Interpolation in 16-Valued Trilattice Logics

In a recent paper we have defined an analytic tableau calculus \({{\mathbf {\mathsf{{PL}}}}}_{\mathbf {16}}\) for a functionally complete extension of Shramko and Wansing’s logic based on the trilattice \({SIXTEEN}_3\). This calculus makes it possible to define syntactic entailment relations that capture central semantic relations of the logic—such as the relations Open image in new window , Open image in new window , and Open image in new window that each correspond to a lattice order in \({SIXTEEN}_3\); and Open image in new window , the intersection of Open image in new window and Open image in new window . It turns out that our method of characterising these semantic relations—as intersections of auxiliary relations that can be captured with the help of a single calculus—lends itself well to proving interpolation. All entailment relations just mentioned have the interpolation property, not only when they are defined with respect to a functionally complete language, but also in a range of cases where less expressive languages are considered. For example, we will show that Open image in new window , when restricted to \(\mathcal {L}_{tf}\), the language originally considered by Shramko and Wansing, enjoys interpolation. This answers a question that was recently posed by M. Takano.     

The Influence of Orthography on the Production of Alphabetic,Second-Language Allophones by Speakers of a Non-alphabetic Language

This study investigated the influence of orthographic information on the production of allophones in a second language (L2). Two proficiency levels of native Mandarin speakers learned novel Korean words with potential variants of /h/ based on auditory stimuli, and then they were provided various types of spellings for the variants, including the letters for [ Open image in new window ] and ø. Subsequently, picture-naming and spelling recall tasks were given to the Mandarin-speaking learners. The results showed that Mandarin-speaking learners, after exposure to the spellings, began to produce and lexically store the /h/ variants following the given forms of the spellings of words, which provides support for the impact of spellings in the production and lexical storage of L2 allophones. However, the effect of L2-learning experience was not shown to be strong, which suggests difficulty in the native-like attainment of the production of L2 allophones.     

A visual familiarity account of evidence for orthographic processing in pigeons <Emphasis Type="Italic">(Columbia livia)</Emphasis>: a reply to Scarf,Corballis, Güntürkün,and Colombo (2017)

Scarf et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci 113(40):11272–11276, 2016) demonstrated that pigeons, as with baboons (Grainger et al. in Science 336(6078):245–248, 2012; Ziegler in Psychol Sci.  https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612474322, 2013), can be trained to display several behavioural hallmarks of human orthographic processing. But, Vokey and Jamieson (Psychol Sci 25(4):991–996, 2014) demonstrated that a standard, autoassociative neural network model of memory applied to pixel maps of the words and nonwords reproduces all of those results. In a subsequent report, Scarf et al. (Anim Cognit 20(5):999–1002, 2017) demonstrated that pigeons can reproduce one more marker of human orthographic processing: the ability to discriminate visually presented four-letter words from their mirror-reversed counterparts (e.g. “LEFT” vs. “ Open image in new window ”). The current report shows that the model of Vokey and Jamieson (2014) reproduces the results of Scarf et al. (2017) and reinforces the original argument: the recent results thought to support a conclusion of orthographic processing in pigeons and baboons are consistent with but do not force that conclusion.     

Spatial Stroop interference occurs in the processing of radicals of ideogrammic compounds

In this study, we investigated whether the meanings of radicals are involved in reading ideogrammic compounds in a spatial Stroop task. We found spatial Stroop effects of similar size for the simple characters (“up”) and (“down”) and for the complex characters (“nervous”) and (“nervous”), which are ideogrammic compounds containing a radical or , in Experiments 1 and 2. In Experiment 3, the spatial Stroop effects were also similar for the simple characters (“east”) and (“west”) and for the complex characters (“state”) and (“spray”), which contain and as radicals. This outcome occurred regardless of whether the task was to identify the character (Exps. 1 and 3) or its location (Exp. 2). Thus, the spatial Stroop effect emerges in the processing of radicals just as it does for processing simple characters. This finding suggests that when reading ideogrammic compounds, (a) their radicals’ meanings can be processed and (b) ideogrammic compounds have little or no influence on their radicals’ semantic processing.     

Familiarity and pop-out in visual search

In this paper, we report that when the low-level features of targets and distractors are held constant, visual search performance can be strongly influenced by familiarity. In the first condition, a was the target amid as distractors, and vice versa. The response time increased steeply as a function of number of distractors (82 msec/item). When the same stimuli were rotated by 90° (the second condition), however, they became familiar patterns— and —and gave rise to much shallower search functions (31 msec/item). In the third condition, when the search was for a familiar target, (or ), among unfamiliar distractors, (or ), the slope was about 46 msec/item. In the last condition, when the search was for an unfamiliar target, (or ), among familiar distractors, s (or s), parallel search functions were found with a slope of about 1.5 msec/item. These results show that familiarity speeds visual search and that it does so principally when the distractors, not the targets, are familiar.     

Assessing the local identifiability of probabilistic knowledge structures

Given a collection Q of problems, in knowledge space theory Doignon & Falmagne, (International Journal of Man–Machine Studies 23:175–196, 1985) the knowledge state of a student is the collection K ? Q of all problems that this student is capable of solving. A knowledge structure is a pair (Q, ), where is a collection of knowledge states that contains at least the empty set and Q. A probabilistic knowledge structure (PKS) is a knowledge structure (Q, , π), where π is a probability distribution on the knowledge states. The PKS that has received the most attention is the basic local independence model BLIM; Falmagne & Doignon, (British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology 41:1–23, 1988a, Journal of Mathematical Psychology 32:232–258, 1988b). To the best of our knowledge, systematic investigations in the literature concerning the identifiability of the BLIM are totally missing. Based on the theoretical work of Bamber and van Santen (Journal of Mathematical Psychology 29:443–473, 1985), the present article is aimed to present a method and a corresponding computerized procedure for assessing the local identifiability of the BLIM, which is applicable to any finite knowledge structure of moderate size.     

Against Hamri’s argument for the ultimate ground of being

In this paper, I reply to Hamri's (Int J Philos Relig.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-017-9625-2, 2017) new kind of cosmological argument for the ultimate ground of being by blocking the argument in more than one place.     

N-Valued Logics and Łukasiewicz–Moisil Algebras

Fundamental properties of N-valued logics are compared and eleven theorems are presented for their Logic Algebras, including ?ukasiewicz–Moisil Logic Algebras represented in terms of categories and functors. For example, the Fundamental Logic Adjunction Theorem allows one to transfer certain universal, or global, properties of the Category of Boolean Algebras, , (which are well-understood) to the more general category ${\cal L}$ M _n of ?ukasiewicz–Moisil Algebras. Furthermore, the relationships of LM _n -algebras to other many-valued logical structures, such as the n-valued Post, MV and Heyting logic algebras, are investigated and several pertinent theorems are derived. Applications of ?ukasiewicz–Moisil Algebras to biological problems, such as nonlinear dynamics of genetic networks – that were previously reported – are also briefly noted here, and finally, probabilities are precisely defined over LM _n -algebras with an eye to immediate, possible applications in biostatistics.     

Software for the automatic correction of recorded eye fixation locations in reading experiments

Because the recorded location of an eyetracking fixation is not a perfect measure of the actual fixated location, the recorded fixation locations must be adjusted before analysis. Fixations are typically corrected manually. Making such changes, however, is time-consuming and necessarily involves a subjective component. The goal of this article is to introduce software to automate parts of the correction process. The initial focus is on the correction of vertical locations and the removal of outliers and ambiguous fixations in reading experiments. The basic idea behind the algorithm is to use linear regression to assign each fixation to a text line and to identify outliers. The freely available software is implemented as a function, , written in R.     

Does the advantage of the upper part of words occur at the lexical level?

Several recent studies have shown that the upper part of words is more important than the lower part in visual word recognition. Here, we examine whether or not this advantage arises at the lexical or at the letter (letter feature) level. To examine this issue, we conducted two lexical decision experiments in which words/pseudowords were preceded by a very brief (50-ms) presentation of their upper or lower parts (e.g., ). If the advantage for the upper part of words arises at the letter (letter feature) level, the effect should occur for both words and pseudowords. Results revealed an advantage for the upper part of words, but not for pseudowords. This suggests that the advantage for the upper part of words occurs at the lexical level, rather than at the letter (or letter feature) level.     

Preattentive texture segmentation: The role of line terminations,size, and filter wavelength

The texel pair represents a dilemma in texture discrimination because, despite having the same component orientations, discrimination is still possible (Julesz, 1981), showing a performance asymmetry. Other possible element properties that could influence this task are line terminations, closure, and the size of these elements. We found that line terminators are critical for the task; however, results from double-task experiments indicated that terminator-based discrimination requires the use of attention. When attention is not available for the task, “size” of the elements (with the considered slightly larger) seems to be critical for this discrimination and for the asymmetric performance. To generalize the concept of “size” to textures in general, further experiments were performed with textures of different-sized elements. Results showed, as past literature has indicated, that there is a performance asymmetry, with the larger of the elements being more visible when in the foreground. This asymmetry was additionally shown to reverse itself (i.e., the smaller element became the more visible) as the scale of the elements increased (while interelement distance remained fixed). A filter analysis was developed in order to measure the apparent size of these elements within textures (texsize), defined as the response weighted average of the filter wavelength, $\bar \lambda $ , for a group of elements. The calculation of $\bar \lambda $ was attained by introducing a nonlinearity after the second stage of filtering (or spatial averaging of filter responses). This analysis showed high correlation between the texture with the larger $\bar \lambda $ and the more visible texture. On the basis of this correlation, a wavelength-dependent noise is proposed, having more internal noise for low-spatial-frequency filters and less for high-spatial-frequency filters.     

Conjunctions,Disjunctions and Lewisian Semantics for Counterfactuals

Consider the reasonable axioms of subjunctive conditionals (1) if p q ₁ and p q ₂ at some world, then p (q ₁ & q ₂) at that world, and (2) if p ₁ q and p ₂ q at some world, then (p ₁ ∨ p ₂) q at that world, where p q is the subjunctive conditional. I show that a Lewis-style semantics for subjunctive conditionals satisfies these axioms if and only if one makes a certain technical assumption about the closeness relation, an assumption that is probably false. I will then show how Lewisian semantics can be modified so as to assure (1) and (2) even when the technical assumption fails, and in fact in one sense the semantics actually becomes simpler then.     

No more than Conjectures: Popper and the Ethics of Scientific Enterprise

Karl Popper dealt with both problems Yurevich (Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 43(2), 2009, doi: 10.1007/s12124-008-9082-7) deals: the crisis in Psychology and in the discourse about the nature of science. Although he failed to provide a complete response for both problems, his proposals can yet be fruitful to the reflection on these matters in the context of the present discussion. He offers some tentative answers to what could be considered a healthy epistemic activity, something Yurevich does not provide. More interestingly, some of the Popper proposals seem to fit, and in some extent correct, the quest for “collaborative work” proposed by Zittoun et al. (Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 43(2), 2009, doi: 10.1007/s12124-008-9082-7) as a way of transforming crisis in development.     

Early access to abstract representations in developing readers: evidence from masked priming

A commonly shared assumption in the field of visual‐word recognition is that retinotopic representations are rapidly converted into abstract representations. Here we examine the role of visual form vs. abstract representations during the early stages of word processing – as measured by masked priming – in young children (3rd and 6th Graders) and adult readers. To maximize the chances of detecting an effect of visual form, we employed a language with a very intricate orthography, Arabic. If visual form plays a role in the early stages of processing, greater benefit would be expected from related primes that have the same visual form (in terms of the ligation pattern between a word's letters) as the target word (e.g.– [ktz b–ktA b] – note that the three initial letters are connected in prime and target) than for those that do not (– [ktxb–ktA b]). Results showed that the magnitude of priming effect relative to an unrelated condition (e.g. –) was remarkably similar for both types of prime. Thus, despite the visual complexity of Arabic orthography, there is fast access to the abstract letter representations not only in adult readers by also in developing readers.     

Acoustic behavior associated with cooperative task success in bottlenose dolphins (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Tursiops truncatus</Emphasis>)

Although many species have proven capable of cooperating to achieve common goals, the role of communication in cooperation has received relatively little attention. Analysis of communication between partners is vital in determining whether actions are truly cooperative rather than serendipitous or learned via trial and error (Chalmeau and Gallo in Behav Process 35:101–111, 1996a. doi: 10.1016/0376-6357(95)00049-6, Primates 37:39–47, 1996b. doi: 10.1007/BF02382918). Wild cetaceans often produce sounds during cooperative foraging, playing, and mating, but the role of these sounds in cooperative events is largely unknown. Here, we investigated acoustic communication between two male bottlenose dolphins while they cooperatively opened a container (Kuczaj et al. in Anim Cogn 18:543–550, 2015b. doi: 10.1007/s10071-014-0822-4). Analyses of whistles, burst pulses, and bi-phonations that occurred during four contexts (i.e., no container, no animals interacting with container, one animal interacting with container, and two animals interacting with container) revealed that overall sound production rate significantly increased during container interactions. Sound production rates were also significantly higher during cooperative successes than solo successes, suggesting that the coordination of efforts rather than the apparatus itself was responsible for the phonation increase. The most common sound type during cooperative successes was burst pulse signals, similar to past recordings of cooperative events in bottlenose dolphins (Bastian in Animal sonar systems. Laboratoire de Physiologie Acoustique, Jouy-en Josas, pp 803–873, 1967; Connor and Smolker 1996).     

Normalization and excluded middle. I

The usual rule used to obtain natural deduction formulations of classical logic from intuitionistic logic, namely is stronger then necessary, and will give classical logic when added to minimal logic. A rule which is precisely strong enough to give classical logic from intuitionistic logic, and which is thus exactly equivalent to the law of the excluded middle, is It is a special case of a version of Peirce's law: In this paper it is shown how to normalize logics defined using these last two rules. Part I deals with propositional logics and first order predicate logics. Part II will deal with first order arithmetic and second order logics. This research was supported in part by grants EQ1648, EQ2908, and CE 110 of the program Fonds pour la Formation de Chercheurs et l'aide à la Recherche (F.C.A.R.) of the Quèbec Ministry of Education.     

Increasing interletter spacing facilitates encoding of words

Recent research has suggested that words presented with a slightly increased interletter spacing are identified faster than words presented with the default spacing settings (i.e.,      

Phonological Activation in Multi-syllabic Sord Recognition

Three experiments were conducted to test the phonological recoding hypothesis in visual word recognition. Most studies on this issue have been conducted using mono-syllabic words, eventually constructing various models of phonological processing. Yet in many languages including English, the majority of words are multi-syllabic words. English includes words incorporating a silent letter in their letter strings (e.g., champane). Such words provide an opportunity for investigating the role of phonological information in multi-syllabic words by comparing them to words that do not have the silent letter in the corresponding position (e.g., passener). The performance focus is on the effects of removing letters from words with a silent letter and from words with a non-silent letter. Three representative lexical tasks—naming, semantic categorization, lexical decision—were conducted in the present study. Stimuli that excluded a silent letter (e.g., champa_ne) were processed faster than those that excluded a sounding letter (e.g., passen_er) in the naming (Experiment 1), the semantic categorization (Experiment 2), and the lexical decision task (Experiment 3). The convergent evidence from these three experiments provides seminal proof of phonological recoding in multi-syllabic word recognition. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Fake Journals: Not Always Valid Ways to Distinguish Them

In their recent paper, Esfe et al. (Sci Eng Ethics, doi: 10.1007/s11948-014-9595-z 2014) present some criteria for fake journals and propose some ‘features’ to recognize them. While I share most of the authors’ concerns about this issue in general, some of the reported criteria are not fit to differentiate fake journals from genuine ones. Here are some examples derived from their list, which illustrate that such criteria are not necessarily specific to fake journals only, but they could also apply to well-established journals and, therefore, should not be considered as is.