Do the Kallikaks look "menacing" or "retarded?"

To extend R. E. Fancher's (see record 1987-31600-001) review of claims that photographs of the Kallikak family in H. H. Goddard's (1912) study had been retouched to make them look more menacing and retarded, 29 Ss (aged 18–69 yrs) were surveyed for their impressions of the photographs. Overall, Ss were strongly inclined to view the photographed individuals as "kind" and "very bright." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

More on Goddard and the Kallikak family photographs.

Discusses retouching of the Kallikak family photographs in H. H. Goddard's (1912) study of mental retardation and heredity, with reference to analyses by R. E. Fancher (see record 1987-31600-001) and S. J. Gould (1981), and concurs with Fancher that the retouching was probably not done for deceitful purposes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychological functions of avatars and alt(s): A qualitative study

Prior research has shown that approximately 50% of active participants in the 3D virtual world of Second Life have one or more secondary avatars or “alts” in addition to their primary avatar. Thus, these individuals are operating a “multiple or poly-identity system” composed of a physical self, a primary avatar, and one or more alts. However, little is known about the functions these virtual identities serve for the virtual-world user. The current study involved qualitative analysis of semistructured interviews with Second Life participants (N = 24) who had a primary avatar and at least one alt. Interviews were coded to examine the functions that primary avatars and alts served. Eight functions—seven suggested by previous research on virtual world identity and one that emerged from analyses—were reflected in a large majority of the transcribed interviews and are described in the article. The current findings add to our understanding of how multifaceted identity systems operate, as more individuals augment their physical self with a set of virtual identities.     

Social virtual world continuance among teens: uncovering the moderating role of perceived aggregate network exposure

Engagement in virtual worlds has become pervasive, particularly among the young. At the same time, the number of virtual environments has increased rapidly. Due to intensifying competition, promoting sustained usage, i.e. continuance, has become a top priority for virtual world operators. Prior research has shown that network externalities play a key role in the adoption of communication technologies. However, a small amount of research has examined the role of network externalities in continued IT usage in general or with respect to the virtual world participation in particular. To fill in this gap, we examine how perceived network externalities affect the continuance of social virtual worlds. To this end, we introduce the concept of perceived aggregate network exposure (PANE). We extend the original information systems (IS) continuance model with perceived enjoyment and position PANE as a moderator. We test the model with data collected from 2134 Finnish Habbo Hotel users and employ structural equation modelling in the analysis. The results demonstrate that PANE moderates the influence of motivational factors on continued use intention and satisfaction.     

不确定性数据频繁项集挖掘算法

由于不确定性数据大量存在于传感器网络,移动计算,军事,电信等应用领域,传统的频繁项集挖掘算法难以适用到不确定性数据挖掘。为了解决这个问题,本文提出了一种快速有效的算法,该算法基于可能世界模型,只需要扫描一次数据库,且没有建树的过程,通过实验证明,我们提出的算法比UF_Growth算法效率更高。     

多维超几何分布的最可能成功数

超几何分布是一种重要的离散型概率分布,本文利用反证法以及比较法求出了三维超几何分布的最可能成功次数,并在此基础上,求出了多维超几何分布的最可能成功次数.     

扬压力超过设计值时的重力坝抗滑稳定复核

鉴于棉花滩大坝5号坝段的实测扬压力系数超过了设计值,对典型断面进行了抗滑稳定复核。计算过程中采用最大可能值法来确定设计工况下的扬压力值。采用规范规定方法进行复核,并以非线性有限元强度折减系数法的结果作为参考。复核结果表明该坝段满足抗滑稳定要求,但与类似工程相比强度储备系数偏小。     

Virtual worlds as knowledge management platform – a practice‐perspective

Virtual worlds, as electronic environments where individuals can interact in a realistic manner in form of avatars, are increasingly used by gamers, consumers and employees. Therefore, they provide opportunities for reinventing business processes. Especially, effective knowledge management (KM) requires the use of appropriate information and communication technology (ICT) as well as social interaction. Emerging virtual worlds enable new ways to support knowledge and knowing processes because these virtual environments consider social aspects that are necessary for knowledge creating and knowledge sharing processes. Thus, collaboration in virtual worlds resembles real‐life activities. In this paper, we shed light on the use of Second Life (SL) as a KM platform in a real‐life setting. To explore the potential and current usage of virtual worlds for knowledge and knowing activities, we conducted a qualitative study at IBM. We interviewed IBM employees belonging to a special workgroup called ‘Web 2.0/virtual worlds’ in order to gain experience in generating and exchanging knowledge by virtually collaborating and interacting. Our results show that virtual worlds – if they are able to overcome problems like platform stability, user interface or security issues – bear the potential to serve as a KM platform. They facilitate global and simultaneous interaction, create a common context for collaboration, combine different tools for communication and enhance knowledge and knowing processes.     

基于阈值的概率图可达查询

图的可达性查询被广泛应用于生物网络、社会网络、本体网络、RDF网络等.由于对数据操作时引入的噪声和错误使这些图数据具有不确定性,而确定图的可达查询不能有效地处理不确定性,因此该文研究用概率语义描述的图可达性查询.具体的,该文使用可能世界概率模型定义不确定图(称为概率图),基于该模型,研究了基于阈值的概率可达查询(T-PR).首先为避免枚举所有可能世界,给出一个基本算法可精确求解T-PR查询.其次为进一步加速基本算法,给出3种改进方法,它们是不确定事件界、同构图的缩减、基于不相交路径和割集的界.通过合理的组合给出3种方法的合并算法.最后基于真实概率图数据的大量实验验证了该文的设计.     

User goals in social virtual worlds: A means-end chain approach

The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to investigate user goals in social virtual worlds; second, to introduce a methodological alternative (i.e., a means-end chain approach) for analyzing user goals in cyberspaces. The data were acquired from a web survey, and were analyzed by means-end chain analysis (MECA), which produces users’ goal structure in reference to a hierarchical system of interrelated goals (Olson & Reynolds, 1983). The results show that people come to social virtual worlds to satisfy their social and hedonic needs, and to escape from real world constraints, as do virtual community members and virtual gamers; they also pursue unique activities, such as creating virtual objects and selling them. On the other hand, by clarifying relations among users’ goals, MECA provides a richer explanation for user goals than prior research which only offers separate user goals for cyberspace users without explanation of relationship among goals.