Right-left prevalence with task-irrelevant spatial codes

The present work investigated the right-left prevalence effect caused by the automatic activation of horizontal and vertical spatial codes in a task (Simon task) in which spatial information is task-irrelevant. Experiment 1 showed a horizontal Simon effect and a vertical Simon effect with a two-dimensional stimulus-response set. In Experiments 2 and 3, the right-left prevalence was obtained in two-dimensional Simon tasks with two contralateral effectors and four effectors respectively. Experiment 4 showed that horizontal coding is based on multiple spatial codes, whereas only one spatial code was formed for vertical coding. On the whole, these results support the notion that the right-left prevalence effect is a general phenomenon affecting spatial coding, and suggest that the horizontal dimension is prevalent because it is based on multiple spatial codes.     

Fragile X mental retardation protein levels increase following complex environment exposure in rat brain regions undergoing active synaptogenesis

Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), which is absent in fragile X syndrome, is synthesized in vitro in response to neurotransmitter activation. Humans and mice lacking FMRP exhibit abnormal dendritic spine development, suggesting that this protein plays an important role in synaptic plasticity. Previously, our laboratory demonstrated increased FMRP immunoreactivity in visual cortex of rats exposed to complex environments (EC) and in motor cortex of rats trained on motor-skill tasks compared with animals reared individually in standard laboratory housing (IC). Here, we use immunohistochemistry to extend those findings by investigating FMRP levels in visual cortex and hippocampal dentate gyrus of animals exposed to EC or IC. Rats exposed to EC for 20 days exhibited increased FMRP immunoreactivity in visual cortex compared with animals housed in standard laboratory caging. In the dentate gyrus, animals exposed to EC for 20 days had higher FMRP levels than animals exposed to EC for 5 or 10 days. In light of possible antibody crossreactivity with closely related proteins FXR1P and FXR2P, FMRP immunoreactivity in the posterior-dorsal one-third of cerebral cortex was also examined by Western blotting following 20 days of EC exposure. FMRP levels were greater in EC animals, whereas levels of FXR1P and FXR2P were unaffected by experience. These results provide further evidence for behaviorally induced alteration of FMRP expression in contrast to its homologues, extend previous findings suggesting regulation of its expression by synaptic activity, and support the theories associating FMRP expression with alteration of synaptic structure both in development and later in the life-cycle.     

Compatibility due to the coding of the relative position of the effectors

Response latencies emitted with the hands crossed are slower than those emitted with the hands uncrossed. Two explanations are available for the so-called crossed-hand effect. One attributes it to the non-natural posture of the arms in the crossed position, whereas the other is in terms of a conflict between the code describing the hand and the code describing its position. Experiment 1 disproved the postural hypothesis by showing that crossing the hands has no effect on response latencies in a simple reaction time task. Experiments 2 and 3 replicated the crossed-hand effect in a choice reaction time task and showed that it depends on the relative position of the two hands. In other words, responses are slower when the hand is located in the “wrong” position with respect to the other (e.g., the right hand is located to the left of the left hand), whereas the absolute position, that is the side of the body where the responding hand is located, does not seem to effect the speed of response.     

Fuzzy intuitionistic quantum logics

Fuzzy intuitionistic quantum logics (called also Brouwer-Zadeh logics) represent to non standard version of quantum logic where the connective not is split into two different negation: a fuzzy-like negation that gives rise to a paraconsistent behavior and an intuitionistic-like negation. A completeness theorem for a particular form of Brouwer-Zadeh logic (BZL ³) is proved. A phisical interpretation of these logics can be constructed in the framework of the unsharp approach to quantum theory.     

Twardowski's theory of modification againts the background of traditional logic

Paper presented at the conference The Social and Philosophical Thought in Galicia and Its Austro-Hungarian Context, Lvov, December 5–7, 1991.     

A semantical investigation on Brouwer-Zadeh logic

Conclusion In the standard approach to quantum mechanics, closed subspaces of a Hilbert space represent propositions. In the operational approach, closed subspaces are replaced by effects that represent a mathematical counterpart for properties which can be measured in a physical system. Effects are a proper generalization of closed subspaces. Effects determine a Brouwer-Zadeh poset which is not a lattice. However, such a poset can be embedded in a complete Brouwer-Zadeh lattice. From an intuitive point of view, one can say that these structures represent a natural logical abstraction from the structure of propositions of a quantum system. The logic that arises in this way is Brouwer-Zadeh logic. This paper shows that such a logic can be characterized by means of an algebraic and a Kripkean semantics. Finally, a strong completeness theorem for BZL is proved.     

Complete and atomic algebras of the infinite valued Łukasiewicz logic

The infinite-valued logic of ukasiewicz was originally defined by means of an infinite-valued matrix. ukasiewicz took special forms of negation and implication as basic connectives and proposed an axiom system that he conjectured would be sufficient to derive the valid formulas of the logic; this was eventually verified by M. Wajsberg. The algebraic counterparts of this logic have become know as Wajsberg algebras. In this paper we show that a Wajsberg algebra is complete and atomic (as a lattice) if and only if it is a direct product of finite Wajsberg chains. The classical characterization of complete and atomic Boolean algebras as fields of sets is a particular case of this result.This research was partially supported by the Consejo Nacional Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la República Argentina (CONICET).     

Sex,sex roles,and response styles for negative affect: Selectivity in a free recall task

Study 1 examined how responses to negative affect may be influenced by sex differences in response styles [S. Nolen-Hoeksema (1987), “Sex Differences in Unipolar Depression: Evidence and Theory,” Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 101, pp. 259–282] and situational norms. Male and female experimental subjects were led to experience negative affect by reading and rating sad stories, and were then given either nonnormative or normative feedback. Nonnormative subjects were informed that their story ratings were more negative than other participants' ratings. Normative subjects were informed that their ratings were similar to others' ratings. For nonnormative subjects, men recalled less negative material than women, suggesting that response styles are most apparent when negative affect is considered inappropriate. As both sex and sex role orientation are predictive of response styles, Study 2 examined the hypothesis that both sex and sex role orientation are predictive of recall in a manner similar to sex in Study 1. Male and female subjects high and low in masculinity and femininity were assigned to negative-nonnormative and neutral affect conditions. In addition to a marginally significant sex effect consistent with Study 1, results revealed that high-masculinity individuals tended to recall more positive material in the negative-nonnormative condition than in the neutral affect condition. In contrast, low-masculinity individuals recalled less positive material in the negative-nonnormative condition than in the neutral affect condition. The implications of this research for the impact of negative affect on recall are addressed.