We show several examples of how the puzzles from Wheel of Fortune can be used as a data set in an introductory statistics course. We use descriptive statistics, a permutation test, and a hypothesis ...test to answer three different questions about the percentage of letters in each puzzle that are R, S, T, L, N, and E, the letters that are revealed to the contestant in the bonus round of the game.
The long-standing rationalist tradition in moral psychology emphasizes the role of reason in moral judgment. A more recent trend places increased emphasis on emotion. Although both reason and emotion ...are likely to play important roles in moral judgment, relatively little is known about their neural correlates, the nature of their interaction, and the factors that modulate their respective behavioral influences in the context of moral judgment. In two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies using moral dilemmas as probes, we apply the methods of cognitive neuroscience to the study of moral judgment. We argue that moral dilemmas vary systematically in the extent to which they engage emotional processing and that these variations in emotional engagement influence moral judgment. These results may shed light on some puzzling patterns in moral judgment observed by contemporary philosophers.
Chamfer (or weighted) distances are popular digital distances used in various grids. They are based on the weights assigned to steps to various neighborhoods. In the triangular grid there are three ...usually used neighbor relations, consequently, chamfer distances based on three weights are used. A chamfer (or digital) disk of a grid is the set of the pixels which have distance from the origin that is not more than a given finite bound called radius. These disks are well known and well characterized on the square grid. Using the two basic (i.e., the cityblock and the chessboard) neighbors, the convex hull of a disk is always an octagon (maybe degenerated). Recently, these disks have been defined on the triangular grid; their shapes have a great variability even with the traditional three type of neighbors, but their complete characterization is still missing. Chamfer balls are convex hulls of integer points that lie in polytopes defined by linear inequalities, and thus can be computed through a linear integer programming approach. Generally, the integer hull of a polyhedral set is the convex hull of the integer points of the set. In most of the cases, for example when the set is bounded, the integer hull is a polyhedral set, as well. The integer hull can be determined in an iterative way by Chvátal cuts. In this paper, sides of the chamfer disks are determined by the inequalities with their Chvátal rank 1. The most popular coordinate system of the triangular grid uses three coordinates. By giving conditions depending only a coordinate, the embedding hexagons of the shapes are obtained. These individual bounds are described completely by Chvátal cuts. They also give the complete description of some disks. Further inequalities having Chvátal rank 1 are also discussed.
Sign restrictions on the coefficients in the structural equation for the policy interest rate and a normalization requirement identify this equation as the monetary policy equation and its shock as ...the monetary policy shock in a partial SVAR for conventional monetary policy in Australia. We use a recently developed sign restrictions algorithm and extend it to account for estimation uncertainty in the reduced-form VAR. Many of the accepted responses display puzzles. The maximum and minimum target responses are obtained as each corresponds to a single monetary policy equation. Both show that prices and output fall, and the unemployment rate rises, following a contractionary monetary policy shock. The minimum target response shows a slight exchange rate puzzle. These results are compared to those from a traditional sign restrictions algorithm and with other studies. The target responses imply plausible ranges for the coefficients in the monetary policy equation.
•The coefficients in a structural interest rate equation are sign restricted.•A new sign restriction algorithm is extended to account for estimation uncertainty.•Some accepted responses to a contractionary monetary policy shock display a puzzle.•The Max and Min Target responses show no price, output or unemployment rate puzzle.•They jointly imply plausible ranges for the coefficients in the interest rate rule.
Adults' gestures support children's learning in problem-solving tasks, but gestures may be differentially useful to children of different ages, and different features of gestures may make them more ...or less useful to children. The current study investigated parents' use of gestures to support their young children (1.5–6 years) in a block puzzle task (N = 126 parent–child dyads), and identified patterns in parents' gesture use indicating different gestural strategies. Further, we examined the effect of child age on both the frequency and types of gestures parents used, and on their usefulness to support children's learning. Children attempted to solve the puzzle independently before and after receiving help from their parent; half of the parents were instructed to sit on their hands while they helped. Parents who could use their hands appear to use gestures in three strategies: orienting the child to the task, providing abstract information, and providing embodied information; further, they adapted their gesturing to their child's age and skill level. Younger children elicited more frequent and more proximal gestures from parents. Despite the greater use of gestures with younger children, it was the oldest group (4.5–6.0 years) who were most affected by parents' gestures. The oldest group was positively affected by the total frequency of parents' gestures, and in particular, parents' use of embodying gestures (indexes that touched their referents, representational demonstrations with object in hand, and physically guiding child's hands). Though parents rarely used the embodying strategy with older children, it was this strategy which most enhanced the problem-solving of children 4.5–6 years.
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