Information transmission with a multifinger tactual display

In this work, the tactual information transmission capabilities of a tactual display designed to provide stimulation along a continuum from kinesthetic movements to cutaneous vibrations are assessed. The display is capable of delivering arbitrary waveforms to three digits (thumb, index, and middle finger) within an amplitude range from absolute detection threshold to about 50 dB sensation level and a frequency range from dc to above 300 Hz. Stimulus sets were designed at each of three signal durations (125, 250, and 500 msec) by combining salient attributes, such as frequency (further divided into low, middle, and high regions), amplitude, direction of motion, and finger location. Estimated static information transfer (IT) was 6.5 bits at 500 mseC., 6.4 bits at 250 mseC., and 5.6 bits at 125 msec. Estimates of IT rate were derived from identification experiments in which the subject’s task was to identify the middle stimulus in a sequence of three stimuli randomly selected from a given stimulus set. On the basis of the extrapolations from these IT measurements to continuous streams, the IT rate was estimated to be about 12 bits/seC., which is roughly the same as that achieved by Tadoma users in tactual speech communication.     

Velocities of motor and sensory nerve conduction are the same for right and left arms in right- and left-handed normal subjects

The velocities of motor and sensory conduction of median and ulnar nerves were measured on the left and right arms of 33 right-handed and 12 left-handed normal subjects. Contrary to current knowledge there was no statistically significant difference in the velocities of nerve conduction on the left and right sides of these subjects. It was suggested that the differences in the velocities of nerve conduction cannot contribute to the mechanisms of handedness.     

Harmonic structure as a determinant of melodic organization

Musicians and nonmusicians indicated whether a two-note probe following a tonally structured melody occurred in the melody. The critical probes were taken from one of three locations in the melody: the two notes (1) ending the first phrase, (2) straddling the phrase boundary, and (3) beginning the second phrase. As predicted, the probe that straddled the phrase boundary was more difficult to recognize than either of the within-phrase probes. These findings suggest that knowledge of harmonic structure influences perceptual organization of melodies in ways analogous to the influence of clause relations on the perceptual organization of sentences. They also provide evidence that training plays an important role in refining listeners’ sensitivity to harmonic variables.     

Intention to Migrate,Job Opportunities and Aspiration for Better Pay: An Information Integration Approach

This study examines (a) the relationship between intention to migrate, aspiration for better pay, and job opportunities in host countries in samples of Portuguese and French adolescents, and young French adults; and (b) the relationship between intention to return to country of origin, pay and job opportunities in Portuguese migrant workers living in France. In the two Portuguese groups, the model that best accounts for intentional processes is multiplicative. This finding partially explains why a minimal change in one of the two parameters can have repercussions that are apparently disproportional with this change. In the two French groups, the models that best account for intentional processes are the additive model (for young adults) and a unifactorial model (in adolescents). The discussion centres on possible links between these cross-cultural differences and recent findings on the effect of task difficulty and perceived stakes on integration rules.     

Quality of Information and Availability of Social Indices1

Quality of 14-to 16-year-olds information about occupations was studied. The results show that in general, the degree of correspondence between adolescents and experts was not extremely high (70%); similarly, no major differences were associated with gender, SES, or habitat (rural vs. urban). The quality of information adolescents have at their disposal as concerns a dimension such as Income or Contacts for example depends to a greater extent on the richness of the set of social indices for the dimension than to the importance this dimension can take on in determining occupational preference.     

汉字的视觉识别过程:对形码和音码作用的考察

本实验应用启动条件下的词汇判断法,探讨了字形和语音在汉字视觉识别过程中的作用。实验发现,当启动词中的某个成分字和目标字形状相似时,被试对目标字的反应速度显著加快,表明特征分析是汉字识别的必经阶段;启动词中的多音字不但会促进被试对和其适当读音相近的目标字的反应,而且会促进被试对和其不适当读音相近的目标字的反应。这就明,在到达心理词典之前,熟悉的中文字词的语音特征已经得到了自动的激活。     

胼胝体分步全切病人左右侧命名的不对称

以一位第一次进行胼胝体前部切开,第二次作后部切开的胼胝体全切断患者为被试,在第二次手术前后进行了Ⅰ。左右单侧操作检查,和Ⅱ。两半球之间感觉信息传递两类神经心理学实验。结果提示:后部切断前,左右侧操作没有明显的差异。同时,视觉和触觉的感觉信息的传递基本正常。在后部切断后,命名作业呈右视野和右手优势,图形临摹左手似乎较好,这时视觉和触党的感觉信息的传递发生了障碍。左视野和左手命名高于随机水平,讨论了这一结果与右脑语言的关系。方位比较等多个实验提供了支持两半球协同活动理论的证据。     

Helpful to Psychiatrists,too

Pastoral Psychology -     

Cross-cultural Variation in the Importance of Psychological Characteristics: A Seven-country Study

The Psychological Importance (PI) of personality traits is defined as the degree to which they provide information useful in understanding and predicting behaviour. University students from 7 countries (Chile, China, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, and the United States) rated the PI of each of the 300 items of the Adjective Check List along a 5-point scale. PI was shown to be a meaningful (i.e. reliable) concept in each country. Comparisons of PI ratings between pairs of countries indicated correlations ranging from 0.23 to 0.73, with a mean of 0.49 among the 7 countries. A variety of additional analyses indicated that six of the seven countries tended to group themselves into two clusters: (1) China, Nigeria, and Pakistan; and (2) Chile, Norway, and the United States. In the second cluster, trait importance had a curvilinear relationship to trait favourability (i.e. both good and bad traits may be important) whereas in the first cluster trait importance and favourability had a linear relationship (i.e. only good traits may be important). The findings were suggestive of substantial cross-cultural differences in the importance assigned to psychological traits.