Geometric and perceptual effects of the location of the observer vantage point for linear-perspective images

New geometric analyses are presented of three impressive examples of the effects of location of the vantage point on virtual 3-D spaces conveyed by linear-perspective images. In the 'egocentric-road' effect, the perceived direction of the depicted road is always pointed towards the observer, for any position of the vantage point. It is shown that perspective images of real-observer-aimed roads are characterised by a specific, simple pattern of projected side lines. Given that pattern, the position of the observer, and certain assumptions and perspective arguments, the perceived direction of the virtual road towards the observer can be predicted. In the 'skewed balcony' and the 'collapsing ceiling' effects, the position of the vantage point affects the impression of alignment of the virtual architecture conveyed by large-scale illusionistic paintings and the real architecture surrounding them. It is shown that the dislocation of the vantage point away from the viewing position prescribed by the perspective construction induces a mismatch between the painted vanishing point of elements in the picture and the real vanishing point of corresponding elements of the actual architecture. This mismatch of vanishing points provides visual information that the elements of the two architectures are not mutually parallel.     

From <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pintele Yid to Racenjude</Emphasis>: Chaim Zhitlovsky and racial conceptions of Jewishness

The Russian Jewish intellectual, Chaim Zhitlovsky (1865–1943), a leading architect of secular Jewish culture and thought, was a central figure in the progressive Jewish intelligentsia of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In an essay written in 1927, Yidn un Yiddishkayt (Jews and Jewishness), he sought to define the secular essence of what he calls Yiddishkayt. This essay is not the first in Zhitlovskys long publicistic career in which he searches for new, secular definitions of Jewish identity and culture. But this essay differs, since it is marked by Zhitlovskys use of contemporary social scientific notions of race and racial traits to conceptualize what he believes constitutes Jewishness in a non-religious context, along with his adoption of the mystical Jewish concept of the pintele yid, the theory of an innate Jewishness embodied by a Jewish spark. Zhitlovskys desire to craft a truly secular theory of Jewish identity led him ironically to accept models of Jewish identity at odds with his stated larger vision. In turning to contemporary racial theory, as well as long nurtured mystical models of Yiddishkayt, Zhitlovsky reveals the wide range of ideological discourses that led him to innovative and controversial notions of modern Jewish identity.     

The relationship between active hand and ear advantage in the native and foreign language

In an experimental design involving two auditorily presented competing commands (one to each ear), 144 right-handed subjects (72 male and 72 female) were asked to provide motor responses. Half of each group of subjects was responding with their right hand and the other half with the left. The test was applied in the subjects' native language (Croatian) and in English, which they had learned as a foreign language. Ear advantage was determined by calculating laterality indices from the order of responding to the commands. On average, right-ear advantage was found in all conditions. Analysis of results revealed the effect of the active hand in Croatian (with significant decrease in the right-ear advantage when using the left hand). The same trend failed to reach significance in English. In responses to English stimuli, there was a significant effect of gender (with men exhibiting a lower right-ear advantage than women). The same trend was not significant for Croatian stimuli. The consistently lower right-ear advantage found in male subjects is contrary to the traditional assumptions that men are more lateralized than women and warrants further investigation.     

Perceptions of body image among Japanese and Croatian children of preschool age

This study examined the differences in current and ideal body size among 108 Japanese and 129 Croatian preschool children (M=4.9 yr.). Boys and girls in both samples showed similarities by selecting the figure representing their current body size. Significant sex differences were found in selection of an ideal figure in the Japanese sample but not in the Croatian group. Japanese girls showed greater preference for a thinner figure than boys. In selection of an ideal body size significant cultural differences were found only for boys: Japanese boys preferred thinner figures. Results relating to body discrepancy (Current minus Ideal figures) indicated that there were fewer satisfied Japanese girls than Croatian girls whereas for the boys, a significantly larger number of Japanese than Croatian boys wished to be heavier.     

Index of suspicion: feeling not believing

Throughout the U.S., state laws require professionals who work with children to report cases of suspected child abuse to child protection services. Both practically and conceptually, however, significant problems arise from a lack of clarity regarding the threshold that has been set for reporting. Specifically, there is no consensus as to what constitutes reasonable suspicion, and little direction for how mandated reporters should gauge their legal and professional responsibilities when they harbor suspicion. In this paper we outline the context of the problem, discuss the nature and scope of its conceptual underpinnings, and offer recommendations for moving towards a concrete, practical solution.     

Senior capstone design and ethics: A bridge to the professional world

A senior level capstone design experience has been developed and offered with a particular emphasis on many of the professional issues raised in Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) Engineering Criterion IV. The course has sought to develop student awareness of the ethical foundation of the engineering profession, the global and societal framework within which engineers practice, and the environmental impact on engineering. The capstone design course also focused upon improving the technical communications skills of the graduating senior class with both extensive instruction in writing and multiple workshops dealing with the art of making an effective oral presentation. The effectiveness of the design course was assessed using Kirkpatrick’s model for evaluating training programs. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the “Ethics and Social Responsibility in Engineering and Technology” meeting, New Orleans, 2003.     

Perceptions of Ethical Behaviour among Business Faculty in Canada

Faculty members at Canadian business schools were surveyed regarding their ethical perceptions of behaviours related to undergraduate instruction. Fifty-five behavioural statements were listed and respondents were asked to rate the extent to which they felt each behaviour was ethical or unethical. The only item that respondents endorsed as unequivocally unethical (90% indicated it was definitely unethical) was Becoming sexually involved with an undergraduate in one of your classes. We also compared the results of our sample to those of an American sample. Overall, an interesting pattern of differences emerged between the responses obtained in Canada and the U.S. In general, the direction of the significant differences was such that Canadian professors viewed the behaviours in question as less ethical than did their American counterparts.     

Stress applied during primary immunization affects the secondary humoral immune response in the rat: involvement of opioid peptides

The effect of unpredictable, inescapable and uncontrollable electric tail shocks (ES) on the humoral immune response to bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated in the rat. Contributions of the procedures that accompany shock delivery, such as witnessing the ES procedure (stress witnessing, SW) and exposure to the apparatus for shock delivery (apparatus control, AC) to the changes in specific immunity induced by ES were also tested. All procedures were applied during primary and/or secondary immunization. It was demonstrated that exposure to ES during primary immunization with BSA significantly suppressed specific anti-BSA antibody production after secondary and tertiary immunization with the same antigen. Exposure to the SW procedure during primary immunization with BSA enhanced the specific antibody level after secondary immunization, while exposure to the apparatus alone did not influence the development of either the primary or secondary humoral immune response to BSA. Both ES-induced suppression and SW-induced potentiation of the humoral immune response were partially inhibited by prior treatment with the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone. Additionally, treatments with the opioid peptides methionine- and leucine-enkephalin decreased anti-BSA antibody level, mimicking to some extent the effects of ES. It is suggested that ES and endogenous opioid peptides had long-term effects on humoral immunity through mechanisms involving immunologic memory.     

Visual perspective taking for avatars in a Simon task

In modern digital applications, users often interact with virtual representations of themselves or others, called avatars. We examined how these avatars and their perspectives influence stimulus–response compatibility in a Simon task. Participants responded to light/dark blue stimuli with left/right key presses in the presence of a task-irrelevant avatar. Changes in stimulus–response compatibility were used to quantify changes in the mental representation of the task and perspective taking toward this avatar. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that perspective taking for an avatar occurred in orthogonal stimulus–response mappings, causing a compatibility effect from the avatar’s point of view. In the following two experiments we introduced a larger variety of angular disparities between the participant and avatar. In Experiment 3, the Simon effect with lateralized stimulus positions remained largely unaffected by the avatar, pointing toward an absence of perspective taking. In Experiment 4, after avatar hand movements were added in order to strengthen the participants’ sense of agency over the avatar, a spatial compatibility effect from the avatar’s perspective was observed again, and hints of the selective use of perspective taking on a trial-by-trial basis were found. Overall, the results indicate that users can incorporate the perspective of an avatar into their mental representation of a situation, even when this perspective is unnecessary to complete a task, but that certain contextual requirements have to be met.     

Age differences in personality across the adult life span: parallels in five cultures

Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in the United States have shown consistent changes between college age and middle adulthood. There appear to be declines in 3 of the 5 major factors of personality--Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness--and increases in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. To examine cross-cultural generalizability of these findings, translations of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory were administered to samples in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, and South Korea (N = 7,363). Similar patterns of age differences were seen in each country, for both men and women. Common trends were also seen for the more specific traits that define the major factors. Because these nations differ substantially in culture and recent history, results suggest the hypothesis that these are universal maturational changes in adult personality.