Recently, an increasing number of studies have suggested a role for the basal ganglia and related dopamine inputs in procedural learning, specifically when learning occurs through trial-by-trial feedback (Shohamy, Myers, Kalanithi, & Gluck. (2008). "Basal ganglia and dopamine contributions to probabilistic category learning." "Neuroscience and…

People tend to think that streaks in random sequential events are rare and remarkable. When they actually encounter streaks, they tend to consider the underlying process as non-random. The present paper examines the time of pattern occurrences in sequences of Bernoulli trials, and shows that among all patterns of the same length, a streak is the…

In this article, a Bayesian model selection approach is introduced that can select the best of a set of inequality and equality constrained hypotheses for contingency tables. The hypotheses are presented in terms of cell probabilities allowing researchers to test (in)equality constrained hypotheses in a format that is directly related to the data.…

There is considerable interest in using propensity score (PS) statistical techniques to address questions of causal inference in psychological research. Many PS techniques exist, yet few guidelines are available to aid applied researchers in their understanding, use, and evaluation. In this study, the authors give an overview of available…

Within the theoretical framework of knowledge space theory, a probabilistic skill multimap model for assessing learning processes is proposed. The learning process of a student is modeled as a function of the student's knowledge and of an educational intervention on the attainment of specific skills required to solve problems in a knowledge…

The ability to discover groupings in continuous stimuli on the basis of distributional information is present across species and across perceptual modalities. We investigate the nature of the computations underlying this ability using statistical word segmentation experiments in which we vary the length of sentences, the amount of exposure, and…

Previous studies comparing groups of subjects have indicated differential probabilities of stimulus equivalence outcome as a function of training structures. One-to-Many (OTM) and Many-to-One (MTO) training structures seem to produce positive outcomes on tests for stimulus equivalence more often than a Linear Series (LS) training structure does.…

This paper (1) presents a conceptual framework for analyzing the mathematics addressed in probability lessons and (2) uses the framework to compare the mathematics that two teachers with contrasting teaching approaches addressed in class when teaching the topic of probability. One teaching approach aimed to develop understanding; the other…

We estimate the chances of poor and non-poor children getting places in good schools, analysing the relationship between poverty, location and school assignment. Our dataset allows us to measure location and distance very precisely. The simple unconditional difference in probabilities of attending a good school is substantial. We run an analysis…

In this postscript the authors applaud Hahn and Warren's effort in their reply to remove the ambiguity in distinguishing events such as occurrence, occurrence at least once, and nonoccurrence in Hahn and Warren (2009). Still, it appears that differences between us exist regarding the nature of waiting time and its connections to the probability of…

This article discusses comparisons of means using exploratory and confirmatory approaches. Three methods are discussed: hypothesis testing, model selection based on information criteria, and Bayesian model selection. Throughout the article, an example is used to illustrate and evaluate the two approaches and the three methods. We demonstrate that…

Two experiments investigated how people perform category-based induction for items that have uncertain categorization. Whereas normative considerations suggest that people should consider multiple relevant categories, much past research has argued that people focus on only the most likely category. A new method is introduced in which responses on…

Estimation of parameters of random effects models from samples collected via complex multistage designs is considered. One way to reduce estimation bias due to unequal probabilities of selection is to incorporate sampling weights. Many researchers have been proposed various weighting methods (Korn, & Graubard, 2003; Pfeffermann, Skinner,…

Most people would agree that helping students learn new information is important; however, there are numerous methods for achieving this goal, and not all of them have been proven to be effective. One method with intuitive appeal and some empirical backing is prompting students to self-explain. A self-explanation can be defined as generating…

Like many mathematics teachers, the authors often find that students who struggle with a difficult concept may be assisted by the use of a well-chosen graph or other visual representation. While one should not rely solely on such tools, they can suggest possible theorems which then might be proved with the proper rigor. Even when a picture…