Semantic Influence on Processing Gender Agreement: Evidence from Hebrew

In the present study we examined the influence of manipulating the animacy of the sentential subject on the size of the syntactic priming effect induced by violation of subject–predicate gender agreement in Hebrew. The agreement violation delayed naming incongruent compared with congruent predicates. This priming effect was stronger when the sentential subject was an animate than an inanimate noun. Additional experiments revealed that: (1) the interaction between the priming effect and animacy of the subject could not be explained on the basis of differences in the phonological transparency of the gender inflection in the two groups of nouns, and (2) it was sensitive to the ratio of animate/inanimate conditions in a block. We suggest that the interaction between the processing of agreement and the effect of animacy is influenced by a controlled process of verifying the coherence of a currently identified word within a built-up context.     

Dynamic object perception by pigeons.

Three experiments examined pigeon discrimination of computer-generated three-dimensional (3-D) projections of cube and pyramid objects. Four pigeons were tested using a go/no-go procedure involving static and dynamically rotating presentations of these stimuli. Transfer tests with different types of rotational and featural transformations suggested the pigeons may have used a 3-D representation of the objects as their primary means of performing the discrimination. The comparative implications for object and motion perception in animals are considered.     

Anticipatory coarticulation in aphasia: acoustic and perceptual data

Two experiments investigated speech motor planning in aphasia by contrasting the degree of labial and lingual anticipatory coarticulation evident in normal subjects' speech with that found in the speech of aphasic subjects. In the first experiment, Linear Predictive Coding (LPC) analyses were conducted for the initial consonants of CV [si su ti tu ki ku] and CCV [sti stu ski sku] productions by 6 normal and 10 aphasic (5 anterior, 5 posterior) subjects. For normal subjects' productions, reliable coarticulatory shift was found for almost all measurements, indicating that acoustic correlates for anticipatory coarticulation obtain for [s], [t], and [k] in a prevocalic environment, as well as when [s] is the initial consonant of a CCV syllable. The data for the aphasic subjects were statistically indistinguishable from those of the normal subject group, and there were no differences noted as a function of aphasia type. In the second experiment, a subset of the consonantal stimuli produced by the normal and aphasic subjects was presented to a group of 10 naive listeners for a vowel identification task. Listeners were able to identify the productions of all subjects at a level well above chance. In addition, small but statistically significant Group differences were observed, with the [sV], [skV], and [tV] productions by anterior aphasics showing significantly lower perceptual scores than those of normal subjects.     

The scaling of postural adjustments during bimanual load-lifting in traumatic brain-injured adults

Previous postural studies of traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients have been limited to identifying deficits in static and quasi-dynamic postural control tasks such as weight shifting. In this study, we examined whether or not patients with TBI are able to scale adequately their postural adjustments during the performance of the dynamic task of bimanual load-lifting. An age matched group of healthy adults served as controls. We used the Tetrax posturography system that calculates a stability score (ST) based on fluctuations in vertical ground reaction forces, normalized for body weight. During quiet standing, the ST scores of the TBI group were significantly higher than the control group. Forward weight shift and percentage change in the vertical ground reaction forces (lift postural adjustment (LPA) and post-lift postural adjustment (PLPA) scores) linearly increased with increasing load weight in both healthy and TBI subjects. Group differences were found in the magnitude of forward weight shift but not in the relative increase of the LPA and PLPA scores during the lifting and post-lifting phases respectively. The forward weight shift of the TBI group was lower-than-normal and asymmetrical--there was significantly less forward weight shift on the more affected than on the less affected limb. In addition, a significant amplitude coupling was found between the scaling of the weight shift of the heel and forefoot of each limb. However, no coupling was found between the weight shift amplitudes of homologous parts of both limbs in the TBI group. The results showed that scaling based on prior experience was preserved in the TBI group, though some TBI subjects demonstrated absent scaling in either the more affected or less affected heel or forefoot. The differences between the normal and TBI groups in postural adjustments are not necessarily a sign of pathology; rather they may represent a deliberate choice of the central nervous system to counteract predictable disturbances.     

Reflections on unethical experiments and the beginnings of bioethics in the United States

The author offers personal reflections on the development of research ethics in the United States, primarily during the 1960s. He explores the efforts of the pioneers in the field of human experimentation ethics to raise and discuss issues such as the value conflict between the acquisition of knowledge and respect for the autonomy of research subjects and the crucial importance of disclosure in the informed consent process.     

Gender attitudes in children

This study investigated children's gender attitudes as a function of the sex, age, and race of the child as well as a geographical SES factor. Two attitudes were measured: gender pride (attributing positive characteristics to a child of the same sex) and gender prejudice (attributing negative characteristics to a child of the other sex). Results indicated that all children tended to select children of the same sex for the positive attributes, but that both boys and girls selected boys for the negative attributes. Although all sex pride scores decreased with age, this effect was most pronounced for girls from an upper-lower-class urban environment.The write-up of this article was supported by our current National Institute of Mental Health Grant No. 1R01MH29417-01, Principal Investigator, Dr. Phyllis A. Katz.