Young infants' perception of the trajectories of two- and three-dimensional objects

We investigated oculomotor anticipations in 4-month-old infants as they viewed center-occluded object trajectories. In two experiments, we examined performance in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) dynamic occlusion displays and in an additional 3D condition with a smiley face as the moving target stimulus. Rates of anticipatory eye movements were not facilitated by 3D displays or by the (presumably) more salient smiley face relative to the 2D condition. However, latencies of anticipations were reduced, implying that 3D visual information may have supported formation of more robust mental representations of the moving object. Results are interpreted in a context of perceptual constraints on developing cognitive capacities during early infancy.     

The role of three-dimensional depth cues in infants' perception of partly occluded objects

Newborn infants were familiarized to a three dimensional display consisting of a rod which moved behind a central occluder, so that only the top and bottom of the rod were visible. The infants' eyes were 38 cm from the rod and the occluder was 15 cm in front of the rod, a separation intended to ensure that the gap between the two was detected by the infants. On subsequent test trials the infants looked longer at a complete rod than at two rod pieces, suggesting that the hidden unity, or completeness of the rod had not been perceived. In a study by Johnson and Náñez (in press), using computer. generated stimuli, 4 month olds perceived the hidden unity of a similar display presented on a VDU in the complete absence of three. dimensional depth cues. Taken together, these findings suggest that, for these displays, perception of three. dimensional depth cues is not necessary for the detection of the unity of partially hidden objects. It is suggested that age changes in early infancy in the perception of occluded objects may result either from the emergence of abilities to perceive objects from kinematic information or from the emergence of sensitivity to that information itself.     

Emotion perception and recognition: An exploration of cultural differences and similarities

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a powerful method for investigation of different cognitive processes. Recently, EEG analysis became very popular and important, with classification of these signals standing out as one of the mostly used methodologies. Emotion recognition is one of the most challenging tasks in EEG analysis since not much is known about the representation of different emotions in EEG signals. In addition, inducing of desired emotion is by itself difficult, since various individuals react differently to external stimuli (audio, video, etc.). In this article, we explore the task of emotion recognition from EEG signals using distance-based time-series classification techniques, involving different individuals exposed to audio stimuli. Furthermore, since some of the participants in the experiment do not understand the language of the stimuli, we also investigate the impact of language understanding on emotion perception. Using time-series distances as features for the construction of new data representations, applied here for the first time to emotion recognition and related tasks, lead to excellent classification performance, indicating that differences between EEG signals can be used to build successful models for recognition of emotions, individuals, and other related tasks. In the process, we observed that cultural differences between the subjects did not have a significant impact on the recognition tasks and models.     

The relation between infants' perception of catchableness and the control of catching

The authors studied how infants come to perceive and act adaptively by presenting 35 three- to nine-month-olds with balls that approached at various speeds according to a staircase procedure. They determined whether infants attempted to reach for the ball and whether they were successful (i.e., contacted the ball). In addition, the time and distance of the ball at the onset of the catching movements were measured for the successful interceptions. The authors found that not only catching skill but also the perceptual judgments of the catchableness improved with age; infants started to take their catching ability into account when judging whether a ball was catchable. Moreover, the authors observed that infants who made imprecise perceptual judgments were more likely to use a distance control strategy, whereas infants who made accurate perceptual judgments were more likely to use the more adaptive time strategy to control the catching movements. They conclude that the present study supports the proposal that, even in prelocomotor infants, the development of perception is intricately linked to or constrained by development in the visual control of action.     

Exploring the similarities and differences between person-centred and psychodynamic therapy

Person-centred therapy is compared to the psychodynamic approach defined by Hans Strupp and Jeffrey Binder. Their broad-based time-limited version is chosen because it is a precise manual ofhow to practise that has been assembled from 30 years of research and practice experience. It is demonstrated that person-centred practice and theory are psychodynamic in a general psychoanalytic sense because they refer to unconscious processes. Furthermore, it is proposed that person-centred practice could be enriched by reconsidering the differences to and similarities with psychodynamic therapy, thereby establishing greater clarity about each form of practice and further defining the boundary between these similar forms of relationship and feeling-oriented work.     

论渐修与顿悟的同异

学界一般认为 ,南、北禅宗的主要区别之一就是南顿北渐。本文认为 ,所谓渐修与顿悟 ,实际上是一个修行过程线上的两个不同点 ,即事物变化时的量变和质变。北宗所追求的也是刹那间的顿悟成佛 ,却强调渐修的重要 ;南宗默认渐修过程的存在 ,却强调顿悟。由于强调点不同 ,导致了南北二宗兴衰的不同。     

第一印象中面孔-人格知觉和语音-人格知觉的异同

人们会根据陌生人的面孔线索或语音线索迅速地对其人格特质进行主观推断而形成第一印象。面孔-人格知觉第一印象和语音-人格知觉第一印象在维度结构和内在机制上具有相似性;在对具体人格特质和维度的敏感性,以及具体的认知机制方面又具有各自的特异性。未来研究可以基于同一批被知觉者开展面孔-人格知觉第一印象和语音-人格知觉第一印象的直接比较,并着力探究二者的过程特点,以及人格知觉第一印象形成时面孔和语音知觉的跨模态整合效应。     

Some differences between phonetic and auditory modes of perception

When third-formant transitions are appropriately incorporated into an acoustic syllable, they provide critical support for the phonetic percepts we call [d] and [g], but when presented in isolation they are perceived as time-varying ‘chirps’. In the present experiment, both modes of perception were made available simultaneously by presenting the third-format transitions to one ear and the remainder of the acoustic syllable to the other. On the speech side of this duplex percept, where the transitions supported the perception of stop-vowel syllables, perception was categorical and influenced by the presence of a preposed [al] or [ar]. On the nonspeech side, where the same transitions were heard as ‘chirps’, perception was continuous and free of influence from the preposed syllables. As both differences occurred under conditions in which the acoustic input was constant, we should suppose that they reflect the different properties of auditory and phonetic modes of perception.     

Young infants' perception of unity and form in occlusion displays

Young infants have been reported to perceive the unity of a center-occluded object when the visible ends of the object are aligned and undergo common motion but not when the edges of the object are misaligned (Johnson & Aslin, 1996). Using a recognition-based paradigm, the authors investigated the possibility that past research failed to provide sufficiently sensitive assessments of infants' perception of the unity of misaligned edges in partial occlusion displays. Positive evidence was obtained in 4-month-olds for veridical perception of the motion and location of a hidden region but not its orientation, whereas 7-month-olds, in contrast to the younger infants, appeared to respond to the orientation of the hidden region. Overall, the results suggest that habituation designs tapping recognition processes may be particularly efficacious in revealing infants' perceptual organization. In addition, the findings provide corroborative evidence for the importance of both motion and orientation in young infants' object segregation and for the difficulty in achieving percepts of the global form of a partly occluded object.     

Categorical perception of stereoscopic stimuli

Two studies of the stereopsis model of Richards were conducted using a between-subjects balanced design and a repeated trials procedure rather than the within-subjects procedure of Richards. Measures of the accuracy of discrimination between classes of retinal disparity were defined by the method of successive intervals in place of the d’ index of SDT. The results support the predictions (1) of symmetric discrimination functions for convergent and divergent stimuli, (2) of greater discrimination for stimuli of 45 min of retinal disparity than for the stimuli of 15 min disparity, (3) of greater variability for the stimuli of greater disparity, and (4) of the use by nonanomalous subjects of at least two different processing mechanisms for stimuli of different disparity classes. The results do not support the prediction (1) of different processing mechanisms for foveal stimuli differing in figure-ground contrast or (2) of greater usefulness for monocular stimuli as a null disparity reference condition, as compared with binocular null disparity stimuli. Similar results were found for two stimulus shapes, a bar and a disk of equal area. Unreliability of subjects’ response systems was suggested as a factor in the prediction of figure-ground contrast changes and as a factor in the classification of subjects as stereo anomalous. The pattern of accuracy of discrimination between classes of disparity stimuli also raises questions of the adequacy of the simple stereopsis model.     

Time perception and time perspective differences between adolescents and adults

The present experiment aimed to investigate the differences in time perception and time perspective between subjects representing two developmental stages, namely adolescence and middle adulthood. Twenty Chinese adolescents aged 15–25 and twenty Chinese adults aged 35–55 participated in the study. A time discrimination task and a time reproduction task were implemented to measure the accuracy of their time perception. The Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (Short-Form) was adopted to assess their time orientation. It was found that adolescents performed better than adults in both the time discrimination task and the time reproduction task. Adolescents were able to differentiate different time intervals with greater accuracy and reproduce the target duration more precisely. For the time reproduction task, it was also found that adults tended to overestimate the duration of the target stimuli while adolescents were more likely to underestimate it. As regards time perspective, adults were more future-oriented than adolescents, whereas adolescents were more present-oriented than adults. No significant relationship was found between time perspective and time perception.     

Impulsivity and perception: individual differences in the processing of the local and global dimensions of stimuli

There appears to be an association between a "global" mode of perceptual processing and a cluster of personality traits, one of which is impulsivity. The goal of the present study was to clarify this relationship. Subjects differing in impulsivity (as measured by a self-report inventory) performed speeded cardsorting tasks. They sorted stimuli consisting of large letters made up of smaller letters. Highly impulsive subjects had no more difficulty than other subjects in ignoring the large, "global," letters when they tried to attend to the smaller, "local," letters of which they were composed, nor were they more vulnerable than other subjects to Stroop-like response interference produced by the global letters. High impulsives did have particular difficulty when the task required that they integrate the information provided by the local and global letters. This finding can be explained in terms of individual differences in the value placed on speed relative to accuracy in information processing.     

Conceptualizing similarities and differences between purpose in life and self‐affirmation

Individuals contend with a variety of threats in daily life and may attempt to deal with them using various cognitive strategies. Two constructs borne from different literatures, purpose in life and self‐affirmation, serve to promote well‐being and to protect individuals from such threats. While self‐affirmation has often been examined as a manipulation, purpose has, until recently, been considered a dispositional resource. However, both self‐affirmation and purpose seem to confer similar advantages in response to threat. This paper reviews the evidence for the protective benefits of both purpose in life and self‐affirmation, describes the mechanisms by which each confers these advantages, and considers the boundary conditions of each. Key similarities and differences are discussed, and we argue that there are broad gaps in the literature regarding where and when these constructs might operate differentially, or why these differences exist. We conclude with a call to researchers to explore empirically how and when these important interventions might be differentially beneficial to those who cultivate them.     

Understanding spatial transformations: similarities and differences between mental rotation and mental folding

Mental rotation and mental folding, two widely used measures of spatial ability, both require the dynamic spatial transformation of objects with respect to their internal spatial structure. Traditionally, however, these two skills have been considered quite distinct, based primarily on factor analyses of psychometric data. This paper reviews the similarities and differences between mental rotation and mental folding from a variety of perspectives, including their definitions, component cognitive processes, neurological bases, developmental trajectories, malleability, predictive validity, and psychometric properties. We conclude that mental rotation and mental folding are similar in many respects. However, the tasks differ in whether they require rigid or non-rigid transformations of objects. In addition, mental rotation shows robust sex-related differences whereas mental folding does not. We also identify specific questions for which research is lacking.     

Lifespan development of stimulus-response conflict cost: similarities and differences between maturation and senescence

Age gradient of the mechanism of stimulus-response conflict cost was investigated in a population-based representative sample of 291 individuals, covering the age range from 6 to 89 years. Stimulus-response conflict cost, indicated by the amount of additional processing time required when there is a conflict between stimulus and response options, follows a U-shaped function across the lifespan. Lifespan age gradient of conflict cost parallels closely those of processing fluctuation and fluid intelligence. Individuals at both ends of the lifespan displayed a greater amount of processing fluctuation and at the same time a larger amount of conflict cost and a lower level of fluid intelligence. After controlling for chronological age and baseline processing speed, conflict cost continues to correlate significantly with fluid intelligence in adulthood and old age and with processing fluctuation in old age. The relation between processing fluctuation and conflict cost in old age lends further support for the neuromodulation of neuronal noise theory of cognitive aging as well as for theories of dopaminergic modulation of conflict monitoring.     

The role of motion in infants' perception of solid shape

Previous research has shown that infants as young as the first few months of life perceive several aspects of the three-dimensional environment. Yet we know relatively little about the visual depth information which serves as a basis for their spatial capacities. A study is reported in which a visual habituation procedure was used to examine what types of optical depth information four-month-old infants find useful in visually perceiving solid (three-dimensional) shape. Results imply that in the absence of binocular depth cues four-month-olds rely on kinetic depth information to perceive solid shape.