various thoughts related to GSS2007
Jul. 14th, 2007 12:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
guslMemory retrieval and visual search are analogous. Distinctive memories/objects are hard to encode/recognize, but easy to retrieve/spot.
Similarity is asymmetrical: pegasi are like horses, but horses are not like pegasi. Pegasi, due to being rarer, have a longer encoding length.
The same asymmetry holds for similarity of visual objects. It's easier to spot a long-encoding object in a sea of short-encoding objects than the converse. (But what about complex objects that are common?)
(thanks to Nick Chater)
In information theory, whether you are using binary or a trinary computer makes a significant difference: in binary information theory, perfect Huffman codes are only possible when all the probabilities are multiples of powers of 1/2. Are humans closer to binary or trinary computers?
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Attribution theory: differences between Western and Chinese attribution patterns may be rational afterall. If Westerners have a stronger tendency to express their individuality / feel less pressure to conform, it is only rational to attribute their actions to individual traits, rather than to the situation. (This might be impossible to test, however.)
Prediction: bicultural individuals learn to make "correct" attributions in both contexts.
Similarity is asymmetrical: pegasi are like horses, but horses are not like pegasi. Pegasi, due to being rarer, have a longer encoding length.
The same asymmetry holds for similarity of visual objects. It's easier to spot a long-encoding object in a sea of short-encoding objects than the converse. (But what about complex objects that are common?)
(thanks to Nick Chater)
In information theory, whether you are using binary or a trinary computer makes a significant difference: in binary information theory, perfect Huffman codes are only possible when all the probabilities are multiples of powers of 1/2. Are humans closer to binary or trinary computers?
---
Attribution theory: differences between Western and Chinese attribution patterns may be rational afterall. If Westerners have a stronger tendency to express their individuality / feel less pressure to conform, it is only rational to attribute their actions to individual traits, rather than to the situation. (This might be impossible to test, however.)
Prediction: bicultural individuals learn to make "correct" attributions in both contexts.