Effects of visual complexity and sublexical information in the occipitotemporal cortex in the reading of Chinese phonograms: a single-trial analysis with MEG

We employ a linear mixed-effects model to estimate the effects of visual form and the linguistic properties of Chinese characters on M100 and M170 MEG responses from single-trial data of Chinese and English speakers in a Chinese lexical decision task. Cortically constrained minimum-norm estimation is used to compute the activation of M100 and M170 responses in functionally defined regions of interest. Both Chinese and English participants’ M100 responses tend to increase in response to characters with a high numbers of strokes. English participants’ M170 responses show a posterior distribution and only reflect the effect of the visual complexity of characters. On the other hand, the Chinese participants’ left hemisphere M170 is increased when reading characters with high number of strokes, and their right hemisphere M170 is increased when reading characters with small combinability of semantic radicals. Our results suggest that expertise with words and the decomposition of word forms underlies processing in the left and right occipitotemporal regions in the reading of Chinese characters by Chinese speakers.     

Using decoy effects to influence an online brand choice: the role of price-quality trade-offs

This research aims to investigate decoy effects on online brand choices. To assess the influence of decoys, we test decoy effects on three constructs-product involvement, judgment conditions, and decoy conditions-within an online experiment. A survey of 635 Internet users and a 2?×?2?×?3 ANOVA between-subjects experimental design is used to guide the research design and the systematic analysis procedure. A major finding of this study is that a standard decoy seems to have a significant effect on an advertised (target) brand for high-involvement products; from the survey, it is also apparent that competitors can also use inferior decoys to increase brand preference for low-involvement products.     

When-questions: A study of how children linguistically encode temporal information

Sixty children between the ages of 4 and 7 years and 10 adults were presented with a series of stories illustrated by five pictures in a comic strip format. Each story was follwed by either a when-, why-, or control question. With respect to the when-questions, some of the stories involved causally related events while others did not. An analysis of the responses supported the hypotheses that causal relationships play an important role in the development of the ability to encode temporal relationships in response to when-questions.This research was supported by PSCBHE Grant No. 6-62123 from the City University of New York to the second author. The authors greatly appreciate the assistance of the directors, teachers, and children of the Chatsworth Avenue Elementary School, the Larchmont Avenue Church Nursery School, the Larchmont Temple Nursery School, and the Little School in Larchmont, New York. We would also like to thank Dr. Louis Hsu for his advice concerning     

Posture and gaze in early mother–infant communication: synchronization of developmental trajectories

Weekly laboratory observations of free play for 13 middle-income mother–infant dyads, from 1 to 6 months of age, were used to study the synchronization of developmental trajectories between infant postural position and gaze direction. Mothers sat in a straight-backed chair while holding infants on their laps and were free to adjust the infant’s posture. Postural position was coded as upright (supported sitting or standing on the mother’s lap) or other (lying, cradling, or being held close to mother). Gaze was coded as either at mother’s face or away. The age of onset of visually guided reaching was also assessed. Results show that there were longer durations of gazing away when the infant was in an upright position. Over the 5 month period of observation, the dyads began with a pattern of non-upright positions accompanied by gaze at mother. Contrary to previous predictions, the developmental shift in the first 6 months from exclusive gazing at mother’s face to gazing away from mother was not synchronized with the development of reaching, but rather with changes in the infant’s posture to more upright positions. The possible role of postural position in fostering positive emotional communication is discussed.     

Medial prefrontal cortex infusions of bupivacaine or AP-5 block extinction of amphetamine conditioned place preference

The present experiments used reversible lesion techniques and intra-mPFC infusions of the n-methyl d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist d,l-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (AP-5) to examine the role of the mPFC in extinction of an amphetamine conditioned place preference (CPP). Following initial training and testing for an amphetamine (2 mg/kg) CPP, adult male Long–Evans rats were given extinction trials that were identical to training, except in the absence of peripheral amphetamine injections. Immediately prior to each extinction trial, rats received intra-mPFC infusions of the anesthetic drug bupivacaine (0.75% solution/0.5 μl), AP-5 (1.25, 2.5, 5.0 μg/0.5 μl), or saline. Following extinction training, rats were given a second CPP test session. Rats receiving intra-mPFC infusions of saline displayed extinction of CPP behavior. In contrast, intra-mPFC infusions of bupivacaine or AP-5 (2.5, 5.0 μg) blocked CPP extinction. The findings indicate (1) the mPFC mediates extinction of approach behavior to drug-associated environmental contexts, and (2) NMDA receptor blockade within the mPFC is sufficient to block extinction of amphetamine CPP behavior.     

Are internet cafés gendered spaces?

This study compared gender differences in the intention and behavior of university students with regard to visiting Internet cafés. The results revealed that males experienced significantly lower social pressure and had more positive attitudes than females. Males had significantly higher perceptions of control, past behavior, intention, and behavior than did females. Additionally, past behavior was the most influential factor in predicting intention and behavior. Two conclusions were drawn: (1) Internet cafés were speculated as a masculine gaming space and thus considered highly gendered. (2) Male and female respondents exhibited similar patterns when predicting their intention and behavior toward visiting Internet cafés.     

Who art thou? Personality predictors of artistic preferences in a large UK sample: The importance of openness

The present study examined individual differences in artistic preferences in a sample of 91,692 participants (60% women and 40% men), aged 13–90 years. Participants completed a Big Five personality inventory ( Goldberg, 1999 ) and provided preference ratings for 24 different paintings corresponding to cubism, renaissance, impressionism, and Japanese art, which loaded on to a latent factor of overall art preferences. As expected, the personality trait openness to experience was the strongest and only consistent personality correlate of artistic preferences, affecting both overall and specific preferences, as well as visits to galleries, and artistic (rather than scientific) self‐perception. Overall preferences were also positively influenced by age and visits to art galleries, and to a lesser degree, by artistic self‐perception and conscientiousness (negatively). As for specific styles, after overall preferences were accounted for, more agreeable, more conscientious and less open individuals reported higher preference levels for impressionist, younger and more extraverted participants showed higher levels of preference for cubism (as did males), and younger participants, as well as males, reported higher levels of preferences for renaissance. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Factors influencing player preferences for heroic roles in role-playing games.

Two studies were conducted to investigate whether player personality or social cognition influence preferences for heroic roles in role-playing games (RPG). In Study 1, 149 teenager subjects were categorized into five groups according to the Guilford Personality Inventory. Heroes were clustered into three types based on their attributes. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) results indicated that each personality group did not display distinctive preference for any particular heroic type. However, of the three heroic types teenagers most strongly preferred, Justice Warrior was followed, in order of preference, by Visionary Leader and Saint. In Study 2, the influence of three player social cognition factors (similarity, proximity, and familiarity) on player preference for heroic roles was studied. Multiple regression analysis results indicated that similarity and familiarity predicted player preferences for heroic roles.     

Background luminance and input devices on clicking performance with a tablet PC

This study investigated the effects of input devices and background luminance on clicking performance with a Tablet PC. The experiment was designed in complete block design within subjects. Participants were 19 men and 11 women, college students whose ages were 19 to 22 years (M=20.1 yr.). All had 0.8 corrected visual acuity or better and normal color vision. Three kinds of input devices, mouse, light pen, and touchpad, were used in this experiment. An analysis of variance showed that input devices significantly affected clicking performance as did background luminance (contrast ratio) on visual recognition (a higher contrast ratio gave better visual recognition).