Explicit Theory Research Articles

Extracting Inelastic Scattering Cross Sections for Finite and Aperiodic Materials from Electronic Dynamics Simulations.

Explicit time-dependent electronic structure theory methods are increasingly prevalent in the areas of condensed matter physics and quantum chemistry, with the broad-band optical absorptivity of molecular and small condensed-phase systems nowadays routinely studied with such approaches. In this paper, it is demonstrated that electronic dynamics simulations can similarly be employed to study cross sections for the scattering-induced electronic excitations probed in nonresonant inelastic X-ray scattering and momentum-resolved electron energy loss spectroscopies. A method is put forth for evaluating the electronic dynamic structure factor, which involves the application of a momentum boost-type perturbation and transformation of the resulting reciprocal space density fluctuations into the frequency domain. Good agreement is first demonstrated between the dynamic structure factor extracted from these electronic dynamics simulations and the corresponding transition matrix elements from linear response theory. The method is then applied to some extended (quasi)one-dimensional systems, for which the wave vector becomes a good quantum number in the thermodynamic limit. Finally, the dispersion of many-body excitations in a series of hydrogen-terminated graphene flakes (and twisted bilayers thereof) is investigated to highlight the utility of the presented approach for capturing morphology-dependent effects in the inelastic scattering cross sections of nanostructured and/or noncrystalline materials.

Imagination theory: Anthropological perspectives

The term imagination and its derivatives often serve as points of departures, yet a concise understanding of imagination in anthropology is lacking. In this paper, we argue for a contextualized anthropological approach to imagination; a complex notion which has been used to describe the human capacity to mentally (re)create that what is not materially present; the creative process of imagining; and the individual and social products of such a process. We address terminological particularities, conceptual differences, and related concepts in addition to discussing the importance of methods and the poetic imagination. In doing so, we consolidate and elaborate on previous analytical and conceptual works to provide a more explicit middle-range theory of imagination from an anthropological perspective. While we propose understanding imagination as a guiding action in situations of uncertainty or ignorance and emphasize focusing on everyday processes and practices, our discussions provide a framework to discuss and compare empirically grounded findings regarding imagination.

Scale-free-modeling (harmonic) vibrational frequencies: Assessing accuracy and cost-effectiveness by CBS extrapolation.

Empirical scaling of calculated vibrational harmonic frequencies is a popular approach used in the field of molecular sciences. A nonempirical scheme that aims at reducing their basis set error is suggested here. Nearly as cost-effective as the scaled Kohn-Sham density functional theory (KS DFT), it consists of splitting the frequencies into Hartree-Fock and electron correlation contributions, followed by their extrapolation to the complete basis set (CBS) limit. Since the former converges exponentially, the overall cost may actually equal that of CBS extrapolation of the correlation part. Despite shifts in the molecular geometry during vibration, reasons are advanced to justify the approach, with extrapolation from the first two steps of the basis set ladder being effective in accelerating convergence. As benchmark data, a set of harmonic frequencies and zero-point energies for 15 molecules is employed at the second-order Moller-Plesset and coupled-cluster single double triple [CCSD(T)] levels of theory. The results outperform the optimized KS DFT scaled values. As a second test set, equilibrium structures and harmonic frequencies were computed for H2O2, CH2NH, C2H2O, and the trans-isomer of 1,2-C2H2F2. The results are also encouraging, particularly when improved for excess correlation at the CCSD(T)/VDZ level via the focal-point approach. In extreme cases, CBS extrapolation is done from two double-ζ calculations: one canonical and the other using explicit correlation theory. As a further case study, benzene is considered. While the CCSD(T) results show the smallest deviation from the best estimates, the MP2 results also attain good quality: When improved for excess correlation, they show 6-10cm-1 errors relative to the best data, only slightly outperformed at the CCSD(T)/CBS level. Tentative results for the fundamental frequencies are also presented.

How to coach: A review of theoretical approaches for the development of a novel coach education framework

Coaching behaviours often derive from sporting traditions, instinct and previous experiences. Practitioners tend to follow traditional, inherited methods rather than adopt new evidence-based approaches associated with athlete development. This article reviews literature relating to theoretical constructs of a novel coach education framework (CEF) developed by the Irish Rugby Football Union. The three constructs included are: self-determination theory (SDT), explicit learning theories (ELT) and implicit learning theories (ILT). A total of 82 publications met the inclusion criteria (SDT: n = 18, ELT: n = 28, ILT: n = 36). This review supports the efficacy of these constructs in isolation for promoting effective coaching practices and provides a justification for future implementation of the framework and its evaluation. This framework may have the potential to address a shortfall in current coach education formats, which have traditionally focused on What content should be used for athlete development as opposed to How practitioners can coach more effectively.

Active percolation in pusher-type microswimmers

The aggregation of microorganisms in colonies and biofilms underpins a myriad of biological processes, and has crucial implications in ecology and biomedical sciences. While much of our knowledge of microbial motion is based on single-cell mechanisms or cell-cell interactions, the origin of cooperativity in microbial communities is not yet fully understood. Here, we reveal the existence of a continuum percolation transition in two model suspensions of pusher-type microswimmers: an asymmetric dumbbell and a squirmer model. Clusters of swimmers held together by hydrodynamic forces dynamically aggregate and separate. Using simulations with explicit hydrodynamics and theory, we find that as the microswimmers' filling fraction increases, the cluster size distribution approaches a scale-free form and system-spanning clusters emerge.

‘It’s not disrespect – it’s putting you at risk’: when right meets risk in the field of cycling research & policy

In the field of cycling studies, explicit and implicit theories of risk are frequently used for the purposes of research design, data collection, data analysis, and policy. In this article, we argue that this field may benefit from theories and concepts that speak to – but go beyond – theories of risk, and more directly focus on matters of right and recognition. Drawing on grounded theory research involving interviews with 28 cyclists in Dublin, Ireland, we analyse the ‘risk talk’ from five participant accounts through an application of the rights-orientated perspective of precarious entitlement theory. We argue for its utility as a theory, specifically as a complementary alternative to risk-focused approaches. First, we illustrate how precarious entitlement goes beyond the conceptual limits of understanding cycling experience from perspectives of ‘risk’ and ‘safety’, by consolidating a concern with ‘right’ and ‘risk’. Second, we illustrate how interpreting particular cycling practices as patterns of submission and social struggle (privatising vulnerability and provoking responsibility) can transcend individualised interpretations of such practices as ‘risk management’ and ‘risk-taking’. In the discussion, we consider the value of this theory in relation to existing research in this field, with reference to socio-cultural risk theory. In conclusion, we argue for a more transparently rights-based approach to cycle policy in light of the dominance of a specific variety of risk discourse that arguably obscures a consideration of rights to use public space and what a realisation of such rights might require from both the public and the state.

A resource-rational model of human processing of recursive linguistic structure

A major goal of psycholinguistic theory is to account for the cognitive constraints limiting the speed and ease of language comprehension and production. Wide-ranging evidence demonstrates a key role for linguistic expectations: A word's predictability, as measured by the information-theoretic quantity of surprisal, is a major determinant of processing difficulty. But surprisal, under standard theories, fails to predict the difficulty profile of an important class of linguistic patterns: the nested hierarchical structures made possible by recursion in human language. These nested structures are better accounted for by psycholinguistic theories of constrained working memory capacity. However, progress on theory unifying expectation-based and memory-based accounts has been limited. Here we present a unified theory of a rational trade-off between precision of memory representations with ease of prediction, a scaled-up computational implementation using contemporary machine learning methods, and experimental evidence in support of the theory's distinctive predictions. We show that the theory makes nuanced and distinctive predictions for difficulty patterns in nested recursive structures predicted by neither expectation-based nor memory-based theories alone. These predictions are confirmed 1) in two language comprehension experiments in English, and 2) in sentence completions in English, Spanish, and German. More generally, our framework offers computationally explicit theory and methods for understanding how memory constraints and prediction interact in human language comprehension and production.

The Challenge of Nietzsche: How to Approach His Thought

The Challenge of Nietzsche: How to Approach His Thought

New AdS3/CFT2 pairs in massive IIA with (0, 4) and (4, 4) supersymmetries

We construct a new class of AdS3 × S3 × M4 solutions of massive Type IIA supergravity with (0, 4) supersymmetries and SU(3) structure. We study in detail two subclasses of these solutions. The first subclass is when M4 = S2× Σ2, with Σ2 a 2d Riemann surface, and the geometry is foliated over the Σ2. We interpret these solutions as duals to surface defect CFTs within the 6d (1, 0) CFTs dual to the AdS7 × S2 × I solutions of massive IIA supergravity. The second subclass is when M4 = \U0001d54b3 × I and the geometry is foliated over the interval. In this case supersymmetry is enhanced to (4, 4) in the massless limit, and the solutions are the sought-for holographic duals of (4, 4) CFTs living in two dimensional D2-NS5-D4 Hanany-Witten brane set-ups. In turn, in the massive case the solutions find an interpretation as D2-D4 branes embedded in Type I’ string theory. We construct explicit quiver gauge theories from the different brane set-ups that flow in the IR to the 2d dual CFTs dual to the solutions. We check the validity of our proposals with the matching between the field theory and holographic central charges.

The knowledge (“true belief”) error in 4- to 6-year-old children: When are agents aware of what they have in view?

The standard view on explicit theory of mind development holds that children around the age of 4 years start to ascribe beliefs to themselves and others, typically tested with false belief (FB) tasks. The present study (N = 95, 53 female, 41 male, Austrian, 41 to 80 months) systematically investigated the puzzling phenomenon that FB achievers (FB+) fail knowledge (often subsumed under “true belief”) tasks: Despite the story protagonist witnessing the displacement of an object these children predict that the protagonist will look for it in its original location. We replicate this result in Experiment 1. Interestingly, some of our children indicated uncertainty about the protagonist's awareness of the relevant event. Thus, in Experiment 2 a new active watching condition was designed to help children understand that the protagonist attended to the critical event. This practically eradicated the knowledge error. Experiment 3 successfully replicated these results. Implications for existing explanations, perceptual access reasoning (PAR, Fabricius, Boyer, Weimer, & Carroll, 2010) and pragmatic difficulties (Oktay-Gür & Rakoczy, 2017) are discussed.

Challenges and Opportunities for Deliberative Processes for Healthcare Decision-Making Comment on "Evidence-Informed Deliberative Processes for Health Benefit Package Design - Part II: A Practical Guide".

The second edition of the practical guide for evidence-informed deliberative processes (EDPs) is an important addition to the growing guidance on deliberative processes supporting priority setting in healthcare. While the practical guide draws on an extensive amount of information collected on established and developing processes within a range of countries, EDPs present health technology assessment (HTA) bodies with several challenges. (1) Basing recommendations on current processes that have not been well-evaluated and that have changed over time may lead to weaker legitimacy than desired. (2) The requirement for social learning among stakeholders may require increased resourcing and blur the boundary between moral deliberation and political negotiation. (3) Robust evaluation should be based on an explicit theory of change, and some process outcomes may be poor guides to overall improvement of EDPs. This comment clarifies and reinforces the recommendations provided in the practical guide.

A Psychometric Pilot Study Examining the Functions of Suicidal Communications Using IRT and Factor Analysis.

Background: Suicide prevention, an important public health issue, relies on suicidal communications to identify and intervene with those at risk. Scant research tests explicit theories of suicidal communication impeding applications to prevention science. The current study pilots a new measure assessing the functions of suicidal communications using factor analysis and item response theory. Methods: MTurk workers (n = 898) completed an anonymous survey. The original scale included 35 items refined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, bifactor modeling, and item response theory. Results: The initial EFA identified a two-correlated-factor solution. The two-correlated-factor and unidimensional models yielded a poor fit. A bifactor model yielded a borderline to acceptable fit. The final four items were identified using a bifactor model and item response theory graded response models capturing ambivalence resolution defined as behaviors aimed to aid in suicide decision making. The final model yielded an excellent fit: 𝝌2(2) = 1.81, CFI (1.00), TLI (1.00), RMSEA (0.00), and SRMR (0.01). Conclusions: There may be one function of suicidal communications. Disclosure may elicit connection and reasons for living that serve as barriers to suicide and resolve ambivalence. Key limitations include convenience sampling and limited validity measures. Future research should partner with participants to improve scale and theory development efforts.

How is the NHS Low-Calorie Diet Programme expected to produce behavioural change to support diabetes remission: An examination of underpinning theory.

In 2020, the National Health Service Low-Calorie Diet Programme (NHS-LCD) was launched, piloting a total diet (TDR) replacement intervention with behaviour change support for people living with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) and excess weight. Four independent service providers were commissioned to design and deliver theoretically grounded programmes in localities across England. 1) to develop a logic model detailing how the NHS-LCD programme is expected to produce changes in health behaviour, and (2) to analyse and evaluate the use of behaviour change theory in providers' NHS-LCD Programme designs. A documentary review was conducted. Information was extracted from the NHS-LCD service specification documents on how the programme expected to produce outcomes. The Theory Coding Scheme (TCS) was used to analyse theory use in providers' programme design documents. The NHS-LCD logic model included techniques aimed at enhancing positive outcome expectations of programme participation and beliefs about social approval of behaviour change, to facilitate programme uptake and behaviour change intentions. This was followed by techniques aimed at shaping knowledge and enhancing the ability of participants to self-regulate their health behaviours, alongside a supportive social environment and person-centred approach.Application and type of behaviour change theory within service providers' programme designs varied. One provider explicitly linked theory to programme content; two providers linked 63% and 70% of intervention techniques to theory; and there was limited underpinning theory identified in the programme design documents for one of the providers. The nature and extent of theory use underpinning the NHS-LCD varied greatly amongst service providers, with some but not all intervention techniques explicitly linked to theory. How this relates to outcomes across providers should be evaluated. It is recommended that explicit theory use in programme design and evidence of its implementation becomes a requirement of future NHS commissioning processes.

Atemporal Temporality of the Transcendental Subject

Perhaps one of the main attributes of the subjectivity is temporality in the metaphysical tradition. Subject cannot be found in space, it only exists in time, so the substantial concept of mind originates in the notion of time. On the other side the subject perceives time as such; as Saint Augustine writes in Confessions, “It is in thee, my mind, that I measure times”. Temporality and subjectivity were closely related notions before the transcendental turn. In his explicit argumentation Immanuel Kant considers the subject as a temporal principle; as he writes in The End of All Things, “thinking contains a reflecting, which can occur only in time”. However, Kant does not affirm that the apperception of “ego cogito” can lead to the substantial existence of subject or mind. He regards this deduction as a paralogism. The Kantian disaffirmation of substantial mind enabled the timeless concept of subjectivity in the Early German Idealism.
 The subjectivity notion of Kant and the transcendental philosophy has a special, ambiguous character: in their explicit theories they argue that the subject is mainly a temporal entity, but some special forms of the general subject (transcendental subject, self, Gemüt etc.) are placed out of time in several texts. In the paper I analyse the temporal aspects of the idealist subject concept. The main thesis of the paper is that the subject of the transcendental philosophy is characterised by atemporal temporality.

Master social work students’ explicit and implicit articulation of theory

ABSTRACT Theories that explain Human Behavior and the Social Environment are integral to social workers’ conceptualization of their role and practice. Scaffolding the capacity to recognize, apply, and evaluate theory, however, is not easy. Learning how to comprehend and accurately apply theory can be a real struggle for graduate students enrolled in a Masters of Social Work (MSW) program. The purpose of this study was to identify and categorize patterns of how MSW students think about theory in the learning process. This qualitative analysis of 120 anonymous student responses to a case by students in an online MSW program explores the variety of theories students are explicitly identifying. The qualitative analysis offers insights into online Masters level social work students’ ways of thinking and learning about theory. Bloom’s taxonomy was applied to differentiate MSW students’ use of theory. This study also demonstrates that students are not only applying theory explicitly, but often do so implicitly, perhaps without realizing so. By exploring how students construct their understanding of theory and how they vary between implicit theory usage and explicit theory articulation, HBSE educators can identify how to best prepare these students for their future careers.

Cognitive and Emotional Determinants of Automatic Perspective Taking in Healthy Adults.

Previous studies using the dot-perspective task postulated that people automatically take into account others' perspective even when it prevents them from achieving their own goals. This human ability may be of key importance for the ascription of mental states and social interactions. The cognitive and emotional determinants of automatic perspective taking (APT) is still matter of debate. To address this issue, we examined the performance in the Samson et al. APT task in 91 healthy adults who underwent a detailed neuropsychological testing including assessment of their general intelligence (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, WAIS), attention and impulsivity (Conners' Continuous Performance Test-II, CPT-II), alexithymia (Toronto Alexithymia Scale, TAS), and measures of affective empathy and explicit theory of mind (Geneva Social Cognition Scale, GeSoCS, and mini-Social cognition and Emotional Assessment, mini-SEA). Univariate and multiple linear regression models (adjusted for age, gender, and education) were used to explore the association between mean reaction times (respectively, mean number of errors) in the APT task, and the CPT-II parameters, WAIS global score (as well as subscale scores), TAS, and GeSoCS and mini-SEA scores. Only the CPT-II parameters were significantly associated with the mean reaction times. Increased omissions, commissions, and detectability as well as hit reaction time standard error in CPT-II were all related to worse performances both in Self and Other conditions. The mean number of errors was negatively associated with the GeSoCS score. Among the variables studied, only CPT-II parameters had a significant impact on egocentric and altercentric interference. Neither global intelligence nor alexithymia have an effect on dot-perspective task performance. The present findings suggest that people with lower attentional resources and increased impulsivity display worse performances in the APT task and are less responsive to both egocentric and altercentric interference.

Dissociations in neuropsychological single-case studies: Should one subtract raw or standardized (z) scores?

This work tackles the problem of whether the dissociation between two performances in a single-case study should be computed as the difference between the raw or between the standardized (e.g. z) scores. A wrong choice can lead to serious inflation of the probability of finding false dissociations and missing true dissociations. Two common misconceptions are that (i) standardized scores are a universally valid choice, or (ii) raw scores can be subtracted when the two performances concern the same “task/test”, otherwise standardized scores are better. These and other rules are shown to fail in specific cases and a solution is proposed in terms of in-depth analysis of the meaning of each score. The scores that should be subtracted are those that better reflect “deficit severities” – the latent, unobservable degrees of damage to the cognitive systems that are being compared. Thus explicit theoretical modelling of the investigated cognitive function(s) – the “scenario” – is required. A flowchart is provided that guides such analysis, and shows how a given neuropsychological scenario leads to the selection of an appropriate statistical method for detecting dissociations, introducing the critical concept of “deficit equivalence criterion” – the definition of what exactly a non-dissociation should look like. One further, overlooked problem concerning standardized scores in general (as measures of effect size, of which neuropsychological dissociations are just one example) is that they cannot be meaningfully compared if they have different reliabilities. In conclusion, when studying dissociations, increases in false-positive and false-negative risks are likely to occur when no explicit neuropsychological theory is offered that justifies the definition of what are to be considered as equivalent deficit severities in both performances, and which would lead to appropriate selection of raw, standardized, or any other type of score. More generally, the choice of any measure in any research context needs explicit theoretical modelling, without which statistical risks cannot be controlled.

Rich Device Physics Found in Photoresponses of Low-Dimensional Photodetectors by Fitting With Explicit Photogain Theory

In this work, we employed our newly established explicit photogain theory to probe physics in nanodevices at single device level. A single fitting of the explicit photogain theory to experimental photoresponses allows us to find important device parameters including surface depletion region width W_dep, doping concentration N_A (or N_D), carrier mobility <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu _{\text{p}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> (or <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu _{\text{n}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), minority recombination lifetime <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\tau _{0}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and surface recombination velocity V_srv. These parameters are often difficult to calibrate using traditional semiconductor characterization techniques as the size of semiconductor devices scales down. The extracted parameters were verified with independent Hall effect measurements and other experiments. It shows that this technique is simple, nondestructive and accurate enough to probe the physics in nanodevices at single device level.

Restricted Access to Working Memory Does Not Prevent Cumulative Score Improvement in a Cultural Evolution Task.

Some theories propose that human cumulative culture is dependent on explicit, system-2, metacognitive processes. To test this, we investigated whether access to working memory is required for cumulative cultural evolution. We restricted access to adults’ working-memory (WM) via a dual-task paradigm, to assess whether this reduced performance in a cultural evolution task, and a metacognitive monitoring task. In total, 247 participants completed either a grid search task or a metacognitive monitoring task in conjunction with a WM task and a matched control. Participants’ behaviour in the grid search task was then used to simulate the outcome of iterating the task over multiple generations. Participants in the grid search task scored higher after observing higher-scoring examples, but could only beat the scores of low-scoring example trials. Scores did not differ significantly between the control and WM distractor blocks, although more errors were made when under WM load. The simulation showed similar levels of cumulative score improvement across conditions. However, scores plateaued without reaching the maximum. Metacognitive efficiency was low in both blocks, with no indication of dual-task interference. Overall, we found that taxing working-memory resources did not prevent cumulative score improvement on this task, but impeded it slightly relative to a control distractor task. However, we found no evidence that the dual-task manipulation impacted participants’ ability to use explicit metacognition. Although we found minimal evidence in support of the explicit metacognition theory of cumulative culture, our results provide valuable insights into empirical approaches that could be used to further test predictions arising from this account.

A Policy Framework for Producing Age-Friendly Communities from the Perspective of Production of Space.

Given various hindrances in the macro context, how to efficiently develop age-friendly community policies requires further research. Currently, such kinds of frameworks are lacking. This paper aims to develop a policy framework to minimise cost and resolve conflict of interest between different generations in age-friendly community development. The study adopted a scientometric method to review the theoretical development of age-friendly community studies. Firstly, with a search for the keywords “age-friendly” and “community” on Web of Science, 72 English academic papers were found containing explicit theories. Most of the studies were conducted in the Global North. Then, a mixed analytical method was used to find a suitable theory, “the production of space”, to develop the policy framework. Lastly, a policy framework was developed to overcome barriers to age-friendly community development strategically. Echoing previous studies, this paper proposes a way to counter financial austerity in age-friendly initiative investment and balance the consideration for older and younger populations in urban development. For practice, the policy framework can provide a reference for more efficient age-friendly community policymaking in different regions. For future research, the framework provides a model for more empirical studies considering the social dynamics in age-friendly community development.