The influence of dichotical fusion on the redundant signals effect,localization performance,and the mismatch negativity

In two experiments, each including a simple reaction time (RT) task, a localization task, and a passive oddball paradigm, the physical similarity between two dichotically presented auditory stimuli was manipulated. In both experiments, a redundant signals effect (RSE), high localization performance, and a reliable mismatch negativity (MMN) was observed for largely differing stimuli, suggesting that these are coded separately in auditory memory. In contrast, no RSE and a localization rate close to chance level (experiment 1) or at chance (experiment 2) were observed for stimuli differing to a lesser degree. Crucially, for such stimuli a small (experiment 1) or no (experiment 2) MMN were observed. These MMN results indicate that such stimuli tend to fuse into a single percept and that this fusion occurs rather early within information processing.     

Young children enforce social norms selectively depending on the violator's group affiliation

To become cooperative members of their cultural groups, developing children must follow their group's social norms. But young children are not just blind norm followers, they are also active norm enforcers, for example, protesting and correcting when someone plays a conventional game the "wrong" way. In two studies, we asked whether young children enforce social norms on all people equally, or only on ingroup members who presumably know and respect the norm. We looked at both moral norms involving harm and conventional game norms involving rule violations. Three-year-old children actively protested violation of moral norms equally for ingroup and outgroup individuals, but they enforced conventional game norms for ingroup members only. Despite their ingroup favoritism, young children nevertheless hold ingroup members to standards whose violation they tolerate from outsiders.     

Minds, persons, and space: an fMRI investigation into the relational complexity of higher-order intentionality

Mental state reasoning or theory-of-mind has been the subject of a rich body of imaging research. Although such investigations routinely tap a common set of regions, the precise function of each area remains a contentious matter. With the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we sought to determine which areas are involved when processing mental state or intentional metarepresentations by focusing on the relational aspect of such representations. Using non-intentional relational representations such as spatial relations between persons and between objects as a contrast, the results ascertained the involvement of the precuneus, the temporal poles, and the medial prefrontal cortex in the processing of intentional representations. In contrast, the anterior superior temporal sulcus and the left temporo-parietal junction were implicated when processing representations that refer to the presence of persons in relational contexts in general. The right temporo-parietal junction, however, was specifically activated for persons entering spatial relations. The level of representational complexity, a previously unexplored factor, was also found to modulate the neural response in some brain regions, such as the medial prefrontal cortex and the right temporo-parietal junction. These findings highlight the need to take into account the critical roles played by an extensive network of neural regions during mental state reasoning.     

On theoretical and realizable ideal conditions in psychophysics: Magnitude and category scales and their relation

By spacing 10 stimuli (white noise) between 40 and 110 dB according to two criteria [equal response ambiguity (ERA) and equal discriminability (ED)], an attempt was made to construct an “ideal” case for magnitude estimation and category rating. The “ideal” case is defined by linear and constant Weber functions (SDs as a function of scale values) for the two scales, respectively. Altogether, three group and two individual magnitude and category rating experiments were run with these two spacings. It was found that the ERA spacing approximated the ideal case well for both Weber functions and the ED spacing only for the Weber function of the category scale. The general psychophysical differential equation that relates scale values and Weber functions for the two scales allowed good prediction of the category scales from the magnitude scales and the Weber functions. The data suggested a distinction between phenotypic (empirical) and genotypic Weber functions, analogous to “real” and “ideal” cases in physics.     

Syntax- und Semantikkoordination im Dialog

Coordination of Syntax and Semantics in Discourse Summary. 'Coordination' as used here is understood in the following way: Agents solve problems in on-going dialogue under mutual control and according to stable, well-understood patterns. In task-oriented dialogue the social frame for coordination is fixed. The need for coordination among agents arises because of differences in information, the dominant dialogue pattern 'directive - reply', and because of incompatibilities with respect to speakers' ontologies, language variation and agents' focus management. We discuss three dialogue examples showing coordination in some detail. In all of them the coordination problem is solved via a side sequence. Side sequences can be implemented either as autonomous dialogue contributions or they can be fused into the utterances they start from. Grammars treating 'syntax-in-dialogue' and, above all, side sequences, have to meet several constraints: They must describe various forms of extraposition to the right and long distance dependencies, produce and analyse by increments, and shift from production to reception and vice versa. All these patterns will be of relevance for the man-machine-interaction focused upon in the research unit “Situated Artificial Communicators“. It is suggested to set up the theory of grammar needed to accomplish all that within a theory of n-Person Cooperative Games. Zusammenfassung. Koordination im Dialog bedeutet, daß auftretende Probleme unter wechselseitiger Kontrolle der Agenten nach festgelegten Verfahren gelöst werden. In aufgabenorientierten Dialogen ist der soziale Rahmen für Koordination festgelegt. Koordination wird erforderlich wegen des Informationsgefälles zwischen Instrukteur und Konstrukteur, des dominanten Dialogmusters “Direktive geben“ - “Direktive befolgen“ sowie der Unterschiede in den Bereichen Sprecherontologie, Sprachvariation und Fokussteuerung. Wir geben drei Dialogbeispiele für Koordination, bei denen das Koordinationsproblem über eine Nebensequenz gelöst wird. Nebensequenzen, sog. “Verständigungssequenzen“, können als klar begrenzter, autonomer Subdialog realisiert oder in die Ausgangsäußerung eingefügt sein. Eine Syntax für den Dialog, insbesondere für Nebensequenzen und deren Einbettung, muß spezielle Konstruktionen wie Ausklammerung und Nachtrag erfassen, inkrementell operieren und zwischen Produktion und Rezeption hin- und herschalten können. Über alle diese Fähigkeiten sollte ein Situierter Künstlicher Kommunikator verfügen. Es wird vorgeschlagen, das dazu benötigte Grammatikmodell im Rahmen einer Theorie der Kooperativen Mehr-Personen-Spiele zu konzipieren.     

EMPIRICAL TEST OF A MODEL RELATING MAGNITUDE AND CATEGORY SCALES

E isler , H. Empirical test of a model relating magnitude and category scales. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1962, 3 , 88–96.—The function K =α log( φ+ q/k) +β seems to describe the relation between category scale values K and subjective magnitudes φ. The additive constant q/k is obtained from the S ds of the magnitude estimates.
The model was empirically confirmed for the loudness and softness of white noise scaled by the methods of magnitude estimation and category rating.     

BRIGHTNESS SCALES FOR MONOCHROMATIC LIGHT

By means of amethod of ratio estimation, scale values were obtained for the subjective brightness of various physical intensities of monochromatic light of various wave lengths. In a second experiment the scale was constructed by a method of magnitude estimation. The brightness functions were studied by plotting the scale values against stimulus intensity for each wave length. The two experiments gave essentially the same results. It was shown: (1) Brightness of monochromatic light is a power function of stimulus intensity. The exponent of the function is approximately one-third for all wave lengths. (2) Properties of the brightness functions can explain certain empirical relations between brightness, hue and saturation.     

Ape metaphysics: object individuation without language

Developmental research suggests that whereas very young infants individuate objects purely on spatiotemporal grounds, from (at latest) around 1 year of age children are capable of individuating objects according to the kind they belong to and the properties they instantiate. As the latter ability has been found to correlate with language, some have speculated whether it might be essentially language dependent and therefore uniquely human. Existing studies with non-human primates seem to speak against this hypothesis, but fail to present conclusive evidence due to methodological shortcomings. In the present experiments we set out to test non-linguistic object individuation in three great ape species with a refined manual search methodology. Experiment 1 tested for spatiotemporal object individuation: Subjects saw 1 or 2 objects simultaneously being placed inside a box in which they could reach, and then in both conditions only found 1 object. After retrieval of the 1 object, subjects reached again significantly more often when they had seen 2 than when they had seen 1 object. Experiment 2 tested for object individuation according to property/kind information only: Subjects saw 1 object being placed inside the box, and then either found that object (expected) or an object of a different kind (unexpected). Analogously to Experiment 1, after retrieval of the 1 object, subjects reached again significantly more often in the unexpected than in the expected condition. These results thus confirm previous findings suggesting that individuating objects according to their property/kind is neither uniquely human nor essentially language dependent. It remains to be seen, however, whether this kind of object individuation requires sortal concepts as human linguistic thinkers use them, or whether some simpler form of tracking properties is sufficient.