Face-specific capacity limits under perceptual load do not depend on holistic processing

Previous observations that face recognition may proceed automatically, without drawing on attentional resources, have been challenged by recent demonstrations that only a few faces can be processed at one time. However, a question remains about the nature of the stimulus properties that underlie face-specific capacity limits. Two experiments showed that speeded categorization of a famous face (such as a politician or pop star) is facilitated when it is congruent with a peripheral distractor face. This congruency effect is eliminated if the visual search is loaded with more than one face, unlike previous demonstrations of speeded classification using semantic information. Importantly, congruency effects are also eliminated when the search task is loaded with nontarget faces that are shown in an inverted orientation. These results indicate that face-specific capacity limits are not determined by the configural (“holistic”) properties of face recognition.     

Standard errors and confidence intervals in within-subjects designs: Generalizing Loftus and Masson (1994) and avoiding the biases of alternative accounts

Repeated measures designs are common in experimental psychology. Because of the correlational structure in these designs, the calculation and interpretation of confidence intervals is nontrivial. One solution was provided by Loftus and Masson (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 1:476-490, 1994). This solution, although widely adopted, has the limitation of implying same-size confidence intervals for all factor levels, and therefore does not allow for the assessment of variance homogeneity assumptions (i.e., the circularity assumption, which is crucial for the repeated measures ANOVA). This limitation and the method's perceived complexity have sometimes led scientists to use a simplified variant, based on a per-subject normalization of the data (Bakeman & McArthur, Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 28:584-589, 1996; Cousineau, Tutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology 1:42-45, 2005; Morey, Tutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology 4:61-64, 2008; Morrison & Weaver, Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 27:52-56, 1995). We show that this normalization method leads to biased results and is uninformative with regard to circularity. Instead, we provide a simple, intuitive generalization of the Loftus and Masson method that allows for assessment of the circularity assumption.     

Tool-use in the brown bear (Ursus arctos)

This is the first report of tool-using behaviour in a wild brown bear (Ursus arctos). Whereas the use of tools is comparatively common among primates and has also been documented in several species of birds, fishes and invertebrates, tool-using behaviours have so far been observed in only four species of non-primate mammal. The observation was made and photographed while studying the behaviour of a subadult brown bear in south-eastern Alaska. The animal repeatedly picked up barnacle-encrusted rocks in shallow water, manipulated and re-oriented them in its forepaws, and used them to rub its neck and muzzle. The behaviour probably served to relieve irritated skin or to remove food-remains from the fur. Bears habitually rub against stationary objects and overturn rocks and boulders during foraging and such rubbing behaviour could have been transferred to a freely movable object to classify as tool-use. The bear exhibited considerable motor skills when manipulating the rocks, which clearly shows that these animals possess the advanced motor learning necessary for tool-use. Advanced spatial cognition and motor skills for object manipulation during feeding and tool-use provide a possible explanation for why bears have the largest brains relative to body size of all carnivores. Systematic research into the cognitive abilities of bears, both in captivity and in the wild, is clearly warranted to fully understand their motor-learning skills and physical intelligence related to tool-use and other object manipulation tasks.     

保护洞天福地 建立人间仙境——四川新津县老君山的历史与现状

在锦官之城——成都以南新津县境内有一座名为老君山的道教仙山。老君山古称天社山、稠山。据传,自古以来老君山是祭天的神圣空间,但它的主要法     

身体的“大理性”(下)——论查拉图斯特拉的第四篇演说

五、身体的意义 查拉图斯特拉在给予蔑视身体的人以唯一忠告--这忠告完全可以通过上下文前后一致地推导出来,即让他们变成"哑巴"--之后,引用了一个孩子的言论,虽然他完全了解,这其实是大多数成年人会使用的说话方式:"‘我是身体和灵魂'--孩子如此说道.为什么人们不像孩子这样说呢?"(39)     

身体的“大理性”(上)——论查拉图斯特拉的第四篇演说

在查拉图斯特拉以"蔑视身体者"为题的第四篇演说中可以找到一个表达方式,它无比精辟地阐明了"存在"最为深邃庞大的谜题之一.它就是"身体的'大理性'"这一用语.