How an unfamiliar thing should be called

An empirical method is described to derive good names for unfamiliar objects. It is based on three principles: (1) The names should be within users' linguistic capacities; (2) names should be informationally efficient; (3) names should form a classification system. The principles lead to a three-step method: (1) Subjects generate names for the objects; (2) a subset of the names, which fulfills the principles, is selected; (3) how good the names are is tested by matching and recall tasks. Steps 2 and 3 are iterated to improve the nnames. The names that result are natural, short, easily matched with their physical referents, and well recalled. The method is generalizable and ought to be useful in a large variety of situations where names for unfamiliar objects are needed.This research was supported by the Office of Naval Research Contract No. N00014-78-C-0433 to the first author. This report is No. 111 of the Institute of Cognitive Science's Technical Report Series.     

性别、寻路策略与导航方式对寻路行为的影响

本研究探讨了两种寻路策略与三种导航方式对寻路行为绩效的影响并分析了该效应的性别差异。实验被试120名, 实验结果显示：在VR迷宫场景中寻路, 对男性而言, 定向策略的使用情况是影响导航方式绩效的重要因素。对不擅长使用定向策略的男性而言, 标志导航最佳, 标志与YAH地图并存时次之, YAH地图导航最差。其中, 标志导航与YAH地图导航绩效差异显著。而对擅长使用定向策略的男性而言, 导航方式的类型对寻路绩效的影响不显著。导航方式的类型对女性寻路影响显著, 其中, 标志导航最佳, 标志与YAH地图并存时次之, YAH地图导航最差。该研究结果可为导航支持系统的界面设计提供依据。     

Gender Differences in Wayfinding Strategies and Anxiety About Wayfinding: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Two studies examined gender and cultural differences in wayfinding strategies and anxiety about wayfinding. Men in both Hungary and the United States reported greater preference for a strategy of orienting to global reference points, whereas women reported greater preference for a strategy based on route information. A higher level of wayfinding anxiety was reported by Americans, and women in both countries reported greater wayfinding anxiety than did men. Women in the United States, but not in Hungary, reported less childhood wayfinding experience than did men; women in both countries reported feeling less safe than did men. Feeling of personal safety and wayfinding strategy preferences mediated the gender difference in wayfinding anxiety.     

Toddlers recognize words in an unfamiliar accent after brief exposure

Both subjective impressions and previous research with monolingual listeners suggest that a foreign accent interferes with word recognition in infants, young children, and adults. However, because being exposed to multiple accents is likely to be an everyday occurrence in many societies, it is unexpected that such non‐standard pronunciations would significantly impede language processing once the listener has experience with the relevant accent. Indeed, we report that 24‐month‐olds successfully accommodate an unfamiliar accent in rapid word learning after less than 2 minutes of accent exposure. These results underline the robustness of our speech perception mechanisms, which allow listeners to adapt even in the absence of extensive lexical knowledge and clear known‐word referents. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at http: ? ?www.youtube.com ?watch?v=bYnaZkMyKtY&feature=youtu.be     

Calculating the attentional orientation of an unfamiliar agent in infancy

By the end of the first year, infants are able to recognize both goal-directed and perceptually guided behavior in the actions of non-human agents, even faceless ones. How infants derive the relevant orientation of an unfamiliar agent in the absence of familiar markers such as eyes, ears, or face is unknown. The current studies tested the hypothesis that infants’ calculate an agent's “front” from the geometry of its behavior in the spatial environment. In the first study, 14–15-month-old infants observed a symmetrical, faceless agent either interact contingently with a confederate or act randomly. It then turn toward one of two target objects. Infants were more likely to look in the direction the agent turned than the opposite direction, but only in the contingent condition. In the second study, the location of the confederate and target objects was varied, which in turn influenced which end of the agent infants interpreted as the front. Finally, implications for infants’ early gaze-following behaviors with humans are tested and implications for theory of mind development more broadly are discussed.     

Assessment of stuttering in a familiar versus an unfamiliar language

The present study investigated how well individuals knowledgeable about stuttering are able to make disfluency judgments in clients who speak another language than their own. Fourteen native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese identified and judged stuttering in Dutch speakers and in Portuguese speakers. Fourteen native speakers of Dutch identified and judged stuttering in Brazilian Portuguese speakers and in Dutch speakers. It was found that judges can make similar level of judgment in a native and a foreign language, and that native and foreign judges can make similar level of judgment irrespective of native/foreign differences. It was also found, however, that the Dutch judges performed significantly better in identifying native stutterers than foreign stutterers. And for the identification of nonstutterers, both panels performed better in their native language than in the foreign language, and in their native language they both performed better than the other panel. Both the Brazilian Portuguese and the Dutch speaking panel were generally also less confident, and found identification of stuttering more difficult in the foreign language than in the native language. In addition, when asked for the characteristics that helped them identify stutterers, they provided more detail in the native language than in the foreign language. Also a number of differences were found between the two panels which may be due to differences in training or cultural background. The implications of the findings for clinical practice and for future research in this area are discussed. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will be able to: (1) describe how language influences the identification of a speech disorder such as stuttering, and (2) list, and (3) define behaviors that help to identify stuttering in a foreign language.     

Wayfinding behavior and spatial knowledge of adults and children in a virtual environment: The role of landmarks

This study investigated the effect of different organizations of landmark-location pairings as fine-space information on wayfinding behavior and spatial knowledge on a total of 90 participants: 30 second graders, 30 sixth graders, and 30 adults. All participants had to find their way to a goal in a virtual environment with either randomized or categorical landmarks, or without any landmarks. Thereafter, they had to find the shortest way from the start position to the goal in two consecutive trials (wayfinding performance), and they had to solve a number of spatial knowledge tasks. The results showed that independent of their categorical function, the existence of landmarks influenced the way-finding performance of adults and children in the same way. Whereas the presence of landmarks had no effect on spatial survey knowledge, landmark knowledge itself was influenced by the categorical function of the landmarks presented. Moreover, second graders showed limited achievement compared to adults independent of the existence of landmarks. The main results implicate firstly that children at school age indeed are able to use landmark-location pairings as fine-space information like adults during learning an unknown environmental space, and secondly that a dissociation between wayfinding behavior and spatial knowledge might exist.     

Perceptual learning of spatiotemporal events: evidence from an unfamiliar modality

Perceptual learning was examined in two experiments in which subjects, originally unfamiliar with vibrotactile stimulation, were required to identify dynamic vibrotactile patterns with static visual patterns of the same two-dimensional shapes. In Experiment 1 we examined changes in performance with practice under a variety of vibrotactile spatial and temporal conditions. In Experiment 2 we investigated transfer of learning from one set of vibrotactile patterns to another different set. In neither experiment were subjects supplied with knowledge of results. Substantial perceptual learning (improvement in identification with practice) was observed in Experiment 1, although a minority of subjects did not exhibit improvement. Experiment 2 confirmed the general findings of Experiment 1 and also provided evidence of substantial positive transfer. In both experiments, multidimensional scaling of pattern confusion data revealed that practice (and improvement in identification) did not qualitatively change the relative confusability of patterns, suggesting that the (informative) structure of the patterns, irrespective of familiarity with a specific set of patterns, determined confusability. The findings are interpreted in terms of learning constructs offered by E. J. and J. J. Gibson. We conclude by considering the prospects that a connectionist mechanism can account for the observed perceptual learning.     

The role of perspective in locating position in a real‐world,unfamiliar environment

This paper reports an exploration of how perspective information contributes to localizing and orienting oneself in a real‐world, unfamiliar environment. Participants were asked to recognize their positions on a three‐dimensional map by observing real buildings from different perspectives set at viewpoints between 0° and 180° from a starting position. Results showed that participants were able to use remembered perspective information to locate their subsequent, different position in the correct area of space. They also showed a linear increase in rotation times as the angular distance increased between initially perceived perspective and test position. This finding suggests that the representation of the spatial information acquired from a real world large‐scale environment is orientation dependent. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recognizing familiar and unfamiliar faces

These experiments addressed why, in episodic-memory tests, familiar faces are recognized better than unfamiliar faces. Memory for faces of well-known public figures and unfamiliar persons was tested, not only with old/new recognition tests, in which initially viewed faces were discriminated from dis tractors, but also with tests of memory for specific information. These included: detail recall, in which a masked feature had to be described; orientation recognition, in which discrimination between originally seen faces and mirror-image reversals was required; and recognition and recall of labels for the public figures. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that memory for orientation and featural details was not robustly related either to facial familiarity or to old/new recognition rates. Experiment 3 showed that memory for labels was not the exclusive determinant of the famous-face advantage in recognition, since famous faces were highly recognizable even they were not labelable or when labels were forgotten. These results suggest that the familiarity effect, and face recognition in general, may reflect a nonverbal memory representation that is relatively abstract.     

Perceptual and conceptual training mediate the verbal overshadowing effect in an unfamiliar domain

Describing memory for a nonverbal perceptual stimulus can impair recognition. This verbal overshadowing effect may occur when perceptual expertise exceeds verbal expertise, but previous evidence for this hypothesis has been strictly correlational. We conducted two experiments, exploring the relation between expertise and verbal overshadowing by manipulating perceptual and conceptual knowledge. Participants received perceptual training (categorizing mushrooms), conceptual training (lecture), or no training, then viewed a mushroom and described it or not. A recognition test followed. In Experiment 1, perceptual training increased susceptibility to verbalization relative to the no training condition. However, conceptual training did not insulate individuals from the verbal overshadowing effect. Experiment 2 was modified to enhance both forms of training. It replicated the finding that perceptual training increases vulnerability to verbal overshadowing, and indicated that, when sufficiently emphasized, verbalization may be useful following conceptual training. The results demonstrate the role that different forms of learning and expertise may play in mediating language influences on recognition memory.     

Smiles in face matching: Idiosyncratic information revealed through a smile improves unfamiliar face matching performance

Unfamiliar face matching is a surprisingly difficult task, yet we often rely on people's matching decisions in applied settings (e.g., border control). Most attempts to improve accuracy (including training and image manipulation) have had very limited success. In a series of studies, we demonstrate that using smiling rather than neutral pairs of images brings about significant improvements in face matching accuracy. This is true for both match and mismatch trials, implying that the information provided through a smile helps us detect images of the same identity as well as distinguishing between images of different identities. Study 1 compares matching performance when images in the face pair display either an open-mouth smile or a neutral expression. In Study 2, we add an intermediate level, closed-mouth smile, to identify the effect of teeth being exposed, and Study 3 explores face matching accuracy when only information about the lower part of the face is available. Results demonstrate that an open-mouth smile changes the face in an idiosyncratic way which aids face matching decisions. Such findings have practical implications for matching in the applied context where we typically use neutral images to represent ourselves in official documents.     

Metacognition during unfamiliar face matching

Kruger and Dunning (1999) described a metacognitive bias in which insight into performance is linked to competence: poorer performers are less aware of their mistakes than better performers. Competence-based insight has been argued to apply generally across task domains, including a recent report investigating social cognition using a variety of face-matching tasks. Problematically, serious statistical and methodological criticisms have been directed against the traditional method of analysis used by researchers in this field. Here, we further illustrate these issues and investigate new sources of insight within unfamiliar face matching. Over two experiments (total N = 1077), where Experiment 2 was a preregistered replication of the key findings from Experiment 1, we found that insight into performance was multi-faceted. Participants demonstrated insight which was not based on competence, in the form of accurate updating of estimated performance. We also found evidence of insight which was based on competence: the difference in confidence on correct versus incorrect trials increased with competence. By providing ways that we can move beyond problematic, traditional approaches, we have begun to reveal a more realistic story regarding the nature of insight into face perception.     

Social factors influence solo and rat dyads exploration of an unfamiliar open field

Animal Cognition - Exploring new and unfamiliar environments is critical for survival, providing information on food, shelter, mates, and sources of danger. The open field paradigm is commonly used...     

Odors Can Serve as Landmarks in Human Wayfinding

Scientists have shown that many non‐human animals such as ants, dogs, or rats are very good at using smells to find their way through their environments. But are humans also capable of navigating through their environment based on olfactory cues? There is not much research on this topic, a gap that the present research seeks to bridge. We here provide one of the first empirical studies investigating the possibility of using olfactory cues as landmarks in human wayfinding. Forty subjects participated in a piloting study to determine the olfactory material for the main experiment. Then, 24 subjects completed a wayfinding experiment with 12 odors as orientation cues. Our results are astonishing: Participants were rather good at what we call “odor‐based wayfinding.” This indicates that the ability of humans to use olfactory cues for navigation is often underestimated. We discuss two different cognitive explanations and rule out the idea that our results are just an instance of sequential learning. Rather, we argue that humans can enrich their cognitive map of the environment with olfactory landmarks and may use them for wayfinding.     

Children's Response to Natural Map Misalignment During Wayfinding

Map-guided wayfinding requires updating the map-space relation whenever we turn. In 3 studies, children used a map to follow a path with two 90? turns. Although carrying the map, children rarely physically adjusted the map after turns. They performed well when the map was aligned with the space (on the 1st and 3rd legs), and they performed poorly on the 2nd leg when the map became naturally misaligned with the space. When map use was delayed (separating first viewing and first use), children still did not physically turn the map, but surprisingly, most performed well after both turns. We replicated this surprising finding with 2 age groups and examined individual differences. Children appear to use the map to anticipate the upcoming turn.     

Perceiving age and gender in unfamiliar faces: an fMRI study on face categorization

Efficient processing of unfamiliar faces typically involves their categorization (e.g., into old vs. young or male vs. female). However, age and gender categorization may pose different perceptual demands. In the present study, we employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the activity evoked during age vs. gender categorization of unfamiliar faces. In different blocks, participants performed age and gender classifications for old or young unfamiliar faces (50% female respectively). Both tasks elicited activations in the bilateral fusiform gyri (fusiform face area, FFA) and bilateral inferior occipital gyri (occipital face area, OFA). Importantly, the same stimuli elicited enhanced activation during gender as compared to age categorization. This enhancement was significant in the right FFA and the left OFA, and may be related to increased configural processing. Our findings replicate and extend recent work, and shows that the activation of core components of the face processing network is strongly dependent on task demands.     

Spatial judgments of exocentric extents in an open-field situation: Familiar versus unfamiliar size

Carlson and Tassone (1971) found that an object of familiar size presented in an outdoor setting and viewed at an appreciable distance is judged to be more distant than an unfamiliar object. Three experiments examined whether object familiarity also affects spatial judgments of exocentric extents presented under conditions comparable to those of Carlson and Tassone’s experiments. The markers of the extents were either familiar or unfamiliar objects. In Experiment 1, subjects reproduced the perceived extents of depth intervals by adjusting a comparison egocentric extent, and in Experiment 2, subjects also compared the relative depths of two equally long extents. In Experiment 3, the two equally long extents were presented in the subjects’ frontoparallel plane, and the subjects reported which of these two extents appeared longer and farther away. The results of these experiments indicate that familiar size does not affect the perceived depths or lengths of exocentric extents viewed under naturalistic conditions.