D-1-Partially efficiency-balance designs with at most two efficiency classes

A wide class of block designs admitting a simple analysis has been considered. The statistical properties of such designs have been indicated and the problems relating to their characterization and construction have been investigated.     

The Several Meanings of “Positive”

Abstract

Wiegand and Geller propose that the salient role of positive reinforcement in behavior analysis should enable a melding of behavior analysis with developments and concepts that have appeared under the banner of “positive psychology.” However, as is true of many words, the term positive has more than one meaning, and the positive of positive reinforcement is not the same as the positive of “positive psychology.” The latter is parasitic upon the vernacular, as “nice” or “desirable,” whereas the former is analogous to the algebraic “add” as when an action produces the appearance (as contrasted with the removal) of some event. The distinct meanings become clear with recognition that addictive and criminal behavior often are maintained through positive reinforcement, and that negative reinforcement of behavior often is benign and beneficial to the persons involved. In addition, most of the phenomena identified with positive psychology that Wiegand and Geller propose to embrace entail more subtle and complex combinations of behavioral principles than these authors acknowledge. Wiegand and Geller also propose to accommodate vernacular assumptions in ways that separate their approach from its conceptual base; this risks impairing the effectiveness of their work whether or not its marketability would be improved.     

Experience-weighted Attraction Learning in Normal Form Games

In ‘experience-weighted attraction’ (EWA) learning, strategies have attractions that reflect initial predispositions, are updated based on payoff experience, and determine choice probabilities according to some rule (e.g., logit). A key feature is a parameter δ that weights the strength of hypothetical reinforcement of strategies that were not chosen according to the payoff they would have yielded, relative to reinforcement of chosen strategies according to received payoffs. The other key features are two discount rates, φ and ρ, which separately discount previous attractions, and an experience weight. EWA includes reinforcement learning and weighted fictitious play (belief learning) as special cases, and hybridizes their key elements. When δ= 0 and ρ= 0, cumulative choice reinforcement results. When δ= 1 and ρ=φ, levels of reinforcement of strategies are exactly the same as expected payoffs given weighted fictitious play beliefs. Using three sets of experimental data, parameter estimates of the model were calibrated on part of the data and used to predict a holdout sample. Estimates of δ are generally around .50, φ around .8 − 1, and ρ varies from 0 to φ. Reinforcement and belief-learning special cases are generally rejected in favor of EWA, though belief models do better in some constant-sum games. EWA is able to combine the best features of previous approaches, allowing attractions to begin and grow flexibly as choice reinforcement does, but reinforcing unchosen strategies substantially as belief-based models implicitly do.     

Effects of differential reinforcement and rules with feedback on preference for choice and verbal reports

We evaluated the effects of differential reinforcement and accurate verbal rules with feedback on the preference for choice and the verbal reports of 6 adults. Participants earned points on a probabilistic schedule by completing the terminal links of a concurrent-chains arrangement in a computer-based game of chance. In free-choice terminal links, participants selected 3 numbers from an 8-number array; in restricted-choice terminal links participants selected the order of 3 numbers preselected by a computer program. A pop-up box then informed the participants if the numbers they selected or ordered matched or did not match numbers generated by the computer but not displayed; matching in a trial resulted in one point earned. In baseline sessions, schedules of reinforcement were equal across free- and restricted-choice arrangements and a running tally of points earned was shown each trial. The effects of differentially reinforcing restricted-choice selections were evaluated using a reversal design. For 4 participants, the effects of providing a running tally of points won by arrangement and verbal rules regarding the schedule of reinforcement were also evaluated using a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline-across-participants design. Results varied across participants but generally demonstrated that (a) preference for choice corresponded more closely to verbal reports of the odds of winning than to reinforcement schedules, (b) rules and feedback were correlated with more accurate verbal reports, and (c) preference for choice corresponded more highly to the relative number of reinforcements obtained across free- and restricted-choice arrangements in a session than to the obtained probability of reinforcement or to verbal reports of the odds of winning.     

The Effects of Contingent Caregiver Imitation of Infant Vocalizations: a Comparison of Multiple Caregivers

The present study replicated and extended the Pelaez et al. (Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 44:33–40, 2011) study, which examined the reinforcing effects of mothers’ contingent imitation of their infants’ vocalizations. Three infants aged 7–12 months who could vocalize sounds but not words participated with two caregivers for each infant (i.e., triads). During the intervention phase, the caregivers were asked to immediately imitate all vocalizations emitted by the child for a 3-min period. During the yoked control phase, the caregivers listened to an audio recording from the preceding condition and provided vocalizations non-contingently on the infants’ responses. The procedures yielded different results across participants; one infant emitted a higher frequency of vocalizations during the contingent imitation phases over the control phases, and the other two infants showed higher rates of responding during the control phases. However, all infants emitted more imitative return vocalizations during contingent reinforcement conditions compared with the yoked control condition.     

论起承转合

起承转合不仅是文体的章法结构,更是一种思维方式。起承转合对应的是一切事物发生、发展、转折、收结并循环往复的客观规律,其文化渊源是中国古代人们的天道观、宇宙观中对圆境的高度崇尚,而直接的启示则是人们无时不感受到的周而复始的节气递变和四季转换。起承转合作为篇章结构的审美特征是圆满、圆融和圆活,同样可以是一种师法自然、至法无法的理想境界。应当重新认识起承转合的命题或范畴所包含的意蕴及其意义。     

地铁施工横通道转区间正线处下穿既有建筑沉降控制研究

以某城市地铁施工横通道转区间隧道正线马头门处下穿既有建筑物情况为例,从群洞施工工序对建筑物沉降影响的角度考虑,采用有限差分数值软件FLAC3D对不同开洞施工工况进行三维数值模拟,分析围岩变形情况,得出在横通道向区间马头门开洞施工时,必须单个逐一开洞施工至房屋基础外15 m以上,并在开洞马头门处增加有效加固措施,以保证既有建筑在地铁施工过程中的安全。     

陶筹到文字：认知的发展

文章以远古西亚地区计数方式的演变为例来分析抽象能力的发展。陶筹表明人类计数方式最初是通过具体的一一对应的方式实现的。公元前7500年的西亚陶筹表现其所代表物品的方式却是抽象的,比如以锥形陶筹表示谷物量器。公元前3300年,人们开始用空心泥球来保存有计数功能的陶筹,以更为抽象的符号刻画在其表面来记录其内封存的陶筹。这个过程发展到最高阶段便产生了具有抽象意义的数字,随后文字也就应运而生。     

特种粘土固化浆液技术性能研究

通过实验研究了特种粘土固化浆液在合适的材料配比与水料比条件下,可获得较好的稳定性且析水率极低,胶凝时间、早期强度、终期强度均因水泥和结构剂掺量不同而可控,结石率极高且可达100%,固化中发生微膨胀。可用于边坡、堤坝、地基等注浆防渗工程。     

40m上承式钢板梁桥加固前后动力特性研究

从理论上对钢板梁桥横向加固效果进行了定性分析，并应用大型有限元分析软件AN-SYS建立了加固前后桥梁结构的三维空间有限元模型。通过模态分析获得了加固前后结构前10阶自振频率和振型，并对几种方案的加固效果进行了定量分析，得出有意义的结论。