The detectability of a brief gap in a pulse of light as a function of its temporal location within the pulse

A signal detection experiment was carried out to test the hypothesis that the detectability of abrief gap of fixed duration in a pulse of light would vary with its temporal location in the pulse. For five of six Os, as the gap occurred later and later in the pulse, gap detectability increased until just prior to the end of the pulse, where a sharp decrease was found. The finding was replicated in a seventh O and the decrease in detectability near the end was found to be attributable to the temporal proximity of the end of the pulse. The results are interpreted in terms of the effects of light adaptation and masking.     

Look away! Eyes and arrows engage oculomotor responses automatically

The present study investigates how people’s voluntary saccades are influenced by where another person is looking, even when this is counterpredictive of the intended saccade direction. The color of a fixation point instructed participants to make saccades either to the left or right. These saccade directions were either congruent or incongruent with the eye gaze of a centrally presented schematic face. Participants were asked to ignore the eyes, which were congruent only 20% of the time. At short gaze—fixation-cue stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs; 0 and 100 msec), participants made more directional errors on incongruent than on congruent trials. At a longer SOA (900 msec), the pattern tended to reverse. We demonstrate that a perceived eye gaze results in an automatic saccade following the gaze and that the gaze cue cannot be ignored, even when attending to it is detrimental to the task. Similar results were found for centrally presented arrow cues, suggesting that this interference is not unique to gazes.     

The Pari[ndot]āma Aesthetics as Underlying the Bhāgavata Purā[ndot]a

This paper offers a literary and ideological deconstruction of the Bhāgavata Purā[ndot]a; it traces the Purā[ndot]a's formation through the convergence of the Vedāntin, the Aesthetic and the Vai[sdot][ndot]ava traditions, and argues that it is the doctrine of Pari[ndot]āma which underlies the treatise. I first examine the Bhāgavata Purā[ndot]a's literary components; the roots of these are traced back historically to the Vedānta and ālvār traditions, and the Bhāgavata Purā[ndot]a's nature as an opus universale, representing an all Indian cultural ‘melting pot’, is highlighted. The paper then looks at the relations of Vai[sdot][ndot]avism and dramaturgy, both historically as well as theologically, and argues that the Bhāgavata Purā[ndot]a was traditionally read as a drama. It proceeds to decipher the aesthetic theory underlying the Bhāgavata Purā[ndot]a, and argues that it is Bharata's dramaturgical rasa theory. Within the rasa tradition, Abhinavagupta's and Bhoja's positions are highlighted and compared through three seminal points and it becomes apparent that the Bhāgavata Purā[ndot]a's underlying aesthetic theory is close to the Pari[ndot]āma doctrine of Bhoja where ?[rdot][ndot]gāra is considered to be the supreme rasa. As Bhoja's date is no doubt later than the Bhāgavata Purā[ndot]a's it is assumed that the Bhāgavata Purā[ndot]a was influenced by one of Bhoja's predecessors. The paper ends by reinforcing this analysis by highlighting a later tradition which had actually accepted this point of view and that is the Gau[ddot]iya Vai[sdot][ndot]ava tradition.     

The influence of eye-gaze and arrow pointing distractor cues on voluntary eye movements

We investigated Ricciardelli et al.'s (2002) claim, that the tendency for gaze direction to elicit automatic attentional following is unique to biologically significant information. Participants made voluntary saccades to targets on the left or the right of a display, which were either congruent or incongruent with a centrally presented distractor (eye-gaze or arrow). Contrary to Ricciardelli et al., for both distractor types, saccade latencies were slower, and participants made more directional errors, on incongruent than on congruent trials. Moreover, a cost-benefit analysis showed no difference between the two distractor types. However, latencies for erroneous saccades were faster than correctly directed saccades for the eye-gaze distractors, but not for the arrow distractors.     

Complex prospective memory: development across the lifespan and the role of task interruption

Prospective memory (PM) reflects the product of cognitive processes associated with the formation, retention, delayed initiation, and execution of intentions. It has been proposed that developmental changes in PM across the lifespan are heavily dependent upon the developmental trajectory of executive control functions. This study is the first to apply a complex PM task to children, young adults, and older adults. The procedure allows for the assessment of each of the 4 phases of PM. During intention execution, the authors additionally manipulated whether participants had to actively interrupt attention to the current 'ongoing' task in order to switch to the execution of the next intended task. Group differences mirroring inverted U-shaped functions were observed in those phases conceptualized as relying on executive control (intention formation, initiation, and execution). Age differences in intention execution were substantially greater when active task interruption was necessary. The current study provides the first evidence of growth and decline of complex PM across the lifespan and suggests that the degree of inhibitory control needed to succeed in the task may be one factor underlying this development.     

Luther Research and Ecumenism

Abstract : The article discusses the fundamental conceptual problems underlying the ecumenical vocabulary. These problems result from issues present available in academic studies that often aim at emphasizing the great divide between Luther and medieval theology, as well as providing a justification for the specific and distinctive characteristics of Lutheran theology. The author aims at overcoming the problematic confessionalism which results from these conceptual presuppositions.