Fuzzy Logic and Arithmetical Hierarchy III

Fuzzy logic is understood as a logic with a comparative and truth-functional notion of truth. Arithmetical complexity of sets of tautologies (identically true sentences) and satisfiable sentences (sentences true in at least one interpretation) as well of sets of provable formulas of the most important systems of fuzzy predicate logic is determined or at least estimated.     

Dogs (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Canis familiaris</Emphasis>) adjust their social behaviour to the differential role of inanimate interactive agents

Dogs are able to flexibly adjust their social behaviour to situation-specific characteristics of their human partner’s behaviour in problem situations. However, dogs do not necessarily detect the specific role played by the human in a particular situation: they may form expectations about their partners’ behaviour based on previous experiences with them. Utilising inanimate objects (UMO—unidentified moving object) as interacting agents offers new possibilities for investigating social behaviour, because in this way we can remove or control the influence of previous experience with the partner. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether dogs are able to recognise the different roles of two UMOs and are able to adjust their communicative behaviour towards them. In the learning phase of the experiment, dogs were presented with a two-way food-retrieval problem in which two UMOs, which differed in their physical appearance and abilities, helped the dog obtain a piece of food in their own particular manner. After a short experience with both UMOs, dogs in the test phase faced one of the problems in the presence of both inanimate agents. Overall, dogs displayed similar levels of gazing behaviour towards the UMOs, but in the first test they looked, approached and touched the relevant partner first. This rapid adjustment of social behaviour towards UMOs suggests that dogs may generalise their experiences with humans to unfamiliar agents and are able to select the appropriate partner when facing a problem situation.     

Characterization of music-evoked autobiographical memories

Despite music's prominence in Western society and its importance to individuals in their daily lives, very little is known about the memories and emotions that are often evoked when hearing a piece of music from one's past. We examined the content of music-evoked autobiographical memories (MEAMs) using a novel approach for selecting stimuli from a large corpus of popular music, in both laboratory and online settings. A set of questionnaires probed the cognitive and affective properties of the evoked memories. On average, 30% of the song presentations evoked autobiographical memories, and the majority of songs also evoked various emotions, primarily positive, that were felt strongly. The third most common emotion was nostalgia. Analyses of written memory reports found both general and specific levels of autobiographical knowledge to be represented, and several social and situational contexts for memory formation were common across many memories. The findings indicate that excerpts of popular music serve as potent stimuli for studying the structure of autobiographical memories.     

Experimental Assessment of Cheating Prevalence in the Czech Republic as an Example of a Post-Communist Country

Dishonest behavior presents a serious problem in many countries’ institutions and was found to be relatively widespread in post-communist countries. We focus on the prevalence of cheating in a sample from such country, the Czech Republic, and individual characteristics influencing dishonest behavior. We used a die rolling task where participants can cheat on their reward to determine whether anonymity conditions increase the frequency of cheating. Participants playing alone did not cheat significantly more than the control group throwing dice publicly. We did not find that gender, cognitive abilities, risk and social preferences robustly predicted the rate of cheating.     

Deformation mechanism transitions in nanoscale fcc metals

We consider possible mechanisms that lead to transitions in the mechanisms of deformation in fcc metals and alloys. In particular, we propose that, when grain sizes are below a critical size (i.e. below 100?nm), deformation can occur via the emission of stacking faults from grain boundaries into the intragranular space. A model is developed that accounts for observed experimental data and which, in turn, shows how stacking-fault energy together with shear modulus determines achievable strength. A mechanism is proposed based on this model for transitions at both high and quasistatic strain rates, including grain-boundary sliding.     

Characterisation of music-evoked autobiographical memories

Despite music's prominence in Western society and its importance to individuals in their daily lives, very little is known about the memories and emotions that are often evoked when hearing a piece of music from one's past. We examined the content of music-evoked autobiographical memories (MEAMs) using a novel approach for selecting stimuli from a large corpus of popular music, in both laboratory and online settings. A set of questionnaires probed the cognitive and affective properties of the evoked memories. On average, 30% of the song presentations evoked autobiographical memories, and the majority of songs also evoked various emotions, primarily positive, that were often felt strongly. The third most common emotion was nostalgia. Analyses of written memory reports found both general and specific levels of autobiographical knowledge to be represented, and several social and situational contexts for memory formation were common across many memories. The findings indicate that excerpts of popular music serve as potent stimuli for studying the structure of autobiographical memories.     

Listening to polyphonic music recruits domain-general attention and working memory circuits

Polyphonic music combines multiple auditory streams to create complex auditory scenes, thus providing a tool for investigating the neural mechanisms that orient attention in natural auditory contexts. Across two fMRI experiments, we varied stimuli and task demands in order to identify the cortical areas that are activated during attentive listening to real music. In individual experiments and in a conjunction analysis of the two experiments, we found bilateral blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal increases in temporal (the superior temporal gyrus), parietal (the intraparietal sulcus), and frontal (the precentral sulcus, the inferior frontal sulcus and gyrus, and the frontal operculum) areas during selective and global listening, as compared with passive rest without musical stimulation. Direct comparisons of the listening conditions showed significant differences between attending to single timbres (instruments) and attending across multiple instruments, although the patterns that were observed depended on the relative demands of the tasks being compared. The overall pattern of BOLD signal increases indicated that attentive listening to music recruits neural circuits underlying multiple forms of working memory, attention, semantic processing, target detection, and motor imagery. Thus, attentive listening to music appears to be enabled by areas that serve general functions, rather than by music-specific cortical modules.