The Problem With Math Is That It Makes People Seem Smart

 
 

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The Problem With Math Is That It Makes People Seem Smart

In 1996 physicist Alan Sokal succeeded in getting a unique article published in the journal Social Text. The article was titled "Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity," and it was unique because it was complete gibberish. Known as the Sokal Hoax, it was a crowning moment for pretense-haters everywhere.

While journal editors have managed to avoid similar public shamings of late, a Swedish researcher named Kimmo Eriksson decided to investigate whether academics are in fact impressed by things they don't understand, even if those things are nonsense. Specifically, Eriksson wanted to see how people with research experience judged abstracts containing a nonsense math equation (pdf):

Participants were presented with the abstracts from two published papers (one in evolutionary anthropology and one in sociology). Based on these abstracts, participants were asked to judge the quality of the research. Either one or the other of the two abstracts was manipulated through the inclusion of an extra sentence taken from a completely unrelated paper and presenting an equation that made no sense in the context. The abstract that included the meaningless mathematics tended to be judged of higher quality. However, this "nonsense math effect" was not found among participants with degrees in mathematics, science, technology or medicine.

Obviously it's distressing to see research-savvy people base their judgments on nonsense, but beyond that there are two ways to spin the deeper meaning of the findings. The positive spin is that because math is judged to add quality, people will be motivated to learn and use mathematics. The negative spin is that math improves judgments of quality because it suggests the mastery of a difficult skill that people want no part of. In this case math has been shut out to the point that an equation is strictly a signal rather than something to be understood and evaluated.

The potential to develop this kind of hands-off attitude toward math is one reason it's important not to let elementary school kids take on a "math is not for me" identity. It's fine if a kid decides not to become an engineer, but it can be problematic if you're so uncomfortable with math that you develop faulty heuristics to use when your have to deal with it.
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Eriksson, Kimmo (2012). The nonsense math effect Judgment and Decision Making, 7 (6), 746-749

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An emerging consensus for open evaluation: 18 visions for the future of scie...

 

 

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An emerging consensus for open evaluation: 18 visions for the future of scientific publishing.

via pubmed: top authors by Kriegeskorte N, Walther A, Deca D on 11/20/12

An emerging consensus for open evaluation: 18 visions for the future of scientific publishing.

Front Comput Neurosci. 2012;6:94

Authors: Kriegeskorte N, Walther A, Deca D

PMID: 23162460 [PubMed - in process]

 

 

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Cite from search results

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Cite from search results

per Google Scholar Blog autorius jconnor 12.10.17

I remember writing research papers as a student and being frustrated at the tedium of formatting citations according to the strictures of the Modern Language Association.  Today we're simplifying this process by adding the ability to copy-and-paste formatted citations from search results.  To copy a formatted citation, click on the "Cite" link below a search result and select from the available citation styles (currently MLA, APA, or Chicago):

You can also use one of the import links to import the citation into BibTeX or another bibliography manager.  We hope that simplifying the chore of citation formatting will let you focus on what you really want to work on: writing a great paper!

Posted by: James Connor, Software Engineer

 

 

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Top-Down Feedback in an HMAX-Like Cortical Model of Object Perception Based on Hierarchical Bayesian Networks and Belief Propagation

HMAX, now with feedback... Sander
 
 

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Top-Down Feedback in an HMAX-Like Cortical Model of Object Perception Based on Hierarchical Bayesian Networks and Belief Propagation

by Salvador Dura-Bernal, Thomas Wennekers, Susan L. Denham

Hierarchical generative models, such as Bayesian networks, and belief propagation have been shown to provide a theoretical framework that can account for perceptual processes, including feedforward recognition and feedback modulation. The framework explains both psychophysical and physiological experimental data and maps well onto the hierarchical distributed cortical anatomy. However, the complexity required to model cortical processes makes inference, even using approximate methods, very computationally expensive. Thus, existing object perception models based on this approach are typically limited to tree-structured networks with no loops, use small toy examples or fail to account for certain perceptual aspects such as invariance to transformations or feedback reconstruction. In this study we develop a Bayesian network with an architecture similar to that of HMAX, a biologically-inspired hierarchical model of object recognition, and use loopy belief propagation to approximate the model operations (selectivity and invariance). Crucially, the resulting Bayesian network extends the functionality of HMAX by including top-down recursive feedback. Thus, the proposed model not only achieves successful feedforward recognition invariant to noise, occlusions, and changes in position and size, but is also able to reproduce modulatory effects such as illusory contour completion and attention. Our novel and rigorous methodology covers key aspects such as learning using a layerwise greedy algorithm, combining feedback information from multiple parents and reducing the number of operations required. Overall, this work extends an established model of object recognition to include high-level feedback modulation, based on state-of-the-art probabilistic approaches. The methodology employed, consistent with evidence from the visual cortex, can be potentially generalized to build models of hierarchical perceptual organization that include top-down and bottom-up interactions, for example, in other sensory modalities.

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Bilateral Theta-Burst TMS to Influence Global Gestalt Perception

 

 

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Bilateral Theta-Burst TMS to Influence Global Gestalt Perception

via PLoS ONE Alerts: Neuroscience door Bernd Ritzinger et al. op 26-10-12

by Bernd Ritzinger, Elisabeth Huberle, Hans-Otto Karnath

While early and higher visual areas along the ventral visual pathway in the inferotemporal cortex are critical for the recognition of individual objects, the neural representation of human perception of complex global visual scenes remains under debate. Stroke patients with a selective deficit in the perception of a complex global Gestalt with intact recognition of individual objects – a deficit termed simultanagnosia – greatly helped to study this question. Interestingly, simultanagnosia typically results from bilateral lesions of the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). The present study aimed to verify the relevance of this area for human global Gestalt perception. We applied continuous theta-burst TMS either unilaterally (left or right) or bilateral simultaneously over TPJ. Healthy subjects were presented with hierarchically organized visual stimuli that allowed parametrical degrading of the object at the global level. Identification of the global Gestalt was significantly modulated only for the bilateral TPJ stimulation condition. Our results strengthen the view that global Gestalt perception in the human brain involves TPJ and is co-dependent on both hemispheres.

 

 

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Open evaluation: a vision for entirely transparent post-publication peer rev...

 

 

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Open evaluation: a vision for entirely transparent post-publication peer review and rating for science.

per pubmed: top authors autorius Kriegeskorte N 12.10.23

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Open evaluation: a vision for entirely transparent post-publication peer review and rating for science.

Front Comput Neurosci. 2012;6:79

Authors: Kriegeskorte N

Abstract
The two major functions of a scientific publishing system are to provide access to and evaluation of scientific papers. While open access (OA) is becoming a reality, open evaluation (OE), the other side of the coin, has received less attention. Evaluation steers the attention of the scientific community and thus the very course of science. It also influences the use of scientific findings in public policy. The current system of scientific publishing provides only journal prestige as an indication of the quality of new papers and relies on a non-transparent and noisy pre-publication peer-review process, which delays publication by many months on average. Here I propose an OE system, in which papers are evaluated post-publication in an ongoing fashion by means of open peer review and rating. Through signed ratings and reviews, scientists steer the attention of their field and build their reputation. Reviewers are motivated to be objective, because low-quality or self-serving signed evaluations will negatively impact their reputation. A core feature of this proposal is a division of powers between the accumulation of evaluative evidence and the analysis of this evidence by paper evaluation functions (PEFs). PEFs can be freely defined by individuals or groups (e.g., scientific societies) and provide a plurality of perspectives on the scientific literature. Simple PEFs will use averages of ratings, weighting reviewers (e.g., by H-index), and rating scales (e.g., by relevance to a decision process) in different ways. Complex PEFs will use advanced statistical techniques to infer the quality of a paper. Papers with initially promising ratings will be more deeply evaluated. The continual refinement of PEFs in response to attempts by individuals to influence evaluations in their own favor will make the system ungameable. OA and OE together have the power to revolutionize scientific publishing and usher in a new culture of transparency, constructive criticism, and collaboration.

PMID: 23087639 [PubMed - in process]

 

 

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"ViSA: A neurodynamic model for visuo-spatial working memory, attentional bl...

 

 

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"ViSA: A neurodynamic model for visuo-spatial working memory, attentional blink, and conscious access": Correction to Simione et al. (2012).

via Psychological Review - Vol 119, Iss 4 by Simione, Luca; Raffone, Antonino; Wolters, Gezinus; Salmas, Paola; Nakatani, Chie; Belardinelli, Marta Olivetti; van Leeuwen, Cees on 10/22/12

Reports an error in "ViSA: A Neurodynamic Model for Visuo-Spatial Working Memory, Attentional Blink, and Conscious Access" by Luca Simione, Antonino Raffone, Gezinus Wolters, Paola Salmas, Chie Nakatani, Marta Olivetti Belardinelli and Cees van Leeuwen ( Psychological Review, Advanced Online Publication, Jul 23, 2012, np). The article was published online missing the link to the supplemental materials. The link to the supplemental materials is provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2012-19411-001.) Two separate lines of study have clarified the role of selectivity in conscious access to visual information. Both involve presenting multiple targets and distracters: one simultaneously in a spatially distributed fashion, the other sequentially at a single location. To understand their findings in a unified framework, we propose a neurodynamic model for Visual Selection and Awareness (ViSA). ViSA supports the view that neural representations for conscious access and visuo-spatial working memory are globally distributed and are based on recurrent interactions between perceptual and access control processors. Its flexible global workspace mechanisms enable a unitary account of a broad range of effects: It accounts for the limited storage capacity of visuo-spatial working memory, attentional cueing, and efficient selection with multi-object displays, as well as for the attentional blink and associated sparing and masking effects. In particular, the speed of consolidation for storage in visuo-spatial working memory in ViSa is not fixed but depends adaptively on the input and recurrent signaling. Slowing down of consolidation due to weak bottom-up and recurrent input as a result of brief presentation and masking leads to the attentional blink. Thus, ViSA goes beyond earlier 2-stage and neuronal global workspace accounts of conscious processing limitations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

 

 

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