Conceptually Similar Research Articles

The effect of AI-based inspiration on human design ideation

ABSTRACT Computational co-creative systems in design allow users to collaborate with an AI partner on open-ended creative tasks in the design process. Co-creative systems can enhance design creativity by inspiring the exploration of novel design solutions in the initial idea generation. However, there are a lack of studies about the effect of co-creative systems on the cognitive process during ideation. This study examines the effect of an AI-based co-creative design tool that provides inspirations based on conceptual similarity on design ideation. It was hypothesized that conceptually similar inspirations have a significant influence on design ideation than random inspirations. The Collaborative Ideation Partner (CIP), a co-creative design system that provides inspirational images based on conceptual similarity, was developed to examine the effect of an AI Model for conceptual similarity on ideation during a design task. We conducted an experiment with a control condition in which the images are selected randomly from a curated database for inspiration and a treatment condition in which conceptual similarity is the basis for selecting the next inspiring image. Our findings show that the AI model of conceptual similarity used in the treatment condition has a significant effect on the novelty, variety, and quantity of ideas during human design ideation.

Adiabatic compressed air energy storage technology

Adiabatic compressed air energy storage technology

Contextual positivity-familiarity effects are unaffected by known moderators of misattribution

ABSTRACT The positivity-familiarity effect refers to the phenomenon that positive affect increases the likelihood that people judge a stimulus as familiar. Drawing on the assumption that positivity-familiarity effects result from a common misattribution mechanism that is shared with conceptually similar effects (e.g. fluency-familiarity effects), we investigated whether positivity-familiarity effects are qualified by three known moderators of other misattribution phenomena: (a) conceptual similarity between affect-eliciting prime stimuli and focal target stimuli, (b) relative salience of affect-eliciting prime stimuli, and (c) explicit warnings about the effects of affect-eliciting prime stimuli on familiarity judgments of the targets. Counter to predictions, three experiments obtained robust positivity-familiarity effects that were unaffected by the hypothesised moderators. The findings pose a challenge for misattribution accounts of positivity-familiarity effects, but they are consistent with alternative accounts in terms of affective monitoring.

The Concept of Contexts in Pain: Generalization of Contextual Pain-Related Fear Within a de Novo Category of Unique Contexts

The experience of unpredictable pain fluctuations can trigger anticipatory pain-related fear. When discrete predictors for pain are lacking, fear typically accrues to the broader environmental context: a phenomenon referred to as contextual pain-related fear. We examined whether conceptual similarity between discrete contexts facilitates pain-related fear generalization; this mechanism is known as category-level fear generalization. Using a voluntary joystick movement paradigm, pain-free participants performed movements in 2 contexts (within-subjects design); context was manipulated by varying background color screens. In the predictable context, one movement predicted pain and another did not. In the unpredictable context, 2 other movements never predicted pain but pain was unpredictably delivered during the context. Participants subsequently learned to categorize novel background colors (ie, generalization contexts) as being similar to either the unpredictable or predictable pain context. Then we tested fear generalization to these novel contexts. We measured self-reported pain-related fear, expectancy, and eyeblink startle. Results indicated higher pain-related fear reports, but no elevated startle responses, for generalization contexts that were trained to be similar to the original unpredictable context rather than the predictable pain context. This highlights a potential pathway through which neutral contexts can elicit pain-related fear and motivate avoidance behavior associated with chronic pain disability. PerspectiveSelf-reported pain-related fear and expectancy of painful outcome in response to a context associated with unpredictable pain generalizes to perceptually distinct contexts that are trained to be conceptually similar to the unpredictable pain context. Category-level generalization may be a pathway contributing to spreading of fear and avoidance in chronic pain.

Cortical pattern separation and item-specific memory encoding

Pattern separation and pattern completion are fundamental brain processes thought to be critical for episodic memory encoding and retrieval, and for discrimination between similar memories. These processes are best understood in the hippocampus, but are proposed to occur throughout the brain, in particular in sensory regions. Cortical, as well as hippocampal, pattern separation may therefore support formation of event-unique memory traces. Using fMRI, we investigated cortical pattern separation and pattern completion and their relationship to encoding activity predicting subsequent item-specific compared to gist memory. During scanning, participants viewed images of novel objects, repeated objects, and objects which were both perceptually and conceptually similar to previously presented images, while performing a size judgement task. In a later surprise recognition test, they judged whether test items were ‘same’ ‘similar’ or ‘new’ relative to studied items. Activity consistent with pattern separation – responses to similar items as if novel – was observed in bilateral occipito-temporal cortex. Activity consistent with pattern completion – responses to similar items as if repeated – was observed in left prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Curve fitting analysis further revealed that graded responses to change in image conceptual and perceptual similarity in bilateral prefrontal and right parietal regions met specific computational predictions for pattern separation for one or both of these similarity dimensions. Functional overlap between encoding activity predicting subsequent item-specific recognition and pattern separation activity was also observed in left occipital cortex and bilateral inferior frontal cortex. The findings suggest that extrahippocampal regions including sensory and prefrontal cortex contribute to pattern separation and pattern completion of visual input, consistent with the proposal that cortical pattern separation contributes to formation of item-specific memory traces, facilitating accurate recognition memory.

How message similarity shapes the timecourse of sentence formulation

Transforming a preverbal message into an utterance (e.g., The swimmer is pushing the paparazzo) requires conceptual and linguistic encoding. Two experiments tested whether the timecourse of sentence formulation is shaped jointly or independently by message-level and sentence-level processes. Eye-tracked speakers described pictures of simple events with verb-medial (SVO/OVS) and verb-initial (VSO/aux-OVS) sentences in Dutch. To assess effects of message-level and sentence-level variables on formulation, the experiments manipulated the ease of relational encoding at both levels: target events were preceded by conceptually similar or dissimilar prime events (event primes) that increased speakers’ familiarity with the action shown in the target event (e.g., pushing), and the prime events were accompanied by recorded active or passive descriptions (structural primes) that facilitated generation of suitable linguistic structures on target trials. The results showed effects of both types of primes on the form of target descriptions and on formulation. Speakers repeated the primed structures more often when target events were conceptually similar to the prime events. Importantly, conceptual similarity constrained the effects of structural primes on the timecourse of formulation: speakers showed more consistent deployment of attention to the two characters during linguistic encoding in structurally primed than unprimed active sentences, but conceptual familiarity reduced the priming effects in eye movements. Thus familiarity with message-level information can change how speakers express their messages and, during formulation, can provide conceptual guidance that supersedes effects of sentence-level variables. Effects of the event primes were stronger in VSO sentences, where early verb placement explicitly required early encoding of relational information, suggesting that linear word order can also constrain message-level influences on formulation.

The Counterintuitive Relationship between Conceptual and Perceptual Similarities and Eyewitness Suggestibility

SummaryThe tendency to confuse witnessed and suggested information can result in inaccurate eyewitness testimonies and convictions of innocent people. Studies that tested how similarities between witnessed and suggested information affect the tendency to confuse them reached inconsistent results. Here, we claim that there is a more complex and not necessarily linear relationship between similarity and memory distortions. Participants (164) viewed two subsequent stories, which varied in the conceptual and perceptual similarities between them. We found a significant interaction between conceptual and perceptual similarities. When we presented two conceptually different stories, perceptual similarity increased the suggestibility effect compared with perceptual dissimilarity. Conversely, when we presented two conceptually similar stories, perceptual similarity decreased suggestibility compared with perceptual dissimilarity. Accordingly, we suggest that similarity between two events may increase the suggestibility effect. However, counter‐intuitively, once similarity reaches a certain threshold, the coherence level between the events reduces the tendency to confuse them. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A Conceptual Model of Trademark Retrieval based on Conceptual Similarity

The rapid expansion of e-commerce at the beginning of 21st century has had a significant impact on intellectual property management. A particular area of concern is the misuse of trademarks and trademark protection. Trademarks are proprietary words and images with high reputational value; they are important assets, often used as a marketing tool, which require infringement protection. One of the issues considered during infringement litigation is the visual, conceptual and phonetic similarity of different trademarks. In particular, the conceptual similarity of trademarks is an area never previously studied in information retrieval. This paper focuses on this important aspect by proposing a conceptual model of the comparison process, aimed at retrieving conceptually similar trademarks. The proposed model employs natural language processing and semantic technology to compute the conceptual similarity between trademarks.

Conceptual and visual features contribute to visual memory for natural images.

We examined the role of conceptual and visual similarity in a memory task for natural images. The important novelty of our approach was that visual similarity was determined using an algorithm [1] instead of being judged subjectively. This similarity index takes colours and spatial frequencies into account. For each target, four distractors were selected that were (1) conceptually and visually similar, (2) only conceptually similar, (3) only visually similar, or (4) neither conceptually nor visually similar to the target image. Participants viewed 219 images with the instruction to memorize them. Memory for a subset of these images was tested subsequently. In Experiment 1, participants performed a two-alternative forced choice recognition task and in Experiment 2, a yes/no-recognition task. In Experiment 3, testing occurred after a delay of one week. We analyzed the distribution of errors depending on distractor type. Performance was lowest when the distractor image was conceptually and visually similar to the target image, indicating that both factors matter in such a memory task. After delayed testing, these differences disappeared. Overall performance was high, indicating a large-capacity, detailed visual long-term memory.

Conceptual similarity promotes generalization of higher order fear learning.

We tested the hypothesis that conceptual similarity promotes generalization of conditioned fear. Using a sensory preconditioning procedure, three groups of subjects learned an association between two cues that were conceptually similar, unrelated, or mismatched. Next, one of the cues was paired with a shock. The other cue was then reintroduced to test for fear generalization, as measured by the skin conductance response. Results showed enhanced fear generalization that correlated with trait anxiety levels in the group that learned an association between conceptually similar stimuli. These findings suggest that conceptual representations of conditional stimuli influence human fear learning processes.

Comparison of Event-Related Potentials Between Conceptually Similar Chinese Words, English Words, and Pictures

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of conceptual similarity between target and nontarget stimuli on the P300 component of event-related potentials using a multi-stimulus oddball paradigm. The stimuli were pictures of three objects and their corresponding Chinese and English words. The pictures and their corresponding Chinese and English words were considered to the target stimulus, respectively. The experiments elucidate that imagery and verbal information are processed by distinct but interconnected systems.

Pharmaceutical treatment for cognitive deficits in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions: exploring new territory using traditional tools and established maps

Over 30 years ago, we began to develop a nonhuman primate model to study cognitive deficits of age-related neurodegenerative diseases and their neuroanatomical-neurochemical underpinnings for purposes of translating this work toward first pharmacotherapies. This effort produced several notable findings that eventually received consensus support, which we have been asked to review. A discussion of these findings, in the context of issues and obstacles confronted and principles applied, might facilitate the development of even more effective models and treatments, not only for Alzheimer's disease (AD) but for many other disorders involving cognitive deficits. Collectively, our research provided first evidence of the following: aged primates can be used as 'models' for human age-related neurodegenerative diseases; key cognitive deficits in early AD share important conceptual similarities to deficits in both aged monkeys as well as non-demented humans (e.g., age-associated memory impairment and mild cognitive impairment); pharmacological intervention can reduce age-related cognitive impairments in animals that are conceptually similar to those seen in human diseases, including AD; cholinergics would likely be the first approved therapeutics for AD; and that many other classes of drugs would not likely succeed. Despite the early promise shown by behavioral/functional approaches to develop treatment strategies, the dramatic shift in focus away from behavioral outcomes in animal neurodegenerative research that began 20 years ago has compromised further progress and continues to impede our ability to understand how these diseases impair human cognition and what pathways might lead to effective therapies. Principles applied successfully in the past should provide guidance for facilitating efforts in the future.

Conceptual and Perceptual Similarity Between Encoding and Retrieval Contexts and Recognition Memory Context Effects in Older and Younger Adults

We examined the hypothesis that older adults' deficits in contextual memory result from difficulties in contending with partial encoding-to-retrieval changes in the context. We measured effects of contextual change and constancy on recognition memory for words, in older and younger adults. We assessed the ability to adjust to partial contextual changes by manipulating encoding-retrieval context similarity: identical, new and unrelated, conceptually similar, or perceptually similar. For both older and younger adults, identical and conceptually similar contexts benefited recognition of target words, whereas perceptually similar contexts did not. Older adults did not make more false alarms. In contrast, older adults' direct recognition of contextual stimuli was at chance. These results indicate that retrieval processes, rather than encoding or rigidity in the use of contextual cues, are implicated in older adults' difficulties in memory for contextual information.

Common logic of transcription factor and microRNA action

Over the past few years, microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as abundant regulators of gene expression. Like many transcription factors (TFs), miRNAs are important determinants of cellular fate specification. Here I provide a conceptual framework for miRNA action in the context of creating cellular diversity in a developing organism, and emphasize the conceptual similarity of TF- and miRNA-mediated control of gene expression. Both TFs and miRNAs are trans-acting factors that exert their activity through composite cis-regulatory elements that are 'hard-wired' into DNA or RNA. TFs and miRNAs act in a largely combinatorial manner - that is, many different TFs or miRNAs control one gene - and they act cooperatively on their targets - that is, there are several cis-regulatory elements for a single TF or miRNA species in a target gene. Just as the set of TFs in a given cell type has been proposed to constitute a 'code' that specifies cellular differentiation, so 'miRNA codes' are likely to have conceptually similar roles in the specification of cell types.

The conceptual similarity of intonational tones and its effects on intertranscriber reliability.

Tests of intertranscriber agreement in prosodically-labeled corpora have been used as an objective performance measure of reliability. Reasonably high agreements among labelers have been found, but systematic disagreements exist, indicating that some intonational patterns are more difficult for transcribers to label while others are easier. This may be due to differences in the way transcribers distinguish between tonal labels for pitch events. We developed a method to map the subjective similarity space for the categories in an intonational transcription system. From this map, we derived a conceptual tone similarity similarity index indicating the distance between tone categories. This subjective similarity index is used to predict the intertranscriber reliability. It is found that tones which are conceptually similar result in higher transcriptional disagreements while tones which are conceptually dissimilar result in lower disagreement.

Het Taalaanbod Voor Lexicale Ontwikkeling

The main goal of this research is to investigate whether the Principle of Contrastive Usage holds for the linguistic input that young children receive from their parents. This principle predicts that words which are used contrastively are not only different but also similar in meaning. That is, contrasted words will tend (a) to be semantically related, and (b) the semantic relation will tend to be the coordinate relation, since coordinates are conceptually similar (e.g., cat and dog both refer to a kind of animal). Related research questions are what forms of 'contrasting' and/or 'correcting' can be distinguished in the input to children, and what role individual and situational variables play in the occurrence of these forms. The spontaneous speech produced by two mother-child dyads, in natural interaction at home, was analysed. Speech samples had been collected at regular intervals over the second half of the children's third year. Only nouns were examined. Two communicative situations were distinguished, 'free conversation' and 'visually guided conversation' (book reading, making a jig-saw puzzle). Several subcatego-ries of contrast and correction were discriminated. Subcategories shared by both are corrective explicit contrast and corrective implicit contrast. A contrast-specific subcategory is descriptive contrast, correction-specific subcategories are global negation, specific negation, correction by demonstration, and correction by acknowledging similarity. It was found that contrast and correction are strongly correlated in the input, and tend to go together. However, it was also found that contrast but not correction is sensitive to aspects of communicative situation, whereas correction but not contrast is sensitive to individual differences. As to the character of the relationships between the contrasted terms, it was found that the coordinate relation is indeed predominant, most notably in descriptive contrast. Additionally, it was found that parents, when correcting their children, have a clear preference for explicit over implicit contrast when there is any kind of similarity between referents involved, i.e., when the relation between contrasted terms is either coordinate (conceptual similarity) or is based on perceptual or functional similarity.

Effect of simultaneous presentation of conceptually similar and dissimilar items on paired associate learning1

Paired-associate learning was retarded significantly when subsets of conceptually dissimilar pairs were presented simultaneously rather than successively for learning. The retardation was eliminated, however, when the subsets contained pairs sharing similar stimulus terms or similar response terms. Under both methods of presentation, learning was faster when pairs were grouped on the basis of conceptual similarity than when the same pairs were presented in dissimilar groupings.

Verbal discrimination transfer in two paradigms as a function of conceptual similarity and anticipation interval

In the acquisition of a first verbal discrimination list, the variable manipulated was conceptual similarity, high or low, among both the correct and the incorrect words within the list. Upon transfer to a second verbal discrimination list, the variables were transfer paradigm, conceptual similarity for the words within the second list and anticipation interval (longer or shorter than on List 1). In the Type 1 paradigm correct words in List 1 appeared as incorrect words in List 2. In the Type 2 paradigm correct words in List 1 were replaced by conceptually similar words, which were incorrect, in List 2. In the Control paradigm all words in List 1 were unrelated to the words in List 2. Conceptual similarity did not affect List-1 learning. On List 2 both the Type 1 and Type 2 paradigms produced positive transfer, compared to the Control, on early trials. Transfer in the Type 1 paradigm was uneffected by conceptual similarity, but in the Type 2 paradigm high similarity resulted in more transfer than low similarity. The longer anticipation interval produced better performance in all groups but did not differentially influence transfer in any paradigm. In later transfer the Type 1 but not the Type 2 paradigm resulted in positive transfer.