ChaseDream
搜索
1234下一页
返回列表 发新帖
查看: 4799|回复: 33

[阅读小分队] 【Native Speaker每日综合训练—29系列】【29-15】科技

[复制链接]
发表于 2013-12-23 22:15:57 | 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式

大家好,年底了,小伙伴们是不是又忙又急呢?
speed讲了我们是如何病急乱投医的,推荐给和捉妖一样会急中生错的童鞋们


Part I:Speaker

Test Prep Doesn't Help Raise Intelligence Scores
Scores on standardized tests may go up but a student's ability for abstract and logical thinking may not improve. Christie Nicholson reports
[Rephrase 1]

[Dialog, 1:33]


Transcript hided

  Young American students take a variety of standardized tests. But the ways that students are educated so that they’ll do well on such tests presents a problem. The preparation increases what’s called crystallized knowledge: that’s factual information, such as ‘the capital of Texas is Austin.’ But the tests do not enhance what is referred to as fluid intelligence: the ability to think logically or theoretically. That’s according to a study in the journal Psychological Science.

Scientists analyzed test scores and IQs of almost 1,400 eighth-graders. They found that schoolwork could significantly raise students’ test scores, while having no effect on the ratings of their fluid intelligence scores…which are better indicators of memory capacity, thinking speed and the ability to solve abstract problems.

It’s been shown that high scores on standardized tests predict success on future exams like the SAT and Advanced Placement tests. But little is known about the effect of improving fluid intelligence. Still, the researchers note that crystallized intelligence is clearly important, since, for example, mathematics and comprehension are critical for later academic and employment success. Systems that increase fluid intelligence would therefore seem to be a good development—logically and theoretically.

—Christie Nicholson

Source: Scientific American
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=test-prep-doesnt-help-raise-intelli-13-12-19

本帖子中包含更多资源

您需要 登录 才可以下载或查看,没有帐号?立即注册

x
 楼主| 发表于 2013-12-23 22:15:58 | 显示全部楼层
Part II:Speed



The two step reinforcement learning task can separate model-free and model-based learning.

When stressed, the brain goes 'cheap'
by Bethany Brookshire 4:00pm, December 19, 2013  

[Time 2]
When we’re not under pressure, we have time to reflect on the best course before making a decision. In times of stress, however, we fall back on quick and dirty decision making. A new study attempts to clarify how stress changes the way we perform working memory tasks.

Say you are thinking of getting a new car. You have a car but it’s getting old, and it’s time to move on. You might examine different models, check out the miles per gallon in hybrids, save up money and look at different financing methods.

Then your car breathes its last. You can’t get to work. You can hitch a ride for a few days, but you have to do something. Screw miles per gallon and financing. You run out and buy the car you can get the quickest, just like you did the last time this happened. It’s barely within your budget and it’s not as ecofriendly as you’d hoped. It’s probably not what you would have picked when you had ample time to consider. Is it the best decision?

That example shows two different kinds of decision making. Model-based decision making takes all the options into account. You examine the potential consequences of actions, look around at the environment and study all the possibilities. Model-free decision making is more “primitive” in style. Instead of carefully evaluating all the possible choices and outcomes, you just go with what worked best last time. Model-based decision making takes more focus and thought, while model-free decision making takes less.
[255 words]


[Time 3]
Ross Otto and colleagues at New York University looked into how we make decisions. They gave 56 people a working memory test, and then put half of the volunteers’ hands up to the wrist into icy cold water, an unpleasant and physically stressful experience. The other half got room temperature water. After the stressor, the researchers took saliva from each participant to test for cortisol, a hormone indicative of stress. Then they sat the participants down in front of a computer screen for a two-step reinforcement learning task.

The task works like this: You see a black screen with two pictures. The one on the left leads to a green screen most of the time. The green screen has two pictures. The one on the right has a 60 percent chance of winning you a quarter, the one on the left, only 25 percent.  You go back to the black screen. If you pick the picture on the right, you have a higher chance of going to a blue screen. The two pictures on the blue screen also have different chances to earn a reward, but both are around 30 to 40 percent. But remember, you are dealing with uncertainty through all of this. The left choice on the black screen usually leads to a green screen, but sometimes it leads to the blue one.  In the blue and green screens, the pictures might get you a quarter, but you’re never certain you’ll get the money. How do you maximize your chances?
[252 words]


[Time 4]
If you’re applying model-based learning, you would take time to learn what yields the most money as you performed the task. The right picture on the green screen has the highest chance of reward. OK. This means that if we want to make the most money, we need to get to the green screen the most often. So we need to take the choice on the left, which has the highest chance of getting to the green screen, and then pick the choice on the right, which has the highest chance of reward.

But if you are using model-free learning, you won’t think it through. Instead, you’re more likely to try the choices that got you a reward the last time. If the right choice on the blue screen worked, you’ll try that again, regardless of whether it’s really the most likely option.

In results published December 9 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Otto and his colleagues show that humans use a mixture of model-based and model-free learning. We lean toward the decisions that will make us the most money, but it’s hard to ignore the ones that made us money before, even if they aren’t the best option.
[203 words]


[Time 5]
That’s how we might behave under normal circumstances. But what about after a few minutes of having your wrist stuck in ice water? What effect does stress have on how we make decisions?

The scientists showed that stress only hurts model-based learning. People who had been exposed to the ice water were less likely to try to work out the problem, and more likely to use what worked the first time. They also showed that participants who had a tough time with working memory (something important for model-based learning) were much more affected by the stress than those who got higher scores on working memory tests. This means that people who score well on working memory tests (a measure linked to general intelligence), are protected from the effects of the stressor. They can keep working out the model-based learning even under stress.

But what does this mean? Model-based learning is “more ‘expensive’ to carry out,” says Otto. “You have to think through what is happening. When there is stress, you’ll fall back on more primitive decision making.” So when people are in high stress situations, Otto says, “you may want to structure tasks so that model-free learning can be used.”

The results also assume that, most of the time, the model-based learning is the “better” option. But it is always better? There may be many situations where the mentally “cheaper” action is preferable. Heck, it may not even make a difference. In this test, people who relied on model-based learning did not end up taking home any more money than those who relied on model-free learning. They may have had higher working memory, but it didn’t make them earn more. Taking the test over a longer period of time might have shown more differences.
[294 words]


[Time6]
It also makes me wonder whether different stressors might have different effects. After all, cold water may not distract you that much. Would a social stressor like giving a speech have a bigger effect? Otto thinks that it might, but it will have to be tested.

Otto and colleagues hypothesize that differences in model-based and model-free learning under stress might have applications for things like understanding addiction. Addicts are most likely to relapse under times of stress. This is in part because stress induces things like drug craving. But Otto thinks that model-free learning might play a role. When recovering addicts are under stress, he says, they might be more likely to turn back to the things that rewarded them before.

It will be interesting to see whether model-free learning plays a role in drug relapse. And it would be interesting to see whether model-based learning is really “better” all the time. When faced with a simple choice, like which bathroom to use, I’m going with the one that was empty last time, no matter how urgent or stressful the situation. But when buying a car? Well, maybe I don’t want to wait until the stressful situation comes along. In some situations, it’s good to consider all the angles.
[209 words]


Source:Science News
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/scicurious/when-stressed-brain-goes-cheap

本帖子中包含更多资源

您需要 登录 才可以下载或查看,没有帐号?立即注册

x
 楼主| 发表于 2013-12-23 22:15:59 | 显示全部楼层
Part III: Obstacle



An effort being pushed by a big tech investor would divide California into six states. None, sadly, would be named "Steve."
Apparently This Matters: Six Californias
By Jarrett Bellini, CNN December 22, 2013 -- Updated 2111 GMT (0511 HKT) | Filed under: Social Media
[Paraphrase 7]
Growing up in Arizona, the common joke was that one day a giant earthquake would tear California out into the Pacific and then we'd all have oceanfront property.

It never happened. So we made a lake in Tempe.

Same thing. Fewer whales.

The truth is that California isn't going anywhere, and, now, as it continues to grow as a political superpower and cultural trend-setter, some people want to figure out just what the hell to do with our nation's weirdo West Coast uber-state.
I say we give it a funny hat.

But noted technology investor Tim Draper has a different idea that's both bold and arguably insane. And he's quite serious about it.

Draper wants to turn California into six separate states.

His initiative, Six Californias, quietly started bouncing around the Internet, but is getting more and more attention now that Draper's actually moving forward, trying to make his dream a reality.

I've been told this phenomenon is called "follow-through." I'd be inclined to try it some day, but it sounds like it requires effort. And pants.

That said, Draper appears up for the task, and he recently shared his big idea with TechCrunch writer Gregory Ferenstein, who reports that Draper is "submitting a polished version to the state's Attorney General in the form of a ballot proposition proposal within the next 48 hours."

Now, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Theoretically, I could submit a proposal that requires all Californians to wear REO Speedwagon T-shirts on Wednesdays, but it doesn't mean it's going to happen.

Mind you, it should. Because it would be awesome. But it won't.

The reality is that trying to get an initiative on the state ballot is both difficult and expensive. And I just don't hold the cash to push forward my REO Speedwagon plan.

However, Draper might just have the wherewithal to make the possibility of Six Californias an actual thing.

But why?

His major argument is that, currently, California isn't represented properly in Washington -- that two senators simply cannot speak for the massive population of the entire state.

Additionally, Draper argues that creating six Californias would encourage more business competition and allow the separate states to make decisions and regulations that are more appropriate to their respective populations.

"So, uh ... who wants some weed?"

Of course, debating, here, the serious pros and cons of this initiative are far beyond my pay grade. I mean, I guess it makes sense. But, then again, so does the McRib.

Clearly, I'm not the man with the answers. Unless, of course, those answers pertain to Simpsons trivia. In which case, I'm your Huckleberry.

I really have no idea whether this would be good or bad, but, still, it's easy to identify at least one of the major points of debate within Draper's plan, which is turning Silicon Valley into its own state, stretching from the Sierra Mountains to the shores of the Bay Area.

Again, I'm not smart enough to truly understand the actual impact of something like this, but it seems that that particular state might be disproportionately amazing compared to the other five.

"Don't mind us. We're just going to take all the pretty and successful parts. But, hey, good luck with Los Angeles!"

In Draper's plan, the other five states that don't get to be Silicon Valley would be known as Jefferson, North California, Central California, West California, and South California.

Now, at this point, having shared the basics of Draper's vision, I want to go firmly on the record as saying I absolutely, 100% disagree with this idea. It's simply the worst. Not so much because of any sound political or social reasons, but because I'm terribly OCD and couldn't, even for a second, fathom 55 states.

This would drive me crazy.

And what would we do with our flag. It would be chaos!

That said, I do, however, support cutting the state in half. At least so long as we eliminate one of our current states to keep the stars on the flag just as they are.

In a perfect world, I suppose California would be divided into two states -- Northern California and Steve.

And then we would combine North and South Dakota into just Dakota. Which, as a name, actually sounds quite pretty without the directional prefixes. And I'm sure all seven people who live there will learn to get along as one.

But more importantly, Jarrett gets to sleep at night.

Fifty stars. A beautiful thing.

And, really, dividing California is not a completely far-fetched idea. Draper notes in his proposal that, "Voters overwhelmingly approved the splitting of California into two states in 1859, but Congress never acted on that request due to the Civil War."

No matter what happens -- if anything -- it'll be a while before a vote actually occurs. These things take time.

But it's fun to think about.

And I bet REO Speedwagon would play the big constitution-signing party in Steve.

[828 words]

Source:CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/20/tech/social-media/apparently-this-matters-six-californias/index.html

本帖子中包含更多资源

您需要 登录 才可以下载或查看,没有帐号?立即注册

x
发表于 2013-12-23 22:25:27 | 显示全部楼层
谢谢妖姐~                  平安夜 & 圣诞夜 沙发争夺大战 正式拉开帷幕。

speaker:
Although the test preparation can improve the size of cystallized knowledge, it can do nearly nothing to improve memory capacity, thinking speed and the ability to solve abstract problems.
*crystallize (Amer.)  ['crys·tal·lize || 'krɪstəlaɪz]

Speed:
1'45''
1'26''
1'10''
2'15''
1'27''

Obstacle-6'20''
a technology investor proposes to turn California into six separate states.
a little bit funny, meanwhile, some realities.
发表于 2013-12-23 22:29:08 | 显示全部楼层
沙发~                  


2.25
1.30
1.02
1.20
1.30
发表于 2013-12-23 22:30:01 | 显示全部楼层
占~~~~~~~~~感谢妖姐
喜欢今天的SPEED,拖延症患者经常做出脑残的决定

Speaker:School homework can improve student's scores in standardized tests,but has no effect on enchancing the fluid intelligence.

01:18
People will make more quick and dirty decisions when they are in pressure.Model-based decision making need more thought and forcus and take all things in account.Model-free decision makings takes less and just use lasest best decision.

01:19
An experiment was made to study how we make decisions.

01:04
The study shows that human use the mixture of model-based and model-free decision making to make decision.Even peoeple have already now the best choice,it is difficult to ignore the last option that earn money.

01:40
Stress only affect human's model-based learning,partly because model-based learning is more hard to use and people do not want to try to work out problems under pressure.Although model-based learning may give the best option,it doesn't always work well.

01:05
Different stress may lead to different effects on decision making.These two kinds of models should be choosen in different situaion.

05:46
Main Idea:A plan that tries to divide California into six separate states.
Recently technology investor Tim Draper submitted the version to state's Attorney General.
This plan is difficult and expensive to become true.
But Tim said that this plan can encourage more bussiness competition and allow separate states to make more appropriate laws and regulations.
The author has no idea about whether this plan is good or bad,but the owner of Silicon Valley will be the most benefical from this plan.And he thinks that California is better to be divided into two parts.

发表于 2013-12-23 22:31:01 | 显示全部楼层
占~~~~~~~~~妖姐,haha
29-15
Speaker
The preparation of standardized test just improves the crystallizedknowledge instead of fluid intelligence which is important to future study.

2 255 1min32
A new study attempts to clarify how stress changes the way weperform working memory tasks-introduce 2 types of thinking: model-based andmodel free.
3 252 1min41
Put people into a physically stressed situation and makesure they are stressed-test on the response
4 203 1min
Model-based thinker will evaluate and make the most rewardchoice while model-free thinker goes with the last time choice which won themmoney. People are mixed thinking pattern.
5 294 1min37
Model-based thinkers fail back to model-free thinking whenthe pressure is on.
6 209 1min12
It’s interesting to see if model-based thinking is alwaysthe best.
Obstacle 828 5min34
Hahahaah. Interesting passage.

发表于 2013-12-23 22:39:59 | 显示全部楼层
偶耶~~首页,一定的记得来做啊

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME2:1'50''02
stress changes the way we make decision
take car-buy as an example
two kinds of decision making

TIME3:1'32''12
a experiment:56people.28-hands in icy cold water to make stress;28-in temperature water with nonstress
chance different screen to earn more money

TIME4:0'49''42
the results of the two different kinds of decision making

TIME5:1'37''95
stress only affect model-based learning
model-based:expensive, better option

TIME6:1'09''54

OBSATCLE:6'32''77
Draper's plan :tear california into six new states
reality:difficult and expensive
Draper's argument:massive population;for more busniess
problem:silicon valley own to who
author has no idea the plan whether good or bad
fun to think
发表于 2013-12-23 23:54:48 | 显示全部楼层
1:40s
1:25s
1:07s
2:02s
1:24s
model-based decision making and model-free decision making
under stress,people tend to use model-free decision making
the experiment of earning money from choosing the right screen
people who get higher scores from the general intelligence test will be more likely to use model-based decision
but the results seem  similar between two groups of people,maybe in the long run the divergence may be more significant
5:59s
the proposal of splitting california into six parts
reason:increase the competition among the states
the defeated idea:the silicon valley will become an individual states,and the other parts may lose competitions
the idea of splitting california into two parts
it is hard to answer this question,and we will see the action of the politics
发表于 2013-12-24 02:38:40 | 显示全部楼层
12.23
1.standardized test can only test crystal knowledge but not fluid

knowledge.
2.
Lap 4        00:01:38.97        00:05:23.32
Lap 3        00:00:54.61        00:03:44.35
Lap 2        00:01:30.80        00:02:49.73
Lap 1        00:01:18.93        00:01:18.93
the difference bewteen model-based thinking and model-free based

thinking. Model-based thinking are more impacted by stresses per study

than model-free thinking is. People tended to use both thinking in their

decision making everyday.

3.5'15
Someone proposed to divide California into 6 states. The author joked

about it but seriously thought to make into 2 which historically voters

have voted as such. The flag can keep 50 stars by combining North/South

Dakota.  
您需要登录后才可以回帖 登录 | 立即注册

Mark一下! 看一下! 顶楼主! 感谢分享! 快速回复:

手机版|ChaseDream|GMT+8, 2024-3-29 05:59
京公网安备11010202008513号 京ICP证101109号 京ICP备12012021号

ChaseDream 论坛

© 2003-2023 ChaseDream.com. All Rights Reserved.

返回顶部