Autography as auto-therapy: psychic pain and the graphic memoir

Over the last three decades, the graphic novel has developed both in sophistication and cultural importance, now being widely accepted as a unique form of literature (Versaci 2007). Autobiography has proved to be a successful genre within comics (the word is used in the plural to denote both the medium and the philosophy of the graphic form) and within this area a sub-genre, the memoir of the artist's own disease or suffering, sometimes known as the graphic pathology, has arisen (Green and Myers 2010). Storytelling and healing have been linked since ancient times, and the disclosure of ones story forms part of the psychotherapeutic treatment of trauma (Herman 1997). This paper will examine, in both graphic and textual form, whether, among the myriad reasons that one might embark upon the labour intensive work of making a graphic memoir, some artists might be seeking some form of healing or catharsis through their work.     

句首词语音形义变化在判断句义中的作用

通过要求被试判断前后出现的两个句子意思是否一致,探讨句首词语音形义变化对句子阅读的影响,同时验证汉字音形义激活的时间进程。实验结果表明：（1）句首词语音形义变化对句子阅读的影响不一致,字形对句子阅读的影响最大,而字音和字义对句子阅读的影响大小不能得到分离。（2）句首词语首尾变化对句子阅读的影响不一致,词语尾字变化条件下的反应时比词语首字变化条件下的反应时更长。实验结果支持了句首词语字形对句子阅读影响最大、句首词语尾字变化比首字变化对句子阅读影响更大的观点。     

拼音自动加工和语义加工中汉字字形的激活

4个实验分别探讨了拼音自动加工和语义加工中汉字字形的激活情况。实验1和实验2采用启动范式考察拼音自动加工中汉字字形的激活情况。实验3和实验4考察拼音语义加工中汉字字形的激活情况。实验结果表明：在拼音自动加工过程中未出现字形的启动效应, 说明在拼音自动加工过程中可能未激活汉字字形信息; 在拼音语义加工过程中出现了字形的启动效应, 说明在拼音语义加工过程中激活了汉字字形信息。     

NEED FOR EXPLANATIONS IN GRAPHIC ORGANIZER RESEARCH

ABSTRACT

Research relating to graphic organizers was reviewed. The findings suggest that currently there is no systematic approach to analyzing graphic organizer research resulting in a lack of explanations for why graphic organizers work or do not work. The primary difficulty to provide explanations was found to be due to the lack of consistent operational criteria in studies using graphic organizers. Further, instructional implications are tenuous at best due to the lack of explanations of how graphic organizers work or do not work. One method of analysis would be to examine previous graphic organizer studies using a relational grammar. This would allow for identifying the structure and content of text used in graphic organizer studies, the graphic organizer itself, and the measurement or evaluation instrument. This analysis would allow for a comparison of the structure and content of the different organizer studies and allow for an explanation of the cognitive processes that readers evoke in developing mental representations of ideas contained in text.     

Evaluating the coordination dynamics of handwriting

This study aims to test the hypothesis that handwriting is governed by the dynamics of non-linear coupled oscillators. Accordingly, its first goal is to identify preferred, basic graphic shapes corresponding to spontaneously stable combinations of the two frequency-locked oscillatory x-y components of the trajectories. Six participants were required to produce 26 ellipsoids of varying eccentricities and orientations presented consecutively on a graphic tablet. These shapes corresponded to a systematic manipulation of the relative phase and the relative amplitude of the oscillators by a constant step. Results showed that among those, only eight ellipsoids were produced in a spontaneous and stable fashion. They were characterized by attraction of nearby shapes, and by a higher accuracy and velocity. Alike all periodic motion, graphic skills, hence handwriting, exhibit preferred coordination patterns, which can be ascribed to the non-linear coupling of two oscillators.     

Writing brains: tracing the psyche with the graphical method

At the end of the 19th century, the graphic method kindled attempts to use it for investigating psychic processes. In Germany, Hans Berger took up this line of research, later to become the pioneer of electroencephalography (EEG). This trajectory of Berger's work is analyzed as an "enabling constraint" guiding him toward the EEG at a time when nobody else was pursuing this line of research and also causing serious methodological problems. In the epistemological perspective of this analysis, many of his problems extend beyond the local context of his work and point toward ambiguities surrounding the project to trace the psyche with the graphic method. From the mid-1930s, the EEG inspired ongoing attempts to decipher the specific meanings of these recordings, and large ensembles of machinery were mobilized, molding concepts of the psyche according to the results and the specifications of the graphic method.     

高、低频汉字形音义激活的时间进程

采用基于字形的启动范畴判断任务,通过变化SOA和不同的启动类型,考察高、低频汉字形音义激活的相对时间进程。结果表明,高频汉字形音义激活的时间顺序为字形—字义—字音;低频汉字字形的激活在先,字音、字义的激活时间未能分开。这说明汉字的书面使用频率是影响汉字形、音、义激活时间进程的重要因素。本研究进一步支持了汉字形—音、形—义连接强度受汉字使用频率影响的观点。     

Influence of the recording interval and a graphic organizer on the writing process/product and on other psychological variables

An experimental study of the influence of the recording interval and a graphic organizer on the processes of writing composition and on the final product is presented. We studied 326 participants, age 10 to 16 years old, by means of a nested design. Two groups were compared: one group was aided in the writing process with a graphic organizer and the other was not. Each group was subdivided into two further groups: one with a mean recording interval of 45 seconds and the other with approximately 90 seconds recording interval in a writing log. The results showed that the group aided by a graphic organizer obtained better results both in processes and writing product, and that the groups assessed with an average interval of 45 seconds obtained worse results. Implications for educational practice are discussed, and limitations and future perspectives are commented on.     

The lexical constituency model: some implications of research on Chinese for general theories of reading

The authors examine the implications of research on Chinese for theories of reading and propose the lexical constituency model as a general framework for word reading across writing systems. Word identities are defined by 3 interlinked constituents (orthographic, phonological, and semantic). The implemented model simulates the time course of graphic, phonological, and semantic priming effects, including immediate graphic facilitation followed by graphic inhibition with simultaneous phonological facilitation, a pattern unique to the Chinese writing system. Pseudocharacter primes produced only facilitation, supporting the model's assumption that lexical thresholds determine phonological and semantic, but not graphic, effects. More generally, both universal reading processes and writing system constraints exist. Although phonology is universal, its activation process depends on how the writing system structures graphic units.     

A Meta-Analysis of the Relative Effects of Tabular and Graphic Display Formats on Decision-Making Performance

The results of 21 between-subjects experiments assessing the relative effects of tabular and graphic formats of data presentation on decision-making accu- racy were quantitatively reviewed using the meta-analysis procedure developed by Hunter, Schmidt, and Jackson (1982). Sampling error and differential range restriction accounted for variability in the average differences between tabular and graphic presentations, and there was no difference in the effects of the two presentation formats. These results counter recent assertions that task complexity moderates the effect of presentation format. The findings should also discourage further investigation of the effects of tabular and graphic formats using the conventional methodology.     

GENERALITY OF GRAPHIC VARIABLES ACROSS DRAWING TASKS

K onttinen , R. & O lkinuora , E. Generality of graphic variables across drawing tasks. Scund. J. Psychol ., 1968, 9, 161–168.—As a partial replication of the Takala & Rantanen (1964) study, the correlations between 6 graphic variables extracted from 6 drawing tasks differing in complexity were investigated. Four graphic trait factors were obtained I Size, II Pressure, III Discontinuous lines, and IV Angularity. Other graphic variables (nuancity and reinforcement) loaded factors II and III. The data lend support to the hypothesis that the same graphic traits should be interpreted in the same way irrespective of the complexity of the test. However, the complexity of the drawing task may make a difference in interpretation where size is concerned.     

Graphic bar display of on-line physiological data using a minicomputer,DAC, and conventional servo recorder

A method is described for providing an on-line bar graph display of physiological data. A conventional servo recorder is coupled with an 8-bit digital-to-analog converter, and provides a low-cost, hard-copy graphic display peripheral that can be added to any laboratory type minicomputer system with buffered output data lines. The graphic display technique requires minimal memory allocations and a simple software algorithm to provide a flexible graphic system that can accommodate various types of biological data.     

Contribution of the visual perception and graphic production systems to the copying of complex geometrical drawings: A developmental study

The aim of this study was to determine the contribution of the visual perception and graphic production systems [Van Sommers, P. (1989). A system for drawing and drawing-related neuropsychology. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 6, 117–164] to the manifestation of the “Centripetal Execution Principle” (CEP), a graphic rule for the copying of drawings consisting of embedded simple geometric shapes from the outside shape to the inside shape. Children aged 4–8 years copied two types of model that differed in the visual salience of one of the simple geometric shapes (drawn in bold or normal weight lines), producing the drawings either by graphic execution (freehand) or by superimposing the simple geometric shapes. The results indicated that the frequency of CEP depended both on the type of model and on the drawing context in the youngest children. They suggest that the CEP is determined by the structure of the representation of the models and the planning of the execution of the drawings. The developmental differences in the effects of visual salience and execution context are discussed in the light of the development of representational flexibility and planning abilities. These data are consistent with a dissociation between the visual perception and graphic production systems and account for their interaction.     

Graphic design in the printed translations of Franz Rosenzweig

One of Franz Rosenzweig's most significant ventures for Jewish renewal was the translation into German, which he initiated, of the Bible, prayerbook and religious poems. The aim of this essay is to explore the graphic design of the page that Rosenzweig selected for the printed edition of his translations. I will argue that the graphic design of the Siddur page is not just an aesthetic aspect of the translation but should be recognized as an educational and dialogic concern. Rosenzweig's preoccupation with page design is not limited to the Siddur, as the reader of The Star of Redemption will also notice his distinctive influence on the visual aspects of the text. It is expressed in the way he forms the six-pointed Star of David, the triangles which make up the star, and the way in which they appear in the book and are positioned on the page. And if the graphic depiction of the triangles is not enough, one only needs to visually experience what is described by Rosenzweig at the end of the book: the image of the star reveals the face of man.     

Controlling the Tektronix 4006 graphics terminal with OS/8 BASIC

Several BASIC-callable assembler subroutines are described that permit relatively straight-forward interaction with a Tektronix 4006 or equivalent graphics terminal. These routines enable input, alphanumeric output, and graphic output with or without automatic coordinate transformation. The routines can be used for the graphic presentation of data or, with additional laboratory routines, for stimulus presentation in psychological experiments.     

A vector graphic CRT display system

A vector graphic CRT display system for research in visual information processing is described. The vector graphic processor includes a 4K-byte display memory. The processor communicates with the controlling computer via a serial channel. The system is capable of exposure durations below 1 msec, and it allows on-line generation and modification of display files during an experiment. Brightness can be controlled separately for each vector of a picture. A graphic display editor in FORTRAN IV for interactive editing and debugging of display files has been developed.     

不同编码对听写困难儿童字形记忆的促进效应

听写困难是一种发生率较高的儿童学习障碍现象。实验考察笔画语音编码和动作编码对听写困难儿童字形记忆水平的影响。结果发现, 笔画语音编码对听写困难儿童的字形记忆成绩没有明显影响, 但却明显促进了正常儿童的字形记忆成绩; 与之相对, 动作编码对正常儿童的字形记忆成绩没有明显影响, 但却明显促进了听写困难儿童的字形记忆成绩。上述现象, 既可能源于编码加工阶段, 也可能源于字形表征的提取阶段。     

Further evidence of the invalidity of the magnitude estimation method

IntroductionThe magnitude estimation method is widely applied in diverse areas of psychology. However, Weiss (1972) found that this method may produce judgments that inaccurately represent subjective magnitudes: constructing the stimuli according to a factorial design allowed the bias caused by magnitude estimation to be exposed as a spurious divergence of factorial curves.ObjectiveThe present study experimentally compared magnitude estimation with graphic rating and ratio estimation. The comparison of magnitude estimation with graphic rating retested Weiss's finding. The comparison of magnitude estimation with ratio estimation explored the hypothesis that magnitude estimation may cause a divergence of factorial curves due to the requirement of magnitude estimation to multiply and divide numbers—both ratio estimation and magnitude estimation required participants to judge ratios, but only magnitude estimation required mental multiplication and division.MethodUsing a 3 × 4 factorial experimental design, an achromatic disk was presented concentrically with a larger achromatic square. The brightness of the disk varied with the luminance of the disk and, due to simultaneous contrast, with the luminance of the square. Three different groups of participants judged the brightness of the disk: one group by graphic rating, another by ratio estimation, and the third by magnitude estimation.ResultsIn accord with Weiss's results, graphic rating yielded roughly parallel factorial curves whereas magnitude estimation yielded diverging factorial curves. Ratio estimation also yielded roughly parallel factorial curves, supporting the hypothesis that the magnitude estimation task itself may cause divergence of factorial curves due to the requirement of this method to mentally multiply and divide numbers.ConclusionCaution should be taken in using magnitude estimation, especially in factorial experiments, because this method is likely to cause the researcher to make incorrect inferences about the functional relations between the variables involved in mental information integration. Ratio estimation yields a pattern of factorial curves essentially equivalent to that obtained by graphic rating.     

Effects of advance organizers,mental models and abilities on task and recall performance using a mobile phone network

Mobile phone usage is now at saturation point in most Western countries. The current research investigated the usability of services provided by a mobile phone network, specifically whether two different forms (text, graphic) of an advance organizer (AO) assisted novice users in applying information supplied in a manual. It was hypothesized that a graphic AO would facilitate the development of coherent mental models of the network to enhance task performance, and that lower ability groups in particular would benefit from AOs. Contrary to prediction, the text AO group outperformed both the graphic AO and control groups. Lower ability groups also benefited more from a text AO than a graphic AO. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Expression of the emotions in the drawing of a man by the child from 5 to 11 years of age]

This study examines the development of children's ability to express emotions in their human figure drawing. Sixty children of 5, 8, and 11 years were asked to draw "a man," and then a "sad", "happy," "angry" and "surprised" man. Expressivity of the drawings was assessed by means of two procedures: a limited choice and a free labelling procedure. Emotionally expressive drawings were then evaluated in terms of the number and the type of graphic cues that were used to express emotion. It was found that children are able to depict happiness and sadness at 8, anger and surprise at 11. With age, children use increasingly numerous and complex graphic cues for each emotion (i.e., facial expression, body position, and contextual cues). Graphic cues for facial expression (e.g., concave mouth, curved eyebrows, wide opened eyes) share strong similarities with specific "action units" described by Ekman and Friesen (1978) in their Facial Action Coding System. Children's ability to depict emotion in their human figure drawing is discussed in relation to perceptual, conceptual, and graphic abilities.