International assessment of judged symbol comprehensibility

Symbols are widely used internationally to communicate to people with different languages, but the large number of symbols for any particular meaning or referent may cause confusion. Some international organizations attempt to prevent this confusion by recommending standard symbols, and in some cases base their recommendation on the results of assessing the comprehensibility of alternative symbol designs. In this study, four variants of a public information symbol for an automatic teller machine (cash machine) were compared in three countries (United Kingdom, Korea, and Iran) using the comprehension judgement test recommended by the International Standards Organization in ISO 9186: 2001. In this test respondents are shown variants of a symbol, told the intended meaning, and asked to estimate the percentage of the general population that they expect would understand each variant correctly. The data from the three countries are interpreted as supporting the view that the criterion a variant of a public information symbol must reach before it can be recommended as a standard should be 66% rather than 85%. The responses indicated that respondents in the three different countries agreed on the variant estimated to be most comprehensible. This showed the more realistic representation of the position of a hand and fingers when using the machine, indicating that more realistic portrayals yield higher estimates. A variant that did not include a hand obtained the lowest estimates. Respondents from Iran gave lower estimates of comprehensibility than those from UK and Korea, emphasizing the need to collect data from different countries when gathering information on which to base an international standard symbol. The agreement between the three countries is seen as support for the view that there are general principles that can be applied to help make a symbol more meaningful, and for the use of the judgement test when deciding on an internationally standard symbol.     

Establishing and maintaining an operant research facility with brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula)

The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is a readily accessible marsupial that has been shown to adapt relatively well to captivity. The aim of this paper is to outline the husbandry procedures, experimental equipment, and methodologies used successfully within our possum colony since 1995.     

Disorientation inhibits landmark use in 12-18-month-old infants

Recent research has indicated that, particularly under conditions of inertial disorientation, mammals may be sensitive to landmark configuration geometry at the expense of individual featural information when locating hidden goals. The current study sought to establish whether landmark use could be demonstrated in 12-18-month-old infants with and without a disorientation procedure, and with geometrically ambiguous landmark configurations. A peekaboo paradigm was employed in which infants learned to anticipate a peekaboo event after a cue from two locations within a circular arena, followed by a test trial from a novel position in which no peekaboo occurred after the cue. In all conditions, an isosceles triangle arrangement of landmarks was used, with peekaboo occurring between the landmarks of one of the two equal "sides", thus being geometrically ambiguous. In two conditions, the landmarks were distinctive, and in two further conditions, they were identical. In one of the distinctive conditions and one of the identical landmark conditions, infants underwent a disorientation procedure in between training and test trials. Only oriented infants with distinctive landmarks were successful in test trials, thus suggesting that infants are able to use the individual features of landmarks to locate a goal, but can only do so if oriented.     

Does self-love lead to love for others? A story of narcissistic game playing

Five studies investigated the links among narcissism, self-esteem, and love. Across all studies, narcissism was associated primarily with a game-playing love style. This link was found in reports of general love styles (Study 1a) and of love in ongoing romantic relationships (Studies 1b-3, 5). Narcissists' game-playing love style was the result of a need for power and autonomy (Study 2) and was linked with greater relationship alternatives and lesser commitment (Study 3). Finally, narcissists' self-reports of game playing were confirmed by their partners in past and current relationships (Studies 4, 5). In contrast, self-esteem was negatively linked to manic love and positively linked to passionate love across studies. Implications for the understanding of narcissism in relationships are discussed.     

An exploratory study of the relationship between face recognition memory and the volume of medial temporal lobe structures in healthy young males

A rigorous new methodology was applied to the study of structure function relationships in the living human brain. Face recognition memory (FRM) and other cognitive measures were made in 29 healthy young male subjects (mean age = 21.7 years) and related to volumetric measurements of their cerebral hemispheres and of structures in their medial temporal lobes, obtained using the Cavalieri method in combination with high resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI. Greatest proportional variability in volumes was found for the lateral ventricles (57%) for the cerebral hemispheres (8%) in the mean volumes of the hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, amygdala, caudate nucleus, temporal pole and temporal lobe on the right and left sides of the brain. The volumes of the right and left parahippocampal gyrus, temporal pole, temporal lobe, and left hippocampus were, prior to application of the Bonferroni correction to take account of 12 multiple comparisons, significantly correlated with the volume of the corresponding hemisphere(p < 0.05). The volumes of all structures were highly correlated (p < 0.0002 for all comparisons) between the two cerebral hemispheres. There were no positive relationships between structure volumes and FRM score. However, the volume of the right amygdala was, prior to application of the Bonferroni correction to take account of 38~multiple comparisons, found to be significantly smaller in the five most consistent high scorers compared to the five most consistent low scorers (t = 2.77,p = 0.025). The implications for possible relationships between healthy medial temporal lobe structures and memory are discussed.     

Transitions in Visual Proprioception: A Cross-Sectional Developmental Study of the Effect of Visual Flow on Postural Control

In the present study, a moving room paradigm was used that characterized the developmental progression of the effects of visual perturbations on stance control in subjects (N = 39) from 5 months to 10 years of age. Kinematic (probability of recording sway, magnitude of sway response) and electromyographic (probability and patterns of muscle activation, muscle onset latencies) data were found that suggested that visual flow simulating sway activates organized postural muscle responses and results in subsequent sway in standing infants as young as 5 months of age, well before they are able to stand independently. In new walkers, there was an increase in the magnitude of the effect of the visual perturbation, suggesting a possible increase in reliance on visual information. The magnitude of sway decreased to very low levels in older children and adults. The large-amplitude responses observed in the youngest age groups may indicate an inability to switch from an unreliable to a reliable source of perceptual information or an inability to modulate the responses produced following the perturbations. With increasing age and experience, the ability to resolve the conflict increased, with adult subjects demonstrating little sway response.