Lightness compression and hue changes

Two experiments were performed to relate the Bezold-Brücke (B-B) and lightness compression effects. The first used a calibrated screen to present an achromatic luminance staircase. In addition, it reproduced, the methodology and the essential aspects the lightness compression effect discovered by Cataliotti and Gilchrist (1995). That is, observers perceived a truncated grey scale (from white to medium grey) when the staircase was the only stimulation in the near background (Gelb condition), but not when presented on a Mondrian background, because of the high articulation level provided by this background. Experiment 1 design also included two other backgrounds that produced a partial compression effect. In Experiment 2, two chromatic staircases were used. Employing a naming task, changes in hue perception were only observed for the susceptible staircase. The observed changes were of two types. First, for the full staircase presentations, a Gelb background produced maximum lightness compression (more similarity in the lightness of the staircase stimuli) and, also, a minimum B-B effect (fewer differences in hue). Second, only for the Gelb condition, there were changes in the hue of the lowest luminance staircase stimuli depending on the staircase extension. Results are discussed in the framework of the anchoring theory of lightness perception.     

Sentence comprehension and production in children with cochlear implants: Errorless procedures and equivalence-based instruction

Research supports equivalence-based instruction (EBI) and matrix training for increased listening and speaking skills in children with cochlear implants (CI). We incorporated errorless procedures to optimize the EBI and evaluated the effects on the auditory comprehension and verbal responding at-sentences level in six CI children who were readers and showed inaccurate tacting. Subject-verb-object sentences were arranged in two matrices; diagonal combinations were trained and evaluated non-diagonal combinations. EBI included stimulus fading and exclusion to directly teach the dictated sentence-picture matching; written-sentences construction upon dictation also was taught. Probes assessed the derived stimulus-stimulus and stimulus-response relations. All participants learned the auditory-visual discriminations and the exclusion resulted in fewer errors than on a stimulus fading procedure. Five participants formed equivalence classes and increased verbal responding to equivalent stimuli, especially pictures tacting. They also showed recombinative generalization for both matrices. Professionals can incorporate errorless procedures to EBI for improving sentence comprehension, tacting, and productivity in CI children.     

Spontaneous object recognition in capuchin monkeys: assessing the effects of sex,familiarization phase and retention delay

Animal Cognition - The spontaneous object recognition (SOR) task is a versatile and widely used memory test that was only recently established in nonhuman primates (marmosets). Here, we extended...     

Social closeness of MZ and DZ twin parents towards nieces and nephews

Twins' marriages to non‐twins yield genetically and socially informative kinships. Monozygotic (MZ) twins' genetic identity makes them ‘genetic parents’ of their nieces/nephews, and their nieces/nephews their ‘genetic children’. The present study is the first to apply twin‐family models to study social relatedness. Analyses of twin families (MZ: N = 248; DZ: N = 75) tested evolutionary‐based concepts concerning social closeness, perceived similarity and caretaking. Hypotheses based on Hamilton's inclusive fitness theory were supported: MZ twin aunts/uncles expressed greater social closeness towards their nieces/nephews than DZ twin aunts/uncles; and female twins from same‐sex pairs expressed greater closeness towards their nieces/nephews than male twins from same‐sex pairs. This study underlines benefits of associations between behavioural‐genetic and evolutionary psychological theories, methods and interpretations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interference produces different forgetting rates for implicit and explicit knowledge

Exposure to a repeating set of target strings generated by an artificial grammar in a speeded matching task generates both explicit and implicit knowledge. Previous research has shown that implicit knowledge (assessed via a priming measure) is preserved after a retention interval of one week but explicit knowledge (assessed via recognition) is significantly reduced. In two experiments, we replicated and extended Tunney's findings. Experiment 1 was a partial replication of the experiment conducted by Tunney, and demonstrated that the decline in recognition shown by Tunney was not due to a repetition of test items at the pre and post times of assessment. In addition, Experiment 1 lends credibility to Tunney's assumption that recognition scores assess explicit rather than implicit knowledge. Experiment 2 extended Tunney's findings theoretically by demonstrating that interference can produce the pattern of findings demonstrated in the present Experiment 1 as well as in Tunney.     

Perpetuating Gender Inequality via the Internet? An Analysis of Women’s Presence in Spanish Online Newspapers

This study examines women’s representation in Spanish national online newspapers. For this purpose, we developed an automatic content analysis method to analyze an extensive sample of 34,235 news articles gathered from March to May 2006. Our general objective was to investigate possible gender bias in Spanish online news. To do so we focused on three journalistic routines, one at the individual level of the reporter (gender) and two at the media routine level (sections, publication day, and article length). The results of the estimated multivariate models revealed that women are still linked to traditionally “female” sections, such as people, society, and culture. Analysis of article length and publication day showed that women appear more frequently in shorter news items and in the Sunday news, which we interpreted as indicators of male association with newsworthiness. We also found differences in gender reporting since female journalists tend to include more women in the news they report than their male peers. These results provide evidence that online newspapers continue to perpetuate underrepresentation, stereotyping, and discrimination of women in web news thereby reinforcing gender inequality.     

Knowing your audience affects male–male interactions in Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens)

Aggressive interactions between animals often occur in the presence of third parties. By observing aggressive signalling interactions, bystanders may eavesdrop and gain relevant information about conspecifics without the costs of interacting. On the other hand, interactants may also adjust their behaviour when an audience is present. This study aimed to test how knowledge about fighting ability of an audience affects aggressive interactions in male Siamese fighting fish. Subjects were positioned between two dyads of non-interacting males and allowed to observe both dyads shortly before the view to one of the dyads was blocked, and the dyads were allowed to interact. Subjects were subsequently exposed to an unknown opponent in the presence of either the winner or the loser of the seen or unseen interaction. The results suggest a complex role of the characteristic of an audience in the agonistic behaviours of a subject engaged in an interaction. The presence of a seen audience elicited more aggressive displays towards the opponent if the audience was a loser. This response was different in the presence of an unseen audience. Subjects then directed a higher aggressiveness against their opponent if the audience was a winner. These results also suggest a potentially more complex and interesting process allowing individuals to gain information about the quality and threat level of an unknown audience while it is interacting with a third party. The importance of information acquisition for an individual to adapt its behaviour and the role of communication networks in shaping social interactions are discussed.