1,720,995 research outputs found
Improving Mathematics Performance in 7-Year-Old Children: Training the Mapping From Estimated Quantities to Arabic Digits
Full text linkExact arithmetic abilities require symbolic numerals, which constitute a precise representation of quantities, such as the Arabic digits. Numerical thinking, however, also engages an intuitive non-linguistic number sense, the Approximate Number System (ANS). The ANS allows us to discriminate quantities, approximate arithmetic transformations, and estimate quantities, all without counting individual items. Although the ANS does not require language, estimations made by means of the ANS can be expressed with number words or Arabic digits. A connection between the ANS and school math performance has been established. A child’s accuracy in mapping from approximate quantities to Arabic digits is associated with children’s symbolic math abilities and can also predict their success at learning new arithmetic skills. Here, we explore whether directly training the mapping between estimated quantities and Arabic digits transfers to better math proficiency. The control training was based on discriminating quantity representations, without involving digits. Each of these three-week computer-based trainings were added to the school schedule. We measured improvements in approximate and exact arithmetic after training. Both the experimental and the control group improved in approximate arithmetic performance. However, in exact arithmetic, results show that strengthening the digit-quantity relation improved the 7-year-olds’ competence in symbolic additions and subtractions over and above the improvement measured in the control group. Our results speak to the complexity of the factors involved in developing mathematical abilities, making the case that training the mapping from estimated quantities to digits can be particularly effective in improving children’s mathematical performance
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Epistemic Limitations and Precise Estimates in Analog Magnitude Representation
No full textThis chapter presents a re-understanding of the contents of our analog
magnitude representations (e.g., approximate duration, distance, number). The
approximate number system (ANS) is considered, which supports numerical
representations that are widely described as fuzzy, noisy, and limited in their
representational power. The contention is made that these characterizations are
largely based on misunderstandings—that what has been called “noise” and
“fuzziness” is actually an important epistemic signal of confidence in one’s
estimate of the value. Rather than the ANS having noisy or fuzzy numerical
content, it is suggested that the ANS has exquisitely precise numerical content
that is subject to epistemic limitations. Similar considerations will arise for other
analog representations. The chapter discusses how this new understanding of
ANS representations recasts the learnability problem for number and the
conceptual changes that children must accomplish in the number domain
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Epistemic Limitations and Precise Estimates in Analog Magnitude Representation
Full text linkThis chapter presents a re-understanding of the contents of our analog
magnitude representations (e.g., approximate duration, distance, number). The
approximate number system (ANS) is considered, which supports numerical
representations that are widely described as fuzzy, noisy, and limited in their
representational power. The contention is made that these characterizations are
largely based on misunderstandings—that what has been called “noise” and
“fuzziness” is actually an important epistemic signal of confidence in one’s
estimate of the value. Rather than the ANS having noisy or fuzzy numerical
content, it is suggested that the ANS has exquisitely precise numerical content
that is subject to epistemic limitations. Similar considerations will arise for other
analog representations. The chapter discusses how this new understanding of
ANS representations recasts the learnability problem for number and the
conceptual changes that children must accomplish in the number domain
Insight into the mental machinery of intuitive physics through individual differences
No full textOur seamless interaction with the world is no small feat. Packing delicate groceries, stacking glassware, reshuffling precariously balanced cans in a cabinet – each action is selected and calibrated based on expectations about its physical consequences. In daily life, we continually form implicit, online physical predictions to guide our decisions and actions, and this process can often feel as effortless as the act of seeing. This mental framework for understanding and predicting physical dynamics - termed intuitive physics - allows us to fluidly engage with a world where things roll, swing, bounce, balance, slosh, slide, and collide. A recent wave of research has established that people make accurate and nuanced inferences about the physical structure and dynamics of their everyday environments, but it remains unclear what mental resources we draw on for such inferences. In this thesis, I investigated the mental architecture underpinning our physical intuitions. In chapter two, using a novel Unstable Towers task, I examined whether intuitive physics was separable from other aspects of cognition, such as spatial ability. I found reliable individual differences in the towers performance that could not be fully explained by spatial ability, suggesting the separability of intuitive physics from spatial cognition. In chapter three, I discovered that a common bias found in mass inference was not indicative of a flawed overall physical reasoning system, but rather a byproduct of a functioning system operating over noisy perceptual inputs. In chapter four, I tested whether people possess a dedicated mental resource for physical inference that can flexibly deploy across a range of physical scenarios. I fine-tuned a battery of five intuitive physics tasks to capture reliable individual differences in performance. Despite the marked differences among tasks in their contents and demands, I found that performance was tightly correlated across tasks, with a single underlying factor explaining the bulk of individual differences. Performance on the physics battery was also separable from spatial ability and working memory. Findings from three studies provide strong evidence in support for the existence of a physics system in the mind that is distinct from other cognitive domains and operates over a wide range of physical scenarios and judgements
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