Geometrical structures of photographic and stereoscopic spaces

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the geometrical structures of photographic and stereoscopic spaces. In Experiment 1, it was investigated how accurately photographic space reproduces real physical space, and the geometrical structure of photographic space was compared with that of visual space. As a result, the mapping function of distance between photographic and physical spaces (delta = ad(b)) shows that a and b range from 0.96-1.1 and 0.69-0.78. The mapping function of angle between photographic and physical spaces (phi = g phi(h)) shows that g and h range from 2.37-5.29 and 0.74-0.97. Further, photographic space has larger anisotropic property than visual space and photographic space may be hyperbolic. In Experiment 2, the geometrical structure of stereoscopic space was compared with that of visual space. It was found that stereoscopic space was almost the same as visual space.     

Attentional set for axis of symmetry in symmetry-defined visual search

Olivers and van der Helm (1998) showed that symmetry-defined visual search (for both symmetry and asymmetry) requires selective spatial attention. We hypothesize that an attentional set for the orientation of a symmetry axis also is involved in symmetry-defined visual search. We conducted three symmetry-defined visual search experiments with manipulations of the axis of symmetry orientations, and performance was better when the axis orientations within the search array were uniform, rather than a mixture of two orientations, and the attentional set for the axis orientation could be kept. In addition, search performance when the target was defined by the presence of symmetry was equivalent to that when the target was defined by a difference of symmetry axis orientation. These results suggest that attentional set for axis orientation plays a fundamental role in symmetry-defined visual search.     

Differential effect of distractor timing on localizing versus identifying visual changes

When visual changes are accompanied by visual transients, such as in the case of saccades, eye blinks, and brief flickers, they often go unnoticed; this phenomenon is called change blindness (Rensink, R. A. (2002). Change detection. Annual Review of Psychology 53, 245; Simons, D. J., & Levin, D. T. (1997). Change blindness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 1, 261). Change blindness occurs even when the position of visual transients does not cover the location of the change (as in the 'mudsplash' paradigm) (O'Regan, J. K., Rensink, R. A., & Clark, J. J. (1999). Nature 398, 34). By using a simplified mudsplash display, the present study investigated whether change blindness depends on (a). the timing of visual transients, and (b). the task that observers perform. Eight Gabor elements with random orientations were presented. One element (target) was rotated 45 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise without a temporal gap. High contrast visual transients, not overlapping with the elements, appeared at various times with respect to the target change. Observers reported where the change was (change localization), or in which direction the target rotated (change identification). Change localization was impaired primarily when the onset of the transient was at or after the change. In contrast, change identification was impaired mainly when the transient preceded the change. These results suggest that change localization and change identification are mediated in part by different mechanisms.     

Perceived standing position after reduction of foot-pressure sensation by cooling the sole

We investigated the influence of the reduction of foot-pressure sensation by cooling the sole of the foot, at 1 degree C for 30 or 40 minutes, on the perception of standing position varied in the anteroposterior direction. The subjects were 16 healthy undergraduates. Firstly, for 4 of the subjects, cooling the sole of the foot decreased sensory information from the mechanoreceptors in the sole, by testing for an increase in the threshold for two-point discrepancy discrimination on the sole of the foot and for the disappearance of postural change with vibration to the sole. Next, the perception of standing position was measured by reproduction of a given standing reference position involving forward or backward leaning under both normal and cooled conditions of the feet. Standing position was varied in relation to the location of the center of foot pressure, defined as distance from the heel in percentage of the length of the foot. The reference positions, representing various locations of the center of foot pressure, were set at 10% increments from 20% to 80% of the length of the foot. With eyes closed, the subject first experienced the reference position and then attempted to reproduce it. The mean location of the center of foot pressure in the quiet standing posture was 45.7%. At the 40%, 50%, and 60% reference positions, those closest to quiet standing, absolute errors of reproduction were significantly larger than at other reference positions in both the normal and the cooled conditions. They were significantly larger in the cooled than in the normal condition. The 50% and 60% reference positions were reproduced significantly further forward in the cooled than in the normal condition. These results may be explained as due to an absence of marked changes in sensory information from both muscular activity and foot pressure when moving to reference positions close to the quiet standing posture.     

Clinical pastoral education: a physician's experience and reflection on the meaning of spiritual care in palliative care

In this article a physician reflects on her experience as a chaplain intern and how this Clinical Pastoral Education experience led to a deeper understanding of spiritual care in the palliative setting.     

Comparison of water- and land-based exercise in the reduction of state anxiety among older adults

This study examined the effect of an acute exercise program of different exercise conditions on state anxiety among older adults. 73 healthy subjects were recruited and randomly assigned to either water exercise group (n = 36) or land exercise group (n = 37). State anxiety was assessed before exercise and following exercise. Subjects in the water exercise performed a 70-min. exercise program consisting of a 10-min. warm-up, a 20-min. brisk walking, a 20-min. rhythmic dancing, a 10-min. resistance training, and a 10-min. cool down exercise. The land exercise program contained a 10-min. warm up and a 30-min. combined endurance and resistance exercise, followed by a 10-min. cool down exercise. Analysis showed that both exercise groups scored significantly (p<.001) lower on anxiety after exercise, but there was no significant interaction for group by trial for scores on state anxiety. The data indicate that elderly persons who participate in these types of exercise report lower state anxiety.     

Using motor tasks to quantitatively judge 3-D surface curvatures

The primary objective of this study was to quantitatively investigate the human perception of surface curvature by using virtual surfaces and motor tasks along with data analysis methods to estimate surface curvature from drawing movements. Three psychophysical experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, we looked at subjects’ sensitivity to the curvature of a curve lying on a surface and changes in the curvature as defined byEuler’s formula, which relates maximum and minimum principal curvatures and their directions. Regardless of direction and surface shape (elliptic and hyperbolic), subjects could report the curvature of a curve lying on a surface through a drawing task. In addition, multiple curves drawn by subjects were used to reconstruct the surface. These reconstructed surfaces could be better accounted for by analysis that treated the drawing data as a set of curvatures rather than as a set of depths. A pointing task was utilized in Experiment 2, and subjects could report principal curvature directions of a surface rather precisely and consistently when the difference between principal curvatures was sufficiently large, but performance was poor for the direction of zero curvature (asymptotic direction) on a hyperbolic surface. In Experiment 3, it was discovered that sensitivity to the sign of curvature was different for perceptual judgments and motor responses, and there was also a difference for that of a curve itself and the same curve embedded in a surface. These findings suggest that humans are sensitive to relative changes in curvature and are able to comprehend quantitative surface curvature for some motor tasks.     

Quantitative evaluation of infant behaviour and mother–infant interaction: An overview of a japanese interdisciplinary programme of research

This paper provides an overview of an interdisciplinary programme of research started more than 20 years ago at the University of Tokyo. A major aim of this programme was (and still is) to develop methods and related forms of quantitative analysis that provide rigorous evaluations of infant behaviour from a particular theoretical perspective. In one part of the programme telethermography is used to measure emotional changes in young infants. Contrary to the accepted view in attachment theory, infants as young as 2–3 months showed evidence of stress following separation from the mother (as indexed by a drop in the skin temperature of the infant's forehead). In another part, we established the presence of interpersonal synchrony between arm movements of the newborn and the speech of the mother and other adults, using computer assisted pattern recognition techniques. On the basis of this finding, we have proposed a simulation model of mother-infant interaction from the perspective of system information theory. In general, our programme of research provides a theoretically driven set of techniques and analytical approaches that may provide deeper insights into early development and parenting.