Integrated Information Processing Research Articles

Is it important that the mind is in a body? Inhibition and the heart.

The hypothesis is advanced that certain inhibitory processes necessarily involve autonomic adjustments. Such adjustments would represent a constraint on information processing imposed by the location of the mind in a body. Evidence is reviewed showing that motoric inhibition is related to a transient delay in heartbeat generation. The delay is shown to further depend upon when inhibition occurs in the cardiac cycle. It is argued that this form of interaction between central and autonomic nervous system processing may be common. Central nervous system processes that may control inhibition and integrate information processing with motoric and autonomic processes are discussed.

The Canadian trademark automation experience

The article outlines briefly the Canadian experience in trademark automation and in particular the history of the current computer system which is called the INtegrated TRademark Electronic Processing of Information and Designs (INTREPID) system. The aim is to share the Canadian experience such that those contemplating new or further automation can draw some useful pointers. Technology is one area in which someone's successes or mistakes help little unless you use largely the same technology. People, however, are the same. As a result, the article focuses on the people aspects of the Canadian experience. It was found that while technology is important, the people are critical to the success of automation. It is now known that success is not a technological but a human victory. Technology and expertise can be bought; people to use it effectively and productively must be nurtured. How well it is done ultimately represents the difference between conspicious success and resounding failure.

SEAWOLF Producibility II: Transition from Design to Production

SEAWOLF Producibility initiatives have been presented to past Ship Production Symposiums. The technical content of these papers was based on work accomplished during the SEAWOLF Detail Design effort and articulated the point of view that the SEAWOLF Producibility Program was an important step in advanced ship production. The lead ship of the SEAWOLF Class started construction in late 1989. The opportunity now exists to validate a number of the elements of the design for production. Electric Boat Division, as lead shipbuilder, has the opportunity to review a number of the specific initiatives, such as Digital Data Transfer, Sectional Construction Drawings, Planning and Sequence Documents, Computer Integration of information processing and the combination of SEAWOLF products that support improved work control. The method of approach is to describe the SEAWOLF producibility element developed during detail design and then assess the benefit to the shipbuilding process.

Integrated information processing for production scheduling and control

This paper is concerned with the application of advanced software techniques for production scheduling and control in CIM systems. The paper describes work in ESPRIT Project 384, ‘Integrated Information Processing for the Design, Planning and Control of Assembly’. This project, recently completed, built a fully integrated demonstration prototype of a CIM system covering all aspects of assembly, from product design through to manufacture. The majority of the paper concentrates on the information processing aspects of the CIM subsystem that schedules and controls a workshop dedicated to the automatic assembly of products built in small batches. In particular, it describes how plans, represented in KEE be procedural nets, are matched with Petri nets describing the factory, to produce a schedule. It goes on to explain how KEE, an Artificial Intelligence toolkit, was used to control the scheduled resources in real time.

Concept and implementation of an integrated decision support system (IDSS) for capital‐intensive farming

ABSTRACTDuring the evolutionary process of developing software for management tasks, the need for integration became more and more obvious. This paper discusses how integrated information processing can be accomplished to support the managerial functions. Based on the concepts of control theory principal schemes of comparison possibilities and deviation analysis are shown. The philosophy behind the design of an integrated decision support system (IDSS), the on‐farm implementation, and the integration problems of hardware and software are discussed. The applied IDSS consists of several planning and controlling models. These models and the linkages between them are described in detail.

Concept and implementation of an integrated decision support system (IDSS) for capital-intensive farming

During the evolutionary process of developing software for management tasks, the need for integration became more and more obvious. This paper discusses how integrated information processing can be accomplished to support the managerial functions. Based on the concepts of control theory principal schemes of comparison possibilities and deviation analysis are shown. The philosophy behind the design of an integrated decision support system (IDSS), the on-farm implementation, and the integration problems of hardware and software are discussed. The applied IDSS consists of several planning and controlling models. These models and the linkages between them are described in detail.

精神物理学的錯覚における個人差のスカラー積モデルによる分析

In this paper, size-numerosity illusion was investigated using simultaneous pair comparison method, which did not force the subject to make magnitude estimation or rating of the quantity, and applying the scalar product model to the data. The nonmetric solution of the analysis was very successful and indicated that the size-numerosity illusion can be described by the same information integration process as in the case of the size-weight illusion, i.e. the averaging model, and Scalar Product Model can clearly display individual differences of the illusion

The Livermore intelligent gateway: An integrated information processing environment

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory developed the Intelligent Gateway software in work that began in 1975. The Intelligent Gateway creates a framework that links distributed, heterogeneous computer resources and provides a single user interface such that a “virtual information system” can be tailored to any user's idiosyncratic needs. The Gateway can provide access to external services as well as serve as resident host for installation of local databases and information processing tools. Thus, it provides an integrated information processing environment to support the complete range of scientific and technical information needs.

A model of integrated information processing mechanism for human and computer based on cooperative functional modules

AbstractCombining the human and the computer to form an information processing system, an integrated model is constructed. This paper proposes, as a practical model for such an integrated information processing mechanism, a hierarchical network model composed of cooperative functional modules. As examples of such a model, a cooperative functional module model for the visual pattern recognition and symbolic inference in human problem solving, as well as the cooperative functional module model for the interactive processing of Japanese language are discussed. Then the integrated man‐computer functional module model is discussed from the viewpoint of matching/nonmatchings among various component modules.

Localization of methadone in the brain of young rats by computer-assisted autoradiography

The distribution of systemically administered [ 14C]methadone in the brain of 21-day-old rats was examined by computer-assisted autoradiography. Methadone binding differed 2.5-fold across the more than 90 neural structures examined, with the dentate nucleus having the highest levels and lamina I of the anterior parietal cortex the lowest. Since a full normal probability plot demonstrated that the binding was distributed normally across brain structures ( r = 0.99), binding classes were defined in terms of 0.5 standard deviation units from the mean. In addition to marked binding differences between neuronal structures, there were prominent laminar differences in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, superior colliculus and cerebellar cortex. These highly specific patterns of methadone localization were specifically related to the opioid receptor because naloxone blocked the antinociceptive effects of methadone on the hot-plate test and abolished the distribution of methadone binding in the central nervous system. The relatively high levels of methadone binding in layers III and V of neocortex, sensory relay nuclei, inferior olive, pontine nuclei, cerebellar nuclei and cerebellar molecular layer suggest that the constellation of physiological and neurobehavioral sequelae of perinatal opioid exposure result from specific binding at multiple sites involved in sensory, motor and integrative information processing.

ISDN and value-added services in public and private networks

Abstract Integration of information processing with the communications of ISDN represents the next step in the union of these two disciplines. Future traffic work by the communications and processing sectors must precede the probable scenario for progress beyond ISDN transport: starting with integration of voice and data services and then integrating a broad range of value-added services based upon information processing. Unknown traffic levels and characteristics of these services lead to urgent requirements for advanced exchange and network designs and for new management schemes. It is recommended that the ITC take the lead in directing efforts assuring that traffic advances supply timely support to initial and augmented ISDN implementations. This paper also describes the development and implementation of ISDN and ISDN augmented with value-added services, shows how the same functional services can be offered by public and private networks (both separately and jointly) and suggests traffic advances that will be needed to assure successful ISDN introduction.

Integrated information processing for manufacturing—from CAD/CAM to CIM

The trend to integrated information processing (CAD/ CAM) leads to some new requiements. Consistent information processing in the presparation of production and in the production process demands an efficient division of labour between man and machine, the future-oriented engineer having to be especially prepared for this. In the present paper the resulting new demands on training and education are formulated. The essential features of integrated systems of automated information processing are characterized, and fundamental problems of the complex decision findings are explained from the angle of the manufacturing engineering. The paper is concluded by examples of solutions for the fully automated preparation and execution of production.

Issues in using quantitative rating scales in developmental research.

Theoretical and practical issues in the use of quantitative judgments in developmental research are reviewed. Judgment is conceptualized as consisting of three components: information valuation, information integration, and translation of impressions into overt responses. It is important to distinguish between developmental changes that occur in different components of the judgment process. Most developmental studies have assumed that rating scales are used in an equal-interval manner, with few attempts to test that assumption. The conditions allowing a conclusion that individuals or groups differ in information integration are outlined, and methods of testing models of the information integration process that do not assume an equalinterval response scale are reviewed. Although these methods require more complicated experimental designs, their benefits in identifying the possible loci of developmental changes in judgments outweigh their inconvenience. Development can be characterized as involving change in the organization and modes of using information. Modem developmental psychologists study many tasks that require the individual to use multiple sources of information to make various types of judgments. Interest in the way information from multiple sources is used appears to be based on the belief that these processes can reflect fundamental aspects of cognition. For example, Piaget (1965; Inhelder & Piaget, 1958) proposed that there are developmental shifts both in the amount of information children use and in the way the information is used. Piaget's theoretical proposals about developmental change were based largely on patterns of behavior observed in multiattribut e tasks (e.g., conservation, perspective taking, moral judgment, and problem solving). An important current approach to development in such tasks is to collect quantitative judgments and use them to test mathematical representations of the cognitive processes of combining information. The growth in pop

Inferences of ability and effort: Evidence for two different processes.

Past research and theory on causal inference has not explored the effects of varying the reliability of information. In two experiments, subjects judged either ability (given performance and effort information) or effort (given performance and ability information) where both the reliability and value of the given information varied. Individual differences were found in the judged relationship between ability and effort. Some judged ability and effort to be positively related, whereas others, judged ability and effort to be negatively related. These groups also differed in the way information reliability influenced their judgments, The positive group showed effects that agree with either an averaging or correlational model: the higher the reliability of one type of information, the less the effect of the other type of information. For the negative group, an increase in the reliability of one type of information actually increased the effect of the other type of information, a result that is inconsistent with the averaging model. Both an expectancy-contrast model and a correlational model can account for the results of the negative group. The different effects of information reliability for the two groups can be interpreted as evidence of two different inference processes. The results show the flexibility of human judgment strategies and the need for research considering variables that influence strategy use. The present research deals with the issue of information credibility in causal inference, specifically with how the reliability of information affects inferences of ability and effort. Although there are many social psychological theories of causal inference (Kelley, 1972, 1973; Reeder & Brewer, 1979), there has been little attempt to formulate a theoretical representation of the way information credibility influences causal inferences. The present research tests alternative representations of the information integration process for causal inferences. Because models of information integration can be regarded as formal representations of causal schemata (Surber, 1981b), the present study can be seen as part of a research program aimed at specifying the variables that influence when different infor

Spatial and Verbal Displays in a C3 Probablistic Information Integration Task

Eight subjects performed a probablistic information integration task in which multiple cues, in favor of either of two competing hypotheses were presented. The cues varied in their reliability and their diagnostic value in choosing between the hypotheses. Primary interest focussed on the comparison of digital and analog-graphical displays, and upon sources of non-optimality in the information integration process. Generally the analog displays proved superior to the digital, and performance was better when information was presented at a more rapid rate. Subjects appeared to be non-optimal in their treatment of reliability vs. diagnosticity. However, departures from optimality related to serial position effects and to the use of the appropriate model of information integration were not observed.

Time-Accuracy Relationships in Young and Old Adults

The relationships between reaction time and classification accuracy were compared in young (18 to 21 years) and old (60 to 84 years) adults in a choice reaction time task. Both young and older adults showed equivalent rates of increasing accuracy with greater time, but the temporal duration at which the accuracy first exceeded the chance level was shorter for young than for older adults. It was suggested that aging is associated with a slowing of the information integration and/or response preparation processes but not with a slowing of the actual rate of information extraction.

Linear processing in a semantic network: An alternative view of consumer product evaluation

While the linear model has been very successful in explaining the product evaluation process of consumers, it is quite uncertain what the model actually means in terms of underlying cognitive processes. An alternative model is developed, based on semantic network models developed in the psychology of memory, and used to explain the product evaluation process. It is shown that in certain cases this model leads to an information integration process structurally similar to the lineat model.

Integrated information processing and the case for a national network

The various premises, which need consideration when developing a realistic and flexible information storage, retrieval and dissemination (ISRD) system, are discussed; their implication is illustrated with some examples from the development of the system at “Shell” Research, Sittingbourne, One of the factors which will affect the satisfactory performance of an ISRD system is the ease with which relevant literature information not held in the system can be provided. The latter part of the paper is devoted to a discussion of this problem and of a possible means of dealing with it in the not too distant future.