Face learning with multiple images leads to fast acquisition of familiarity for specific individuals

Matching unfamiliar faces is a difficult task. Here we ask whether it is possible to improve performance by providing multiple images to support matching. In two experiments we observe that accuracy improves as viewers are provided with additional images on which to base their match. This technique leads to fast learning of an individual, but the effect is identity-specific: Despite large improvements in viewers’ ability to match a particular person's face, these improvements do not generalize to other faces. Experiment 2 demonstrated that trial-by-trial feedback provided no additional benefits over the provision of multiple images. We discuss these results in terms of familiar and unfamiliar face processing and draw out some implications for training regimes.     

A computer system for processing eye-movement records

A computer system using the LINC-8 computer was developed to process eye-movement records from two 16-mm cine film input sources : the Mackworth stand camera and the Mackworth wide-angle camera. Data reduction was accomplished by projecting the films onto an X-Y plotting table. An operator marked, using a cursor, either the eyespot, in the case of the stand camera, or the pupil and display center, in the case of the wide-angle camera, in order to digitize the locus of the gaze. This information was normalized and stored on magnetic tape as: ordinal fixation number, fixation duration, and fixation coordinates (X and Y). A software library was created to analyze the three eye-movement measures. One program calculates interfixation distance, fixation time, and dispersion of fixations about a point. A second program operates on data matrices to: calculate area covered by a fixation pattern, frequency of redundant fixations in a fixation pattern, and distribution of fixations over features of the visual display. Data are displayed on either scope or the Calcomp plotter.     

CECoS: A case experience combination system for knowledge acquisition for expert systems

This paper presents a new knowledge-acquisition system—the Case Experience Combination System (CECoS). With CECoS, two information or knowledge sources are jointly analyzed. Previously recorded problem solutions (individual cases) are combined with an expert’s high-level understanding of the global structure of a task domain. By combining the detailed case information with an expert’s general insights, CECoS provides the domain knowledge with which skeletal plans can be automatically constructed.     

A multiple option observation system for experimental studies: MOOSES

The purpose of this article is to outline the development of the Multiple Option Observation System for Experimental Studies (MOOSES), a flexible data collection package for applied behavioral research. Several data collection options are available to users of MOOSES. Event-based recording, interaction-based recording, duration recording, and interval recording are available to the users and can be used individually or together, depending upon the research question. The collection program can incorporate any of the keys on the keyboard. Function keys on the top or side are used for toggle (duration states) type data collection. Types of analysis include frequency and duration of discrete events, frequency of general behavior states, frequency and duration of events within behavioral states, percent interval analysis, sequential analysis, and interobserver agreement. Data obtained from MOOSES is easily incorporated with other data for further statistical analysis with standard statistical packages or popular spreadsheet programs. Applications of MOOSES and its uses in social interaction research are presented. Comparisons with other similar systems are provided.     

A PDP-12 system for on-line acquisition of heart rate data

A research program for investigating the responsiveness of infants at high risk for developing schizophrenia is described briefly. Two measures of reactivity to brief auditory stimuli, the evoked heart-rate response and the evoked potential of the brain, are recorded for analysis by the PDP-12 computer. An interface to the PDP-12, called the R peak detector and R-R interval counter, is used for reducing the EKG to R-R intervals, with an accuracy of ± 1 msec. The current usage of the PDP-12 and its IBM-compatible tape transports is discussed, and proposed developments for on-line statistical analyses of the physiological data and real-time control of the experiment are presented.     

A sensitive period for the acquisition of a nonnative phonological system

Immigrants who had learned English at various ages and who had been in the United States for various amounts of time were judged for degree of accent in English. It was found that age at arrival was a strong predictor of degree of accent, while length of stay had very little effect. Other practice and motivational factors were related to accent only by virtue of their correlation with age at arrival. It was suggested that a sensitive period exists for the acquisition of a nonnative phonological system.This article was adapted from a doctoral dissertation for the Department of Psychology and Social Relations, Harvard University, 1973 (unpublished), which was supported by NSF Grant No. GS-36263 and the Radcliffe Institute.     

A cost-effective high-throughput digital system for observation and acquisition of animal behavioral data

We have designed and implemented a low-cost digital system using closed-circuit television cameras coupled to a digital acquisition system for the recording of in vivo behavioral data in rodents and for allowing observation and recording of more than 10 animals simultaneously at a reduced cost, as compared with commercially available solutions. This system has been validated using two experimental rodent models: one involving chemically induced seizures and one assessing appetite and feeding. We present observational results showing comparable or improved levels of accuracy and observer consistency between this new system and traditional methods in these experimental models, discuss advantages of the presented system over conventional analog systems and commercially available digital systems, and propose possible extensions to the system and applications to nonrodent studies.     

A low-cost high-speed digital data acquisition and display system

A flexible and inexpensive data acquisition and display system based upon the KIM-1 microcomputer module is described. A simple signal-conditioning circuit and program are shown that will allow events to be counted at rates to 1,000/sec and stored in successive time bins. The program counts events from each of two event detectors and stores the count of each detector in an independent set of time bins. Up to 127 16-bit bins are available to each event detector and bin width can be varied from 1 msec to 1 min. A separate input can be used to time-lock data collection to a specific stimulus allowing poststimulus histograms or IRTs to be collected. The collected data can be sequentially displayed as a decimal number on a built-in LED display and stored for later analysis on an inexpensive audio cassette recorder.     

Heuristics in learning classifiers: The acquisition of the classifier system and its implications for the nature of lexical acquisition

Classifiers are like nouns in that they classify entities in the world into lexical categories. However, the lexical nature of the classifier system is very different from that of nouns. We discuss how Japanese and Chinese children learn the meanings of classifiers. We focus on two specific questions: How classifier acquisition is different from noun acquisition; and what the prerequisites are for spontaneously extracting the meanings of classifiers. It is shown that children are very conservative in assigning meaning to classifiers. The pace of learning largely depends on semantic complexity, across languages and within each language. Furthermore, we suspect that learning the meanings of classifiers requires a certain cognitive ability – an ability to synthesize pieces of partial knowledge and form them into a cohesive whole. It may be only when children have developed such an ability that they are able to extract the complex semantic rules of classifiers on their own. We conclude that children take very different routes in learning nouns and classifiers: Unlike noun acquisition, classifier acquisition is guided by a slow, bottom-up process.     

Data acquisition system for precision eye-fixation studies

A system has been developed to sense and record eye point-of-gaze for on-line computer processing, using a Mackworth camera in conjunction with a closed-circuit television system. System optics and electronics are described, together with computer software for system calibration and automatic artifact removal.     

Chinese-English biliteracy acquisition: cross-language and writing system transfer

This study investigated cross-language and writing system relationship in biliteracy acquisition of children learning to read two different writing systems-Chinese and English. Forty-six Mandarin-speaking children were tested for their first language (Chinese-L1) and second language (English-L2) reading skills. Comparable experiments in Chinese and English were designed focusing on two reading processes-phonological and orthographic processing. Word reading skills in both writing systems were tested. Results revealed that Chinese onset matching skill was significantly correlated with English onset and rime matching skills. Pinyin, an alphabetic phonetic system used to assist children in learning to read Chinese characters, was highly correlated with English pseudoword reading. Furthermore, Chinese tone processing skill contributed a moderate but significant amount of variance in predicting English pseudoword reading even when English phonemic-level processing skill was taken into consideration. Orthographic processing skill in the two writing systems, on the other hand, did not predict each other's word reading. These findings suggest that bilingual reading acquisition is a joint function of shared phonological processes and orthographic specific skills.     

Age of acquisition for naming and knowing: A new hypothesis

This paper reports an investigation into the age of acquisition of object names and object knowledge in a cross-sectional study of 288 children aged between 3 years 7 months and 11 years 6 months, comprising equal numbers of boys and girls. The objects belonged to four categories: animals, fruit and vegetables, implements, and vehicles. They were presented in three image types: line drawings, black-and-white photographs, and coloured photographs. In the knowledge test, five probe questions were asked for each object given the spoken name. Results showed that line drawings were more difficult to name than either black-and-white photographs or coloured photographs, which did not differ. The boys significantly out-performed the girls at naming and knowing, both overall and specifically for the category of vehicles. Naming and knowledge increased steadily with age but while young children below about 6 years 6 months showed an advantage to naming, older children showed an advantage to knowing. Similarly, age-of-acquisition measures for each item revealed a significant shift in the relationship between naming and knowing at around 80 months. We argue that differences in learning experience lead younger and older children to associate object names with different types of information, and we suggest that this difference probably accounts for the age-of-acquisition effects reported in adult object naming.     

A versatile two-part system for on-line measurement of multiple response parameters

A two-part system for digital measurement of such diverse response parameters as latency, pulse width, amplitude, and events per unit time is described. The mainframe consists of counters with light-emitting diode (LED) numeric readouts and a quartz crystal controlled internal time base. It also contains all power supply requirements for both the mainframe electronics and the second part of the system, the plug-ins. Each plug-in is designed to use the main unit counters, timers, readouts, and power supplies to measure the desired parameter. Thus, each numeric readout channel of the mainframe may be used to measure various parameters simply by changing the plug-in attached to it. The unit has proved to be very useful in reducing experimenter error in measuring response parameters in classical nictitating membrane conditioning.     

Some methods of making realistic fish dummies for ethological research

Several techniques for the construction of realistic dummies for use as stimulus objects in behavioral research are described. This paper details several alternative methods for making exact copies (castings) of a living or dead fish specimen. The methods described herein can be extended to construct castings of amphibians, reptiles, and certain invertebrates for use in ethological and psychological research.     

Facial expressions of emotions and ethological behavioral categories

The purpose of this study was to measure the capacity of human subjects to match facial expressions of emotions and behavioral categories that represented the motivational states they are supposed to illustrate. 100 university students were shown facial stimuli they had to classify using ethological behavioral categories. The results showed that accuracy of judgment was over-all lower than what was usually found when fundamental emotional categories were used. The data also indicated that the relation between emotional expressions and behavioral tendencies was more complex than expected.