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Cognitive Psychology Sep 2023Statements containing epistemic modals (e.g., "by spring 2023 most European countries may have the Covid-19 pandemic under control") are common expressions of epistemic...
Statements containing epistemic modals (e.g., "by spring 2023 most European countries may have the Covid-19 pandemic under control") are common expressions of epistemic uncertainty. In this paper, previous published findings (Knobe & Yalcin, 2014; Khoo & Phillips, 2018) on the opposition between Contextualism and Relativism for epistemic modals are re-examined. It is found that these findings contain a substantial degree of individual variation. To investigate whether participants differ in their interpretations of epistemic modals, an experiment with multiple phases and sessions is conducted to classify participants according to the three semantic theories of Relativism, Contextualism, and Objectivism. Through this study, some of the first empirical evidence for the kind of truth-value shifts postulated by semantic Relativism is presented. It is furthermore found that participants' disagreement judgments match their truth evaluations and that participants are capable of distinguishing between truth and justification. In a second experimental session, it is investigated whether participants thus classified follow the norm of retraction which Relativism uses to account for argumentation with epistemic modals. Here the results are less favorable for Relativism. In a second experiment, these results are replicated and the normative beliefs of participants concerning the norm of retraction are investigated following work on measuring norms by Bicchieri (2017). Again, it is found that on average participants show no strong preferences concerning the norm of retraction for epistemic modals. Yet, it was found that participants who had committed to Objectivism and had training in logic applied the norm of retraction to might-statements. These results present a substantial challenge to the account of argumentation with epistemic modals presented in MacFarlane (2014), as discussed.
Topics: Humans; Pandemics; COVID-19; Semantics; Judgment; Uncertainty
PubMed: 37586285
DOI: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2023.101591 -
Physiology & Behavior Jun 2024Muscle testing is an integral component in assessing musculoskeletal function and tailoring rehabilitation efforts. This study aimed i. to identify an objective... (Review)
Review
Muscle testing is an integral component in assessing musculoskeletal function and tailoring rehabilitation efforts. This study aimed i. to identify an objective evaluation system sensitive to analyze changes in different muscular conditions in different neuromuscular tests across a spectrum of professional experience levels; and ii. to analyze differences in objective parameters and clinical judgment between participants of different levels of expertise in different muscular conditions in different neuromuscular tests. Participants included 60 subjects with Level I to III expertise who performed blinded neuromuscular tests on the middle deltoid and rectus femoris muscles of 40 volunteer subjects. The methodology centered on standardizing test protocols to minimize variability, employing EMG to quantify muscle activity, thermography to capture thermographic muscular response, and digital dynamometry to measure muscular resistance. The findings revealed that while traditional methods like thermography and electromyography provide valuable insights, digital dynamometry stands out for its sensitivity in detecting muscle condition changes in neuromuscular test. Moreover, the data underscored the pivotal role of advanced training and expertise in enhancing the precision and accuracy of neuromuscular diagnostics, since there were significant differences in objective parameters and clinical judgment between participants of different levels of expertise in the different muscular conditions in Middle deltoid and Rectus femoris neuromuscular tests analyzed, presenting higher expertise participant clinical judgment like objective validated instrument.
PubMed: 38851442
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2024.114602 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2023This study investigates attention mechanisms and the accuracy of emotion judgment among South Korean children by employing Korean and American faces in conjunction with...
INTRODUCTION
This study investigates attention mechanisms and the accuracy of emotion judgment among South Korean children by employing Korean and American faces in conjunction with eye-tracking technology.
METHODS
A total of 42 participants were individually presented with photos featuring either Korean or American children, and their task was to judge the emotions conveyed through the facial expressions in each photo. The participants' eye movements during picture viewing were meticulously observed using an eye tracker.
RESULTS
The analysis of the emotion judgment task outcomes revealed that the accuracy scores for discerning emotions of joy, sadness, and anger in Korean emotional faces were found to be significantly higher than those for American children. Conversely, no significant difference in accuracy scores was observed for the recognition of fear emotion between Korean and American faces. Notably, the study also uncovered distinct patterns of fixation duration among children, depending on whether they were viewing Korean or American faces. These patterns predominantly manifested in the three main facial areas of interest, namely the eyes, nose, and mouth.
DISCUSSION
The observed phenomena can be best understood within the framework of the "other-race effect." Consequently, this prototype formation leads to heightened accuracy in recognizing and interpreting emotional expressions exhibited by faces belonging to the same racial group. The present study contributes to a deeper understanding of how attention mechanisms and other-race effects impact emotion judgment among South Korean children. The utilization of eye-tracking technology enhances the validity and precision of our findings, providing valuable insights for both theoretical models of face processing and practical applications in various fields such as psychology, education, and intercultural communication.
PubMed: 37621937
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1235238 -
Quarterly Journal of Experimental... Dec 2023Jesteadt et al. discovered a remarkable pattern of autocorrelation in log estimates of loudness. Responses to repeated stimuli correlated to about +0.7, but that...
Jesteadt et al. discovered a remarkable pattern of autocorrelation in log estimates of loudness. Responses to repeated stimuli correlated to about +0.7, but that correlation was much reduced (0.1) following large differences between successive stimuli. The experiment reported here demonstrates the same pattern in absolute identification without feedback; if feedback is supplied, the pattern is much muted. A model is proposed for this pattern of autocorrelation, based on the premise: "There is no absolute judgment of sensory magnitudes; nor is there any absolute judgment of differences/ratios between sensory magnitudes." Each stimulus in an experiment is compared with its predecessor, greater, less than, or about the same. The of that comparison increases with the difference in magnitude between the stimuli, so the assessment of a stimulus far removed from its predecessor is very uncertain. The model provides explanations for the apparent normal variability of sensory stimuli, for the "bow" effect and for the widely reported pattern of sequential effects. It has applications to the effects of stimulus range, to the difficulty of identifying more than five stimuli on a single continuum without error, and to inspection tasks in general, notably medical screening and the marking of examination scripts.
Topics: Humans; Judgment; Uncertainty; Feedback
PubMed: 36790111
DOI: 10.1177/17470218231159393 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2023Mindfulness reflects attention to the present moment in a non-judgmental way and has been linked to individual autonomy and motivation, but conclusions are inconsistent.... (Review)
Review Meta-Analysis
INTRODUCTION
Mindfulness reflects attention to the present moment in a non-judgmental way and has been linked to individual autonomy and motivation, but conclusions are inconsistent. The purpose of this review was to summarize previous studies to explore the relationship between mindfulness and motivation and its intervention effects.
METHODS
Literature searches were conducted in five electronic databases. Both correlational studies assessing the association between motivation and mindfulness and experimental studies to verify the effect of intervention were included.
RESULTS
Six papers with seven intervention studies and twenty-three papers with twenty-seven correlational studies met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis showed that mindfulness was positively correlated with intrinsic motivation ( = 0.28, < 0.0001) and total motivation ( = 0.37, < 0.0001) but had no significant correlation with extrinsic motivation ( = 0.01, = 0.93) or amotivation ( = -0.17, = 0.14). Effect-size estimates suggested that mindfulness intervention was beneficial to motivation promotion, but the effect was at a low level ( = 0.12).
CONCLUSION
We found consistent support for mindfulness practice relating to motivation promotion, especially on intrinsic motivation development. However, there was still a portion of heterogeneity that could not be explained and needed to be identified in future studies.
Topics: Motivation; Mindfulness; Databases, Factual
PubMed: 37614448
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1159902 -
Advances in Physiology Education Dec 2023Application-of-knowledge skills are highly valued in clinical medicine, as indicated by recent changes to licensure and entrance exams for nursing and physician programs...
Application-of-knowledge skills are highly valued in clinical medicine, as indicated by recent changes to licensure and entrance exams for nursing and physician programs (i.e., the NCLEX and MCAT). Such emphasis should be both welcomed and supported by approaches to teaching human anatomy and physiology that emphasize critical thinking skills built upon logic, reasoning, and judgment. The argument for development of these skills is not simply philosophical. Rather, such emphasis is strongly supported by a 2016 Johns Hopkins study (Makary MA, Daniel M. 353: i2139, 2016) that estimates that medical errors are now the third leading cause of death in the United States! Active learning techniques known to require critical thinking skills are often supplemental to standard expository lecturing or other avenues of imparting content knowledge (reading, videos, etc.). We propose that all content dissemination can and should provide for the development of critical thinking skills, preparing students for active learning techniques requiring this ability. This can be accomplished by establishing an intellectual framework for understanding the adaptive benefits of anatomical or physiological traits. Additionally, explanations conveying the causality of mechanistic sequences result in learning content within intuitive functional groups rather than as isolated phenomena, the latter often accomplished mainly through memorization as opposed to real understanding. Here, we provide a template for lecture development based upon these principles as well as a specific example from human anatomy and physiology. Our hope is to provide a model for how students should think about all physiology, making comprehensive coverage of content (an impossible task!) much less important. Critical thinking skills are essential to the effective performance of many careers, particularly those involving health care. To aid the development of these skills in physiology, the formation of logical cognitive frameworks needs to be supported via instruction that emphasizes the context of physiological functions (the "why") as well as the causality of their sequential actions. Within such frameworks, students become capable of cognitive reasoning required to reach intuitive conclusions after system perturbations.
Topics: Humans; Thinking; Problem-Based Learning; Problem Solving; Judgment; Curriculum
PubMed: 37732369
DOI: 10.1152/advan.00131.2023 -
Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 2023This article explains and critiques the protection of love within judgments concerning relationships under the Human Rights Act 1998. Using theory of emotion to conduct...
This article explains and critiques the protection of love within judgments concerning relationships under the Human Rights Act 1998. Using theory of emotion to conduct doctrinal analysis of the protection of love within international human rights laws and under the Human Rights Act 1998, it reveals a shift in the conception of love underlying the domestic judicial application of huamn rights. Whereas previously the law was underpinned by values of duty and property, judgments concerning relationships now protect the capacity of individuals to choose how to live. However, the protection of this modern conception of love is limited by judicial deference, allowing the values underpinning the historical conception of love to continue to influence the law.
PubMed: 37287902
DOI: 10.1093/ojls/gqac034 -
Behavioural Brain Research Sep 2023When two cues are presented together and reliably predict an outcome (AB-O1) an "overshadowing" effect is typically observed. That is, the relationship between these...
When two cues are presented together and reliably predict an outcome (AB-O1) an "overshadowing" effect is typically observed. That is, the relationship between these cues and the outcome is learned about less well than a cue presented on its own with an outcome (e.g., C - O1). The current study sought to explore the relationship between overshadowing and the positive and negative dimensions of schizotypy. A total of 256 participants completed an overshadowing procedure embedded within a causal judgement task and the Short Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE) which measured the different dimensions of schizotypy. A unilateral overshadowing effect was observed, however, none of the dimensions of schizotypy predicted the magnitude of this effect. These results are the first to demonstrate this finding using an appropriately powered sample and reveal that a tendency to experience symptoms of schizophrenia does not impact upon the overshadowing effect.
Topics: Humans; Schizotypal Personality Disorder; Cues; Emotions; Judgment; Learning
PubMed: 37591412
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114631 -
Public Understanding of Science... Apr 2024This study examines whether engaging in science work and work that is substantively complex (e.g. requiring independent thought and judgment) is related to interest in...
This study examines whether engaging in science work and work that is substantively complex (e.g. requiring independent thought and judgment) is related to interest in science, science knowledge, and confidence in the scientific community in the United States. It also examines whether the conditions of work mediate the relationship between education and these science-related outcomes. Occupation-level data from O*NET are merged with survey data from the General Social Survey. Results indicate that science work is related to interest in science and science knowledge and that work complexity is related to confidence in the scientific community. Results offer only limited evidence of mediation-science work mediates the relationship between educational attainment and science knowledge but not the relationships involving interest or confidence. In sum, results indicate that the conditions of work are associated with science attitudes, and that researchers should examine these connections in future research.
Topics: United States; Attitude; Judgment; Knowledge; Trust; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 37865816
DOI: 10.1177/09636625231203478 -
JMIR Public Health and Surveillance Mar 2024Despite COVID-19 vaccine mandates, many chose to forgo vaccination, raising questions about the psychology underlying how judgment affects these choices. Research shows...
BACKGROUND
Despite COVID-19 vaccine mandates, many chose to forgo vaccination, raising questions about the psychology underlying how judgment affects these choices. Research shows that reward and aversion judgments are important for vaccination choice; however, no studies have integrated such cognitive science with machine learning to predict COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to determine the predictive power of a small but interpretable set of judgment variables using 3 machine learning algorithms to predict COVID-19 vaccine uptake and interpret what profile of judgment variables was important for prediction.
METHODS
We surveyed 3476 adults across the United States in December 2021. Participants answered demographic, COVID-19 vaccine uptake (ie, whether participants were fully vaccinated), and COVID-19 precaution questions. Participants also completed a picture-rating task using images from the International Affective Picture System. Images were rated on a Likert-type scale to calibrate the degree of liking and disliking. Ratings were computationally modeled using relative preference theory to produce a set of graphs for each participant (minimum R>0.8). In total, 15 judgment features were extracted from these graphs, 2 being analogous to risk and loss aversion from behavioral economics. These judgment variables, along with demographics, were compared between those who were fully vaccinated and those who were not. In total, 3 machine learning approaches (random forest, balanced random forest [BRF], and logistic regression) were used to test how well judgment, demographic, and COVID-19 precaution variables predicted vaccine uptake. Mediation and moderation were implemented to assess statistical mechanisms underlying successful prediction.
RESULTS
Age, income, marital status, employment status, ethnicity, educational level, and sex differed by vaccine uptake (Wilcoxon rank sum and chi-square P<.001). Most judgment variables also differed by vaccine uptake (Wilcoxon rank sum P<.05). A similar area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was achieved by the 3 machine learning frameworks, although random forest and logistic regression produced specificities between 30% and 38% (vs 74.2% for BRF), indicating a lower performance in predicting unvaccinated participants. BRF achieved high precision (87.8%) and AUROC (79%) with moderate to high accuracy (70.8%) and balanced recall (69.6%) and specificity (74.2%). It should be noted that, for BRF, the negative predictive value was <50% despite good specificity. For BRF and random forest, 63% to 75% of the feature importance came from the 15 judgment variables. Furthermore, age, income, and educational level mediated relationships between judgment variables and vaccine uptake.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings demonstrate the underlying importance of judgment variables for vaccine choice and uptake, suggesting that vaccine education and messaging might target varying judgment profiles to improve uptake. These methods could also be used to aid vaccine rollouts and health care preparedness by providing location-specific details (eg, identifying areas that may experience low vaccination and high hospitalization).
Topics: Adult; Humans; COVID-19 Vaccines; Judgment; Cross-Sectional Studies; COVID-19; Vaccination; Cognitive Science; Ethnicity
PubMed: 38315620
DOI: 10.2196/47979