An inexpensive electronic switch with adjustable gain

A simple electronic switch, based on the Motorola MFC 6040 electronic attenuator integrated circuit, is described. The circuit is useful in the slow-speed switching of audio signals where key click and switch bounce cannot be tolerated.     

An accurate repeat cycle timer.

This timer was designed to provide a compact and quiet unit to control the presentation of visual stimuli by means of a slide projector, but it is not limited to this use. It is a solid state device, ready for use as soon as switched on, and is made largely from commercial logic units. The output is in the form of contact closures: the ON relay and the OFF relay give short pulse closures at the beginning of their respective cycles. With circuit values as shown in Fig. 1, times, from 0.5 to 10 sec in increments of 0.5 sec with an accuracy of ±1%, are selected by separate switches on the ON and the OFF cycles. Single interval solid state timers have been described by Saslow and Markowitz (1964) and by Tapp and Clark (1964).     

Measuring projection tachistoscope shutter characteristics

Projection tachistoscopes have shutters that control the presentation of stimuli. Shutter characteristics such as opening times, closing times, and mechanical reliability are important factors in applications of these tachistoscopes. The device described in this report allows the operating characteristics of shutters used in projection tachistoscopes to be evaluated. The use of the device is illustrated by measurements of three commercially available tachistoscope shutters. Each shutter was characterized by five parameters: opening and closing speeds, the lag between shutter activation and operation, the briefest stimulus presentation that the shutter allowed, and the shutter’s ability to repeat exposure durations accurately.     

An accurate and efficient multi-category edge detection method

Edge detection plays an important role in image processing. With the development of deep learning, the accuracy of edge detection has been greatly improved, and people have more requirements for edge detection tasks. Most edge detection algorithms are binary edge detection methods, but there are usually multiple categories of edges in an image. In this paper, we present an accurate multi-category edge detection network, the richer category-aware semantic edge detection network (R-CASENet). In order to make full use of convolutional neural network’s powerful feature expression capabilities, we attempt to use more information from feature maps for edge feature extraction and classification. Using the ResNet101 network as the backbone, firstly we merge the building blocks in different composite blocks and down-sample to obtain the feature maps. Then we fuse the feature maps in different composite blocks to obtain the final fused classifier. Experimental results show that R-CASENet can achieve state-of-the-art performance on the large SBD dataset. Furthermore, to get precise one-pixel width edges, we also propose an edge refinement network (ERN) structure. The proposed scheme is an end-to-end method and the proposed ERN can reduce redundant points and improve computational efficiency, especially for further image processing.     

Phase-difference haploscope using only one shutter disk

A simplified version of a phase-difference haploscope to dissociate visual input to the two eyes is described. The unit requires only one motor and shutter disk. This reduces synchronization difficulties found in versions requiring more than one motor.     

Apparatus the reflecting shutter principle and mechanical tachistoscopes

The principle employed in the two tachistoscopes described below is that of using a shutter which reflects light down one channel at the same time as it cuts it off from another. The principle has been applied to produce a high speed projection tachistoscope at a fraction of the cost of a comparable electronic model and a simple direct view classroom tachistoscope. The principle can be further adapted to a variety of uses.     

An accurate millisecond timer for the Commodore 64 or 128

The use of the Commodore 64 or 128 as an accurate millisecond timer is discussed. BASIC and machine language programs are provided that allow the keyboard to be used as the response manipulandum. Modifications of the programs for use with a joystick or external switches are also discussed. The precision, flexibility, and low cost of these machines recommends their use as laboratory instruments.     

Generalization during acquisition, extinction, and transfer of matching with an adjustable comparison

Three groups of pigeons were given conditional discrimination training in which the number of standard stimuli was varied across groups. In the presence of each standard, a pigeon adjusted the comparison stimulus on a second key until the two keys matched. A report of this match (response on the first key) was reinforced. Transfer of the matching performance was investigated by adding new standards to the ones already available. All pigeons were exposed to two extinction sessions after 155 sessions of training. Rapidity of acquisition was inversely related to the number of standards presented. Generalization gradients derived from the several comparison stimuli showed that all pigeons reached a high level of accuracy in the presence of at least one standard, and some pigeons did so in the presence of as many as four of the six standards. There was no evidence of a systematic effect of extinction upon overall accuracy, or the individual generalization gradients. When a new standard was added, a given pigeon's performance (in terms of responding to the comparisons) was similar to performance in the presence of one of the old standards. However, the pigeons did not show evidence of confusion among the comparisons.     

Geographic profiling: the fast,frugal, and accurate way

The current article addresses the ongoing debate about whether individuals can perform as well as actuarial techniques when confronted with real world, consequential decisions. A single experiment tested the ability of participants (N = 215) and an actuarial technique to accurately predict the residential locations of serial offenders based on information about where their crimes were committed. Results indicated that participants introduced to a ‘Circle’ or ‘Decay’ heuristic showed a significant improvement in the accuracy of predictions, and that their post‐training performance did not differ significantly from the predictions of one leading actuarial technique. Further analysis of individual performances indicated that approximately 50% of participants used appropriate heuristics that typically led to accurate predictions even before they received training, while nearly 75% improved their predictive accuracy once introduced to either of the two heuristics. Several possible explanations for participants' accurate performances are discussed and the practical implications for police investigations are highlighted. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seeing double,being double: longing,belonging, recognition,and evasion in psychodynamic work with immigrants

Psychically immigrants live double lives, simultaneously dwelling in the world they have left and the world in which they live, and into which most try to fit to avoid the alienating experience of being “other”. Doubleness is not a conscious act, but it is a preconscious counterpoint to just about every social interaction. I argue that successful psychodynamic treatment allows immigrants to take the doubleness for granted, in effect seeing double and being double. In this way they come to effortlessly privilege one self-state over the other. The recognition and acceptance of competing self-states proves transformative in any treatment, but never more so than in working with immigrants who contend with several culturally competing selves in their daily lives and seek one relationship in which they can all be seen and heard. I describe treating an immigrant who, when I began to work with her, excelled at seeing double, but being double posed a terrifying dilemma. At least two self-states were engaged in a tug of war; she feared that the winner would take all.     

Keeping perception accurate

Perception should change if an error in perception is detected. Yet how can information that comes through the senses ever indicate that those very senses aren't accurate? Knowledge of objects that arises independently of sensory experience can be used to check the sensory information for errors. For instance, an a priori constraint that one object cannot be in two places at the same time would lead to error detection if the sensory systems suggest that one object is in two places. Variants on the classic prism-adaptation phenomenon have revealed new rules about changes in space perception. These variants involve specifying new unusual mappings between visual space and motor (proprioceptive) space, and testing for generalization to novel untrained locations. The research has suggested that there is a preference for changes in space perception that shift space rigidly everywhere, that shrink or expand space uniformly, and that preserve the one-to-one relationship between modalities. Finally, this review discusses the issue that perception must change to remain accurate in the face of childhood growth and adult drift.     

Audiences' reactions to self-enhancing,self-denigrating,and accurate self-presentations

Subjects in three experiments evaluated hypothetical actors whose claims about either an upcoming or past performance and whose performances were system-atically varied from very positive to very negative. Positive, self-enhancing claims were effective in generating favorable evaluations when either the claim was congruent with the performance or the subjects were unaware of how the actor performed. In general, accurate self-presentations were most favorably evaluated, especially when the claim occurred after the performance. The two exceptions to the preference for accurate self-presenters occurred when (a) the actor modestly underestimated a clearly superior prior performance by claiming to have done “only” well or all right, in which case he/she was evaluated more favorably than an accurate but seemingly boastful actor who claimed to have done extremely well, and (b) the actor self-deprecatingly predicted an inferior performance, in which case he/she was disliked even when accurate. Disclaimers about the importance of the performance (e.t., “I did well, but it's no big deal”) were seen as boastful rather than modest and decreased evaluations. The results mirror many of the tactics used by actor-subjects in past experiments, suggesting that people generally vary their self-presentations in optimal fashion to create the most favorable possible impression on the audience.     

A random-pulse generator with adjustable pulse duration

An electronic device for generating random pulses of adjustable duration within a minimal and maximal interval boundary is described. The instrument is useful in electro- and psychophysiological research where randomization of stimulus input is required.     

Cognitive dissonance,double forced compliance,and commitment

Double forced compliance situations are studied to analyse how attitudes change after the performance of two behaviours, rather than just one as in standard forced (or induced) compliance situations. In the present experiment, subjects were asked to execute two successive counterattitudinal behaviours: writing an essay in favour of selective admission to the third year of university (first behaviour) and giving a convincing speech in favour of selective admission (second behaviour). The first behaviour was always performed in a high‐commitment context (free choice, publicness, and consequences), whereas the second was performed in a high‐commitment context as well as in a low‐commitment context (free choice, anonymity, and no consequences). The following hypotheses were tested. (1) If the second behaviour is performed in a high‐commitment context, it will increase the dissonance induced by the first. (2) If the second behaviour is performed in a low‐commitment context, it will decrease the dissonance induced by the first. The results confirmed both hypotheses, which comply with the radical version of dissonance theory (Beauvois & Joule, 1996 , 1999 ). As a whole, these results are incompatible with competing theories of Festinger's theory of dissonance (1957), and in particular with self‐perception and impression‐management theories. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An inexpensive and accurate method of measuring the force of responses in reaction time research

Together with reaction time (RT), the force with which people respond to stimuli can provide important clues about cognitive and affective processes. We discuss some of the issues surrounding the accurate measurement and interpretation of response force, and present a response key by which response force can be measured regularly and unobtrusively in RT research. The advantage of the response key described is that it operates like a standard response key of the type used regularly in classic RT experiments. The construction of the response key is described in detail and its potential assessed by way of an experiment examining response force in a simple reaction task to visual stimuli of increasing brightness and size.