Inadequate and infrequent are not alike: ERPs to deviant prosodic patterns in spoken sentence comprehension

The current study on German investigates Event-Related brain Potentials (ERPs) for the perception of sentences with intonations which are infrequent (i.e. vocatives) or inadequate in daily conversation. These ERPs are compared to the processing correlates for sentences in which the syntax-to-prosody relations are congruent and used frequently during communication. Results show that perceiving an adequate but infrequent prosodic structure does not result in the same brain responses as encountering an inadequate prosodic pattern. While an early negative-going ERP followed by an N400 were observed for both the infrequent and the inadequate syntax-to-prosody association, only the inadequate intonation also elicits a P600.     

A Mathematician Reflects on the Useful and Reliable Illusion of Reality in Mathematics

Recent years have seen a growing acknowledgement within the mathematical community that mathematics is cognitively/socially constructed. Yet to anyone doing mathematics, it seems totally objective. The sensation in pursuing mathematical research is of discovering prior (eternal) truths about an external (abstract) world. Although the community can and does decide which topics to pursue and which axioms to adopt, neither an individual mathematician nor the entire community can choose whether a particular mathematical statement is true or false, based on the given axioms. Moreover, all the evidence suggests that all practitioners work with the same ontology. (My number 7 is exactly the same as yours.) How can we reconcile the notion that people construct mathematics, with this apparent choice-free, predetermined objectivity? I believe the answer is to be found by examining what mathematical thinking is (as a mental activity) and the way the human brain acquired the capacity for mathematical thinking.

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海峡两岸暨港澳道教界纪念中国人民抗日战争暨世界反法西斯战争胜利60周年祈祷世界和平法会在江苏茅山隆重举行

由中国宗教界和平委员会、中国道教协会发起组织,海峡两岸暨港澳道教界参加的纪念中国人民抗日战争暨世界反法西斯战争胜利60周年祈祷世界和平法会,于2005年8月15日在江苏茅山隆重举行。中国道教协会任法融会长,黄至安、丁常云、刘怀元、王全林、张凤林副会长,香港道教联合会汤     

Cognitive demands of error processing associated with preparation and execution of a motor skill

Maxwell et al. [Maxwell, J. P., Masters, R. S. W., Kerr, E., & Weedon, E. (2001). The implicit benefit of learning without errors. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 54A, 1049–1068. The implicit benefit of learning without errors. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 54A, 1049–1068] suggested that, following unsuccessful movements, the learner forms hypotheses about the probable causes of the error and the required movement adjustments necessary for its elimination. Hypothesis testing is an explicit process that places demands on cognitive resources. Demands on cognitive resources can be identified by measuring probe reaction times (PRT) and movement times. Lengthened PRT and movement times reflects increased cognitive demands. Thus, PRT and movement times should be longer following errors, relative to successful, movements. This hypothesis was tested using a motor skill (golf putting). Furthermore, the association between error processing and the preparation and execution phases of movement was examined. The data confirmed that cognitive demand is greater for trials following an error, relative to trials without an error. This effect was apparent throughout learning and in both the preparatory and execution phases of the movement. Cognitive effort also appeared to be higher during movement preparation, relative to movement execution.     

无医学指征剖宫产的影响因素及对策

无医学指征剖宫产是造成高剖宫产率的一个重要原因,也是公共卫生和全世界医疗机构关注的问题。事实上,许多潜在因素包括社会人口学、传统文化、家庭、法理及医源因素在无医学指征剖宫产形成中发挥了重要作用,并加剧了无医学指征剖宫产这一现象出现。更重要的是,通过构建和谐医疗环境、提高无痛分娩率、加强妊娠期健康宣教、规范产科管理、优化分娩环境和增加人文关怀等合理干预可有效降低无医学指征剖宫产。期望为卫生政策制定、临床指南和促进该领域未来的临床实践提供有意义的参考。

     

区域佛教史研究的典范——读崔正森先生的《五台山佛教史》

近年来,区域研究的兴起被视为中国当代历史学研究的一种新趋势,一般认为这是在法国年鉴学派影响下,战后历史学目光更多地转向关注下层社会历史的学术潮流的一种表现。在这种学术研究的背景下,国家或王朝的历史不再被视为历史学研究唯一的主题,历史学家更多的是以较小地区的历史过程为研究对象,这样的研究能够更细致和多方面、多层次地展示普通人的活动及社会表现。历史过程的单位从“国家”、“民族”转换为某个地区,体现了历史学家对“历史”的理解发生了某种根本性的转变。而且,地域史的研究取向不仅要发现地方历史中不同于“国家”或“民…