All posts tagged: ability

Low cognitive ability intensifies the link between social media use and anti-immigrant attitudes

Low cognitive ability intensifies the link between social media use and anti-immigrant attitudes

Published by José

New research has found that individuals who frequently use social media and perceive immigrants as threats are more likely to harbor negative emotions toward them. The study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, indicates that these effects are stronger among those with lower cognitive abilities. In contrast, individuals with higher cognitive abilities were less prone to these negative attitudes, suggesting that cognitive ability may offer some protection against emotionally charged narratives on social media. A significant motivation behind the study was to explore how the public’s use of social media contributes to emotional and cognitive responses toward immigrants. Prior studies have shown that social media can amplify both negative and positive sentiments, but the exact pathways through which this happens—especially concerning cognitive ability—have remained unclear. The researchers also wanted to explore the role of perceived threats, such as economic or cultural displacement, which have long been shown to foster prejudice and xenophobia. To examine how immigrants are discussed in public discourse on social media, the researchers conducted a computational text analysis of social media posts from …

Children’s ability to detect ambiguity in disagreements sharpens between ages 7 and 11

Children’s ability to detect ambiguity in disagreements sharpens between ages 7 and 11

Published by José

A recent study published in Cognition reveals that children’s ability to use disagreement as a cue to infer ambiguity in communication strengthens significantly between the ages of 7 and 11. Understanding how children navigate conflicting perspectives is critical in a world where effective communication and collaboration are necessary. The developmental foundations of this ability are not well understood, particularly how children infer ambiguity from disagreements in social scenarios. Jamie Amemiya and colleagues explored this by examining children’s ability to make inferences based on whether two speakers agreed or disagreed on a given interpretation. Previous research has shown that children use various cues, such as trustworthiness and domain expertise, to resolve disagreements. However, less is known about their ability to infer ambiguity when there is no clear basis to privilege one perspective over another. The researchers focused on this gap. The first experiment included 52 children from diverse backgrounds. The researchers designed a series of social scenarios where a child character made a statement, followed by two adult observers who either agreed or disagreed on the …

New research links height differences to cognitive ability

New research links height differences to cognitive ability

Published by skeptic

Cognitive abilities, while varying considerably among different species, are also strikingly diverse within a single species. (CREDIT: Creative Commons) Groundbreaking research led by Professor John Spencer at the University of East Anglia, and Assistant Professor Samuel Forbes from the distinguished Psychology Department, has unveiled a crucial link—affecting infants as young as six months old—between the physical stature of an infant and their cognitive abilities, tied to brain function. This research pivots on the concept of ‘visual working memory,’ a critical component of our cognitive architecture that maintains and processes visual information. Experimental task and behavioural results. A trial of length 10 s of the preferential-looking VWM task. During the 10 s trial, alternating blank displays for 250 ms are followed by ‘on’ displays of coloured squares for 500 ms (250, 500, 250 and 500 ms… for 10 s). (CREDIT: Nature Human Behavior) The study meticulously compared this cognitive capacity in infants experiencing stunted growth—a marker of undernutrition and adverse environmental conditions—with their peers demonstrating expected growth patterns. The Intricate Web of Growth and Cognition The study’s startling revelations show that infants …

New Ollama update adds ability to ask multiple questions at once

New Ollama update adds ability to ask multiple questions at once

Published by skeptic

Ollama 0.133 introduces an experimental approach to parallel processing, empowering developers and researchers to optimize their AI applications, especially on single-machine environments such as Apple silicon laptops. By leveraging the newly introduced `OLLAMA_NUM_PARALLEL` and `OLLAMA_MAX_LOADED_MODELS` environment variables, users can now effortlessly manage multiple AI models and process several requests concurrently. This enhancement unlocks new levels of efficiency and capability, transforming the way AI modeling and processing are conducted. Harness the full potential of computational resources Streamline workflows and boost productivity Experience seamless multitasking capabilities New AI Models Now Supported by Ollama Llama 3: a new model by Meta, and the most capable openly available LLM to date Phi 3 Mini: a new 3.8B parameters, lightweight, state-of-the-art open model by Microsoft. Moondream moondream is a small vision language model designed to run efficiently on edge devices. Llama 3 Gradient 1048K: A Llama 3 fine-tune by Gradient to support up to a 1M token context window. Dolphin Llama 3: The uncensored Dolphin model, trained by Eric Hartford and based on Llama 3 with a variety of instruction, conversational, and …

Only U.S. has the ability to break the cycle of Gaza violence: Egyptian foreign minister

Only U.S. has the ability to break the cycle of Gaza violence: Egyptian foreign minister

Published by skeptic

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry called on the U.S. to leverage its influence over Israel to prevent further bloodshed in Gaza. Speaking to CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Sunday at a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he said “only the United States has the overall ability to influence conditions, and to motivate all sides concerned to find the point of convergence, and to be able to break the cycle of violence.” His words echoed other Arab leaders at the WEF meeting who believe that ending the war in Gaza falls on the United States. Shoukry pushed Washington to “leverage their ability to provide incentives, but also to indicate consequences for the lack of achievement or the lack of progress in the cessation of hostilities.” Hamas is reportedly reviewing Israel’s latest Gaza cease-fire proposal and a delegation from the group is scheduled to visit Cairo on Monday for talks, according to a Hamas official who spoke to Reuters. Palestinians walk on a street, filled with debris of destroyed buildings due to the Israeli attacks, …

Heat Wave in Gaza Challenges Pharmacists Ability to Store Medicine

Heat Wave in Gaza Challenges Pharmacists Ability to Store Medicine

Published by Sam

A heat wave in the Gaza Strip this week, with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees Fahrenheit the past few days, has not only made life intolerable for the hundreds of thousands of displaced people trying to rebuild their lives in tent cities but has made it hard for some businesses to operate. By Saturday, the heat had significantly eased and the forecast was for more moderate temperatures in coming days. But the recent highs offered a vision of what the summer most likely holds. “This hot weather is a challenge for us,” said Mohammed Fayyad, a displaced pharmacist who started selling medications from a tent he built out of wooden slabs, curtains and metal scraps at a camp for displaced people in Al-Mawasi. With no electricity or alternative sources of power, Mr. Fayyad, 32, said that he could not keep the medicines — which he buys from pharmacies that have had to shut down — stored at cool enough temperatures to keep them from being damaged. “Fifty percent of the medicines for chronic diseases are …

Childhood cognitive ability is not associated with depression in adulthood

Childhood cognitive ability is not associated with depression in adulthood

Published by José

A meta-analysis of studies examining links between cognitive ability and depression symptoms found no association between cognitive ability in childhood and depression in adulthood. The association was absent even after looking at different ages of assessment and in both genders. The research was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. Cognitive abilities are the mental skills that one needs to carry out any task from the simplest to the most complex. These abilities encompass a range of mental processes related to the manipulation of information, such as perception, memory, logic and reasoning, and attention. Memory, both short-term and long-term, plays a crucial role in cognitive abilities, as it helps store and retrieve information when needed. Logical reasoning and problem-solving depend on the ability to analyze information, generate connections, and make decisions based on the data available. Additionally, cognitive abilities are crucial for language understanding and expression, enabling complex communication and learning processes. Individuals with good cognitive abilities tend to perform better in various domains of life. Some authors believe that cognitive ability can even be …

Erin Cuthbert energised by Chelsea’s ability to frustrate Barcelona | Chelsea Women

Erin Cuthbert energised by Chelsea’s ability to frustrate Barcelona | Chelsea Women

Published by skeptic

“We kept it alive,” was the verdict of Chelsea’s goalscorer, Erin Cuthbert, after their phenomenal and tactically astute 1-0 victory over the European champions Barcelona on Saturday. “It’s all to play for in the second leg.” Chelsea did more than keep the tie alive going into the second leg at Stamford Bridge: they made the seemingly impossible possible. It has been more than five years since Barcelona lost at home and they had not lost home or away since May 2023. Their last defeat in the Champions League came in December 2022. The Catalan giants, who have reached four of the past five Champions League finals, winning two, could not find a way past Chelsea’s back five, the three centre-backs Jess Carter, Niamh Charles and Kadeisha Buchanan superb, but it would be wrong to single them out, the team defending as a group, holding their shape and staying in sync. That defensive solidity nullified the attacking threat, limiting a team that had not failed to score since April 2022 to one shot on target, a …

Israel’s Strike on Iran Highlights Its Ability to Evade Tehran’s Air Defenses

Israel’s Strike on Iran Highlights Its Ability to Evade Tehran’s Air Defenses

Published by Sam

An Israeli airstrike on Iran on Friday damaged an air defense system, according to Western and Iranian officials, in an attack calculated to deliver a message that Israel could bypass Iran’s defensive systems undetected and paralyze them. The strike damaged a defensive battery near Natanz, a city in central Iran that is critical to the country’s nuclear weapons program, according to two Western officials and two Iranian officials. The attack — and the revelation on Saturday of its target — was in retaliation for Iran’s strike in Israel last week after Israel bombed its embassy compound in Damascus. But it used a fraction of the firepower Tehran deployed in launching hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel. The strike on Friday was the latest salvo in a series of tit-for-tat attacks between the two countries this month that have heightened fears of a broader regional conflict. But the relatively limited scope of Israel’s strike and the muted response from Iranian officials seem to have eased tensions. Iran and Israel have conducted a yearslong shadow war, …

Cannabis use linked to enhanced ability to understand others’ emotions

Cannabis use linked to enhanced ability to understand others’ emotions

Published by José

A recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience Research offers an intriguing perspective on the effects of regular cannabis use. Contrary to the commonly held view that cannabis has primarily negative impacts on mental health and behavior, the study suggests that regular cannabis users may have a heightened ability to understand the emotions of others. This enhanced empathetic ability is linked to increased connectivity within certain brain regions, particularly the anterior cingulate cortex, a key area involved in processing empathy. Cannabis is one of the most widely used psychoactive substances worldwide, yet its impact on mental health and cognitive functions remains a subject of contentious debate. Traditional research predominantly highlights the negative consequences associated with cannabis use, particularly its potential to impair cognitive functions and contribute to mental health issues. These studies often focus on how cannabis interacts with brain regions like the anterior cingulate cortex, which is known to have a high density of cannabinoid receptors and plays a significant role in cognitive processes such as decision making and emotion regulation. However, emerging …