Perceptual and Response Bias in Unilateral Neglect: Two Modified Versions of the Milner Landmark Task

Perceptual and response bias in estimating the proportion of the two segments of prebisected lines were disambiguated in a group of 121 patients suffering from left neglect by means of two variants of the Milner Landmark task (Milner et al., 1993). The first variant, LANDMARK-V, required a verbal response; the second variant, LANDMARK-M, required manual pointing. The paper reports and discusses the results obtained on each task and their correlations, as well as the relationships between either kind of bias and the intrahemispheric location of the lesion. It is argued that besides their usefulness as a diagnostic tool the proposed variants of the Milner Landmark task provide results that are worth further investigation in their own right.     

Landmark Discrimination Learning in the Dog

Allocentric spatial memory was studied in dogs of varying ages and sources using a landmark discrimination task. The primary goal of this study was to develop a protocol to test landmark discrimination learning in the dog. Using a modified version of a landmark test developed for use in monkeys, we successfully trained dogs to make a spatial discrimination on the basis of the position of a visual landmark relative to two identical discriminanda. Task performance decreased, however, as the distance between the landmark and the “discriminandum” was increased. A subgroup of these dogs was also tested on a delayed nonmatching to position spatial memory task (DNMP), which relies on egocentric spatial cues. These findings suggest that dogs can acquire both allocentric and egocentric spatial tasks. These data provide a useful tool for evaluating the ability of canines to use allocentric cues in spatial learning.     

The Contemporary Constructive Task

Lutheran theology is noted for its excellent contributions to historical theology. Contemporary times, however, require that Lutheran theologians become attuned to the urgent demands of the present and take up the discipline of constructive theology to address these demands. Taking the lead from contemporary feminist Lutheran theologians, constructive approaches utilizing Lutheran theological resources must articulate vigorous critique of a corrosive neo‐liberal culture by articulating divine judgment on human greed as well as witnessing to divine grace that always favors truthful living.     

The Twofold Task of Union

Love is practical, having to do with how we live our lives, and a central aspect of its practical orientation is the wish for union. Union is often considered in two forms—as a union of affections and as union in relationship. This paper considers both sorts of union and argues for their connection. I first discuss the union of interests in terms of the idea of attentive awareness that is focused upon the beloved individual and his or her concerns, life, and history. I then discuss union in relationship and show how this emerges from the attentive awareness in a desire to specify a determinate way of responding to the concerns that attentive awareness opens us to. I use the example of Jane Austen’s Emma throughout; the conduct of Austen’s heroine, who fails badly at loving well, shows by means of anti-example what is at stake in pursuing union as well as illustrating the close connection between the two aspects of union.     

The Surprising Nature of the Reaction Time Task

At one level, the scientific enterprise engaged in by Guy Van Orden was about how to analyze reaction time data. At another level it was an attempt to understand the kind of system that one is dealing with in a reaction time (RT) experiment—the system that accords with the instructions that the experimenter gives, produces the responses to the particular class of stimuli that the experimenter presents, at latencies that the experimenter measures and analyzes. That there can be any question about the essential nature of the system under study is perhaps surprising given the long and influential history of RT research and the relative simplicity and transparency of the RT task. In this brief note we hope to show that the question is deserved and that on close inspection the nature of the RT task is, indeed, surprising.     

The geometry of factorial indeterminancy

TheN-dimensional geometry of a Spearman-Thurstone factor solution reveals two sources for the indeterminancy of factor scores: indeterminancy of total factor space and a rotational indeterminancy within a given total factor space. The analytical papers of Ledermann [4] and Guttman [2] on indeterminancy of factor scores are related to these findings and a simple vector model is developed to reveal the properties of rotational indeterminancy. The significance of factor-score indeterminancy is discussed in light of these findings.     

人文学术研究的丰碑--简介《汤用彤全集》

２０世纪我国人文学术大家屈指可数,其中,汤用彤先生是学术界公认的学术大师之一。 汤用彤先生（１８９３—１９６４年）于１９１１年考入清华学校,１９１８年赴美留学,主修哲学,并学习梵文、巴利文。１９２２年回国,在多所大学任教。１９３０年出任北大哲学系教授,此后一直没有离开北京大学。１９４６年任北大文学院长,１９４９年出任北大校务委员会主席,１９５１年后到他逝世一直担任北大副校长。 汤先生对中外哲学有精湛的研究,在北大开出的课程有：中国佛教史、魏晋玄学、印度哲学史、西方哲学史。欧洲大陆理性主义、英国经验…     

任务切换的老化效应

采用任务线索范式(task-cueing paradigm),考察年龄对两个不同来源的切换损失的影响。实验一操控准备时间考察内源性切换损失,实验二操控首尾任务的异同考察外源性切换损失。以被试执行切换任务和重复任务的正确反应时为主要指标,结果发现:(1)在执行不同类型的任务时,老化效应极其明显,青年人反应速度普遍快于老年人,错误率普遍低于老年人;(2)内源性任务范式中重复任务和切换任务老化速度不一致,老化对切换任务影响更大,而外源性任务范式中CBA和ABA任务老化速度基本一致;(3)青年人和老年人在内源切换损失、外源切换损失上不存在显著差异。结果表明,整体上老年人的任务切换成绩差于年轻人,与外源性任务相比,内源性切换任务的成绩更易受老化的影响。     

The organization of room geometry and object layout geometry in human memory

Research with humans and with nonhuman species has suggested a special role of room geometry in spatial memory functioning. In two experiments, participants learned the configuration of a room with four corners, along with the configuration of four objects within the room, while standing in a fixed position at the room's periphery. The configurations were either rectangular (Experiment 1) or irregular (Experiment 2). Room geometry was not recalled better than object layout geometry, and memories for both configurations were orientation dependent. These results suggest that room geometry and object layout geometry are represented similarly in human memory, at least in situations that promote long-term learning of object locations. There were also some differences between corners and objects in orientation dependence, suggesting that the two sources of information are represented in similar but separate spatial reference systems. [corrected]     

The Extrinsic Affective Simon Task

A modified version of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) is described that is based on a comparison of performance on trials within a single task rather than on a comparison of performance on different tasks. In two experiments, participants saw white words that needed to be classified on the basis of stimulus valence and colored words that were to be classified on the basis of color. On trials where the colored word referred to a positive target concept (e.g., "flowers," "self"), performance was superior when the correct response was the response that was also assigned to positive white words. The reverse was true on trials where the colored word represented a negative target concept (e.g., "insect"). This variant of the IAT is less susceptible to nonassociative effects of task recoding and can be used to assess single and multiple attitudes.     

Development of a Career Task Self-Efficacy Scale: The Kuder Task Self-Efficacy Scale

The present study consisted of developing the Kuder Task Self-Efficacy Scale (KTSES). The KTSES is a 30-item scale measuring a person's self-efficacy for tasks corresponding to Kuder's 10 occupational interest areas (Kuder Zytowski, 1991). Responses from the KTSES were compared with responses to the Self-Esteem Inventory (SES; Rosenberg, 1965) and the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale (CDMSE; Taylor Betz, 1983) to see if career task self-efficacy was related to self-esteem and career decision-making self-efficacy. Answers to the KTSES were also compared with responses given for occupations corresponding to the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey (KOIS; Kuder Zytowski, 1991) to see if occupational self-efficacy was related to career task self-efficacy. Results supported the validity and reliability of the KTSES. The utility of having a task self-efficacy scale to go with the KOIS is discussed, and ideas for future research are given.     

The brain a geometry engine

Summary According to Kant, spacetime is a form of the mind. If so, the brain must be a geometry engine. This idea is taken seriously, and consequently the implementation of space and time in terms of machines is considered. This enables one to conceive of spacetime as really embodied.     

The Effects of Task Content and Reward Contingency Upon Task Performance and Satisfaction1

A laboratory study examined the effects of task design and reward contingency upon task performance and satisfaction and upon behavioral and attributional measures of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation were defined by the task content-task consequence distinction. Both the task design and reward contingency factors were found to yield significant multivariate F ratios, but their interaction was not significant. Subjects in the contingent pay condition had higher performance quantity than those in the noncontingent condition. Subjects in the enriched task condition produced higher quality units than those in the nonenriched condition. Both contingent pay and enriched task conditons yielded higher task satisfaction and increased attributions of performance to intrinsic factors. Results were discussed in terms of cognitive evaluation theory and the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.     

The Role of Memory in the Tower of London Task

The Tower of London (TOL) task is widely used as a neuropsychological test of planning. Relatively little is known of the cognitive components of the task, and in particular the role of memory in performance. The current studies on normal adults looked at the role of verbal and spatial working memory in the TOL. The effects of verbal and visuospatial dual-task manipulations on TOL performance were examined in an experiment with 36 participants. Both verbal and visuospatial executive secondary tasks caused poorer performance on the TOL; however, concurrent articulatory suppression enhanced performance. The results suggest that executive and spatial components are important in the task, and raise questions about the role of preplanning in the TOL.     

The Effects of Task and Interpersonal Cohesiveness on Performance of a Disjunctive Group Task1

This experiment examined the effects of two different types of group cohesiveness on performance of a disjunctive task. Both interpersonal and task cohesiveness were varied independently. Results show that high levels of both types of cohesiveness were necessary for success on a task requiring group interaction. Groups high on one type of cohesiveness but low on another performed no better than groups low on both types of cohesiveness. These results suggest that cohesiveness should be conceptualized as a multidimensional rather than as a unitary variable. It is also suggested that the effects noted in the present study may well vary according to task characteristics.