A Computational Model of Linguistic Humor in Puns

Humor plays an essential role in human interactions. Precisely what makes something funny, however, remains elusive. While research on natural language understanding has made significant advancements in recent years, there has been little direct integration of humor research with computational models of language understanding. In this paper, we propose two information‐theoretic measures—ambiguity and distinctiveness—derived from a simple model of sentence processing. We test these measures on a set of puns and regular sentences and show that they correlate significantly with human judgments of funniness. Moreover, within a set of puns, the distinctiveness measure distinguishes exceptionally funny puns from mediocre ones. Our work is the first, to our knowledge, to integrate a computational model of general language understanding and humor theory to quantitatively predict humor at a fine‐grained level. We present it as an example of a framework for applying models of language processing to understand higher level linguistic and cognitive phenomena.     

An fMRI study of working memory for schematic facial expressions

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine neuronal activation in relation to increasing working memory load in an n-back task, using schematic drawings of facial expressions and scrambled drawings of the same facial features as stimuli. The main objective was to investigate whether working memory for drawings of facial features would yield specific activations compared to memory for scrambled drawings based on the same visual features as those making up the face drawings. fMRI-BOLD responses were acquired with a 1.5 T Siemens MR scanner while subjects watched the facial drawings alternated with the scrambled drawings, in a block-design. Subjects had to hold either 1 or 2 items in working memory. We found that the main effect of increasing memory load from one to two items yielded significant activations in a bilaterally distributed cortical network consisting of regions in the occipitotemporal cortex, the inferior parietal lobule, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor area and the cerebellum. In addition, we found a memory load x drawings interaction in the right inferior frontal gyrus in favor of the facial drawings. These findings show that working memory is specific for facial features which interact with a general cognitive load component to produce significant activations in prefrontal regions of the brain.     

Internal clock processes and the filled-duration illusion

In 3 experiments, the authors compared duration judgments of filled stimuli (tones) with unfilled ones (intervals defined by clicks or gaps in tones). Temporal generalization procedures (Experiment 1) and verbal estimation procedures (Experiments 2 and 3) all showed that subjective durations of the tones were considerably longer than those of unfilled intervals defined either by clicks or gaps, with the unfilled intervals being judged as approximately 55%-65% of the duration of the filled ones when real duration was the same. Analyses derived from the pacemaker-switch-accumulator clock model incorporated into scalar timing theory suggested that the filled/unfilled difference in mean estimates was due to higher pacemaker speed in the former case, although conclusively ruling out alternative interpretations in terms of attention remains difficult.     

Recurring errors among recent history of psychology textbooks

Five recurring errors in history of psychology textbooks are discussed. One involves an identical misquotation. The remaining examples involve factual and interpretational errors that more than one and usually several textbook authors made. In at least 2 cases some facts were fabricated, namely, so-called facts associated with Pavlov's mugging and Descartes's reasons for choosing the pineal gland as the locus for mind-body interaction. A fourth example involves Broca's so-called discovery of the speech center, and the fifth example involves misinterpretations of Lloyd Morgan's intentions regarding his famous canon. When an error involves misinterpretation and thus misrepresentation, I will show why the misinterpretation is untenable.     

A social identity model of riot diffusion: From injustice to empowerment in the 2011 London riots

Previous research has shown that riots spread across multiple locations, but has not explained underlying psychological processes. We examined rioting in three locations during the August 2011 disorders in England to test a social identity model of riot diffusion. We triangulated multiple sources to construct a narrative of events; and we analysed interviews with 68 participants to examine experiences. In line with the model, we found evidence for two pathways of influence: “cognitive” and “strategic”. For some participants, previous rioting was highly self-relevant, and shared identity was the basis of their subsequent involvement. For others, previous rioting was empowering because it demonstrated the vulnerability of a common enemy (the police). In each location, interaction dynamics mediated the link between initial perceptions and collective action. The utility of this social identity approach is that it is able to account for both the boundaries and the sequence of urban riot diffusion.     

Posterior parietal cortex as part of a neural network for directed attention in rats

A rodent model of directed attention has been developed based upon behavioral analysis of contralateral neglect, pharmacological manipulations, and anatomical analysis of neural circuitry. In each of these three domains the rodent model exhibits striking similarities to humans. We hypothesize that there is a specific thalamo-cortical-basal ganglia network that subserves spatial attentional functions. Key components of this network are medial agranular and posterior parietal cortex, dorsocentral striatum, and the lateral posterior thalamic nucleus. Several issues need to be addressed before we can hope to realistically understand or model the functions of this network. Among these are the roles of medial versus lateral posterior parietal cortex; cholinergic mechanisms in attention; interhemispheric interactions; the role of synchronous firing at the cortical, striatal, and thalamic levels; interactions between cortical and thalamic projections to the striatum; interactions between cortical and nigral inputs to the thalamus; the role of collicular inputs to the lateral posterior thalamic nucleus; the role of cerebral cortex versus superior colliculus in driving the motor output expressed as orienting behavior during directed attention; the extent to which the circuitry we describe for directed attention also plays a role in other forms of attention.     

Directives anticipées et autonomie de la personne en fin de vie

Advance directives are an instrument used to maintain patients autonomy in case they can no longer decide themselves, according to French law « patients rights and end of life ». However, analysis of the legal procedure does not lead to such a conclusion.     

The challenge of measuring immigrant origin and immigration-related ethnicity in Europe

Different European nation-states use the most diverse statistical constructions of foreign origin or ethnic minority populations. Several countries traditionally even shun from producing such data. This makes international comparison a very difficult endeavour. Anyone wanting to perform comparative research on immigrants or (immigrant origin) ethnic minorities in Europe is unavoidably confronted with the most diverse types of national statistical data and has to opt for ad hoc solutions. Attempts at international comparison can thus be very tricky due to data characteristics. It is important that researchers are aware of these problems and do not simply accept data (especially in comparisons) at face value. In this article we embark on a comparative explorative study of the way in which immigrant background and immigration related ethnicity is taken stock of by national statistical institutes in a set of European nation-states.