A new EOG-based eyeblink detection algorithm

Accurate and efficient operator functional state classification and assessment based on physiological data have many important applications ranging from operator monitoring to interaction and control of human/machine systems. Eyeblink characteristics are frequently used as physiological indicators for this purpose. In this paper, we describe an efficient and robust eyeblink detection algorithm based on nonlinear analysis of the electrooculogram (EOG) signal. The performance of the algorithm was evaluated via data analysis results of several benchmark test sets in comparison with another eyeblink detection algorithm.     

Selective attention and the breadth of learning: A developmental study

Nursery school and second-grade subjects were trained on an optional intradimensional/extradimensional shift task with (1) no overtraining, (2) overtraining on the initial problem only, (3) overtraining on the shift problem only, or (4) overtraining on both the initial and the shift problems. Predictions concerning the effects of age and training conditions on the type of solution and the breadth of learning for the shift problem were derived from selective attention theory. However, the results were not consistent with the one-look assumption of such models. Instead, a multiple-look theory in which the breadth of attention varies with task demands seems most tenable.     

Personhood and human rights

Continental Philosophy Review -     

Effects of alcohol and marijuana on dynamic visual acuity: I. Threshold measurements

Alcohol and marijuana produce significant dose-related reductions in dynamic visual acuity. Ten subjects participated in a double-blind experiment involving three dose levels of each drug (including placebo). The reduction of DVA produced by alcohol (1.0 ml 95% ethanol/kg body weight) was greater than for marijuana (15 mg Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), and we suggest that this difference was produced by differential oculomotor effects of the two drugs. We have speculated that reduction in DVA under alcohol may be a contributing factor in alcohol-related traffic accidents.     

Maintaining responding during stimulus generalization testing in extinction

Resistance to extinction and generalization gradients were studied following training with a long-adjusting-interval schedule. One large reinforcer occurred at the end of each daily training session. Sessions varied in length from 20 sec to 42.66 min, but were usually the latter. Repeated generalization tests were subsequently conducted for these subjects and subjects trained with a more conventional short-random-interval schedule. The long-adjusting-interval schedule produced generalization gradients that were not qualitatively different from those produced by the conventional procedure. However, the advantages of the long-adjusting-interval schedule are: (1) greater resistance to extinction both within and across generalization tests and (2) more stable gradient slopes within and across tests.     

Air flow characteristics of the speech of stutterers and non stutterers

This study involved respirometric measurements of six normals and six stutterers throughout vocal and whispered readings of 12 CVC words. In each condition, dependent variables were peak air flow rates on initial and final consonants, flow duration and flow volume between peaks. The stutterers, both individually and as a group, were almost completely fluent during the readings in both conditions. At the same time, their air flow, duration and volume scores either equalled or exceeded those of the controls. These results are discussed in terms of how air flow and durational features of articulation contribute to fluent speech. Directions for future work are also described.