Reading aloud pseudohomophones in Italian: Always an advantage

In the present article, the lexical contribution to nonword reading was evaluated using Italian pseudohomophones that contained atypical letters or letter sequences. Pseudohomophones were read faster than orthographically matched nonwords in both mixed (Experiment 1) and pure (Experiment 2) lists; in addition, a base-word frequency effect was obtained in both conditions. The same pseudohomophone advantage was observed when nonwords without atypical letter sequences were mixed in the experimental list (Experiment 3 ), and it disappeared only in lexical decision, in which pseudohomophones were rejected as quickly as control nonwords. The pattern of results was explained by assuming that, due to their orthographic properties, the Italian pseudohomophones did not benefit from an orthographic lexical contribution and were mainly processed through the interaction system between the sublexical mechanisms and the phonological output lexicon.     

Brightness for different surround conditions: the effect of transient glare

We measured the effect of a transient glare source on t heperceived brightness of astandard luminance (L(STD)) patch (0.5 cd/m2) as a function of the surround luminance (Ls). In the experiment, both increment and decrement stimuli were dependent on the value of the Ls (0.01, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 cd/m2). We adopted a magnitude comparison paradigm using constant stimuli to determine the test matching luminance (L(M)). When L(S) was lower than the luminance of the patch, which corresponds to increments, LM was lower than L(STD), and this effect was highest for the lowest L(S). There was a small but noticeable cusp as increments shifted to decrements. As L(S) increased further (i.e., as the decrement grew), L(M) flattened out below L(STF). The overall pattern of results could be interpreted in terms of the concept of contrast brightness, with consideration of the intrinsic differences in brightness evaluations between decrements and increments.     

Phonological and working memory mechanisms involved in written spelling

Recent theories of spelling based on neuropsychological data and on computational modelling (Caramazza & Miceli, 1990; Caramazza, Miceli, Villa, & Romani, 1987; Glasspool & Houghton, 2005; Glasspool, Shallice, & Cipolotti, 2006; Miceli & Capasso, 2006; Rapp & Kong, 2002) assume that a working memory system is used to store identity and order of the graphemes, and propose that an impairment of this system, called Graphemic Buffer (GB), is marked by the presence of a number of typical effects. Recently, this disorder has been simulated by different versions of the Competitive Queuing model (Glasspool & Houghton, 2005; Glasspool et al., 2006). The effect of the disruption of this mechanism in written spelling was investigated by means of a dual task in the present study. Three-syllable and four-syllable words were presented to normal adults for aural presentation (Experiment 1) and spelling by copying (Experiment 2). In order to investigate the effects of dual tasks, and the possible involvement of phonological codes, three conditions were used: simple dictation, concurrent articulation, and foot tapping. The results showed strong effects of concurrent articulation, and were consistent with the hypothesis that this task disrupted the serial operations of readout and sequential planning of the GB. They were also consistent with the simulations of the Competitive Queuing model, suggesting possible loci of the effects.     

Individual Differences in Spatial Memory and Striatal ChAT Activity among Young and Aged Rats

Individual differences in spatial memory among young and aged rats were assessed using memory tasks related to integrity of the hippocampus and the neostriatum. Relationships were then examined between measures of spatial memory and regional choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity, a marker for cholinergic integrity. Twenty-four-month-old Long-Evans rats were impaired in comparisons with 6-month-old rats on measures of place learning, working memory, reference memory, and perseveration in water-maze tasks. Aged rats that were impaired on one measure of memory, however, were not necessarily impaired on other measures. ChAT activity in the ventromedial and dorsolateral neostriatum of aged rats was significantly reduced in comparisons with young rats whereas no difference was found in the hippocampus. Aged rats with the most ChAT activity in the anterior ventromedial neostriatum performed best on the place-learning and reference memory tasks but also made the most perseverative errors on the working memory task. In addition, young and aged rats with the most ChAT activity in the anterior dorsolateral neostriatum were those with the least accurate working memory. No relationships were found between ChAT activity in the hippocampus and spatial memory. Thus age-related memory impairment has components that can be segregated by measuring relationships between cholinergic integrity in subregions of the anterior neostriatum and memory tasks with different strategic requirements.     

Prehension movements and perceived object depth structure

This study asked the question, “Will the motor pattern to a perceived two-dimensional (2-D) object differ from that same object when it is perceived as three dimensional (3-D)?” Subjects were required to reach and grasp an apple that could appear to be 2-D or 3-D. Two experimental sessions were conducted. In Condition A, the apple was initially perceived to be 2-D, but, for 20% of trials, it suddenly shifted to a 3-D apple at movement onset. In Condition B, the apple was initially perceived to be 3-D, but, for 20% of trials, it suddenly shifted to a 2-D silhouette of the same apple. For control trials, subjects grasped the perceived 2-D apple as if it were a disc (82%), and they grasped the 3-D apple, as they would a normal apple, with a whole-hand grasp (86%). For Condition A perturbed trials, there was a rapid change from a 2-D precision grip to a 3-D whole-hand prehension, whereas the converse was true for the opposite perturbation. Peak acceleration was anticipated for Condition A perturbed trials but not for Condition B perturbed trials. These results indicate that the motor patterns we use in interacting with an object are strongly influenced by the way we perceive the object in real time, and that object affordances, such as dimension, can override the influence exerted by existing representations.     

Do ‘literate’ pigeons (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Columba livia</Emphasis>) show mirror-word generalization?

Many children pass through a mirror stage in reading, where they write individual letters or digits in mirror and find it difficult to correctly utilize letters that are mirror images of one another (e.g., b and d). This phenomenon is thought to reflect the fact that the brain does not naturally discriminate left from right. Indeed, it has been argued that reading acquisition involves the inhibition of this default process. In the current study, we tested the ability of literate pigeons, which had learned to discriminate between 30 and 62 words from 7832 nonwords, to discriminate between words and their mirror counterparts. Subjects were sensitive to the left–right orientation of the individual letters, but not the order of letters within a word. This finding may reflect the fact that, in the absence of human-unique top-down processes, the inhibition of mirror generalization may be limited.     

Selective reaching in macaques: evidence for action-centred attention

Animal Cognition - When a monkey selects a piece of food lying on the ground from among other viable objects in the near vicinity, only the desired item governs the particular pattern and direction...     

The discursive construction of community identity

The aim of this article is to illustrate how a discourse‐oriented approach would open new theoretical and methodological perspectives to the study of community identity. Here outlined is the idea that community identity is discursively constructed by members in order to lend meaning to experience. An analysis of how community identity is constructed in subjects' discourse with reference to the local context is presented. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.