Perceptual equivalence of acoustic cues in speech and nonspeech perception

Trading relations show that diverse acoustic consequences of minimal contrasts in speech are equivalent in perception of phonetic categories. This perceptual equivalence received stronger support from a recent finding that discrimination was differentially affected by the phonetic cooperation or conflict between two cues for the /slIt/-/splIt/contrast. Experiment 1 extended the trading relations and perceptual equivalence findings to the /sei/-/stei/contrast. With a more sensitive discrimination test, Experiment 2 found that cue equivalence is a characteristic of perceptual sensitivity to phonetic information. Using “sine-wave analogues” of the /sei/-/stei/stimuli, Experiment 3 showed that perceptual integration of the cues was phonetic, not psychoacoustic, in origin. Only subjects who perceived the sine-wave stimuli as “say” and “stay” showed a trading relation and perceptual equivalence; subjects who perceived them as nonspeech failed to integrate the two dimensions perceptually. Moreover, the pattern of differences between obtained and predicted discrimination was quite similar across the first two experiments and the “say”-“stay” group of Experiment 3, and suggested that phonetic perception was responsible even for better-than-predicted performance by these groups. Trading relations between speech cues, and the perceptual equivalence that underlies them, thus appear to derive specifically from perception of phonetic information.     

An Absolutist Theory of Faultless Disagreement in Aesthetics

Some philosophers writing on the possibility of faultless disagreement have argued that the only way to account for the intuition that there could be disagreements which are faultless in every sense is to accept a relativistic semantics. In this article we demonstrate that this view is mistaken by constructing an absolutist semantics for a particular domain – aesthetic discourse – which allows for the possibility of genuinely faultless disagreements. We argue that this position (Humean absolutism) is an improvement over previous absolutist responses to the relativist's challenge and that it presents an independently plausible account of the semantics of aesthetic discourse.     

Comparison of fundus autofluorescence and minimum-motion measurements of macular pigment distribution profiles derived from identical retinal areas

The optical density of macular pigment was measured at twelve retinal locations in ten subjects by minimum motion photometry, comparing 460 nm with 580 nm or 550 nm. Fundus autofluorescence images were obtained for the same subjects with a scanning laser ophthalmoscope. Optical density was computed from mean calibrated grey-scale values for a central circular field and for annular segments, identical to areas tested psychophysically, and for complete annuli. Psychophysical assessments of optical density were similar irrespective of whether 550 nm or 580 nm was used. Optical density values derived psychophysically showed a linear correlation with assessments based on identical sampled areas of annular segments (slope = 0.98, r2 = 0.97) or complete annuli (slope = 0.89, r2 = 0.96) in autofluorescence images.     

Intimacy and computer communication

The relationship between intimacy and communication which uses computer technology is addressed. Definitions of intimacy are considered, and the nature of intimate conversations which use computers as a communications medium are discussed. Implications for counselling are examined.     

Globalising counselling: humanistic counselling in Kenya

This paper explores the application of a Western, psychologically-based model of counselling and counselling training in contexts where the social and cultural conditions differ from mainstream Western societies. A group of Kenyan trainee counsellors following such a course are interviewed about their experience of training. The interview data are analysed to provide a tentative answer to the question of the appropriateness in a Kenyan cultural milieu of a humanistic counselling training model developed in the UK. It is concluded that such application is possible and desirable, if it is undertaken as shared and respectful learning between trainers and trainees.     

Providing a Transcultural Genetic Counseling Service in the UK

This paper uses a broad definition of culture to explore the practice of transcultural genetic counseling through three case studies. The first case involves a White genetic counselor seeing an Asian family, the second, an Asian genetic counselor seeing an Asian family and the third, a hearing genetic counselor seeing a culturally Deaf client. Boundaries, transference and countertransference reactions are considered within each transcultural encounter and the author of each case reflects in detail on their role in the client interaction and their impact on the transcultural dynamic. The cases are used to illustrate some cultural beliefs or characteristics that may challenge the genetic counselor’s expectations. The value of identifying and interpreting these differences to facilitate useful clinical work is considered. The paper debates, where possible, whether it is helpful to culturally match genetic counselor and client.     

Providing worked examples for learning multiple principles

Worked examples support learning. However, if they introduce easy-to-confuse concepts or principles, specific ways of providing worked examples may influence their effectiveness. Multiple worked examples can be introduced blocked (i.e., several for the same principle) or interleaved (i.e., switching between principles), and can be sequentially or simultaneously presented. Crossing these two factors provides four ways of presenting worked examples: blocked/sequential, interleaved/sequential, blocked/simultaneous, and interleaved/simultaneous. In an experiment with university students (N = 174), we investigated how these two factors influence the acquisition of procedural and conceptual knowledge about different, but closely related (thus, easy-to-confuse) stochastic principles. Additionally, we assessed the ability of students to discriminate between principles with verification tasks. Simultaneous presentation benefitted procedural knowledge whereas, interleaved presentation benefitted conceptual knowledge. No significant differences were found for verification tasks. The results suggest that it is worthwhile to adapt the presentation of the worked examples to the learning goals.