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Understanding how people rate their confidence is critical for the characterization of a wide range of perceptual, memory, motor and cognitive processes. To enable the continued exploration of these processes, we created a large database of confidence studies spanning a broad set of paradigms, participant populations and fields of study. The data from each study are structured in a common, easy-to-use format that can be easily imported and analysed using multiple software packages. Each dataset is accompanied by an explanation regarding the nature of the collected data. At the time of publication, the Confidence Database (which is available at https://osf.io/s46pr/) contained 145 datasets with data from more than 8,700 participants and almost 4 million trials. The database will remain open for new submissions indefinitely and is expected to continue to grow. Here we show the usefulness of this large collection of datasets in four different analyses that provide precise estimations of several foundational confidence-related effects.

In order to investigate the role of cytoskeletal genes in Alzheimer's disease(AD), we studied the expression of genes coding for actin, tubulin and neurofilament genes in brain tissues from Alzeimer's disease patients and normal controls using northern blot analysis. Analysis of neurofilament genes was performed by southern blot analysis. Our results show a more than 95% decrease in the expression of gene coding for the medium size subunit (160Kd) of neurofilament protein in the brain tissues of AD patients compared to the control individuals. We observe an 86% decrease in the expression of the small subunit (68Kd) of neurofilament gene in AD patients where as the expression of other cytoskeletal genes Actin and tubulin did not show any significant decrease. No major alterations of the gene coding for neurofilament M subunit were seen on Southern blot analysis. We conclude that an abnormality of neurofilament gene expression may explain some of the pathological features seen in AD.

This article explores the nature of congressional-presidential relations regarding war making in the early republic. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, I argue that Congress was not primary in war making during this period. Examining small wars, particularly those against native tribes, demonstrates how little influence Congress had, with oversight generally occurring only after the fact. Rhetorical presidential support for Congress's role did not accord with their practical readiness to initiate and manage hostilities unilaterally. The willingness of modern presidents to act without congressional consent is therefore not necessarily a historical aberration., One of the central issues in the debates leading up to the Constitution's ratification was the proper role of the executive. Of particular concern to many were new powers given [...]

Introduction, translation, and notes by Robert M. Grant and Glen W. Menzies. Pp. xi + 372. (Texts and Translations. Early Christian Series, 41/9.) Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996. ISBN 0 7885 [...]

by Tessa Ratak. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 380 pp. $140.00 As Professor Rajak notes in the introduction, modern research on the old Greek translation of Jewish scriptures has [...]

In December 1989, it was estimated that almost one-third of the 115,000 cases of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the United States occurred in patients over age 40 years. Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection among older patients usually results from a history of male homosexual activity or from contaminated blood products. Although the incidence of HIV-1 disease among the elderly is decreasing, this infection is associated with a more rapid disease progression and a shorter survival period in older patients. HIV-1 causes adverse effects on the immune or natural defense system, in particular a marked decrease in CD4+ T cells, a type of immune cell. This can result in: impairment of immune function; the occurrence of opportunistic infections, caused by microorganisms that are not normally infective; and development of Kaposi's sarcoma, the formation of cancerous lesions on the skin and other body sites. It is not clear whether immune responses against HIV-1 are beneficial or contribute to the disease process. However, the more rapid progression of HIV disease in the elderly may be related to the decreased immune function associated with aging. The increased frequency of adverse drug reactions and changes in drug metabolism associated with aging should be considered when prescribing antiviral therapy for older AIDS patients. The prevention and management of tuberculosis, pneumonia, influenza, and nerve disease, which contribute to the severity of AIDS in the elderly, require further investigation. The provision of health care for the elderly, incapacitated AIDS patient must also be addressed. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

A couple of years ago, my practice was thriving. Patients had to wait as long as five weeks for an appointment. Then a few competitors launched massive advertising campaigns: television [...]

This study was designed to determine if winning a specific game in a tennis match would predict success in the match and if psychological momentum was influenced by ability levels or gender of the players. Subjects were 119 male and female players competing in 163 matches in three sanctioned tennis tournaments. Game-by-game and set results were recorded. Furthermore, interviews were conducted to ascertain players' perceptions of momentum. Results revealed that winning any of the first eight games in the first and/or second set was a significant predictor of success in the tennis match. However, when only the results of more competitive matches (when sets extended to nine or more games) were examined, Games 8, 10, and 11 in the first set were significant predictors of winning the match, while only Game 4 of the second set resulted in an increased probability of match victory. No gender or ability differences were found. Based on these findings, it is suggested that investigators be cautious in inferring psychological momentum since these findings were dependent on the equity of competitors within a match, and psychological momentum seems to be a highly individual matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how the musical Hamilton can be used as a way to bring students to a new understanding of American government at the introductory level. As a recent pop-culture smash, Hamilton has brought to the fore the possibility of a new civic conversation about our political beginnings. With many citizens lacking a sufficient understanding of American political culture at this fraught time, the introductory American government course is the ideal place to enhance civic understanding. This article discusses how music from the Hamilton cast album, as well as videos about the show, were used during two semesters of the introductory American government course at a regional public university. Doing so encouraged discussion and active learning about key concepts and critical moments in American history that have shaped politics through the present day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bayesian model of confidence posits that confidence reflects the observer's posterior probability that the decision is correct. Hangya, Sanders, and Kepecs (2016) have proposed that researchers can test the Bayesian model by deriving qualitative signatures of Bayesian confidence (i.e., patterns that one would expect to see if an observer were Bayesian) and looking for those signatures in human or animal data. We examine two proposed signatures, showing that their derivations contain hidden assumptions that limit their applicability and that they are neither necessary nor sufficient conditions for Bayesian confidence. One signature is an average confidence of 0.75 on trials with neutral evidence. This signature holds only when class-conditioned stimulus distributions do not overlap and when internal noise is very low. Another signature is that as stimulus magnitude increases, confidence increases on correct trials but decreases on incorrect trials. This divergence signature holds only when stimulus distributions do not overlap or when noise is high. Navajas et al. (2017) have proposed an alternative form of this signature; we find no indication that this alternative form is expected under Bayesian confidence. Our observations give us pause about the usefulness of the qualitative signatures of Bayesian confidence. To determine the nature of the computations underlying confidence reports, there may be no shortcut to quantitative model comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans can meaningfully report their confidence in a perceptual or cognitive decision. It is widely believed that these reports reflect the Bayesian probability that the decision is correct, but this hypothesis has not been rigorously tested against non-Bayesian alternatives. We use two perceptual categorization tasks in which Bayesian confidence reporting requires subjects to take sensory uncertainty into account in a specific way. We find that subjects do take sensory uncertainty into account when reporting confidence, suggesting that brain areas involved in reporting confidence can access low-level representations of sensory uncertainty, a prerequisite of Bayesian inference. However, behavior is not fully consistent with the Bayesian hypothesis and is better described by simple heuristic models that use uncertainty in a non-Bayesian way. Both conclusions are robust to changes in the uncertainty manipulation, task, response modality, model comparison metric, and additional flexibility in the Bayesian model. Our results suggest that adhering to a rational account of confidence behavior may require incorporating implementational constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Anti-Intellectual Presidency: The Decline of Presidential Rhetoric from George Washington to George W. Bush. New York: Oxford University Press. xvi + 178 pages. ISBN 9780195342642, $24.95 cloth. Elvin T. [...]