Mapping the similarity space of paintings: Image statistics and visual perception

What makes two images look similar? Here we test the hypothesis that perceived similarity of artwork is related to basic image statistics to which the early visual system is attuned. In two experiments, we employ multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis of paired-image similarity ratings from observers for paintings. Two sets of images, classified as “landscapes” and “portraits/still-life”, are tested separately. For the landscapes, we find that one of the first two MDS scales of similarity is strongly correlated with a basic greyscale image statistic, whereas the other dimension can be accounted for by a semantic variable (representation of people). For portrait/still-life, the first two MDS scales of similarity are most highly correlated with semantic variables. Linear combinations of statistical and nonstatistical features achieve improved predictive values for the first two MDS scales for both sets. The statistics that play the largest role in shaping similarity judgements in our tests are the activity fraction measure of sparseness and the log-log slope of the spatial frequency amplitude spectrum. We discuss these results in the context of scene perception and in terms of efficient coding of statistical regularities in scenes.     

On the Fundamental Worldview of the Integral Culture: Integrating Science,Religion, and Art: Part One

In the present essay the author suggests that the main reason why history failed to develop societies in harmony with Nature, including our internal nature as well, is that we failed to evaluate the exact basis of the factor ultimately governing our thoughts. We failed to realize that it is the worldview that ultimately governs our thoughts and through our thoughts, our actions. In this work we consider the ultimate foundations of philosophy, science, religion, and art, pointing out that they were and can be again in harmony with each other if their ultimate tasks are specified. It is specified here the first task of philosophy as considering the philosophical significance of the ultimate principles of physics, biology and man/society. These ultimate principles are in direct connection with the ultimate questions of religion. It is shown that the fundamental nature of art makes it able to perceive the ultimate destination of mankind and the Universe, the world-to-be. It is proposed that philosophy, religion and art together are able to supply us with an inter-subjective picture of the world-process, including the inter-subjective picture of the future of mankind and the Universe. Care is taken to enlighten the possible role of values in founding scientific research in the frame of present wide-ranging discussions. It is found that universal values of respect for existence, life and reason represent the inevitable basis of science. The exact foundations of a new, integral worldview are outlined, involving the worldprocess-picture, Nature-picture, images of man, society, self, history and manipulation. A list of our common tasks for founding the Integral Culture is proposed.     

情绪能预测股市吗?

人类的非理性被经济学家Keynes视为是造成经济波动的主要原因, 而情绪是非理性行为的背后推动力之一。那么情绪是否与股票市场波动有关, 甚至预测股市波动？首先, 笔者从心理和神经生理角度出发, 尝试解释决策主体情绪、社会情绪是如何影响个体金融决策的。其次, 笔者将情绪与股市关系研究大致划分为投资者情绪与社会情绪研究。投资者情绪研究主要通过主观调查和客观市场指标构建情绪指标; 而近年来的社会情绪研究, 尤其是基于互联网平台的社会情绪研究, 为情绪与股市关系研究注入了新的活力。关于情绪与股市的关系问题远未定论, 情绪影响股市的内在机制也有待未来研究继续深化。而互联网大数据资源和信息技术在情绪与股市关系这一研究领域中, 将扮演越来越重要的角色。     

卫生服务公平性--政府职能与作用研究

我国的卫生服务面临许多问题,包括区域规划不合理、资源严重不足但又存在浪费等,突出的是公平性问题.要解决这些问题不能只依靠市场机制,必须发挥政府的职能与作用,通过立法、加强监督管理、增加投入、卫生规划等手段发展医疗卫生事业,逐步实现卫生服务的公平性.     

经济伦理道德建设：对市场经济的适应和超越

社会主义市场经济发展的现实要求我们必须加强经济伦理学道德建设。经济伦理道德建设必须建立在对市场经济的适应和超越这两个层面上 ,实现构想一种最低要求和最高要求相结合、广泛性和先进性相结合、现实性和理想性相结合的经济伦理道德价值体系 ,为进一步完善和发展社会主义市场经济体系 ,为实现社会主义四个现代化提供坚实的经济伦理保障。     

Comparison between primary and secondary mate markets: an analysis of data from lonely hearts columns

Personal advertisements placed in newspapers can be a good source of information on the dynamics of the human mate market. From an analysis of 1587 (776 female and 811 male) advertisements placed in the local Lower Silesian (Poland) newspaper, we were able to compare primary (never married) (PMM) and secondary (divorced/separated) (SMM) mate markets. When controlling for place of residence, it was revealed that the mean time span between the end of education and the age at which females resort to personal advertisement (7–8 years) is very similar in the three education categories. Men who graduated from high school or university were over-represented on the SMM. There were no differences in the residuals of height, weight or BMI between PMM and SMM for females and significant difference only for men's height with relatively taller men on the SMM for the combined two lower levels of education. We also compared PMM and SMM separately for men and women in terms of the rates of offering and seeking resources, attractiveness, commitment and social skills. PMM and SMM differ in three such categories for men and in four for women. However when controlling for advertiser's age, there were only two differences for women (resources were sought for and attractiveness offered more often on the SMM) and one for men (commitment was sought more frequently on the SMM). This indicates that the difference in preferences should be attributed mainly to the age of subjects and only to a smaller extent to the type of mate market (PMM vs SMM).     

中国体育市场伦理规范的缺损与重构

中国体育市场的法律规范与伦理规范本身具有依存性,中国体育市场现阶段发展主要不是法制缺乏,而是需要重构伦理规范并给法制规范以新的支撑点的问题。     

Imitation,Inspiration, and Creation: Cognitive Process of Creative Drawing by Copying Others' Artworks

To investigate the cognitive processes underlying creative inspiration, we tested the extent to which viewing or copying prior examples impacted creative output in art. In Experiment 1, undergraduates made drawings under three conditions: (a) copying an artist's drawing, then producing an original drawing; (b) producing an original drawing without having seen another's work; and (c) copying another artist's work, then reproducing that artist's style independently. We discovered that through copying unfamiliar abstract drawings, participants were able to produce creative drawings qualitatively different from the model drawings. Process analyses suggested that participants' cognitive constraints became relaxed, and new perspectives were formed from copying another's artwork. Experiment 2 showed that exposure to styles of artwork considered unfamiliar facilitated creativity in drawing, while styles considered familiar did not do so. Experiment 3 showed that both copying and thoroughly viewing artwork executed using an unfamiliar style facilitated creativity in drawing, whereas merely thinking about alternative styles of artistic representation did not do so. These experiments revealed that deep encounters with unfamiliar artworks—whether through copying or prolonged observation—change people's cognitive representations of the act of drawing to produce novel artwork.     

An Aesthetic Review of New Mothers as the Ultimate Weaver: Achieving a Harmonious Integration of Prevalent Discourses and Lived Experience

Experiences in new motherhood are influenced by popular sociological discourses and ideologies. The narratives promoted in these discourses may or may not fit with the subjective experience of the mother. Lacking experience in motherhood, the new mother may misguidedly accept these mainstream discourses and ideologies as standard. The process of adapting and blending sociological narratives to fit with lived experience is similar to the art of weaving. This article, an original argument grounded in relevant literature, explores how new mothers can develop a balanced weave of popular social discourse and her subjective experience by: accepting motherhood as a creative process, being aware of the powerful influence of social constructs on her perceptions, and recognizing the influence of her body/biology on her lived experience. The aesthetic narrative of the spider, the ultimate weaver, accompanies the research presented. Complementary art therapy interventions such as weaving, art boxes, and dolls are discussed.     

论农村卫生服务的内部市场

市场性是农村卫生服务的特征之一,而另一特证———“内部性”却被普通忽略,这导致了把农村卫生服务的市场性推向极端。确立并构建农村卫生服务内部市场,将使卫生院方补偿机制、员工分配机制以及卫生院的积累方式发生变化,对农村卫生院的运行产生根本性的影响。