Persistence of conditioned flavor preferences is not due to inadvertent food reinforcement.

Almond preferences were produced by giving rats a mixture of almond and sucrose (Experiments 1-4) or saccharin (Experiment 4). A subsequent extinction procedure consisted of either repeated 2-bottle almond versus water tests (Experiment 1) or repeated exposure to almond alone (Experiments 2-4). The main independent variable was whether access to food following a session was given immediately, 30 min later, or 120 min later. No effect of extinction was found in any experiment. An important finding was that varying the delay until food access had no detectable effect. It was concluded that inadvertent flavor-food associations do not maintain preference for the flavor under extinction conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Impact of Lightstruck and Stale Character in Beers on their Perceived Quality: A Consumer Study

The relative liking or disliking that beer drinkers have for characteristics generally regarded as off‐flavours by brewers, namely lightstruck and stale, has been explored in a consumer trial where products are presented branded and unbranded. Drinkers display a significant preference for fresh over lightstruck product, irrespective of branding. By contrast, drinkers seemed to be less clear about their liking or otherwise for stale character, although in this case they clearly prefer the branded product over the unbranded product when the beers are fresh and vice‐versa when the beer is aged. A stale version of a beer that consumers are familiar with fails to meet expectations for that product. Significant numbers of drinkers do declare a liking for lightstruck and aged character.     

Effects of Fimbria-Fornix, Hippocampus, and Amygdala Lesions on Discrimination Between Proximal Locations.

The conditioned cue preference (CCP) task was used to study the information required to discriminate between spatial locations defined by adjacent arms of an 8-arm radial maze. Normal rats learned the discrimination after 3 unreinforced preexposure (PE) sessions and 4 food paired-unpaired training trials. Fimbria-fornix lesions made before, but not after, PE, and hippocampus lesions made at either time, blocked the discrimination, suggesting that the 2 structures processed different information. Lateral amygdala lesions made before PE facilitated the discrimination. This amygdala-mediated interference with the discrimination was the result of a conditioned approach response that did not discriminate between the 2 arm locations. A hippocampus/fimbria-fornix system and an amygdala system process different information about the same learning situation simultaneously and in parallel. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Esthetic decision‐making: How do people select colours for real settings?

A feature of the empirical literature in colour psychology is that little attention has been given to how people in real settings engage in colour selection. Surprisingly, with rare exceptions, we know almost nothing about this. Besides its theoretical significance within psychology, this question has practical implications for industries where colour choice is important. A study is reported into that most ubiquitous of activities, selecting a paint colour for the home. This used a retrospective method supported by qualitative data analysis (NVivo) in which participants described their process of colour selection. The results indicate a process that is far from uniform, but one that consists of two essential stages. The first involves arriving at what we refer to as an affective specification of the qualities sought. Once constructed, this leads to the second stage of matching colour attributes to that specification. Selecting a wall colour emerges as a surprisingly complex process, and one that corresponds more closely to a search than to a simple affective choice. A parallel is drawn with decision research, particularly the field of naturalistic decision‐making. From participants' reports, colour selection also emerges as a process that women appear to understand better than men. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 33, 55–60, 2008     

In Search of the "Ideal" Pear (pyrus spp.): Results of a Multidisciplinary Exploration

Preference mapping with 10 pears identified 3 segments among New Zealand consumers. While 1 segment preferred ripe European cultivars, another rejected only the seedling with strong off‐flavors. A 3rd segment combined the 2 former segments, but also rejected 2 hybrid samples. Survey responses to the question “To me, the ideal pear is ?” from a 2nd consumer sample confirmed the general preference for juicy and sweet pears, the key characteristics of ripeness. A separate appearance evaluation revealed 4 segments based on color and shape. Combining information from several sources resulted in suggestions for new breeding directions for pears, while highlighting the importance of appearance and the need for more extensive measurements.     

最长公共子序列算法在填空题评分程序中的应用

讨论最长公共子序列算法在填空题评分中的应用,并具体设计一种基于网络环境下,考试系统中的填空题题型的通用答案识别逻辑,在独立学院网络考试系统中操作可行。     

软件重构及设计模式在摄像头阅卷系统中的应用研究

首先设计并实现一个基于摄像头的阅卷系统,该系统由试卷获取、灰度化、二值化、畸变变换、倾斜校正、图像定位和识别等图像处理流程组成。然后以此为依据,通过对重构技术及设计模式原则和方法的系统研究,对该系统框架进行优化和重构。本文充分参照现有的设计模式,通过重构技术,改善现有代码的质量,增加系统的可维护性和可复用性。     

ANN valuation model of material LCIA profile

Weighting model is the only valuation model of life cycle impact assessment(LCIA) profile now. It simplifies evaluation function into linear function, and makes the determination of weighting factor complicated. Therefore the valuation of LCIA profile is the most critical and controversial step in life cycle assessment(LCA). Development on valuation models, which are understood easily and accepted widely, is urgently needed in the field of LCA.The modeling approaches for the linear evaluation function were summed up. The modeling approaches for the nonlinear evaluation function were set up by function approximation theory, which include choosing preference products, forming preference data, establishing artificial neural network(ANN) and training ANN by preference data.By selecting 7 material products as preference product, experience was done with modeling approaches of the nonlinear evaluation function. The results show that the modeling approaches and valuation model of the nonlinear evaluation function are more practical than the weighting model.     

Developmental, Gustatory, and Behavioral Responses of Leafroller Larvae, Choristoneura rosaceana, to Tannic Acid and Glucose

Soluble sugars are essential nutrients generally perceived as phagostimulants to most insects studied. However, tannins are known as digestibility reducers, hence deleterious to caterpillar development, and as deterrents as well. Previous work demonstrated that larvae of the polyphagous oblique-banded leafroller, Choristoneura rosaceana, performed better when reared on a control + 0.5% tannic acid diet than on the standard control diet and that larvae reared on a control + 5% glucose diet had slower development and reduced survival. This study was designed to elucidate the behavioral and neurophysiological components of the larval responses to tannic acid and glucose. C. rosaceana larvae were reared individually from the first to the sixth instar on one of four different artificial diets: (1) control; (2) control + 5% glucose; (3) control + 0.5% tannic acid; (4) control + 5% glucose + 0.5% tannic acid. After 14 days, larvae reared on the control + 5% glucose diet had not developed past the fourth instar, whereas a considerable proportion of larvae reared on the control + 0.5% tannic acid diet had already attained the pupal stage. Insects reared on the control or the control + 5% glucose + 0.5% tannic acid diet had intermediate development, with most larvae in the fifth instar. In addition, once the mid-sixth instar was reached, the feeding preferences to 25 and 300 mM glucose, 25 mM tannic acid, and 25 mM glucose + 25 mM tannic acid over water were assessed in two-choice tests. Feeding affected preference. Control-reared insects preferred feeding on treatments containing glucose and were not deterred by tannic acid. However, larvae that had been exposed to tannic acid during their development were deterred by tannic acid and their glucose discrimination was impaired. The sensitivity to glucose was also examined from neurophysiological recordings by stimulating the sugar-sensitive cell (cell 1) on the lateral styloconic sensillum of the maxillary galea with increasing concentrations of glucose (1, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, and 500 mM). We also determined whether tannic acid was phagostimulatory, since insects develop relatively quickly on a diet containing this compound, by testing 1 mM tannic acid, 1 mM tannic acid + 300 mM glucose, and 300 mM glucose on the lateral styloconic sensilla. The traces indicated that 1 mM tannic acid was not detected by any of the four chemosensory cells in these sensilla. The combination of tannic acid and glucose produced no spikes from the sugar-sensitive cell, whereas a prominent spike activity resulted with 300 mM glucose. We concluded that, although C. rosaceana larvae develop faster on a tannic acid diet, this compound is not a phagostimulant. The converse is true for glucose; i.e., it stimulates the sugar-sensitive cell in the lateral styloconica in a concentration-dependent fashion. Previous dietary experience changes the sensory and behavioral responses of C. rosaceana to glucose. Our findings imply that not all compounds that are phagostimulatory are necessarily beneficial to an insect's fitness. Therefore, developmental studies should be interpreted in conjunction with behavioral and physiological data.     

A UNIFIED FRAMEWORK OF TARGETED MARKETING USING CUSTOMER PREFERENCES

One of the fundamental tasks of targeted marketing is to elicit associations between customers and products. Based on the results from information retrieval and utility theory, this article proposes a unified framework of targeted marketing. The customer judgments of products are formally described by preference relations and the connections of customers and products are quantitatively measured by market value functions. Two marketing strategies, known as the customer‐oriented and product‐oriented marketing strategies, are investigated. Four marketing models are introduced and examined. They represent, respectively, the relationships between a group of customers and a group of products, between a group of customers and a single product, between a single customer and a group of products, and between a single customer and a single product. Linear and bilinear market value functions are suggested and studied. The required parameters of a market value function can be estimated by exploring three types of information, namely, customer profiles, product profiles, and transaction data. Experiments on a real‐world data set are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework.