Yin Tan - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Yin Tan

Research paper thumbnail of If You're Angry, Turn the Music on

Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications, 2014

Research has focused on music's negative effects on a driver's attention, whereas little ... more Research has focused on music's negative effects on a driver's attention, whereas little research has addressed the possibility of using music to reduce emotional effects on driving. In the present study, we investigate how music can mitigate the degenerated driving performance associated with angry driving. To this end, fifty-three drivers participated in a simulated driving study either with or without induced anger. Three groups of participants with induced anger drove in a simulator while listening to happy or sad instrumental pieces, or without music. In the control group, anger was not induced and they did not listen to music during driving. The results show that participants who listened to either happy or sad music had significantly fewer driving errors than those who did not listen to music. However, no significant differences were found between happy and sad music conditions. Results are discussed with an affect regulation model and future research.

Research paper thumbnail of Development of the PEBL Traveling Salesman Problem Computerized Testbed

The Journal of Problem Solving, 2015

The traveling salesman problem (TSP) is a combinatorial optimization problem that requires findin... more The traveling salesman problem (TSP) is a combinatorial optimization problem that requires finding the shortest path through a set of points ("cities") that returns to the starting point. Because humans provide heuristic near-optimal solutions to Euclidean versions of the problem, it has sometimes been used to investigate human visual problem solving ability. The TSP is also similar to a number of tasks commonly used for neuropsychological assessment (such as the trail-making test), and so its utility in assessing reliable individual differences in problem solving has sometimes been examined. Nevertheless, the task has seen little widespread use in clinical and assessment domains, in part because no standard software implementation or item set is widely available with known psychometric properties. In this paper, we describe a computerized version of TSP running in the free and open source Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL). The PEBL TSP task is designed to be suitable for use within a larger battery of tests, and to examine both standard and custom TSP node configurations (i.e., problems). We report the results of a series of experiments that help establish the test's reliability and validity. The first experiment examines test-retest reliability, establishes that the quality of solutions in the TSP are not impacted by mild physiological strain, and demonstrates how solution quality obtained by individuals in a physical version is highly correlated with solution quality obtained in the PEBL version. The second experiment evaluates a larger set of problems, and uses the data to identify a small subset of tests that have maximal coherence. A third experiment examines test-retest reliability of this smaller set that can be administered in about five minutes, and establishes that these problems produce composite scores with moderately high (R = .75) test-retest reliability, making it suitable for use in many assessment situations, including evaluations of individual differences, personality, and intelligence testing.

Research paper thumbnail of Adapting cultural mixture modeling for continuous measures of knowledge and memory fluency

Behavior research methods, Jan 22, 2015

Previous research (e.g., cultural consensus theory (Romney, Weller, & Batchelder, American Anthro... more Previous research (e.g., cultural consensus theory (Romney, Weller, & Batchelder, American Anthropologist, 88, 313-338, 1986); cultural mixture modeling (Mueller & Veinott, 2008)) has used overt response patterns (i.e., responses to questionnaires and surveys) to identify whether a group shares a single coherent attitude or belief set. Yet many domains in social science have focused on implicit attitudes that are not apparent in overt responses but still may be detected via response time patterns. We propose a method for modeling response times as a mixture of Gaussians, adapting the strong-consensus model of cultural mixture modeling to model this implicit measure of knowledge strength. We report the results of two behavioral experiments and one simulation experiment that establish the usefulness of the approach, as well as some of the boundary conditions under which distinct groups of shared agreement might be recovered, even when the group identity is not known. The results revea...

Research paper thumbnail of East-West Cultural Differences in Visual Attention Tasks: Identifying Multiple Mechanisms and Developing a Predictive Model

Past research has identified East-West differences in visual attention associated with holistic v... more Past research has identified East-West differences in visual attention associated with holistic versus analytic perception and reasoning strategies (Nisbett et al., 2001; Boduroglu et al., 2009). These cross-cultural differences might stem from several different mechanisms, which may include: interference suppression, response inhibition, attention to detail vs. object configuration, stimulus centrality vs. eccentricity, number of visual distractors (e.g., display set size or clutter), and others. Although research has shown East-West differences, the results sometimes appear inconsistent with each other, or they lack clear predictions from underlying theories. For example, evidence of a preference for cluttered displays (Wang et al., 2012), evidence for being vulnerable to peripheral distractors (Masuda et al., 2008a), as well as evidence for greater sensitivity to distraction by global information (McKone et al., 2010) are all taken as evidence for the same cultural difference, even if they may be inconsistent with one another (i.e., Easterners prefer displays that are likely to lead to more distraction). This dissertation is comprised of three related efforts: (1) two empirical research studies using multiple visual attentional tasks intended to identify East-West cultural differences in visual attention, (2) identification of the five cultural mechanisms, which are derived from previous cross-cultural studies on general philosophy, visual attention, and bilingualism, aimed at constructing a basis for hypotheses testing, and (3) a computational predictive modeling effort attempting to produce best classification and derive minimal predictors using machine learning schema, along with cross-validating empirical task results.

Research paper thumbnail of If You're Angry, Turn the Music on: Music Can Mitigate Anger Effects on Driving Performance

Research has focused on music's negative effects on a driver's attention, whereas little research... more Research has focused on music's negative effects on a driver's attention, whereas little research has addressed the possibility of using music to reduce emotional effects on driving. In the present study, we investigate how music can mitigate the degenerated driving performance associated with angry driving. To this end, fifty-three drivers participated in a simulated driving study either with or without induced anger. Three groups of participants with induced anger drove in a simulator while listening to happy or sad instrumental pieces, or without music. In the control group, anger was not induced and they did not listen to music during driving. The results show that participants who listened to either happy or sad music had significantly fewer driving errors than those who did not listen to music. However, no significant differences were found between happy and sad music conditions. Results are discussed with an affect regulation model and future research.

Research paper thumbnail of If You're Angry, Turn the Music on

Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications, 2014

Research has focused on music's negative effects on a driver's attention, whereas little ... more Research has focused on music's negative effects on a driver's attention, whereas little research has addressed the possibility of using music to reduce emotional effects on driving. In the present study, we investigate how music can mitigate the degenerated driving performance associated with angry driving. To this end, fifty-three drivers participated in a simulated driving study either with or without induced anger. Three groups of participants with induced anger drove in a simulator while listening to happy or sad instrumental pieces, or without music. In the control group, anger was not induced and they did not listen to music during driving. The results show that participants who listened to either happy or sad music had significantly fewer driving errors than those who did not listen to music. However, no significant differences were found between happy and sad music conditions. Results are discussed with an affect regulation model and future research.

Research paper thumbnail of Development of the PEBL Traveling Salesman Problem Computerized Testbed

The Journal of Problem Solving, 2015

The traveling salesman problem (TSP) is a combinatorial optimization problem that requires findin... more The traveling salesman problem (TSP) is a combinatorial optimization problem that requires finding the shortest path through a set of points ("cities") that returns to the starting point. Because humans provide heuristic near-optimal solutions to Euclidean versions of the problem, it has sometimes been used to investigate human visual problem solving ability. The TSP is also similar to a number of tasks commonly used for neuropsychological assessment (such as the trail-making test), and so its utility in assessing reliable individual differences in problem solving has sometimes been examined. Nevertheless, the task has seen little widespread use in clinical and assessment domains, in part because no standard software implementation or item set is widely available with known psychometric properties. In this paper, we describe a computerized version of TSP running in the free and open source Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL). The PEBL TSP task is designed to be suitable for use within a larger battery of tests, and to examine both standard and custom TSP node configurations (i.e., problems). We report the results of a series of experiments that help establish the test's reliability and validity. The first experiment examines test-retest reliability, establishes that the quality of solutions in the TSP are not impacted by mild physiological strain, and demonstrates how solution quality obtained by individuals in a physical version is highly correlated with solution quality obtained in the PEBL version. The second experiment evaluates a larger set of problems, and uses the data to identify a small subset of tests that have maximal coherence. A third experiment examines test-retest reliability of this smaller set that can be administered in about five minutes, and establishes that these problems produce composite scores with moderately high (R = .75) test-retest reliability, making it suitable for use in many assessment situations, including evaluations of individual differences, personality, and intelligence testing.

Research paper thumbnail of Adapting cultural mixture modeling for continuous measures of knowledge and memory fluency

Behavior research methods, Jan 22, 2015

Previous research (e.g., cultural consensus theory (Romney, Weller, & Batchelder, American Anthro... more Previous research (e.g., cultural consensus theory (Romney, Weller, & Batchelder, American Anthropologist, 88, 313-338, 1986); cultural mixture modeling (Mueller & Veinott, 2008)) has used overt response patterns (i.e., responses to questionnaires and surveys) to identify whether a group shares a single coherent attitude or belief set. Yet many domains in social science have focused on implicit attitudes that are not apparent in overt responses but still may be detected via response time patterns. We propose a method for modeling response times as a mixture of Gaussians, adapting the strong-consensus model of cultural mixture modeling to model this implicit measure of knowledge strength. We report the results of two behavioral experiments and one simulation experiment that establish the usefulness of the approach, as well as some of the boundary conditions under which distinct groups of shared agreement might be recovered, even when the group identity is not known. The results revea...

Research paper thumbnail of East-West Cultural Differences in Visual Attention Tasks: Identifying Multiple Mechanisms and Developing a Predictive Model

Past research has identified East-West differences in visual attention associated with holistic v... more Past research has identified East-West differences in visual attention associated with holistic versus analytic perception and reasoning strategies (Nisbett et al., 2001; Boduroglu et al., 2009). These cross-cultural differences might stem from several different mechanisms, which may include: interference suppression, response inhibition, attention to detail vs. object configuration, stimulus centrality vs. eccentricity, number of visual distractors (e.g., display set size or clutter), and others. Although research has shown East-West differences, the results sometimes appear inconsistent with each other, or they lack clear predictions from underlying theories. For example, evidence of a preference for cluttered displays (Wang et al., 2012), evidence for being vulnerable to peripheral distractors (Masuda et al., 2008a), as well as evidence for greater sensitivity to distraction by global information (McKone et al., 2010) are all taken as evidence for the same cultural difference, even if they may be inconsistent with one another (i.e., Easterners prefer displays that are likely to lead to more distraction). This dissertation is comprised of three related efforts: (1) two empirical research studies using multiple visual attentional tasks intended to identify East-West cultural differences in visual attention, (2) identification of the five cultural mechanisms, which are derived from previous cross-cultural studies on general philosophy, visual attention, and bilingualism, aimed at constructing a basis for hypotheses testing, and (3) a computational predictive modeling effort attempting to produce best classification and derive minimal predictors using machine learning schema, along with cross-validating empirical task results.

Research paper thumbnail of If You're Angry, Turn the Music on: Music Can Mitigate Anger Effects on Driving Performance

Research has focused on music's negative effects on a driver's attention, whereas little research... more Research has focused on music's negative effects on a driver's attention, whereas little research has addressed the possibility of using music to reduce emotional effects on driving. In the present study, we investigate how music can mitigate the degenerated driving performance associated with angry driving. To this end, fifty-three drivers participated in a simulated driving study either with or without induced anger. Three groups of participants with induced anger drove in a simulator while listening to happy or sad instrumental pieces, or without music. In the control group, anger was not induced and they did not listen to music during driving. The results show that participants who listened to either happy or sad music had significantly fewer driving errors than those who did not listen to music. However, no significant differences were found between happy and sad music conditions. Results are discussed with an affect regulation model and future research.