorial written language (i.e., Japanese Kanji) may contribute to increased spatial performance on some spatial tasks as well as diminish sex differences in performance on tasks that most resemble Kanji.

  7. Transforming Spatial Reasoning Skills in the Upper-Level Undergraduate Geoscience Classroom Through Curricular Materials Informed by Cognitive Science Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ormand, C. J.; Shipley, T. F.; Dutrow, B. L.; Goodwin, L. B.; Hickson, T. A.; Tikoff, B.; Atit, K.; Gagnier, K. M.; Resnick, I.

    2014-12-01

    Spatial visualization is an essential skill in the STEM disciplines, including the geosciences. Undergraduate students, including geoscience majors in upper-level courses, bring a wide range of spatial skill levels to the classroom. Students with weak spatial skills may be unable to understand fundamental concepts and to solve geological problems with a spatial component. However, spatial thinking skills are malleable. As a group of geoscience faculty members and cognitive psychologists, we have developed a set of curricular materials for Mineralogy, Sedimentology & Stratigraphy, and Structural Geology courses. These materials are designed to improve students' spatial skills, and in particular to improve students' abilities to reason about spatially complex 3D geological concepts and problems. Teaching spatial thinking in the context of discipline-based exercises has the potential to transform undergraduate STEM education by removing one significant barrier to success in the STEM disciplines. The curricular materials we have developed are based on several promising teaching strategies that have emerged from cognitive science research on spatial thinking. These strategies include predictive sketching, making visual comparisons, gesturing, and the use of analogy. We have conducted a three-year study of the efficacy of these materials in strengthening the spatial skills of students in upper-level geoscience courses at three universities. Our methodology relies on a pre- and post-test study design, with several tests of spatial thinking skills administered at the beginning and end of each semester. In 2011-2012, we used a "business as usual" approach to gather baseline data, measuring how much students' spatial thinking skills improved in response to the existing curricula. In the two subsequent years we have incorporated our new curricular materials, which can be found on the project website: http://serc.carleton.edu/spatialworkbook/activities.html Structural Geology

  8. Cultural Difference in Stereotype Perceptions and Performances in Nonverbal Deductive Reasoning and Creativity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Regine; Niu, Weihua

    2013-01-01

    A total of 182 undergraduate students from China and the United States participated in a study examining the presence of stereotypical perceptions regarding creativity and deductive reasoning abilities, as well as the influence of stereotype on participants' performance on deductive reasoning and creativity in nonverbal form. The results showed…

  9. Spatial Inference Based on Geometric Proportional Analogies

    OpenAIRE

    Mullally, Emma-Claire; O'Donoghue, Diarmuid P.

    2006-01-01

    We describe an instance-based reasoning solution to a variety of spatial reasoning problems. The solution centers on identifying an isomorphic mapping between labelled graphs that represent some problem data and a known solution instance. We describe a number of spatial reasoning problems that are solved by generating non-deductive inferences, integrating topology with area (and other) features. We report the accuracy of our algorithm on different categories of spatial reasoning tasks from th...

  10. Hadoop-GIS: A High Performance Spatial Data Warehousing System over MapReduce.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aji, Ablimit; Wang, Fusheng; Vo, Hoang; Lee, Rubao; Liu, Qiaoling; Zhang, Xiaodong; Saltz, Joel

    2013-08-01

    Support of high performance queries on large volumes of spatial data becomes increasingly important in many application domains, including geospatial problems in numerous fields, location based services, and emerging scientific applications that are increasingly data- and compute-intensive. The emergence of massive scale spatial data is due to the proliferation of cost effective and ubiquitous positioning technologies, development of high resolution imaging technologies, and contribution from a large number of community users. There are two major challenges for managing and querying massive spatial data to support spatial queries: the explosion of spatial data, and the high computational complexity of spatial queries. In this paper, we present Hadoop-GIS - a scalable and high performance spatial data warehousing system for running large scale spatial queries on Hadoop. Hadoop-GIS supports multiple types of spatial queries on MapReduce through spatial partitioning, customizable spatial query engine RESQUE, implicit parallel spatial query execution on MapReduce, and effective methods for amending query results through handling boundary objects. Hadoop-GIS utilizes global partition indexing and customizable on demand local spatial indexing to achieve efficient query processing. Hadoop-GIS is integrated into Hive to support declarative spatial queries with an integrated architecture. Our experiments have demonstrated the high efficiency of Hadoop-GIS on query response and high scalability to run on commodity clusters. Our comparative experiments have showed that performance of Hadoop-GIS is on par with parallel SDBMS and outperforms SDBMS for compute-intensive queries. Hadoop-GIS is available as a set of library for processing spatial queries, and as an integrated software package in Hive.

  11. Neural basis of stereotype-induced shifts in women's mental rotation performance

    OpenAIRE

    Wraga, Maryjane; Helt, Molly; Jacobs, Emily; Sullivan, Kerry

    2007-01-01

    Recent negative focus on women's academic abilities has fueled disputes over gender disparities in the sciences. The controversy derives, in part, from women's relatively poorer performance in aptitude tests, many of which require skills of spatial reasoning. We used functional magnetic imaging to examine the neural structure underlying shifts in women's performance of a spatial reasoning task induced by positive and negative stereotypes. Three groups of participants performed a task involvin...

  12. Judgments about illegal performance-enhancing substances: reasoned, reactive, or both?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dodge, Tonya; Stock, Michelle; Litt, Dana

    2013-07-01

    This study applied aspects of the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Prototype/Willingness model to understand cognitions associated with the use of illegal performance-enhancing substances. There were two study objectives. One was to investigate whether the illegal-is-effective heuristic (i.e. belief that illegal performance-enhancing substances are more effective than legal performance-enhancing substances) affects willingness to use illegal performance-enhancing substances. The second was to examine whether attitudes, norms, and prototypes influence the willingness and intentions to use illegal performance-enhancing substances. The illegal-is-effective heuristic was a significant predictor of willingness but was not a significant predictor of intentions. Implications for future research and prevention efforts are discussed.

  13. A novel spatial performance metric for robust pattern optimization of distributed hydrological models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stisen, S.; Demirel, C.; Koch, J.

    2017-12-01

    Evaluation of performance is an integral part of model development and calibration as well as it is of paramount importance when communicating modelling results to stakeholders and the scientific community. There exists a comprehensive and well tested toolbox of metrics to assess temporal model performance in the hydrological modelling community. On the contrary, the experience to evaluate spatial performance is not corresponding to the grand availability of spatial observations readily available and to the sophisticate model codes simulating the spatial variability of complex hydrological processes. This study aims at making a contribution towards advancing spatial pattern oriented model evaluation for distributed hydrological models. This is achieved by introducing a novel spatial performance metric which provides robust pattern performance during model calibration. The promoted SPAtial EFficiency (spaef) metric reflects three equally weighted components: correlation, coefficient of variation and histogram overlap. This multi-component approach is necessary in order to adequately compare spatial patterns. spaef, its three components individually and two alternative spatial performance metrics, i.e. connectivity analysis and fractions skill score, are tested in a spatial pattern oriented model calibration of a catchment model in Denmark. The calibration is constrained by a remote sensing based spatial pattern of evapotranspiration and discharge timeseries at two stations. Our results stress that stand-alone metrics tend to fail to provide holistic pattern information to the optimizer which underlines the importance of multi-component metrics. The three spaef components are independent which allows them to complement each other in a meaningful way. This study promotes the use of bias insensitive metrics which allow comparing variables which are related but may differ in unit in order to optimally exploit spatial observations made available by remote sensing

  14. Changes in analogical reasoning in adulthood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, E; Gardner, M K; Brown, G; Howell, R J

    1990-01-01

    This study sought to investigate adult intellectual development through an analysis of a particular type of cognitive ability, verbal analogical reasoning. The performance of 60 individuals between the ages of 20 and 79 was compared on 100 verbal analogies. The subjects consisted of six groups of ten individuals each (five males and five females), matched as a group for education and gender. Solution times and error rates served as the dependent measures. Results showed that there was a significant trend for the older subjects (60- and 70-year-olds) to be slower than the young subjects (20-, 30-, 40-, and 50-year-olds), but not necessarily more error prone. These data suggest that verbal analogical reasoning changes with age. Supplemental data demonstrated a change in other abilities as well (i.e., decline in perceptual-motor speed and spatial skill).

  15. Latent Profile Analysis of Schizotypy and Paranormal Belief: Associations with Probabilistic Reasoning Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Denovan

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This study assessed the extent to which within-individual variation in schizotypy and paranormal belief influenced performance on probabilistic reasoning tasks. A convenience sample of 725 non-clinical adults completed measures assessing schizotypy (Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences; O-Life brief, belief in the paranormal (Revised Paranormal Belief Scale; RPBS and probabilistic reasoning (perception of randomness, conjunction fallacy, paranormal perception of randomness, and paranormal conjunction fallacy. Latent profile analysis (LPA identified four distinct groups: class 1, low schizotypy and low paranormal belief (43.9% of sample; class 2, moderate schizotypy and moderate paranormal belief (18.2%; class 3, moderate schizotypy (high cognitive disorganization and low paranormal belief (29%; and class 4, moderate schizotypy and high paranormal belief (8.9%. Identification of homogeneous classes provided a nuanced understanding of the relative contribution of schizotypy and paranormal belief to differences in probabilistic reasoning performance. Multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that groups with lower levels of paranormal belief (classes 1 and 3 performed significantly better on perception of randomness, but not conjunction problems. Schizotypy had only a negligible effect on performance. Further analysis indicated that framing perception of randomness and conjunction problems in a paranormal context facilitated performance for all groups but class 4.

  16. Latent Profile Analysis of Schizotypy and Paranormal Belief: Associations with Probabilistic Reasoning Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denovan, Andrew; Dagnall, Neil; Drinkwater, Kenneth; Parker, Andrew

    2018-01-01

    This study assessed the extent to which within-individual variation in schizotypy and paranormal belief influenced performance on probabilistic reasoning tasks. A convenience sample of 725 non-clinical adults completed measures assessing schizotypy (Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences; O-Life brief), belief in the paranormal (Revised Paranormal Belief Scale; RPBS) and probabilistic reasoning (perception of randomness, conjunction fallacy, paranormal perception of randomness, and paranormal conjunction fallacy). Latent profile analysis (LPA) identified four distinct groups: class 1, low schizotypy and low paranormal belief (43.9% of sample); class 2, moderate schizotypy and moderate paranormal belief (18.2%); class 3, moderate schizotypy (high cognitive disorganization) and low paranormal belief (29%); and class 4, moderate schizotypy and high paranormal belief (8.9%). Identification of homogeneous classes provided a nuanced understanding of the relative contribution of schizotypy and paranormal belief to differences in probabilistic reasoning performance. Multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that groups with lower levels of paranormal belief (classes 1 and 3) performed significantly better on perception of randomness, but not conjunction problems. Schizotypy had only a negligible effect on performance. Further analysis indicated that framing perception of randomness and conjunction problems in a paranormal context facilitated performance for all groups but class 4.

  17. Peer assessment of aviation performance: inconsistent for good reasons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roth, Wolff-Michael; Mavin, Timothy J

    2015-03-01

    Research into expertise is relatively common in cognitive science concerning expertise existing across many domains. However, much less research has examined how experts within the same domain assess the performance of their peer experts. We report the results of a modified think-aloud study conducted with 18 pilots (6 first officers, 6 captains, and 6 flight examiners). Pairs of same-ranked pilots were asked to rate the performance of a captain flying in a critical pre-recorded simulator scenario. Findings reveal (a) considerable variance within performance categories, (b) differences in the process used as evidence in support of a performance rating, (c) different numbers and types of facts (cues) identified, and (d) differences in how specific performance events affect choice of performance category and gravity of performance assessment. Such variance is consistent with low inter-rater reliability. Because raters exhibited good, albeit imprecise, reasons and facts, a fuzzy mathematical model of performance rating was developed. The model provides good agreement with observed variations. Copyright © 2014 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  18. Ability Of Mathematical Reasoning in SMK 10th Grade with LAPS- Heuristic using Performance Assessment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aulia Nur Arivina

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The purposes of this research are: (1 Test the learning with LAPS-Heuristic model using performance assessment on 10th grade of Trigonometry material is complete, (2 to test the difference of students' mathematical reasoning ability on 10th grade of Trigonometry material between the learning model of LAPS-Heuristic using performance assessment, LAPS-Heuristic learning model with Expository learning model, (3 test the ability of mathematical reasoning with learning model of LAPS-Heuristik on Trigonometry material of SMK on 10th grade using performance assessment is increase. This is a quantitative research. The population is students of 10th grade of SMK 10 Semarang academic year 2016/2017 and the subject of research is selected by clustering random sampling. The results show that (1 Learning by model LAPS-Heuristic using performance assessment on 10th grade of Trigonometry material is complete (2 there are differences in students' mathematical reasoning ability on 10th grade of Trigonometry materials between LAPS-Heuristic learning model using performance assessment, LAPS-Heuristic learning model, and Expository learning model, (3 The ability of mathematical reasoning with learning model of LAPS-Heuristic on Trigonometry material of SMK class X using performance assessment increased.

  19. Relationship between Academic Performance, Spatial Competence, Learning Styles and Attrition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marianela Noriega Biggio

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses the results of research on factors affecting academic performance and attrition in a sample of 1,500 freshman students majoring in architecture, design and urbanism at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina [University of Buenos Aires, Argentina] who were enrolled in a drafting course. The hypotheses we tested concern the mediating role of learning styles on the relationship between spatial competence and academic performance, learning-style differences by gender and cohort, and the relationship between attrition, spatial competence level and learning style. Statistical analysis of the data was performed and spatial competence enhanced by motivational profile was found to predict final achievement. Educational implications are identified, highlighting the need to promote in students those academic behaviors that characterize a self-regulated learning style and encourage the use of specific intellectual abilities.

  20. Latent Profile Analysis of Schizotypy and Paranormal Belief: Associations with Probabilistic Reasoning Performance

    OpenAIRE

    Denovan, Andrew; Dagnall, Neil; Drinkwater, Kenneth; Parker, Andrew

    2018-01-01

    This study assessed the extent to which within-individual variation in schizotypy and paranormal belief influenced performance on probabilistic reasoning tasks. A convenience sample of 725 non-clinical adults completed measures assessing schizotypy (Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences; O-Life brief), belief in the paranormal (Revised Paranormal Belief Scale; RPBS) and probabilistic reasoning (perception of randomness, conjunction fallacy, paranormal perception of randomness...

  1. Discrimination performance in aging is vulnerable to interference and dissociable from spatial memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Sarah A.; Sacks, Patricia K.; Turner, Sean M.; Gaynor, Leslie S.; Ormerod, Brandi K.; Maurer, Andrew P.; Bizon, Jennifer L.

    2016-01-01

    Hippocampal-dependent episodic memory and stimulus discrimination abilities are both compromised in the elderly. The reduced capacity to discriminate between similar stimuli likely contributes to multiple aspects of age-related cognitive impairment; however, the association of these behaviors within individuals has never been examined in an animal model. In the present study, young and aged F344×BN F1 hybrid rats were cross-characterized on the Morris water maze test of spatial memory and a dentate gyrus-dependent match-to-position test of spatial discrimination ability. Aged rats showed overall impairments relative to young in spatial learning and memory on the water maze task. Although young and aged learned to apply a match-to-position response strategy in performing easy spatial discriminations within a similar number of trials, a majority of aged rats were impaired relative to young in performing difficult spatial discriminations on subsequent tests. Moreover, all aged rats were susceptible to cumulative interference during spatial discrimination tests, such that error rate increased on later trials of test sessions. These data suggest that when faced with difficult discriminations, the aged rats were less able to distinguish current goal locations from those of previous trials. Increasing acetylcholine levels with donepezil did not improve aged rats’ abilities to accurately perform difficult spatial discriminations or reduce their susceptibility to interference. Interestingly, better spatial memory abilities were not significantly associated with higher performance on difficult spatial discriminations. This observation, along with the finding that aged rats made more errors under conditions in which interference was high, suggests that match-to-position spatial discrimination performance may rely on extra-hippocampal structures such as the prefrontal cortex, in addition to the dentate gyrus. PMID:27317194

  2. Meta-analysis: how does posterior parietal cortex contribute to reasoning?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wendelken, Carter

    2015-01-01

    Reasoning depends on the contribution of posterior parietal cortex (PPC). But PPC is involved in many basic operations—including spatial attention, mathematical cognition, working memory, long-term memory, and language—and the nature of its contribution to reasoning is unclear. Psychological theories of the processes underlying reasoning make divergent claims about the neural systems that are likely to be involved, and better understanding the specific contribution of PPC can help to inform these theories. We set out to address several competing hypotheses, concerning the role of PPC in reasoning: (1) reasoning involves application of formal logic and is dependent on language, with PPC activation for reasoning mainly reflective of linguistic processing; (2) reasoning involves probabilistic computation and is thus dependent on numerical processing mechanisms in PPC; and (3) reasoning is built upon the representation and processing of spatial relations, and PPC activation associated with reasoning reflects spatial processing. We conducted two separate meta-analyses. First, we pooled data from our own studies of reasoning in adults, and examined activation in PPC regions of interest (ROI). Second, we conducted an automated meta-analysis using Neurosynth, in which we examined overlap between activation maps associated with reasoning and maps associated with other key functions of PPC. In both analyses, we observed reasoning-related activation concentrated in the left Inferior Parietal Lobe (IPL). Reasoning maps demonstrated the greatest overlap with mathematical cognition. Maintenance, visuospatial, and phonological processing also demonstrated some overlap with reasoning, but a large portion of the reasoning map did not overlap with the map for any other function. This evidence suggests that the PPC’s contribution to reasoning may be most closely related to its role in mathematical cognition, but that a core component of this contribution may be specific to

  3. Meta-analysis: How does posterior parietal cortex contribute to reasoning?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carter eWendelken

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Reasoning depends on the contribution of posterior parietal cortex (PPC. But PPC is involved in many basic operations -- including spatial attention, mathematical cognition, working memory, long-term memory, and language -- and the nature of its contribution to reasoning is unclear. Psychological theories of the processes underlying reasoning make divergent claims about the neural systems that are likely to be involved, and better understanding the specific contribution of PPC can help to inform these theories. We set out to address several competing hypotheses, concerning the role of PPC in reasoning: 1 reasoning involves application of formal logic and is dependent on language, with PPC activation for reasoning mainly reflective of linguistic processing, 2 reasoning involves probabilistic computation and is thus dependent on numerical processing mechanisms in PPC, and 3 reasoning is built upon the representation and processing of spatial relations, and PPC activation associated with reasoning reflects spatial processing. We conducted two separate meta-analyses. First, we pooled data from our own studies of reasoning in adults, and examined activation in PPC regions of interest. Second, we conducted an automated meta-analysis using Neurosynth, in which we examined overlap between activation maps associated with reasoning and maps associated with other key functions of PPC. In both analyses, we observed reasoning-related activation concentrated in the left Inferior Parietal Lobe (IPL. Reasoning maps demonstrated the greatest overlap with mathematical cognition. Maintenance, visuospatial, and phonological processing also demonstrated some overlap with reasoning, but a large portion of the reasoning map did not overlap with the map for any other function. This evidence suggests that the PPC’s contribution to reasoning may be most closely related to its role in mathematical cognition, but that a core component of this contribution may be specific

  4. Ability Of Mathematical Reasoning in SMK 10th Grade with LAPS- Heuristic using Performance Assessment

    OpenAIRE

    Aulia Nur Arivina; Masrukan Masrukan; Ardhi Prabowo

    2017-01-01

    The purposes of this research are: (1) Test the learning with LAPS-Heuristic model using performance assessment on 10th grade of Trigonometry material is complete, (2) to test the difference of students' mathematical reasoning ability on 10th grade of Trigonometry material between the learning model of LAPS-Heuristic using performance assessment, LAPS-Heuristic learning model with Expository learning model, (3) test the ability of mathematical reasoning with learning model of LAPS-Heuristik o...

  5. Predicting detection performance with model observers: Fourier domain or spatial domain?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Baiyu; Yu, Lifeng; Leng, Shuai; Kofler, James; Favazza, Christopher; Vrieze, Thomas; McCollough, Cynthia

    2016-02-27

    The use of Fourier domain model observer is challenged by iterative reconstruction (IR), because IR algorithms are nonlinear and IR images have noise texture different from that of FBP. A modified Fourier domain model observer, which incorporates nonlinear noise and resolution properties, has been proposed for IR and needs to be validated with human detection performance. On the other hand, the spatial domain model observer is theoretically applicable to IR, but more computationally intensive than the Fourier domain method. The purpose of this study is to compare the modified Fourier domain model observer to the spatial domain model observer with both FBP and IR images, using human detection performance as the gold standard. A phantom with inserts of various low contrast levels and sizes was repeatedly scanned 100 times on a third-generation, dual-source CT scanner at 5 dose levels and reconstructed using FBP and IR algorithms. The human detection performance of the inserts was measured via a 2-alternative-forced-choice (2AFC) test. In addition, two model observer performances were calculated, including a Fourier domain non-prewhitening model observer and a spatial domain channelized Hotelling observer. The performance of these two mode observers was compared in terms of how well they correlated with human observer performance. Our results demonstrated that the spatial domain model observer correlated well with human observers across various dose levels, object contrast levels, and object sizes. The Fourier domain observer correlated well with human observers using FBP images, but overestimated the detection performance using IR images.

  6. Performance-oriented Architecture and the Spatial and Material Organisation Complex. Rethinking the Definition, Role and Performative Capacity of the Spatial and Material Boundaries of the Built Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Ulrich Hensel

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available This article is based on the proposition that performance-oriented design is characterised by four domains of ‘active agency’: the human subject, the spatial and material organisation complex and the environment (Hensel, 2010. While these four domains are seen to be interdependent and interacting with one another, it is nevertheless necessary to examine each in its own right. However, the spatial and material organisation complex contains both the spatial and material domains, which are interdependent to such a degree that these need to be examined in relation to one another and also in relation to the specific environment they are set within and interacting with. To explore this combined domain within the context of performance-oriented design is the aim of this article, in particularly in relation to the question of the definition and performative capacity of spatial and material boundaries. The various sections are accompanied by research by design efforts undertaken in specified academic contexts, which are intended as examples of modes and areas of inquiry relative to the purpose of this article.

  7. Comprehending 3D Diagrams: Sketching to Support Spatial Reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gagnier, Kristin M; Atit, Kinnari; Ormand, Carol J; Shipley, Thomas F

    2017-10-01

    Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines commonly illustrate 3D relationships in diagrams, yet these are often challenging for students. Failing to understand diagrams can hinder success in STEM because scientific practice requires understanding and creating diagrammatic representations. We explore a new approach to improving student understanding of diagrams that convey 3D relations that is based on students generating their own predictive diagrams. Participants' comprehension of 3D spatial diagrams was measured in a pre- and post-design where students selected the correct 2D slice through 3D geologic block diagrams. Generating sketches that predicated the internal structure of a model led to greater improvement in diagram understanding than visualizing the interior of the model without sketching, or sketching the model without attempting to predict unseen spatial relations. In addition, we found a positive correlation between sketched diagram accuracy and improvement on the diagram comprehension measure. Results suggest that generating a predictive diagram facilitates students' abilities to make inferences about spatial relationships in diagrams. Implications for use of sketching in supporting STEM learning are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  8. Urban Spatial Ecological Performance Based on the Data of Remote Sensing of Guyuan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, X.-J.; Chen, X.-J.; Ma, Q.

    2018-04-01

    The evolution analysis of urban landuse and spatial ecological performance are necessary and useful to recognizing the stage of urban development and revealing the regularity and connotation of urban spatial expansion. Moreover, it lies in the core that should be exmined in the urban sustainable development. In this paper, detailed information has been acquired from the high-resolution satellite imageries of Guyuan, China case study. With the support of GIS, the land-use mapping information and the land cover changes are analyzed, and the process of urban spatial ecological performance evolution by the hierarchical methodology is explored. Results demonstrate that in the past 11 years, the urban spatial ecological performance show an improved process with the dramatic landcover change in Guyuan. Firstly, the landuse structure of Guyuan changes significantly and shows an obvious stage characteristic. Secondly, the urban ecological performance of Guyuan continues to be optimized over the 11 years. Thirdly, the findings suggest that a dynamic monitoring mechanism of urban land use based on high-resolution remote sensing data should be established in urban development, and the rational development of urban land use should be guided by the spatial ecological performance as the basic value orientation.

  9. Primacy Performance of Normal and Retarded Children: Stimulus Familiarity or Spatial Memory?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swanson, Lee

    1978-01-01

    Explores the effect of stimulus familiarity on the spatial primacy performance of normal and retarded children. Assumes that serial recall tasks reflect spatial memory rather than verbal rehearsal. (BD)

  10. Administering Spatial and Cognitive Instruments In-class and On-line: Are These Equivalent?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williamson, Kenneth C.; Williamson, Vickie M.; Hinze, Scott R.

    2017-02-01

    Standardized, well-established paper-and-pencil tests, which measure spatial abilities or which measure reasoning abilities, have long been found to be predictive of success in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. Instructors can use these tests for prediction of success and to inform instruction. A comparative administration of spatial visualization and cognitive reasoning tests, between in-class (proctored paper and pencil) and on-line (unproctored Internet) ( N = 457), was used to investigate and to determine whether the differing instrument formats yielded equal measures of spatial ability and reasoning ability in large first-semester general chemistry sections. Although some gender differences were found, findings suggest that some differences across administration formats, but that on-line administration had similar properties of predicting chemistry performance as the in-class version. Therefore, on-line administration is a viable option for instructors to consider especially when dealing with large classes.

  11. Spatial abilities and technical skills performance in health care: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langlois, Jean; Bellemare, Christian; Toulouse, Josée; Wells, George A

    2015-11-01

    The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between spatial abilities and technical skills performance in health care in beginners and to compare this relationship with those in intermediate and autonomous learners. Search criteria included 'spatial abilities' and 'technical skills'. Keywords related to these criteria were defined. A literature search was conducted to 20 December, 2013 in Scopus (including MEDLINE) and in several databases on EBSCOhost platforms (CINAHL Plus with Full Text, ERIC, Education Source and PsycINFO). Citations were obtained and reviewed by two independent reviewers. Articles related to retained citations were reviewed and a final list of eligible articles was determined. Articles were assessed for quality using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network-50 assessment instrument. Data were extracted from articles in a systematic way. Correlations between spatial abilities test scores and technical skills performance were identified. A series of 8289 citations was obtained. Eighty articles were retained and fully reviewed, yielding 36 eligible articles. The systematic review found a tendency for spatial abilities to be negatively correlated with the duration of technical skills and positively correlated with the quality of technical skills performance in beginners and intermediate learners. Pooled correlations of studies were -0.46 (p = 0.03) and -0.38 (95% confidence interval [CI] -0.53 to -0.21) for duration and 0.33 (95% CI 0.20-0.44) and 0.41 (95% CI 0.26-0.54) for quality of technical skills performance in beginners and intermediate learners, respectively. However, correlations between spatial abilities test scores and technical skills performance were not statistically significant in autonomous learners. Spatial abilities are an important factor to consider in selecting and training individuals in technical skills in health care. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Chew on this: No support for facilitating effects of gum on spatial task performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nader, Ingo W; Gittler, Georg; Waldherr, Karin; Pietschnig, Jakob

    2010-09-01

    To determine whether chewing of gum facilitates spatial task performance in healthy participants, two behavioral experiments were performed. In the first experiment, spatial task performance of 349 men and women preceding and after treatment administration (saccharated chewing gum, sugar-free chewing gum, no chewing gum) was assessed using effect modeling by means of Item Response Theory. In the second experiment, another 100 participants were either administered sugar-free chewing gum or no chewing gum during spatial task performance. Effects of gum in the second study were assessed by standard means of data analysis. Results indicated no significant effects of either chewing gum or sugar on spatial task performance in either experiment. Our findings are consistent with recent studies investigating the influences of chewing gum on various memory functions, extending them by another measure of cognitive ability. Thus, further doubt is cast on enhancing effects of chewing gum on cognitive task performance. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Evaluating Middle School Students' Spatial-scientific Performance in Earth-space Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilhelm, Jennifer; Jackson, C.; Toland, M. D.; Cole, M.; Wilhelm, R. J.

    2013-06-01

    Many astronomical concepts cannot be understood without a developed understanding of four spatial-mathematics domains defined as follows: a) Geometric Spatial Visualization (GSV) - Visualizing the geometric features of a system as it appears above, below, and within the system’s plane; b) Spatial Projection (SP) - Projecting to a different location and visualizing from that global perspective; c) Cardinal Directions (CD) - Distinguishing directions (N, S, E, W) in order to document an object’s vector position in space; and d) Periodic Patterns - (PP) Recognizing occurrences at regular intervals of time and/or space. For this study, differences were examined between groups of sixth grade students’ spatial-scientific development pre/post implementation of an Earth/Space unit. Treatment teachers employed a NASA-based curriculum (Realistic Explorations in Astronomical Learning), while control teachers implemented their regular Earth/Space units. A 2-level hierarchical linear model was used to evaluate student performance on the Lunar Phases Concept Inventory (LPCI) and four spatial-mathematics domains, while controlling for two variables (gender and ethnicity) at the student level and one variable (teaching experience) at the teacher level. Overall LPCI results show pre-test scores predicted post-test scores, boys performed better than girls, and Whites performed better than non-Whites. We also compared experimental and control groups’ by spatial-mathematics domain outcomes. For GSV, it was found that boys, in general, tended to have higher GSV post-scores. For domains CD and SP, no statistically significant differences were observed. PP results show Whites performed better than non-Whites. Also for PP, a significant cross-level interaction term (gender-treatment) was observed, which means differences in control and experimental groups are dependent on students’ gender. These findings can be interpreted as: (a) the experimental girls scored higher than the

  14. Spatial reasoning with augmented points: Extending cardinal directions with local distances

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reinhard Moratz

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available We present an approach for supplying existing qualitative direction calculi with a distance component to support fully fledged positional reasoning. The general underlying idea of augmenting points with local reference properties has already been applied in the OPRAm calculus. In this existing calculus, point objects are attached with a local reference direction to obtain oriented points and able to express relative direction using binary relations. We show how this approach can be extended to attach a granular distance concept to direction calculi such as the cardinal direction calculus or adjustable granularity calculi such as OPRAm or the Star calculus. We focus on the cardinal direction calculus and extend it to a multi-granular positional calculus called EPRAm. We provide a formal specification of EPRAm including a composition table for EPRA2 automatically determined using real algebraic geometry. We also report on an experimental performance analysis of EPRA2 in the context of a topological map-learning task proposed for benchmarking qualitative calculi. Our results confirm that our approach of adding a relative distance component to existing calculi improves the performance in realistic tasks when using algebraic closure for consistency checking.

  15. Predicting Intention Perform Breast Self-Examination: Application of the Theory of Reasoned Action

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dewi, Triana Kesuma; Zein, Rizqy Amelia

    2017-11-26

    Objective: The present study aimed to examine the applicability of the theory of reasoned action to explain intention to perform breast self-examination (BSE). Methods: A questionnaire was constructed to collect data. The hypothesis was tested in two steps. First, to assess the strength of the correlation among the constructs of theory of reasoned action (TRA), Pearson’s product moment correlations were applied. Second, multivariate relationships among the constructs were examined by performing hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis. Result: The findings supported the TRA model, explaining 45.8% of the variance in the students’ BSE intention, which was significantly correlated with attitude (r = 0.609, p = 0.000) and subjective norms (r = 0.420, p =0 .000). Conclusion: TRA could be a suitable model to predict BSE intentions . Participants who believed that doing BSE regularly is beneficial for early diagnosis of breast cancer and also believed that their significant referents think that doing BSE would significantly detect breast cancer earlier, were more likely to intend to perform BSE regularly. Therefore, the research findings supported the conclusion that promoting the importance of BSE at the community/social level would enhance individuals to perform BSE routinely. Creative Commons Attribution License

  16. Obtaining reasonable assurance on geochemical aspects of performance assessment of deep geologic repositories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Luik, A.E.; Serne, R.J.

    1986-01-01

    Providing reasonable assurance that a deep geologic disposal system will perform as required by regulation involves, in part, the building of confidence by providing a sound scientific basis for the site characterization, engineered system design, and system performance modeling efforts. Geochemistry plays a role in each of these activities. Site characterization must result in a description of the in situ geochemical environment that will support the design of the engineered system and the modeling of the transport of specific radionuclides to the accessible environment. Judging the adequacy of this site characterization effort is a major aspect of providing reasonable assurance. Within site characterization, there are a number of geochemical issues that need to be addressed such as the usefulness of natural analog studies, and assessing the very long-term stability of the site geochemistry, given expected temperature and radiation conditions

  17. Enhanced learning of proportional math through music training and spatial-temporal training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graziano, A B; Peterson, M; Shaw, G L

    1999-03-01

    It was predicted, based on a mathematical model of the cortex, that early music training would enhance spatial-temporal reasoning. We have demonstrated that preschool children given six months of piano keyboard lessons improved dramatically on spatial-temporal reasoning while children in appropriate control groups did not improve. It was then predicted that the enhanced spatial-temporal reasoning from piano keyboard training could lead to enhanced learning of specific math concepts, in particular proportional math, which is notoriously difficult to teach using the usual language-analytic methods. We report here the development of Spatial-Temporal Math Video Game software designed to teach fractions and proportional math, and its strikingly successful use in a study involving 237 second-grade children (age range six years eight months-eight years five months). Furthermore, as predicted, children given piano keyboard training along with the Math Video Game training scored significantly higher on proportional math and fractions than children given a control training along with the Math Video Game. These results were readily measured using the companion Math Video Game Evaluation Program. The training time necessary for children on the Math Video Game is very short, and they rapidly reach a high level of performance. This suggests that, as predicted, we are tapping into fundamental cortical processes of spatial-temporal reasoning. This spatial-temporal approach is easily generalized to teach other math and science concepts in a complementary manner to traditional language-analytic methods, and at a younger age. The neural mechanisms involved in thinking through fractions and proportional math during training with the Math Video Game might be investigated in EEG coherence studies along with priming by specific music.

  18. Using Performance Tasks to Improve Quantitative Reasoning in an Introductory Mathematics Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kruse, Gerald; Drews, David

    2013-01-01

    A full-cycle assessment of our efforts to improve quantitative reasoning in an introductory math course is described. Our initial iteration substituted more open-ended performance tasks for the active learning projects than had been used. Using a quasi-experimental design, we compared multiple sections of the same course and found non-significant…

  19. Visuo-Spatial Performance in Autism: A Meta-Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muth, Anne; Hönekopp, Johannes; Falter, Christine M.

    2014-01-01

    Visuo-spatial skills are believed to be enhanced in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). This meta-analysis tests the current state of evidence for Figure Disembedding, Block Design, Mental Rotation and Navon tasks in ASD and neurotypicals. Block Design (d = 0.32) and Figure Disembedding (d = 0.26) showed superior performance for ASD with large…

  20. MGlu5 antagonism impairs exploration and memory of spatial and non-spatial stimuli in rats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christoffersen, Gert Rene Juul; Simonyi, Agnes; Schachtman, Todd R.

    2008-01-01

    and it was found that: 1) Locomotion during exploration of spatial environments and exploration time at novel objects were reduced by i.p. but not by prelimbic administration of MPEP, 2) spatial short-term memory was impaired in cross-maze and object discrimination was reduced after both types of administration, 3......) long-term retention of spatial conditioning in the cross-maze was inhibited after i.p. applications which 4) also inhibited spontaneous alternation performance during maze-exploration. Reduced exploratory locomotion and exploration time after i.p. injections may have contributed to the observed......Metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGlu5) has been implicated in memory processing in some but not all learning tasks.  The reason why this receptor is involved in some tasks but not in others remains to be determined.  The present experiments using rats examined effects of the mGlu5...

  1. Semantic Interaction for Sensemaking: Inferring Analytical Reasoning for Model Steering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Endert, A; Fiaux, P; North, C

    2012-12-01

    Visual analytic tools aim to support the cognitively demanding task of sensemaking. Their success often depends on the ability to leverage capabilities of mathematical models, visualization, and human intuition through flexible, usable, and expressive interactions. Spatially clustering data is one effective metaphor for users to explore similarity and relationships between information, adjusting the weighting of dimensions or characteristics of the dataset to observe the change in the spatial layout. Semantic interaction is an approach to user interaction in such spatializations that couples these parametric modifications of the clustering model with users' analytic operations on the data (e.g., direct document movement in the spatialization, highlighting text, search, etc.). In this paper, we present results of a user study exploring the ability of semantic interaction in a visual analytic prototype, ForceSPIRE, to support sensemaking. We found that semantic interaction captures the analytical reasoning of the user through keyword weighting, and aids the user in co-creating a spatialization based on the user's reasoning and intuition.

  2. A high-performance spatial database based approach for pathology imaging algorithm evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Fusheng; Kong, Jun; Gao, Jingjing; Cooper, Lee A D; Kurc, Tahsin; Zhou, Zhengwen; Adler, David; Vergara-Niedermayr, Cristobal; Katigbak, Bryan; Brat, Daniel J; Saltz, Joel H

    2013-01-01

    Algorithm evaluation provides a means to characterize variability across image analysis algorithms, validate algorithms by comparison with human annotations, combine results from multiple algorithms for performance improvement, and facilitate algorithm sensitivity studies. The sizes of images and image analysis results in pathology image analysis pose significant challenges in algorithm evaluation. We present an efficient parallel spatial database approach to model, normalize, manage, and query large volumes of analytical image result data. This provides an efficient platform for algorithm evaluation. Our experiments with a set of brain tumor images demonstrate the application, scalability, and effectiveness of the platform. The paper describes an approach and platform for evaluation of pathology image analysis algorithms. The platform facilitates algorithm evaluation through a high-performance database built on the Pathology Analytic Imaging Standards (PAIS) data model. (1) Develop a framework to support algorithm evaluation by modeling and managing analytical results and human annotations from pathology images; (2) Create a robust data normalization tool for converting, validating, and fixing spatial data from algorithm or human annotations; (3) Develop a set of queries to support data sampling and result comparisons; (4) Achieve high performance computation capacity via a parallel data management infrastructure, parallel data loading and spatial indexing optimizations in this infrastructure. WE HAVE CONSIDERED TWO SCENARIOS FOR ALGORITHM EVALUATION: (1) algorithm comparison where multiple result sets from different methods are compared and consolidated; and (2) algorithm validation where algorithm results are compared with human annotations. We have developed a spatial normalization toolkit to validate and normalize spatial boundaries produced by image analysis algorithms or human annotations. The validated data were formatted based on the PAIS data model and

  3. Association of Health Sciences Reasoning Test scores with academic and experiential performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cox, Wendy C; McLaughlin, Jacqueline E

    2014-05-15

    To assess the association of scores on the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) with academic and experiential performance in a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum. The HSRT was administered to 329 first-year (P1) PharmD students. Performance on the HSRT and its subscales was compared with academic performance in 29 courses throughout the curriculum and with performance in advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs). Significant positive correlations were found between course grades in 8 courses and HSRT overall scores. All significant correlations were accounted for by pharmaceutical care laboratory courses, therapeutics courses, and a law and ethics course. There was a lack of moderate to strong correlation between HSRT scores and academic and experiential performance. The usefulness of the HSRT as a tool for predicting student success may be limited.

  4. An exploratory study of long-haul truck drivers' secondary tasks and reasons for performing them.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iseland, Tobias; Johansson, Emma; Skoog, Siri; Dåderman, Anna M

    2018-08-01

    Research on drivers has shown how certain visual-manual secondary tasks, unrelated to driving, increase the risk of being involved in crashes. The purpose of the study was to investigate (1) if long-haul truck drivers in Sweden engage in secondary tasks while driving, what tasks are performed and how frequently, (2) the drivers' self-perceived reason/s for performing them, and (3) if psychological factors might reveal reasons for their engaging in secondary tasks. The study comprised 13 long-haul truck drivers and was conducted through observations, interviews, and questionnaires. The drivers performed secondary tasks, such as work environment related "necessities" (e.g., getting food and/or beverages from the refrigerator/bag, eating, drinking, removing a jacket, face rubbing, and adjusting the seat), interacting with a mobile phone/in-truck technology, and doing administrative tasks. The long-haul truck drivers feel bored and use secondary tasks as a coping strategy to alleviate boredom/drowsiness, and for social interaction. The higher number of performed secondary tasks could be explained by lower age, shorter driver experience, less openness to experience, lower honesty-humility, lower perceived stress, lower workload, and by higher health-related quality of life. These explanatory results may serve as a starting point for further studies on large samples to develop a safer and healthier environment for long-haul truck drivers. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  5. The effect of question format and task difficulty on reasoning strategies and diagnostic performance in Internal Medicine residents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heemskerk, Laura; Norman, Geoff; Chou, Sophia; Mintz, Marcy; Mandin, Henry; McLaughlin, Kevin

    2008-11-01

    Previous studies have suggested an association between reasoning strategies and diagnostic success, but the influence on this relationship of variables such as question format and task difficulty, has not been studied. Our objective was to study the association between question format, task difficulty, reasoning strategies and diagnostic success. Study participants were 13 Internal Medicine residents at the University of Calgary. Each was given eight problem-solving questions in four clinical presentations and were randomized to groups that differed only in the question format, such that a question presented as short answer (SA) to the first group was presented as extended matching (EM) to the second group. There were equal numbers of SA/EM questions and straightforward/difficult tasks. Participants performed think-aloud during diagnostic reasoning. Data were analyzed using multiple logistic regression. Question format was associated with reasoning strategies; hypothetico-deductive reasoning being used more frequently on EM questions and scheme-inductive reasoning on SA questions. For SA question, non-analytic reasoning alone was used more frequently to answer straightforward cases than difficult cases, whereas for EM questions no such association was observed. EM format and straightforward task increased the odds of diagnostic success, whereas hypothetico-deductive reasoning was associated with reduced odds of success. Question format and task difficulty both influence diagnostic reasoning strategies and studies that examine the effect of reasoning strategies on diagnostic success should control for these effects. Further studies are needed to investigate the effect of reasoning strategies on performance of different groups of learners.

  6. Inhibition of hippocampal aromatization impairs spatial memory performance in a male songbird.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, David J; Ma, Chunqi; Soma, Kiran K; Saldanha, Colin J

    2013-12-01

    Recent studies have revealed the presence and regulation of aromatase at the vertebrate synapse, and identified a critical role played by presynaptic estradiol synthesis in the electrophysiological response to auditory and other social cues. However, if and how synaptic aromatization affects behavior remains to be directly tested. We have exploited 3 characteristics of the zebra finch hippocampus (HP) to test the role of synaptocrine estradiol provision on spatial memory function. Although the zebra finch HP contains abundant aromatase transcripts and enzyme activity, immunocytochemical studies reveal widespread pre- and postsynaptic, but sparse to undetectable somal, localization of this enzyme. Further, the superficial location of the avian HP makes possible the more exclusive manipulation of its neurochemical characteristics without perturbation of the neuropil and the resultant induction of astroglial aromatase. Last, as in other vertebrates, the HP is critical for spatial memory performance in this species. Here we report that local inhibition of hippocampal aromatization impairs spatial memory performance in an ecologically valid food-finding task. Local aromatase inhibition also resulted in lower levels of estradiol in the HP, but not in adjacent brain areas, and was achieved without the induction of astroglial aromatase. The observed decrement in acquisition and subsequent memory performance as a consequence of lowered aromatization was similar to that achieved by lesioning this locus. Thus, hippocampal aromatization, much of which is achieved at the synapse in this species, is critical for spatial memory performance.

  7. Spatial Ability Mediates the Gender Difference in Middle School Students' Science Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganley, Colleen M.; Vasilyeva, Marina; Dulaney, Alana

    2014-01-01

    Prior research has demonstrated a male advantage in spatial skills and science achievement. The present research integrated these findings by testing the potential role of spatial skills in gender differences in the science performance of eighth-grade students (13-15 years old). In "Study 1" (N = 113), the findings showed that mental…

  8. A high-performance spatial database based approach for pathology imaging algorithm evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fusheng Wang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Algorithm evaluation provides a means to characterize variability across image analysis algorithms, validate algorithms by comparison with human annotations, combine results from multiple algorithms for performance improvement, and facilitate algorithm sensitivity studies. The sizes of images and image analysis results in pathology image analysis pose significant challenges in algorithm evaluation. We present an efficient parallel spatial database approach to model, normalize, manage, and query large volumes of analytical image result data. This provides an efficient platform for algorithm evaluation. Our experiments with a set of brain tumor images demonstrate the application, scalability, and effectiveness of the platform. Context: The paper describes an approach and platform for evaluation of pathology image analysis algorithms. The platform facilitates algorithm evaluation through a high-performance database built on the Pathology Analytic Imaging Standards (PAIS data model. Aims: (1 Develop a framework to support algorithm evaluation by modeling and managing analytical results and human annotations from pathology images; (2 Create a robust data normalization tool for converting, validating, and fixing spatial data from algorithm or human annotations; (3 Develop a set of queries to support data sampling and result comparisons; (4 Achieve high performance computation capacity via a parallel data management infrastructure, parallel data loading and spatial indexing optimizations in this infrastructure. Materials and Methods: We have considered two scenarios for algorithm evaluation: (1 algorithm comparison where multiple result sets from different methods are compared and consolidated; and (2 algorithm validation where algorithm results are compared with human annotations. We have developed a spatial normalization toolkit to validate and normalize spatial boundaries produced by image analysis algorithms or human annotations. The

  9. The interaction of process and domain in prefrontal cortex during inductive reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babcock, Laura; Vallesi, Antonino

    2015-01-01

    Inductive reasoning is an everyday process that allows us to make sense of the world by creating rules from a series of instances. Consistent with accounts of process-based fractionations of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) along the left-right axis, inductive reasoning has been reliably localized to left PFC. However, these results may be confounded by the task domain, which is typically verbal. Indeed, some studies show that right PFC activation is seen with spatial tasks. This study used fMRI to examine the effects of process and domain on the brain regions recruited during a novel pattern discovery task. Twenty healthy young adult participants were asked to discover the rule underlying the presentation of a series of letters in varied spatial locations. The rules were either verbal (pertaining to a single semantic category) or spatial (geometric figures). Bilateral ventrolateral PFC activations were seen for the spatial domain, while the verbal domain showed only left ventrolateral PFC. A conjunction analysis revealed that the two domains recruited a common region of left ventrolateral PFC. The data support a central role of left PFC in inductive reasoning. Importantly, they also suggest that both process and domain shape the localization of reasoning in the brain. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  10. Examining the Roles of Reasoning and Working Memory in Predicting Casual Game Performance across Extended Gameplay

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kranz, Michael B.; Baniqued, Pauline L.; Voss, Michelle W.; Lee, Hyunkyu; Kramer, Arthur F.

    2017-01-01

    The variety and availability of casual video games presents an exciting opportunity for applications such as cognitive training. Casual games have been associated with fluid abilities such as working memory (WM) and reasoning, but the importance of these cognitive constructs in predicting performance may change across extended gameplay and vary with game structure. The current investigation examined the relationship between cognitive abilities and casual game performance over time by analyzing first and final session performance over 4–5 weeks of game play. We focused on two groups of subjects who played different types of casual games previously shown to relate to WM and reasoning when played for a single session: (1) puzzle-based games played adaptively across sessions and (2) speeded switching games played non-adaptively across sessions. Reasoning uniquely predicted first session casual game scores for both groups and accounted for much of the relationship with WM. Furthermore, over time, WM became uniquely important for predicting casual game performance for the puzzle-based adaptive games but not for the speeded switching non-adaptive games. These results extend the burgeoning literature on cognitive abilities involved in video games by showing differential relationships of fluid abilities across different game types and extended play. More broadly, the current study illustrates the usefulness of using multiple cognitive measures in predicting performance, and provides potential directions for game-based cognitive training research. PMID:28326042

  11. Examining the Roles of Reasoning and Working Memory in Predicting Casual Game Performance across Extended Gameplay.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kranz, Michael B; Baniqued, Pauline L; Voss, Michelle W; Lee, Hyunkyu; Kramer, Arthur F

    2017-01-01

    The variety and availability of casual video games presents an exciting opportunity for applications such as cognitive training. Casual games have been associated with fluid abilities such as working memory (WM) and reasoning, but the importance of these cognitive constructs in predicting performance may change across extended gameplay and vary with game structure. The current investigation examined the relationship between cognitive abilities and casual game performance over time by analyzing first and final session performance over 4-5 weeks of game play. We focused on two groups of subjects who played different types of casual games previously shown to relate to WM and reasoning when played for a single session: (1) puzzle-based games played adaptively across sessions and (2) speeded switching games played non-adaptively across sessions. Reasoning uniquely predicted first session casual game scores for both groups and accounted for much of the relationship with WM. Furthermore, over time, WM became uniquely important for predicting casual game performance for the puzzle-based adaptive games but not for the speeded switching non-adaptive games. These results extend the burgeoning literature on cognitive abilities involved in video games by showing differential relationships of fluid abilities across different game types and extended play. More broadly, the current study illustrates the usefulness of using multiple cognitive measures in predicting performance, and provides potential directions for game-based cognitive training research.

  12. Spatial variability and parametric uncertainty in performance assessment models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pensado, Osvaldo; Mancillas, James; Painter, Scott; Tomishima, Yasuo

    2011-01-01

    The problem of defining an appropriate treatment of distribution functions (which could represent spatial variability or parametric uncertainty) is examined based on a generic performance assessment model for a high-level waste repository. The generic model incorporated source term models available in GoldSim ® , the TDRW code for contaminant transport in sparse fracture networks with a complex fracture-matrix interaction process, and a biosphere dose model known as BDOSE TM . Using the GoldSim framework, several Monte Carlo sampling approaches and transport conceptualizations were evaluated to explore the effect of various treatments of spatial variability and parametric uncertainty on dose estimates. Results from a model employing a representative source and ensemble-averaged pathway properties were compared to results from a model allowing for stochastic variation of transport properties along streamline segments (i.e., explicit representation of spatial variability within a Monte Carlo realization). We concluded that the sampling approach and the definition of an ensemble representative do influence consequence estimates. In the examples analyzed in this paper, approaches considering limited variability of a transport resistance parameter along a streamline increased the frequency of fast pathways resulting in relatively high dose estimates, while those allowing for broad variability along streamlines increased the frequency of 'bottlenecks' reducing dose estimates. On this basis, simplified approaches with limited consideration of variability may suffice for intended uses of the performance assessment model, such as evaluation of site safety. (author)

  13. Spatial Processing of Urban Acoustic Wave Fields from High-Performance Computations

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Ketcham, Stephen A; Wilson, D. K; Cudney, Harley H; Parker, Michael W

    2007-01-01

    .... The objective of this work is to develop spatial processing techniques for acoustic wave propagation data from three-dimensional high-performance computations to quantify scattering due to urban...

  14. Analysis Of Influence Of Spatial Planning On Performance Of Regional Development At Waropen District. Papua Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suwandi

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The various problems in regional spatial planning in Waropen District Papua shows that the Spatial Planning RTRW of Waropen District Papua drafted in 2010 has not had a positive contribution to the settlement of spatial planning problems. This is most likely caused by the inconsistency in the spatial planning. This study tried to observe the consistency of spatial planning as well as its relation to the regional development performance. The method used to observe the consistency of the preparation of guided Spatial Planning RTRW is the analysis of comparative table followed by analysis of verbal logic. In order to determine if the preparation of Spatial Planning RTRW has already paid attention on the synergy with the surrounding regions Inter-Regional Context a map overlay was conducted followed by analysis of verbal logic. To determine the performance of the regional development a Principal Components Analysis PCA was done. The analysis results showed that inconsistencies in the spatial planning had caused a variety of problems that resulted in decreased performance of the regional development. The main problems that should receive more attention are infrastructure development growth economic growth transportation aspect and new properties.

  15. The Effects of Sex Steroids on Spatial Performance: A Review and an Experimental Clinical Investigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liben, Lynn S.; Susman, Elizabeth J.; Finkelstein, Jordan W.; Chinchilli, Vernon M.; Kunselman, Susan; Schwab, Jacqueline; Dubas, Judith Semon; Demers, Laurence M.; Lookingbill, Georgia; D'Arcangelo, M. Rose; Krogh, Holleen R.; Kulin, Howard E.

    2002-01-01

    Investigated the relationship between sex hormones and spatial performance among adolescents treated with sex steroids for delayed puberty. Found that spatial performance varied according to gender but did not vary with levels of actively circulating sex steroids. Reviewed physiological mechanisms, developmental periods, and past empirical work…

  16. Performance evaluation of spatial compounding in the presence of aberration and adaptive imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahl, Jeremy J.; Guenther, Drake; Trahey, Gregg E.

    2003-05-01

    Spatial compounding has been used for years to reduce speckle in ultrasonic images and to resolve anatomical features hidden behind the grainy appearance of speckle. Adaptive imaging restores image contrast and resolution by compensating for beamforming errors caused by tissue-induced phase errors. Spatial compounding represents a form of incoherent imaging, whereas adaptive imaging attempts to maintain a coherent, diffraction-limited aperture in the presence of aberration. Using a Siemens Antares scanner, we acquired single channel RF data on a commercially available 1-D probe. Individual channel RF data was acquired on a cyst phantom in the presence of a near field electronic phase screen. Simulated data was also acquired for both a 1-D and a custom built 8x96, 1.75-D probe (Tetrad Corp.). The data was compounded using a receive spatial compounding algorithm; a widely used algorithm because it takes advantage of parallel beamforming to avoid reductions in frame rate. Phase correction was also performed by using a least mean squares algorithm to estimate the arrival time errors. We present simulation and experimental data comparing the performance of spatial compounding to phase correction in contrast and resolution tasks. We evaluate spatial compounding and phase correction, and combinations of the two methods, under varying aperture sizes, aperture overlaps, and aberrator strength to examine the optimum configuration and conditions in which spatial compounding will provide a similar or better result than adaptive imaging. We find that, in general, phase correction is hindered at high aberration strengths and spatial frequencies, whereas spatial compounding is helped by these aberrators.

  17. Qualitative Reasoning about Relative Directions : Computational Complexity and Practical Algorithm

    OpenAIRE

    Lee, Jae Hee

    2013-01-01

    Qualitative spatial reasoning (QSR) enables cognitive agents to reason about space using abstract symbols. Among several aspects of space (e.g., topology, direction, distance) directional information is useful for agents navigating in space. Observers typically describe their environment by specifying the relative directions in which they see other objects or other people from their point of view. As such, qualitative reasoning about relative directions, i.e., determining whether a given stat...

  18. A study of critical reasoning in online learning: application of the Occupational Performance Process Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitchell, Anita Witt; Batorski, Rosemary E

    2009-01-01

    This study examined the effect of an online guided independent study on critical reasoning skills. Twenty-one first-semester Master of Occupational Therapy students completed an online assignment designed to facilitate application of the Occupational Performance Process Model (Fearing & Clark) and kept reflective journals. Data from the journals were analyzed in relation to the three sets of questions, question type and results of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA). This assignment appeared to be effective for enhancing awareness and use of critical reasoning skills. Differences in patterns of critical reasoning between students with high and low WGCTA scores and results of an inductive analysis of the journal entries are discussed. Future research investigating the types of feedback that effectively facilitate development of critical reasoning and whether students with high and low WGCTA scores might benefit from different types of instruction and/or feedback is recommended. Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  19. The Problem of English Spatial, Non-spatial and Idiomatic Adpositions in Iranian EFL Environment: A Prototypical Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nassim Golaghaei

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Several studies of L2 learners’ interlanguage have addressed the complexity of the English adpositional system due to several reasons like L1 transfer, lack of knowledge in L2 and the strong collocational relations of prepositions with other elements of the English language. The major purpose of the present study is to evaluate the performance of Iranian students in dealing with three broad categories of spatial, non-spatial and idiomatic adpositions in English. To achieve the inclinations of the research project, 60 students majoring in TEFL at Roudehen University were selected. A paper-based TOEFL test of English Proficiency was administered to obtain some information about the participants’ general language proficiency. Three completion tasks with the division of spatial, non-spatial (nominal, adjectival and verbal and idiomatic adpositions were administered. The obtained results represented the fact that the Iranian participants were considerably inclined to transfer their L1 adpositional patterns to their L2 production. The correlational analyses indicated that whereas the scores related to adposition task in general, non-spatial as well as the idiomatic subtests were strongly correlated with the scores obtained from the TOEFL test, there was a moderate correlation between the spatial subtest and the TOEFL one. The independent sample t-test results between the freshmen and sophomores dealing with spatial, nominal and adjectival subtests were considered to be significant.  However, in reference to the verbal subtest, the difference between the two groups was not significant. The results obtained from the independent sample t-test indicated no significant differences between the freshmen and sophomores in their performance on idiomatic adpositions. Finally, the result of the correlation coefficients showed high correlation coefficients between the whole adposition test and the three subtests of spatial, non-spatial and idiomatic ones

  20. Visuo-Spatial Performance in Autism: A Meta-analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Muth, Anne; Honekopp, Johannes; Falter, Christine

    2014-01-01

    Visuo-spatial skills are believed to be enhanced in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). This meta-analysis tests the current state of evidence for Figure Disembedding, Block Design, Mental Rotation and Navon tasks in ASD and neurotypicals. Block Design (d = 0.32) and Figure Disembedding (d = 0.26) showed superior performance for ASD with large heterogeneity that is unaccounted for. No clear differences were found for Mental Rotation. ASD samples showed a stronger local processing preference for...

  1. Influence of spatial arrangements on performance of a yam-maize ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Influence of spatial arrangements on performance of a yam-maize-pepper intercrop. JA Manu-Aduening, K Boa-Amponsem. Abstract. No Abstract. Ghana Journal of Agricultural Science No. 1, 2005: 29-35. Full Text: EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT.

  2. Agronomic performance of velvet bean at different spatial arrangement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silva, Aijanio Gomes de Brito; Goncalves Junior, Murilo; Guerra, Jose Guilherme Marinho; Costa, Janaina Ribeiro; Espindola, Jose Antonio Azevedo; Araujo, Ednaldo da Silva

    2011-01-01

    The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different plant spatial arrangements on agronomic performance of velvet-bean (Mucuna pruriens var. utilis). The experiment was performed with eight treatments, distributed in a randomized complete block design in a 2x4 factorial arrangement, with four replicates. The treatments were velvet bean sowing at two spacings between furrows (0.5 and 1.0 m) and four plant densities (2, 4, 8 and 16 plants m -1 ). Determinations were made for the soil covering and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) rates, and for the dry matter yield and N accumulation in the plant shoots. Total soil cover was accomplished at 50 days after sowing at 16 plants m -1 density and 0.5 m spacing between furrows. The combination of 16 plants m -1 1density with the 1.0 m spacing between furrows provided the greatest dry matter yield and accumulated most N in the plant shoots. Irrespective of the plant spatial arrangement, the estimation of BNF in this species shows that about 70% N present in the shoot is derived from the atmosphere. (author)

  3. Abiotic and biotic controls on local spatial distribution and performance of Boechera stricta

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    KUSUM J NAITHANI

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available This study investigates the relative influence of biotic and abiotic factors on community dynamics using an integrated approach and highlights the influence of space on genotypic and phenotypic traits in plant community structure. We examined the relative influence of topography, environment, spatial distance, and intra- and interspecific interactions on spatial distribution and performance of Boechera stricta (rockcress, a close perennial relative of model plant Arabidopsis. First, using Bayesian kriging, we mapped the topography and environmental gradients and explored the spatial distribution of naturally occurring rockcress plants and two neighbors, Taraxacum officinale (dandelion and Solidago missouriensis (goldenrod found in close proximity within a typical diverse meadow community across topographic and environmental gradients. We then evaluated direct and indirect relationships among variables using Mantel path analysis and developed a network displaying abiotic and biotic interactions in this community. We found significant spatial autocorrelation among rockcress individuals, either because of common microhabitats as displayed by high density of individuals at lower elevation and high soil moisture area, or limited dispersal as shown by significant spatial autocorrelation of naturally occurring inbred lines, or a combination of both. Goldenrod and dandelion density around rockcress does not show any direct relationship with rockcress fecundity, possibly due to spatial segregation of resources. However, dandelion density around rockcress shows an indirect negative influence on rockcress fecundity via herbivory, indicating interspecific competition. Overall, we suggest that common microhabitat preference and limited dispersal are the main drivers for spatial distribution. However, intra-specific interactions and insect herbivory are the main drivers of rockcress performance in the meadow community.

  4. Spatial environmental heterogeneity affects plant growth and thermal performance on a green roof

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Buckland-Nicks, Michael; Heim, Amy; Lundholm, Jeremy, E-mail: jlundholm@smu.ca

    2016-05-15

    Green roofs provide ecosystem services, including stormwater retention and reductions in heat transfer through the roof. Microclimates, as well as designed features of green roofs, such as substrate and vegetation, affect the magnitude of these services. Many green roofs are partially shaded by surrounding buildings, but the effects of this within-roof spatial environmental heterogeneity on thermal performance and other ecosystem services have not been examined. We quantified the effects of spatial heterogeneity in solar radiation, substrate depth and other variables affected by these drivers on vegetation and ecosystem services in an extensive green roof. Spatial heterogeneity in substrate depth and insolation were correlated with differential growth, survival and flowering in two focal plant species. These effects were likely driven by the resulting spatial heterogeneity in substrate temperature and moisture content. Thermal performance (indicated by heat flux and substrate temperature) was influenced by spatial heterogeneity in vegetation cover and substrate depth. Areas with less insolation were cooler in summer and had greater substrate moisture, leading to more favorable conditions for plant growth and survival. Spatial variation in substrate moisture (7%–26% volumetric moisture content) and temperature (21 °C–36 °C) during hot sunny conditions in summer could cause large differences in stormwater retention and heat flux within a single green roof. Shaded areas promote smaller heat fluxes through the roof, leading to energy savings, but lower evapotranspiration in these areas should reduce stormwater retention capacity. Spatial heterogeneity can thus result in trade-offs between different ecosystem services. The effects of these spatial heterogeneities are likely widespread in green roofs. Structures that provide shelter from sun and wind may be productively utilized to design higher functioning green roofs and increase biodiversity by providing habitat

  5. Spatial environmental heterogeneity affects plant growth and thermal performance on a green roof

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Buckland-Nicks, Michael; Heim, Amy; Lundholm, Jeremy

    2016-01-01

    Green roofs provide ecosystem services, including stormwater retention and reductions in heat transfer through the roof. Microclimates, as well as designed features of green roofs, such as substrate and vegetation, affect the magnitude of these services. Many green roofs are partially shaded by surrounding buildings, but the effects of this within-roof spatial environmental heterogeneity on thermal performance and other ecosystem services have not been examined. We quantified the effects of spatial heterogeneity in solar radiation, substrate depth and other variables affected by these drivers on vegetation and ecosystem services in an extensive green roof. Spatial heterogeneity in substrate depth and insolation were correlated with differential growth, survival and flowering in two focal plant species. These effects were likely driven by the resulting spatial heterogeneity in substrate temperature and moisture content. Thermal performance (indicated by heat flux and substrate temperature) was influenced by spatial heterogeneity in vegetation cover and substrate depth. Areas with less insolation were cooler in summer and had greater substrate moisture, leading to more favorable conditions for plant growth and survival. Spatial variation in substrate moisture (7%–26% volumetric moisture content) and temperature (21 °C–36 °C) during hot sunny conditions in summer could cause large differences in stormwater retention and heat flux within a single green roof. Shaded areas promote smaller heat fluxes through the roof, leading to energy savings, but lower evapotranspiration in these areas should reduce stormwater retention capacity. Spatial heterogeneity can thus result in trade-offs between different ecosystem services. The effects of these spatial heterogeneities are likely widespread in green roofs. Structures that provide shelter from sun and wind may be productively utilized to design higher functioning green roofs and increase biodiversity by providing habitat

  6. Spatial environmental heterogeneity affects plant growth and thermal performance on a green roof.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckland-Nicks, Michael; Heim, Amy; Lundholm, Jeremy

    2016-05-15

    Green roofs provide ecosystem services, including stormwater retention and reductions in heat transfer through the roof. Microclimates, as well as designed features of green roofs, such as substrate and vegetation, affect the magnitude of these services. Many green roofs are partially shaded by surrounding buildings, but the effects of this within-roof spatial environmental heterogeneity on thermal performance and other ecosystem services have not been examined. We quantified the effects of spatial heterogeneity in solar radiation, substrate depth and other variables affected by these drivers on vegetation and ecosystem services in an extensive green roof. Spatial heterogeneity in substrate depth and insolation were correlated with differential growth, survival and flowering in two focal plant species. These effects were likely driven by the resulting spatial heterogeneity in substrate temperature and moisture content. Thermal performance (indicated by heat flux and substrate temperature) was influenced by spatial heterogeneity in vegetation cover and substrate depth. Areas with less insolation were cooler in summer and had greater substrate moisture, leading to more favorable conditions for plant growth and survival. Spatial variation in substrate moisture (7%-26% volumetric moisture content) and temperature (21°C-36°C) during hot sunny conditions in summer could cause large differences in stormwater retention and heat flux within a single green roof. Shaded areas promote smaller heat fluxes through the roof, leading to energy savings, but lower evapotranspiration in these areas should reduce stormwater retention capacity. Spatial heterogeneity can thus result in trade-offs between different ecosystem services. The effects of these spatial heterogeneities are likely widespread in green roofs. Structures that provide shelter from sun and wind may be productively utilized to design higher functioning green roofs and increase biodiversity by providing habitat

  7. Domain-General Contributions to Social Reasoning: Theory of Mind and Deontic Reasoning Re-Explored

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKinnon, Margaret C.; Moscovitch, Morris

    2007-01-01

    Using older adults and dual-task interference, we examined performance on two social reasoning tasks: theory of mind (ToM) tasks and versions of the deontic selection task involving social contracts and hazardous conditions. In line with performance accounts of social reasoning (Leslie, Friedman, & German, 2004), evidence from both aging and the…

  8. Students’ Spatial Performance: Cognitive Style and Sex Differences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanifah, U.; Juniati, D.; Siswono, T. Y. E.

    2018-01-01

    This study aims at describing the students’ spatial abilities based on cognitive styles and sex differences. Spatial abilities in this study include 5 components, namely spatial perception, spatial visualization, mental rotation, spatial relations, and spatial orientation. This research is descriptive research with qualitative approach. The subjects in this research were 4 students of junior high school, there were 1 male FI, 1 male FD, 1 female FI, and 1 female FI. The results showed that there are differences in spatial abilities of the four subjects that are on the components of spatial visualization, mental rotation, and spatial relations. The differences in spatial abilities were found in methods / strategies used by each subject to solve each component problem. The differences in cognitive styles and sex suggested different choice of strategies used to solve problems. The male students imagined the figures but female students needed the media to solve the problem. Besides sex, the cognitive style differences also have an effect on solving a problem. In addition, FI students were not affected by distracting information but FD students could be affected by distracting information. This research was expected to contribute knowledge and insight to the readers, especially for math teachers in terms of the spatial ability of the students so that they can optimize their students’ spatial ability.

  9. Combining satellite data and appropriate objective functions for improved spatial pattern performance of a distributed hydrologic model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demirel, Mehmet C.; Mai, Juliane; Mendiguren, Gorka; Koch, Julian; Samaniego, Luis; Stisen, Simon

    2018-02-01

    Satellite-based earth observations offer great opportunities to improve spatial model predictions by means of spatial-pattern-oriented model evaluations. In this study, observed spatial patterns of actual evapotranspiration (AET) are utilised for spatial model calibration tailored to target the pattern performance of the model. The proposed calibration framework combines temporally aggregated observed spatial patterns with a new spatial performance metric and a flexible spatial parameterisation scheme. The mesoscale hydrologic model (mHM) is used to simulate streamflow and AET and has been selected due to its soil parameter distribution approach based on pedo-transfer functions and the build in multi-scale parameter regionalisation. In addition two new spatial parameter distribution options have been incorporated in the model in order to increase the flexibility of root fraction coefficient and potential evapotranspiration correction parameterisations, based on soil type and vegetation density. These parameterisations are utilised as they are most relevant for simulated AET patterns from the hydrologic model. Due to the fundamental challenges encountered when evaluating spatial pattern performance using standard metrics, we developed a simple but highly discriminative spatial metric, i.e. one comprised of three easily interpretable components measuring co-location, variation and distribution of the spatial data. The study shows that with flexible spatial model parameterisation used in combination with the appropriate objective functions, the simulated spatial patterns of actual evapotranspiration become substantially more similar to the satellite-based estimates. Overall 26 parameters are identified for calibration through a sequential screening approach based on a combination of streamflow and spatial pattern metrics. The robustness of the calibrations is tested using an ensemble of nine calibrations based on different seed numbers using the shuffled complex

  10. Heuristic reasoning and relative incompleteness

    OpenAIRE

    Treur, J.

    1993-01-01

    In this paper an approach is presented in which heuristic reasoning is interpreted as strategic reasoning. This type of reasoning enables one to derive which hypothesis to investigate, and which observable information to acquire next (to be able to verify the chosen hypothesis). A compositional architecture for reasoning systems that perform such heuristic reasoning is introduced, called SIX (for Strategic Interactive eXpert systems). This compositional architecture enables user interaction a...

  11. Feasibility analysis and performance characteristics investigation of spatial recuperative expander based on organic Rankine cycle for waste heat recovery

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Han, Yongqiang; Li, Runzhao; Liu, Zhongchang; Tian, Jing; Wang, Xianfeng; Kang, Jianjian

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • A new concept of spatial recuperative expander for waste heat recovery is proposed. • Simulation model of spatial recuperative expander is established and verified. • The performance characteristics of spatial recuperative expander are investigated. • Comparison between spatial recuperative expander and traditional one is performed. • Spatial recuperative expander achieves better performance than traditional one. - Abstract: This paper proposes a new concept of spatial recuperative expander which injects cold refrigerant during exhaust stroke as a measure of direct contact heat transfer. The commercial simulation tool GT-SUIT 7.4 is employed to model and verify the feasibility of spatial recuperative expander. The research contents are comprised of the following aspects: Firstly, the principles and performance characteristics between traditional reciprocating piston expander and spatial recuperative expander have been investigated. Secondly, the potential of spatial recuperation by adjusting cold refrigerant injection timing has been studied. Thirdly, the relation between expander performance and variable expansion ratio under constant operating condition has been discussed. Fourthly, the thermodynamic performance of spatial recuperative expander under various operating conditions has been examined. The simulation results indicate that: Firstly, the torque per unit mass, thermal efficiency, exergetic efficiency, isentropic efficiency and recuperative efficiency of optimum spatial recuperative expander are 51.00%, 6.74%, 20.79%, 5.68% and 11.36% higher than traditional reciprocating piston expander respectively. Secondly, the cold refrigerant injection timing has little influence on recuperative efficiency because the recuperation process can complete within 16.67 ms. Thirdly, different operating conditions correspond to particular optimal expansion ratio. Fourthly, increasing the pump pressure and maintaining appropriate superheated degree

  12. A tool to enhance occupational therapy reasoning from ICF perspective: The Hasselt Occupational Performance Profile (H-OPP).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghysels, R; Vanroye, E; Westhovens, M; Spooren, A

    2017-03-01

    In order to enhance occupational therapy reasoning in clinical practice, different elements such as client-centred approach, evidence-based care and interdisciplinary work should be taken into account, but is a challenge. To describe the development of the digital Hasselt Occupational Performance Profile (H-OPP © ) that enhances occupational therapy reasoning from ICF perspective. A participative qualitative design was used to create the H-OPP © in an iterative way in which occupational therapy lectures, ICF experts, students and occupational therapists in the field were involved. After linking occupational therapy terminology to the ICF, different stages of the H-OPP were identified and elaborated with main features: generating an occupational performance profile based on inventarization of problems and possibilities, formulating an occupational performance diagnosis and enabling to create an intervention plan. In all stages, both the perspectives of the client and the occupational therapist were taken into account. To increase practical use, the tool was further elaborated and digitalized. The H-OPP © is a digital coach that guides and facilitates professional reasoning in (novice) occupational therapists. It augments involvement of the client system. Furthermore, it enhances interdisciplinary communication and evidence-based care.

  13. Cluster Detection Tests in Spatial Epidemiology: A Global Indicator for Performance Assessment.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aline Guttmann

    Full Text Available In cluster detection of disease, the use of local cluster detection tests (CDTs is current. These methods aim both at locating likely clusters and testing for their statistical significance. New or improved CDTs are regularly proposed to epidemiologists and must be subjected to performance assessment. Because location accuracy has to be considered, performance assessment goes beyond the raw estimation of type I or II errors. As no consensus exists for performance evaluations, heterogeneous methods are used, and therefore studies are rarely comparable. A global indicator of performance, which assesses both spatial accuracy and usual power, would facilitate the exploration of CDTs behaviour and help between-studies comparisons. The Tanimoto coefficient (TC is a well-known measure of similarity that can assess location accuracy but only for one detected cluster. In a simulation study, performance is measured for many tests. From the TC, we here propose two statistics, the averaged TC and the cumulated TC, as indicators able to provide a global overview of CDTs performance for both usual power and location accuracy. We evidence the properties of these two indicators and the superiority of the cumulated TC to assess performance. We tested these indicators to conduct a systematic spatial assessment displayed through performance maps.

  14. Cluster Detection Tests in Spatial Epidemiology: A Global Indicator for Performance Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guttmann, Aline; Li, Xinran; Feschet, Fabien; Gaudart, Jean; Demongeot, Jacques; Boire, Jean-Yves; Ouchchane, Lemlih

    2015-01-01

    In cluster detection of disease, the use of local cluster detection tests (CDTs) is current. These methods aim both at locating likely clusters and testing for their statistical significance. New or improved CDTs are regularly proposed to epidemiologists and must be subjected to performance assessment. Because location accuracy has to be considered, performance assessment goes beyond the raw estimation of type I or II errors. As no consensus exists for performance evaluations, heterogeneous methods are used, and therefore studies are rarely comparable. A global indicator of performance, which assesses both spatial accuracy and usual power, would facilitate the exploration of CDTs behaviour and help between-studies comparisons. The Tanimoto coefficient (TC) is a well-known measure of similarity that can assess location accuracy but only for one detected cluster. In a simulation study, performance is measured for many tests. From the TC, we here propose two statistics, the averaged TC and the cumulated TC, as indicators able to provide a global overview of CDTs performance for both usual power and location accuracy. We evidence the properties of these two indicators and the superiority of the cumulated TC to assess performance. We tested these indicators to conduct a systematic spatial assessment displayed through performance maps. PMID:26086911

  15. Towards Building a High Performance Spatial Query System for Large Scale Medical Imaging Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aji, Ablimit; Wang, Fusheng; Saltz, Joel H

    2012-11-06

    Support of high performance queries on large volumes of scientific spatial data is becoming increasingly important in many applications. This growth is driven by not only geospatial problems in numerous fields, but also emerging scientific applications that are increasingly data- and compute-intensive. For example, digital pathology imaging has become an emerging field during the past decade, where examination of high resolution images of human tissue specimens enables more effective diagnosis, prediction and treatment of diseases. Systematic analysis of large-scale pathology images generates tremendous amounts of spatially derived quantifications of micro-anatomic objects, such as nuclei, blood vessels, and tissue regions. Analytical pathology imaging provides high potential to support image based computer aided diagnosis. One major requirement for this is effective querying of such enormous amount of data with fast response, which is faced with two major challenges: the "big data" challenge and the high computation complexity. In this paper, we present our work towards building a high performance spatial query system for querying massive spatial data on MapReduce. Our framework takes an on demand index building approach for processing spatial queries and a partition-merge approach for building parallel spatial query pipelines, which fits nicely with the computing model of MapReduce. We demonstrate our framework on supporting multi-way spatial joins for algorithm evaluation and nearest neighbor queries for microanatomic objects. To reduce query response time, we propose cost based query optimization to mitigate the effect of data skew. Our experiments show that the framework can efficiently support complex analytical spatial queries on MapReduce.

  16. The impact of spatial concentration on enterprise performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Natalia Borisovna Davidson

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to reveal the impact of spatial concentration of business in the Russian cities on enterprise productivity. The hypotheses are the following: urbanization level and home market potential positively affect enterprise performance; localization economies are positive and start decreasing after some point due to congestion and excessive competition; regional transport infrastructure, business climate and human capital positively affect enterprise performance. We use firm level data augmented with city and regional data. Fixed effects are applied in order to deal with endogeneity. Agglomeration economies are considered in the light of opportunities for knowledge spillovers, input sharing and labor market pooling. Our results confirm that agglomeration economies and home market potential are important for the enterprise performance. We find positive urbanization and diversity economies, while localization economies have an inverted U shape. Results can be used to improve regional policy. For instance, significance of home market potential emphasizes the importance of transport infrastructure. Significance of agglomeration effects implies that if a sufficiently large number of firms work in a city, performance of each firm improves.

  17. Analysis of syntactic and semantic features for fine-grained event-spatial understanding in outbreak news reports

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chanlekha Hutchatai

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous studies have suggested that epidemiological reasoning needs a fine-grained modelling of events, especially their spatial and temporal attributes. While the temporal analysis of events has been intensively studied, far less attention has been paid to their spatial analysis. This article aims at filling the gap concerning automatic event-spatial attribute analysis in order to support health surveillance and epidemiological reasoning. Results In this work, we propose a methodology that provides a detailed analysis on each event reported in news articles to recover the most specific locations where it occurs. Various features for recognizing spatial attributes of the events were studied and incorporated into the models which were trained by several machine learning techniques. The best performance for spatial attribute recognition is very promising; 85.9% F-score (86.75% precision/85.1% recall. Conclusions We extended our work on event-spatial attribute recognition by focusing on machine learning techniques, which are CRF, SVM, and Decision tree. Our approach avoided the costly development of an external knowledge base by employing the feature sources that can be acquired locally from the analyzed document. The results showed that the CRF model performed the best. Our study indicated that the nearest location and previous event location are the most important features for the CRF and SVM model, while the location extracted from the verb's subject is the most important to the Decision tree model.

  18. Neural basis of stereotype-induced shifts in women's mental rotation performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wraga, Maryjane; Helt, Molly; Jacobs, Emily; Sullivan, Kerry

    2007-03-01

    Recent negative focus on women's academic abilities has fueled disputes over gender disparities in the sciences. The controversy derives, in part, from women's relatively poorer performance in aptitude tests, many of which require skills of spatial reasoning. We used functional magnetic imaging to examine the neural structure underlying shifts in women's performance of a spatial reasoning task induced by positive and negative stereotypes. Three groups of participants performed a task involving imagined rotations of the self. Prior to scanning, the positive stereotype group was exposed to a false but plausible stereotype of women's superior perspective-taking abilities; the negative stereotype group was exposed to the pervasive stereotype that men outperform women on spatial tasks; and the control group received neutral information. The significantly poorer performance we found in the negative stereotype group corresponded to increased activation in brain regions associated with increased emotional load. In contrast, the significantly improved performance we found in the positive stereotype group was associated with increased activation in visual processing areas and, to a lesser degree, complex working memory processes. These findings suggest that stereotype messages affect the brain selectively, with positive messages producing relatively more efficient neural strategies than negative messages.

  19. Transformations and representations supporting spatial perspective taking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Alfred B.; Zacks, Jeffrey M.

    2018-01-01

    Spatial perspective taking is the ability to reason about spatial relations relative to another’s viewpoint. Here, we propose a mechanistic hypothesis that relates mental representations of one’s viewpoint to the transformations used for spatial perspective taking. We test this hypothesis using a novel behavioral paradigm that assays patterns of response time and variation in those patterns across people. The results support the hypothesis that people maintain a schematic representation of the space around their body, update that representation to take another’s perspective, and thereby to reason about the space around their body. This is a powerful computational mechanism that can support imitation, coordination of behavior, and observational learning. PMID:29545731

  20. Combining satellite data and appropriate objective functions for improved spatial pattern performance of a distributed hydrologic model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. C. Demirel

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Satellite-based earth observations offer great opportunities to improve spatial model predictions by means of spatial-pattern-oriented model evaluations. In this study, observed spatial patterns of actual evapotranspiration (AET are utilised for spatial model calibration tailored to target the pattern performance of the model. The proposed calibration framework combines temporally aggregated observed spatial patterns with a new spatial performance metric and a flexible spatial parameterisation scheme. The mesoscale hydrologic model (mHM is used to simulate streamflow and AET and has been selected due to its soil parameter distribution approach based on pedo-transfer functions and the build in multi-scale parameter regionalisation. In addition two new spatial parameter distribution options have been incorporated in the model in order to increase the flexibility of root fraction coefficient and potential evapotranspiration correction parameterisations, based on soil type and vegetation density. These parameterisations are utilised as they are most relevant for simulated AET patterns from the hydrologic model. Due to the fundamental challenges encountered when evaluating spatial pattern performance using standard metrics, we developed a simple but highly discriminative spatial metric, i.e. one comprised of three easily interpretable components measuring co-location, variation and distribution of the spatial data. The study shows that with flexible spatial model parameterisation used in combination with the appropriate objective functions, the simulated spatial patterns of actual evapotranspiration become substantially more similar to the satellite-based estimates. Overall 26 parameters are identified for calibration through a sequential screening approach based on a combination of streamflow and spatial pattern metrics. The robustness of the calibrations is tested using an ensemble of nine calibrations based on different seed numbers using the

  1. The need to exercise caution in accepting addiction as a reason for performing euthanasia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Wayne; Parker, Malcolm

    2017-10-10

    The recent practice in Belgium and the Netherlands of accepting addiction as a reason for performing euthanasia raises important issues for the field of addiction and the practice of euthanasia. In this paper we outline some of these issues. We also argue that physicians making decisions about whether to accept requests for euthanasia from people with an allegedly untreatable addiction should consider two issues carefully. They should ensure that: (1) the person has the capacity to give free and informed consent to undergo euthanasia; and (2) their request is the outcome of a deliberative process in which all reasonable treatment options and harm reduction measures have been offered to and considered by the person. © 2017 Society for the Study of Addiction.

  2. Case-based Reasoning for Automotive Engine Performance Tune-up

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vong, C. M.; Huang, H.; Wong, P. K.

    2010-01-01

    The automotive engine performance tune-up is greatly affected by the calibration of its electronic control unit (ECU). The ECU calibration is traditionally done by trial-and-error method. This traditional method consumes a large amount of time and money because of a large number of dynamometer tests. To resolve this problem, case based reasoning (CBR) is employed, so that an existing and effective ECU setup can be adapted to fit another similar class of engines. The adaptation procedure is done through a more sophisticated step called case-based adaptation (CBA)[1, 2]. CBA is an effective knowledge management tool, which can interactively learn the expert adaptation knowledge. The paper briefly reviews the methodologies of CBR and CBA. Then the application to ECU calibration is described via a case study. With CBR and CBA, the efficiency of calibrating an ECU can be enhanced. A prototype system has also been developed to verify the usefulness of CBR in ECU calibration.

  3. Spontaneous body movements in spatial cognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergiu eTcaci Popescu

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available People often perform spontaneous body movements during spatial tasks such as giving complex directions or orienting themselves on maps. How are these spontaneous gestures related to spatial problem-solving? We measured spontaneous movements during a perspective-taking task inspired by map reading. Analyzing the motion data to isolate rotation and translation components of motion in specific geometric relation to the task, we found out that most participants executed spontaneous miniature rotations of the head that were significantly related to the main task parameter. These head rotations were as if participants were trying to align themselves with the orientation on the map either in the image plane or on the ground plane, but with tiny amplitudes, typically below 1% of the actual movements. Our results are consistent with a model of sensorimotor prediction driving spatial reasoning. The efference copy of planned movements triggers this prediction mechanism. The movements themselves may then be mostly inhibited; the small spontaneous gestures that we measure are the visible traces of these planned but inhibited actions.

  4. Leadership Behavior and Job Performance of Teachers in Public and Private Kindergartens: The Perspectives of Institutionalization, Reason, and Feeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yigean; Cheng, Jaonan

    2012-01-01

    Chinese society is accustomed to using feelings, reasons, and institutionalizations to determine how to deal with events, which raises a number of questions. How can the directors of early education institutions incorporate feelings, reasons, and institutionalizations into their management? How can they enhance the job performance of teachers?…

  5. Effects of in-vehicle warning information displays with or without spatial compatibility on driving behaviors and response performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yung-Ching; Jhuang, Jing-Wun

    2012-07-01

    A driving simulator study was conducted to evaluate the effects of five in-vehicle warning information displays upon drivers' emergent response and decision performance. These displays include visual display, auditory displays with and without spatial compatibility, hybrid displays in both visual and auditory format with and without spatial compatibility. Thirty volunteer drivers were recruited to perform various tasks that involved driving, stimulus-response, divided attention and stress rating. Results show that for displays of single-modality, drivers benefited more when coping with visual display of warning information than auditory display with or without spatial compatibility. However, auditory display with spatial compatibility significantly improved drivers' performance in reacting to the divided attention task and making accurate S-R task decision. Drivers' best performance results were obtained for hybrid display with spatial compatibility. Hybrid displays enabled drivers to respond the fastest and achieve the best accuracy in both S-R and divided attention tasks. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  6. Development of Critical Spatial Thinking through GIS Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Minsung; Bednarz, Robert

    2013-01-01

    This study developed an interview-based critical spatial thinking oral test and used the test to investigate the effects of Geographic Information System (GIS) learning on three components of critical spatial thinking: evaluating data reliability, exercising spatial reasoning, and assessing problem-solving validity. Thirty-two students at a large…

  7. Fine-grained versus categorical: Pupil size differentiates between strategies for spatial working memory performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Starc, Martina; Anticevic, Alan; Repovš, Grega

    2017-05-01

    Pupillometry provides an accessible option to track working memory processes with high temporal resolution. Several studies showed that pupil size increases with the number of items held in working memory; however, no study has explored whether pupil size also reflects the quality of working memory representations. To address this question, we used a spatial working memory task to investigate the relationship of pupil size with spatial precision of responses and indicators of reliance on generalized spatial categories. We asked 30 participants (15 female, aged 19-31) to remember the position of targets presented at various locations along a hidden radial grid. After a delay, participants indicated the remembered location with a high-precision joystick providing a parametric measure of trial-to-trial accuracy. We recorded participants' pupil dilations continuously during task performance. Results showed a significant relation between pupil dilation during preparation/early encoding and the precision of responses, possibly reflecting the attentional resources devoted to memory encoding. In contrast, pupil dilation at late maintenance and response predicted larger shifts of responses toward prototypical locations, possibly reflecting larger reliance on categorical representation. On an intraindividual level, smaller pupil dilations during encoding predicted larger dilations during late maintenance and response. On an interindividual level, participants relying more on categorical representation also produced larger precision errors. The results confirm the link between pupil size and the quality of spatial working memory representation. They suggest compensatory strategies of spatial working memory performance-loss of precise spatial representation likely increases reliance on generalized spatial categories. © 2017 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

  8. Differentiating Spatial Memory from Spatial Transformations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Street, Whitney N.; Wang, Ranxiao Frances

    2014-01-01

    The perspective-taking task is one of the most common paradigms used to study the nature of spatial memory, and better performance for certain orientations is generally interpreted as evidence of spatial representations using these reference directions. However, performance advantages can also result from the relative ease in certain…

  9. Performance-based assessment of scientific reasoning in children

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lazonder, A.W.; Janssen, N.

    2017-01-01

    Recent longitudinal and cross-sectional studies have examined how scientific reasoning skills such as experimenting, making inferences and evaluating evidence develop in young science learners. Results, although informative, likely underestimate children’s true capabilities because data in these

  10. 26 CFR 301.7508-1 - Time for performing certain acts postponed by reason of service in a combat zone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... postponed by reason of service in a combat zone. (a) General rule. The period of time that may be... 26 Internal Revenue 18 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Time for performing certain acts postponed by reason of service in a combat zone. 301.7508-1 Section 301.7508-1 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE...

  11. Fostering Spatial Skill Acquisition by General Chemistry Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carlisle, Deborah; Tyson, Julian; Nieswandt, Martina

    2015-01-01

    The study of chemistry requires the understanding and use of spatial relationships, which can be challenging for many students. Prior research has shown that there is a need to develop students' spatial reasoning skills. To that end, this study implemented guided activities designed to strengthen students' spatial skills, with the aim of improving…

  12. A Weighted Spatial-Spectral Kernel RX Algorithm and Efficient Implementation on GPUs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chunhui Zhao

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The kernel RX (KRX detector proposed by Kwon and Nasrabadi exploits a kernel function to obtain a better detection performance. However, it still has two limits that can be improved. On the one hand, reasonable integration of spatial-spectral information can be used to further improve its detection accuracy. On the other hand, parallel computing can be used to reduce the processing time in available KRX detectors. Accordingly, this paper presents a novel weighted spatial-spectral kernel RX (WSSKRX detector and its parallel implementation on graphics processing units (GPUs. The WSSKRX utilizes the spatial neighborhood resources to reconstruct the testing pixels by introducing a spectral factor and a spatial window, thereby effectively reducing the interference of background noise. Then, the kernel function is redesigned as a mapping trick in a KRX detector to implement the anomaly detection. In addition, a powerful architecture based on the GPU technique is designed to accelerate WSSKRX. To substantiate the performance of the proposed algorithm, both synthetic and real data are conducted for experiments.

  13. Wind energy and spatial planning procedures; La programmation spatiale des projects eoliens

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2002-07-01

    Wind turbines projects have been increasing, but some are very conflicted. May be it is a reason why some local authorities have to deal with different point of view, above the only energy question and including local specificity. To give local authorities the possibility to be implicated and to be in control of wind projects in their territory, wind spatial planning should permit to choose suitable areas and to optimize wind power development. In this context this synthesis presents the wind spatial planning in Finistere (France), the french regulation, some international experiences (Danish, Flemish, Walloon region, Dutch) and the different approaches of spatial planning. (A.L.B.)

  14. Performance of Spatial Division Multiplexing MIMO with Frequency Domain Packet Scheduling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wei, Na; Pokhariyal, Akhilesh; Sørensen, Troels Bundgaard

    2008-01-01

    the performance bounds of SDM-FDPS. To facilitate the analysis, a unified SINR concept is utilized to make a fair comparison of MIMO schemes with different number of spatial streams. The effect of packet scheduling is included in the post-scheduling SINR distribution using an analytical model. Based on that...

  15. Cultural Commonalities and Differences in Spatial Problem-Solving: A Computational Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lovett, Andrew; Forbus, Kenneth

    2011-01-01

    A fundamental question in human cognition is how people reason about space. We use a computational model to explore cross-cultural commonalities and differences in spatial cognition. Our model is based upon two hypotheses: (1) the structure-mapping model of analogy can explain the visual comparisons used in spatial reasoning; and (2) qualitative,…

  16. Middle School Students' Reasoning about 3-Dimensional Objects: A Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okumus, Samet

    2016-01-01

    According to the National Council of Teacher of Mathematics (NCTM) (2000), K-12 students should be given an opportunity to develop their spatial reasoning abilities. One of the topics that may allow students to develop their spatial skills is forming 3-dimensional objects using spinning and extrusion methods. Also, extrusion and spinning methods…

  17. The role of right frontal brain regions in integration of spatial relation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Jiahui; Cao, Bihua; Cao, Yunfei; Gao, Heming; Li, Fuhong

    2016-06-01

    Previous studies have explored the neural mechanisms of spatial reasoning on a two-dimensional (2D) plane; however, it remains unclear how spatial reasoning is conducted in a three-dimensional (3D) condition. In the present study, we presented 3D geometric objects to 16 adult participants, and asked them to process the spatial relationship between different corners of the geometric objects. In premise-1, the first two corners of a geometric shape (e.g., A vs. B) were displayed. In premise-2, the second and third corners (e.g., B vs. C) were displayed. After integrating the two premises, participants were required to infer the spatial relationship between the first and the third corners (e.g., A and C). Finally, the participants were presented with a conclusion object, and they were required to judge whether the conclusion was true or false based on their inference. The event-related potential evoked by premise-2 revealed that (1) compared with 2D spatial reasoning, 3D reasoning elicited a smaller P3b component, and (2) in the right frontal areas, increased negativities were found in the 3D condition during the N400 and late negative components (LNC). These findings imply that higher brain activity in the right frontal brain regions were related with the integration and maintenance of spatial information in working memory for reasoning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Framework development for providing accessibility to qualitative spatial calculi

    OpenAIRE

    Jan, Sahib

    2011-01-01

    Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geospatial Technologies. Qualitative spatial reasoning deals with knowledge about an infinite spatial domain using a finite set of qualitative relations without using numerical computation. Qualitative knowledge is relative knowledge where we obtain the knowledge on the basis of comparison of features with in the object domain rather then using some external scales. Reasoning is an inte...

  19. Combining satellite data and appropriate objective functions for improved spatial pattern performance of a distributed hydrologic model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Demirel, Mehmet C.; Mai, Juliane; Mendiguren Gonzalez, Gorka

    2018-01-01

    Satellite-based earth observations offer great opportunities to improve spatial model predictions by means of spatial-pattern-oriented model evaluations. In this study, observed spatial patterns of actual evapotranspiration (AET) are utilised for spatial model calibration tailored to target...... and potential evapotranspiration correction parameterisations, based on soil type and vegetation density. These parameterisations are utilised as they are most relevant for simulated AET patterns from the hydrologic model. Due to the fundamental challenges encountered when evaluating spatial pattern performance...

  20. The strength study of the rotating device driver indexing spatial mechanism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zakharenkov, N. V.; Kvasov, I. N.

    2018-04-01

    The indexing spatial mechanisms are widely used in automatic machines. The mechanisms maximum load-bearing capacity measurement is possible based on both the physical and numerical models tests results. The paper deals with the driven disk indexing spatial cam mechanism numerical model at the constant angular cam velocity. The presented mechanism kinematics and geometry parameters and finite element model are analyzed in the SolidWorks design environment. The calculation initial data and missing parameters having been found from the structure analysis were identified. The structure and kinematics analysis revealed the mechanism failures possible reasons. The numerical calculations results showing the structure performance at the contact and bending stresses are represented.

  1. Hi-Res scan mode in clinical MDCT systems: Experimental assessment of spatial resolution performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cruz-Bastida, Juan P; Gomez-Cardona, Daniel; Li, Ke; Sun, Heyi; Hsieh, Jiang; Szczykutowicz, Timothy P; Chen, Guang-Hong

    2016-05-01

    The introduction of a High-Resolution (Hi-Res) scan mode and another associated option that combines Hi-Res mode with the so-called High Definition (HD) reconstruction kernels (referred to as a Hi-Res/HD mode in this paper) in some multi-detector CT (MDCT) systems offers new opportunities to increase spatial resolution for some clinical applications that demand high spatial resolution. The purpose of this work was to quantify the in-plane spatial resolution along both the radial direction and tangential direction for the Hi-Res and Hi-Res/HD scan modes at different off-center positions. A technique was introduced and validated to address the signal saturation problem encountered in the attempt to quantify spatial resolution for the Hi-Res and Hi-Res/HD scan modes. Using the proposed method, the modulation transfer functions (MTFs) of a 64-slice MDCT system (Discovery CT750 HD, GE Healthcare) equipped with both Hi-Res and Hi-Res/HD modes were measured using a metal bead at nine different off-centered positions (0-16 cm with a step size of 2 cm); at each position, both conventional scans and Hi-Res scans were performed. For each type of scan and position, 80 repeated acquisitions were performed to reduce noise induced uncertainties in the MTF measurements. A total of 15 reconstruction kernels, including eight conventional kernels and seven HD kernels, were used to reconstruct CT images of the bead. An ex vivo animal study consisting of a bone fracture model was performed to corroborate the MTF results, as the detection of this high-contrast and high frequency task is predominantly determined by spatial resolution. Images of this animal model generated by different scan modes and reconstruction kernels were qualitatively compared with the MTF results. At the centered position, the use of Hi-Res mode resulted in a slight improvement in the MTF; each HD kernel generated higher spatial resolution than its counterpart conventional kernel. However, the MTF along the

  2. Melatonin administration impairs visuo-spatial performance and inhibits neocortical long-term potentiation in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soto-Moyano, Rubén; Burgos, Héctor; Flores, Francisco; Valladares, Luis; Sierralta, Walter; Fernández, Victor; Pérez, Hernán; Hernández, Paula; Hernández, Alejandro

    2006-10-01

    Melatonin has been shown to inhibit long-term potentiation (LTP) in hippocampal slices of rats. Since LTP may be one of the main mechanisms by which memory traces are encoded and stored in the central nervous system, it is possible that melatonin could modulate cognitive performance by interfering with the cellular and/or molecular mechanisms involved in LTP. We investigated in rats the effects of intraperitoneally-administered melatonin (0.1, 1 and 10 mg/kg), its saline-ethanol solvent, or saline alone, on the acquisition of visuo-spatial memory as well as on the ability of the cerebral cortex to develop LTP in vivo. Visuo-spatial performance was assessed daily in rats, for 10 days, in an 8-arm radial maze, 30 min after they received a single daily dose of melatonin. Visual cortex LTP was determined in sodium pentobarbital anesthetized rats (65 mg/kg i.p.), by potentiating transcallosal evoked responses with a tetanizing train (312 Hz, 500 ms duration) 30 min after administration of a single dose of melatonin. Results showed that melatonin impaired visuo-spatial performance in rats, as revealed by the greater number of errors committed and time spent to solve the task in the radial maze. Melatonin also prevented the induction of neocortical LTP. It is concluded that melatonin, at the doses utilized in this study, could alter some forms of neocortical plasticity involved in short- and long-term visuo-spatial memories in rats.

  3. Analogical reasoning in schizophrenic delusions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simpson, Jane; Done, D John

    2004-09-01

    Reasoning ability has often been argued to be impaired in people with schizophrenic delusions, although evidence for this is far from convincing. This experiment examined the analogical reasoning abilities of several groups of patients, including non-deluded and deluded schizophrenics, to test the hypothesis that performance by the deluded schizophrenic group would be impaired. Eleven deluded schizophrenics, 10 depressed subjects, seven non-deluded schizophrenics and 16 matched non-psychiatric controls, who were matched on a number of key variables, were asked to solve an analogical reasoning task. Performance by the deluded schizophrenic group was certainly impaired when compared with the depressed and non-psychiatric control groups though less convincingly so when compared with the non-deluded schizophrenic group. The impairment shown by the deluded schizophrenic group seemed to occur at the initial stage of the reasoning task. The particular type of impairment shown by the deluded subjects was assessed in relation to other cognitive problems already researched and the implications of these problems on reasoning tasks and theories of delusions was discussed.

  4. Improving neutron spectrometer performances through spatial and focusing effects: Investigation of spatial correlation focusing influence on the resolution in diffraction and phonon scattering experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Popovici, M.

    1986-09-01

    A consistent treatment of the optics of three-axis spectrometers with curved perfect crystals, the gradient of lattice spacing accounted for, is presented. The mosaic crystal case is treated within the same computational scheme. From the computational point of view, the perfect crystals case is not the zero mosaic spread limit of the mosaic crystals case. The estimation of the residual line-widths in conditions of reciprocal-space focusing allows the discussion of the possibilities and limitations of using spatial correlation effects for improving spectrometer performances. A computer programme is presented which makes it possible to calculate both analytically and numerically the optimal arrangements and the deviations of the optimal parameter values. The optimization of parameters not involved in the analytically expressed reciprocal-space focusing conditions is also possible with this programme. The experimental results presented in this paper show that both the line-widths and the absolute intensities can also be described with reasonable accuracy for the perfect curved crystals case. It is shown experimentally that even at low-flux reactors one can obtain with the aid of perfect curved crystals good resolutions at measurable intensities which are generally higher than those obtainable in conventional spectrometers with flat mosaic crystals

  5. The role of diffusive architectural surfaces on auditory spatial discrimination in performance venues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, Philip W; Pätynen, Jukka; Lokki, Tapio; Jang, Hyung Suk; Jeon, Jin Yong; Xiang, Ning

    2013-06-01

    In musical or theatrical performance, some venues allow listeners to individually localize and segregate individual performers, while others produce a well blended ensemble sound. The room acoustic conditions that make this possible, and the psycho-acoustic effects at work are not fully understood. This research utilizes auralizations from measured and simulated performance venues to investigate spatial discrimination of multiple acoustic sources in rooms. Signals were generated from measurements taken in a small theater, and listeners in the audience area were asked to distinguish pairs of speech sources on stage with various spatial separations. This experiment was repeated with the proscenium splay walls treated to be flat, diffusive, or absorptive. Similar experiments were conducted in a simulated hall, utilizing 11 early reflections with various characteristics, and measured late reverberation. The experiments reveal that discriminating the lateral arrangement of two sources is possible at narrower separation angles when reflections come from flat or absorptive rather than diffusive surfaces.

  6. Hippocampal development and the dissociation of cognitive-spatial mapping from motor performance [version 2; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bryan D. Devan

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The publication of a recent article in F1000Research has led to discussion of, and correspondence on a broader issue that has a long history in the fields of neuroscience and psychology.  Namely, is it possible to separate the cognitive components of performance, in this case spatial behavior, from the motoric demands of a task?  Early psychological experiments attempted such a dissociation by studying a form of spatial maze learning where initially rats were allowed to explore a complex maze, termed “latent learning,” before reinforcement was introduced.  Those rats afforded the latent learning experience solved the task faster than those that were not, implying that cognitive map learning during exploration aided in the performance of the task once a motivational component was introduced.  This form of latent learning was interpreted as successfully demonstrating that an exploratory cognitive map component was acquired irrespective of performing a learned spatial response under deprivation/motivational conditions.  The neural substrate for cognitive learning was hypothesized to depend on place cells within the hippocampus.  Subsequent behavioral studies attempted to directly eliminate the motor component of spatial learning by allowing rats to passively view the distal environment before performing any motor response using a task that is widely considered to be hippocampal-dependent.  Latent learning in the water maze, using a passive placement procedure has met with mixed results.  One constraint on viewing cues before performing a learned swimming response to a hidden goal has been the act of dynamically viewing distal cues while moving through a part of the environment where an optimal learned spatial escape response would be observed.  We briefly review these past findings obtained with adult animals to the recent efforts of establishing a “behavioral topology” separating cognitive-spatial learning from tasks differing in

  7. Hippocampal development and the dissociation of cognitive-spatial mapping from motor performance [version 1; referees: 2 approved

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bryan D. Devan

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The publication of a recent article in F1000Research has led to discussion of, and correspondence on a broader issue that has a long history in the fields of neuroscience and psychology.  Namely, is it possible to separate the cognitive components of performance, in this case spatial behavior, from the motoric demands of a task?  Early psychological experiments attempted such a dissociation by studying a form of spatial maze learning where initially rats were allowed to explore a complex maze, termed “latent learning,” before reinforcement was introduced.  Those rats afforded the latent learning experience solved the task faster than those that were not, implying that cognitive map learning during exploration aided in the performance of the task once a motivational component was introduced.  This form of latent learning was interpreted as successfully demonstrating that an exploratory cognitive map component was acquired irrespective of performing a learned spatial response under deprivation/motivational conditions.  The neural substrate for cognitive learning was hypothesized to depend on place cells within the hippocampus.  Subsequent behavioral studies attempted to directly eliminate the motor component of spatial learning by allowing rats to passively view the distal environment before performing any motor response using a task that is widely considered to be hippocampal-dependent.  Latent learning in the water maze, using a passive placement procedure has met with mixed results.  One constraint on viewing cues before performing a learned swimming response to a hidden goal has been the act of dynamically viewing distal cues while moving through a part of the environment where an optimal learned spatial escape response would be observed.  We briefly review these past findings obtained with adult animals to the recent efforts of establishing a “behavioral topology” separating cognitive-spatial learning from tasks differing in

  8. Designs of Concept Maps and Their Impacts on Readers' Performance in Memory and Reasoning while Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tzeng, Jeng-Yi

    2010-01-01

    From the perspective of the Fuzzy Trace Theory, this study investigated the impacts of concept maps with two strategic orientations (comprehensive and thematic representations) on readers' performance of cognitive operations (such as perception, verbatim memory, gist reasoning and syntheses) while the readers were reading two history articles that…

  9. Contextual object understanding through geospatial analysis and reasoning (COUGAR)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Douglas, Joel; Antone, Matthew; Coggins, James; Rhodes, Bradley J.; Sobel, Erik; Stolle, Frank; Vinciguerra, Lori; Zandipour, Majid; Zhong, Yu

    2009-05-01

    Military operations in urban areas often require detailed knowledge of the location and identity of commonly occurring objects and spatial features. The ability to rapidly acquire and reason over urban scenes is critically important to such tasks as mission and route planning, visibility prediction, communications simulation, target recognition, and inference of higher-level form and function. Under DARPA's Urban Reasoning and Geospatial ExploitatioN Technology (URGENT) Program, the BAE Systems team has developed a system that combines a suite of complementary feature extraction and matching algorithms with higher-level inference and contextual reasoning to detect, segment, and classify urban entities of interest in a fully automated fashion. Our system operates solely on colored 3D point clouds, and considers object categories with a wide range of specificity (fire hydrants, windows, parking lots), scale (street lights, roads, buildings, forests), and shape (compact shapes, extended regions, terrain). As no single method can recognize the diverse set of categories under consideration, we have integrated multiple state-of-the-art technologies that couple hierarchical associative reasoning with robust computer vision and machine learning techniques. Our solution leverages contextual cues and evidence propagation from features to objects to scenes in order to exploit the combined descriptive power of 3D shape, appearance, and learned inter-object spatial relationships. The result is a set of tools designed to significantly enhance the productivity of analysts in exploiting emerging 3D data sources.

  10. Spatial-Sequential Working Memory in Younger and Older Adults: Age Predicts Backward Recall Performance within Both Age Groups

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Louise A.

    2016-01-01

    Working memory is vulnerable to age-related decline, but there is debate regarding the age-sensitivity of different forms of spatial-sequential working memory task, depending on their passive or active nature. The functional architecture of spatial working memory was therefore explored in younger (18–40 years) and older (64–85 years) adults, using passive and active recall tasks. Spatial working memory was assessed using a modified version of the Spatial Span subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale – Third Edition (WMS-III; Wechsler, 1998). Across both age groups, the effects of interference (control, visual, or spatial), and recall type (forward and backward), were investigated. There was a clear effect of age group, with younger adults demonstrating a larger spatial working memory capacity than the older adults overall. There was also a specific effect of interference, with the spatial interference task (spatial tapping) reliably reducing performance relative to both the control and visual interference (dynamic visual noise) conditions in both age groups and both recall types. This suggests that younger and older adults have similar dependence upon active spatial rehearsal, and that both forward and backward recall require this processing capacity. Linear regression analyses were then carried out within each age group, to assess the predictors of performance in each recall format (forward and backward). Specifically the backward recall task was significantly predicted by age, within both the younger and older adult groups. This finding supports previous literature showing lifespan linear declines in spatial-sequential working memory, and in working memory tasks from other domains, but contrasts with previous evidence that backward spatial span is no more sensitive to aging than forward span. The study suggests that backward spatial span is indeed more processing-intensive than forward span, even when both tasks include a retention period, and that age predicts

  11. Spatial-sequential working memory in younger and older adults: age predicts backward recall performance within both age groups

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Louise A. Brown

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Working memory is vulnerable to age-related decline, but there is debate regarding the age-sensitivity of different forms of spatial-sequential working memory task, depending on their passive or active nature. The functional architecture of spatial working memory was therefore explored in younger (18-40 years and older (64-85 years adults, using passive and active recall tasks. Spatial working memory was assessed using a modified version of the Spatial Span subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale – Third Edition (WMS-III; Wechsler, 1998. Across both age groups, the effects of interference (control, visual, or spatial, and recall type (forward and backward, were investigated. There was a clear effect of age group, with younger adults demonstrating a larger spatial working memory capacity than the older adults overall. There was also a specific effect of interference, with the spatial interference task (spatial tapping reliably reducing performance relative to both the control and visual interference (dynamic visual noise conditions in both age groups and both recall types. This suggests that younger and older adults have similar dependence upon active spatial rehearsal, and that both forward and backward recall require this processing capacity. Linear regression analyses were then carried out within each age group, to assess the predictors of performance in each recall format (forward and backward. Specifically the backward recall task was significantly predicted by age, within both the younger and older adult groups. This finding supports previous literature showing lifespan linear declines in spatial-sequential working memory, and in working memory tasks from other domains, but contrasts with previous evidence that backward spatial span is no more sensitive to aging than forward span. The study suggests that backward spatial span is indeed more processing-intensive than forward span, even when both tasks include a retention period, and that age

  12. Spatial-Sequential Working Memory in Younger and Older Adults: Age Predicts Backward Recall Performance within Both Age Groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Louise A

    2016-01-01

    Working memory is vulnerable to age-related decline, but there is debate regarding the age-sensitivity of different forms of spatial-sequential working memory task, depending on their passive or active nature. The functional architecture of spatial working memory was therefore explored in younger (18-40 years) and older (64-85 years) adults, using passive and active recall tasks. Spatial working memory was assessed using a modified version of the Spatial Span subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale - Third Edition (WMS-III; Wechsler, 1998). Across both age groups, the effects of interference (control, visual, or spatial), and recall type (forward and backward), were investigated. There was a clear effect of age group, with younger adults demonstrating a larger spatial working memory capacity than the older adults overall. There was also a specific effect of interference, with the spatial interference task (spatial tapping) reliably reducing performance relative to both the control and visual interference (dynamic visual noise) conditions in both age groups and both recall types. This suggests that younger and older adults have similar dependence upon active spatial rehearsal, and that both forward and backward recall require this processing capacity. Linear regression analyses were then carried out within each age group, to assess the predictors of performance in each recall format (forward and backward). Specifically the backward recall task was significantly predicted by age, within both the younger and older adult groups. This finding supports previous literature showing lifespan linear declines in spatial-sequential working memory, and in working memory tasks from other domains, but contrasts with previous evidence that backward spatial span is no more sensitive to aging than forward span. The study suggests that backward spatial span is indeed more processing-intensive than forward span, even when both tasks include a retention period, and that age predicts

  13. GSHR-Tree: a spatial index tree based on dynamic spatial slot and hash table in grid environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Zhanlong; Wu, Xin-cai; Wu, Liang

    2008-12-01

    needs of the grid computing, GSHRTree has a flexible structure in order to satisfy new needs in the future. The GSHR-Tree provides the R-tree capabilities for large spatial datasets stored over interconnected servers. The analysis, including the experiments, confirmed the efficiency of our design choices. The scheme should fit the needs of new applications of spatial data, using endlessly larger datasets. Using the system response time of the parallel processing of spatial scope query algorithm as the performance evaluation factor, According to the result of the simulated the experiments, GSHR-Tree is performed to prove the reasonable design and the high performance of the indexing structure that the paper presented.

  14. Science Teachers' Analogical Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mozzer, Nilmara Braga; Justi, Rosária

    2013-08-01

    Analogies can play a relevant role in students' learning. However, for the effective use of analogies, teachers should not only have a well-prepared repertoire of validated analogies, which could serve as bridges between the students' prior knowledge and the scientific knowledge they desire them to understand, but also know how to introduce analogies in their lessons. Both aspects have been discussed in the literature in the last few decades. However, almost nothing is known about how teachers draw their own analogies for instructional purposes or, in other words, about how they reason analogically when planning and conducting teaching. This is the focus of this paper. Six secondary teachers were individually interviewed; the aim was to characterize how they perform each of the analogical reasoning subprocesses, as well as to identify their views on analogies and their use in science teaching. The results were analyzed by considering elements of both theories about analogical reasoning: the structural mapping proposed by Gentner and the analogical mechanism described by Vosniadou. A comprehensive discussion of our results makes it evident that teachers' content knowledge on scientific topics and on analogies as well as their pedagogical content knowledge on the use of analogies influence all their analogical reasoning subprocesses. Our results also point to the need for improving teachers' knowledge about analogies and their ability to perform analogical reasoning.

  15. Clinical reasoning and critical thinking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Silva Bastos Cerullo, Josinete Aparecida; de Almeida Lopes Monteiro da Cruz, Diná

    2010-01-01

    This study identifies and analyzes nursing literature on clinical reasoning and critical thinking. A bibliographical search was performed in LILACS, SCIELO, PUBMED and CINAHL databases, followed by selection of abstracts and the reading of full texts. Through the review we verified that clinical reasoning develops from scientific and professional knowledge, is permeated by ethical decisions and nurses values and also that there are different personal and institutional strategies that might improve the critical thinking and clinical reasoning of nurses. Further research and evaluation of educational programs on clinical reasoning that integrate psychosocial responses to physiological responses of people cared by nurses is needed.

  16. Neuromorphic infrared focal plane performs sensor fusion on-plane local-contrast-enhancement spatial and temporal filtering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Massie, Mark A.; Woolaway, James T., II; Curzan, Jon P.; McCarley, Paul L.

    1993-08-01

    An infrared focal plane has been simulated, designed and fabricated which mimics the form and function of the vertebrate retina. The `Neuromorphic' focal plane has the capability of performing pixel-based sensor fusion and real-time local contrast enhancement, much like the response of the human eye. The device makes use of an indium antimonide detector array with a 3 - 5 micrometers spectral response, and a switched capacitor resistive network to compute a real-time 2D spatial average. This device permits the summation of other sensor outputs to be combined on-chip with the infrared detections of the focal plane itself. The resulting real-time analog processed information thus represents the combined information of many sensors with the advantage that analog spatial and temporal signal processing is performed at the focal plane. A Gaussian subtraction method is used to produce the pixel output which when displayed produces an image with enhanced edges, representing spatial and temporal derivatives in the scene. The spatial and temporal responses of the device are tunable during operation, permitting the operator to `peak up' the response of the array to spatial and temporally varying signals. Such an array adapts to ambient illumination conditions without loss of detection performance. This paper reviews the Neuromorphic infrared focal plane from initial operational simulations to detailed design characteristics, and concludes with a presentation of preliminary operational data for the device as well as videotaped imagery.

  17. Combinational Reasoning of Quantitative Fuzzy Topological Relations for Simple Fuzzy Regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Bo; Li, Dajun; Xia, Yuanping; Ruan, Jian; Xu, Lili; Wu, Huanyi

    2015-01-01

    In recent years, formalization and reasoning of topological relations have become a hot topic as a means to generate knowledge about the relations between spatial objects at the conceptual and geometrical levels. These mechanisms have been widely used in spatial data query, spatial data mining, evaluation of equivalence and similarity in a spatial scene, as well as for consistency assessment of the topological relations of multi-resolution spatial databases. The concept of computational fuzzy topological space is applied to simple fuzzy regions to efficiently and more accurately solve fuzzy topological relations. Thus, extending the existing research and improving upon the previous work, this paper presents a new method to describe fuzzy topological relations between simple spatial regions in Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Firstly, we propose a new definition for simple fuzzy line segments and simple fuzzy regions based on the computational fuzzy topology. And then, based on the new definitions, we also propose a new combinational reasoning method to compute the topological relations between simple fuzzy regions, moreover, this study has discovered that there are (1) 23 different topological relations between a simple crisp region and a simple fuzzy region; (2) 152 different topological relations between two simple fuzzy regions. In the end, we have discussed some examples to demonstrate the validity of the new method, through comparisons with existing fuzzy models, we showed that the proposed method can compute more than the existing models, as it is more expressive than the existing fuzzy models. PMID:25775452

  18. Motor Asymmetry and Substantia Nigra Volume Are Related to Spatial Delayed Response Performance in Parkinson Disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, Erin R.; Black, Kevin J.; Antenor-Dorsey, Jo Ann V.; Perlmutter, Joel S.; Hershey, Tamara

    2008-01-01

    Studies suggest motor deficit asymmetry may help predict the pattern of cognitive impairment in individuals with Parkinson disease (PD). We tested this hypothesis using a highly validated and sensitive spatial memory task, spatial delayed response (SDR), and clinical and neuroimaging measures of PD asymmetry. We predicted SDR performance would be…

  19. A bilateral frontoparietal network underlies visuospatial analogical reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watson, Christine E; Chatterjee, Anjan

    2012-02-01

    Our ability to reason by analogy facilitates problem solving and allows us to communicate ideas efficiently. In this study, we examined the neural correlates of analogical reasoning and, more specifically, the contribution of rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPFC) to reasoning. This area of the brain has been hypothesized to integrate relational information, as in analogy, or the outcomes of subgoals, as in multi-tasking and complex problem solving. Using fMRI, we compared visuospatial analogical reasoning to a control task that was as complex and difficult as the analogies and required the coordination of subgoals but not the integration of relations. We found that analogical reasoning more strongly activated bilateral RLPFC, suggesting that anterior prefrontal cortex is preferentially recruited by the integration of relational knowledge. Consistent with the need for inhibition during analogy, bilateral, and particularly right, inferior frontal gyri were also more active during analogy. Finally, greater activity in bilateral inferior parietal cortex during the analogy task is consistent with recent evidence for the neural basis of spatial relation knowledge. Together, these findings indicate that a network of frontoparietal areas underlies analogical reasoning; we also suggest that hemispheric differences may emerge depending on the visuospatial or verbal/semantic nature of the analogies. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Gender Difference Does Not Mean Genetic Difference: Externalizing Improves Performance in Mental Rotation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moe, Angelica

    2012-01-01

    The fear of underperforming owing to stereotype threat affects women's performance in tasks such as mathematics, chess, and spatial reasoning. The present research considered mental rotation and explored effects on performance and on regulatory focus of instructions pointing to different explanations for gender differences. Two hundred and one…

  1. Persistent spatial information in the FEF during object-based short-term memory does not contribute to task performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Kelsey L; Noudoost, Behrad; Moore, Tirin

    2014-06-01

    We previously reported the existence of a persistent spatial signal in the FEF during object-based STM. This persistent activity reflected the location at which the sample appeared, irrespective of the location of upcoming targets. We hypothesized that such a spatial signal could be used to maintain or enhance object-selective memory activity elsewhere in cortex, analogous to the role of a spatial signal during attention. Here, we inactivated a portion of the FEF with GABAa agonist muscimol to test whether the observed activity contributes to object memory performance. We found that, although RTs were slowed for saccades into the inactivated portion of retinotopic space, performance for samples appearing in that region was unimpaired. This contrasts with the devastating effects of the same FEF inactivation on purely spatial working memory, as assessed with the memory-guided saccade task. Thus, in a task in which a significant fraction of FEF neurons displayed persistent, sample location-based activity, disrupting this activity had no impact on task performance.

  2. Independence and interaction of luminance and chromatic contributions to spatial hyperacuity performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooper, Bonnie; Lee, Barry B

    2014-04-01

    Here we test interactions of luminance and chromatic input to spatial hyperacuity mechanisms. First, we tested alignment of luminance and chromatic gratings matched or mismatched in contrast polarity or grating type. Thresholds with matched gratings were low while all mismatched pairs were elevated. Second, we determined alignment acuity as a function of luminance or chromatic contrast alone or in the presence of constant contrast components of the other type. For in-phase components, performance followed the envelope of the more sensitive mechanism. However, polarity reversals revealed an asymmetric effect for luminance and chromatic conditions, which suggested that luminance can override chromatic mechanisms in hyperacuity; we interpret these findings in the context of spatial mechanisms.

  3. Learning in Order to Reason

    OpenAIRE

    Roth, Dan

    1995-01-01

    Any theory aimed at understanding commonsense reasoning, the process that humans use to cope with the mundane but complex aspects of the world in evaluating everyday situations, should account for its flexibility, its adaptability, and the speed with which it is performed. In this thesis we analyze current theories of reasoning and argue that they do not satisfy those requirements. We then proceed to develop a new framework for the study of reasoning, in which a learning component has a princ...

  4. Systematic studies of the gas humidification effects on spatial PEMFC performance distributions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reshetenko, Tatyana V.; Bender, Guido; Bethune, Keith; Rocheleau, Richard

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► We investigated impacts of gases humidification on a local PEMFC performance. ► The spatial performance and EIS were studied by a segmented cell system. ► The data were analyzed in the terms of voltage losses. ► A reduction in anode/cathode gases humidification decreased a PEMFC performance. ► A decrease of humidification led to non-uniform performances and voltage losses distributions. - Abstract: The overall current density that is measured in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) represents the average of the local reaction rates. The overall and local PEMFC performances are determined by several primary loss mechanisms, namely activation, ohmic, and mass transfer. Spatial performance and loss variabilities are significant and depend on the cell design and operating conditions. A segmented cell system was used to quantify different loss distributions along the gas channel to understand the effects of gas humidification. A reduction in the reactant stream humidification decreased cell performance and resulted in non-uniform distributions of overpotentials and performance along the flow field. Activation and ohmic overpotentials increased with a relative humidity decrease due to insufficient membrane and catalyst layer hydration. The relative humidity of the cathode had a strong impact on the mass transfer overpotential due to a lower oxygen permeability through the dry Nafion film covering the catalyst surface. The mass transfer loss distribution was non-uniform, and the mass transfer overpotential increased for the outlet segments due to the oxygen consumption at the inlet segments, which reduced the oxygen concentration downstream, and a progressive water accumulation from upstream segments. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and an equivalent electric circuit (EEC) facilitated the analysis and interpretation of the segmented cell data.

  5. Structured statistical models of inductive reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemp, Charles; Tenenbaum, Joshua B

    2009-01-01

    Everyday inductive inferences are often guided by rich background knowledge. Formal models of induction should aim to incorporate this knowledge and should explain how different kinds of knowledge lead to the distinctive patterns of reasoning found in different inductive contexts. This article presents a Bayesian framework that attempts to meet both goals and describes [corrected] 4 applications of the framework: a taxonomic model, a spatial model, a threshold model, and a causal model. Each model makes probabilistic inferences about the extensions of novel properties, but the priors for the 4 models are defined over different kinds of structures that capture different relationships between the categories in a domain. The framework therefore shows how statistical inference can operate over structured background knowledge, and the authors argue that this interaction between structure and statistics is critical for explaining the power and flexibility of human reasoning.

  6. The influence of spatial ability and experience on performance during spaceship rendezvous and docking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Xiaoping; Zhang, Yijing; Tian, Yu; Huang, Weifen; Wu, Bin; Zhang, Jingyu

    2015-01-01

    Manual rendezvous and docking (manual RVD) is a challenging space task for astronauts. Previous research showed a correlation between spatial ability and manual RVD skills among participants at early stages of training, but paid less attention to experts. Therefore, this study tried to explore the role of spatial ability in manual RVD skills in two groups of trainees, one relatively inexperienced and the other experienced operators. Additionally, mental rotation has been proven essential in RVD and was tested in this study among 27 male participants, 15 novices, and 12 experts. The participants performed manual RVD tasks in a high fidelity simulator. Results showed that experience moderated the relation between mental rotation ability and manual RVD performance. On one hand, novices with high mental rotation ability tended to perform that RVD task more successfully; on the other hand, experts with high mental rotation ability showed not only no performance advantage in the final stage of the RVD task, but had certain disadvantages in their earlier processes. Both theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

  7. The Influence of Spatial Ability and Experience on Spacecraft Rendezvous and Docking Operation Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoping eDu

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Manual rendezvous and docking (manual RVD is a challenging space task for astronauts. Previous research showed a correlation between spatial ability and manual RVD skills among participants at early stages of training, but paid less attention to experts. Therefore, this study tried to explore the role of spatial ability in manual RVD skills in two groups of trainees, one relatively inexperienced and the other experienced operators. Additionally, mental rotation has been proven essential in RVD and was tested in this study among 27 male participants, 15 novices and 12 experts. The participants performed manual RVD tasks in a high fidelity simulator. Results showed that experience moderated the relation between mental rotation ability and manual RVD performance. On one hand, novices with high mental rotation ability tended to perform that RVD task more successfully; on the other hand, experts with high mental rotation ability showed not only no performance advantage in the final stage of the RVD task, but had certain disadvantages in their earlier processes. Both theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

  8. The influence of spatial ability and experience on performance during spaceship rendezvous and docking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Du, Xiaoping; Zhang, Yijing; Tian, Yu; Huang, Weifen; Wu, Bin; Zhang, Jingyu

    2015-01-01

    Manual rendezvous and docking (manual RVD) is a challenging space task for astronauts. Previous research showed a correlation between spatial ability and manual RVD skills among participants at early stages of training, but paid less attention to experts. Therefore, this study tried to explore the role of spatial ability in manual RVD skills in two groups of trainees, one relatively inexperienced and the other experienced operators. Additionally, mental rotation has been proven essential in RVD and was tested in this study among 27 male participants, 15 novices, and 12 experts. The participants performed manual RVD tasks in a high fidelity simulator. Results showed that experience moderated the relation between mental rotation ability and manual RVD performance. On one hand, novices with high mental rotation ability tended to perform that RVD task more successfully; on the other hand, experts with high mental rotation ability showed not only no performance advantage in the final stage of the RVD task, but had certain disadvantages in their earlier processes. Both theoretical and practical implications were discussed. PMID:26236252

  9. Contextual factors and clinical reasoning: differences in diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning in board certified versus resident physicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McBee, Elexis; Ratcliffe, Temple; Picho, Katherine; Schuwirth, Lambert; Artino, Anthony R; Yepes-Rios, Ana Monica; Masel, Jennifer; van der Vleuten, Cees; Durning, Steven J

    2017-11-15

    The impact of context on the complex process of clinical reasoning is not well understood. Using situated cognition as the theoretical framework and videos to provide the same contextual "stimulus" to all participants, we examined the relationship between specific contextual factors on diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning accuracy in board certified internists versus resident physicians. Each participant viewed three videotaped clinical encounters portraying common diagnoses in internal medicine. We explicitly modified the context to assess its impact on performance (patient and physician contextual factors). Patient contextual factors, including English as a second language and emotional volatility, were portrayed in the videos. Physician participant contextual factors were self-rated sleepiness and burnout.. The accuracy of diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning was compared with covariates using Fisher Exact, Mann-Whitney U tests and Spearman Rho's correlations as appropriate. Fifteen board certified internists and 10 resident physicians participated from 2013 to 2014. Accuracy of diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning did not differ between groups despite residents reporting significantly higher rates of sleepiness (mean rank 20.45 vs 8.03, U = 0.5, p reasoning performance. Further, the processes of diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning, although related, may not be interchangeable. This raises important questions about the impact that contextual factors have on clinical reasoning and provides insight into how clinical reasoning processes in more authentic settings may be explained by situated cognition theory.

  10. Working-memory performance is related to spatial breadth of attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kreitz, Carina; Furley, Philip; Memmert, Daniel; Simons, Daniel J

    2015-11-01

    Working memory and attention are closely related constructs. Models of working memory often incorporate an attention component, and some even equate working memory and attentional control. Although some attention-related processes, including inhibitory control of response conflict and interference resolution, are strongly associated with working memory, for other aspects of attention the link is less clear. We examined the association between working-memory performance and attentional breadth, the ability to spread attention spatially. If the link between attention and working memory is broader than inhibitory and interference resolution processes, then working-memory performance might also be associated with other attentional abilities, including attentional breadth. We tested 123 participants on a variety of working-memory and attentional-breadth measures, finding a strong correlation between performances on these two types of tasks. This finding demonstrates that the link between working memory and attention extends beyond inhibitory processes.

  11. How can we study reasoning in the brain?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papo, David

    2015-01-01

    The brain did not develop a dedicated device for reasoning. This fact bears dramatic consequences. While for perceptuo-motor functions neural activity is shaped by the input's statistical properties, and processing is carried out at high speed in hardwired spatially segregated modules, in reasoning, neural activity is driven by internal dynamics and processing times, stages, and functional brain geometry are largely unconstrained a priori. Here, it is shown that the complex properties of spontaneous activity, which can be ignored in a short-lived event-related world, become prominent at the long time scales of certain forms of reasoning. It is argued that the neural correlates of reasoning should in fact be defined in terms of non-trivial generic properties of spontaneous brain activity, and that this implies resorting to concepts, analytical tools, and ways of designing experiments that are as yet non-standard in cognitive neuroscience. The implications in terms of models of brain activity, shape of the neural correlates, methods of data analysis, observability of the phenomenon, and experimental designs are discussed.

  12. Processing efficiency theory in children: working memory as a mediator between trait anxiety and academic performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Owens, Matthew; Stevenson, Jim; Norgate, Roger; Hadwin, Julie A

    2008-10-01

    Working memory skills are positively associated with academic performance. In contrast, high levels of trait anxiety are linked with educational underachievement. Based on Eysenck and Calvo's (1992) processing efficiency theory (PET), the present study investigated whether associations between anxiety and educational achievement were mediated via poor working memory performance. Fifty children aged 11-12 years completed verbal (backwards digit span; tapping the phonological store/central executive) and spatial (Corsi blocks; tapping the visuospatial sketchpad/central executive) working memory tasks. Trait anxiety was measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. Academic performance was assessed using school administered tests of reasoning (Cognitive Abilities Test) and attainment (Standard Assessment Tests). The results showed that the association between trait anxiety and academic performance was significantly mediated by verbal working memory for three of the six academic performance measures (math, quantitative and non-verbal reasoning). Spatial working memory did not significantly mediate the relationship between trait anxiety and academic performance. On average verbal working memory accounted for 51% of the association between trait anxiety and academic performance, while spatial working memory only accounted for 9%. The findings indicate that PET is a useful framework to assess the impact of children's anxiety on educational achievement.

  13. [Three good reasons to perform a postmortem examination in all cases of juvenile sudden death].

    Science.gov (United States)

    d'Amati, Giulia; di Gioia, Cira R T; Silenzi, Paola F; Gallo, Pietro

    2009-04-01

    The aim of this review is to underline the reasons why a post-mortem examination has to be performed in all cases of juvenile sudden death. Sudden death in children and young adults can be caused by potentially heritable cardiovascular disorders and fatal outcome is often the first symptom in apparently healthy subjects. In these cases, a careful autopsy, performed according to a standardized protocol, becomes the sole diagnostic tool to guide clinical and molecular genetic family screening and to adopt the proper therapeutic and preventive strategies. Thus, a post-mortem examination is a fundamental part of a multidisciplinary approach to the issue of juvenile sudden death.

  14. Interactions between the spatial and temporal stimulus factors that influence multisensory integration in human performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevenson, Ryan A; Fister, Juliane Krueger; Barnett, Zachary P; Nidiffer, Aaron R; Wallace, Mark T

    2012-05-01

    In natural environments, human sensory systems work in a coordinated and integrated manner to perceive and respond to external events. Previous research has shown that the spatial and temporal relationships of sensory signals are paramount in determining how information is integrated across sensory modalities, but in ecologically plausible settings, these factors are not independent. In the current study, we provide a novel exploration of the impact on behavioral performance for systematic manipulations of the spatial location and temporal synchrony of a visual-auditory stimulus pair. Simple auditory and visual stimuli were presented across a range of spatial locations and stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs), and participants performed both a spatial localization and simultaneity judgment task. Response times in localizing paired visual-auditory stimuli were slower in the periphery and at larger SOAs, but most importantly, an interaction was found between the two factors, in which the effect of SOA was greater in peripheral as opposed to central locations. Simultaneity judgments also revealed a novel interaction between space and time: individuals were more likely to judge stimuli as synchronous when occurring in the periphery at large SOAs. The results of this study provide novel insights into (a) how the speed of spatial localization of an audiovisual stimulus is affected by location and temporal coincidence and the interaction between these two factors and (b) how the location of a multisensory stimulus impacts judgments concerning the temporal relationship of the paired stimuli. These findings provide strong evidence for a complex interdependency between spatial location and temporal structure in determining the ultimate behavioral and perceptual outcome associated with a paired multisensory (i.e., visual-auditory) stimulus.

  15. An fMRI study of sex differences in regional activation to a verbal and a spatial task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gur, R C; Alsop, D; Glahn, D; Petty, R; Swanson, C L; Maldjian, J A; Turetsky, B I; Detre, J A; Gee, J; Gur, R E

    2000-09-01

    Sex differences in cognitive performance have been documented, women performing better on some phonological tasks and men on spatial tasks. An earlier fMRI study suggested sex differences in distributed brain activation during phonological processing, with bilateral activation seen in women while men showed primarily left-lateralized activation. This blood oxygen level-dependent fMRI study examined sex differences (14 men, 13 women) in activation for a spatial task (judgment of line orientation) compared to a verbal-reasoning task (analogies) that does not typically show sex differences. Task difficulty was manipulated. Hypothesized ROI-based analysis documented the expected left-lateralized changes for the verbal task in the inferior parietal and planum temporal regions in both men and women, but only men showed right-lateralized increase for the spatial task in these regions. Image-based analysis revealed a distributed network of cortical regions activated by the tasks, which consisted of the lateral frontal, medial frontal, mid-temporal, occipitoparietal, and occipital regions. The activation was more left lateralized for the verbal and more right for the spatial tasks, but men also showed some left activation for the spatial task, which was not seen in women. Increased task difficulty produced more distributed activation for the verbal and more circumscribed activation for the spatial task. The results suggest that failure to activate the appropriate hemisphere in regions directly involved in task performance may explain certain sex differences in performance. They also extend, for a spatial task, the principle that bilateral activation in a distributed cognitive system underlies sex differences in performance. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

  16. Performance evaluation of spatial vector routing protocol for wireless sensor networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baloch, J.; Jokhio, I.

    2012-01-01

    WSNs (Wireless Sensor Networks) is an emerging area of research. Researchers worldwide are working on the issues faced by sensor nodes. Communication has been a major issue in wireless networks and the problem is manifolds in WSN s because of the limited resources. The routing protocol in such networks plays a pivotal role, as an effective routing protocol could significantly reduce the energy consumed in transmitting and receiving data packets throughout a network. In this paper the performance of SVR (Spatial Vector Routing) an energy efficient, location aware routing protocol is compared with the existing location aware protocols. The results from the simulation trials show the performance of SVR. (author)

  17. Performance Evaluation of Spatial Vector Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Javed Ali Baloch

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available WSNs (Wireless Sensor Networks is an emerging area of research. Researchers worldwide are working on the issues faced by sensor nodes. Communication has been a major issue in wireless networks and the problem is manifolds in WSNs because of the limited resources. The routing protocol in such networks plays a pivotal role, as an effective routing protocol could significantly reduce the energy consumed in transmitting and receiving data packets throughout a network. In this paper the performance of SVR (Spatial Vector Routing an energy efficient, location aware routing protocol is compared with the existing location aware protocols. The results from the simulation trials show the performance of SVR.

  18. Optimal Spatial Subdivision method for improving geometry navigation performance in Monte Carlo particle transport simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Zhenping; Song, Jing; Zheng, Huaqing; Wu, Bin; Hu, Liqin

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • The subdivision combines both advantages of uniform and non-uniform schemes. • The grid models were proved to be more efficient than traditional CSG models. • Monte Carlo simulation performance was enhanced by Optimal Spatial Subdivision. • Efficiency gains were obtained for realistic whole reactor core models. - Abstract: Geometry navigation is one of the key aspects of dominating Monte Carlo particle transport simulation performance for large-scale whole reactor models. In such cases, spatial subdivision is an easily-established and high-potential method to improve the run-time performance. In this study, a dedicated method, named Optimal Spatial Subdivision, is proposed for generating numerically optimal spatial grid models, which are demonstrated to be more efficient for geometry navigation than traditional Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) models. The method uses a recursive subdivision algorithm to subdivide a CSG model into non-overlapping grids, which are labeled as totally or partially occupied, or not occupied at all, by CSG objects. The most important point is that, at each stage of subdivision, a conception of quality factor based on a cost estimation function is derived to evaluate the qualities of the subdivision schemes. Only the scheme with optimal quality factor will be chosen as the final subdivision strategy for generating the grid model. Eventually, the model built with the optimal quality factor will be efficient for Monte Carlo particle transport simulation. The method has been implemented and integrated into the Super Monte Carlo program SuperMC developed by FDS Team. Testing cases were used to highlight the performance gains that could be achieved. Results showed that Monte Carlo simulation runtime could be reduced significantly when using the new method, even as cases reached whole reactor core model sizes

  19. Performance Analysis of Multi-Dimensional ESPRIT-Type Algorithms for Arbitrary and Strictly Non-Circular Sources With Spatial Smoothing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steinwandt, Jens; Roemer, Florian; Haardt, Martin; Galdo, Giovanni Del

    2017-05-01

    Spatial smoothing is a widely used preprocessing scheme to improve the performance of high-resolution parameter estimation algorithms in case of coherent signals or if only a small number of snapshots is available. In this paper, we present a first-order performance analysis of the spatially smoothed versions of R-D Standard ESPRIT and R-D Unitary ESPRIT for sources with arbitrary signal constellations as well as R-D NC Standard ESPRIT and R-D NC Unitary ESPRIT for strictly second-order (SO) non-circular (NC) sources. The derived expressions are asymptotic in the effective signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), i.e., the approximations become exact for either high SNRs or a large sample size. Moreover, no assumptions on the noise statistics are required apart from a zero-mean and finite SO moments. We show that both R-D NC ESPRIT-type algorithms with spatial smoothing perform asymptotically identical in the high effective SNR regime. Generally, the performance of spatial smoothing based algorithms depends on the number of subarrays, which is a design parameter and needs to be chosen beforehand. In order to gain more insights into the optimal choice of the number of subarrays, we simplify the derived analytical R-D mean square error (MSE) expressions for the special case of a single source. The obtained MSE expression explicitly depends on the number of subarrays in each dimension, which allows us to analytically find the optimal number of subarrays for spatial smoothing. Based on this result, we additionally derive the maximum asymptotic gain from spatial smoothing and explicitly compute the asymptotic efficiency for this special case. All the analytical results are verified by simulations.

  20. Evidence that logical reasoning depends on conscious processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeWall, C Nathan; Baumeister, Roy F; Masicampo, E J

    2008-09-01

    Humans, unlike other animals, are equipped with a powerful brain that permits conscious awareness and reflection. A growing trend in psychological science has questioned the benefits of consciousness, however. Testing a hypothesis advanced by [Lieberman, M. D., Gaunt, R., Gilbert, D. T., & Trope, Y. (2002). Reflection and reflexion: A social cognitive neuroscience approach to attributional inference. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 199-249], four studies suggested that the conscious, reflective processing system is vital for logical reasoning. Substantial decrements in logical reasoning were found when a cognitive load manipulation preoccupied conscious processing, while hampering the nonconscious system with consciously suppressed thoughts failed to impair reasoning (Experiment 1). Nonconscious activation (priming) of the idea of logical reasoning increased the activation of logic-relevant concepts, but failed to improve logical reasoning performance (Experiments 2a-2c) unless the logical conclusions were largely intuitive and thus not reliant on logical reasoning (Experiment 3). Meanwhile, stimulating the conscious goal of reasoning well led to improvements in reasoning performance (Experiment 4). These findings offer evidence that logical reasoning is aided by the conscious, reflective processing system.

  1. Assessment of Scientific Reasoning: the Effects of Task Context, Data, and Design on Student Reasoning in Control of Variables.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Shaona; Han, Jing; Koenig, Kathleen; Raplinger, Amy; Pi, Yuan; Li, Dan; Xiao, Hua; Fu, Zhao; Bao, Lei

    2016-03-01

    Scientific reasoning is an important component under the cognitive strand of the 21st century skills and is highly emphasized in the new science education standards. This study focuses on the assessment of student reasoning in control of variables (COV), which is a core sub-skill of scientific reasoning. The main research question is to investigate the extent to which the existence of experimental data in questions impacts student reasoning and performance. This study also explores the effects of task contexts on student reasoning as well as students' abilities to distinguish between testability and causal influences of variables in COV experiments. Data were collected with students from both USA and China. Students received randomly one of two test versions, one with experimental data and one without. The results show that students from both populations (1) perform better when experimental data are not provided, (2) perform better in physics contexts than in real-life contexts, and (3) students have a tendency to equate non-influential variables to non-testable variables. In addition, based on the analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data, a possible progression of developmental levels of student reasoning in control of variables is proposed, which can be used to inform future development of assessment and instruction.

  2. Analysis of Spatial Concepts, Spatial Skills and Spatial Representations in New York State Regents Earth Science Examinations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kastens, Kim A.; Pistolesi, Linda; Passow, Michael J.

    2014-01-01

    Research has shown that spatial thinking is important in science in general, and in Earth Science in particular, and that performance on spatially demanding tasks can be fostered through instruction. Because spatial thinking is rarely taught explicitly in the U.S. education system, improving spatial thinking may be "low-hanging fruit" as…

  3. The "when" and the "where" of single-trial allocentric spatial memory performance in young children: Insights into the development of episodic memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ribordy Lambert, Farfalla; Lavenex, Pierre; Banta Lavenex, Pamela

    2017-03-01

    Allocentric spatial memory, "where" with respect to the surrounding environment, is one of the three fundamental components of episodic memory: what, where, when. Whereas basic allocentric spatial memory abilities are reliably observed in children after 2 years of age, coinciding with the offset of infantile amnesia, the resolution of allocentric spatial memory acquired over repeated trials improves from 2 to 4 years of age. Here, we first show that single-trial allocentric spatial memory performance improves in children from 3.5 to 7 years of age, during the typical period of childhood amnesia. Second, we show that large individual variation exists in children's performance at this age. Third, and most importantly, we show that improvements in single-trial allocentric spatial memory performance are due to an increasing ability to spatially and temporally separate locations and events. Such improvements in spatial and temporal processing abilities may contribute to the gradual offset of childhood amnesia. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Detection of auditory signals in quiet and noisy backgrounds while performing a visuo-spatial task

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vishakha W Rawool

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Context: The ability to detect important auditory signals while performing visual tasks may be further compounded by background chatter. Thus, it is important to know how task performance may interact with background chatter to hinder signal detection. Aim: To examine any interactive effects of speech spectrum noise and task performance on the ability to detect signals. Settings and Design: The setting was a sound-treated booth. A repeated measures design was used. Materials and Methods: Auditory thresholds of 20 normal adults were determined at 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 kHz in the following conditions presented in a random order: (1 quiet with attention; (2 quiet with a visuo-spatial task or puzzle (distraction; (3 noise with attention and (4 noise with task. Statistical Analysis: Multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA with three repeated factors (quiet versus noise, visuo-spatial task versus no task, signal frequency. Results: MANOVA revealed significant main effects for noise and signal frequency and significant noise–frequency and task–frequency interactions. Distraction caused by performing the task worsened the thresholds for tones presented at the beginning of the experiment and had no effect on tones presented in the middle. At the end of the experiment, thresholds (4 kHz were better while performing the task than those obtained without performing the task. These effects were similar across the quiet and noise conditions. Conclusion: Detection of auditory signals is difficult at the beginning of a distracting visuo-spatial task but over time, task learning and auditory training effects can nullify the effect of distraction and may improve detection of high frequency sounds.

  5. Consequence Reasoning in Multilevel Flow Modelling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Xinxin; Lind, Morten; Ravn, Ole

    2013-01-01

    Consequence reasoning is a major element for operation support system to assess the plant situations. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate how Multilevel Flow Models can be used to reason about consequences of disturbances in complex engineering systems. MFM is a modelling methodology...... for representing process knowledge for complex systems. It represents the system by using means-end and part-whole decompositions, and describes not only the purposes and functions of the system but also the causal relations between them. Thus MFM is a tool for causal reasoning. The paper introduces MFM modelling...... syntax and gives detailed reasoning formulas for consequence reasoning. The reasoning formulas offers basis for developing rule-based system to perform consequence reasoning based on MFM, which can be used for alarm design, risk monitoring, and supervision and operation support system design....

  6. Reconfiguration of Brain Network Architectures between Resting-State and Complexity-Dependent Cognitive Reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hearne, Luke J; Cocchi, Luca; Zalesky, Andrew; Mattingley, Jason B

    2017-08-30

    Our capacity for higher cognitive reasoning has a measurable limit. This limit is thought to arise from the brain's capacity to flexibly reconfigure interactions between spatially distributed networks. Recent work, however, has suggested that reconfigurations of task-related networks are modest when compared with intrinsic "resting-state" network architecture. Here we combined resting-state and task-driven functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine how flexible, task-specific reconfigurations associated with increasing reasoning demands are integrated within a stable intrinsic brain topology. Human participants (21 males and 28 females) underwent an initial resting-state scan, followed by a cognitive reasoning task involving different levels of complexity, followed by a second resting-state scan. The reasoning task required participants to deduce the identity of a missing element in a 4 × 4 matrix, and item difficulty was scaled parametrically as determined by relational complexity theory. Analyses revealed that external task engagement was characterized by a significant change in functional brain modules. Specifically, resting-state and null-task demand conditions were associated with more segregated brain-network topology, whereas increases in reasoning complexity resulted in merging of resting-state modules. Further increments in task complexity did not change the established modular architecture, but affected selective patterns of connectivity between frontoparietal, subcortical, cingulo-opercular, and default-mode networks. Larger increases in network efficiency within the newly established task modules were associated with higher reasoning accuracy. Our results shed light on the network architectures that underlie external task engagement, and highlight selective changes in brain connectivity supporting increases in task complexity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Humans have clear limits in their ability to solve complex reasoning problems. It is thought that

  7. The cognition and neuroscience of relational reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krawczyk, Daniel C

    2012-01-05

    There has been a growing interest in understanding the complex cognitive processes that give rise to human reasoning. This review focuses on the cognitive and neural characteristics of relational reasoning and analogy performance. Initially relational reasoning studies that have investigated the neural basis of abstract reasoning with an emphasis on the prefrontal cortex are described. Next studies of analogical reasoning are reviewed with insights from neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies. Additionally, studies of cognitive components in analogical reasoning are described. This review draws together insights from numerous studies and concludes that prefrontal areas exhibit domain independence in relational reasoning, while posterior areas within the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes show evidence of domain dependence in reasoning. Lastly, future directions in the study of relational reasoning are discussed. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Analogical Matrices in Young Children and Students with Intellectual Disability: Reasoning by Analogy or Reasoning by Association?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denaes, Caroline

    2012-01-01

    Background: Analogical reasoning (AR) is renowned for being a complex activity. Young children tend to reason by association, rather by analogy, and people with intellectual disability present problems of memorization. Both these populations usually show low performances in AR. The present author investigated whether familiar material and external…

  9. Attention, spatial integration, and the tail of response time distributions in Stroop task performance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Roelofs, A.P.A.

    2012-01-01

    A few studies have examined selective attention in Stroop task performance through ex-Gaussian analyses of response time (RT) distributions. It has remained unclear whether the tail of the RT distribution in vocal responding reflects spatial integration of relevant and irrelevant attributes, as

  10. Reasons Internalism and the function of normative reasons

    OpenAIRE

    Sinclair, Neil

    2017-01-01

    What is the connection between reasons and motives? According to Reasons Internalism there is a non-trivial conceptual connection between normative reasons and the possibility of rationally accessing relevant motivation. Reasons Internalism is attractive insofar as it captures the thought that reasons are for reasoning with and repulsive insofar as it fails to generate sufficient critical distance between reasons and motives. Rather than directly adjudicate this dispute, I extract from it two...

  11. Sexual Orientation-Related Differences in Virtual Spatial Navigation and Spatial Search Strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, Qazi; Sharp, Jonathan; McVeigh, Meadhbh; Ho, Man-Ling

    2017-07-01

    Spatial abilities are generally hypothesized to differ between men and women, and people with different sexual orientations. According to the cross-sex shift hypothesis, gay men are hypothesized to perform in the direction of heterosexual women and lesbian women in the direction of heterosexual men on cognitive tests. This study investigated sexual orientation differences in spatial navigation and strategy during a virtual Morris water maze task (VMWM). Forty-four heterosexual men, 43 heterosexual women, 39 gay men, and 34 lesbian/bisexual women (aged 18-54 years) navigated a desktop VMWM and completed measures of intelligence, handedness, and childhood gender nonconformity (CGN). We quantified spatial learning (hidden platform trials), probe trial performance, and cued navigation (visible platform trials). Spatial strategies during hidden and probe trials were classified into visual scanning, landmark use, thigmotaxis/circling, and enfilading. In general, heterosexual men scored better than women and gay men on some spatial learning and probe trial measures and used more visual scan strategies. However, some differences disappeared after controlling for age and estimated IQ (e.g., in visual scanning heterosexual men differed from women but not gay men). Heterosexual women did not differ from lesbian/bisexual women. For both sexes, visual scanning predicted probe trial performance. More feminine CGN scores were associated with lower performance among men and greater performance among women on specific spatial learning or probe trial measures. These results provide mixed evidence for the cross-sex shift hypothesis of sexual orientation-related differences in spatial cognition.

  12. Reasonable assurance and in-situ testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rhoderick, J.E.; Nelson, J.W.

    1986-01-01

    The Department of Energy is currently preparing site characterization plans for sites being considered for the first geologic repository. The site investigations described in these plans will be aimed at providing ''reasonable assurance'' to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the performance objectives and criteria specified in 10 CFR Part 60 will be met. The in-situ testing being planned by the DOE for site characterization, and the subsequent testing conducted as part of performance confirmation, reflects how the basis for ''reasonable assurance'' will change through the licensing process

  13. Factor Copula Models for Replicated Spatial Data

    KAUST Repository

    Krupskii, Pavel

    2016-12-19

    We propose a new copula model that can be used with replicated spatial data. Unlike the multivariate normal copula, the proposed copula is based on the assumption that a common factor exists and affects the joint dependence of all measurements of the process. Moreover, the proposed copula can model tail dependence and tail asymmetry. The model is parameterized in terms of a covariance function that may be chosen from the many models proposed in the literature, such as the Matérn model. For some choice of common factors, the joint copula density is given in closed form and therefore likelihood estimation is very fast. In the general case, one-dimensional numerical integration is needed to calculate the likelihood, but estimation is still reasonably fast even with large data sets. We use simulation studies to show the wide range of dependence structures that can be generated by the proposed model with different choices of common factors. We apply the proposed model to spatial temperature data and compare its performance with some popular geostatistics models.

  14. Factor Copula Models for Replicated Spatial Data

    KAUST Repository

    Krupskii, Pavel; Huser, Raphaë l; Genton, Marc G.

    2016-01-01

    We propose a new copula model that can be used with replicated spatial data. Unlike the multivariate normal copula, the proposed copula is based on the assumption that a common factor exists and affects the joint dependence of all measurements of the process. Moreover, the proposed copula can model tail dependence and tail asymmetry. The model is parameterized in terms of a covariance function that may be chosen from the many models proposed in the literature, such as the Matérn model. For some choice of common factors, the joint copula density is given in closed form and therefore likelihood estimation is very fast. In the general case, one-dimensional numerical integration is needed to calculate the likelihood, but estimation is still reasonably fast even with large data sets. We use simulation studies to show the wide range of dependence structures that can be generated by the proposed model with different choices of common factors. We apply the proposed model to spatial temperature data and compare its performance with some popular geostatistics models.

  15. Effects of social instability stress in adolescence on long-term, not short-term, spatial memory performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Matthew R; McCormick, Cheryl M

    2013-11-01

    There is evidence that exposure to stressors in adolescence leads to lasting deficits on hippocampal-dependent tasks, but whether medial prefrontal cortical function is also impaired is unknown. We previously found that rats exposed to social instability stress in adolescence (SS; daily 1h isolation and subsequent change of cage partner between postnatal days 30 and 45) had impaired memory performance on a Spatial Object Location test and in memory for fear conditioning context, tasks that depend on the integrity of the hippocampus. Here we investigated whether impaired performance would be evident after adolescent SS in male rats on a different test of hippocampal function, spatial learning and memory in the Morris water maze (MWM) and on a working memory task for which performance depends on the integrity of the medial prefrontal cortex, the Delayed Alternation task (DAT). During MWM testing, SS rats showed greater improvements in performance across trials within days compared to control (CTL) rats, but showed less retention of learning between days (48 h) compared to CTL rats. Similarly, SS rats had impaired long-term memory in the Spatial Object Location test after a long delay (240 min), but not after shorter delays (15 or 60 min) compared to CTL rats. No group differences were observed on the DAT, which assessed working memory across brief delays (5-90 s). Thus, deficits in memory performance after chronic social stress in adolescence may be limited to long-term memory. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Dimensionality-varied deep convolutional neural network for spectral-spatial classification of hyperspectral data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Haicheng; Liang, Xuejian; Liang, Shichao; Liu, Wanjun

    2018-01-01

    Many methods of hyperspectral image classification have been proposed recently, and the convolutional neural network (CNN) achieves outstanding performance. However, spectral-spatial classification of CNN requires an excessively large model, tremendous computations, and complex network, and CNN is generally unable to use the noisy bands caused by water-vapor absorption. A dimensionality-varied CNN (DV-CNN) is proposed to address these issues. There are four stages in DV-CNN and the dimensionalities of spectral-spatial feature maps vary with the stages. DV-CNN can reduce the computation and simplify the structure of the network. All feature maps are processed by more kernels in higher stages to extract more precise features. DV-CNN also improves the classification accuracy and enhances the robustness to water-vapor absorption bands. The experiments are performed on data sets of Indian Pines and Pavia University scene. The classification performance of DV-CNN is compared with state-of-the-art methods, which contain the variations of CNN, traditional, and other deep learning methods. The experiment of performance analysis about DV-CNN itself is also carried out. The experimental results demonstrate that DV-CNN outperforms state-of-the-art methods for spectral-spatial classification and it is also robust to water-vapor absorption bands. Moreover, reasonable parameters selection is effective to improve classification accuracy.

  17. How People Reason: A Grounded Theory Study of Scientific Reasoning about Global Climate Change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Shiyu

    Scientific reasoning is crucial in both scientific inquiry and everyday life. While the majority of researchers have studied "how people reason" by focusing on their cognitive processes, factors related to the underpinnings of scientific reasoning are still under-researched. The present study aimed to develop a grounded theory that captures not only the cognitive processes during reasoning but also their underpinnings. In particular, the grounded theory and phenomenographic methodologies were integrated to explore how undergraduate students reason about competing theories and evidence on global climate change. Twenty-six undergraduate students were recruited through theoretical sampling. Constant comparative analysis of responses from interviews and written assessments revealed that participants were mostly drawn to the surface features when reasoning about evidence. While prior knowledge might not directly contribute to participants' performance on evidence evaluation, it affected their level of engagement when reading and evaluating competing arguments on climate issues. More importantly, even though all participants acknowledged the relative correctness of multiple perspectives, they predominantly favored arguments that supported their own beliefs with weak scientific reasoning about the opposing arguments. Additionally, factors such as personal interests, religious beliefs, and reading capacity were also found to have bearings on the way participants evaluated evidence and arguments. In all, this work contributes to the current endeavors in exploring the nature of scientific reasoning. Taking a holistic perspective, it provides an in-depth discussion of factors that may affect or relate to scientific reasoning processes. Furthermore, in comparison with traditional methods used in the literature, the methodological approach employed in this work brought an innovative insight into the investigation of scientific reasoning. Last but not least, this research may

  18. Emotional Intelligence predicts individual differences in social exchange reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reis, Deidre L; Brackett, Marc A; Shamosh, Noah A; Kiehl, Kent A; Salovey, Peter; Gray, Jeremy R

    2007-04-15

    When assessed with performance measures, Emotional Intelligence (EI) correlates positively with the quality of social relationships. However, the bases of such correlations are not understood in terms of cognitive and neural information processing mechanisms. We investigated whether a performance measure of EI is related to reasoning about social situations (specifically social exchange reasoning) using versions of the Wason Card Selection Task. In an fMRI study (N=16), higher EI predicted hemodynamic responses during social reasoning in the left frontal polar and left anterior temporal brain regions, even when controlling for responses on a very closely matched task (precautionary reasoning). In a larger behavioral study (N=48), higher EI predicted faster social exchange reasoning, after controlling for precautionary reasoning. The results are the first to directly suggest that EI is mediated in part by mechanisms supporting social reasoning and validate a new approach to investigating EI in terms of more basic information processing mechanisms.

  19. Performance Criteria of Spatial Development Projects Based on Interregional Integration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena Viktorovna Kurushina

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The search of efficient ways for the development of regional socio-economic space is a relevant problem. The authors consider the models of spatial organization according to the Spatial Development Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2030. We conduct the comparative analysis of scenarios for the polarized and diversified spatial growth. Many investigations consider the concepts of polarized and endogenous growth. This study proposes a methodology to assess the development of macroregions and to increase the viability of interregional integration projects. To develop this methodology, we formulate scientific principles and indirect criteria of the project performance conforming to the theory of regional integration. In addition to the territorial community and complementarity of the development potentials, regional integration in the country should be based on the principles of security, networking, limited quantity and awareness of the potential project participants. Integration should ensure synergetic effects and take into account cultural and historical closeness, that manifests in the common mentality and existing economic relations among regions. The calculation results regarding the indirect criteria are obtained using the methods of classification and spatial correlation. This study confirms the hypothesis, that the formation of the Western Siberian and Ural macro-regions is appropriate. We have concluded this on the basis of the criteria of economic development, economic integration, the similarity of regional spaces as habitats, and a number of participants for the subjects of the Ural Federal District. The projection of the patterns of international economic integration to the interregional level allows predicting the highest probability for the successful cooperation among the Western Siberian regions with a high level of economic development. The authors’ method has revealed a high synchronization between the economies of

  20. Effects of propylene, methyl methacrylate and isopropanol poisoning on spatial performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reshetenko, Tatyana V.; St-Pierre, Jean

    2018-02-01

    This paper studies the effects of propylene, methyl methacrylate (MMA) and isopropanol (IPA) in air on the spatial performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The introduction of 100 ppm C3H6 into the oxidant stream resulted in a performance decrease of 130 mV at 1.0 A cm-2, whereas 20 ppm MMA caused a voltage loss of 80 mV. A moderate performance decline of 60 mV was detected in the presence of 5.3ṡ103 ppm IPA in air. Spatial electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) data showed an increase in charge and mass transfer resistances under exposure to C3H6 and MMA, although IPA did not affect the impedance. The observed PEMFC performances, local current redistributions and EIS data can be explained by the adsorption of contaminants on the Pt surface, their subsequent transformations, and their impacts on the electrochemical surface area and oxygen reduction mechanism. It was assumed that the studied contaminants were oxidized mainly to CO2 via electrochemical and chemical pathways under the operating conditions and at the cathode potential. Self-recovery of PEMFC performance was observed for each contaminant after halting its introduction into the air. Possible contaminant oxidation/reduction mechanisms and their correlations with spatial performance and EIS are presented and discussed.

  1. Fabrication of a phantom and its application for checking gamma camera performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yesmin, S; Ahmad, G. U.; Afroz, S.; Hossain, S.; Rashid, H.

    2004-01-01

    The primary aim of the present work is to fabricate a total performance phantom, which could be used for checking the performance characteristics of gamma camera. The phantom was locally fabricated at machine shop of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and used for checking the performance characteristics of gamma camera LF-61 of Centre for Nuclear Medicine and Ultrasound, Dhaka. With 10 mCi of Tc-99m, imaging of the phantom acquired with a reasonable counts. The image was inspected physically for evaluation of the camera performances. The visual inspection of the phantom image revealed that the performance characteristics like: spatial resolution, linearity, uniformity and lesion detection capability of the gamma camera could clearly be evaluated with reasonable acceptance level. This phantom is expected to be useful for checking performance characteristics of SPECT system as well. (author)

  2. Site characterization: a spatial estimation approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Candy, J.V.; Mao, N.

    1980-10-01

    In this report the application of spatial estimation techniques or kriging to groundwater aquifers and geological borehole data is considered. The adequacy of these techniques to reliably develop contour maps from various data sets is investigated. The estimator is developed theoretically in a simplified fashion using vector-matrix calculus. The practice of spatial estimation is discussed and the estimator is then applied to two groundwater aquifer systems and used also to investigate geological formations from borehole data. It is shown that the estimator can provide reasonable results when designed properly

  3. Sensorimotor Interference When Reasoning About Described Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avraamides, Marios N.; Kyranidou, Melina-Nicole

    The influence of sensorimotor interference was examined in two experiments that compared pointing with iconic arrows and verbal responding in a task that entailed locating target-objects from imagined perspectives. Participants studied text narratives describing objects at locations around them in a remote environment and then responded to targets from memory. Results revealed only minor differences between the two response modes suggesting that bodily cues do not exert severe detrimental interference on spatial reasoning from imagined perspective when non-immediate described environments are used. The implications of the findings are discussed.

  4. Does Mandarin spatial metaphor for time influence Chinese deaf signers’ spatio-temporal reasoning?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gu, Yan; Zheng, Yeqiu; Swerts, Marc; Gunzelmann, G.; Howes, A.; Tenbrink, T.; Davelaar, E. J.

    2017-01-01

    In Mandarin Chinese, the space-time word “前/qian” is used to express both the spatial concept of front/forward and the temporal concept of early/before (e.g., “前天/qian-tian”, literally front day, meaning the day before yesterday). This is consistent with the fact that Mandarin speakers can gesture

  5. Location Aggregation of Spatial Population CTMC Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luca Bortolussi

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we focus on spatial Markov population models, describing the stochastic evolution of populations of agents, explicitly modelling their spatial distribution, representing space as a discrete, finite graph. More specifically, we present a heuristic approach to aggregating spatial locations, which is designed to preserve the dynamical behaviour of the model whilst reducing the computational cost of analysis. Our approach combines stochastic approximation ideas (moment closure, linear noise, with computational statistics (spectral clustering to obtain an efficient aggregation, which is experimentally shown to be reasonably accurate on two case studies: an instance of epidemic spreading and a London bike sharing scenario.

  6. Utilizing a scale model solar system project to visualize important planetary science concepts and develop technology and spatial reasoning skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kortenkamp, Stephen J.; Brock, Laci

    2016-10-01

    Scale model solar systems have been used for centuries to help educate young students and the public about the vastness of space and the relative sizes of objects. We have adapted the classic scale model solar system activity into a student-driven project for an undergraduate general education astronomy course at the University of Arizona. Students are challenged to construct and use their three dimensional models to demonstrate an understanding of numerous concepts in planetary science, including: 1) planetary obliquities, eccentricities, inclinations; 2) phases and eclipses; 3) planetary transits; 4) asteroid sizes, numbers, and distributions; 5) giant planet satellite and ring systems; 6) the Pluto system and Kuiper belt; 7) the extent of space travel by humans and robotic spacecraft; 8) the diversity of extrasolar planetary systems. Secondary objectives of the project allow students to develop better spatial reasoning skills and gain familiarity with technology such as Excel formulas, smart-phone photography, and audio/video editing.During our presentation we will distribute a formal description of the project and discuss our expectations of the students as well as present selected highlights from preliminary submissions.

  7. Context and clinical reasoning : Understanding the medical student perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McBee, Elexis; Ratcliffe, Temple; Schuwirth, Lambert; O'Neill, Daniel; Meyer, Holly; Madden, Shelby J; Durning, Steven J

    2018-04-27

    Studies have shown that a physician's clinical reasoning performance can be influenced by contextual factors. We explored how the clinical reasoning performance of medical students was impacted by contextual factors in order to expand upon previous findings in resident and board certified physicians. Using situated cognition as the theoretical framework, our aim was to evaluate the verbalized clinical reasoning processes of medical students in order to describe what impact the presence of contextual factors has on their reasoning performance. Seventeen medical student participants viewed three video recordings of clinical encounters portraying straightforward diagnostic cases in internal medicine with explicit contextual factors inserted. Participants completed a computerized post-encounter form as well as a think-aloud protocol. Three authors analyzed verbatim transcripts from the think-aloud protocols using a constant comparative approach. After iterative coding, utterances were analyzed and grouped into categories and themes. Six categories and ten associated themes emerged, which demonstrated overlap with findings from previous studies in resident and attending physicians. Four overlapping categories included emotional disturbances, behavioural inferences about the patient, doctor-patient relationship, and difficulty with closure. Two new categories emerged to include anchoring and misinterpretation of data. The presence of contextual factors appeared to impact clinical reasoning performance in medical students. The data suggest that a contextual factor can be innate to the clinical scenario, consistent with situated cognition theory. These findings build upon our understanding of clinical reasoning performance from both a theoretical and practical perspective.

  8. Varieties of clinical reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bolton, Jonathan W

    2015-06-01

    Clinical reasoning comprises a variety of different modes of inference. The modes that are practiced will be influenced by the sociological characteristics of the clinical settings and the tasks to be performed by the clinician. This article presents C.S. Peirce's typology of modes of inference: deduction, induction and abduction. It describes their differences and their roles as stages in scientific argument. The article applies the typology to reasoning in clinical settings. The article describes their differences, and their roles as stages in scientific argument. It then applies the typology to reasoning in typical clinical settings. Abduction is less commonly taught or discussed than induction and deduction. However, it is a common mode of inference in clinical settings, especially when the clinician must try to make sense of a surprising phenomenon. Whether abduction is followed up with deductive and inductive verification is strongly influenced by situational constraints and the cognitive and psychological stamina of the clinician. Recognizing the inevitability of abduction in clinical practice and its value to discovery is important to an accurate understanding of clinical reasoning. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  9. CONFLICTING REASONS

    OpenAIRE

    Parfit, Derek

    2016-01-01

    Sidgwick believed that, when impartial reasons conflict with self-interested reasons, there are no truths about their relative strength. There are such truths, I claim, but these truths are imprecise. Many self-interested reasons are decisively outweighed by conflicting impar-tial moral reasons. But we often have sufficient self-interested reasons to do what would make things go worse, and we sometimes have sufficient self-interested reasons to act wrongly. If we reject Act Consequentialism, ...

  10. Speed of reasoning and its relation to reasoning ability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goldhammer, F.; Klein Entink, R.H.

    2011-01-01

    The study investigates empirical properties of reasoning speed which is conceived as the fluency of solving reasoning problems. Responses and response times in reasoning tasks are modeled jointly to clarify the covariance structure of reasoning speed and reasoning ability. To determine underlying

  11. Transient performance of integrated SOFC system including spatial temperature control

    OpenAIRE

    Mueller, F; Fardadi, M; Shaffer, B; Brouwer, J; Jabbari, F

    2010-01-01

    Spatial temperature feedback control has been developed for a simulated integrated non-pressurized simple cycle solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system. The fuel cell spatial temperature feedback controller is based on (1) feed-forward set-points that minimize temperature variation in the fuel cell electrode-electrolyte solid temperature profile for the system operating power range, and (2) decentralized proportional-integral based feedback to maintain the fuel cell spatial temperature profile du...

  12. Six Myths About Spatial Thinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newcombe, Nora S.; Stieff, Mike

    2012-04-01

    Visualizations are an increasingly important part of scientific education and discovery. However, users often do not gain knowledge from them in a complete or efficient way. This article aims to direct research on visualizations in science education in productive directions by reviewing the evidence for widespread assumptions that learning styles, sex differences, developmental stages, and spatial language determine the impact of visualizations on science learning. First, we examine the assumption that people differ in their verbal versus visual learning style. Due to the lack of rigorous evaluation, there is no current support for this distinction. Future research should distinguish between two different kinds of visual learning style. Second, we consider the belief that there are large and intractable sex differences in spatial ability resultant from immutable biological reasons. Although there are some spatial sex differences (in some types of spatial tests although not all), there is actually only very mixed support for biological causation. Most important, there is conclusive evidence that spatial skills can be improved through training and education. Third, we explore educators' use of Piaget's ideas about spatial development to draw conclusions about 'developmental appropriateness'. However, recent research on spatial development has focused on identifying sequences that begin with early starting points of skill, and spatial education is possible in some form at all ages. Fourth, although spatial language does not determine spatial thought, it does frame attention in a way that can have impact on learning and understanding. We examine the empirical support for each assumption and its relevance to future research on visualizations in science education.

  13. The effect of egocentric body movements on users' navigation performance and spatial memory in zoomable user interfaces

    OpenAIRE

    Rädle, Roman; Jetter, Hans-Christian; Butscher, Simon; Reiterer, Harald

    2013-01-01

    We present two experiments examining the impact of navigation techniques on users’ navigation performance and spatial memory in a zoomable user interface (ZUI). The first experiment with 24 participants compared the effect of egocentric body movements with traditional multi-touch navigation. The results indicate a 47% decrease in path lengths and a 34% decrease in task time in favor of egocentric navigation, but no significant effect on users’ spatial memory immediately after a navigation tas...

  14. White Matter Microstructure in Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus Associated with Spatial Working Memory Performance in Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vestergaard, Martin; Madsen, Kathrine Skak; Baare, William F. C.; Skimminge, Arnold; Ejersbo, Lisser Rye; Ramsoy, Thomas Z.; Gerlach, Christian; Akeson, Per; Paulson, Olaf B.; Jernigan, Terry L.

    2011-01-01

    During childhood and adolescence, ongoing white matter maturation in the fronto-parietal cortices and connecting fiber tracts is measurable with diffusion-weighted imaging. Important questions remain, however, about the links between these changes and developing cognitive functions. Spatial working memory (SWM) performance improves significantly…

  15. Comparison of Ontology Reasoners: Racer, Pellet, Fact++

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, T.; Li, W.; Yang, C.

    2008-12-01

    In this paper, we examine some key aspects of three of the most popular and effective Semantic reasoning engines that have been developed: Pellet, RACER, and Fact++. While these reasonably advanced reasoners share some notable similarities, it is ultimately the creativity and unique nature of these reasoning engines that have resulted in the successes of each of these reasoners. Of the numerous dissimilarities, the most obvious example might be that while Pellet is written in Java, RACER employs the Lisp programming language and Fact++ was developed using C++. From this and many other distinctions in the system architecture, we can understand the benefits of each reasoner and potentially discover certain properties that may contribute to development of an optimal reasoner in the future. The objective of this paper is to establish a solid comparison of the reasoning engines based on their system architectures, features, and overall performances in real world application. In the end, we expect to produce a valid conclusion about the advantages and problems in each reasoner. While there may not be a decisive first place among the three reasoners, the evaluation will also provide some answers as to which of these current reasoning tools will be most effective in common, practical situations.

  16. Statistical model based iterative reconstruction (MBIR) in clinical CT systems. Part II. Experimental assessment of spatial resolution performance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Ke; Chen, Guang-Hong, E-mail: gchen7@wisc.edu [Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1111 Highland Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53705 and Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53792 (United States); Garrett, John; Ge, Yongshuai [Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1111 Highland Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53705 (United States)

    2014-07-15

    FBP (and vice versa); the value of this transitional contrast highly depended on the dose level. (3) The PSFs of MBIR could be approximated as Gaussian functions with reasonably good accuracy. (4) Thez resolution of MBIR showed similar contrast and dose dependence. (5) Noise standard deviation assessed on the edges of objects demonstrated a trade-off with spatial resolution in MBIR. (5) When both spatial resolution and image noise were considered using the CHO analysis, MBIR led to significant improvement in the overall CT image quality for both high and low contrast detection tasks at both standard and low dose levels. Conclusions: Due to the intrinsic nonlinearity of the MBIR method, many well-known CT spatial resolution and noise properties have been modified. In particular, dose dependence and contrast dependence have been introduced to the spatial resolution of CT images by MBIR. The method has also introduced some novel noise-resolution trade-off not seen in traditional CT images. While the benefits of MBIR regarding the overall image quality, as demonstrated in this work, are significant, the optimal use of this method in clinical practice demands a thorough understanding of its unique physical characteristics.

  17. Cognitive Trait Modelling: The Case of Inductive Reasoning Ability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinshuk, Taiyu Lin; McNab, Paul

    2006-01-01

    Researchers have regarded inductive reasoning as one of the seven primary mental abilities that account for human intelligent behaviours. Researchers have also shown that inductive reasoning ability is one of the best predictors for academic performance. Modelling of inductive reasoning is therefore an important issue for providing adaptivity in…

  18. Working memory predicts children's analogical reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simms, Nina K; Frausel, Rebecca R; Richland, Lindsey E

    2018-02-01

    Analogical reasoning is the cognitive skill of drawing relationships between representations, often between prior knowledge and new representations, that allows for bootstrapping cognitive and language development. Analogical reasoning proficiency develops substantially during childhood, although the mechanisms underlying this development have been debated, with developing cognitive resources as one proposed mechanism. We explored the role of executive function (EF) in supporting children's analogical reasoning development, with the goal of determining whether predicted aspects of EF were related to analogical development at the level of individual differences. We assessed 5- to 11-year-old children's working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility using measures from the National Institutes of Health Toolbox Cognition battery. Individual differences in children's working memory best predicted performance on an analogical mapping task, even when controlling for age, suggesting a fundamental interrelationship between analogical reasoning and working memory development. These findings underscore the need to consider cognitive capacities in comprehensive theories of children's reasoning development. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Calculation and simulation on mid-spatial frequency error in continuous polishing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie Lei; Zhang Yunfan; You Yunfeng; Ma Ping; Liu Yibin; Yan Dingyao

    2013-01-01

    Based on theoretical model of continuous polishing, the influence of processing parameters on the polishing result was discussed. Possible causes of mid-spatial frequency error in the process were analyzed. The simulation results demonstrated that the low spatial frequency error was mainly caused by large rotating ratio. The mid-spatial frequency error would decrease as the low spatial frequency error became lower. The regular groove shape was the primary reason of the mid-spatial frequency error. When irregular and fitful grooves were adopted, the mid-spatial frequency error could be lessened. Moreover, the workpiece swing could make the polishing process more uniform and reduce the mid-spatial frequency error caused by the fix-eccentric plane polishing. (authors)

  20. Attentional reorienting triggers spatial asymmetries in a search task with cross-modal spatial cueing.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebecca E Paladini

    Full Text Available Cross-modal spatial cueing can affect performance in a visual search task. For example, search performance improves if a visual target and an auditory cue originate from the same spatial location, and it deteriorates if they originate from different locations. Moreover, it has recently been postulated that multisensory settings, i.e., experimental settings, in which critical stimuli are concurrently presented in different sensory modalities (e.g., visual and auditory, may trigger asymmetries in visuospatial attention. Thereby, a facilitation has been observed for visual stimuli presented in the right compared to the left visual space. However, it remains unclear whether auditory cueing of attention differentially affects search performance in the left and the right hemifields in audio-visual search tasks. The present study investigated whether spatial asymmetries would occur in a search task with cross-modal spatial cueing. Participants completed a visual search task that contained no auditory cues (i.e., unimodal visual condition, spatially congruent, spatially incongruent, and spatially non-informative auditory cues. To further assess participants' accuracy in localising the auditory cues, a unimodal auditory spatial localisation task was also administered. The results demonstrated no left/right asymmetries in the unimodal visual search condition. Both an additional incongruent, as well as a spatially non-informative, auditory cue resulted in lateral asymmetries. Thereby, search times were increased for targets presented in the left compared to the right hemifield. No such spatial asymmetry was observed in the congruent condition. However, participants' performance in the congruent condition was modulated by their tone localisation accuracy. The findings of the present study demonstrate that spatial asymmetries in multisensory processing depend on the validity of the cross-modal cues, and occur under specific attentional conditions, i.e., when

  1. Support for distinct subcomponents of spatial working memory: a double dissociation between spatial-simultaneous and spatial-sequential performance in unilateral neglect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wansard, Murielle; Bartolomeo, Paolo; Bastin, Christine; Segovia, Fermín; Gillet, Sophie; Duret, Christophe; Meulemans, Thierry

    2015-01-01

    Over the last decade, many studies have demonstrated that visuospatial working memory (VSWM) can be divided into separate subsystems dedicated to the retention of visual patterns and their serial order. Impaired VSWM has been suggested to exacerbate left visual neglect in right-brain-damaged individuals. The aim of this study was to investigate the segregation between spatial-sequential and spatial-simultaneous working memory in individuals with neglect. We demonstrated that patterns of results on these VSWM tasks can be dissociated. Spatial-simultaneous and sequential aspects of VSWM can be selectively impaired in unilateral neglect. Our results support the hypothesis of multiple VSWM subsystems, which should be taken into account to better understand neglect-related deficits.

  2. Relations between Inductive Reasoning and Deductive Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heit, Evan; Rotello, Caren M.

    2010-01-01

    One of the most important open questions in reasoning research is how inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning are related. In an effort to address this question, we applied methods and concepts from memory research. We used 2 experiments to examine the effects of logical validity and premise-conclusion similarity on evaluation of arguments.…

  3. Spatial memory performance in androgen insensitive male rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Bryan A; Watson, Neil V

    2005-06-02

    Masculinization of the developing rodent brain critically depends on the process of aromatization of circulating testosterone (T) to its estrogenic metabolite 17beta-estradiol, which subsequently interacts with estrogen receptors to permanently masculinize the brain. However, it remains unclear what role other androgenic mechanisms may play in the process of masculinization. A novel way of examining this is through the study of male rats that express the tfm mutation of the androgen receptor (AR) gene; such males are fully androgen insensitive and manifest a female phenotype due to a failure of AR-mediated masculinization of peripheral structures. Because tfm-affected males develop secretory testes and have near-normal T titers during development, aromatization would be expected to proceed normally, and brain mechanisms may be developmentally masculinized despite the feminized periphery. We compared tfm-affected males (X(tfm)Y) with normal males and females in the Morris Water Maze, a task in which males typically perform better than females. Performance of tfm-affected males was intermediate between that of normal males and females. While an overall male superiority was found in the task, the X(tfm)Y group reached male-typical escape latencies faster than females. Furthermore, in the X(tfm)Y group, the granule cell layer of the dentate gyrus was significantly larger than in females. These results support the suggestion that that AR mediated mechanisms contribute to the masculinization of spatial behaviours and hippocampal morphology, and this may be independent of estrogenic processes.

  4. Icon arrays help younger children's proportional reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruggeri, Azzurra; Vagharchakian, Laurianne; Xu, Fei

    2018-06-01

    We investigated the effects of two context variables, presentation format (icon arrays or numerical frequencies) and time limitation (limited or unlimited time), on the proportional reasoning abilities of children aged 7 and 10 years, as well as adults. Participants had to select, between two sets of tokens, the one that offered the highest likelihood of drawing a gold token, that is, the set of elements with the greater proportion of gold tokens. Results show that participants performed better in the unlimited time condition. Moreover, besides a general developmental improvement in accuracy, our results show that younger children performed better when proportions were presented as icon arrays, whereas older children and adults were similarly accurate in the two presentation format conditions. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? There is a developmental improvement in proportional reasoning accuracy. Icon arrays facilitate reasoning in adults with low numeracy. What does this study add? Participants were more accurate when they were given more time to make the proportional judgement. Younger children's proportional reasoning was more accurate when they were presented with icon arrays. Proportional reasoning abilities correlate with working memory, approximate number system, and subitizing skills. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

  5. Spatial-attention and emotional evocation: line bisection performance and visual art emotional evocation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drago, Valeria; Finney, Glen R; Foster, Paul S; Amengual, Alejandra; Jeong, Yong; Mizuno, Tomoiuki; Crucian, Gregory P; Heilman, Kenneth M

    2008-03-01

    Lesion studies demonstrate that the right temporal-parietal region (RTP) is important for mediating spatial attention. The RTP is also involved in emotional experiences that can be evoked by art. Normal people vary in their ability to allocate spatial attention, thus, people who can better allocate attention might also be more influenced by the emotional messages of the paintings (evocative impact). Seventeen healthy participants bisected an unlabeled 100mm line and their performance on this task was used to create two groups, individuals who were more (mALB) and less accurate (lALB). These participants also judged 10 paintings on five qualities, Evocative Impact, Aesthetics, Novelty, Technique, and Closure by marking a 100mm line from 1 (low degree) to 10 (high degree). An ANOVA indicated differences in accuracy on the line bisection (LB) between the two groups. Additional ANOVAs, using the quality ratings as the dependent measure, revealed that the mALB group scored the Evocative Impact greater than the lALB group. These results suggest that the differences in attentional bias between the two groups, as indicated by their LB performance, might influence their evocative impact or reactions and also be a 'barometer' of other RTP functions, including emotional processing.

  6. Improving statistical reasoning theoretical models and practical implications

    CERN Document Server

    Sedlmeier, Peter

    1999-01-01

    This book focuses on how statistical reasoning works and on training programs that can exploit people''s natural cognitive capabilities to improve their statistical reasoning. Training programs that take into account findings from evolutionary psychology and instructional theory are shown to have substantially larger effects that are more stable over time than previous training regimens. The theoretical implications are traced in a neural network model of human performance on statistical reasoning problems. This book apppeals to judgment and decision making researchers and other cognitive scientists, as well as to teachers of statistics and probabilistic reasoning.

  7. Evaluation of Device-Independent Internet Spatial Location

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan Komosny

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Device-independent Internet spatial location is needed for many purposes, such as data personalisation and social behaviour analysis. Internet spatial databases provide such locations based the IP address of a device. The free to use databases are natively included into many UNIX and Linux operating systems. These systems are predominantly used for e-shops, social networks, and cloud data storage. Using a constructed ground truth dataset, we comprehensively evaluate these databases for null responses, returned country/region/city, and distance error. The created ground truth dataset differs from others by covering cities with both low and high populations and maintaining only devices that follow the rule of one IP address per ISP (Internet Service Provider and per city. We define two new performance metrics that show the effect of city population and trustworthiness of the results. We also evaluate the databases against an alternative measurement-based approach. We study the reasons behind the results. The data evaluated comes from Europe. The results may be of use for engineers, developers and researchers that use the knowledge of geographical location for related data processing and analysis, such as marketing.

  8. Effects of some dopamine antagonists on spatial memory performance in rats--experimental research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rusu, Gabriela; Popa, Gratiela; Ochiuz, Lacramioara; Nechifor, M; Tartau, Liliana

    2014-01-01

    Dopamine is a neurotransmitter with an important role in forming long-lasting memories for some time, especially in episodic memory. Literature data show that dopamine receptor stimulation may be detrimental to spatial working memory functions in lab animals. (R)-(+)-7-Chloro-8-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine hydrochloride derivative--SCH-23390 is a synthetic compound that acts as a selective, high-affinity antagonist of D1 receptors. Experimental studies suggest that SCH 23390 may prevent the spatial working memory disturbances induced by the active substances of marijuana. Melperone is an atypic antipsychotic drug presenting also dopaminergic D2 and 5-HT2A receptor antagonistic activity. This neuroleptic agent is used in the treatment of some types of schizophrenia. Experimental research on the effects of two dopamine receptor antagonists on spatial memory performance in rats. The experiment was carried out in white Wistar rats (200-250g), divided into 3 groups of 7 animals each, treated intraperitoneally with the same volume of solution for 14 days, as follows: Group I (Control): saline solution 0.1 ml/10g kbw; Group II (coded SCH): SCH-23390 0.3 mg/kbw; Group III (coded MLP): melperone 2 mg/kbw. The dopaminergic agent spatial memory performance was assessed by recording spontaneous alternation behavior in a single session in Y-maze. Each animal was placed at the end of one arm and allowed to move freely through the maze during an 8 min session. Alternation was defined as a consecutive entry in three different arms. The alternation percentage was computed with the following formula: number of alternations divided by total number of arm visits minus 2. Data were presented as +/- standard deviation and significance was tested by SPSS Statistics for Windows version 13.0 and ANOVA method. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant compared to those in the control group. Experimental researches were carried out in

  9. Got LEGO Bricks? Children with Spatial Strengths

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mann, Rebecca

    2013-01-01

    Individuals with spatial strengths have preferences for visual ideation, holistic reasoning, and innovation. With the emphasis on verbal skills, American schools rarely provide opportunities for children to excel in these areas. Standardized assessments used to judge achievement do not value reflective thinking and innovation; therefore, students…

  10. Spatially-Heterodyned Holography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Clarence E [Knoxville, TN; Hanson, Gregory R [Clinton, TN

    2006-02-21

    A method of recording a spatially low-frequency heterodyne hologram, including spatially heterodyne fringes for Fourier analysis, includes: splitting a laser beam into a reference beam and an object beam; interacting the object beam with an object; focusing the reference beam and the object beam at a focal plane of a digital recorder to form a spatially low-frequency heterodyne hologram including spatially heterodyne fringes for Fourier analysis; digital recording the spatially low-frequency heterodyne hologram; Fourier transforming axes of the recorded spatially low-frequency heterodyne hologram including spatially heterodyne fringes in Fourier space to sit on top of a heterodyne carrier frequency defined by an angle between the reference beam and the object beam; cutting off signals around an origin; and performing an inverse Fourier transform.

  11. Group social rank is associated with performance on a spatial learning task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langley, Ellis J G; van Horik, Jayden O; Whiteside, Mark A; Madden, Joah R

    2018-02-01

    Dominant individuals differ from subordinates in their performances on cognitive tasks across a suite of taxa. Previous studies often only consider dyadic relationships, rather than the more ecologically relevant social hierarchies or networks, hence failing to account for how dyadic relationships may be adjusted within larger social groups. We used a novel statistical method: randomized Elo-ratings, to infer the social hierarchy of 18 male pheasants, Phasianus colchicus , while in a captive, mixed-sex group with a linear hierarchy. We assayed individual learning performance of these males on a binary spatial discrimination task to investigate whether inter-individual variation in performance is associated with group social rank. Task performance improved with increasing trial number and was positively related to social rank, with higher ranking males showing greater levels of success. Motivation to participate in the task was not related to social rank or task performance, thus indicating that these rank-related differences are not a consequence of differences in motivation to complete the task. Our results provide important information about how variation in cognitive performance relates to an individual's social rank within a group. Whether the social environment causes differences in learning performance or instead, inherent differences in learning ability predetermine rank remains to be tested.

  12. A New Look to a Classic Issue: Reasoning and Academic Achievement at Secondary School.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez-Veiga, Isabel; Vila Chaves, José O; Duque, Gonzalo; García Madruga, Juan A

    2018-01-01

    Higher-order thinking abilities such as abstract reasoning and meaningful school learning occur sequentially. The fulfillment of these tasks demands that people activate and use all of their working memory resources in a controlled and supervised way. The aims of this work were: (a) to study the interplay between two new reasoning measures, one mathematical (Cognitive Reflection Test) and the other verbal (Deductive Reasoning Test), and a third classical visuo-spatial reasoning measure (Raven Progressive Matrices Test); and (b) to investigate the relationship between these measures and academic achievement. Fifty-one 4th grade secondary school students participated in the experiment and completed the three reasoning tests. Academic achievement measures were the final numerical scores in seven basic subjects. The results demonstrated that cognitive reflection, visual, and verbal reasoning are intimately related and predicts academic achievement. This work confirms that abstract reasoning constitutes the most important higher-order cognitive ability that underlies academic achievement. It also reveals the importance of dual processes, verbal deduction and metacognition in ordinary teaching and learning at school.

  13. A New Look to a Classic Issue: Reasoning and Academic Achievement at Secondary School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez-Veiga, Isabel; Vila Chaves, José O.; Duque, Gonzalo; García Madruga, Juan A.

    2018-01-01

    Higher-order thinking abilities such as abstract reasoning and meaningful school learning occur sequentially. The fulfillment of these tasks demands that people activate and use all of their working memory resources in a controlled and supervised way. The aims of this work were: (a) to study the interplay between two new reasoning measures, one mathematical (Cognitive Reflection Test) and the other verbal (Deductive Reasoning Test), and a third classical visuo-spatial reasoning measure (Raven Progressive Matrices Test); and (b) to investigate the relationship between these measures and academic achievement. Fifty-one 4th grade secondary school students participated in the experiment and completed the three reasoning tests. Academic achievement measures were the final numerical scores in seven basic subjects. The results demonstrated that cognitive reflection, visual, and verbal reasoning are intimately related and predicts academic achievement. This work confirms that abstract reasoning constitutes the most important higher-order cognitive ability that underlies academic achievement. It also reveals the importance of dual processes, verbal deduction and metacognition in ordinary teaching and learning at school. PMID:29643823

  14. A New Look to a Classic Issue: Reasoning and Academic Achievement at Secondary School

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabel Gómez-Veiga

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Higher-order thinking abilities such as abstract reasoning and meaningful school learning occur sequentially. The fulfillment of these tasks demands that people activate and use all of their working memory resources in a controlled and supervised way. The aims of this work were: (a to study the interplay between two new reasoning measures, one mathematical (Cognitive Reflection Test and the other verbal (Deductive Reasoning Test, and a third classical visuo-spatial reasoning measure (Raven Progressive Matrices Test; and (b to investigate the relationship between these measures and academic achievement. Fifty-one 4th grade secondary school students participated in the experiment and completed the three reasoning tests. Academic achievement measures were the final numerical scores in seven basic subjects. The results demonstrated that cognitive reflection, visual, and verbal reasoning are intimately related and predicts academic achievement. This work confirms that abstract reasoning constitutes the most important higher-order cognitive ability that underlies academic achievement. It also reveals the importance of dual processes, verbal deduction and metacognition in ordinary teaching and learning at school.

  15. Uncertainties in repository performance from spatial variability of hydraulic conductivities - statistical estimation and stochastic simulation using PROPER

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lovius, L.; Norman, S.; Kjellbert, N.

    1990-02-01

    An assessment has been made of the impact of spatial variability on the performance of a KBS-3 type repository. The uncertainties in geohydrologically related performance measures have been investigated using conductivity data from one of the Swedish study sites. The analysis was carried out with the PROPER code and the FSCF10 submodel. (authors)

  16. A Rule-Based Spatial Reasoning Approach for OpenStreetMap Data Quality Enrichment; Case Study of Routing and Navigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-01-01

    Finding relevant geospatial information is increasingly critical because of the growing volume of geospatial data available within the emerging “Big Data” era. Users are expecting that the availability of massive datasets will create more opportunities to uncover hidden information and answer more complex queries. This is especially the case with routing and navigation services where the ability to retrieve points of interest and landmarks make the routing service personalized, precise, and relevant. In this paper, we propose a new geospatial information approach that enables the retrieval of implicit information, i.e., geospatial entities that do not exist explicitly in the available source. We present an information broker that uses a rule-based spatial reasoning algorithm to detect topological relations. The information broker is embedded into a framework where annotations and mappings between OpenStreetMap data attributes and external resources, such as taxonomies, support the enrichment of queries to improve the ability of the system to retrieve information. Our method is tested with two case studies that leads to enriching the completeness of OpenStreetMap data with footway crossing points-of-interests as well as building entrances for routing and navigation purposes. It is concluded that the proposed approach can uncover implicit entities and contribute to extract required information from the existing datasets. PMID:29088125

  17. A Rule-Based Spatial Reasoning Approach for OpenStreetMap Data Quality Enrichment; Case Study of Routing and Navigation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amin Mobasheri

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Finding relevant geospatial information is increasingly critical because of the growing volume of geospatial data available within the emerging “Big Data” era. Users are expecting that the availability of massive datasets will create more opportunities to uncover hidden information and answer more complex queries. This is especially the case with routing and navigation services where the ability to retrieve points of interest and landmarks make the routing service personalized, precise, and relevant. In this paper, we propose a new geospatial information approach that enables the retrieval of implicit information, i.e., geospatial entities that do not exist explicitly in the available source. We present an information broker that uses a rule-based spatial reasoning algorithm to detect topological relations. The information broker is embedded into a framework where annotations and mappings between OpenStreetMap data attributes and external resources, such as taxonomies, support the enrichment of queries to improve the ability of the system to retrieve information. Our method is tested with two case studies that leads to enriching the completeness of OpenStreetMap data with footway crossing points-of-interests as well as building entrances for routing and navigation purposes. It is concluded that the proposed approach can uncover implicit entities and contribute to extract required information from the existing datasets.

  18. The spatial resolution in dosimetry with normoxic polymer-gels investigated with the dose modulation transfer approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bayreder, Christian; Schoen, Robert; Wieland, M.; Georg, Dietmar; Moser, Ewald; Berg, Andreas

    2008-01-01

    The verification of dose distributions with high dose gradients as appearing in brachytherapy or stereotactic radiotherapy for example, calls for dosimetric methods with sufficiently high spatial resolution. Polymer gels in combination with a MR or optical scanner as a readout device have the potential of performing the verification of a three-dimensional dose distribution within a single measurement. The purpose of this work is to investigate the spatial resolution achievable in MR-based polymer gel dosimetry. The authors show that dosimetry on a very small spatial scale (voxel size: 94x94x1000 μm 3 ) can be performed with normoxic polymer gels using parameter selective T2 imaging. In order to prove the spatial resolution obtained we are relying on the dose-modulation transfer function (DMTF) concept based on very fine dose modulations at half periods of 200 μm. Very fine periodic dose modulations of a 60 Co photon field were achieved by means of an absorption grid made of tungsten-carbide, specifically designed for quality control. The dose modulation in the polymer gel is compared with that of film dosimetry in one plane via the DMTF concept for general access to the spatial resolution of a dose imaging system. Additionally Monte Carlo simulations were performed and used for the calculation of the DMTF of both, the polymer gel and film dosimetry. The results obtained by film dosimetry agree well with those of Monte Carlo simulations, whereas polymer gel dosimetry overestimates the amplitude value of the fine dose modulations. The authors discuss possible reasons. The in-plane resolution achieved in this work competes with the spatial resolution of standard clinical film-scanner systems

  19. Impaired conditional reasoning in alcoholics: A negative impact on social interactions and risky behaviors?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kornreich, C; Delle-Vigne, D; Knittel, J; Nerincx, A; Campanella, S; Noel, X; Hanak, C; Verbanck, P; Ermer, E

    2011-01-01

    Aims To study the “social brain” in alcoholics by investigating social contract reasoning, theory of mind, and emotional intelligence. Design A behavioral study comparing recently detoxified alcoholics with normal, healthy controls. Setting Emotional intelligence and decoding of emotional non-verbal cues have been shown to be impaired in alcoholics. This study explores whether these deficits extend to conditional reasoning about social contracts. Participants 25 recently detoxified alcoholics (17 men and 8 women) were compared with 25 normal controls (17 men and 8 women) matched for sex, age, and education level. Measurements Wason Selection Task investigating conditional reasoning on three different rule types (social contract, precautionary, and descriptive), Revised Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (modified version), and additional control measures. Findings Conditional reasoning was impaired in alcoholics. Performance on descriptive rules was not above chance. Reasoning performance was markedly better on social contract and precautionary rules, but this performance was still significantly lower than in controls. Several emotional intelligence measures were lower in alcoholics compared to controls, but these were not correlated with reasoning performance. Conclusions Conditional reasoning and emotional intelligence appear impaired in alcoholics. Impairment was particularly severe on descriptive rules. Though alcoholics' performance was better on social contract and precautionary rules, overall reasoning performance was still low. Differential performance is consistent with distinct neurocognitive reasoning mechanisms and partial resilience of evolutionarily-relevant functions. Impairment in social contract reasoning might lead to misunderstandings and frustration in social interactions, and reasoning difficulties about precautionary rules might contribute to risky behaviors in this population. PMID:21205056

  20. How and when Does Complex Reasoning Occur? Empirically Driven Development of a Learning Progression Focused on Complex Reasoning about Biodiversity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Songer, Nancy Butler; Kelcey, Ben; Gotwals, Amelia Wenk

    2009-01-01

    In order to compete in a global economy, students are going to need resources and curricula focusing on critical thinking and reasoning in science. Despite awareness for the need for complex reasoning, American students perform poorly relative to peers on international standardized tests measuring complex thinking in science. Research focusing on…

  1. Reason with me : 'Confabulation' and interpersonal moral reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nyholm, S.R.

    2015-01-01

    According to Haidt’s ‘social intuitionist model’, empirical moral psychology supports the following conclusion: intuition comes first, strategic reasoning second. Critics have responded by arguing that intuitions can depend on non-conscious reasons, that not being able to articulate one’s reasons

  2. Spatial variation in pollinator communities and reproductive performance of Prosopis juliflora (Fabaceae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asif Sajjad

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available This study was conducted in an effort to understand the effects of spatial variations in pollinator assemblage due to habitat isolation on the reproductive performance of perennial plant species. Variations in pollinator assemblage structure (abundance, diversity and Shannon-Wiener index were studied at three widely isolated (100 to 200 km apart nature reserves of Southern Punjab, Pakistan, in order to explore its effects on reproductive performance of Prosopis juliflora. Species richness and abundance were highest in Pirowal Sanctuary followed by Chichawatni Sanctuary and Chak Katora forest reserve. The pollination system of P. juliflora was highly generalized with 77 insect visitor species in four orders among all the three sites. However, pollinator assemblage varied significantly in composition among the sites. Out of the four reproductive parameters considered, the number of pods per raceme and germination varied significantly among the three locations. The reproductive performance of P. juliflora in terms of number of pods per raceme and germination improved with abundance of pollinators.

  3. Relations between inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heit, Evan; Rotello, Caren M

    2010-05-01

    One of the most important open questions in reasoning research is how inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning are related. In an effort to address this question, we applied methods and concepts from memory research. We used 2 experiments to examine the effects of logical validity and premise-conclusion similarity on evaluation of arguments. Experiment 1 showed 2 dissociations: For a common set of arguments, deduction judgments were more affected by validity, and induction judgments were more affected by similarity. Moreover, Experiment 2 showed that fast deduction judgments were like induction judgments-in terms of being more influenced by similarity and less influenced by validity, compared with slow deduction judgments. These novel results pose challenges for a 1-process account of reasoning and are interpreted in terms of a 2-process account of reasoning, which was implemented as a multidimensional signal detection model and applied to receiver operating characteristic data. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

  4. Spatial Operations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anda VELICANU

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper contains a brief description of the most important operations that can be performed on spatial data such as spatial queries, create, update, insert, delete operations, conversions, operations on the map or analysis on grid cells. Each operation has a graphical example and some of them have code examples in Oracle and PostgreSQL.

  5. To Reason or Not to Reason: Is Autobiographical Reasoning Always Beneficial?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLean, Kate C.; Mansfield, Cade D.

    2011-01-01

    Autobiographical reasoning has been found to be a critical process in identity development; however, the authors suggest that existing research shows that such reasoning may not always be critical to another important outcome: well-being. The authors describe characteristics of people such as personality and age, contexts such as conversations,…

  6. Uncertain deduction and conditional reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Jonathan St B T; Thompson, Valerie A; Over, David E

    2015-01-01

    There has been a paradigm shift in the psychology of deductive reasoning. Many researchers no longer think it is appropriate to ask people to assume premises and decide what necessarily follows, with the results evaluated by binary extensional logic. Most every day and scientific inference is made from more or less confidently held beliefs and not assumptions, and the relevant normative standard is Bayesian probability theory. We argue that the study of "uncertain deduction" should directly ask people to assign probabilities to both premises and conclusions, and report an experiment using this method. We assess this reasoning by two Bayesian metrics: probabilistic validity and coherence according to probability theory. On both measures, participants perform above chance in conditional reasoning, but they do much better when statements are grouped as inferences, rather than evaluated in separate tasks.

  7. The Effect of Two-dimensional and Stereoscopic Presentation on Middle School Students' Performance of Spatial Cognition Tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, Aaron; Lee, Hee-Sun

    2010-02-01

    We investigated whether and how student performance on three types of spatial cognition tasks differs when worked with two-dimensional or stereoscopic representations. We recruited nineteen middle school students visiting a planetarium in a large Midwestern American city and analyzed their performance on a series of spatial cognition tasks in terms of response accuracy and task completion time. Results show that response accuracy did not differ between the two types of representations while task completion time was significantly greater with the stereoscopic representations. The completion time increased as the number of mental manipulations of 3D objects increased in the tasks. Post-interviews provide evidence that some students continued to think of stereoscopic representations as two-dimensional. Based on cognitive load and cue theories, we interpret that, in the absence of pictorial depth cues, students may need more time to be familiar with stereoscopic representations for optimal performance. In light of these results, we discuss potential uses of stereoscopic representations for science learning.

  8. Teaching Spatial Thinking in Undergraduate Geology Courses Using Tools and Strategies from Cognitive Science Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ormand, C. J.; Shipley, T. F.; Dutrow, B. L.; Goodwin, L. B.; Hickson, T. A.; Tikoff, B.; Atit, K.; Gagnier, K. M.; Resnick, I.

    2015-12-01

    Spatial visualization is an essential skill in the STEM disciplines, including the geological sciences. Undergraduate students, including geoscience majors in upper-level courses, bring a wide range of spatial skill levels to the classroom. Students with weak spatial skills may struggle to understand fundamental concepts and to solve geological problems with a spatial component. However, spatial thinking skills are malleable. Using strategies that have emerged from cognitive science research, we developed a set of curricular materials that improve undergraduate geology majors' abilities to reason about 3D concepts and to solve spatially complex geological problems. Cognitive science research on spatial thinking demonstrates that predictive sketching, making visual comparisons, gesturing, and the use of analogy can be used to develop students' spatial thinking skills. We conducted a three-year study of the efficacy of these strategies in strengthening the spatial skills of students in core geology courses at three universities. Our methodology is a quasi-experimental quantitative design, utilizing pre- and post-tests of spatial thinking skills, assessments of spatial problem-solving skills, and a control group comprised of students not exposed to our new curricular materials. Students taught using the new curricular materials show improvement in spatial thinking skills. Further analysis of our data, to be completed prior to AGU, will answer additional questions about the relationship between spatial skills and academic performance, spatial skills and gender, spatial skills and confidence, and the impact of our curricular materials on students who are struggling academically. Teaching spatial thinking in the context of discipline-based exercises has the potential to transform undergraduate education in the geological sciences by removing one significant barrier to success.

  9. Do Different Mental Models Influence Cybersecurity Behavior? Evaluations via Statistical Reasoning Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brase, Gary L; Vasserman, Eugene Y; Hsu, William

    2017-01-01

    Cybersecurity research often describes people as understanding internet security in terms of metaphorical mental models (e.g., disease risk, physical security risk, or criminal behavior risk). However, little research has directly evaluated if this is an accurate or productive framework. To assess this question, two experiments asked participants to respond to a statistical reasoning task framed in one of four different contexts (cybersecurity, plus the above alternative models). Each context was also presented using either percentages or natural frequencies, and these tasks were followed by a behavioral likelihood rating. As in previous research, consistent use of natural frequencies promoted correct Bayesian reasoning. There was little indication, however, that any of the alternative mental models generated consistently better understanding or reasoning over the actual cybersecurity context. There was some evidence that different models had some effects on patterns of responses, including the behavioral likelihood ratings, but these effects were small, as compared to the effect of the numerical format manipulation. This points to a need to improve the content of actual internet security warnings, rather than working to change the models users have of warnings.

  10. Do Different Mental Models Influence Cybersecurity Behavior? Evaluations via Statistical Reasoning Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gary L. Brase

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Cybersecurity research often describes people as understanding internet security in terms of metaphorical mental models (e.g., disease risk, physical security risk, or criminal behavior risk. However, little research has directly evaluated if this is an accurate or productive framework. To assess this question, two experiments asked participants to respond to a statistical reasoning task framed in one of four different contexts (cybersecurity, plus the above alternative models. Each context was also presented using either percentages or natural frequencies, and these tasks were followed by a behavioral likelihood rating. As in previous research, consistent use of natural frequencies promoted correct Bayesian reasoning. There was little indication, however, that any of the alternative mental models generated consistently better understanding or reasoning over the actual cybersecurity context. There was some evidence that different models had some effects on patterns of responses, including the behavioral likelihood ratings, but these effects were small, as compared to the effect of the numerical format manipulation. This points to a need to improve the content of actual internet security warnings, rather than working to change the models users have of warnings.

  11. Global polar geospatial information service retrieval based on search engine and ontology reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Nengcheng; E, Dongcheng; Di, Liping; Gong, Jianya; Chen, Zeqiang

    2007-01-01

    In order to improve the access precision of polar geospatial information service on web, a new methodology for retrieving global spatial information services based on geospatial service search and ontology reasoning is proposed, the geospatial service search is implemented to find the coarse service from web, the ontology reasoning is designed to find the refined service from the coarse service. The proposed framework includes standardized distributed geospatial web services, a geospatial service search engine, an extended UDDI registry, and a multi-protocol geospatial information service client. Some key technologies addressed include service discovery based on search engine and service ontology modeling and reasoning in the Antarctic geospatial context. Finally, an Antarctica multi protocol OWS portal prototype based on the proposed methodology is introduced.

  12. The Role of Cognitive Ability and Preferred Mode of Processing in Students' Calculus Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haciomeroglu, Erhan Selcuk

    2015-01-01

    The present study sought to design calculus tasks to determine students' preference for visual or analytic processing as well as examine the role of preferred mode of processing in calculus performance and its relationship to spatial ability and verbal-logical reasoning ability. Data were collected from 150 high school students who were enrolled…

  13. Photography activities for developing students’ spatial orientation and spatial visualization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendroanto, Aan; van Galen, Frans; van Eerde, D.; Prahmana, R. C. I.; Setyawan, F.; Istiandaru, A.

    2017-12-01

    Spatial orientation and spatial visualization are the foundation of students’ spatial ability. They assist students’ performance in learning mathematics, especially geometry. Considering its importance, the present study aims to design activities to help young learners developing their spatial orientation and spatial visualization ability. Photography activity was chosen as the context of the activity to guide and support the students. This is a design research study consisting of three phases: 1) preparation and designing 2) teaching experiment, and 3) retrospective analysis. The data is collected by tests and interview and qualitatively analyzed. We developed two photography activities to be tested. In the teaching experiments, 30 students of SD Laboratorium UNESA, Surabaya were involved. The results showed that the activities supported the development of students’ spatial orientation and spatial visualization indicated by students’ learning progresses, answers, and strategies when they solved the problems in the activities.

  14. Relational integration, inhibition, and analogical reasoning in older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viskontas, Indre V; Morrison, Robert G; Holyoak, Keith J; Hummel, John E; Knowlton, Barbara J

    2004-12-01

    The difficulty of reasoning tasks depends on their relational complexity, which increases with the number of relations that must be considered simultaneously to make an inference, and on the number of irrelevant items that must be inhibited. The authors examined the ability of younger and older adults to integrate multiple relations and inhibit irrelevant stimuli. Young adults performed well at all but the highest level of relational complexity, whereas older adults performed poorly even at a medium level of relational complexity, especially when irrelevant information was presented. Simulations based on a neurocomputational model of analogical reasoning, Learning and Inference with Schemas and Analogies (LISA), suggest that the observed decline in reasoning performance may be explained by a decline in attention and inhibitory functions in older adults. copyright (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved.

  15. Aqueous extract of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) improves the spatial performance of a rat model of Alzheimer's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kashani, Masoud Soheili; Tavirani, Mostafa Rezaei; Talaei, Sayyed Alireza; Salami, Mahmoud

    2011-04-01

    Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most important neurodegenerative disorders. It is characterized by dementia including deficits in learning and memory. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of aqueous extract of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) on spatial performance of AD rats. Male Wistar rats were first divided into control and AD groups. Rat model of AD was established by intracerebroventricular injection of 10 μg Aβ1-42 20 d prior to administration of the lavender extract. Rats in both groups were then introduced to 2 stages of task learning (with an interval of 20 d) in Morris water maze, each followed by one probe test. After the first stage of spatial learning, control and AD animals received different doses (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) of the lavender extract. In the first stage of experiment, the latency to locate the hidden platform in AD group was significantly higher than that in control group. However, in the second stage of experiment, control and AD rats that received distilled water (vehicle) showed similar performance, indicating that the maze navigation itself could improve the spatial learning of AD animals. Besides, in the second stage of experiment, control and AD rats that received lavender extract administration at different doses (50, 100, and 200 mg/ kg) spent less time locating the platform (except for the AD rats with 50 mg/kg extract treatment), as compared with their counterparts with vehicle treatment, respectively. In addition, lavender extract significantly improved the performance of control and AD rats in the probe test, only at the dose of 200 mg/kg, as compared with their counterparts with vehicle treatment. The lavender extract can effectively reverse spatial learning deficits in AD rats.

  16. Using Relational Reasoning Strategies to Help Improve Clinical Reasoning Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dumas, Denis; Torre, Dario M; Durning, Steven J

    2018-05-01

    Clinical reasoning-the steps up to and including establishing a diagnosis and/or therapy-is a fundamentally important mental process for physicians. Unfortunately, mounting evidence suggests that errors in clinical reasoning lead to substantial problems for medical professionals and patients alike, including suboptimal care, malpractice claims, and rising health care costs. For this reason, cognitive strategies by which clinical reasoning may be improved-and that many expert clinicians are already using-are highly relevant for all medical professionals, educators, and learners.In this Perspective, the authors introduce one group of cognitive strategies-termed relational reasoning strategies-that have been empirically shown, through limited educational and psychological research, to improve the accuracy of learners' reasoning both within and outside of the medical disciplines. The authors contend that relational reasoning strategies may help clinicians to be metacognitive about their own clinical reasoning; such strategies may also be particularly well suited for explicitly organizing clinical reasoning instruction for learners. Because the particular curricular efforts that may improve the relational reasoning of medical students are not known at this point, the authors describe the nature of previous research on relational reasoning strategies to encourage the future design, implementation, and evaluation of instructional interventions for relational reasoning within the medical education literature. The authors also call for continued research on using relational reasoning strategies and their role in clinical practice and medical education, with the long-term goal of improving diagnostic accuracy.

  17. Deontic reasoning as a target of selection: reply to Astington and Dack.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cummins, Denise Dellarosa

    2013-12-01

    In their discussion of young children's deontic reasoning performance, Astington and Dack (2013) made the following claims: (1) Children need more cues to elicit cogent social norm reasoning than adults require, namely, explicit reference to authority; (2) Deontic reasoning improves with age, and this is evidence against a nativist view; (3) All evolutionary explanations of deontic reasoning advantages require positing a ''domain-specific deontic reasoning module."; and (4) young children excel at deontic reasoning because it is easier. Here, I refute each claim. Instead, I argue that (1) Social norm reasoning is one type of deontic reasoning that has been the target of selective pressure; (2) Development does not preclude nativism; (3) Epistemic utterances make no greater processing demands than deontic utterances; and (4) both adult and child norm reasoning performance is strongly influenced by reference to or implication of authority. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Cognitive performance and aphasia recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fonseca, José; Raposo, Ana; Martins, Isabel Pavão

    2018-03-01

    Objectives This study assessed cognitive performance of subjects with aphasia during the acute stage of stroke and evaluated how such performance relates to recovery at 3 months. Materials & methods Patients with aphasia following a left hemisphere stroke were evaluated during the first (baseline) and the fourth-month post onset. Assessment comprised non-verbal tests of attention/processing speed (Symbol Search, Cancelation Task), executive functioning (Matrix Reasoning, Tower of Hanoi, Clock Drawing, Motor Initiative), semantic (Camel and Cactus Test), episodic and immediate memory (Memory for Faces Test, 5 Objects Memory Test, and Spatial Span. Recovery was measured by the Token Test score at 3 months. The impact of baseline performance on recovery was evaluated by logistic regression adjusting for age, education, severity of aphasia and the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT (ASPECT) score. Results Thirty-nine subjects (with a mean of 66.5 ± 10.6 years of age, 17 men) were included. Average baseline cognitive performance was within normal range in all tests except in memory tests (semantic, episodic and immediate memory) for which scores were ≤-1.5sd. Subjects with poor aphasia recovery (N = 27) were older and had fewer years of formal education but had identical ASPECT score compared to those with favorable recovery. Considering each test individually, the score obtained on the Matrix Reasoning test was the only one to predict aphasia recovery (Exp(B)=24.085 p = 0.038). Conclusions The Matrix Reasoning Test may contribute to predict aphasia recovery. Cognitive performance is a measure of network disruption but may also indicate the availability of recovery strategies.

  19. Exploring students' patterns of reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matloob Haghanikar, Mojgan

    As part of a collaborative study of the science preparation of elementary school teachers, we investigated the quality of students' reasoning and explored the relationship between sophistication of reasoning and the degree to which the courses were considered inquiry oriented. To probe students' reasoning, we developed open-ended written content questions with the distinguishing feature of applying recently learned concepts in a new context. We devised a protocol for developing written content questions that provided a common structure for probing and classifying students' sophistication level of reasoning. In designing our protocol, we considered several distinct criteria, and classified students' responses based on their performance for each criterion. First, we classified concepts into three types: Descriptive, Hypothetical, and Theoretical and categorized the abstraction levels of the responses in terms of the types of concepts and the inter-relationship between the concepts. Second, we devised a rubric based on Bloom's revised taxonomy with seven traits (both knowledge types and cognitive processes) and a defined set of criteria to evaluate each trait. Along with analyzing students' reasoning, we visited universities and observed the courses in which the students were enrolled. We used the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) to rank the courses with respect to characteristics that are valued for the inquiry courses. We conducted logistic regression for a sample of 18courses with about 900 students and reported the results for performing logistic regression to estimate the relationship between traits of reasoning and RTOP score. In addition, we analyzed conceptual structure of students' responses, based on conceptual classification schemes, and clustered students' responses into six categories. We derived regression model, to estimate the relationship between the sophistication of the categories of conceptual structure and RTOP scores. However, the

  20. A Method of Generating Indoor Map Spatial Data Automatically from Architectural Plans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SUN Weixin

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Taking architectural plans as data source, we proposed a method which can automatically generate indoor map spatial data. Firstly, referring to the spatial data demands of indoor map, we analyzed the basic characteristics of architectural plans, and introduced concepts of wall segment, adjoining node and adjoining wall segment, based on which basic flow of indoor map spatial data automatic generation was further established. Then, according to the adjoining relation between wall lines at the intersection with column, we constructed a repair method for wall connectivity in relation to the column. Utilizing the method of gradual expansibility and graphic reasoning to judge wall symbol local feature type at both sides of door or window, through update the enclosing rectangle of door or window, we developed a repair method for wall connectivity in relation to the door or window and a method for transform door or window into indoor map point feature. Finally, on the basis of geometric relation between adjoining wall segment median lines, a wall center-line extraction algorithm was presented. Taking one exhibition hall's architectural plan as example, we performed experiment and results show that the proposed methods have preferable applicability to deal with various complex situations, and realized indoor map spatial data automatic extraction effectively.

  1. Paternal spatial training enhances offspring's cognitive performance and synaptic plasticity in wild-type but not improve memory deficit in Alzheimer's mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shujuan; Li, Xiaoguang; Wang, Zhouyi; Liu, Yanchao; Gao, Yuan; Tan, Lu; Liu, Enjie; Zhou, Qiuzhi; Xu, Cheng; Wang, Xin; Liu, Gongping; Chen, Haote; Wang, Jian-Zhi

    2017-05-08

    Recent studies suggest that spatial training can maintain associative memory capacity in Tg2576 mice, but it is not known whether the beneficial effects can be inherited from the trained fathers to their offspring. Here, we exposed male wild-type and male 3XTg Alzheimer disease (AD) mice (3-m old) respectively to spatial training for one week and assessed the transgenerational effects in the F1 offspring when they were grown to 7-m old. We found that the paternal spatial training significantly enhanced progeny's spatial cognitive performance and synaptic transmission in wild-type mice. Among several synapse- or memory-associated proteins, we observed that the expression level of synaptotagmin 1 (SYT1) was significantly increased in the hippocampus of the paternally trained-offspring. Paternal training increased histone acetylation at the promoter of SYT1 in both fathers' and the offspring's hippocampus, and as well as in the fathers' sperm. Finally, paternal spatial training for one week did not improve memory and synaptic plasticity in 3XTg AD F1 offspring. Our findings suggest paternal spatial training for one week benefits the offspring's cognitive performance in wild-type mice with the mechanisms involving an enhanced transgenerational histone acetylation at SYT1 promoter.

  2. The Mozart effect on task performance in a laparoscopic surgical simulator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiseman, Michael C

    2013-10-01

    The Mozart Effect is a phenomenon whereby certain pieces of music induce temporary enhancement in "spatial temporal reasoning." To determine whether the Mozart Effect can improve surgical performance, 55 male volunteers (mean age = 20.6 years, range = 16-27), novice to surgery, were timed as they completed an activity course on a laparoscopic simulator. Subjects were then randomized for exposure to 1 of 2 musical pieces by Mozart (n = 21) and Dream Theater (n = 19), after which they repeated the course. Following a 15-minute exposure to a nonmusical piece, subjects were exposed to one of the pieces and performed the activity course a third time. An additional group (n = 15) that was not corandomized performed the tasks without any exposure to music. The percent improvements in completion time between 3 successive trials were calculated for each subject and group means compared. In 2 of the tasks, subjects exposed to the Dream Theater piece achieved approximately 30% more improvement (26.7 ± 8.3%) than those exposed to the Mozart piece (20.2 ± 7.8%, P = .021) or to no music (20.4 ± 9.1%, P = .049). Distinct patterns of covariance between baseline performance and subsequent improvement were observed for the different musical conditions and tasks. The data confirm the existence of a Mozart Effect and demonstrate for the first time its practical applicability. Prior exposure to certain pieces may enhance performance in practical skills requiring spatial temporal reasoning.

  3. Inverse reasoning processes in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Shiu F; Grisham, Jessica R

    2017-04-01

    The inference-based approach (IBA) is one cognitive model that aims to explain the aetiology and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The model proposes that certain reasoning processes lead an individual with OCD to confuse an imagined possibility with an actual probability, a state termed inferential confusion. One such reasoning process is inverse reasoning, in which hypothetical causes form the basis of conclusions about reality. Although previous research has found associations between a self-report measure of inferential confusion and OCD symptoms, evidence of a specific association between inverse reasoning and OCD symptoms is lacking. In the present study, we developed a task-based measure of inverse reasoning in order to investigate whether performance on this task is associated with OCD symptoms in an online sample. The results provide some evidence for the IBA assertion: greater endorsement of inverse reasoning was significantly associated with OCD symptoms, even when controlling for general distress and OCD-related beliefs. Future research is needed to replicate this result in a clinical sample and to investigate a potential causal role for inverse reasoning in OCD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Spatial coherence resonance and spatial pattern transition induced by the decrease of inhibitory effect in a neuronal network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tao, Ye; Gu, Huaguang; Ding, Xueli

    2017-10-01

    Spiral waves were observed in the biological experiment on rat brain cortex with the application of carbachol and bicuculline which can block inhibitory coupling from interneurons to pyramidal neurons. To simulate the experimental spiral waves, a two-dimensional neuronal network composed of pyramidal neurons and inhibitory interneurons was built. By decreasing the percentage of active inhibitory interneurons, the random-like spatial patterns change to spiral waves and to random-like spatial patterns or nearly synchronous behaviors. The spiral waves appear at a low percentage of inhibitory interneurons, which matches the experimental condition that inhibitory couplings of the interneurons were blocked. The spiral waves exhibit a higher order or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) characterized by spatial structure function than both random-like spatial patterns and nearly synchronous behaviors, which shows that changes of the percentage of active inhibitory interneurons can induce spatial coherence resonance-like behaviors. In addition, the relationship between the coherence degree and the spatial structures of the spiral waves is identified. The results not only present a possible and reasonable interpretation to the spiral waves observed in the biological experiment on the brain cortex with disinhibition, but also reveal that the spiral waves exhibit more ordered degree in spatial patterns.

  5. Middle School Students' Use of Epistemological Resources while Reasoning about Science Performance Tasks and Media Reports of Socioscientific Issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckingham, Brandy L. E.

    The goal of science education is to prepare students to make decisions about the complicated socioscientific issues that are an inescapable part of modern life, from personal medical decisions to evaluating a political candidate's environmental platform. We cannot expect adults to maintain a deep conceptual understanding of the current state of every branch of science that might prove relevant to their lives, so we must prepare them to rely on other knowledge to make these decisions. Epistemological beliefs about scientific knowledge--what it is, its purpose, how it is constructed--are one type of knowledge that could be brought to bear when evaluating scientific claims. Complicating this situation is the fact that most adults will get most of their information about these socioscientific issues from the news media. Journalists do not have the same goals or norms as scientists, and this media lens can distort scientific issues. This dissertation addresses the question of whether we can assess epistemological change in a way that gives us meaningful information about how people will apply their epistemological understanding of science when they make decisions in the real world. First, I designed a written assessment made up of performance tasks to assess middle school students' implicit epistemological beliefs, and looked at whether we can use such an assessment to see epistemological change over two years. I then gave the same students news articles about whether there is a link between vaccines and autism and looked at their reasoning about this issue and how the journalistic features of two different articles impacted their reasoning. Finally, I examined the external validity of the epistemology assessment by looking at whether it predicted anything about students' responses to the news articles. While I was able to find evidence of differences between eighth graders' and sixth graders' use of epistemological resources within the performance tasks, I found that

  6. Sustainable spatial development in higher education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maja Terlević

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable development is not only a great challenge for society as a whole, but also for higher education institutions, which have been rapidly including sustainable development in their educational process in the last two decades. Directly or indirectly, education for sustainable spatial development includes all aspects of sustainable development: environmental, economic, social and cultural. Space is a junction of various interests, which requires coordinating the entire process of spatial planning, taking into account the goal of sustainable spatial development. The existing values of space are insufficient for the rapid implementation of a sustainable spatial development paradigm. Suitable education is needed by both individuals and spatial planning professionals and at all levels of education. It is therefore necessary to transform some of the academic programs in the higher education curriculum by integrating teaching content and methods that include long-term knowledge and holistic thinking, taking into account the importance of interdisciplinary integration. This article reviews literature in sustainable development in higher education from 2002 to 2013. Topics discussed include students’ and teachers’ conceptions of sustainable development, the presence of sustainable development and sustainable spatial development in higher education and the reasons for the slow introduction of this material into the curriculum. Based on a literature analysis, the last section identifies important drivers that can contribute to a more rapid integration of a sustainable spatial development paradigm into higher education.

  7. Nuclear waste repository characterization: a spatial estimation/identification approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Candy, J.V.; Mao, N.

    1981-03-01

    This paper considers the application of spatial estimation techniques to a groundwater aquifer and geological borehole data. It investigates the adequacy of these techniques to reliably develop contour maps from various data sets. The practice of spatial estimation is discussed and the estimator is then applied to a groundwater aquifer system and a deep geological formation. It is shown that the various statistical models must first be identified from the data and evaluated before reasonable results can be expected

  8. The SPAtial EFficiency metric (SPAEF): multiple-component evaluation of spatial patterns for optimization of hydrological models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koch, Julian; Cüneyd Demirel, Mehmet; Stisen, Simon

    2018-05-01

    The process of model evaluation is not only an integral part of model development and calibration but also of paramount importance when communicating modelling results to the scientific community and stakeholders. The modelling community has a large and well-tested toolbox of metrics to evaluate temporal model performance. In contrast, spatial performance evaluation does not correspond to the grand availability of spatial observations readily available and to the sophisticate model codes simulating the spatial variability of complex hydrological processes. This study makes a contribution towards advancing spatial-pattern-oriented model calibration by rigorously testing a multiple-component performance metric. The promoted SPAtial EFficiency (SPAEF) metric reflects three equally weighted components: correlation, coefficient of variation and histogram overlap. This multiple-component approach is found to be advantageous in order to achieve the complex task of comparing spatial patterns. SPAEF, its three components individually and two alternative spatial performance metrics, i.e. connectivity analysis and fractions skill score, are applied in a spatial-pattern-oriented model calibration of a catchment model in Denmark. Results suggest the importance of multiple-component metrics because stand-alone metrics tend to fail to provide holistic pattern information. The three SPAEF components are found to be independent, which allows them to complement each other in a meaningful way. In order to optimally exploit spatial observations made available by remote sensing platforms, this study suggests applying bias insensitive metrics which further allow for a comparison of variables which are related but may differ in unit. This study applies SPAEF in the hydrological context using the mesoscale Hydrologic Model (mHM; version 5.8), but we see great potential across disciplines related to spatially distributed earth system modelling.

  9. Using AberOWL for fast and scalable reasoning over BioPortal ontologies

    KAUST Repository

    Slater, Luke

    2016-08-08

    Background: Reasoning over biomedical ontologies using their OWL semantics has traditionally been a challenging task due to the high theoretical complexity of OWL-based automated reasoning. As a consequence, ontology repositories, as well as most other tools utilizing ontologies, either provide access to ontologies without use of automated reasoning, or limit the number of ontologies for which automated reasoning-based access is provided. Methods: We apply the AberOWL infrastructure to provide automated reasoning-based access to all accessible and consistent ontologies in BioPortal (368 ontologies). We perform an extensive performance evaluation to determine query times, both for queries of different complexity and for queries that are performed in parallel over the ontologies. Results and conclusions: We demonstrate that, with the exception of a few ontologies, even complex and parallel queries can now be answered in milliseconds, therefore allowing automated reasoning to be used on a large scale, to run in parallel, and with rapid response times.

  10. Modular Knowledge Representation and Reasoning in the Semantic Web

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serafini, Luciano; Homola, Martin

    Construction of modular ontologies by combining different modules is becoming a necessity in ontology engineering in order to cope with the increasing complexity of the ontologies and the domains they represent. The modular ontology approach takes inspiration from software engineering, where modularization is a widely acknowledged feature. Distributed reasoning is the other side of the coin of modular ontologies: given an ontology comprising of a set of modules, it is desired to perform reasoning by combination of multiple reasoning processes performed locally on each of the modules. In the last ten years, a number of approaches for combining logics has been developed in order to formalize modular ontologies. In this chapter, we survey and compare the main formalisms for modular ontologies and distributed reasoning in the Semantic Web. We select four formalisms build on formal logical grounds of Description Logics: Distributed Description Logics, ℰ-connections, Package-based Description Logics and Integrated Distributed Description Logics. We concentrate on expressivity and distinctive modeling features of each framework. We also discuss reasoning capabilities of each framework.

  11. REASON for Europa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moussessian, A.; Blankenship, D. D.; Plaut, J. J.; Patterson, G. W.; Gim, Y.; Schroeder, D. M.; Soderlund, K. M.; Grima, C.; Young, D. A.; Chapin, E.

    2015-12-01

    The science goal of the Europa multiple flyby mission is to "explore Europa to investigate its habitability". One of the primary instruments selected for the scientific payload is a multi-frequency, multi-channel ice penetrating radar system. This "Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON)" would revolutionize our understanding of Europa's ice shell by providing the first direct measurements of its surface character and subsurface structure. REASON addresses key questions regarding Europa's habitability, including the existence of any liquid water, through the innovative use of radar sounding, altimetry, reflectometry, and plasma/particles analyses. These investigations require a dual-frequency radar (HF and VHF frequencies) instrument with concurrent shallow and deep sounding that is designed for performance robustness in the challenging environment of Europa. The flyby-centric mission configuration is an opportunity to collect and transmit minimally processed data back to Earth and exploit advanced processing approaches developed for terrestrial airborne data sets. The observation and characterization of subsurface features beneath Europa's chaotic surface require discriminating abundant surface clutter from a relatively weak subsurface signal. Finally, the mission plan also includes using REASON as a nadir altimeter capable of measuring tides to test ice shell and ocean hypotheses as well as characterizing roughness across the surface statistically to identify potential follow-on landing sites. We will present a variety of measurement concepts for addressing these challenges.

  12. Analytic and Heuristic Processing Influences on Adolescent Reasoning and Decision-Making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klaczynski, Paul A.

    2001-01-01

    Examined the relationship between age and the normative/descriptive gap--the discrepancy between actual reasoning and traditional standards for reasoning. Found that middle adolescents performed closer to normative ideals than early adolescents. Factor analyses suggested that performance was based on two processing systems, analytic and heuristic…

  13. Feedback on students' clinical reasoning skills during fieldwork education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Beer, Marianne; Mårtensson, Lena

    2015-08-01

    Feedback on clinical reasoning skills during fieldwork education is regarded as vital in occupational therapy students' professional development. The nature of supervisors' feedback however, could be confirmative and/or corrective and corrective feedback could be with or without suggestions on how to improve. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of supervisors' feedback on final-year occupational therapy students' clinical reasoning skills through comparing the nature of feedback with the students' subsequent clinical reasoning ability. A mixed-method approach with a convergent parallel design was used combining the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. From focus groups and interviews with students, data were collected and analysed qualitatively to determine how the students experienced the feedback they received from their supervisors. By quantitatively comparing the final practical exam grades with the nature of the feedback, their fieldwork End-of-Term grades and average academic performance it became possible to merge the results for comparison and interpretation. Students' clinical reasoning skills seem to be improved through corrective feedback if accompanied by suggestions on how to improve, irrespective of their average academic performance. Supervisors were inclined to underrate high performing students and overrate lower performing students. Students who obtained higher grades in the final practical examinations received more corrective feedback with suggestions on how to improve from their supervisors. Confirmative feedback alone may not be sufficient for improving the clinical reasoning skills of students. © 2015 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal published by Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd on behalf of Occupational Therapy Australia.

  14. Integrated Case Based and Rule Based Reasoning for Decision Support

    OpenAIRE

    Eshete, Azeb Bekele

    2009-01-01

    This project is a continuation of my specialization project which was focused on studying theoretical concepts related to case based reasoning method, rule based reasoning method and integration of them. The integration of rule-based and case-based reasoning methods has shown a substantial improvement with regards to performance over the individual methods. Verdande Technology As wants to try integrating the rule based reasoning method with an existing case based system. This project focu...

  15. GIS: A Spatial Turn in the Health Science?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schipperijn, Jasper; Ejstrud, Bo; Troelsen, Jens

    2013-01-01

    In recent years health science seems to have taken a “spatial turn” with a renewed interest in spatially oriented research. There are a number of reasons behind this rediscovery of “the power of maps”. One of the predominant drivers has been the development of Geographical Information Systems (GIS......), software systems that can handle geographically referenced data. GIS is a very helpful tool to characterise neighbourhoods for a wide range of health-related studies. However, neighbourhoods can be defined in many different ways, and modifying the area unit used to delineate a neighbourhood affects...

  16. Soil water content evaluation considering time-invariant spatial pattern and space-variant temporal change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, W.; Si, B. C.

    2013-10-01

    Soil water content (SWC) varies in space and time. The objective of this study was to evaluate soil water content distribution using a statistical model. The model divides spatial SWC series into time-invariant spatial patterns, space-invariant temporal changes, and space- and time-dependent redistribution terms. The redistribution term is responsible for the temporal changes in spatial patterns of SWC. An empirical orthogonal function was used to separate the total variations of redistribution terms into the sum of the product of spatial structures (EOFs) and temporally-varying coefficients (ECs). Model performance was evaluated using SWC data of near-surface (0-0.2 m) and root-zone (0-1.0 m) from a Canadian Prairie landscape. Three significant EOFs were identified for redistribution term for both soil layers. EOF1 dominated the variations of redistribution terms and it resulted in more changes (recharge or discharge) in SWC at wetter locations. Depth to CaCO3 layer and organic carbon were the two most important controlling factors of EOF1, and together, they explained over 80% of the variations in EOF1. Weak correlation existed between either EOF2 or EOF3 and the observed factors. A reasonable prediction of SWC distribution was obtained with this model using cross validation. The model performed better in the root zone than in the near surface, and it outperformed conventional EOF method in case soil moisture deviated from the average conditions.

  17. Videogame interventions and spatial ability interactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redick, Thomas S; Webster, Sean B

    2014-01-01

    Numerous research studies have been conducted on the use of videogames as tools to improve one's cognitive abilities. While meta-analyses and qualitative reviews have provided evidence that some aspects of cognition such as spatial imagery are modified after exposure to videogames, other evidence has shown that matrix reasoning measures of fluid intelligence do not show evidence of transfer from videogame training. In the current work, we investigate the available evidence for transfer specifically to nonverbal intelligence and spatial ability measures, given recent research that these abilities may be most sensitive to training on cognitive and working memory tasks. Accordingly, we highlight a few studies that on the surface provide evidence for transfer to spatial abilities, but a closer look at the pattern of data does not reveal a clean interpretation of the results. We discuss the implications of these results in relation to research design and statistical analysis practices.

  18. Supplementary Material for: Factor Copula Models for Replicated Spatial Data

    KAUST Repository

    Krupskii, Pavel; Huser, Raphaë l; Genton, Marc G.

    2016-01-01

    We propose a new copula model that can be used with replicated spatial data. Unlike the multivariate normal copula, the proposed copula is based on the assumption that a common factor exists and affects the joint dependence of all measurements of the process. Moreover, the proposed copula can model tail dependence and tail asymmetry. The model is parameterized in terms of a covariance function that may be chosen from the many models proposed in the literature, such as the Matérn model. For some choice of common factors, the joint copula density is given in closed form and therefore likelihood estimation is very fast. In the general case, one-dimensional numerical integration is needed to calculate the likelihood, but estimation is still reasonably fast even with large data sets. We use simulation studies to show the wide range of dependence structures that can be generated by the proposed model with different choices of common factors. We apply the proposed model to spatial temperature data and compare its performance with some popular geostatistics models.

  19. Spatial Processing in Infancy Predicts Both Spatial and Mathematical Aptitude in Childhood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lauer, Jillian E; Lourenco, Stella F

    2016-10-01

    Despite considerable interest in the role of spatial intelligence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) achievement, little is known about the ontogenetic origins of individual differences in spatial aptitude or their relation to later accomplishments in STEM disciplines. The current study provides evidence that spatial processes present in infancy predict interindividual variation in both spatial and mathematical competence later in development. Using a longitudinal design, we found that children's performance on a brief visuospatial change-detection task administered between 6 and 13 months of age was related to their spatial aptitude (i.e., mental-transformation skill) and mastery of symbolic-math concepts at 4 years of age, even when we controlled for general cognitive abilities and spatial memory. These results suggest that nascent spatial processes present in the first year of life not only act as precursors to later spatial intelligence but also predict math achievement during childhood.

  20. Optimization of Solar Water Heating System under Time and Spatial Partition Heating in Rural Dwellings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yanfeng Liu

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes the application of time and spatial partition heating to a solar water heating system. The heating effect and system performance were analyzed under the continuous and whole space heating and time and spatial partition heating using TRNSYS. The results were validated by comparing with the test results of the demonstration building. Compared to continuous and whole space heating, the use of time and spatial partition heating increases the solar fraction by 16.5%, reduces the auxiliary heating by 7390 MJ, and reduces the annual operation cost by 2010 RMB. Under time and spatial partition heating, optimization analyses were conducted for the two system capacity parameters of the solar collector area and tank volume and the one operation parameter of auxiliary heater setting outlet temperature. The results showed that a reasonable choice of the solar collector area can reduce the dynamic annual cost, the increased tank volume is advantageous to heat storage, and the auxiliary heater setting outlet temperature have greater influence on the indoor heating effect. The advanced opening of solar water heating system and the normal opening of passive air vents are recommended. Based on the comparison of the two modes, the time and spatial partition heating technology is a better choice for rural dwellings.

  1. Effects of cognitive training on change in accuracy in inductive reasoning ability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boron, Julie Blaskewicz; Turiano, Nicholas A; Willis, Sherry L; Schaie, K Warner

    2007-05-01

    We investigated cognitive training effects on accuracy and number of items attempted in inductive reasoning performance in a sample of 335 older participants (M = 72.78 years) from the Seattle Longitudinal Study. We assessed the impact of individual characteristics, including chronic disease. The reasoning training group showed significantly greater gain in accuracy and number of attempted items than did the comparison group; gain was primarily due to enhanced accuracy. Reasoning training effects involved a complex interaction of gender, prior cognitive status, and chronic disease. Women with prior decline on reasoning but no heart disease showed the greatest accuracy increase. In addition, stable reasoning-trained women with heart disease demonstrated significant accuracy gain. Comorbidity was associated with less change in accuracy. The results support the effectiveness of cognitive training on improving the accuracy of reasoning performance.

  2. Spatial learning and psychomotor performance of C57BL/6 mice: age sensitivity and reliability of individual differences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Fiebre, Nancyellen C; Sumien, Nathalie; Forster, Michael J; de Fiebre, Christopher M

    2006-09-01

    Two tests often used in aging research, the elevated path test and the Morris water maze test, were examined for their application to the study of brain aging in a large sample of C57BL/6JNia mice. Specifically, these studies assessed: (1) sensitivity to age and the degree of interrelatedness among different behavioral measures derived from these tests, (2) the effect of age on variation in the measurements, and (3) the reliability of individual differences in performance on the tests. Both tests detected age-related deficits in group performance that occurred independently of each other. However, analysis of data obtained on the Morris water maze test revealed three relatively independent components of cognitive performance. Performance in initial acquisition of spatial learning in the Morris maze was not highly correlated with performance during reversal learning (when mice were required to learn a new spatial location), whereas performance in both of those phases was independent of spatial performance assessed during a single probe trial administered at the end of acquisition training. Moreover, impaired performance during initial acquisition could be detected at an earlier age than impairments in reversal learning. There were modest but significant age-related increases in the variance of both elevated path test scores and in several measures of learning in the Morris maze test. Analysis of test scores of mice across repeated testing sessions confirmed reliability of the measurements obtained for cognitive and psychomotor function. Power calculations confirmed that there are sufficiently large age-related differences in elevated path test performance, relative to within age variability, to render this test useful for studies into the ability of an intervention to prevent or reverse age-related deficits in psychomotor performance. Power calculations indicated a need for larger sample sizes for detection of intervention effects on cognitive components of the

  3. The Influence of Cognitive Reasoning Level, Cognitive Restructuring Ability, Disembedding Ability, Working Memory Capacity, and Prior Knowledge On Students' Performance On Balancing Equations by Inspection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Staver, John R.; Jacks, Tom

    1988-01-01

    Investigates the influence of five cognitive variables on high school students' performance on balancing chemical equations by inspection. Reports that reasoning, restructuring, and disembedding variables could be a single variable, and that working memory capacity does not influence overall performance. Results of hierarchical regression analysis…

  4. Reasoning about Users' Actions in a Graphical User Interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Virvou, Maria; Kabassi, Katerina

    2002-01-01

    Describes a graphical user interface called IFM (Intelligent File Manipulator) that provides intelligent help to users. Explains two underlying reasoning mechanisms, one an adaptation of human plausible reasoning and one that performs goal recognition based on the effects of users' commands; and presents results of an empirical study that…

  5. Influence of impulsivity-reflexivity when testing dynamic spatial ability: sex and g differences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quiroga, M Angeles; Hernández, José Manuel; Rubio, Victor; Shih, Pei Chun; Santacreu, José

    2007-11-01

    This work analyzes the possibility that the differences in the performance of men and women in dynamic spatial tasks such as the Spatial Orientation Dynamic Test-Revised (SODT-R; Santacreu & Rubio, 1998), obtained in previous works, are due to cognitive style (Reflexivity-Impulsivity) or to the speed-accuracy tradeoff (SATO) that the participants implement. If these differences are due to cognitive style, they would be independent of intelligence, whereas if they are due to SATO, they may be associated with intelligence. In this work, 1652 participants, 984 men and 668 women, ages between 18 and 55 years, were assessed. In addition to the SODT-R, the "Test de Razonamiento Analitico, Secuencial e Inductivo" (TRASI [Analytical, Sequential, and Inductive Reasoning Test]; Rubio & Santacreu, 2003) was administered as a measure of general intelligence. Impulsivity scores (Zi) of Salkind and Wright (1977) were used to analyze reflexivity-impulsivity and SATO. The results obtained indicate that (a) four performance groups can be identified: Fast-accurate, Slow-inaccurate, Impulsive, and Reflexive. The first two groups solve the task as a function of a competence variable and the last two as a function of a personality variable; (b) performance differences should be attributed to SATO; (c) SATO differs depending on sex and intelligence level.

  6. Can spatial statistical river temperature models be transferred between catchments?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Faye L.; Fryer, Robert J.; Hannah, David M.; Malcolm, Iain A.

    2017-09-01

    There has been increasing use of spatial statistical models to understand and predict river temperature (Tw) from landscape covariates. However, it is not financially or logistically feasible to monitor all rivers and the transferability of such models has not been explored. This paper uses Tw data from four river catchments collected in August 2015 to assess how well spatial regression models predict the maximum 7-day rolling mean of daily maximum Tw (Twmax) within and between catchments. Models were fitted for each catchment separately using (1) landscape covariates only (LS models) and (2) landscape covariates and an air temperature (Ta) metric (LS_Ta models). All the LS models included upstream catchment area and three included a river network smoother (RNS) that accounted for unexplained spatial structure. The LS models transferred reasonably to other catchments, at least when predicting relative levels of Twmax. However, the predictions were biased when mean Twmax differed between catchments. The RNS was needed to characterise and predict finer-scale spatially correlated variation. Because the RNS was unique to each catchment and thus non-transferable, predictions were better within catchments than between catchments. A single model fitted to all catchments found no interactions between the landscape covariates and catchment, suggesting that the landscape relationships were transferable. The LS_Ta models transferred less well, with particularly poor performance when the relationship with the Ta metric was physically implausible or required extrapolation outside the range of the data. A single model fitted to all catchments found catchment-specific relationships between Twmax and the Ta metric, indicating that the Ta metric was not transferable. These findings improve our understanding of the transferability of spatial statistical river temperature models and provide a foundation for developing new approaches for predicting Tw at unmonitored locations across

  7. Exercise-Induced Fatigue and Caffeine Supplementation Affect Psychomotor Performance but Not Covert Visuo-Spatial Attention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Connell, Charlotte J. W.; Thompson, Benjamin; Kuhn, Gustav; Gant, Nicholas

    2016-01-01

    Fatigue resulting from strenuous exercise can impair cognition and oculomotor control. These impairments can be prevented by administering psychostimulants such as caffeine. This study used two experiments to explore the influence of caffeine administered at rest and during fatiguing physical exercise on spatial attention—a cognitive function that is crucial for task-based visually guided behavior. In independent placebo-controlled studies, cohorts of 12 healthy participants consumed caffeine and rested or completed 180 min of stationary cycling. Covert attentional orienting was measured in both experiments using a spatial cueing paradigm. We observed no alterations in attentional facilitation toward spatial cues suggesting that covert attentional orienting is not influenced by exercise fatigue or caffeine supplementation. Response times were increased (impaired) after exercise and this deterioration was prevented by caffeine supplementation. In the resting experiment, response times across all conditions and cues were decreased (improved) with caffeine. Covert spatial attention was not influenced by caffeine. Together, the results of these experiments suggest that covert attentional orienting is robust to the effects of fatiguing exercise and not influenced by caffeine. However, exercise fatigue impairs response times, which can be prevented by caffeine, suggesting that pre-motor planning and execution of the motor responses required for performance of the cueing task are sensitive to central nervous system fatigue. Caffeine improves response time in both fatigued and fresh conditions, most likely through action on networks controlling motor function. PMID:27768747

  8. Exercise-Induced Fatigue and Caffeine Supplementation Affect Psychomotor Performance but Not Covert Visuo-Spatial Attention.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charlotte J W Connell

    Full Text Available Fatigue resulting from strenuous exercise can impair cognition and oculomotor control. These impairments can be prevented by administering psychostimulants such as caffeine. This study used two experiments to explore the influence of caffeine administered at rest and during fatiguing physical exercise on spatial attention-a cognitive function that is crucial for task-based visually guided behavior. In independent placebo-controlled studies, cohorts of 12 healthy participants consumed caffeine and rested or completed 180 min of stationary cycling. Covert attentional orienting was measured in both experiments using a spatial cueing paradigm. We observed no alterations in attentional facilitation toward spatial cues suggesting that covert attentional orienting is not influenced by exercise fatigue or caffeine supplementation. Response times were increased (impaired after exercise and this deterioration was prevented by caffeine supplementation. In the resting experiment, response times across all conditions and cues were decreased (improved with caffeine. Covert spatial attention was not influenced by caffeine. Together, the results of these experiments suggest that covert attentional orienting is robust to the effects of fatiguing exercise and not influenced by caffeine. However, exercise fatigue impairs response times, which can be prevented by caffeine, suggesting that pre-motor planning and execution of the motor responses required for performance of the cueing task are sensitive to central nervous system fatigue. Caffeine improves response time in both fatigued and fresh conditions, most likely through action on networks controlling motor function.

  9. Exercise-Induced Fatigue and Caffeine Supplementation Affect Psychomotor Performance but Not Covert Visuo-Spatial Attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Connell, Charlotte J W; Thompson, Benjamin; Kuhn, Gustav; Gant, Nicholas

    2016-01-01

    Fatigue resulting from strenuous exercise can impair cognition and oculomotor control. These impairments can be prevented by administering psychostimulants such as caffeine. This study used two experiments to explore the influence of caffeine administered at rest and during fatiguing physical exercise on spatial attention-a cognitive function that is crucial for task-based visually guided behavior. In independent placebo-controlled studies, cohorts of 12 healthy participants consumed caffeine and rested or completed 180 min of stationary cycling. Covert attentional orienting was measured in both experiments using a spatial cueing paradigm. We observed no alterations in attentional facilitation toward spatial cues suggesting that covert attentional orienting is not influenced by exercise fatigue or caffeine supplementation. Response times were increased (impaired) after exercise and this deterioration was prevented by caffeine supplementation. In the resting experiment, response times across all conditions and cues were decreased (improved) with caffeine. Covert spatial attention was not influenced by caffeine. Together, the results of these experiments suggest that covert attentional orienting is robust to the effects of fatiguing exercise and not influenced by caffeine. However, exercise fatigue impairs response times, which can be prevented by caffeine, suggesting that pre-motor planning and execution of the motor responses required for performance of the cueing task are sensitive to central nervous system fatigue. Caffeine improves response time in both fatigued and fresh conditions, most likely through action on networks controlling motor function.

  10. Parallel performance of the angular versus spatial domain decomposition for discrete ordinates transport methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fischer, J.W.; Azmy, Y.Y.

    2003-01-01

    A previously reported parallel performance model for Angular Domain Decomposition (ADD) of the Discrete Ordinates method for solving multidimensional neutron transport problems is revisited for further validation. Three communication schemes: native MPI, the bucket algorithm, and the distributed bucket algorithm, are included in the validation exercise that is successfully conducted on a Beowulf cluster. The parallel performance model is comprised of three components: serial, parallel, and communication. The serial component is largely independent of the number of participating processors, P, while the parallel component decreases like 1/P. These two components are independent of the communication scheme, in contrast with the communication component that typically increases with P in a manner highly dependent on the global reduced algorithm. Correct trends for each component and each communication scheme were measured for the Arbitrarily High Order Transport (AHOT) code, thus validating the performance models. Furthermore, extensive experiments illustrate the superiority of the bucket algorithm. The primary question addressed in this research is: for a given problem size, which domain decomposition method, angular or spatial, is best suited to parallelize Discrete Ordinates methods on a specific computational platform? We address this question for three-dimensional applications via parallel performance models that include parameters specifying the problem size and system performance: the above-mentioned ADD, and a previously constructed and validated Spatial Domain Decomposition (SDD) model. We conclude that for large problems the parallel component dwarfs the communication component even on moderately large numbers of processors. The main advantages of SDD are: (a) scalability to higher numbers of processors of the order of the number of computational cells; (b) smaller memory requirement; (c) better performance than ADD on high-end platforms and large number of

  11. Presence and the utility of audio spatialization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bormann, Karsten

    2005-01-01

    The primary concern of this paper is whether the utility of audio spatialization, as opposed to the fidelity of audio spatialization, impacts presence. An experiment is reported that investigates the presence-performance relationship by decoupling spatial audio fidelity (realism) from task...... performance by varying the spatial fidelity of the audio independently of its relevance to performance on the search task that subjects were to perform. This was achieved by having conditions in which subjects searched for a music-playing radio (an active sound source) and having conditions in which...... supplied only nonattenuated audio was detrimental to performance. Even so, this group of subjects consistently had the largest increase in presence scores over the baseline experiment. Further, the Witmer and Singer (1998) presence questionnaire was more sensitive to whether the audio source was active...

  12. Information processing systems, reasoning modules, and reasoning system design methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hohimer, Ryan E; Greitzer, Frank L; Hampton, Shawn D

    2014-03-04

    Information processing systems, reasoning modules, and reasoning system design methods are described. According to one aspect, an information processing system includes working memory comprising a semantic graph which comprises a plurality of abstractions, wherein the abstractions individually include an individual which is defined according to an ontology and a reasoning system comprising a plurality of reasoning modules which are configured to process different abstractions of the semantic graph, wherein a first of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a first classification type of the ontology and a second of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a second classification type of the ontology, wherein the first and second classification types are different.

  13. Information processing systems, reasoning modules, and reasoning system design methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hohimer, Ryan E.; Greitzer, Frank L.; Hampton, Shawn D.

    2016-08-23

    Information processing systems, reasoning modules, and reasoning system design methods are described. According to one aspect, an information processing system includes working memory comprising a semantic graph which comprises a plurality of abstractions, wherein the abstractions individually include an individual which is defined according to an ontology and a reasoning system comprising a plurality of reasoning modules which are configured to process different abstractions of the semantic graph, wherein a first of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a first classification type of the ontology and a second of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a second classification type of the ontology, wherein the first and second classification types are different.

  14. Information processing systems, reasoning modules, and reasoning system design methods

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hohimer, Ryan E.; Greitzer, Frank L.; Hampton, Shawn D.

    2015-08-18

    Information processing systems, reasoning modules, and reasoning system design methods are described. According to one aspect, an information processing system includes working memory comprising a semantic graph which comprises a plurality of abstractions, wherein the abstractions individually include an individual which is defined according to an ontology and a reasoning system comprising a plurality of reasoning modules which are configured to process different abstractions of the semantic graph, wherein a first of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a first classification type of the ontology and a second of the reasoning modules is configured to process a plurality of abstractions which include individuals of a second classification type of the ontology, wherein the first and second classification types are different.

  15. Analogical reasoning and the nature of context: a research note.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richardson, K; Webster, D S

    1996-03-01

    Recent theorising about children's reasoning has tended to move towards a 'contextualist' view of cognition and away from the idea of an overall, context-free, mechanism, varying in efficiency, which is the presupposition underlying traditional standardised reasoning tests. An earlier study suggesting improved reasoning performance among children on socio-cognitively meaningful versions of Raven's Matrices tended to support this shift. The main purpose of the study reported here was to observe whether a similar improvement would be found with contextually-based analogical reasoning problems as well. Ten analogy items from a standardised test were administered to 11-year-olds together with 10 structurally-equivalent knowledge-based items. The results reflected improved performance on the latter, overall, and additional analyses led to further suggestions about the nature of the 'contextual advantage' and the origins of item difficulty.

  16. Videogame interventions and spatial ability interactions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas S. Redick

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Numerous research studies have been conducted on the use of videogames as tools to improve one’s cognitive abilities. While meta-analyses and qualitative reviews have provided evidence that some aspects of cognition such as spatial imagery are modified after exposure to videogames, other evidence has shown that matrix reasoning measures of fluid intelligence do not show evidence of transfer from videogame training. In the current work, we investigate the available evidence for transfer specifically to nonverbal intelligence and spatial ability measures, given recent research that these abilities may be most sensitive to training on cognitive and working memory tasks. Accordingly, we highlight a few studies that on the surface provide evidence for transfer to spatial abilities, but a closer look at the pattern of data does not reveal a clean interpretation of the results. We discuss the implications of these results in relation to research design and statistical analysis practices.

  17. Spatial Assimilation in Denmark?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Hans Skifter

    2010-01-01

    market and discrimination, which limits the housing possibilities for ethnic minorities. Another explanation could be that immigrants for different reasons choose to settle in so-called ethnic enclaves where they can find an ethnic social network, which can support them in their new country....... In traditional research literature about immigration it has been shown that for many immigrants living in enclaves has been a temporary situation. The 'spatial assimilation theory' says that this situation ends when the family has become more integrated in the new society and then moves to other parts...

  18. Usefulness of the group-comparison method to demonstrate sex differences in spatial orientation and spatial visualization in older men and women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, D

    1976-10-01

    This paper reports an analysis of sex differences in cognitive test scores covering the dimensions of spatial orientation and spatial visualization in groups of 6 older men and 6 women matched for speed of performance on a maze test and level of performance on a spatial relations task. Older men were more proficient solving spatial problems using the body as a referent, whereas there was no significant difference between the sexes in imagining spatial displacement. Matched comparisons appear a useful adjunct to population research to understand the type(s) of cognitive processes where differential performance by the sexes is observed.

  19. Selection of the Maximum Spatial Cluster Size of the Spatial Scan Statistic by Using the Maximum Clustering Set-Proportion Statistic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Yue; Yin, Fei; Zhang, Tao; Zhou, Xiaohua Andrew; Li, Xiaosong

    2016-01-01

    Spatial scan statistics are widely used in various fields. The performance of these statistics is influenced by parameters, such as maximum spatial cluster size, and can be improved by parameter selection using performance measures. Current performance measures are based on the presence of clusters and are thus inapplicable to data sets without known clusters. In this work, we propose a novel overall performance measure called maximum clustering set-proportion (MCS-P), which is based on the likelihood of the union of detected clusters and the applied dataset. MCS-P was compared with existing performance measures in a simulation study to select the maximum spatial cluster size. Results of other performance measures, such as sensitivity and misclassification, suggest that the spatial scan statistic achieves accurate results in most scenarios with the maximum spatial cluster sizes selected using MCS-P. Given that previously known clusters are not required in the proposed strategy, selection of the optimal maximum cluster size with MCS-P can improve the performance of the scan statistic in applications without identified clusters.

  20. Spatial stochasticity and non-continuum effects in gas flows

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dadzie, S. Kokou, E-mail: k.dadzie@glyndwr.ac.uk [Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, Glyndwr University, Mold Road, Wrexham LL11 2AW (United Kingdom); Reese, Jason M., E-mail: jason.reese@strath.ac.uk [Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XJ (United Kingdom)

    2012-02-06

    We investigate the relationship between spatial stochasticity and non-continuum effects in gas flows. A kinetic model for a dilute gas is developed using strictly a stochastic molecular model reasoning, without primarily referring to either the Liouville or the Boltzmann equations for dilute gases. The kinetic equation, a stochastic version of the well-known deterministic Boltzmann equation for dilute gas, is then associated with a set of macroscopic equations for the case of a monatomic gas. Tests based on a heat conduction configuration and sound wave dispersion show that spatial stochasticity can explain some non-continuum effects seen in gases. -- Highlights: ► We investigate effects of molecular spatial stochasticity in non-continuum regime. ► Present a simplify spatial stochastic kinetic equation. ► Present a spatial stochastic macroscopic flow equations. ► Show effects of the new model on sound wave dispersion prediction. ► Show effects of the new approach in density profiles in a heat conduction.

  1. Impaired conditional reasoning in alcoholics: a negative impact on social interactions and risky behaviors?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kornreich, Charles; Delle-Vigne, Dyna; Knittel, Julian; Nerincx, Aurore; Campanella, Salvatore; Noel, Xavier; Hanak, Catherine; Verbanck, Paul; Ermer, Elsa

    2011-05-01

    To study the 'social brain' in alcoholics by investigating social contract reasoning, theory of mind and emotional intelligence. A behavioral study comparing recently detoxified alcoholics with normal, healthy controls. Emotional intelligence and decoding of emotional non-verbal cues have been shown to be impaired in alcoholics. This study explores whether these deficits extend to conditional reasoning about social contracts. Twenty-five recently detoxified alcoholics (17 men and eight women) were compared with 25 normal controls (17 men and eight women) matched for sex, age and education level. Wason selection task investigating conditional reasoning on three different rule types (social contract, precautionary and descriptive), revised Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (modified version) and additional control measures. Conditional reasoning was impaired in alcoholics. Performance on descriptive rules was not above chance. Reasoning performance was markedly better on social contract and precautionary rules, but this performance was still significantly lower than in controls. Several emotional intelligence measures were lower in alcoholics compared to controls, but these were not correlated with reasoning performance. Conditional reasoning, including reasoning about social contracts and emotional intelligence appear to be impaired in alcoholics. Impairment seems to be particularly severe on descriptive rules. Impairment in social contract reasoning might lead to misunderstandings and frustration in social interactions, and reasoning difficulties about precautionary rules might contribute to risky behaviors in this population. © 2011 The Authors, Addiction © 2011 Society for the Study of Addiction.

  2. Analytic and heuristic processing influences on adolescent reasoning and decision-making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klaczynski, P A

    2001-01-01

    The normative/descriptive gap is the discrepancy between actual reasoning and traditional standards for reasoning. The relationship between age and the normative/descriptive gap was examined by presenting adolescents with a battery of reasoning and decision-making tasks. Middle adolescents (N = 76) performed closer to normative ideals than early adolescents (N = 66), although the normative/descriptive gap was large for both groups. Correlational analyses revealed that (1) normative responses correlated positively with each other, (2) nonnormative responses were positively interrelated, and (3) normative and nonnormative responses were largely independent. Factor analyses suggested that performance was based on two processing systems. The "analytic" system operates on "decontextualized" task representations and underlies conscious, computational reasoning. The "heuristic" system operates on "contextualized," content-laden representations and produces "cognitively cheap" responses that sometimes conflict with traditional norms. Analytic processing was more clearly linked to age and to intelligence than heuristic processing. Implications for cognitive development, the competence/performance issue, and rationality are discussed.

  3. A comprehensive test of clinical reasoning for medical students: An olympiad experience in Iran.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monajemi, Alireza; Arabshahi, Kamran Soltani; Soltani, Akbar; Arbabi, Farshid; Akbari, Roghieh; Custers, Eugene; Hadadgar, Arash; Hadizadeh, Fatemeh; Changiz, Tahereh; Adibi, Peyman

    2012-01-01

    Although some tests for clinical reasoning assessment are now available, the theories of medical expertise have not played a major role in this filed. In this paper, illness script theory was chose as a theoretical framework and contemporary clinical reasoning tests were put together based on this theoretical model. This paper is a qualitative study performed with an action research approach. This style of research is performed in a context where authorities focus on promoting their organizations' performance and is carried out in the form of teamwork called participatory research. Results are presented in four parts as basic concepts, clinical reasoning assessment, test framework, and scoring. we concluded that no single test could thoroughly assess clinical reasoning competency, and therefore a battery of clinical reasoning tests is needed. This battery should cover all three parts of clinical reasoning process: script activation, selection and verification. In addition, not only both analytical and non-analytical reasoning, but also both diagnostic and management reasoning should evenly take into consideration in this battery. This paper explains the process of designing and implementing the battery of clinical reasoning in the Olympiad for medical sciences students through an action research.

  4. Spatial image modulation to improve performance of computed tomography imaging spectrometer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bearman, Gregory H. (Inventor); Wilson, Daniel W. (Inventor); Johnson, William R. (Inventor)

    2010-01-01

    Computed tomography imaging spectrometers ("CTIS"s) having patterns for imposing spatial structure are provided. The pattern may be imposed either directly on the object scene being imaged or at the field stop aperture. The use of the pattern improves the accuracy of the captured spatial and spectral information.

  5. Spatial-Sequential and Spatial-Simultaneous Working Memory in Individuals with Williams Syndrome

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lanfranchi, Silvia; De Mori, Letizia; Mammarella, Irene C.; Carretti, Barbara; Vianello, Renzo

    2015-01-01

    The aim of the present study was to compare visuospatial working memory performance in 18 individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) and 18 typically developing (TD) children matched for nonverbal mental age. Two aspects were considered: task presentation format (i.e., spatial-sequential or spatial-simultaneous), and level of attentional control…

  6. Spatial variation of natural terrestrial gamma-ray dose rates in Brunei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu, S.J.; Lai, K.K.; Manato, S.; Kodaira, K.

    1998-01-01

    A carbon survey of natural terrestrial gamma-rat dose rates along the main roads of the western part of Brunei Darussalam was carried out using two portable type 1.5 φ x 4 NaI(TI) and 1 φ x 2 NaI(TI) scintillation counters. A series of semicontinuous count rates measurements were performed inside a moving vehicle. This yielded equal-distance data which were analysed statistically to obtain the spatial variation of the natural terrestrial gamma-ray dose rates. The equal-distance data of dose rates were obtained by correcting for shielding effect of the car. The thickness of the pavement and the contribution from the pavement material were estimated from a correlation curve between the dose rates measured on pavements and on the nearby soils. A spectral analysis of the equal-distance data enabled us to clarify the structure of the spatial variation in dose rates. The data could be reasonably smoothened by removing the random noise components in a higher wave number region. (author). 6 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab

  7. Spatial variation of natural terrestrial γ-ray dose rates in Brunei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu, S.J.; Lai, K.K.

    1998-01-01

    A carborne survey of natural terrestrial y-ray dose rates along the main roads of the western part of Brunei Darussalam was carried out using two portable type 1.5'φx4' NaI(T1) and 1'φx2' NaI(T1) scintillation counters. A series of semicontinuous count rates measurements were performed inside a moving vehicle. This yielded equal-distance data which were analysed statistically to obtain the spatial variation of the natural terrestrial γ-ray dose rates. The equal-distance data of dose rates were obtained by correcting for shielding effect of the car. The thickness of the pavement and the contribution from the pavement material were estimated from a correlation curve between the dose rates measured on pavements and on the nearby soils. A spectral analysis of the equal-distance data enabled us to clarify the structure of the spatial variation in dose rates. The data could be reasonably smoothened by removing the random noise components in a higher wave number region

  8. MODEL OF SPATIAL EVALUATION FOR TOURISM ECO-RENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maja Fredotović

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available Tourism is extremely interacted with the environment. Taking into account that tourism uses the space and related resources, it seems right to pay for the damages caused to the environment. This is the basis of the tourist spatial eco rent. The paper evaluates the space and resources used by tourism as the basis for the introduction of the tourism eco-rent in the area of Makarska Riviera, a traditional tourism destination. It is divided into three main spatial units: urban areas, bathing zone (beaches, Biokovo Park of Nature. According to natural and geographical reasoning, a number of zones with different spatial values within each spatial unit has been identified. Each unit, i.e. zone was evaluated according to various criteria relevant to the evaluation of space for tourism and tourism development purposes. Having ranked zones within each unit, using the multiriteria ranking method PROMETHEE II, comparative analysis of the obtained results was carried out as well.

  9. Spatial Language Facilitates Spatial Cognition: Evidence from Children Who Lack Language Input

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gentner, Dedre; Ozyurek, Asli; Gurcanli, Ozge; Goldin-Meadow, Susan

    2013-01-01

    Does spatial language influence how people think about space? To address this question, we observed children who did not know a conventional language, and tested their performance on nonlinguistic spatial tasks. We studied deaf children living in Istanbul whose hearing losses prevented them from acquiring speech and whose hearing parents had not…

  10. Numeracy, frequency, and Bayesian reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gretchen B. Chapman

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available Previous research has demonstrated that Bayesian reasoning performance is improved if uncertainty information is presented as natural frequencies rather than single-event probabilities. A questionnaire study of 342 college students replicated this effect but also found that the performance-boosting benefits of the natural frequency presentation occurred primarily for participants who scored high in numeracy. This finding suggests that even comprehension and manipulation of natural frequencies requires a certain threshold of numeracy abilities, and that the beneficial effects of natural frequency presentation may not be as general as previously believed.

  11. Spatial and Statistical Analysis of Leptospirosis in Guilan Province, Iran

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nia, A. Mohammadi; Alimohammadi, A.; Habibi, R.; Shirzadi, M. R.

    2015-12-01

    The most underdiagnosed water-borne bacterial zoonosis in the world is Leptospirosis which especially impacts tropical and humid regions. According to World Health Organization (WHO), the number of human cases is not known precisely. Available reports showed that worldwide incidences vary from 0.1-1 per 100 000 per year in temperate climates to 10-100 per 100 000 in the humid tropics. Pathogenic bacteria that is spread by the urines of rats is the main reason of water and soil infections. Rice field farmers who are in contact with infected water or soil, contain the most burden of leptospirosis prevalence. In recent years, this zoonotic disease have been occurred in north of Iran endemically. Guilan as the second rice production province (average=750 000 000 Kg, 40% of country production) after Mazandaran, has one of the most rural population (Male=487 679, Female=496 022) and rice workers (47 621 insured workers) among Iran provinces. The main objectives of this study were to analyse yearly spatial distribution and the possible spatial clusters of leptospirosis to better understand epidemiological aspects of them in the province. Survey was performed during the period of 2009-2013 at rural district level throughout the study area. Global clustering methods including the average nearest neighbour distance, Moran's I and General G indices were utilized to investigate the annual spatial distribution of diseases. At the end, significant spatial clusters have been detected with the objective of informing priority areas for public health planning and resource allocation.

  12. Measuring Reasoning about Teaching for Graduate Admissions in Psychology and Related Disciplines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert J. Sternberg

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Teaching- and teaching-evaluation skills are critically important to professional success in psychology and related disciplines. We explored the possibility of measuring reasoning-about-teaching skills as a supplementary measure for admissions in psychology and related behavioral-sciences disciplines. We tested 103 students for their reasoning about teaching and their reasoning about research, as well as for their cognitive- (abstract reasoning and educational skills. We found that women performed better than men on our reasoning-about-teaching measure, and that factorially, our reasoning-about-teaching measure clustered with our reasoning-about-research measures but not with our measures of abstract cognitive reasoning and educational skills.

  13. Lesions to polar/orbital prefrontal cortex selectively impair reasoning about emotional material.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goel, Vinod; Lam, Elaine; Smith, Kathleen W; Goel, Amit; Raymont, Vanessa; Krueger, Frank; Grafman, Jordan

    2017-05-01

    While it is widely accepted that lesions to orbital prefrontal cortex lead to emotion related disruptions and poor decision-making, there is very little patient data on this issue involving actual logical reasoning tasks. We tested patients with circumscribed, focal lesions largely confined to polar/orbital prefrontal cortex (BA 10 & 11) (N=17) on logical reasoning tasks involving neutral and emotional content, and compared their performance to that of an age and education-matched normal control group (N=22) and a posterior lesion control group (N=24). Our results revealed a significant group by content interaction driven by a selective impairment in the polar/orbital prefrontal cortex group compared to healthy normal controls and to the parietal patient group, in the emotional content reasoning trials. Subsequent analyses of congruent and incongruent reasoning trials indicated that this impairment was driven by the poor performance of patients with polar/orbital lesions in the incongruent trials. We conclude that the polar/orbital prefrontal cortex plays a critical role in filtering emotionally charged content from the material before it is passed on to the reasoning system in lateral/dorsal regions of prefrontal cortex. Where unfiltered content is passed to the reasoning engine, either as a result of pathology (as in the case of our patients) or as a result of individual differences, reasoning performance suffers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Reasons to value the health care intangible asset valuation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reilly, Robert F

    2012-01-01

    There are numerous individual reasons to conduct a health care intangible asset valuation. This discussion summarized many of these reasons and considered the common categories of these individual reasons. Understanding the reason for the intangible asset analysis is an important prerequisite to conducting the valuation, both for the analyst and the health care owner/operator. This is because an intangible asset valuation may not be the type of analysis that the owner/operator really needs. Rather, the owner/operator may really need an economic damages measurement, a license royalty rate analysis, an intercompany transfer price study, a commercialization potential evaluation, or some other type of intangible asset analysis. In addition, a clear definition of the reason for the valuation will allow the analyst to understand if (1) any specific analytical guidelines, procedures, or regulations apply and (2) any specific reporting requirement applies. For example, intangible asset valuations prepared for fair value accounting purposes should meet specific ASC 820 fair value accounting guidance. Intangible asset valuations performed for intercompany transfer price tax purposes should comply with the guidance provided in the Section 482 regulations. Likewise, intangible asset valuations prepared for Section 170 charitable contribution purposes should comply with specific reporting requirements. The individual reasons for the health care intangible asset valuation may influence the standard of value applied, the valuation date selected, the valuation approaches and methods applied, the form and format of valuation report prepared, and even the type of professional employed to perform the valuation.

  15. Improved Density Based Spatial Clustering of Applications of Noise Clustering Algorithm for Knowledge Discovery in Spatial Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arvind Sharma

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available There are many techniques available in the field of data mining and its subfield spatial data mining is to understand relationships between data objects. Data objects related with spatial features are called spatial databases. These relationships can be used for prediction and trend detection between spatial and nonspatial objects for social and scientific reasons. A huge data set may be collected from different sources as satellite images, X-rays, medical images, traffic cameras, and GIS system. To handle this large amount of data and set relationship between them in a certain manner with certain results is our primary purpose of this paper. This paper gives a complete process to understand how spatial data is different from other kinds of data sets and how it is refined to apply to get useful results and set trends to predict geographic information system and spatial data mining process. In this paper a new improved algorithm for clustering is designed because role of clustering is very indispensable in spatial data mining process. Clustering methods are useful in various fields of human life such as GIS (Geographic Information System, GPS (Global Positioning System, weather forecasting, air traffic controller, water treatment, area selection, cost estimation, planning of rural and urban areas, remote sensing, and VLSI designing. This paper presents study of various clustering methods and algorithms and an improved algorithm of DBSCAN as IDBSCAN (Improved Density Based Spatial Clustering of Application of Noise. The algorithm is designed by addition of some important attributes which are responsible for generation of better clusters from existing data sets in comparison of other methods.

  16. Emotional reasoning and parent-based reasoning in normal children.

    OpenAIRE

    Morren, M.; Muris, P.; Kindt, M.

    2004-01-01

    A previous study by Muris, Merckelbach, and Van Spauwen demonstrated that children display emotional reasoning irrepective of their anxiety levels. That is when estimating whether a situation is dangerous, childen not only rely on objective danger information but also on their own anciety-response. The present study further examined emotional reasoning in childeren aged 7-13 years (N=508). In addition, it was investigated whether children also show parent-based reasoning, which can be defined...

  17. Professional analysis in spatial planning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrej Černe

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available Spatial analysis contributes to accomplishment of the three basic aims of spatial planning: it is basic element for setting spatial policies, concepts and strategies, gives basic information to inhabitants, land owners, investors, planners and helps in performing spatial policies, strategies, plans, programmes and projects. Analysis in planning are generally devoted to: understand current circumstances and emerging conditions within planning decisions; determine priorities of open questions and their solutions; formulate general principles for further development.

  18. Analogical reasoning abilities of recovering alcoholics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gardner, M K; Clark, E; Bowman, M A; Miller, P J

    1989-08-01

    This study investigated analogical reasoning abilities of alcoholics who had been abstinent from alcohol for at least 1 year. Their performance was compared to that of nonalcoholic controls matched as a group for education, age, and gender. Solution times and error rates were modeled using a regression model. Results showed a nonsignificant trend for alcoholics to be faster, but more error prone, than controls. The same componential model applied to both groups, and fit them equally well. Although differences have been found in analogical reasoning ability between controls and alcoholics immediately following detoxification, we find no evidence of differences after extended periods of sobriety.

  19. Reasoning Abilities and Potential Correlates Among Jordanian School Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Almomani, Fidaa; Al-Momani, Murad O; Alsheyab, Nihayah; Al Mhdawi, Khader

    2018-04-01

    Objectives To investigate factors related to reasoning skills in 434 school children aged 5-9 years. Methods The Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised was used to assess reasoning skills. Demographic, work and family income data, information on child's daily behavior and school academic achievement were provided by the participating children's parents. Results Reasoning scores increased by 4.56 points with increasing subject's age, 1.71 points with increasing level of father's occupation, 1.86 points with each increase in the subject's GPA, 1.13 points with consumption of breakfast at home and 1.81 points when child slept more hours. Having a father who smoked and living in a rural area decreased scores in reasoning. Conclusions for Practice Screening of reasoning and associated factors is essential for a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the child's abilities and limitations. Understanding the child's reasoning abilities is critical for establishing intervention goals and planning therapeutic activities.

  20. Relations as transformations: implications for analogical reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leech, Robert; Mareschal, Denis; Cooper, Richard P

    2007-07-01

    We present two experiments assessing whether the size of a transformation instantiating a relation between two states of the world (e.g., shrinks) is a performance factor affecting analogical reasoning. The first experiment finds evidence of transformation size as a significant factor in adolescent analogical problem solving while the second experiment finds a similar effect on adult analogical reasoning using a markedly different analogical completion paradigm. The results are interpreted as providing evidence for the more general framework that cognitive representations of relations are best understood as mental transformations.

  1. Early executive function predicts reasoning development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richland, Lindsey E; Burchinal, Margaret R

    2013-01-01

    Analogical reasoning is a core cognitive skill that distinguishes humans from all other species and contributes to general fluid intelligence, creativity, and adaptive learning capacities. Yet its origins are not well understood. In the study reported here, we analyzed large-scale longitudinal data from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to test predictors of growth in analogical-reasoning skill from third grade to adolescence. Our results suggest an integrative resolution to the theoretical debate regarding contributory factors arising from smaller-scale, cross-sectional experiments on analogy development. Children with greater executive-function skills (both composite and inhibitory control) and vocabulary knowledge in early elementary school displayed higher scores on a verbal analogies task at age 15 years, even after adjusting for key covariates. We posit that knowledge is a prerequisite to analogy performance, but strong executive-functioning resources during early childhood are related to long-term gains in fundamental reasoning skills.

  2. Spatial dependence and correlation of rainfall in the Danube catchment and its role in flood risk assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martina, M. L. V.; Vitolo, R.; Todini, E.; Stephenson, D. B.; Cook, I. M.

    2009-04-01

    The possibility that multiple catastrophic events occur within a given timespan and affect the same portfolio of insured properties may induce enhanced risk. For this reason, in the insurance industry it is of interest to characterise not only the point probability of catastrophic events, but also their spatial structure. As far as floods are concerned it is important to determine the probability of having multiple simultaneous events in different parts of the same basin: in this case, indeed, the loss in a portfolio can be significantly different. Understanding the spatial structure of the precipitation field is a necessary step for the proper modelling of the spatial dependence and correlation of river discharge. Several stochastic models are available in the scientific literature for the multi-site generation of precipitation. Although most models achieve good performance in modelling mean values, temporal variability and inter-site dependence of extremes are still delicate issues. In this work we aim at identifying the main spatial characteristics of the precipitation structure and then at analysing them in a real case. We consider data from a large network of raingauges in the Danube catchment. This catchment is a good example of a large-scale catchment where the spatial correlation of flood events can radically change the effect in term of flood damage.

  3. A robot sets a table: a case for hybrid reasoning with different types of knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansouri, Masoumeh; Pecora, Federico

    2016-09-01

    An important contribution of AI to Robotics is the model-centred approach, whereby competent robot behaviour stems from automated reasoning in models of the world which can be changed to suit different environments, physical capabilities and tasks. However models need to capture diverse (and often application-dependent) aspects of the robot's environment and capabilities. They must also have good computational properties, as robots need to reason while they act in response to perceived context. In this article, we investigate the use of a meta-CSP-based technique to interleave reasoning in diverse knowledge types. We reify the approach through a robotic waiter case study, for which a particular selection of spatial, temporal, resource and action KR formalisms is made. Using this case study, we discuss general principles pertaining to the selection of appropriate KR formalisms and jointly reasoning about them. The resulting integration is evaluated both formally and experimentally on real and simulated robotic platforms.

  4. Spatial Ability Differences in Athletes and Non-Athletes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jessica Cynthia

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: Cognitive processes, specifically spatial abilities, are responsible for integration of daily activities. Many factors contribute to the plasticity of the brain which, furthermore, alter the spatial ability. Physical activity, which can be further grouped into sport and exercise, is a modifiable factor that enhances the cognitive processes through a divergent mechanism. This study aimed to gain further understanding on whether sport differs from exercise in altering spatial ability in athletes and non-athletes. Methods: This observational study compared the spatial ability score of athletes of Indonesia National Sport Comitte (Komite Olahraga Nasional Indonesia, KONI in West Java (n= 21 and non-athletes (n= 21. Sampling were performed using stratified random technique and data were collected between August and October 2015 which included spatial scores and demographic of subjects. Results: The difference in spatial scores between athletes and non-athletes were not significant (p=0.432. Conclusions: This study suggests an insignificant difference in spatial ability in athletes performing sport and non-athletes performing exercise. Hence, the cognitive component skills in sport experience do not alter the spatial ability.

  5. Pertinent reasoning

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Britz, K

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available In this paper the authors venture beyond one of the fundamental assumptions in the non-monotonic reasoning community, namely that non-monotonic entailment is supra-classical. They investigate reasoning which uses an infra-classical entailment...

  6. Cartography teaching and the development of spatial thinking in Brazilian geography textbooks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duarte, Ronaldo G.

    2018-05-01

    Spatial thinking has been recognized as closely related to tools of representation (NRC, 2006) and the maps have been widely pointed out as crucial for the development of that kind of reasoning. Furthermore, the scientific com-munity dedicated to the field of the spatial thinking has been asserting that the abilities encompassed in such a complex cognition can and must be fostered in school. Considering these groundwork, our research focused on the decision to assess the effectiveness of the contribution for the development of student's spatial thinking, provided by the questions found in Brazilian middle school geography textbooks. The main concern was the proficiency regarding cartographic language. To assure the possibility of comparing our results with some other investigations we decided to use a methodology that was strongly based on the Taxonomy of Spatial Thinking, designed by Injeong Jo and Sarah Bednarz (2009). Counting on those powerful tools we analyzed 6.884 questions in the three most adopted geography textbooks sets in Brazilian middle schools (6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grades). For the purpose of enlarging the number of books and countries to be compared, we have also evaluated 2.073 questions that are present in a French geography textbook set edited for the same grades. Using the taxonomy enabled us not only to evaluate if the questions demanded or not the use of the spatial thinking by the students. It also showed us the three general levels of reasoning involved, allowing to discern between low, intermediate and high levels of spatial thinking.

  7. Time Limits in Testing: An Analysis of Eye Movements and Visual Attention in Spatial Problem Solving

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roach, Victoria A.; Fraser, Graham M.; Kryklywy, James H.; Mitchell, Derek G. V.; Wilson, Timothy D.

    2017-01-01

    Individuals with an aptitude for interpreting spatial information (high mental rotation ability: HMRA) typically master anatomy with more ease, and more quickly, than those with low mental rotation ability (LMRA). This article explores how visual attention differs with time limits on spatial reasoning tests. Participants were assorted to two…

  8. Creativity and technical innovation: spatial ability's unique role.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kell, Harrison J; Lubinski, David; Benbow, Camilla P; Steiger, James H

    2013-09-01

    In the late 1970s, 563 intellectually talented 13-year-olds (identified by the SAT as in the top 0.5% of ability) were assessed on spatial ability. More than 30 years later, the present study evaluated whether spatial ability provided incremental validity (beyond the SAT's mathematical and verbal reasoning subtests) for differentially predicting which of these individuals had patents and three classes of refereed publications. A two-step discriminant-function analysis revealed that the SAT subtests jointly accounted for 10.8% of the variance among these outcomes (p development of creativity, beyond the roles played by the abilities traditionally measured in educational selection, counseling, and industrial-organizational psychology. Spatial ability plays a key and unique role in structuring many important psychological phenomena and should be examined more broadly across the applied and basic psychological sciences.

  9. Meta-Reasoning: Monitoring and Control of Thinking and Reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ackerman, Rakefet; Thompson, Valerie A

    2017-08-01

    Meta-Reasoning refers to the processes that monitor the progress of our reasoning and problem-solving activities and regulate the time and effort devoted to them. Monitoring processes are usually experienced as feelings of certainty or uncertainty about how well a process has, or will, unfold. These feelings are based on heuristic cues, which are not necessarily reliable. Nevertheless, we rely on these feelings of (un)certainty to regulate our mental effort. Most metacognitive research has focused on memorization and knowledge retrieval, with little attention paid to more complex processes, such as reasoning and problem solving. In that context, we recently developed a Meta-Reasoning framework, used here to review existing findings, consider their consequences, and frame questions for future research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Neural correlates of belief-bias reasoning under time pressure: a near-infrared spectroscopy study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsujii, Takeo; Watanabe, Shigeru

    2010-04-15

    The dual-process theory of reasoning explained the belief-bias effect, the tendency for human reasoning to be erroneously biased when logical conclusions are incongruent with belief about the world, by proposing a belief-based fast heuristic system and a logic-based slow analytic system. Although the claims were supported by behavioral findings that the belief-bias effect was enhanced when subjects were not given sufficient time for reasoning, the neural correlates were still unknown. The present study therefore examined the relationship between the time-pressure effect and activity in the inferior frontal cortex (IFC) during belief-bias reasoning using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Forty-eight subjects performed congruent and incongruent reasoning tasks, involving long-span (20 s) and short-span trials (10 s). Behavioral analysis found that only incongruent reasoning performance was impaired by the time-pressure of short-span trials. NIRS analysis found that the time-pressure decreased right IFC activity during incongruent trials. Correlation analysis showed that subjects with enhanced right IFC activity could perform better in incongruent trials, while subjects for whom the right IFC activity was impaired by the time-pressure could not maintain better reasoning performance. These findings suggest that the right IFC may be responsible for the time-pressure effect in conflicting reasoning processes. When the right IFC activity was impaired in the short-span trials in which subjects were not given sufficient time for reasoning, the subjects may rely on the fast heuristic system, which result in belief-bias responses. We therefore offer the first demonstration of neural correlates of time-pressure effect on the IFC activity in belief-bias reasoning. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Public Reason Renaturalized

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tønder, Lars

    2014-01-01

    . The article develops this argument via a sensorial orientation to politics that not only re-frames existing critiques of neo-Kantianism but also includes an alternative, renaturalized conception of public reason, one that allows us to overcome the disconnect between the account we give of reason and the way......This article takes up recent discussions of nature and the sensorium in order to rethink public reason in deeply divided societies. The aim is not to reject the role of reason-giving but rather to infuse it with new meaning, bringing the reasonable back to its sensorially inflected circumstances...... it is mobilized in a world of deep pluralism. The article concludes with a discussion of how a renaturalized conception of public reason might change the positioning of contemporary democratic theory vis-a-vis the struggle for empowerment and pluralization in an age of neo-liberalism and state-surveillance....

  12. Learning clinical reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinnock, Ralph; Welch, Paul

    2014-04-01

    Errors in clinical reasoning continue to account for significant morbidity and mortality, despite evidence-based guidelines and improved technology. Experts in clinical reasoning often use unconscious cognitive processes that they are not aware of unless they explain how they are thinking. Understanding the intuitive and analytical thinking processes provides a guide for instruction. How knowledge is stored is critical to expertise in clinical reasoning. Curricula should be designed so that trainees store knowledge in a way that is clinically relevant. Competence in clinical reasoning is acquired by supervised practice with effective feedback. Clinicians must recognise the common errors in clinical reasoning and how to avoid them. Trainees can learn clinical reasoning effectively in everyday practice if teachers provide guidance on the cognitive processes involved in making diagnostic decisions. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2013 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians).

  13. Defeasibility in Legal Reasoning

    OpenAIRE

    SARTOR, Giovanni

    2009-01-01

    I shall first introduce the idea of reasoning, and of defeasible reasoning in particular. I shall then argue that cognitive agents need to engage in defeasible reasoning for coping with a complex and changing environment. Consequently, defeasibility is needed in practical reasoning, and in particular in legal reasoning

  14. Spatial pattern of Amazonian timber species using cartesian and spatial coordinates method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tiago Monteiro Condé

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Geographic information system (GIS applied to forest analysis permit the recognition and analysis of spatial patterns of species in two and three dimensional. The aim of this study to demonstrate the efficiency of cartesian and spatial coordinates method (MCCE, method of correcting UTM coordinates of trees location in accordance with the location of field or Cartesian (X ,Y, combined with natural neighbor index (ANND in recognition and analysis of spatial distribution patterns of four commercial timber species in forest management in Caracaraí, Roraima State, Brazil. Simulations were performed on 9 ha, divided into 100 plots of 100 m2 each. Collected data were DBH > 10 cm, commercial and total heights, cartesian coordinates (X,Y and spatial coordinates (UTM. Random spatial patterns were observed in Eschweilera bracteosa and Manilkara huberi. The dispersed and rare spatial patterns were observed in Dinizia excelsa and Cedrelinga cateniformis. MCCE proved to be an efficient method in the recognition and analysis of spatial patterns of native species from Amazon rain forest, as forest planning becomes easier by 2D and 3D simulations.

  15. Possible cause for altered spatial cognition of prepubescent rats exposed to chronic radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narayanan, Sareesh Naduvil; Kumar, Raju Suresh; Karun, Kalesh M; Nayak, Satheesha B; Bhat, P Gopalakrishna

    2015-10-01

    The effects of chronic and repeated radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation (RFEMR) exposure on spatial cognition and hippocampal architecture were investigated in prepubescent rats. Four weeks old male Wistar rats were exposed to RF-EMR (900 MHz; SAR-1.15 W/kg with peak power density of 146.60 μW/cm(2)) for 1 h/day, for 28 days. Followed by this, spatial cognition was evaluated by Morris water maze test. To evaluate the hippocampal morphology; H&E staining, cresyl violet staining, and Golgi-Cox staining were performed on hippocampal sections. CA3 pyramidal neuron morphology and surviving neuron count (in CA3 region) were studied using H&E and cresyl violet stained sections. Dendritic arborization pattern of CA3 pyramidal neuron was investigated by concentric circle method. Progressive learning abilities were found to be decreased in RF-EMR exposed rats. Memory retention test performed 24 h after the last training revealed minor spatial memory deficit in RF-EMR exposed group. However, RF-EMR exposed rats exhibited poor spatial memory retention when tested 48 h after the final trial. Hirano bodies and Granulovacuolar bodies were absent in the CA3 pyramidal neurons of different groups studied. Nevertheless, RF-EMR exposure affected the viable cell count in dorsal hippocampal CA3 region. RF-EMR exposure influenced dendritic arborization pattern of both apical and basal dendritic trees in RF-EMR exposed rats. Structural changes found in the hippocampus of RF-EMR exposed rats could be one of the possible reasons for altered cognition.

  16. Evaluating spatial patterns in hydrological modelling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Koch, Julian

    the contiguous United Sates (10^6 km2). To this end, the thesis at hand applies a set of spatial performance metrics on various hydrological variables, namely land-surface-temperature (LST), evapotranspiration (ET) and soil moisture. The inspiration for the applied metrics is found in related fields...... is not fully exploited by current modelling frameworks due to the lack of suitable spatial performance metrics. Furthermore, the traditional model evaluation using discharge is found unsuitable to lay confidence on the predicted catchment inherent spatial variability of hydrological processes in a fully...

  17. Citizen science: A new perspective to advance spatial pattern evaluation in hydrology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koch, Julian; Stisen, Simon

    2017-01-01

    Citizen science opens new pathways that can complement traditional scientific practice. Intuition and reasoning often make humans more effective than computer algorithms in various realms of problem solving. In particular, a simple visual comparison of spatial patterns is a task where humans are often considered to be more reliable than computer algorithms. However, in practice, science still largely depends on computer based solutions, which inevitably gives benefits such as speed and the possibility to automatize processes. However, the human vision can be harnessed to evaluate the reliability of algorithms which are tailored to quantify similarity in spatial patterns. We established a citizen science project to employ the human perception to rate similarity and dissimilarity between simulated spatial patterns of several scenarios of a hydrological catchment model. In total, the turnout counts more than 2500 volunteers that provided over 43000 classifications of 1095 individual subjects. We investigate the capability of a set of advanced statistical performance metrics to mimic the human perception to distinguish between similarity and dissimilarity. Results suggest that more complex metrics are not necessarily better at emulating the human perception, but clearly provide auxiliary information that is valuable for model diagnostics. The metrics clearly differ in their ability to unambiguously distinguish between similar and dissimilar patterns which is regarded a key feature of a reliable metric. The obtained dataset can provide an insightful benchmark to the community to test novel spatial metrics.

  18. The usage of playing studies for development of spatial reasoning of 5-8-year-old children with spastic diplegi.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shlapachenko O.A.

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available In the article is shown the influence of rehabilitation-correction program with the usage of outdoor games on the level of influence of spatial thinking and constructive activity of 5-8-year-old children with spastic diplegi. 64 children took part in the experiment, all had main diagnosis - children cerebral paralysis, spastic diplegi. The experiment was conducted in a few phases during the year. It is proved that conducting of outdoor games promote positive influence on forming the level of influence of spatial thinking of children, increasing capacity of work. It is revealed that the level of development of spatial thinking of children with spastic diplegi depends on clinical display of an illness. It is mentioned that involving parents for participation in games with children promote rehabilitation of children in home conditions.

  19. Verbal and Spatial Analogical Reasoning in Deaf and Hearing Children: The Role of Grammar and Vocabulary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Lindsey; Figueras, Berta; Mellanby, Jane; Langdon, Dawn

    2011-01-01

    The extent to which cognitive development and abilities are dependent on language remains controversial. In this study, the analogical reasoning skills of deaf and hard of hearing children are explored. Two groups of children (deaf and hard of hearing children with either cochlear implants or hearing aids and hearing children) completed tests of…

  20. Mismanagement Reasons of the Projects Execution Phase

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hatem Khaleefah Al-Agele

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The execution phase of the project is most dangerous and the most drain on the resources during project life cycle, therefore, its need to monitor and control by specialists to exceeded obstructions and achieve the project goals. The study aims to detect the actual reasons behind mismanagement of the execution phase. The study begins with theoretical part, where it deals with the concepts of project, project selection, project management, and project processes. Field part consists of three techniques: 1- brainstorming, 2- open interviews with experts and 3- designed questionnaire (with 49 reason. These reasons result from brainstorming and interviewing with experts., in order to find the real reasons behind mismanagement of the execution phase. The most important reasons which are negatively impact on management of the execution phase that proven by the study were (Inability of company to meet project requirements because it's specialized and / or large project, Multiple sources of decision and overlap in powers, Inadequate planning, Inaccurate estimation of cost, Delayed cash flows by owners, Poor performance of project manager, inefficient decision making process, and the Negative impact of people in the project area. Finally, submitting a set of recommendations which will contribute to overcome the obstructions of successful management of the execution phase.

  1. Sex differences in stress effects on response and spatial memory formation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guenzel, Friederike M; Wolf, Oliver T; Schwabe, Lars

    2014-03-01

    Stress and stress hormones are known to affect learning and memory processes. However, although effects of stress on hippocampus-dependent declarative learning and memory are well-documented, relatively little attention has been paid to the impact of stress on striatum-dependent stimulus-response (S-R) learning and memory. Recent evidence indicates that glucocorticoid stress hormones shortly after learning enhance S-R memory consolidation, whereas stress prior to retention testing impairs S-R memory retrieval. Whether stress affects also the acquisition of S-R memories in humans remains unclear. For this reason, we examined here the effects of acute stress on S-R memory formation and contrasted these stress effects with those on hippocampus-dependent spatial memory. Healthy men and women underwent a stressor (socially evaluated cold pressor test, SECPT) or a control manipulation before they completed an S-R task and two spatial learning tasks. Memory was assessed one week later. Our data showed that stress impaired S-R memory performance in men but not in women. Conversely, spatial memory was impaired by stress in women but not in men. These findings provide further evidence that stress may alter learning and memory processes beyond the hippocampus. Moreover, our data underline that participants' sex may play a critical role in the impact of stress on multiple memory systems. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Development and Initial Psychometric Assessment of the Reasons for Pretending Orgasm Inventory

    OpenAIRE

    Mark G. McCoy; Lisa L. M. Welling; Todd K. Shackelford

    2015-01-01

    Research suggests that women pretend orgasm with their partner as a mate retention strategy, but the cognitive reasons behind this deception are not well known. To explore women's cognitive reasons for pretending orgasm, we first assembled a list of the reasons women report for pretending orgasm. We refined this list using independent data collected on performance frequencies for each item, followed by a principal components analysis, to generate the Reasons for Pretending Orgasm Inventory (R...

  3. Load-related brain activation predicts spatial working memory performance in youth aged 9-12 and is associated with executive function at earlier ages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Anna S; Klein, Daniel N; Leung, Hoi-Chung

    2016-02-01

    Spatial working memory is a central cognitive process that matures through adolescence in conjunction with major changes in brain function and anatomy. Here we focused on late childhood and early adolescence to more closely examine the neural correlates of performance variability during this important transition period. Using a modified spatial 1-back task with two memory load conditions in an fMRI study, we examined the relationship between load-dependent neural responses and task performance in a sample of 39 youth aged 9-12 years. Our data revealed that between-subject differences in task performance was predicted by load-dependent deactivation in default network regions, including the ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Although load-dependent increases in activation in prefrontal and posterior parietal regions were only weakly correlated with performance, increased prefrontal-parietal coupling was associated with better performance. Furthermore, behavioral measures of executive function from as early as age 3 predicted current load-dependent deactivation in vACC and PCC. These findings suggest that both task positive and task negative brain activation during spatial working memory contributed to successful task performance in late childhood/early adolescence. This may serve as a good model for studying executive control deficits in developmental disorders. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  4. Are Psychotic Experiences Related to Poorer Reflective Reasoning?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin J. Mækelæ

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: Cognitive biases play an important role in the formation and maintenance of delusions. These biases are indicators of a weak reflective mind, or reduced engaging in reflective and deliberate reasoning. In three experiments, we tested whether a bias to accept non-sense statements as profound, treat metaphorical statements as literal, and suppress intuitive responses is related to psychotic-like experiences.Methods: We tested deliberate reasoning and psychotic-like experiences in the general population and in patients with a former psychotic episode. Deliberate reasoning was assessed with the bullshit receptivity scale, the ontological confabulation scale and the cognitive reflection test (CRT. We also measured algorithmic performance with the Berlin numeracy test and the wordsum test. Psychotic-like experiences were measured with the Community Assessment of Psychic Experience (CAPE-42 scale.Results: Psychotic-like experiences were positively correlated with a larger receptivity toward bullshit, more ontological confabulations, and also a lower score on the CRT but not with algorithmic task performance. In the patient group higher psychotic-like experiences significantly correlated with higher bullshit receptivity.Conclusion: Reduced deliberate reasoning may contribute to the formation of delusions, and be a general thinking bias largely independent of a person's general intelligence. Acceptance of bullshit may be facilitated the more positive symptoms a patient has, contributing to the maintenance of the delusions.

  5. Moral reasoning in women with posttraumatic stress disorder related to childhood abuse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nazarov, Anthony; Walaszczyk, Victoria; Frewen, Paul; Oremus, Carolina; Lanius, Ruth; McKinnon, Margaret C

    2016-01-01

    Preliminary evidence suggests that relative to healthy controls, patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) show deficits on several inter-related social cognitive tasks, including theory of mind, and emotion comprehension. Systematic investigations examining other aspects of social cognition, including moral reasoning, have not been conducted in PTSD stemming from childhood trauma. To conduct a comprehensive assessment of moral reasoning performance in individuals with PTSD stemming from childhood abuse. Moral reasoning performance was assessed in 28 women with PTSD related to prolonged childhood trauma and 19 matched healthy controls. Performance was assessed using 12 modified moral dilemmas and was queried in three domains: utilitarian/deontological sacrificial dilemmas (personal and impersonal), social order vs. compassion, and altruism vs. self-interest. Participants were asked whether a proposed action was morally acceptable or unacceptable and whether or not they would perform this action under the circumstances described. Women with PTSD were less likely to carry out utilitarian actions in personal, sacrificial moral dilemmas, a choice driven primarily by consequential intrapersonal disapproval. Increased concern regarding intrapersonal disapproval was related to higher symptoms of guilt in the PTSD group. Patients with PTSD demonstrated less altruistic moral reasoning, primarily associated with decreased empathic role-taking for beneficiaries. Women with PTSD due to childhood trauma show alterations in moral reasoning marked by decreased utilitarian judgment and decreased altruism. Childhood trauma may continue to impact moral choices made into adulthood.

  6. Logical Reasoning Abilities of Junior High School Students in the Province of Cotabato, Philippines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul John B. Ongcoy

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Reasoning abilities of the learners and its development was well-discussed in the world of education. The higher the ability of the person to reason abstractly, the higher the probability that a person will effectively function in the society. Thus, it is the main goal of the K-12 Curriculum of the Department of Education to improve the reasoning abilities and formal reasoning among students in the country. The higher the reasoning ability of a person, the more productive he is. The ability of logical reasoning has an essential function in the academic performance of students and their construction of the concepts. This study aimed to determine the logical reasoning abilities of 150 randomly selected junior high school students. Specifically, this study aimed to determine the logical reasoning abilities namely combinatorial reasoning, controlling variables, correlation reasoning, probabilistic reasoning and proportional reasoning among the grade 10 junior high school students and determine whether there is a significant difference in students’ logical reasoning abilities according to their gender. The respondents answered the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT. Thirty respondents were interviewed to verify their answers. The findings of the study led to the following conclusions: most students correctly answered problems in probabilistic reasoning and least number of students correctly answered problems in proportional reasoning and combinatorial reasoning and, male and female respondents have equal performances in problems pertaining to combinatorial reasoning, controlling variables, correlational reasoning and probabilistic reasoning but female respondents are better in proportional reasoning than the male respondents.

  7. Relationship between spatial working memory performance and diet specialization in two sympatric nectar bats.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mickaël Henry

    Full Text Available Behavioural ecologists increasingly recognise spatial memory as one the most influential cognitive traits involved in evolutionary processes. In particular, spatial working memory (SWM, i.e. the ability of animals to store temporarily useful information for current foraging tasks, determines the foraging efficiency of individuals. As a consequence, SWM also has the potential to influence competitive abilities and to affect patterns of sympatric occurrence among closely related species. The present study aims at comparing the efficiency of SWM between generalist (Glossophaga soricina and specialist (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae nectarivorous bats at flowering patches. The two species differ in diet--the generalist diet including seasonally fruits and insects with nectar and pollen while the specialist diet is dominated by nectar and pollen yearlong--and in some morphological traits--the specialist being heavier and with proportionally longer rostrum than the generalist. These bats are found sympatrically within part of their range in the Neotropics. We habituated captive individuals to feed on artificial flower patches and we used infrared video recordings to monitor their ability to remember and avoid the spatial location of flowers they emptied in previous visits in the course of 15-min foraging sequences. Experiments revealed that both species rely on SWM as their foraging success attained significantly greater values than random expectations. However, the nectar specialist L. yerbabuenae was significantly more efficient at extracting nectar (+28% in foraging success, and sustained longer foraging bouts (+27% in length of efficient foraging sequences than the generalist G. soricina. These contrasting SWM performances are discussed in relation to diet specialization and other life history traits.

  8. Spatial evolution equation of wind wave growth

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    WANG; Wei; (王; 伟); SUN; Fu; (孙; 孚); DAI; Dejun; (戴德君)

    2003-01-01

    Based on the dynamic essence of air-sea interactions, a feedback type of spatial evolution equation is suggested to match reasonably the growing process of wind waves. This simple equation involving the dominant factors of wind wave growth is able to explain the transfer of energy from high to low frequencies without introducing the concept of nonlinear wave-wave interactions, and the results agree well with observations. The rate of wave height growth derived in this dissertation is applicable to both laboratory and open sea, which solidifies the physical basis of using laboratory experiments to investigate the generation of wind waves. Thus the proposed spatial evolution equation provides a new approach for the research on dynamic mechanism of air-sea interactions and wind wave prediction.

  9. Internal Structure and Partial Invariance across Gender in the Spanish Version of the Reasoning Test Battery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elosua, Paula; Mujika, Josu

    2015-10-13

    The Reasoning Test Battery (BPR) is an instrument built on theories of the hierarchical organization of cognitive abilities and therefore consists of different tasks related with abstract, numerical, verbal, practical, spatial and mechanical reasoning. It was originally created in Belgium and later adapted to Portuguese. There are three forms of the battery consisting of different items and scales which cover an age range from 9 to 22. This paper focuses on the adaptation of the BPR to Spanish, and analyzes different aspects of its internal structure: (a) exploratory item factor analysis was applied to assess the presence of a dominant factor for each partial scale; (b) the general underlined model was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis, and (c) factorial invariance across gender was studied. The sample consisted of 2624 Spanish students. The results concluded the presence of a general factor beyond the scales, with equivalent values for men and women, and gender differences in the factorial structure which affect the numerical reasoning, abstract reasoning and mechanical reasoning scales.

  10. Registered nurses' clinical reasoning skills and reasoning process: A think-aloud study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, JuHee; Lee, Young Joo; Bae, JuYeon; Seo, Minjeong

    2016-11-01

    As complex chronic diseases are increasing, nurses' prompt and accurate clinical reasoning skills are essential. However, little is known about the reasoning skills of registered nurses. This study aimed to determine how registered nurses use their clinical reasoning skills and to identify how the reasoning process proceeds in the complex clinical situation of hospital setting. A qualitative exploratory design was used with a think-aloud method. A total of 13 registered nurses (mean years of experience=11.4) participated in the study, solving an ill-structured clinical problem based on complex chronic patients cases in a hospital setting. Data were analyzed using deductive content analysis. Findings showed that the registered nurses used a variety of clinical reasoning skills. The most commonly used skill was 'checking accuracy and reliability.' The reasoning process of registered nurses covered assessment, analysis, diagnosis, planning/implementation, and evaluation phase. It is critical that registered nurses apply appropriate clinical reasoning skills in complex clinical practice. The main focus of registered nurses' reasoning in this study was assessing a patient's health problem, and their reasoning process was cyclic, rather than linear. There is a need for educational strategy development to enhance registered nurses' competency in determining appropriate interventions in a timely and accurate fashion. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Load-related brain activation predicts spatial working memory performance in youth aged 9–12 and is associated with executive function at earlier ages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Anna S.; Klein, Daniel N.; Leung, Hoi-Chung

    2015-01-01

    Spatial working memory is a central cognitive process that matures through adolescence in conjunction with major changes in brain function and anatomy. Here we focused on late childhood and early adolescence to more closely examine the neural correlates of performance variability during this important transition period. Using a modified spatial 1-back task with two memory load conditions in an fMRI study, we examined the relationship between load-dependent neural responses and task performance in a sample of 39 youth aged 9–12 years. Our data revealed that between-subject differences in task performance was predicted by load-dependent deactivation in default network regions, including the ventral anterior cingulate cortex (vACC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Although load-dependent increases in activation in prefrontal and posterior parietal regions were only weakly correlated with performance, increased prefrontal-parietal coupling was associated with better performance. Furthermore, behavioral measures of executive function from as early as age 3 predicted current load-dependent deactivation in vACC and PCC. These findings suggest that both task positive and task negative brain activation during spatial working memory contributed to successful task performance in late childhood/early adolescence. This may serve as a good model for studying executive control deficits in developmental disorders. PMID:26562059

  12. Effects of Uncertainty and Spatial Variability on Seepage into Drifts in the Yucca Mountain Total system Performance Assessment Model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kalinich, D. A.; Wilson, M. L.

    2001-01-01

    Seepage into the repository drifts is an important factor in total-system performance. Uncertainty and spatial variability are considered in the seepage calculations. The base-case results show 13.6% of the waste packages (WPs) have seepage. For 5th percentile uncertainty, 4.5% of the WPs have seepage and the seepage flow decreased by a factor of 2. For 95th percentile uncertainty, 21.5% of the WPs have seepage and the seepage flow increased by a factor of 2. Ignoring spatial variability resulted in seepage on 100% of the WPs, with a factor of 3 increase in the seepage flow

  13. Memory, reasoning, and categorization: parallels and common mechanisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayes, Brett K; Heit, Evan; Rotello, Caren M

    2014-01-01

    Traditionally, memory, reasoning, and categorization have been treated as separate components of human cognition. We challenge this distinction, arguing that there is broad scope for crossover between the methods and theories developed for each task. The links between memory and reasoning are illustrated in a review of two lines of research. The first takes theoretical ideas (two-process accounts) and methodological tools (signal detection analysis, receiver operating characteristic curves) from memory research and applies them to important issues in reasoning research: relations between induction and deduction, and the belief bias effect. The second line of research introduces a task in which subjects make either memory or reasoning judgments for the same set of stimuli. Other than broader generalization for reasoning than memory, the results were similar for the two tasks, across a variety of experimental stimuli and manipulations. It was possible to simultaneously explain performance on both tasks within a single cognitive architecture, based on exemplar-based comparisons of similarity. The final sections explore evidence for empirical and processing links between inductive reasoning and categorization and between categorization and recognition. An important implication is that progress in all three of these fields will be expedited by further investigation of the many commonalities between these tasks.

  14. Memory, reasoning and categorization: Parallels and common mechanisms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    BRETT eHAYES

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Traditionally, memory, reasoning and categorization have been treated as separate components of human cognition. We challenge this distinction, arguing that there is broad scope for crossover between the methods and theories developed for each task. The links between memory and reasoning are illustrated in a review of two lines of research. The first takes theoretical ideas (two-process accounts and methodological tools (signal detection analysis, receiver operating characteristic curves from memory research and applies them to important issues in reasoning research: relations between induction and deduction, and the belief bias effect. The second line of research introduces a task in which subjects make either memory or reasoning judgments for the same set of stimuli. Other than broader generalization for reasoning than memory, the results were similar for the two tasks, across a variety of experimental stimuli and manipulations. It was possible to simultaneously explain performance on both tasks within a single cognitive architecture, based on exemplar-based comparisons of similarity. The final sections explore evidence for empirical and processing links between inductive reasoning and categorization and between categorization and recognition. An important implication is that progress in all three of these fields will be expedited by further investigation of the many commonalities between these tasks.

  15. Stereotypical Reasoning: Logical Properties

    OpenAIRE

    Lehmann, Daniel

    2002-01-01

    Stereotypical reasoning assumes that the situation at hand is one of a kind and that it enjoys the properties generally associated with that kind of situation. It is one of the most basic forms of nonmonotonic reasoning. A formal model for stereotypical reasoning is proposed and the logical properties of this form of reasoning are studied. Stereotypical reasoning is shown to be cumulative under weak assumptions.

  16. Nearest neighbor imputation using spatial-temporal correlations in wireless sensor networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, YuanYuan; Parker, Lynne E

    2014-01-01

    Missing data is common in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), especially with multi-hop communications. There are many reasons for this phenomenon, such as unstable wireless communications, synchronization issues, and unreliable sensors. Unfortunately, missing data creates a number of problems for WSNs. First, since most sensor nodes in the network are battery-powered, it is too expensive to have the nodes retransmit missing data across the network. Data re-transmission may also cause time delays when detecting abnormal changes in an environment. Furthermore, localized reasoning techniques on sensor nodes (such as machine learning algorithms to classify states of the environment) are generally not robust enough to handle missing data. Since sensor data collected by a WSN is generally correlated in time and space, we illustrate how replacing missing sensor values with spatially and temporally correlated sensor values can significantly improve the network's performance. However, our studies show that it is important to determine which nodes are spatially and temporally correlated with each other. Simple techniques based on Euclidean distance are not sufficient for complex environmental deployments. Thus, we have developed a novel Nearest Neighbor (NN) imputation method that estimates missing data in WSNs by learning spatial and temporal correlations between sensor nodes. To improve the search time, we utilize a k d-tree data structure, which is a non-parametric, data-driven binary search tree. Instead of using traditional mean and variance of each dimension for k d-tree construction, and Euclidean distance for k d-tree search, we use weighted variances and weighted Euclidean distances based on measured percentages of missing data. We have evaluated this approach through experiments on sensor data from a volcano dataset collected by a network of Crossbow motes, as well as experiments using sensor data from a highway traffic monitoring application. Our experimental

  17. Reasons for the variability of the climate sensitivity parameter regarding spatially inhomogeneous ozone perturbation; Ursachen der Variabilitaet des Klimasensitivitaetsparameters fuer raeumlich inhomogene Ozonstoerungen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stuber, N.

    2003-07-01

    A reduction of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions is a condition precedent for implementing the framework convention on climate change. ''Metrics'' allow for a comparison of different emissions with regard to their potential effects on global climate and, hence, are a prerequisite for political decisions. Currently ''radiative forcing'' is the most common metric: Global, annual mean radiative forcing resulting from some perturbation of the climate system is proportional to equilibrium surface temperature response. The coefficient of proportionality, {lambda}, is called the ''climate sensitivity parameter''. However, several studies have indicated that for spatially inhomogeneous perturbations {lambda} can no longer be regarded as a constant. This doctoral thesis examines the reasons for the non-linear relationship between radiative forcing and climate response. The response to several idealized ozone perturbations has been analysed. The equilibrium response of some radiatively relevant parameters features a characteristic signature, implying that the respective feedback mechanisms act quite differently in the various experiments. Accordingly, equality of radiative forcing is not sufficient to guarantee comparability of the gross effect of all feedback mechanisms. Analysis shows that the variability of {lambda} is largely due to the very different strength of stratospheric water vapor and sea-ice albedo feedback for the various experiments. (orig.)

  18. Clinical reasoning of nursing students on clinical placement: Clinical educators' perceptions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, Sharyn; Arthur, Carol

    2016-05-01

    Graduate nurses may have knowledge and adequate clinical psychomotor skills however they have been identified as lacking the clinical reasoning skills to deliver safe, effective care suggesting contemporary educational approaches do not always facilitate the development of nursing students' clinical reasoning. While nursing literature explicates the concept of clinical reasoning and develops models that demonstrate clinical reasoning, there is very little published about nursing students and clinical reasoning during clinical placements. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten clinical educators to gain an understanding of how they recognised, developed and appraised nursing students' clinical reasoning while on clinical placement. This study found variability in the clinical educators' conceptualisation, recognition, and facilitation of students' clinical reasoning. Although most of the clinical educators conceptualised clinical reasoning as a process those who did not demonstrated the greatest variability in the recognition and facilitation of students' clinical reasoning. The clinical educators in this study also described being unable to adequately appraise a student's clinical reasoning during clinical placement with the use of the current performance assessment tool. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Spatial and Temporal Wind Power Forecasting by Case-Based Reasoning Using Big-Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabrizio De Caro

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The massive penetration of wind generators in electrical power systems asks for effective wind power forecasting tools, which should be high reliable, in order to mitigate the effects of the uncertain generation profiles, and fast enough to enhance power system operation. To address these two conflicting objectives, this paper advocates the role of knowledge discovery from big-data, by proposing the integration of adaptive Case Based Reasoning models, and cardinality reduction techniques based on Partial Least Squares Regression, and Principal Component Analysis. The main idea is to learn from a large database of historical climatic observations, how to solve the windforecasting problem, avoiding complex and time-consuming computations. To assess the benefits derived by the application of the proposed methodology in complex application scenarios, the experimental results obtained in a real case study will be presented and discussed.

  20. Clinical reasoning in neurology: use of the repertory grid technique to investigate the reasoning of an experienced occupational therapist.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuipers, Kathy; Grice, James W

    2009-08-01

    The aim of this paper is to describe the use of a structured interview methodology, the repertory grid technique, for investigating the clinical reasoning of an experienced occupational therapist in the domain of upper limb hypertonia as a result of brain injury. Repertory grid interviews were completed before and after exposure to a protocol designed to guide clinical reasoning and decision-making in relation to upper limb neurological rehabilitation. Data were subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Qualitative analysis focussed on clinical reasoning content. Common themes across the pre- and post-exposure interviews were the use of theoretical frameworks and practice models, the significance of clinical expertise, and discrimination of 'broad' and 'specific' aspects, as well as differentiation between 'therapist and client-related' aspects of the clinical situation. Quantitative analysis indicated that for both pre- and post-exposure repertory grids, clinical reasoning was structured in terms of two main concepts. In the pre-exposure grid, these were related to the therapist's role, and to the 'scope' of practice tasks (either broad or specific). In the post-exposure grid the two main concepts were upper limb performance, and client-centred aspects of the therapy process. The repertory grid technique is proposed as an effective tool for exploring occupational therapy clinical reasoning, based on its capacity for accessing personal frames of reference, and elucidating both the meaning and the structure supporting clinical reasoning.

  1. The Roles of Experience, Gender, and Individual Differences in Statistical Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Nadia; Hughes, Jeffrey; Fugelsang, Jonathan

    2017-01-01

    We examine the joint effects of gender and experience on statistical reasoning. Participants with various levels of experience in statistics completed the Statistical Reasoning Assessment (Garfield, 2003), along with individual difference measures assessing cognitive ability and thinking dispositions. Although the performance of both genders…

  2. Mental Fatigue and Spatial References Impair Soccer Players' Physical and Tactical Performances

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diogo Coutinho

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This study examined the effects of mental fatigue and additional corridor and pitch sector lines on players' physical and tactical performances during soccer small-sided games. Twelve youth players performed four Gk+6vs6+Gk small-sided games. Prior to the game, one team performed a motor coordination task to induce mental fatigue, while the other one performed a control task. A repeated measures design allowed to compare players' performances across four conditions: (a with mental fatigue against opponents without mental fatigue in a normal pitch (MEN, (b with mental fatigue on a pitch with additional reference lines (#MEN; (c without mental fatigue against mentally fatigued opponents on a normal pitch (CTR; and (d without mental fatigue on a pitch with reference lines (#CTR. Player's physical performance was assessed by the distance covered per minute and the number of accelerations and decelerations (0.5–3.0 m/s2; > −3.0 m/s2. Positional data was used to determine individual (spatial exploration index, time synchronized in longitudinal and lateral directions and team-related variables (length, width, speed of dispersion and contraction. Unclear effects were found for the physical activity measures in most of the conditions. There was a small decrease in time spent laterally synchronized and a moderate decrease in the contraction speed when MEN compared to the CTR. Also, there was a small decrease in the time spent longitudinally synchronized during the #MEN condition compared to MEN. The results showed that mental fatigue affects the ability to use environmental information and players' positioning, while the additional reference lines may have enhanced the use of less relevant information to guide their actions during the #MEN condition. Overall, coaches could manipulate the mental fatigue and reference lines to induce variability and adaptation in young soccer players' behavior.

  3. Assessing Use of Cognitive Heuristic Representativeness in Clinical Reasoning

    OpenAIRE

    Payne, Velma L.; Crowley, Rebecca S.

    2008-01-01

    We performed a pilot study to investigate use of the cognitive heuristic Representativeness in clinical reasoning. We tested a set of tasks and assessments to determine whether subjects used the heuristics in reasoning, to obtain initial frequencies of heuristic use and related cognitive errors, and to collect cognitive process data using think-aloud techniques. The study investigates two aspects of the Representativeness heuristic - judging by perceived frequency and representativeness as ca...

  4. Analysis of students’ mathematical reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sukirwan; Darhim; Herman, T.

    2018-01-01

    The reasoning is one of the mathematical abilities that have very complex implications. This complexity causes reasoning including abilities that are not easily attainable by students. Similarly, studies dealing with reason are quite diverse, primarily concerned with the quality of mathematical reasoning. The objective of this study was to determine the quality of mathematical reasoning based perspective Lithner. Lithner looked at how the environment affects the mathematical reasoning. In this regard, Lithner made two perspectives, namely imitative reasoning and creative reasoning. Imitative reasoning can be memorized and algorithmic reasoning. The Result study shows that although the students generally still have problems in reasoning. Students tend to be on imitative reasoning which means that students tend to use a routine procedure when dealing with reasoning. It is also shown that the traditional approach still dominates on the situation of students’ daily learning.

  5. Assessment of Spatial Navigation and Docking Performance During Simulated Rover Tasks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, S. J.; Dean, S. L.; De Dios, Y. E.; Moore, S. T.

    2010-01-01

    INTRODUCTION: Following long-duration exploration transits, pressurized rovers will enhance surface mobility to explore multiple sites across Mars and other planetary bodies. Multiple rovers with docking capabilities are envisioned to expand the range of exploration. However, adaptive changes in sensorimotor and cognitive function may impair the crew s ability to safely navigate and perform docking tasks shortly after transition to the new gravitoinertial environment. The primary goal of this investigation is to quantify post-flight decrements in spatial navigation and docking performance during a rover simulation. METHODS: Eight crewmembers returning from the International Space Station will be tested on a motion simulator during four pre-flight and three post-flight sessions over the first 8 days following landing. The rover simulation consists of a serial presentation of discrete tasks to be completed within a scheduled 10 min block. The tasks are based on navigating around a Martian outpost spread over a 970 sq m terrain. Each task is subdivided into three components to be performed as quickly and accurately as possible: (1) Perspective taking: Subjects use a joystick to indicate direction of target after presentation of a map detailing current orientation and location of the rover with the task to be performed. (2) Navigation: Subjects drive the rover to the desired location while avoiding obstacles. (3) Docking: Fine positioning of the rover is required to dock with another object or align a camera view. Overall operator proficiency will be based on how many tasks the crewmember can complete during the 10 min time block. EXPECTED RESULTS: Functionally relevant testing early post-flight will develop evidence regarding the limitations to early surface operations and what countermeasures are needed. This approach can be easily adapted to a wide variety of simulated vehicle designs to provide sensorimotor assessments for other operational and civilian populations.

  6. Common brain areas engaged in false belief reasoning and visual perspective taking: A meta-analysis of functional brain imaging studies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthias eSchurz

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available We performed a quantitative meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies to identify brain areas which are commonly engaged in social and visuo-spatial perspective taking. Specifically, we compared brain activation found for visual-perspective taking to activation for false belief reasoning, a task which requires awareness of perspective to understand someone’s mistaken belief about the world which contrasts with reality. In support of a previous account by Perner & Leekam (2008, a meta-analytic conjunction analysis found activation for false belief reasoning and visual perspective taking in the left but not the right dorsal temporo-parietal junction. This fits with the idea that the left dorsal TPJ is responsible for representing different perspectives in a domain-general fashion. Moreover, the conjunction found activation in the precuneus and the left middle occipital gyrus close to the putative Extrastriate Body Area. The precuneus is linked to mental-imagery processes, which may aid in the construction of a different perspective. The Extrastriate Body Area may be engaged due to imagined body-transformations when another’s viewpoint is adopted.

  7. Sex effects on spatial learning but not on spatial memory retrieval in healthy young adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piber, Dominique; Nowacki, Jan; Mueller, Sven C; Wingenfeld, Katja; Otte, Christian

    2018-01-15

    Sex differences have been found in spatial learning and spatial memory, with several studies indicating that males outperform females. We tested in the virtual Morris Water Maze (vMWM) task, whether sex differences in spatial cognitive processes are attributable to differences in spatial learning or spatial memory retrieval in a large student sample. We tested 90 healthy students (45 women and 45 men) with a mean age of 23.5 years (SD=3.5). Spatial learning and spatial memory retrieval were measured by using the vMWM task, during which participants had to search a virtual pool for a hidden platform, facilitated by visual cues surrounding the pool. Several learning trials assessed spatial learning, while a separate probe trial assessed spatial memory retrieval. We found a significant sex effect during spatial learning, with males showing shorter latency and shorter path length, as compared to females (all pretrieval (p=0.615). Furthermore, post-hoc analyses revealed significant sex differences in spatial search strategies (pretrieval. Our study raises the question, whether men and women use different learning strategies, which nevertheless result in equal performances of spatial memory retrieval. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Reasoning in Design: Idea Generation Condition Effects on Reasoning Processes and Evaluation of Ideas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cramer-Petersen, Claus Lundgaard; Ahmed-Kristensen, Saeema

    2015-01-01

    to investigate idea generation sessions of two industry cases. Reasoning was found to appear in sequences of alternating reasoning types where the initiating reasoning type was decisive. The study found that abductive reasoning led to more radical ideas, whereas deductive reasoning led to ideas being for project...... requirements, but having a higher proportion being rejected as not valuable. The study sheds light on the conditions that promote these reasoning types. The study is one of the first of its kind and advances an understanding of reasoning in design by empirical means and suggests a relationship between......Reasoning is at the core of design activity and thinking. Thus, understanding and explaining reasoning in design is fundamental to understand and support design practice. This paper investigates reasoning in design and its relationship to varying foci at the stage of idea generation and subsequent...

  9. Reasons for change - Today's material management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guilbeault, B.D.; Bargerstock, S.B.

    1992-01-01

    The current generation of nuclear power plants is approaching middle age. The industry continues to stabilize and mature as this occurs, which creates new areas of focus. This evolution is placing a much greater emphases on the business aspects of the operation and maintenance functions. One area that can provide a reasonable return to the operating organizations is materials management. Florida Power and Light Company has experienced these reasons for change. A new department was formed as part of the Nuclear Division in 1990. Performance improvement tasks were established using goals and objectives consistent with plant support and business requirements. Two of the primary processes within the materials management area control the largest portion of costs to operating budgets: the procurement process and inventory management

  10. Inability to acquire spatial information and deploy spatial search strategies in mice with lesions in dorsomedial striatum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pooters, Tine; Gantois, Ilse; Vermaercke, Ben; D'Hooge, Rudi

    2016-02-01

    Dorsal striatum has been shown to contribute to spatial learning and memory, but the role of striatal subregions in this important aspect of cognitive functioning remains unclear. Moreover, the spatial-cognitive mechanisms that underlie the involvement of these regions in spatial navigation have scarcely been studied. We therefore compared spatial learning and memory performance in mice with lesions in dorsomedial (DMS) and dorsolateral striatum (DLS) using the hidden-platform version of the Morris water maze (MWM) task. Compared to sham-operated controls, animals with DMS damage were impaired during MWM acquisition training. These mice displayed delayed spatial learning, increased thigmotaxis, and increased search distance to the platform, in the absence of major motor dysfunction, working memory defects or changes in anxiety or exploration. They failed to show a preference for the target quadrant during probe trials, which further indicates that spatial reference memory was impaired in these animals. Search strategy analysis moreover demonstrated that DMS-lesioned mice were unable to deploy cognitively advanced spatial search strategies. Conversely, MWM performance was barely affected in animals with lesions in DLS. In conclusion, our results indicate that DMS and DLS display differential functional involvement in spatial learning and memory. Our results show that DMS, but not DLS, is crucial for the ability of mice to acquire spatial information and their subsequent deployment of spatial search strategies. These data clearly identify DMS as a crucial brain structure for spatial learning and memory, which could explain the occurrence of neurocognitive impairments in brain disorders that affect the dorsal striatum. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Laser correlation velocimetry performance in diesel applications: spatial selectivity and velocity sensitivity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hespel, Camille [Universite d' Orleans, Laboratoire PRISME, Orleans (France); Blaisot, Jean-Bernard; Gazon, Matthieu; Godard, Gilles [CORIA, UMR 6614, CNRS, Universite et INSA de Rouen, Saint Etienne du Rouvray (France)

    2012-07-15

    The characterization of diesel jets in the near field of the nozzle exit still presents challenges for experimenters. Detailed velocity measurements are needed to characterize diesel injector performance and also to establish boundary conditions for CFD codes. The present article examines the efficiency of laser correlation velocimetry (LCV) applied to diesel spray characterization. A new optical configuration based on a long-distance microscope was tested, and special care was taken to examine the spatial selectivity of the technique. Results show that the depth of the measurement volume (along the laser beam) of LCV extends beyond the depth of field of the imaging setup. The LCV results were also found to be particularly sensitive to high-speed elements of a spray. Results from high-pressure diesel jets in a back-pressure environment indicate that this technique is particularly suited to the very near field of the nozzle exit, where the flow is the narrowest and where the velocity distribution is not too large. It is also shown that the performance of the LCV technique is controlled by the filtering and windowing parameters used in the processing of the raw signals. (orig.)

  12. Laser correlation velocimetry performance in diesel applications: spatial selectivity and velocity sensitivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hespel, Camille; Blaisot, Jean-Bernard; Gazon, Matthieu; Godard, Gilles

    2012-07-01

    The characterization of diesel jets in the near field of the nozzle exit still presents challenges for experimenters. Detailed velocity measurements are needed to characterize diesel injector performance and also to establish boundary conditions for CFD codes. The present article examines the efficiency of laser correlation velocimetry (LCV) applied to diesel spray characterization. A new optical configuration based on a long-distance microscope was tested, and special care was taken to examine the spatial selectivity of the technique. Results show that the depth of the measurement volume (along the laser beam) of LCV extends beyond the depth of field of the imaging setup. The LCV results were also found to be particularly sensitive to high-speed elements of a spray. Results from high-pressure diesel jets in a back-pressure environment indicate that this technique is particularly suited to the very near field of the nozzle exit, where the flow is the narrowest and where the velocity distribution is not too large. It is also shown that the performance of the LCV technique is controlled by the filtering and windowing parameters used in the processing of the raw signals.

  13. Mental map and spatial thinking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanzella Castellar, Sonia Maria; Cristiane Strina Juliasz, Paula

    2018-05-01

    The spatial thinking is a central concept in our researches at the Faculty of Education of University of São Paulo (FE-USP). The cartography is fundamental to this kind of thinking, because it contributes to the development of the representation of space. The spatial representations are the drawings - mental maps - maps, chart, aerial photos, satellite images, graphics and diagrams. To think spatially - including the contents and concepts geographical and their representations - also corresponds to reason, defined by the skills the individual develops to understand the structure, function of a space, and describe your organization and relation to other spaces. The aim of this paper is to analyze the role of mental maps in the development of concepts of city and landscape - structuring concepts for school geography. The purpose is to analyze how students in Geography and Pedagogy - future teachers - and young children in Early Childhood Education think, feel, and appropriate these concepts. The analys is indicates the importance of developing mental map in activities with pedagogy and geography graduate student to know that students at school can be producers of maps. Cartography is a language and allows the student to develop the spatial and temporal relationships and notions such as orientation, distance and location, learning the concepts of geographical science. Mental maps present the basic features of the location such as the conditions - the features verified in one place - and the connections that is to understand how this place connects to other places.

  14. Impact of Mutual Coupling and Polarization of Antennas on BER Performances of Spatial Multiplexing MIMO Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianfeng Zheng

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper is aimed at studying the impacts of mutual coupling, matching networks, and polarization of antennas on performances of Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO systems employing Spatial Multiplexing (SM. In particular, the uncoded average Bit Error Rate (BER of MIMO systems is investigated. An accurate signal analysis framework based on circuit network parameters is presented to describe the transmit/receive characteristics of the matched/unmatched antenna array. The studied arrays consist of matched/unmatched compact copolarization and polarization diversity antenna array. Monte-Carlo numerical simulations are used to study the BER performances of the SM MIMO systems using maximum-likelihood and/or zero-forcing detection schemes. The simulation results demonstrate that the use of matching networks can improve the BER performance of SM MIMO systems significantly, and the BER performance deterioration due to antenna orientation randomness can be compensated by use of polarization diversity antenna arrays.

  15. The potential of diffraction grating for spatial applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jourlin, Y.; Parriaux, O.; Pigeon, F.; Tischenko, A. V.

    2017-11-01

    Diffraction gratings are know, and have been fabricated for more than one century. They are now making a come back for two reasons: first, because they are now better understood which leads to the efficient exploitation of what was then called their "anomalies"; secondly, because they are now fabricable by means of the modern manufacturing potential of planar technologies. Novel grating can now perform better than conventional gratings, and address new application fields which were not expected to be theirs. This is the case of spatial applications where they can offer multiple optical functions, low size, low weight and mechanical robustness. The proposed contribution will briefly discuss the use of gratings for spatial applications. One of the most important applications is in the measurement of displacement. Usual translation and rotation sensors are bulky devices, which impose a system breakdown leading to cumbersome and heavy assemblies. We are proposing a miniaturized version of the traditional moving grating technique using submicron gratings and a specific OptoASIC which enables the measurement function to be non-obtrusively inserted into light and compact electro-mechanical systems. Nanometer resolution is possible with no compromise on the length of the measurement range. Another family of spatial application is in the field of spectrometers where new grating types allow a more flexible processing of the optical spectrum. Another family of applications addresses the question of inter-satellite communications: the introduction of gratings in laser cavities or in the laser mirrors enables the stabilization of the emitted polarization, the stabilization of the frequency as well as wide range frequency sweeping without mobile parts.

  16. A new characterization procedure for computed radiography performance levels based on EPS, SNR and basic spatial resolution measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ewert, Uwe; Zscherpel, Uwe; Baer, Sylke

    2016-01-01

    The standards EN 14784-1:2005 and ISO 16371-1:2011 describe the classification of Computed Radiography systems for industrial applications. After 10 years of classification experience, it can be concluded that all certified NDT CR systems achieve the best classification result: IP 1. The measured basic spatial resolution is different depending on the manufacturer's brand and the IP used. Therefore, a revision was recommended to obtain a better gradation for the different brands. Users in USA and Europe classify the CR systems based on different parameters. Consequently, a new revision of ASTM E 2446-15 was finalized in 2015, which describes the characterization of CR systems based on CR performance levels. The key parameters are the normalized Signal to Noise Ratio (SNRN), the interpolated basic spatial resolution (iSR b detector ) and the achieved equivalent penetrameter sensitivity (aEPS). A series of further tests is required for complete characterization by manufacturers or certifying laboratories. This includes e.g.: geometric distortion, laser jitter, PMT non-linearity, scanner slippage, shading or banding, erasure, burn-In, spatial linearity, artefacts, imaging plate response variation and imaging plate fading. ASTM E 2445-15 describes several tests, for users to perform periodic quality assurance. The measurement procedures are described and the resulting values as CR speed, achieved contrast sensitivity and efficiency are discussed. The results will be presented graphically in a spider net graph in the qualification/certification statement. A revision of the related CEN and ISO standards is discussed.

  17. Strengthening moral reasoning through dedicated ethics training in dietetic preparatory programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hewko, Sarah J; Cooper, Sarah L; Cummings, Greta G

    2015-01-01

    Moral reasoning skills, associated with the ability to make ethical decisions effectively, must be purposively fostered. Among health professionals, enhanced moral reasoning is linked to superior clinical performance. Research demonstrates that moral reasoning is enhanced through dedicated, discussion-based ethics education offered over a period of 3-12 weeks. Current dietetic students and practicing dietitians seeking to strengthen their moral reasoning skills can undertake elective ethics education. Further research within dietetic preparatory programs is warranted to better inform the development and implementation of ethics courses. Copyright © 2015 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Moral reasoning in women with posttraumatic stress disorder related to childhood abuse

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony Nazarov

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Background: Preliminary evidence suggests that relative to healthy controls, patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD show deficits on several inter-related social cognitive tasks, including theory of mind, and emotion comprehension. Systematic investigations examining other aspects of social cognition, including moral reasoning, have not been conducted in PTSD stemming from childhood trauma. Objective: To conduct a comprehensive assessment of moral reasoning performance in individuals with PTSD stemming from childhood abuse. Method: Moral reasoning performance was assessed in 28 women with PTSD related to prolonged childhood trauma and 19 matched healthy controls. Performance was assessed using 12 modified moral dilemmas and was queried in three domains: utilitarian/deontological sacrificial dilemmas (personal and impersonal, social order vs. compassion, and altruism vs. self-interest. Participants were asked whether a proposed action was morally acceptable or unacceptable and whether or not they would perform this action under the circumstances described. Results: Women with PTSD were less likely to carry out utilitarian actions in personal, sacrificial moral dilemmas, a choice driven primarily by consequential intrapersonal disapproval. Increased concern regarding intrapersonal disapproval was related to higher symptoms of guilt in the PTSD group. Patients with PTSD demonstrated less altruistic moral reasoning, primarily associated with decreased empathic role-taking for beneficiaries. Conclusions: Women with PTSD due to childhood trauma show alterations in moral reasoning marked by decreased utilitarian judgment and decreased altruism. Childhood trauma may continue to impact moral choices made into adulthood.

  19. The nature of advanced reasoning and science instruction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawson, Anton E.

    Although the development of reasoning is recognized as an important goal of science instruction, its nature remains somewhat of a mystery. This article discusses two key questions: Does formal thought constitute a structured whole? And what role does propositional logic play in advanced reasoning? Aspects of a model of advanced reasoning are presented in which hypothesis generation and testing are viewed as central processes in intellectual development. It is argued that a number of important advanced reasoning schemata are linked by these processes and should be made a part of science instruction designed to improve students' reasoning abilities.Concerning students' development and use of formal reasoning, Linn (1982) calls for research into practical issues such as the roles of task-specific knowledge and individual differences in performance, roles not emphasized by Piaget in his theory and research. From a science teacher's point of view, this is good advice. Accordingly, this article will expand upon some of the issues raised by Linn in a discussion of the nature of advanced reasoning which attempts to reconcile the apparent contradiction between students' differential use of advanced reasoning schemata in varying contexts with the notion of a general stage of formal thought. Two key questions will be discussed: Does formal thought constitute a structured whole? And what role does propositional logic play in advanced reasoning? The underlying assumption of the present discussion is that, among other things, science instruction should concern itself with the improvement of students' reasoning abilities (cf. Arons, 1976; Arons & Karplus, 1976; Bady, 1979; Bauman, 1976; Educational Policies Commission, 1966; Herron, 1978; Karplus, 1979; Kohlberg & Mayer, 1972; Moshman & Thompson, 1981; Lawson, 1979; Levine & linn, 1977; Pallrand, 1977; Renner & Lawson, 1973; Sayre & Ball, 1975; Schneider & Renner, 1980; Wollman, 1978). The questions are of interest because to

  20. [Reasons for exchange and explantation of intraocular lenses].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neuhann, I; Fleischer, F; Neuhann, T

    2012-08-01

    This study was performed to analyse the reasons for explantation/exchange of intraocular lenses (IOL), which had originally been implanted for the correction of aphakia during cataract extraction. All cases with IOL explantation, which had been performed at one institution between 1/2008 and 12/2009 were analysed retrospectively. A total of 105 eyes of 100 patients were analysed. The median time interval between implantation and explantation of the IOL was 5.9 years (min. 0, max. 29.6). The most frequent cause for the intervention was subluxation/dislocation of the implant in 55.2% of cases. This group comprised 21% of cases with subluxation within the capsular bag in pseudoexfoliation syndrome. Other reasons were optical problems/incorrect IOL power (21%), calcification of hydrophilic acrylic IOL (7.6%), corneal decompensation associated with an anterior chamber lens (4.8%), and single cases with varying problems. The reasons for IOL exchange presented in this study are comparable to those of other series in the literature. Explantations due to optical problems may gain weight in the future due to a rise in refractive procedures and demands. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  1. Deficits in analogical reasoning in adolescents with traumatic brain injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krawczyk, Daniel C; Hanten, Gerri; Wilde, Elisabeth A; Li, Xiaoqi; Schnelle, Kathleen P; Merkley, Tricia L; Vasquez, Ana C; Cook, Lori G; McClelland, Michelle; Chapman, Sandra B; Levin, Harvey S

    2010-01-01

    Individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) exhibit deficits in executive control, which may impact their reasoning abilities. Analogical reasoning requires working memory and inhibitory abilities. In this study, we tested adolescents with moderate to severe TBI and typically developing (TD) controls on a set of picture analogy problems. Three factors were varied: complexity (number of relations in the problems), distraction (distractor item present or absent), and animacy (living or non-living items in the problems). We found that TD adolescents performed significantly better overall than TBI adolescents. There was also an age effect present in the TBI group where older participants performed better than younger ones. This age effect was not observed in the TD group. Performance was affected by complexity and distraction. Further, TBI participants exhibited lower performance with distractors present than TD participants. The reasoning deficits exhibited by the TBI participants were correlated with measures of executive function that required working memory updating, attention, and attentional screening. Using MRI-derived measures of cortical thickness, correlations were carried out between task accuracy and cortical thickness. The TD adolescents showed negative correlations between thickness and task accuracy in frontal and temporal regions consistent with cortical maturation in these regions. This study demonstrates that adolescent TBI results in impairments in analogical reasoning ability. Further, TBI youth have difficulty effectively screening out distraction, which may lead to failures in comprehension of the relations among items in visual scenes. Lastly, TBI youth fail to show robust cortical-behavior correlations as observed in TD individuals.

  2. Deficits in analogical reasoning in adolescents with traumatic brain injury

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel C Krawczyk

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI exhibit deficits in executive control, which may impact their reasoning abilities. Analogical reasoning requires working memory and inhibitory abilities. In this study, we tested adolescents with moderate to severe TBI and typically-developing (TD controls on a set of picture analogy problems. Three factors were varied: complexity (number of relations in the problems, distraction (distractor item present or absent, and animacy (living or non-living items in the problems. We found that TD adolescents performed significantly better overall than TBI adolescents. There was also an age effect present in the TBI group where older participants performed better than younger ones. This age effect was not observed in the TD group. Performance was affected by complexity and distraction. Further, TBI participants exhibited lower performance with distractors present than TD participants. The reasoning deficits exhibited by the TBI participants were correlated with measures of executive function that required working memory updating, attention, and attentional screening. Using MRI-derived measures of cortical thickness, correlations were carried out between task accuracy and cortical thickness. The TD adolescents showed negative correlations between thickness and task accuracy in frontal and temporal regions consistent with cortical maturation in these regions. This study demonstrates that adolescent TBI results in impairments in analogical reasoning ability. Further, TBI youth have difficulty effectively screening out distraction, which may lead to failures in comprehension of the relations among items in visual scenes. Lastly, TBI youth fail to show robust cortical-behavior correlations as observed in TD individuals.

  3. Covariation of learning and "reasoning" abilities in mice: evolutionary conservation of the operations of intelligence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wass, Christopher; Denman-Brice, Alexander; Rios, Chris; Light, Kenneth R; Kolata, Stefan; Smith, Andrew M; Matzel, Louis D

    2012-04-01

    Contemporary descriptions of human intelligence hold that this trait influences a broad range of cognitive abilities, including learning, attention, and reasoning. Like humans, individual genetically heterogeneous mice express a "general" cognitive trait that influences performance across a diverse array of learning and attentional tasks, and it has been suggested that this trait is qualitatively and structurally analogous to general intelligence in humans. However, the hallmark of human intelligence is the ability to use various forms of "reasoning" to support solutions to novel problems. Here, we find that genetically heterogeneous mice are capable of solving problems that are nominally indicative of inductive and deductive forms of reasoning, and that individuals' capacity for reasoning covaries with more general learning abilities. Mice were characterized for their general learning ability as determined by their aggregate performance (derived from principal component analysis) across a battery of five diverse learning tasks. These animals were then assessed on prototypic tests indicative of deductive reasoning (inferring the meaning of a novel item by exclusion, i.e., "fast mapping") and inductive reasoning (execution of an efficient search strategy in a binary decision tree). The animals exhibited systematic abilities on each of these nominal reasoning tasks that were predicted by their aggregate performance on the battery of learning tasks. These results suggest that the coregulation of reasoning and general learning performance in genetically heterogeneous mice form a core cognitive trait that is analogous to human intelligence. (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

  4. Eye Movements Reveal Optimal Strategies for Analogical Reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vendetti, Michael S; Starr, Ariel; Johnson, Elizabeth L; Modavi, Kiana; Bunge, Silvia A

    2017-01-01

    Analogical reasoning refers to the process of drawing inferences on the basis of the relational similarity between two domains. Although this complex cognitive ability has been the focus of inquiry for many years, most models rely on measures that cannot capture individuals' thought processes moment by moment. In the present study, we used participants' eye movements to investigate reasoning strategies in real time while solving visual propositional analogy problems (A:B::C:D). We included both a semantic and a perceptual lure on every trial to determine how these types of distracting information influence reasoning strategies. Participants spent more time fixating the analogy terms and the target relative to the other response choices, and made more saccades between the A and B items than between any other items. Participants' eyes were initially drawn to perceptual lures when looking at response choices, but they nonetheless performed the task accurately. We used participants' gaze sequences to classify each trial as representing one of three classic analogy problem solving strategies and related strategy usage to analogical reasoning performance. A project-first strategy, in which participants first extrapolate the relation between the AB pair and then generalize that relation for the C item, was both the most commonly used strategy as well as the optimal strategy for solving visual analogy problems. These findings provide new insight into the role of strategic processing in analogical problem solving.

  5. Eye Movements Reveal Optimal Strategies for Analogical Reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael S. Vendetti

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Analogical reasoning refers to the process of drawing inferences on the basis of the relational similarity between two domains. Although this complex cognitive ability has been the focus of inquiry for many years, most models rely on measures that cannot capture individuals' thought processes moment by moment. In the present study, we used participants' eye movements to investigate reasoning strategies in real time while solving visual propositional analogy problems (A:B::C:D. We included both a semantic and a perceptual lure on every trial to determine how these types of distracting information influence reasoning strategies. Participants spent more time fixating the analogy terms and the target relative to the other response choices, and made more saccades between the A and B items than between any other items. Participants' eyes were initially drawn to perceptual lures when looking at response choices, but they nonetheless performed the task accurately. We used participants' gaze sequences to classify each trial as representing one of three classic analogy problem solving strategies and related strategy usage to analogical reasoning performance. A project-first strategy, in which participants first extrapolate the relation between the AB pair and then generalize that relation for the C item, was both the most commonly used strategy as well as the optimal strategy for solving visual analogy problems. These findings provide new insight into the role of strategic processing in analogical problem solving.

  6. Historical reasoning: towards a framework for analyzing students' reasoning about the past

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Drie, J.; van Boxtel, C.

    2008-01-01

    This article explores historical reasoning, an important activity in history learning. Based upon an extensive review of empirical literature on students’ thinking and reasoning about history, a theoretical framework of historical reasoning is proposed. The framework consists of six components:

  7. Modeling visual problem solving as analogical reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lovett, Andrew; Forbus, Kenneth

    2017-01-01

    We present a computational model of visual problem solving, designed to solve problems from the Raven's Progressive Matrices intelligence test. The model builds on the claim that analogical reasoning lies at the heart of visual problem solving, and intelligence more broadly. Images are compared via structure mapping, aligning the common relational structure in 2 images to identify commonalities and differences. These commonalities or differences can themselves be reified and used as the input for future comparisons. When images fail to align, the model dynamically rerepresents them to facilitate the comparison. In our analysis, we find that the model matches adult human performance on the Standard Progressive Matrices test, and that problems which are difficult for the model are also difficult for people. Furthermore, we show that model operations involving abstraction and rerepresentation are particularly difficult for people, suggesting that these operations may be critical for performing visual problem solving, and reasoning more generally, at the highest level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  8. Automatic Generation of Setup for CNC Spring Coiler Based on Case-based Reasoning

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    KU Xiangchen; WANG Runxiao; LI Jishun; WANG Dongbo

    2006-01-01

    When producing special-shape spring in CNC spring coiler, the setup of the coiler is often a manual work using a trial-and-error method. As a result, the setup of coiler consumes so much time and becomes the bottleneck of the spring production process. In order to cope with this situation, this paper proposes an automatic generation system of setup for CNC spring coiler using case-based reasoning (CBR). The core of the study contains: (1) integrated reasoning model of CBR system;(2) spatial shape describe of special-shape spring based on feature;(3) coiling case representation using shape feature matrix; and (4) case similarity measure algorithm. The automatic generation system has implemented with C++ Builder 6.0 and is helpful in improving the automaticity and efficiency of spring coiler.

  9. Performance Evaluation of Downscaling Sentinel-2 Imagery for Land Use and Land Cover Classification by Spectral-Spatial Features

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongrui Zheng

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Land Use and Land Cover (LULC classification is vital for environmental and ecological applications. Sentinel-2 is a new generation land monitoring satellite with the advantages of novel spectral capabilities, wide coverage and fine spatial and temporal resolutions. The effects of different spatial resolution unification schemes and methods on LULC classification have been scarcely investigated for Sentinel-2. This paper bridged this gap by comparing the differences between upscaling and downscaling as well as different downscaling algorithms from the point of view of LULC classification accuracy. The studied downscaling algorithms include nearest neighbor resampling and five popular pansharpening methods, namely, Gram-Schmidt (GS, nearest neighbor diffusion (NNDiffusion, PANSHARP algorithm proposed by Y. Zhang, wavelet transformation fusion (WTF and high-pass filter fusion (HPF. Two spatial features, textural metrics derived from Grey-Level-Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM and extended attribute profiles (EAPs, are investigated to make up for the shortcoming of pixel-based spectral classification. Random forest (RF is adopted as the classifier. The experiment was conducted in Xitiaoxi watershed, China. The results demonstrated that downscaling obviously outperforms upscaling in terms of classification accuracy. For downscaling, image sharpening has no obvious advantages than spatial interpolation. Different image sharpening algorithms have distinct effects. Two multiresolution analysis (MRA-based methods, i.e., WTF and HFP, achieve the best performance. GS achieved a similar accuracy with NNDiffusion and PANSHARP. Compared to image sharpening, the introduction of spatial features, both GLCM and EAPs can greatly improve the classification accuracy for Sentinel-2 imagery. Their effects on overall accuracy are similar but differ significantly to specific classes. In general, using the spectral bands downscaled by nearest neighbor interpolation can meet

  10. Spatial short-term memory in children with nonverbal learning disabilities: impairment in encoding spatial configuration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narimoto, Tadamasa; Matsuura, Naomi; Takezawa, Tomohiro; Mitsuhashi, Yoshinori; Hiratani, Michio

    2013-01-01

    The authors investigated whether impaired spatial short-term memory exhibited by children with nonverbal learning disabilities is due to a problem in the encoding process. Children with or without nonverbal learning disabilities performed a simple spatial test that required them to remember 3, 5, or 7 spatial items presented simultaneously in random positions (i.e., spatial configuration) and to decide if a target item was changed or all items including the target were in the same position. The results showed that, even when the spatial positions in the encoding and probe phases were similar, the mean proportion correct of children with nonverbal learning disabilities was 0.58 while that of children without nonverbal learning disabilities was 0.84. The authors argue with the results that children with nonverbal learning disabilities have difficulty encoding relational information between spatial items, and that this difficulty is responsible for their impaired spatial short-term memory.

  11. Density perturbations due to the inhomogeneous discrete spatial structure of space-time

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wolf, C.

    1998-01-01

    For the case that space-time permits an inhomogeneous discrete spatial structure due to varying gravitational fields or a foam-like structure of space-time, it is demonstrated that thermodynamic reasoning implies that matter-density perturbations will arise in the early universe

  12. Metacognition and reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fletcher, Logan; Carruthers, Peter

    2012-01-01

    This article considers the cognitive architecture of human meta-reasoning: that is, metacognition concerning one's own reasoning and decision-making. The view we defend is that meta-reasoning is a cobbled-together skill comprising diverse self-management strategies acquired through individual and cultural learning. These approximate the monitoring-and-control functions of a postulated adaptive system for metacognition by recruiting mechanisms that were designed for quite other purposes. PMID:22492753

  13. Performance-related increases in hippocampal N-acetylaspartate (NAA) induced by spatial navigation training are restricted to BDNF Val homozygotes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lövdén, Martin; Schaefer, Sabine; Noack, Hannes; Kanowski, Martin; Kaufmann, Jörn; Tempelmann, Claus; Bodammer, Nils Christian; Kühn, Simone; Heinze, Hans-Jochen; Lindenberger, Ulman; Düzel, Emrah; Bäckman, Lars

    2011-06-01

    Recent evidence indicates experience-dependent brain volume changes in humans, but the functional and histological nature of such changes is unknown. Here, we report that adult men performing a cognitively demanding spatial navigation task every other day over 4 months display increases in hippocampal N-acetylaspartate (NAA) as measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Unlike measures of brain volume, changes in NAA are sensitive to metabolic and functional aspects of neural and glia tissue and unlikely to reflect changes in microvasculature. Training-induced changes in NAA were, however, absent in carriers of the Met substitution in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene, which is known to reduce activity-dependent secretion of BDNF. Among BDNF Val homozygotes, increases in NAA were strongly related to the degree of practice-related improvement in navigation performance and normalized to pretraining levels 4 months after the last training session. We conclude that changes in demands on spatial navigation can alter hippocampal NAA concentrations, confirming epidemiological studies suggesting that mental experience may have direct effects on neural integrity and cognitive performance. BDNF genotype moderates these plastic changes, in line with the contention that gene-context interactions shape the ontogeny of complex phenotypes.

  14. A Reasoning Architecture for Expert Troubleshooting of Complex Processes

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This paper introduces a novel reasoning methodology, in combination with appropriate models and measurements (data) to perform accurately and expeditiously expert...

  15. Dissociation of spatial memory systems in Williams syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bostelmann, Mathilde; Fragnière, Emilie; Costanzo, Floriana; Di Vara, Silvia; Menghini, Deny; Vicari, Stefano; Lavenex, Pierre; Lavenex, Pamela Banta

    2017-11-01

    Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic deletion syndrome, is characterized by severe visuospatial deficits affecting performance on both tabletop spatial tasks and on tasks which assess orientation and navigation. Nevertheless, previous studies of WS spatial capacities have ignored the fact that two different spatial memory systems are believed to contribute parallel spatial representations supporting navigation. The place learning system depends on the hippocampal formation and creates flexible relational representations of the environment, also known as cognitive maps. The spatial response learning system depends on the striatum and creates fixed stimulus-response representations, also known as habits. Indeed, no study assessing WS spatial competence has used tasks which selectively target these two spatial memory systems. Here, we report that individuals with WS exhibit a dissociation in their spatial abilities subserved by these two memory systems. As compared to typically developing (TD) children in the same mental age range, place learning performance was impaired in individuals with WS. In contrast, their spatial response learning performance was facilitated. Our findings in individuals with WS and TD children suggest that place learning and response learning interact competitively to control the behavioral strategies normally used to support human spatial navigation. Our findings further suggest that the neural pathways supporting place learning may be affected by the genetic deletion that characterizes WS, whereas those supporting response learning may be relatively preserved. The dissociation observed between these two spatial memory systems provides a coherent theoretical framework to characterize the spatial abilities of individuals with WS, and may lead to the development of new learning strategies based on their facilitated response learning abilities. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Spatial domain decomposition for neutron transport problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yavuz, M.; Larsen, E.W.

    1989-01-01

    A spatial Domain Decomposition method is proposed for modifying the Source Iteration (SI) and Diffusion Synthetic Acceleration (DSA) algorithms for solving discrete ordinates problems. The method, which consists of subdividing the spatial domain of the problem and performing the transport sweeps independently on each subdomain, has the advantage of being parallelizable because the calculations in each subdomain can be performed on separate processors. In this paper we describe the details of this spatial decomposition and study, by numerical experimentation, the effect of this decomposition on the SI and DSA algorithms. Our results show that the spatial decomposition has little effect on the convergence rates until the subdomains become optically thin (less than about a mean free path in thickness)

  17. Neural correlates of dual-task effect on belief-bias syllogistic reasoning: a near-infrared spectroscopy study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsujii, Takeo; Watanabe, Shigeru

    2009-09-01

    Recent dual-process reasoning theories have explained the belief-bias effect, the tendency for human reasoning to be erroneously biased when logical conclusions are incongruent with beliefs about the world, by proposing a belief-based automatic heuristic system and logic-based demanding analytic system. Although these claims are supported by the behavioral finding that high-load secondary tasks enhance the belief-bias effect, the neural correlates of dual-task reasoning remain unknown. The present study therefore examined the relationship between dual-task effect and activity in the inferior frontal cortex (IFC) during belief-bias reasoning by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Forty-eight subjects participated in this study (MA=23.46 years). They were required to perform congruent and incongruent reasoning trials while responding to high- and low-load secondary tasks. Behavioral analysis showed that the high-load secondary task impaired only incongruent reasoning performance. NIRS analysis found that the high-load secondary task decreased right IFC activity during incongruent trials. Correlation analysis showed that subjects with enhanced right IFC activity could perform better in the incongruent reasoning trials, though subjects for whom right IFC activity was impaired by the secondary task could not maintain better reasoning performance. These findings suggest that the right IFC may be responsible for the dual-task effect in conflicting reasoning processes. When secondary tasks impair right IFC activity, subjects may rely on the automatic heuristic system, which results in belief-bias responses. We therefore offer the first demonstration of neural correlates of dual-task effect on IFC activity in belief-bias reasoning.

  18. Logical reasoning versus information processing in the dual-strategy model of reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markovits, Henry; Brisson, Janie; de Chantal, Pier-Luc

    2017-01-01

    One of the major debates concerning the nature of inferential reasoning is between counterexample-based strategies such as mental model theory and statistical strategies underlying probabilistic models. The dual-strategy model, proposed by Verschueren, Schaeken, & d'Ydewalle (2005a, 2005b), which suggests that people might have access to both kinds of strategy has been supported by several recent studies. These have shown that statistical reasoners make inferences based on using information about premises in order to generate a likelihood estimate of conclusion probability. However, while results concerning counterexample reasoners are consistent with a counterexample detection model, these results could equally be interpreted as indicating a greater sensitivity to logical form. In order to distinguish these 2 interpretations, in Studies 1 and 2, we presented reasoners with Modus ponens (MP) inferences with statistical information about premise strength and in Studies 3 and 4, naturalistic MP inferences with premises having many disabling conditions. Statistical reasoners accepted the MP inference more often than counterexample reasoners in Studies 1 and 2, while the opposite pattern was observed in Studies 3 and 4. Results show that these strategies must be defined in terms of information processing, with no clear relations to "logical" reasoning. These results have additional implications for the underlying debate about the nature of human reasoning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  19. White Matter Microstructure in Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus Associated with Spatial Working Memory Performance in Children

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vestergaard, Martin; Madsen, Kathrine Skak; Baaré, William F C

    2011-01-01

    During childhood and adolescence, ongoing white matter maturation in the fronto-parietal cortices and connecting fiber tracts is measurable with diffusion-weighted imaging. Important questions remain, however, about the links between these changes and developing cognitive functions. Spatial working...... memory (SWM) performance improves significantly throughout the childhood years, and several lines of evidence implicate the left fronto-parietal cortices and connecting fiber tracts in SWM processing. Here we report results from a study of 76 typically developing children, 7 to 13 years of age. We...... hypothesized that better SWM performance would be associated with increased fractional anisotropy (FA) in a left fronto-parietal network composed of the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), the regional white matter underlying the dorsolateral pFC, and the posterior parietal cortex. As hypothesized, we...

  20. Ten good reasons why everybody can and should perform cardiac ultrasound in the ICU.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Charron, Cyril; Repessé, Xavier; Bodson, Laurent; Au, Siu-Ming; Vieillard-Baron, Antoine

    2014-01-01

    Critical care ultrasonography (CCUS) has been defined as an ultrasound evaluation of the heart, abdomen, pleura and lungs at the bedside by the intensivist, 24/7. Within CCUS, critical care echocardiography (CCE) is used to assess cardiac function and more generally haemodynamics. Experts in haemodynamics have published a 'consensus of 16' regarding an update on haemodynamic monitoring. They reported the ten key properties of an 'ideal' haemodynamic monitoring system, which perfectly match the ten good reasons we describe here for performing CCE in critically ill patients. Even though unfortunately no evidence-based medicine study is available to support this review, especially regarding CCE-related improvement of outcome, many clinical studies have demonstrated that CCE provides measurements of relevant, accurate, reproducible and interpretable variables, is easy to use, readily available, has a rapid response time, causes no harm, and is cost-effective. Whether it is operator-independent is obviously more debatable and is discussed in this review. All these characteristics are arguments for the extensive use of CCE by intensivists. This is why experts in the field have recommended that a basic level of CCE should be included in the training of all intensivists.

  1. An Ontology-Based Reasoning Framework for Querying Satellite Images for Disaster Monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alirezaie, Marjan; Kiselev, Andrey; Längkvist, Martin; Klügl, Franziska; Loutfi, Amy

    2017-11-05

    This paper presents a framework in which satellite images are classified and augmented with additional semantic information to enable queries about what can be found on the map at a particular location, but also about paths that can be taken. This is achieved by a reasoning framework based on qualitative spatial reasoning that is able to find answers to high level queries that may vary on the current situation. This framework called SemCityMap, provides the full pipeline from enriching the raw image data with rudimentary labels to the integration of a knowledge representation and reasoning methods to user interfaces for high level querying. To illustrate the utility of SemCityMap in a disaster scenario, we use an urban environment-central Stockholm-in combination with a flood simulation. We show that the system provides useful answers to high-level queries also with respect to the current flood status. Examples of such queries concern path planning for vehicles or retrieval of safe regions such as "find all regions close to schools and far from the flooded area". The particular advantage of our approach lies in the fact that ontological information and reasoning is explicitly integrated so that queries can be formulated in a natural way using concepts on appropriate level of abstraction, including additional constraints.

  2. An Ontology-Based Reasoning Framework for Querying Satellite Images for Disaster Monitoring

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marjan Alirezaie

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a framework in which satellite images are classified and augmented with additional semantic information to enable queries about what can be found on the map at a particular location, but also about paths that can be taken. This is achieved by a reasoning framework based on qualitative spatial reasoning that is able to find answers to high level queries that may vary on the current situation. This framework called SemCityMap, provides the full pipeline from enriching the raw image data with rudimentary labels to the integration of a knowledge representation and reasoning methods to user interfaces for high level querying. To illustrate the utility of SemCityMap in a disaster scenario, we use an urban environment—central Stockholm—in combination with a flood simulation. We show that the system provides useful answers to high-level queries also with respect to the current flood status. Examples of such queries concern path planning for vehicles or retrieval of safe regions such as “find all regions close to schools and far from the flooded area”. The particular advantage of our approach lies in the fact that ontological information and reasoning is explicitly integrated so that queries can be formulated in a natural way using concepts on appropriate level of abstraction, including additional constraints.

  3. Cognitive performance of Göttingen minipigs is affected by diet in a spatial hole-board discrimination test

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haagensen, Annika Maria Juul; Klein, Anders Bue; Ettrup, Anders

    2013-01-01

    by both diets relative to a standard minipig diet high in carbohydrate, low in fat and sugar. The different diets did not impact levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in brain tissue and neither did they affect circulatory inflammation measured by concentrations of C-reactive protein and haptoglobin......Consumption of a high energy diet, containing high amounts of saturated fat and refined sugar has been associated with impairment of cognitive function in rodents and humans. We sought to contrast the effect of a high fat/cholesterol, low carbohydrate diet and a low fat, high carbohydrate....../sucrose diet, relative to a standard low fat, high carbohydrate minipig diet on spatial cognition with regards to working memory and reference memory in 24 male Göttingen minipigs performing in a spatial hole-board discrimination test. We found that both working memory and reference memory were impaired...

  4. Contradictory reasoning network: an EEG and FMRI study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Porcaro, Camillo; Medaglia, Maria Teresa; Thai, Ngoc Jade; Seri, Stefano; Rotshtein, Pia; Tecchio, Franca

    2014-01-01

    Contradiction is a cornerstone of human rationality, essential for everyday life and communication. We investigated electroencephalographic (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in separate recording sessions during contradictory judgments, using a logical structure based on categorical propositions of the Aristotelian Square of Opposition (ASoO). The use of ASoO propositions, while controlling for potential linguistic or semantic confounds, enabled us to observe the spatial temporal unfolding of this contradictory reasoning. The processing started with the inversion of the logical operators corresponding to right middle frontal gyrus (rMFG-BA11) activation, followed by identification of contradictory statement associated with in the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG-BA47) activation. Right medial frontal gyrus (rMeFG, BA10) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC, BA32) contributed to the later stages of process. We observed a correlation between the delayed latency of rBA11 response and the reaction time delay during inductive vs. deductive reasoning. This supports the notion that rBA11 is crucial for manipulating the logical operators. Slower processing time and stronger brain responses for inductive logic suggested that examples are easier to process than general principles and are more likely to simplify communication.

  5. Contradictory reasoning network: an EEG and FMRI study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camillo Porcaro

    Full Text Available Contradiction is a cornerstone of human rationality, essential for everyday life and communication. We investigated electroencephalographic (EEG and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI in separate recording sessions during contradictory judgments, using a logical structure based on categorical propositions of the Aristotelian Square of Opposition (ASoO. The use of ASoO propositions, while controlling for potential linguistic or semantic confounds, enabled us to observe the spatial temporal unfolding of this contradictory reasoning. The processing started with the inversion of the logical operators corresponding to right middle frontal gyrus (rMFG-BA11 activation, followed by identification of contradictory statement associated with in the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG-BA47 activation. Right medial frontal gyrus (rMeFG, BA10 and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC, BA32 contributed to the later stages of process. We observed a correlation between the delayed latency of rBA11 response and the reaction time delay during inductive vs. deductive reasoning. This supports the notion that rBA11 is crucial for manipulating the logical operators. Slower processing time and stronger brain responses for inductive logic suggested that examples are easier to process than general principles and are more likely to simplify communication.

  6. Job Satisfaction, Effort, and Performance: A Reasoned Action Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Icek Ajzen

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available In this article the author takes issue with the recurrent reliance on job satisfaction to explain job-related effort and performance.  The disappointing findings in this tradition are explained by lack of compatibility between job satisfaction–-a very broad attitude–-and the more specific effort and performance criteria.  Moreover, attempts to apply the expectancy-value model of attitude to explore the determinants of effort and performance suffer from reliance on unrepresentative sets of beliefs about the likely consequences of these behaviors.  The theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991, 2012, with its emphasis on the proximal antecedents of job effort and performance, is offered as an alternative.  According to the theory, intentions to exert effort and to attain a certain performance level are determined by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceptions of control in relation to these behaviors; and these variables, in turn, are a function of readily accessible beliefs about the likely outcomes of effort and performance, about the normative expectations of important others, and about factors that facilitate or hinder effective performance.

  7. Working Memory and Reasoning Benefit from Different Modes of Large-scale Brain Dynamics in Healthy Older Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lebedev, Alexander V; Nilsson, Jonna; Lövdén, Martin

    2018-07-01

    Researchers have proposed that solving complex reasoning problems, a key indicator of fluid intelligence, involves the same cognitive processes as solving working memory tasks. This proposal is supported by an overlap of the functional brain activations associated with the two types of tasks and by high correlations between interindividual differences in performance. We replicated these findings in 53 older participants but also showed that solving reasoning and working memory problems benefits from different configurations of the functional connectome and that this dissimilarity increases with a higher difficulty load. Specifically, superior performance in a typical working memory paradigm ( n-back) was associated with upregulation of modularity (increased between-network segregation), whereas performance in the reasoning task was associated with effective downregulation of modularity. We also showed that working memory training promotes task-invariant increases in modularity. Because superior reasoning performance is associated with downregulation of modular dynamics, training may thus have fostered an inefficient way of solving the reasoning tasks. This could help explain why working memory training does little to promote complex reasoning performance. The study concludes that complex reasoning abilities cannot be reduced to working memory and suggests the need to reconsider the feasibility of using working memory training interventions to attempt to achieve effects that transfer to broader cognition.

  8. Investigating the Correlation Between Pharmacy Student Performance on the Health Science Reasoning Test and a Critical Thinking Assignment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nornoo, Adwoa O; Jackson, Jonathan; Axtell, Samantha

    2017-03-25

    Objective. To determine whether there is a correlation between pharmacy students' scores on the Health Science Reasoning Test (HSRT) and their grade on a package insert assignment designed to assess critical thinking. Methods. The HSRT was administered to first-year pharmacy students during a critical-thinking course in the spring semester. In the same semester, a required package insert assignment was completed in a pharmacokinetics course. To determine whether there was a relationship between HSRT scores and grades on the assignment, a Spearman's rho correlation test was performed. Results. A very weak but significant positive correlation was found between students' grades on the assignment and their overall HSRT score (r=0.19, p critical-thinking skills in pharmacy students.

  9. Performance analysis of decode-and-forward dual-hop optical spatial modulation with diversity combiner over atmospheric turbulence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odeyemi, Kehinde O.; Owolawi, Pius A.; Srivastava, Viranjay M.

    2017-11-01

    Dual-hops transmission is a growing interest technique that can be used to mitigate against atmospheric turbulence along the Free Space Optical (FSO) communication links. This paper analyzes the performance of Decode-and-Forward (DF) dual-hops FSO systems in-conjunction with spatial modulation and diversity combiners over a Gamma-Gamma atmospheric turbulence channel using heterodyne detection. Maximum Ratio Combiner (MRC), Equal Gain Combiner (EGC) and Selection Combiner (SC) are considered at the relay and destination as mitigation tools to improve the system error performance. Power series expansion of modified Bessel function is used to derive the closed form expression for the end-to-end Average Pairwise Error Probability (APEP) expressions for each of the combiners under study and a tight upper bound on the Average Bit Error Rate (ABER) per hop is given. Thus, the overall end-to-end ABER for the dual-hops FSO system is then evaluated. The numerical results depicted that dual-hops transmission systems outperformed the direct link systems. Moreover, the impact of having the same and different combiners at the relay and destination are also presented. The results also confirm that the combination of dual hops transmission with spatial modulation and diversity combiner significantly improves the systems error rate with the MRC combiner offering an optimal performance with respect to variation in atmospheric turbulence, change in links average received SNR and link range of the system.

  10. Associations between strain, herd size, age at first calving, culling reason and lifetime performance characteristics in Holstein-Friesian cows.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adamczyk, K; Makulska, J; Jagusiak, W; Węglarz, A

    2017-02-01

    Cow longevity and lifetime performance traits are good indicators of breeding effectiveness and animal welfare. They are also interrelated with the economics of dairy herd. Unfortunately, a high milk yield is often associated with deteriorated cow health and fertility and, consequently, with an increased culling rate. This situation, observed also in the Polish population of Holstein-Friesian cattle, inspired us to undertake a study on the associations between some factors and lifetime performance characteristics. The data set consisted of the records on 135 496 cows, including 131 526 of the Black and White strain (BW), and 3970 of the Red and White strain (RW) covered by performance recording and culled in 2012. It was found that cows of the BW strain and those from the largest herds (>100 cows) reached higher lifetime and mean daily energy-corrected milk (ECM) yields than cows of the RW strain and those from smaller herds culled at a similar age. Cows youngest at first calving (reasons for cow culling. Cow longevity and lifetime productivity were considerably affected by the interactions between the studied factors.

  11. Fuzzy-trace theory: dual processes in memory, reasoning, and cognitive neuroscience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brainerd, C J; Reyna, V F

    2001-01-01

    Fuzzy-trace theory has evolved in response to counterintuitive data on how memory development influences the development of reasoning. The two traditional perspectives on memory-reasoning relations--the necessity and constructivist hypotheses--stipulate that the accuracy of children's memory for problem information and the accuracy of their reasoning are closely intertwined, albeit for different reasons. However, contrary to necessity, correlational and experimental dissociations have been found between children's memory for problem information that is determinative in solving certain problems and their solutions of those problems. In these same tasks, age changes in memory for problem information appear to be dissociated from age changes in reasoning. Contrary to constructivism, correlational and experimental dissociations also have been found between children's performance on memory tests for actual experience and memory tests for the meaning of experience. As in memory-reasoning studies, age changes in one type of memory performance do not seem to be closely connected to age changes in the other type of performance. Subsequent experiments have led to dual-process accounts in both the memory and reasoning spheres. The account of memory development features four other principles: parallel verbatim-gist storage, dissociated verbatim-gist retrieval, memorial bases of conscious recollection, and identity/similarity processes. The account of the development of reasoning features three principles: gist extraction, fuzzy-to-verbatim continua, and fuzzy-processing preferences. The fuzzy-processing preference is a particularly important notion because it implies that gist-based intuitive reasoning often suffices to deliver "logical" solutions and that such reasoning confers multiple cognitive advantages that enhance accuracy. The explanation of memory-reasoning dissociations in cognitive development then falls out of fuzzy-trace theory's dual-process models of memory and

  12. Pitting temporal against spatial integration in schizophrenic patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herzog, Michael H; Brand, Andreas

    2009-06-30

    Schizophrenic patients show strong impairments in visual backward masking possibly caused by deficits on the early stages of visual processing. The underlying aberrant mechanisms are not clearly understood. Spatial as well as temporal processing deficits have been proposed. Here, by combining a spatial with a temporal integration paradigm, we show further evidence that temporal but not spatial processing is impaired in schizophrenic patients. Eleven schizophrenic patients and ten healthy controls were presented with sequences composed of Vernier stimuli. Patients needed significantly longer presentation times for sequentially presented Vernier stimuli to reach a performance level comparable to that of healthy controls (temporal integration deficit). When we added spatial contextual elements to some of the Vernier stimuli, performance changed in a complex but comparable manner in patients and controls (intact spatial integration). Hence, temporal but not spatial processing seems to be deficient in schizophrenia.

  13. Framing deductive reasoning with emotional content: an fMRI study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brunetti, M; Perrucci, M G; Di Naccio, M R; Ferretti, A; Del Gratta, C; Casadio, C; Romani, G L

    2014-06-01

    In the literature concerning the study of emotional effect on cognition, several researches highlight the mechanisms of reasoning ability and the influence of emotions on this ability. However, up to now, no neuroimaging study was specifically devised to directly compare the influence on reasoning performance of visual task-unrelated with semantic task-related emotional information. In the present functional fMRI study, we devised a novel paradigm in which emotionally negative vs. neutral visual stimuli (context) were used as primes, followed by syllogisms composed of propositions with emotionally negative vs. neutral contents respectively. Participants, in the MR scanner, were asked to assess the logical validity of the syllogisms. We have therefore manipulated the emotional state and arousal induced by the visual prime as well as the emotional interference exerted by the syllogism content. fMRI data indicated a medial prefrontal cortex deactivation and lateral/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation in conditions with negative context. Furthermore, a lateral/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex modulation caused by syllogism content was observed. Finally, behavioral data confirmed the influence of emotional task-related stimuli on reasoning ability, since the performance was worse in conditions with syllogisms involving negative emotions. Therefore, on the basis of these data, we conclude that emotional states can impair the performance in reasoning tasks by means of the delayed general reactivity, whereas the emotional content of the target may require a larger amount of top-down resources to be processed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Pisa Question and Reasoning Skill

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ersoy Esen

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The objective of the study is to determine the level of the reasoning skills of the secondary school students. This research has been conducted during the academic year of 2015-2016 with the participation of 51 students in total, from a province in the Black Sea region of Turkey by using random sampling method. Case study method has been used in this study, since it explains an existing situation. In this study, content analysis from the qualitative research methods was carried out. In order to ensure the validity of the scope, agreement percentage formula was used and expert opinions were sought.The problem named Holiday from the Chapter 1 of the normal units in Problem Solving Questions from PISA (Program for International Student Assessments [35] are used as the data collection tool for the study. The problem named Holiday consists of two questions. Applied problems were evaluated according to the mathematical reasoning stages of TIMSS (2003. The findings suggest that the students use proportional reasoning while solving the problems and use the geometric shapes to facilitate the solution of the problem. When they come across problems related to each other, it is observed that they create connections between the problems based on the results of the previous problem. In conclusion, the students perform crosscheck to ensure that their solutions to the problems are accurate.

  15. When doubting begins: exploring inductive reasoning in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pélissier, Marie-Claude; O'Connor, Kieron P; Dupuis, Gilles

    2009-03-01

    The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that inductive reasoning plays a role in obsessional doubting by comparing an OCD sample with a non-OCD control group in performance of an inductive reasoning task. The 'Reasoning with Inductive Arguments Task' (RIAT) measures inductive performance using arguments drawn from both given vs. self-generated sources and containing neutral vs. OCD-related content. Both an OCD group recruited from clinical referrals and a control group recruited from the general population were compared on performance of the RIAT. People with OCD tended to doubt an initial conclusion much more than controls in the light of subsequent alternative conclusions given by the experimenter. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the self-generated condition. The OCD group doubted more regardless of whether the items were OCD-relevant or neutral. The control group also doubted the initial conclusions but not to the same extent as the OCD group in the 'given' condition and their degree of doubting did not differ between self-generated or given items. People with OCD may create doubt because they are giving too much credit to mental models given from external sources.

  16. Traveling Companions Add Complexity and Hinder Performance in the Spatial Behavior of Rats

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dorfman, Alex; Nielbo, Kristoffer Laigaard; Eilam, David

    2016-01-01

    -mate. It was found that the presence of another rat substantially altered the rats' spatial behavior. Lone rats collected the food items faster while traveling a shorter distance, reflecting a higher efficiency of task completion. When accompanied by a partner, however, the rats traveled together, visiting the same......We sought to uncover the impact of the social environment on the spatial behavior of rats. Food-deprived rats were trained in a spatial task of collecting food items from 16 equispaced objects. Following training, they were tested, first alone and then with a similarly-trained cage...... of rats’ natural behavior. Revisiting an object following food depletion implies that searching for food was not the main driving force in the rats' spatial behavior. Specifically, despite food deprivation, rats were more attentive to one another than to the food. This could be adaptive, since foraging...

  17. Case-Based FCTF Reasoning System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Lu

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Case-based reasoning uses old information to infer the answer of new problems. In case-based reasoning, a reasoner firstly records the previous cases, then searches the previous case list that is similar to the current one and uses that to solve the new case. Case-based reasoning means adapting old solving solutions to new situations. This paper proposes a reasoning system based on the case-based reasoning method. To begin, we show the theoretical structure and algorithm of from coarse to fine (FCTF reasoning system, and then demonstrate that it is possible to successfully learn and reason new information. Finally, we use our system to predict practical weather conditions based on previous ones and experiments show that the prediction accuracy increases with further learning of the FCTF reasoning system.

  18. Reasons of conscience and termination of employment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1990-01-01

    The plaintiff was head of a research team in a German subsidiary company of a British pharmaceutical company. The research team was to carry out tests with volounteers for medical acceptance of a newly developed agent against nausea (preliminary product name BRL 43694-5-HT receptor antagonist). The goal was to prove the agent's efficacy for prevention or treatment of acute radiation sickness due to radiotherapy, or in the event of a nuclear war. The plaintiff refused for reasons of conscience to take part in this work. As the firm could not give him other tasks to do, notice of routine dismissal was sent after several warnings, against which he brought an action in court. The Federal Labour Court's decision headnotes state among other reasons: If serious reasons of conscience (para. 315 I BGB) do not allow an employer to assign a particular job to an employee, the reason for dismissal lies with the personality of the employee, if the firm cannot offer any other job. The personal conscience of the employee may not restrict the employer's freedom to determine their activities and product range. The employee in this case is not able to perform his duty in accordance with para. 297 BGB. (orig./HP) [de

  19. Reasoning with probabilistic and deterministic graphical models exact algorithms

    CERN Document Server

    Dechter, Rina

    2013-01-01

    Graphical models (e.g., Bayesian and constraint networks, influence diagrams, and Markov decision processes) have become a central paradigm for knowledge representation and reasoning in both artificial intelligence and computer science in general. These models are used to perform many reasoning tasks, such as scheduling, planning and learning, diagnosis and prediction, design, hardware and software verification, and bioinformatics. These problems can be stated as the formal tasks of constraint satisfaction and satisfiability, combinatorial optimization, and probabilistic inference. It is well

  20. Spatial Visualization ability improves with and without studying Technical Drawing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Contreras, María José; Escrig, Rebeca; Prieto, Gerardo; Elosúa, M Rosa

    2018-03-27

    The results of several studies suggest that spatial ability can be improved through direct training with tasks similar to those integrated in the tests used to measure the ability. However, there is a greater interest in analyzing the effectiveness of indirect training such as games or of learning subjects that involve spatial processes to a certain extent. Thus, the objective of the present study was to analyze whether the indirect training in Technical Drawing improved the Spatial Visualization ability of Architecture students. For this purpose, a group of students enrolled in Fundamentals of Architecture were administered two tests, a Spatial Visualization task and an Abstract Reasoning task, at the beginning and the end of a semester, after having received training through the subjects "Technical Drawing I: Geometry and Perception" and "Projects I." The results of this group were compared with those of a control group of students enrolled in a Mathematics degree, who were also pre-post evaluated but had not received the training in Technical Drawing. The study showed a significant pre-post improvement in both, Visualization and reasoning. However, this improvement occurred in both groups, thereby concluding that this improvement was not due to indirect training. Furthermore, no significant differences were found between men and women in any of the groups or conditions. These results clarify those of an earlier study where improvement in Visualization after training in Technical Drawing was found but did not include a comparison with a control condition. The control condition has proved to be important in order to consider the limitations of the effect of Technical Drawing on said improvement.

  1. Transforming Undergraduate Education Through the use of Analytical Reasoning (TUETAR)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bishop, M. P.; Houser, C.; Lemmons, K.

    2015-12-01

    Traditional learning limits the potential for self-discovery, and the use of data and knowledge to understand Earth system relationships, processes, feedback mechanisms and system coupling. It is extremely difficult for undergraduate students to analyze, synthesize, and integrate quantitative information related to complex systems, as many concepts may not be mathematically tractable or yet to be formalized. Conceptual models have long served as a means for Earth scientists to organize their understanding of Earth's dynamics, and have served as a basis for human analytical reasoning and landscape interpretation. Consequently, we evaluated the use of conceptual modeling, knowledge representation and analytical reasoning to provide undergraduate students with an opportunity to develop and test geocomputational conceptual models based upon their understanding of Earth science concepts. This study describes the use of geospatial technologies and fuzzy cognitive maps to predict desertification across the South-Texas Sandsheet in an upper-level geomorphology course. Students developed conceptual models based on their understanding of aeolian processes from lectures, and then compared and evaluated their modeling results against an expert conceptual model and spatial predictions, and the observed distribution of dune activity in 2010. Students perceived that the analytical reasoning approach was significantly better for understanding desertification compared to traditional lecture, and promoted reflective learning, working with data, teamwork, student interaction, innovation, and creative thinking. Student evaluations support the notion that the adoption of knowledge representation and analytical reasoning in the classroom has the potential to transform undergraduate education by enabling students to formalize and test their conceptual understanding of Earth science. A model for developing and utilizing this geospatial technology approach in Earth science is presented.

  2. Young Children's Analogical Reasoning in Science Domains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haglund, Jesper; Jeppsson, Fredrik; Andersson, Johanna

    2012-01-01

    This exploratory study in a classroom setting investigates first graders' (age 7-8 years, N = 25) ability to perform analogical reasoning and create their own analogies for two irreversible natural phenomena: mixing and heat transfer. We found that the children who contributed actively to a full-class discussion were consistently successful at…

  3. The performance of spatially offset Raman spectroscopy for liquid explosive detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loeffen, Paul W.; Maskall, Guy; Bonthron, Stuart; Bloomfield, Matthew; Tombling, Craig; Matousek, Pavel

    2016-10-01

    Aviation security requirements adopted in 2014 require liquids to be screened at most airports throughout Europe, North America and Australia. Cobalt's unique Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS™) technology has proven extremely effective at screening liquids, aerosols and gels (LAGS) with extremely low false alarm rates. SORS is compatible with a wide range of containers, including coloured, opaque or clear plastics, glass and paper, as well as duty-free bottles in STEBs (secure tamper-evident bags). Our award-winning Insight range has been specially developed for table-top screening at security checkpoints. Insight systems use our patented SORS technology for rapid and accurate chemical analysis of substances in unopened non-metallic containers. Insight100M™ and the latest member of the range - Insight200M™ - also screen metallic containers. Our unique systems screen liquids, aerosols and gels with the highest detection capability and lowest false alarm rates of any ECAC-approved scanner, with several hundred units already in use at airports including eight of the top ten European hubs. This paper presents an analysis of real performance data for these systems.

  4. Inductive reasoning and the understanding of intention in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corcoran, Rhiannon

    2003-08-01

    The study explored the relationship between the understanding of intention in veiled speech acts and the ability to reason inductively. A total of 39 people with DSM-IV-defined schizophrenia with no behavioural signs and 44 healthy participants performed the Hinting Task, a measure of pragmatic language in which the speaker's intention must be inferred, and a measure of inductive reasoning (Aha! Sentences) in which the meaning of ambiguous nonsocial sentences had to be inferred. The participants also completed measures of general intellectual ability, immediate memory for narrative and social problem-solving ability. A substantial correlation was found between performance on the inductive reasoning task and the Hinting Task in the sample of people with schizophrenia. The same relationship was not seen in the normal control sample. The robust relationship between these two measures in this sample survived when the roles of immediate memory for narrative and intellectual ability were controlled for. Furthermore, the relationship was distinctly more compelling for the patients who were currently ill compared to those in remission. These data suggest that people with schizophrenia use a different strategy to infer the meaning behind pragmatic language than that used by normally functioning adults. It is suggested that a reliance on different, possibly less specialised, skills in this group to perform this simple social inference task underlies their deficient performance on this and other measures of social inference. The fact that the relationship between the tasks in patients in remission is not as robust implies that the use of specialised skills to perform social inference tasks may be compromised most significantly during acute phases.

  5. How spatial context influences entrepreneurial value creation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Müller, Sabine

    2014-01-01

    This paper investigates how rural communities are enriched by entrepreneurial value-creating activities that go beyond job creation and growth. In addition, this study explores how spatial context influences these value-creating activities. This qualitative case-based study shows that rural......-being of the community. Thus, this study contributes to an in-depth understanding of how and why entrepreneurship can create multiple forms of value in rural areas as well as how value creation behaviours are motivated by the spatial context. In addition, it provides explanations why not all rural entrepreneurs...... entrepreneurs create 14 types of value for their communities, ranging from purely economic to socioeconomic and to social value. The reasons why rural entrepreneurs create value, not only for themselves, but value that benefits the community is partly explained by their desire to contribute positively...

  6. Experimental study of spatial distribution of Ar glow discharge plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, X.M.; Zhou, T.D.; Pai, S.T.

    1996-01-01

    The characteristics of the spatial distribution of Ar glow discharge plasma were experimentally investigated. By means of direct comparisons between theory and experiment, the effects of the variation of gap separation, gas pressure, and electrode radius on the spatial distributions of electron density and electric field were studied. Results indicate that the maximum electron density moves toward the cathode as the gap separation or gas pressure increases while variation of electrode radius produces little effect. Predictions from a theoretical model have been experimentally verified. General agreements between theory and experiment were found to be reasonably good except in the cathode region, where discrepancy exists. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

  7. Agronomic performance of velvet bean at different spatial arrangement; Desempenho agronomico de mucuna-verde em diferentes arranjos espaciais

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silva, Aijanio Gomes de Brito; Goncalves Junior, Murilo [Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), Seropedica, RJ (Brazil); Guerra, Jose Guilherme Marinho; Costa, Janaina Ribeiro; Espindola, Jose Antonio Azevedo; Araujo, Ednaldo da Silva, E-mail: gmguerra@cnpab.embrapa.b, E-mail: janaina@cnpab.embrapa.b, E-mail: jose@cnpab.embrapa.b, E-mail: ednaldo@cnpab.EMBRAP [EMBRAPA Agrobiologia, Seropedica, RJ (Brazil)

    2011-06-15

    The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of different plant spatial arrangements on agronomic performance of velvet-bean (Mucuna pruriens var. utilis). The experiment was performed with eight treatments, distributed in a randomized complete block design in a 2x4 factorial arrangement, with four replicates. The treatments were velvet bean sowing at two spacings between furrows (0.5 and 1.0 m) and four plant densities (2, 4, 8 and 16 plants m{sup -1}). Determinations were made for the soil covering and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) rates, and for the dry matter yield and N accumulation in the plant shoots. Total soil cover was accomplished at 50 days after sowing at 16 plants m{sup -1} density and 0.5 m spacing between furrows. The combination of 16 plants m{sup -1}1density with the 1.0 m spacing between furrows provided the greatest dry matter yield and accumulated most N in the plant shoots. Irrespective of the plant spatial arrangement, the estimation of BNF in this species shows that about 70% N present in the shoot is derived from the atmosphere. (author)

  8. Spatial-Simultaneous and Spatial-Sequential Working Memory in Individuals with Down Syndrome: The Effect of Configuration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carretti, Barbara; Lanfranchi, Silvia; Mammarella, Irene C.

    2013-01-01

    Earlier research showed that visuospatial working memory (VSWM) is better preserved in Down syndrome (DS) than verbal WM. Some differences emerged, however, when VSWM performance was broken down into its various components, and more recent studies revealed that the spatial-simultaneous component of VSWM is more impaired than the spatial-sequential…

  9. Identifying spatial values in the opinions of teenagers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Špela Verovšek

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available This article presents the attitude towards cultural and natural spatial values in the population who have completed elementary schooling. Identifying spatial values can be considered a fundamental skill of the active population, which are necessary for the deliberate activities in the existential and functional environment of every individual. An insight into the potential investors’ environmental value system is also useful for spatial disciplines. The results presented represent the conceptualisation of spatial values in a sample population (N=188 taken from four elementary schools. In relation to other research, the principal recognition of spatial values by teenagers is assessed, together with the limited possibilities of this knowledge into their local living environment. Conclusions can be drawn about their deficient knowledge of the cause-and-effect in the relationship in individual processes in both natural and constructed spaces. The reasons for such deficient knowledge on a local, living environment level are predominantly attributed to the influences of their domestic social environment. The superficial awareness of the values and aspects of space vulnerability also hints at the insufficient and incoherent teaching curriculum in the process of comprehensive education. Solutions might be found in upgrading existing teaching methods and techniques. Furthermore, by carefully setting specific teaching goals the comments mentioned above could be synthesised into a more palpable, logical whole.

  10. Spatial network surrogates for disentangling complex system structure from spatial embedding of nodes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiedermann, Marc; Donges, Jonathan F.; Kurths, Jürgen; Donner, Reik V.

    2016-04-01

    Networks with nodes embedded in a metric space have gained increasing interest in recent years. The effects of spatial embedding on the networks' structural characteristics, however, are rarely taken into account when studying their macroscopic properties. Here, we propose a hierarchy of null models to generate random surrogates from a given spatially embedded network that can preserve certain global and local statistics associated with the nodes' embedding in a metric space. Comparing the original network's and the resulting surrogates' global characteristics allows one to quantify to what extent these characteristics are already predetermined by the spatial embedding of the nodes and links. We apply our framework to various real-world spatial networks and show that the proposed models capture macroscopic properties of the networks under study much better than standard random network models that do not account for the nodes' spatial embedding. Depending on the actual performance of the proposed null models, the networks are categorized into different classes. Since many real-world complex networks are in fact spatial networks, the proposed approach is relevant for disentangling the underlying complex system structure from spatial embedding of nodes in many fields, ranging from social systems over infrastructure and neurophysiology to climatology.

  11. Continuous Spatial Process Models for Spatial Extreme Values

    KAUST Repository

    Sang, Huiyan

    2010-01-28

    We propose a hierarchical modeling approach for explaining a collection of point-referenced extreme values. In particular, annual maxima over space and time are assumed to follow generalized extreme value (GEV) distributions, with parameters μ, σ, and ξ specified in the latent stage to reflect underlying spatio-temporal structure. The novelty here is that we relax the conditionally independence assumption in the first stage of the hierarchial model, an assumption which has been adopted in previous work. This assumption implies that realizations of the the surface of spatial maxima will be everywhere discontinuous. For many phenomena including, e. g., temperature and precipitation, this behavior is inappropriate. Instead, we offer a spatial process model for extreme values that provides mean square continuous realizations, where the behavior of the surface is driven by the spatial dependence which is unexplained under the latent spatio-temporal specification for the GEV parameters. In this sense, the first stage smoothing is viewed as fine scale or short range smoothing while the larger scale smoothing will be captured in the second stage of the modeling. In addition, as would be desired, we are able to implement spatial interpolation for extreme values based on this model. A simulation study and a study on actual annual maximum rainfall for a region in South Africa are used to illustrate the performance of the model. © 2009 International Biometric Society.

  12. Using AberOWL for fast and scalable reasoning over BioPortal ontologies

    KAUST Repository

    Slater, Luke; Gkoutos, Georgios V.; Schofield, Paul N.; Hoehndorf, Robert

    2016-01-01

    automated reasoning-based access to all accessible and consistent ontologies in BioPortal (368 ontologies). We perform an extensive performance evaluation to determine query times, both for queries of different complexity and for queries that are performed

  13. The Spatial Politics of Spatial Representation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Olesen, Kristian; Richardson, Tim

    2011-01-01

    spatial planning in Denmark reveals how fuzzy spatial representations and relational spatial concepts are being used to depoliticise strategic spatial planning processes and to camouflage spatial politics. The paper concludes that, while relational geography might play an important role in building......This paper explores the interplay between the spatial politics of new governance landscapes and innovations in the use of spatial representations in planning. The central premise is that planning experiments with new relational approaches become enmeshed in spatial politics. The case of strategic...

  14. Perceptual reasoning predicts handwriting impairments in adolescents with autism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuentes, Christina T.; Mostofsky, Stewart H.; Bastian, Amy J.

    2010-01-01

    Background: We have previously shown that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have specific handwriting deficits consisting of poor form, and that these deficits are predicted by their motor abilities. It is not known whether the same handwriting impairments persist into adolescence and whether they remain linked to motor deficits. Methods: A case-control study of handwriting samples from adolescents with and without ASD was performed using the Minnesota Handwriting Assessment. Samples were scored on an individual letter basis in 5 categories: legibility, form, alignment, size, and spacing. Subjects were also administered an intelligence test and the Physical and Neurological Examination for Subtle (Motor) Signs (PANESS). Results: We found that adolescents with ASD, like children, show overall worse performance on a handwriting task than do age- and intelligence-matched controls. Also comparable to children, adolescents with ASD showed motor impairments relative to controls. However, adolescents with ASD differ from children in that Perceptual Reasoning Indices were significantly predictive of handwriting performance whereas measures of motor skills were not. Conclusions: Like children with ASD, adolescents with ASD have poor handwriting quality relative to controls. Despite still demonstrating motor impairments, in adolescents perceptual reasoning is the main predictor of handwriting performance, perhaps reflecting subjects' varied abilities to learn strategies to compensate for their motor impairments. GLOSSARY ASD = autism spectrum disorder; DSM-IV = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition; PANESS = Physical and Neurological Examination for Subtle (Motor) Signs; PRI = Perceptual Reasoning Index; WASI = Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence; WISC = Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IV. PMID:21079184

  15. Controllable Spatial Configuration on Cathode Interface for Enhanced Photovoltaic Performance and Device Stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jiangsheng; Duan, Chenghao; Wang, Ning; Zhao, Chengjie; Han, Wei; Jiang, Li; Wang, Jizheng; Zhao, Yingjie; Huang, Changshui; Jiu, Tonggang

    2018-05-08

    The molecular structure of cathode interface modification materials can affect the surface morphology of the active layer and key electron transfer processes occurring at the interface of polymer solar cells in inverted structures mostly due to the change of molecular configuration. To investigate the effects of spatial configuration of the cathode interfacial modification layer on polymer solar cells device performances, we introduced two novel organic ionic salts (linear NS2 and three-dimensional (3D) NS4) combined with the ZnO film to fabricate highly efficient inverted solar cells. Both organic ionic salts successfully decreased the surface traps of the ZnO film and made its work function more compatible. Especially NS4 in three-dimensional configuration increased the electron mobility and extraction efficiency of the interfacial film, leading to a significant improvement of device performance. Power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 10.09% based on NS4 was achieved. Moreover, 3D interfacial modification could retain about 92% of its initial PCE over 160 days. It is proposed that 3D interfacial modification retards the element penetration-induced degradation without impeding the electron transfer from the active layer to the ZnO film, which significantly improves device stability. This indicates that inserting three-dimensional organic ionic salt is an efficient strategy to enhance device performance.

  16. Spatial Thinking in Atmospheric Science Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNeal, P. M.; Petcovic, H. L.; Ellis, T. D.

    2016-12-01

    Atmospheric science is a STEM discipline that involves the visualization of three-dimensional processes from two-dimensional maps, interpretation of computer-generated graphics and hand plotting of isopleths. Thus, atmospheric science draws heavily upon spatial thinking. Research has shown that spatial thinking ability can be a predictor of early success in STEM disciplines and substantial evidence demonstrates that spatial thinking ability is improved through various interventions. Therefore, identification of the spatial thinking skills and cognitive processes used in atmospheric science is the first step toward development of instructional strategies that target these skills and scaffold the learning of students in atmospheric science courses. A pilot study of expert and novice meteorologists identified mental animation and disembedding as key spatial skills used in the interpretation of multiple weather charts and images. Using this as a starting point, we investigated how these spatial skills, together with expertise, domain specific knowledge, and working memory capacity affect the ability to produce an accurate forecast. Participants completed a meteorology concept inventory, experience questionnaire and psychometric tests of spatial thinking ability and working memory capacity prior to completing a forecasting task. A quantitative analysis of the collected data investigated the effect of the predictor variables on the outcome task. A think-aloud protocol with individual participants provided a qualitative look at processes such as task decomposition, rule-based reasoning and the formation of mental models in an attempt to understand how individuals process this complex data and describe outcomes of particular meteorological scenarios. With our preliminary results we aim to inform atmospheric science education from a cognitive science perspective. The results point to a need to collaborate with the atmospheric science community broadly, such that multiple

  17. Clinical reasoning: concept analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simmons, Barbara

    2010-05-01

    This paper is a report of a concept analysis of clinical reasoning in nursing. Clinical reasoning is an ambiguous term that is often used synonymously with decision-making and clinical judgment. Clinical reasoning has not been clearly defined in the literature. Healthcare settings are increasingly filled with uncertainty, risk and complexity due to increased patient acuity, multiple comorbidities, and enhanced use of technology, all of which require clinical reasoning. Data sources. Literature for this concept analysis was retrieved from several databases, including CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO, ERIC and OvidMEDLINE, for the years 1980 to 2008. Rodgers's evolutionary method of concept analysis was used because of its applicability to concepts that are still evolving. Multiple terms have been used synonymously to describe the thinking skills that nurses use. Research in the past 20 years has elucidated differences among these terms and identified the cognitive processes that precede judgment and decision-making. Our concept analysis defines one of these terms, 'clinical reasoning,' as a complex process that uses cognition, metacognition, and discipline-specific knowledge to gather and analyse patient information, evaluate its significance, and weigh alternative actions. This concept analysis provides a middle-range descriptive theory of clinical reasoning in nursing that helps clarify meaning and gives direction for future research. Appropriate instruments to operationalize the concept need to be developed. Research is needed to identify additional variables that have an impact on clinical reasoning and what are the consequences of clinical reasoning in specific situations.

  18. Spatial Domain Adaptive Control of Nonlinear Rotary Systems Subject to Spatially Periodic Disturbances

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yen-Hsiu Yang

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available We propose a generic spatial domain control scheme for a class of nonlinear rotary systems of variable speeds and subject to spatially periodic disturbances. The nonlinear model of the rotary system in time domain is transformed into one in spatial domain employing a coordinate transformation with respect to angular displacement. Under the circumstances that measurement of the system states is not available, a nonlinear state observer is established for providing the estimated states. A two-degree-of-freedom spatial domain control configuration is then proposed to stabilize the system and improve the tracking performance. The first control module applies adaptive backstepping with projected parametric update and concentrates on robust stabilization of the closed-loop system. The second control module introduces an internal model of the periodic disturbances cascaded with a loop-shaping filter, which not only further reduces the tracking error but also improves parametric adaptation. The overall spatial domain output feedback adaptive control system is robust to model uncertainties and state estimated error and capable of rejecting spatially periodic disturbances under varying system speeds. Stability proof of the overall system is given. A design example with simulation demonstrates the applicability of the proposed design.

  19. Panchromatic SED modelling of spatially resolved galaxies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Daniel J. B.; Hayward, Christopher C.

    2018-05-01

    We test the efficacy of the energy-balance spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting code MAGPHYS for recovering the spatially resolved properties of a simulated isolated disc galaxy, for which it was not designed. We perform 226 950 MAGPHYS SED fits to regions between 0.2 and 25 kpc in size across the galaxy's disc, viewed from three different sight-lines, to probe how well MAGPHYS can recover key galaxy properties based on 21 bands of UV-far-infrared model photometry. MAGPHYS yields statistically acceptable fits to >99 per cent of the pixels within the r-band effective radius and between 59 and 77 percent of pixels within 20 kpc of the nucleus. MAGPHYS is able to recover the distribution of stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), specific SFR, dust luminosity, dust mass, and V-band attenuation reasonably well, especially when the pixel size is ≳ 1 kpc, whereas non-standard outputs (stellar metallicity and mass-weighted age) are recovered less well. Accurate recovery is more challenging in the smallest sub-regions of the disc (pixel scale ≲ 1 kpc), where the energy balance criterion becomes increasingly incorrect. Estimating integrated galaxy properties by summing the recovered pixel values, the true integrated values of all parameters considered except metallicity and age are well recovered at all spatial resolutions, ranging from 0.2 kpc to integrating across the disc, albeit with some evidence for resolution-dependent biases. These results must be considered when attempting to analyse the structure of real galaxies with actual observational data, for which the `ground truth' is unknown.

  20. Analogical Reasoning in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evidence From an Eye-Tracking Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Enda Tan

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The present study examined analogical reasoning in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD and its relationship with cognitive and executive functioning and processing strategies. Our findings showed that although children with ASD were less competent in solving analogical problems than typically developing children, this inferior performance was attributable to general cognitive impairments. Eye-movement analyses revealed that children with ASD paid less attention to relational items and showed fewer gaze shifts between relational locations. Nevertheless, these eye-movement patterns did not predict autistic children’s behavioral performance. Together, our findings suggest that ASD per se does not entail impairments in analogical reasoning. The inferior performance of autistic children on analogical reasoning tasks is attributable to deficits in general cognitive and executive functioning.

  1. Old cortex, new contexts: Re-purposing spatial perception for social cognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carolyn eParkinson

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Much of everyday mental life involves information that we cannot currently perceive directly, from contemplating the strengths of friendships to reasoning about the contents of other minds. Despite their primacy to everyday human functioning, and in particular, to human sociality, the mechanisms that support abstract thought are poorly understood. An explanatory framework that has gained traction recently in cognitive neuroscience is exaptation, or the re-purposing of evolutionarily old circuitry to carry out new functions. We argue for the utility of applying this concept to social cognition. Convergent behavioral and neuroscientific evidence suggests that humans co-opt mechanisms originally devoted to spatial perception for more abstract domains of cognition (e.g., temporal reasoning. Preliminary evidence suggests that some aspects of social cognition also involve the exaptation of substrates originally evolved for processing physical space. We discuss the potential for future work to test more directly if cortical substrates for spatial processing were exapted for social cognition, and in so doing, to improve our understanding of how humans evolved mechanisms for navigating an exceptionally complex social world.

  2. Rasdaman for Big Spatial Raster Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, F.; Huang, Q.; Scheele, C. J.; Yang, C. P.; Yu, M.; Liu, K.

    2015-12-01

    Spatial raster data have grown exponentially over the past decade. Recent advancements on data acquisition technology, such as remote sensing, have allowed us to collect massive observation data of various spatial resolution and domain coverage. The volume, velocity, and variety of such spatial data, along with the computational intensive nature of spatial queries, pose grand challenge to the storage technologies for effective big data management. While high performance computing platforms (e.g., cloud computing) can be used to solve the computing-intensive issues in big data analysis, data has to be managed in a way that is suitable for distributed parallel processing. Recently, rasdaman (raster data manager) has emerged as a scalable and cost-effective database solution to store and retrieve massive multi-dimensional arrays, such as sensor, image, and statistics data. Within this paper, the pros and cons of using rasdaman to manage and query spatial raster data will be examined and compared with other common approaches, including file-based systems, relational databases (e.g., PostgreSQL/PostGIS), and NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB and Hive). Earth Observing System (EOS) data collected from NASA's Atmospheric Scientific Data Center (ASDC) will be used and stored in these selected database systems, and a set of spatial and non-spatial queries will be designed to benchmark their performance on retrieving large-scale, multi-dimensional arrays of EOS data. Lessons learnt from using rasdaman will be discussed as well.

  3. 3D-CAD Effects on Creative Design Performance of Different Spatial Abilities Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Y.

    2014-01-01

    Students' creativity is an important focus globally and is interrelated with students' spatial abilities. Additionally, three-dimensional computer-assisted drawing (3D-CAD) overcomes barriers to spatial expression during the creative design process. Does 3D-CAD affect students' creative abilities? The purpose of this study was to explore the…

  4. Assessing College Students’ Quantitative and Scientific Reasoning: The James Madison University Story

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John D. Hathcoat

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Quantitative and scientific reasoning is a critical student learning outcome in higher education. Data are presented for large samples of undergraduate students who were assessed as entering freshmen and then again after completing 45-70 credit hours. Results are presented around four key issues that are central to educational assessment. First, entering freshmen with transfer credits for quantitative and scientific reasoning courses that fulfill general education requirements, on average, score similar to entering freshmen without such credit. About 97% of entering freshmen who had transfer credits received their credits through dual enrollment programs. As a sophomore-junior, students who had completed their general education requirements performed similar to students who had started, but not yet finished these requirements. Second, small to moderate correlations were observed between grade-point averages in relevant general education coursework and quantitative and scientific reasoning. Third, students’ quantitative and scientific reasoning, on average, increases from freshmen to sophomore/junior years. Finally, the proportion of students who meet faculty-set standards substantially increases from pre-test to post-test. Taken together, results suggest that changes in quantitative and scientific reasoning are a function of relevant courses. Additional research is needed to examine the role of lower-level versus higher-level courses in student performance. Results also indicate a need to investigate how differences in the quality of dual enrollment courses facilitate quantitative and scientific reasoning.

  5. Evaluation on island ecological vulnerability and its spatial heterogeneity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chi, Yuan; Shi, Honghua; Wang, Yuanyuan; Guo, Zhen; Wang, Enkang

    2017-12-15

    The evaluation on island ecological vulnerability (IEV) can help reveal the comprehensive characteristics of the island ecosystem and provide reference for controlling human activities on islands. An IEV evaluation model which reflects the land-sea dual features, natural and anthropogenic attributes, and spatial heterogeneity of the island ecosystem was established, and the southern islands of Miaodao Archipelago in North China were taken as the study area. The IEV, its spatial heterogeneity, and its sensitivities to the evaluation elements were analyzed. Results indicated that the IEV was in status of mild vulnerability in the archipelago scale, and population pressure, ecosystem productivity, environmental quality, landscape pattern, and economic development were the sensitive elements. The IEV showed significant spatial heterogeneities both in land and surrounding waters sub-ecosystems. Construction scale control, optimization of development allocation, improvement of exploitation methods, and reasonable ecological construction are important measures to control the IEV. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. A set for relational reasoning: Facilitation of algebraic modeling by a fraction task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeWolf, Melissa; Bassok, Miriam; Holyoak, Keith J

    2016-12-01

    Recent work has identified correlations between early mastery of fractions and later math achievement, especially in algebra. However, causal connections between aspects of reasoning with fractions and improved algebra performance have yet to be established. The current study investigated whether relational reasoning with fractions facilitates subsequent algebraic reasoning using both pre-algebra students and adult college students. Participants were first given either a relational reasoning fractions task or a fraction algebra procedures control task. Then, all participants solved word problems and constructed algebraic equations in either multiplication or division format. The word problems and the equation construction tasks involved simple multiplicative comparison statements such as "There are 4 times as many students as teachers in a classroom." Performance on the algebraic equation construction task was enhanced for participants who had previously completed the relational fractions task compared with those who completed the fraction algebra procedures task. This finding suggests that relational reasoning with fractions can establish a relational set that promotes students' tendency to model relations using algebraic expressions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. SemantGeo: Powering Ecological and Environment Data Discovery and Search with Standards-Based Geospatial Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seyed, P.; Ashby, B.; Khan, I.; Patton, E. W.; McGuinness, D. L.

    2013-12-01

    Recent efforts to create and leverage standards for geospatial data specification and inference include the GeoSPARQL standard, Geospatial OWL ontologies (e.g., GAZ, Geonames), and RDF triple stores that support GeoSPARQL (e.g., AllegroGraph, Parliament) that use RDF instance data for geospatial features of interest. However, there remains a gap on how best to fuse software engineering best practices and GeoSPARQL within semantic web applications to enable flexible search driven by geospatial reasoning. In this abstract we introduce the SemantGeo module for the SemantEco framework that helps fill this gap, enabling scientists find data using geospatial semantics and reasoning. SemantGeo provides multiple types of geospatial reasoning for SemantEco modules. The server side implementation uses the Parliament SPARQL Endpoint accessed via a Tomcat servlet. SemantGeo uses the Google Maps API for user-specified polygon construction and JsTree for providing containment and categorical hierarchies for search. SemantGeo uses GeoSPARQL for spatial reasoning alone and in concert with RDFS/OWL reasoning capabilities to determine, e.g., what geofeatures are within, partially overlap with, or within a certain distance from, a given polygon. We also leverage qualitative relationships defined by the Gazetteer ontology that are composites of spatial relationships as well as administrative designations or geophysical phenomena. We provide multiple mechanisms for exploring data, such as polygon (map-based) and named-feature (hierarchy-based) selection, that enable flexible search constraints using boolean combination of selections. JsTree-based hierarchical search facets present named features and include a 'part of' hierarchy (e.g., measurement-site-01, Lake George, Adirondack Region, NY State) and type hierarchies (e.g., nodes in the hierarchy for WaterBody, Park, MeasurementSite), depending on the ';axis of choice' option selected. Using GeoSPARQL and aforementioned ontology

  8. What physicians reason about during admission case review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juma, Salina; Goldszmidt, Mark

    2017-08-01

    Research suggests that physicians perform multiple reasoning tasks beyond diagnosis during patient review. However, these remain largely theoretical. The purpose of this study was to explore reasoning tasks in clinical practice during patient admission review. The authors used a constant comparative approach-an iterative and inductive process of coding and recoding-to analyze transcripts from 38 audio-recorded case reviews between junior trainees and their senior residents or attendings. Using a previous list of reasoning tasks, analysis focused on what tasks were performed, when they occurred, and how they related to the other tasks. All 24 tasks were observed in at least one review with a mean of 17.9 (Min = 15, Max = 22) distinct tasks per review. Two new tasks-assess illness severity and patient decision-making capacity-were identified, thus 26 tasks were examined. Three overarching tasks were identified-assess priorities, determine and refine the most likely diagnosis and establish and refine management plans-that occurred throughout all stages of the case review starting from patient identification and continuing through to assessment and plan. A fourth possible overarching task-reflection-was also identified but only observed in four instances across three cases. The other 22 tasks appeared to be context dependent serving to support, expand, and refine one or more overarching tasks. Tasks were non-sequential and the same supporting task could serve more than one overarching task. The authors conclude that these findings provide insight into the 'what' and 'when' of physician reasoning during case review that can be used to support professional development, clinical training and patient care. In particular, they draw attention to the iterative way in which each task is addressed during a case review and how this finding may challenge conventional ways of teaching and assessing clinical communication and reasoning. They also suggest that further research

  9. Inductive Reasoning and Writing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rooks, Clay; Boyd, Robert

    2003-01-01

    Induction, properly understood, is not merely a game, nor is it a gimmick, nor is it an artificial way of explaining an element of reasoning. Proper understanding of inductive reasoning--and the various types of reasoning that the authors term inductive--enables the student to evaluate critically other people's writing and enhances the composition…

  10. Measuring Relational Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, Patricia A.; Dumas, Denis; Grossnickle, Emily M.; List, Alexandra; Firetto, Carla M.

    2016-01-01

    Relational reasoning is the foundational cognitive ability to discern meaningful patterns within an informational stream, but its reliable and valid measurement remains problematic. In this investigation, the measurement of relational reasoning unfolded in three stages. Stage 1 entailed the establishment of a research-based conceptualization of…

  11. Spatially-Explicit Bayesian Information Entropy Metrics for Calibrating Landscape Transformation Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kostas Alexandridis

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Assessing spatial model performance often presents challenges related to the choice and suitability of traditional statistical methods in capturing the true validity and dynamics of the predicted outcomes. The stochastic nature of many of our contemporary spatial models of land use change necessitate the testing and development of new and innovative methodologies in statistical spatial assessment. In many cases, spatial model performance depends critically on the spatially-explicit prior distributions, characteristics, availability and prevalence of the variables and factors under study. This study explores the statistical spatial characteristics of statistical model assessment of modeling land use change dynamics in a seven-county study area in South-Eastern Wisconsin during the historical period of 1963–1990. The artificial neural network-based Land Transformation Model (LTM predictions are used to compare simulated with historical land use transformations in urban/suburban landscapes. We introduce a range of Bayesian information entropy statistical spatial metrics for assessing the model performance across multiple simulation testing runs. Bayesian entropic estimates of model performance are compared against information-theoretic stochastic entropy estimates and theoretically-derived accuracy assessments. We argue for the critical role of informational uncertainty across different scales of spatial resolution in informing spatial landscape model assessment. Our analysis reveals how incorporation of spatial and landscape information asymmetry estimates can improve our stochastic assessments of spatial model predictions. Finally our study shows how spatially-explicit entropic classification accuracy estimates can work closely with dynamic modeling methodologies in improving our scientific understanding of landscape change as a complex adaptive system and process.

  12. Synthesis Reasoning and Its Application in Chinese Calligraphy Generation

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    XUSong-Hua; PANYun-He; ZHUANGYue-Ting; FRANCISC.M.Lau

    2005-01-01

    In this paper, we address the demanding task of developing intelligent systems equipped with machine creativity that can perform design tasks automatically. The main challenge is how to model human beings' creativity mathematically and mimic such creativity computationally. We propose a “synthesis reasoning model” as the underlying mechanism to simulate human beings’ creative thinking when they are handling design tasks. We present the theory of the synthesis reasoning model, and the detailed procedure of designing an intelligent system based on the model.We offer a case study of an intelligent Chinese calligraphy generation system which we have developed.Based on implementation experiences of the calligraphy generation system as well as a few other systems for solving real-world problems, we suggest a generic methodology for constructing intelligent systems using the synthesis reasoning model.

  13. Parallel spatial direct numerical simulations on the Intel iPSC/860 hypercube

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joslin, Ronald D.; Zubair, Mohammad

    1993-01-01

    The implementation and performance of a parallel spatial direct numerical simulation (PSDNS) approach on the Intel iPSC/860 hypercube is documented. The direct numerical simulation approach is used to compute spatially evolving disturbances associated with the laminar-to-turbulent transition in boundary-layer flows. The feasibility of using the PSDNS on the hypercube to perform transition studies is examined. The results indicate that the direct numerical simulation approach can effectively be parallelized on a distributed-memory parallel machine. By increasing the number of processors nearly ideal linear speedups are achieved with nonoptimized routines; slower than linear speedups are achieved with optimized (machine dependent library) routines. This slower than linear speedup results because the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) routine dominates the computational cost and because the routine indicates less than ideal speedups. However with the machine-dependent routines the total computational cost decreases by a factor of 4 to 5 compared with standard FORTRAN routines. The computational cost increases linearly with spanwise wall-normal and streamwise grid refinements. The hypercube with 32 processors was estimated to require approximately twice the amount of Cray supercomputer single processor time to complete a comparable simulation; however it is estimated that a subgrid-scale model which reduces the required number of grid points and becomes a large-eddy simulation (PSLES) would reduce the computational cost and memory requirements by a factor of 10 over the PSDNS. This PSLES implementation would enable transition simulations on the hypercube at a reasonable computational cost.

  14. Creating spatial organizations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lekanne Deprez, F.R.E.; Tissen, R.J.

    2009-01-01

    This paper addresses the spatial design of modern organizations in the context of a fundamental change which is currently taking place in the way companies view their organizations and the inherent performance expectations, requirements and results underlying these. This change involves a managerial

  15. Adult Gesture in Collaborative Mathematics Reasoning in Different Ages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noto, M. S.; Harisman, Y.; Harun, L.; Amam, A.; Maarif, S.

    2017-09-01

    This article describes the case study on postgraduate students by using descriptive method. A problem is designed to facilitate the reasoning in the topic of Chi-Square test. The problem was given to two male students with different ages to investigate the gesture pattern and it will be related to their reasoning process. The indicators in reasoning problem can obtain the conclusion of analogy and generalization, and arrange the conjectures. This study refers to some questions—whether unique gesture is for every individual or to identify the pattern of the gesture used by the students with different ages. Reasoning problem was employed to collect the data. Two students were asked to collaborate to reason the problem. The discussion process recorded in using video tape to observe the gestures. The video recorded are explained clearly in this writing. Prosodic cues such as time, conversation text, gesture that appears, might help in understanding the gesture. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether different ages influences the maturity in collaboration observed from gesture perspective. The finding of this study shows that age is not a primary factor that influences the gesture in that reasoning process. In this case, adult gesture or gesture performed by order student does not show that he achieves, maintains, and focuses on the problem earlier on. Adult gesture also does not strengthen and expand the meaning if the student’s words or the language used in reasoning is not familiar for younger student. Adult gesture also does not affect cognitive uncertainty in mathematics reasoning. The future research is suggested to take more samples to find the consistency from that statement.

  16. Spatial working memory interferes with explicit, but not probabilistic cuing of spatial attention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Won, Bo-Yeong; Jiang, Yuhong V.

    2014-01-01

    Recent empirical and theoretical work has depicted a close relationship between visual attention and visual working memory. For example, rehearsal in spatial working memory depends on spatial attention, whereas adding a secondary spatial working memory task impairs attentional deployment in visual search. These findings have led to the proposal that working memory is attention directed toward internal representations. Here we show that the close relationship between these two constructs is limited to some but not all forms of spatial attention. In five experiments, participants held color arrays, dot locations, or a sequence of dots in working memory. During the memory retention interval they performed a T-among-L visual search task. Crucially, the probable target location was cued either implicitly through location probability learning, or explicitly with a central arrow or verbal instruction. Our results showed that whereas imposing a visual working memory load diminished the effectiveness of explicit cuing, it did not interfere with probability cuing. We conclude that spatial working memory shares similar mechanisms with explicit, goal-driven attention but is dissociated from implicitly learned attention. PMID:25401460

  17. Autonomous and Controlling Reasons Underlying Achievement Goals during Task Engagement: Their Relation to Intrinsic Motivation and Cheating

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozdemir Oz, Ayse; Lane, Jennie F.; Michou, Aikaterini

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the relation of autonomous and controlling reasons underlying an endorsed achievement goal to intrinsic motivation and cheating. The endorsement of the achievement goal was ensured by involving 212 (M(subscript age) = 19.24, SD = 0.97) freshman students in a spatial task and asking them to report their most…

  18. The Christological Ontology of Reason

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nissen, Ulrik Becker

    2006-01-01

    Taking the startingpoint in an assertion of an ambiguity in the Lutheran tradition’s assessment of reason, the essay argues that the Kantian unreserved confidence in reason is criticised in Bonhoeffer. Based upon a Christological understanding of reason, Bonhoeffer endorses a view of reason which...... is treated in the essay. Here it is argued that Bonhoeffer may be appropriated in attempting to outline a Christological ontology of reason holding essential implications for the sources and conditions of public discourse....

  19. Do New Caledonian crows solve physical problems through causal reasoning?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, A.H.; Hunt, G.R.; Medina, F.S.; Gray, R.D.

    2008-01-01

    The extent to which animals other than humans can reason about physical problems is contentious. The benchmark test for this ability has been the trap-tube task. We presented New Caledonian crows with a series of two-trap versions of this problem. Three out of six crows solved the initial trap-tube. These crows continued to avoid the trap when the arbitrary features that had previously been associated with successful performances were removed. However, they did not avoid the trap when a hole and a functional trap were in the tube. In contrast to a recent primate study, the three crows then solved a causally equivalent but visually distinct problem—the trap-table task. The performance of the three crows across the four transfers made explanations based on chance, associative learning, visual and tactile generalization, and previous dispositions unlikely. Our findings suggest that New Caledonian crows can solve complex physical problems by reasoning both causally and analogically about causal relations. Causal and analogical reasoning may form the basis of the New Caledonian crow's exceptional tool skills. PMID:18796393

  20. Evaluating the roles of the inferior frontal gyrus and superior parietal lobule in deductive reasoning: an rTMS study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsujii, Takeo; Sakatani, Kaoru; Masuda, Sayako; Akiyama, Takekazu; Watanabe, Shigeru

    2011-09-15

    This study used off-line repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to examine the roles of the superior parietal lobule (SPL) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in a deductive reasoning task. Subjects performed a categorical syllogistic reasoning task involving congruent, incongruent, and abstract trials. Twenty four subjects received magnetic stimulation to the SPL region prior to the task. In the other 24 subjects, TMS was administered to the IFG region before the task. Stimulation lasted for 10min, with an inter-pulse frequency of 1Hz. We found that bilateral SPL (Brodmann area (BA) 7) stimulation disrupted performance on abstract and incongruent reasoning. Left IFG (BA 45) stimulation impaired congruent reasoning performance while paradoxically facilitating incongruent reasoning performance. This resulted in the elimination of the belief-bias. In contrast, right IFG stimulation only impaired incongruent reasoning performance, thus enhancing the belief-bias effect. These findings are largely consistent with the dual-process theory of reasoning, which proposes the existence of two different human reasoning systems: a belief-based heuristic system; and a logic-based analytic system. The present findings suggest that the left language-related IFG (BA 45) may correspond to the heuristic system, while bilateral SPL may underlie the analytic system. The right IFG may play a role in blocking the belief-based heuristic system for solving incongruent reasoning trials. This study could offer an insight about functional roles of distributed brain systems in human deductive reasoning by utilizing the rTMS approach. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Contradictory Reasoning Network: An EEG and fMRI Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thai, Ngoc Jade; Seri, Stefano; Rotshtein, Pia; Tecchio, Franca

    2014-01-01

    Contradiction is a cornerstone of human rationality, essential for everyday life and communication. We investigated electroencephalographic (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in separate recording sessions during contradictory judgments, using a logical structure based on categorical propositions of the Aristotelian Square of Opposition (ASoO). The use of ASoO propositions, while controlling for potential linguistic or semantic confounds, enabled us to observe the spatial temporal unfolding of this contradictory reasoning. The processing started with the inversion of the logical operators corresponding to right middle frontal gyrus (rMFG-BA11) activation, followed by identification of contradictory statement associated with in the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG-BA47) activation. Right medial frontal gyrus (rMeFG, BA10) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC, BA32) contributed to the later stages of process. We observed a correlation between the delayed latency of rBA11 response and the reaction time delay during inductive vs. deductive reasoning. This supports the notion that rBA11 is crucial for manipulating the logical operators. Slower processing time and stronger brain responses for inductive logic suggested that examples are easier to process than general principles and are more likely to simplify communication. PMID:24667491

  2. The Effect of Question Format and Task Difficulty on Reasoning Strategies and Diagnostic Performance in Internal Medicine Residents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heemskerk, Laura; Norman, Geoff; Chou, Sophia; Mintz, Marcy; Mandin, Henry; McLaughlin, Kevin

    2008-01-01

    Background: Previous studies have suggested an association between reasoning strategies and diagnostic success, but the influence on this relationship of variables such as question format and task difficulty, has not been studied. Our objective was to study the association between question format, task difficulty, reasoning strategies and…

  3. Performance of the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor System over the Lower Colorado River, Texas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bayabil, H. K.; Sharif, H. O.; Fares, A.; Awal, R.; Risch, E.

    2017-12-01

    Recently observed increases in intensities and frequencies of climate extremes (e.g., floods, dam failure, and overtopping of river banks) necessitate the development of effective disaster prevention and mitigation strategies. Hydrologic models can be useful tools in predicting such events at different spatial and temporal scales. However, accuracy and prediction capability of such models are often constrained by the availability of high-quality representative hydro-meteorological data (e.g., precipitation) that are required to calibrate and validate such models. Improved technologies and products such as the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system that allows gathering and transmission of vast meteorological data have been developed to provide such data needs. While the MRMS data are available with high spatial and temporal resolutions (1 km and 15 min, respectively), its accuracy in estimating precipitation is yet to be fully investigated. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of the MRMS system in effectively capturing precipitation over the Lower Colorado River, Texas using observations from a dense rain gauge network. In addition, effects of spatial and temporal aggregation scales on the performance of the MRMS system were evaluated. Point scale comparisons were made at 215 gauging locations using rain gauges and MRMS data from May 2015. Moreover, the effects of temporal and spatial data aggregation scales (30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 105, and 120 min) and (4 to 50 km), respectively on the performance of the MRMS system were tested. Overall, the MRMS system (at 15 min temporal resolution) captured precipitation reasonably well, with an average R2 value of 0.65 and RMSE of 0.5 mm. In addition, spatial and temporal data aggregations resulted in increases in R2 values. However, reduction in RMSE was achieved only with an increase in spatial aggregations.

  4. Esophageal cancer prediction based on qualitative features using adaptive fuzzy reasoning method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raed I. Hamed

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Esophageal cancer is one of the most common cancers world-wide and also the most common cause of cancer death. In this paper, we present an adaptive fuzzy reasoning algorithm for rule-based systems using fuzzy Petri nets (FPNs, where the fuzzy production rules are represented by FPN. We developed an adaptive fuzzy Petri net (AFPN reasoning algorithm as a prognostic system to predict the outcome for esophageal cancer based on the serum concentrations of C-reactive protein and albumin as a set of input variables. The system can perform fuzzy reasoning automatically to evaluate the degree of truth of the proposition representing the risk degree value with a weight value to be optimally tuned based on the observed data. In addition, the implementation process for esophageal cancer prediction is fuzzily deducted by the AFPN algorithm. Performance of the composite model is evaluated through a set of experiments. Simulations and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and performance of the proposed algorithms. A comparison of the predictive performance of AFPN models with other methods and the analysis of the curve showed the same results with an intuitive behavior of AFPN models.

  5. Teaching for Ethical Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sternberg, Robert J.

    2012-01-01

    This article argues for the importance of teaching for ethical reasoning. Much of our teaching is in vain if it is not applied to life in an ethical manner. The article reviews lapses in ethical reasoning and the great costs they have had for society. It proposes that ethical reasoning can be taught across the curriculum. It presents an eight-step…

  6. The emergence of spatial cyberinfrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Dawn J; Wang, Shaowen

    2011-04-05

    Cyberinfrastructure integrates advanced computer, information, and communication technologies to empower computation-based and data-driven scientific practice and improve the synthesis and analysis of scientific data in a collaborative and shared fashion. As such, it now represents a paradigm shift in scientific research that has facilitated easy access to computational utilities and streamlined collaboration across distance and disciplines, thereby enabling scientific breakthroughs to be reached more quickly and efficiently. Spatial cyberinfrastructure seeks to resolve longstanding complex problems of handling and analyzing massive and heterogeneous spatial datasets as well as the necessity and benefits of sharing spatial data flexibly and securely. This article provides an overview and potential future directions of spatial cyberinfrastructure. The remaining four articles of the special feature are introduced and situated in the context of providing empirical examples of how spatial cyberinfrastructure is extending and enhancing scientific practice for improved synthesis and analysis of both physical and social science data. The primary focus of the articles is spatial analyses using distributed and high-performance computing, sensor networks, and other advanced information technology capabilities to transform massive spatial datasets into insights and knowledge.

  7. An Integrated Software Framework to Support Semantic Modeling and Reasoning of Spatiotemporal Change of Geographical Objects: A Use Case of Land Use and Land Cover Change Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenwen Li

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Evolving Earth observation and change detection techniques enable the automatic identification of Land Use and Land Cover Change (LULCC over a large extent from massive amounts of remote sensing data. It at the same time poses a major challenge in effective organization, representation and modeling of such information. This study proposes and implements an integrated computational framework to support the modeling, semantic and spatial reasoning of change information with regard to space, time and topology. We first proposed a conceptual model to formally represent the spatiotemporal variation of change data, which is essential knowledge to support various environmental and social studies, such as deforestation and urbanization studies. Then, a spatial ontology was created to encode these semantic spatiotemporal data in a machine-understandable format. Based on the knowledge defined in the ontology and related reasoning rules, a semantic platform was developed to support the semantic query and change trajectory reasoning of areas with LULCC. This semantic platform is innovative, as it integrates semantic and spatial reasoning into a coherent computational and operational software framework to support automated semantic analysis of time series data that can go beyond LULC datasets. In addition, this system scales well as the amount of data increases, validated by a number of experimental results. This work contributes significantly to both the geospatial Semantic Web and GIScience communities in terms of the establishment of the (web-based semantic platform for collaborative question answering and decision-making.

  8. The influence of cognitive load on spatial search performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Longstaffe, Kate A; Hood, Bruce M; Gilchrist, Iain D

    2014-01-01

    During search, executive function enables individuals to direct attention to potential targets, remember locations visited, and inhibit distracting information. In the present study, we investigated these executive processes in large-scale search. In our tasks, participants searched a room containing an array of illuminated locations embedded in the floor. The participants' task was to press the switches at the illuminated locations on the floor so as to locate a target that changed color when pressed. The perceptual salience of the search locations was manipulated by having some locations flashing and some static. Participants were more likely to search at flashing locations, even when they were explicitly informed that the target was equally likely to be at any location. In large-scale search, attention was captured by the perceptual salience of the flashing lights, leading to a bias to explore these targets. Despite this failure of inhibition, participants were able to restrict returns to previously visited locations, a measure of spatial memory performance. Participants were more able to inhibit exploration to flashing locations when they were not required to remember which locations had previously been visited. A concurrent digit-span memory task further disrupted inhibition during search, as did a concurrent auditory attention task. These experiments extend a load theory of attention to large-scale search, which relies on egocentric representations of space. High cognitive load on working memory leads to increased distractor interference, providing evidence for distinct roles for the executive subprocesses of memory and inhibition during large-scale search.

  9. The Reasons for the Decline of the Results of Jordanian Students in "TIMSS 2015"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abu Tayeh, Khaled; Al-Rsa'i, Mohammad S.; Al-Shugairat, Mohammad F.

    2018-01-01

    The study aimed at identifying the reasons behind the Jordanian students' drop of performance in the TIMSS 2015 from the point of view of their teachers. Survey method was used because teachers are the most able to decide upon the reasons of this fall and so a questionnaire was designed to recognize their point of view concerning the reasons of…

  10. Fluid reasoning predicts future mathematics among children and adolescents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Chloe T.; Bunge, Silvia A.; Chiongbian, Victoria Briones; Barrow, Maia; Ferrer, Emilio

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this longitudinal study was to determine whether fluid reasoning (FR) plays a significant role in the acquisition of mathematics skills, above and beyond the effects of other cognitive and numerical abilities. Using a longitudinal cohort sequential design, we examined how FR measured at three assessment occasions, spaced approximately 1.5 years apart, predicted math outcomes for a group of 69 participants between ages 6 and 21 across all three assessment occasions. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the direct and indirect relations between children's prior cognitive abilities and their future math achievement. A model including age, FR, vocabulary, and spatial skills accounted for 90% of the variance in future math achievement. In this model, FR was the only significant predictor of future math achievement; neither age, vocabulary, nor spatial skills were significant predictors. Thus, FR was the only predictor of future math achievement across a wide age range that spanned primary and secondary school. These findings build on Cattell's conceptualization of FR (Cattell, 1987) as a scaffold for learning, showing that this domain-general ability supports the acquisition of rudimentary math skills as well as the ability to solve more complex mathematical problems. PMID:28152390

  11. Fronto-Parietal Network Reconfiguration Supports the Development of Reasoning Ability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wendelken, Carter; Ferrer, Emilio; Whitaker, Kirstie J; Bunge, Silvia A

    2016-05-01

    The goal of this fMRI study was to examine how well developmental improvements in reasoning ability can be explained by changes in functional connectivity between specific nodes in prefrontal and parietal cortices. To this end, we examined connectivity within the lateral fronto-parietal network (LFPN) and its relation to reasoning ability in 132 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years, 56 of whom were scanned twice over the course of 1.5 years. Developmental changes in strength of connections within the LFPN were most prominent in late childhood and early adolescence. Reasoning ability was related to functional connectivity between left rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPFC) and inferior parietal lobule (IPL), but only among 12-18-year olds. For 9-11-year olds, reasoning ability was most strongly related to connectivity between left and right RLPFC; this relationship was mediated by working memory. For 6-8-year olds, significant relationships between connectivity and performance were not observed; in this group, processing speed was the primary mediator of improvement in reasoning ability. We conclude that different connections best support reasoning at different points in development and that RLPFC-IPL connectivity becomes an important predictor of reasoning during adolescence. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  12. Spatial attention does improve temporal discrimination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chica, Ana B; Christie, John

    2009-02-01

    It has recently been stated that exogenous attention impairs temporal-resolution tasks (Hein, Rolke, & Ulrich, 2006; Rolke, Dinkelbach, Hein, & Ulrich, 2008; Yeshurun, 2004; Yeshurun & Levy, 2003). In comparisons of performance on spatially cued trials versus neutral cued trials, the results have suggested that spatial attention decreases temporal resolution. However, when performance on cued and uncued trials has been compared in order to equate for cue salience, typically speed-accuracy trade-offs (SATs) have been observed, making the interpretation of the results difficult. In the present experiments, we aimed at studying the effect of spatial attention in temporal resolution while using a procedure to control for SATs. We controlled reaction times (RTs) by constraining the time to respond, so that response decisions would be made within comparable time windows. The results revealed that when RT was controlled, performance was impaired for cued trials as compared with neutral trials, replicating previous findings. However, when cued and uncued trials were compared, performance was actually improved for cued trials as compared with uncued trials. These results suggest that SAT effects may have played an important role in the previous studies, because when they were controlled and measured, the results reversed, revealing that exogenous attention does improve performance on temporal-resolution tasks.

  13. Spectral-Spatial Differentiation of Brain Activity During Mental Imagery of Improvisational Music Performance Using MEG.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boasen, Jared; Takeshita, Yuya; Kuriki, Shinya; Yokosawa, Koichi

    2018-01-01

    Group musical improvisation is thought to be akin to conversation, and therapeutically has been shown to be effective at improving communicativeness, sociability, creative expression, and overall psychological health. To understand these therapeutic effects, clarifying the nature of brain activity during improvisational cognition is important. Some insight regarding brain activity during improvisational music cognition has been gained via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). However, we have found no reports based on magnetoencephalography (MEG). With the present study, we aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of improvisational music performance experimentation in MEG. We designed a novel MEG-compatible keyboard, and used it with experienced musicians ( N = 13) in a music performance paradigm to spectral-spatially differentiate spontaneous brain activity during mental imagery of improvisational music performance. Analyses of source activity revealed that mental imagery of improvisational music performance induced greater theta (5-7 Hz) activity in left temporal areas associated with rhythm production and communication, greater alpha (8-12 Hz) activity in left premotor and parietal areas associated with sensorimotor integration, and less beta (15-29 Hz) activity in right frontal areas associated with inhibition control. These findings support the notion that musical improvisation is conversational, and suggest that creation of novel auditory content is facilitated by a more internally-directed, disinhibited cognitive state.

  14. Spatial complexity of character based writing systems and arithmetic in primary school: a longitudinal study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maja eRodic

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Previous research has consistently found an association between spatial and mathematical abilities. We hypothesised that this link may partially explain the consistently observed advantage in mathematics demonstrated by Asian children. Spatial complexity of the character-based writing systems may reflect or lead to a cognitive advantage relevant to mathematics. 721 6-9 -year old children from the UK and Russia were assessed on a battery of cognitive skills and arithmetic. The Russian children were recruited from specialist linguistic schools and divided into 4 different language groups, based on the second language they were learning (i.e. English, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. The UK children attended regular schools and were not learning any second language. The testing took place twice across the school year, once at the beginning, before the start of the second language acquisition, and once at the end of the year. The study had two aims: (1 to test whether spatial ability predicts mathematical ability in 7-9 year old children across the samples; (2 to test whether acquisition and usage of a character-based writing system leads to an advantage in performance in arithmetic and related cognitive tasks. The longitudinal link from spatial ability to mathematics was found only in the Russian sample. The effect of second language acquisition on mathematics or other cognitive skills was negligible, although some effect of Chinese language on mathematical reasoning was suggested. Overall, the findings suggest that although spatial ability is related to mathematics at this age, one academic year of exposure to spatially complex writing systems is not enough to provide a mathematical advantage. Other educational and socio-cultural factors might play a greater role in explaining individual and cross-cultural differences in arithmetic at this age.

  15. Spatial complexity of character-based writing systems and arithmetic in primary school: a longitudinal study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodic, Maja; Tikhomirova, Tatiana; Kolienko, Tatiana; Malykh, Sergey; Bogdanova, Olga; Zueva, Dina Y; Gynku, Elena I; Wan, Sirui; Zhou, Xinlin; Kovas, Yulia

    2015-01-01

    Previous research has consistently found an association between spatial and mathematical abilities. We hypothesized that this link may partially explain the consistently observed advantage in mathematics demonstrated by East Asian children. Spatial complexity of the character-based writing systems may reflect or lead to a cognitive advantage relevant to mathematics. Seven hundered and twenty one 6-9-year old children from the UK and Russia were assessed on a battery of cognitive skills and arithmetic. The Russian children were recruited from specialist linguistic schools and divided into four different language groups, based on the second language they were learning (i.e., English, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese). The UK children attended regular schools and were not learning any second language. The testing took place twice across the school year, once at the beginning, before the start of the second language acquisition, and once at the end of the year. The study had two aims: (1) to test whether spatial ability predicts mathematical ability in 7-9 year-old children across the samples; (2) to test whether acquisition and usage of a character-based writing system leads to an advantage in performance in arithmetic and related cognitive tasks. The longitudinal link from spatial ability to mathematics was found only in the Russian sample. The effect of second language acquisition on mathematics or other cognitive skills was negligible, although some effect of Chinese language on mathematical reasoning was suggested. Overall, the findings suggest that although spatial ability is related to mathematics at this age, one academic year of exposure to spatially complex writing systems is not enough to provide a mathematical advantage. Other educational and socio-cultural factors might play a greater role in explaining individual and cross-cultural differences in arithmetic at this age.

  16. Spatial complexity of character-based writing systems and arithmetic in primary school: a longitudinal study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodic, Maja; Tikhomirova, Tatiana; Kolienko, Tatiana; Malykh, Sergey; Bogdanova, Olga; Zueva, Dina Y.; Gynku, Elena I.; Wan, Sirui; Zhou, Xinlin; Kovas, Yulia

    2015-01-01

    Previous research has consistently found an association between spatial and mathematical abilities. We hypothesized that this link may partially explain the consistently observed advantage in mathematics demonstrated by East Asian children. Spatial complexity of the character-based writing systems may reflect or lead to a cognitive advantage relevant to mathematics. Seven hundered and twenty one 6–9-year old children from the UK and Russia were assessed on a battery of cognitive skills and arithmetic. The Russian children were recruited from specialist linguistic schools and divided into four different language groups, based on the second language they were learning (i.e., English, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese). The UK children attended regular schools and were not learning any second language. The testing took place twice across the school year, once at the beginning, before the start of the second language acquisition, and once at the end of the year. The study had two aims: (1) to test whether spatial ability predicts mathematical ability in 7–9 year-old children across the samples; (2) to test whether acquisition and usage of a character-based writing system leads to an advantage in performance in arithmetic and related cognitive tasks. The longitudinal link from spatial ability to mathematics was found only in the Russian sample. The effect of second language acquisition on mathematics or other cognitive skills was negligible, although some effect of Chinese language on mathematical reasoning was suggested. Overall, the findings suggest that although spatial ability is related to mathematics at this age, one academic year of exposure to spatially complex writing systems is not enough to provide a mathematical advantage. Other educational and socio-cultural factors might play a greater role in explaining individual and cross-cultural differences in arithmetic at this age. PMID:25859235

  17. GeoSpark SQL: An Effective Framework Enabling Spatial Queries on Spark

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhou Huang

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available In the era of big data, Internet-based geospatial information services such as various LBS apps are deployed everywhere, followed by an increasing number of queries against the massive spatial data. As a result, the traditional relational spatial database (e.g., PostgreSQL with PostGIS and Oracle Spatial cannot adapt well to the needs of large-scale spatial query processing. Spark is an emerging outstanding distributed computing framework in the Hadoop ecosystem. This paper aims to address the increasingly large-scale spatial query-processing requirement in the era of big data, and proposes an effective framework GeoSpark SQL, which enables spatial queries on Spark. On the one hand, GeoSpark SQL provides a convenient SQL interface; on the other hand, GeoSpark SQL achieves both efficient storage management and high-performance parallel computing through integrating Hive and Spark. In this study, the following key issues are discussed and addressed: (1 storage management methods under the GeoSpark SQL framework, (2 the spatial operator implementation approach in the Spark environment, and (3 spatial query optimization methods under Spark. Experimental evaluation is also performed and the results show that GeoSpark SQL is able to achieve real-time query processing. It should be noted that Spark is not a panacea. It is observed that the traditional spatial database PostGIS/PostgreSQL performs better than GeoSpark SQL in some query scenarios, especially for the spatial queries with high selectivity, such as the point query and the window query. In general, GeoSpark SQL performs better when dealing with compute-intensive spatial queries such as the kNN query and the spatial join query.

  18. Assessment of abstract reasoning abilities in alcohol-dependent subjects: an fMRI study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bagga, Deepika; Singh, Namita; Singh, Sadhana; Modi, Shilpi; Kumar, Pawan; Bhattacharya, D.; Garg, Mohan L.; Khushu, Subash

    2014-01-01

    Chronic alcohol abuse has been traditionally associated with impaired cognitive abilities. The deficits are most evident in higher order cognitive functions, such as abstract reasoning, problem solving and visuospatial processing. The present study sought to increase current understanding of the neuropsychological basis of poor abstract reasoning abilities in alcohol-dependent subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). An abstract reasoning task-based fMRI study was carried out on alcohol-dependent subjects (n = 18) and healthy controls (n = 18) to examine neural activation pattern. The study was carried out using a 3-T whole-body magnetic resonance scanner. Preprocessing and post processing was performed using SPM 8 software. Behavioral data indicated that alcohol-dependent subjects took more time than controls for performing the task but there was no significant difference in their response accuracy. Analysis of the fMRI data indicated that for solving abstract reasoning-based problems, alcohol-dependent subjects showed enhanced right frontoparietal neural activation involving inferior frontal gyrus, post central gyrus, superior parietal lobule, and occipito-temporal gyrus. The extensive activation observed in alcohol dependents as compared to controls suggests that alcohol dependents recruit additional brain areas to meet the behavioral demands for equivalent task performance. The results are consistent with previous fMRI studies suggesting decreased neural efficiency of relevant brain networks or compensatory mechanisms for the execution of task for showing an equivalent performance. (orig.)

  19. Assessment of abstract reasoning abilities in alcohol-dependent subjects: an fMRI study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bagga, Deepika; Singh, Namita; Singh, Sadhana; Modi, Shilpi; Kumar, Pawan [Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), NMR Research Centre, Delhi (India); Bhattacharya, D. [Base Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Delhi Cantt (India); Garg, Mohan L. [Panjab University, Department of Biophysics, Chandigarh (India); Khushu, Subash [Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), NMR Research Centre, Delhi (India); INMAS, DRDO, NMR Research Centre, Delhi (India)

    2014-01-15

    Chronic alcohol abuse has been traditionally associated with impaired cognitive abilities. The deficits are most evident in higher order cognitive functions, such as abstract reasoning, problem solving and visuospatial processing. The present study sought to increase current understanding of the neuropsychological basis of poor abstract reasoning abilities in alcohol-dependent subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). An abstract reasoning task-based fMRI study was carried out on alcohol-dependent subjects (n = 18) and healthy controls (n = 18) to examine neural activation pattern. The study was carried out using a 3-T whole-body magnetic resonance scanner. Preprocessing and post processing was performed using SPM 8 software. Behavioral data indicated that alcohol-dependent subjects took more time than controls for performing the task but there was no significant difference in their response accuracy. Analysis of the fMRI data indicated that for solving abstract reasoning-based problems, alcohol-dependent subjects showed enhanced right frontoparietal neural activation involving inferior frontal gyrus, post central gyrus, superior parietal lobule, and occipito-temporal gyrus. The extensive activation observed in alcohol dependents as compared to controls suggests that alcohol dependents recruit additional brain areas to meet the behavioral demands for equivalent task performance. The results are consistent with previous fMRI studies suggesting decreased neural efficiency of relevant brain networks or compensatory mechanisms for the execution of task for showing an equivalent performance. (orig.)

  20. Beam control and diagnostic functions in the NIF transport spatial filter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holdener, F.R.; Ables, E.; Bliss, E.S.

    1996-10-01

    Beam control and diagnostic systems are required to align the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser prior to a shot as well as to provide diagnostics on 192 beam lines at shot time. A design that allows each beam's large spatial filter lenses to also serve as objective lenses for beam control and diagnostic sensor packages helps to accomplish the task at a reasonable cost. However, this approach also causes a high concentration of small optics near the pinhole plane of the transport spatial filter (TSF) at the output of each beam. This paper describes the optomechanical design in and near the central vacuum vessel of the TSF