Visual information and rubber hand embodiment differentially affect reach-to-grasp actions

During the “rubber hand illusion” (RHI) participants feel touch originating from an artificial hand, which is felt to belong to the own body. The perceived location of the real hand is shifted towards the location of the artificial hand. However, evidence as to whether the RHI is accompanied by alterations of hand action is mixed. We found that the perceived size of one's own hand was affected by the size of the artificial hand that was used to elicit the illusion. Moreover, we tested a possible transfer of the RHI to a reach-to-grasp action. We observed that hand transport (i.e., reach) errors after RHI induction were independent of artificial hand size, showing that the parameter which is important for these reaching errors is the hand's perceived location. Results thus show that the RHI affects not only perceptual, but also action processing. In contrast, grip aperture was affected by artificial hand size independent of the RHI, suggesting that visual information about hand size affects grasping independent of embodiment of the artificial hand. Grip size increased with artificial hand size; this effect is explained by a higher reliance on proprioceptive information during blind reaching after receiving distorted visual information.     

Exploring cross-task compatibility in perceiving and producing facial expressions using electromyography

Using a dual-task methodology we examined the interaction of perceiving and producing facial expressions. In one task, participants were asked to produce a smile or a frown (Task 2) in response to a tone stimulus. This auditory-facial task was embedded in a dual-task context, where the other task (Task 1) required a manual response to visual face stimuli (visual-manual task). These face stimuli showed facial expressions that were either compatible or incompatible to the to-be-produced facial expression. Both reaction times and error rates (measured by facial electromyography) revealed a robust stimulus–response compatibility effect across tasks, suggesting that perceived social actions automatically activate corresponding actions even if perceived and produced actions belong to different tasks. The dual-task nature of this compatibility effect further testifies that encoding of facial expressions is highly automatic.     

Relationships between number and space processing in adults with and without dyscalculia

A large body of evidence indicates clear relationships between number and space processing in healthy and brain-damaged adults, as well as in children. The present paper addressed this issue regarding atypical math development. Adults with a diagnosis of dyscalculia (DYS) during childhood were compared to adults with average or high abilities in mathematics across two bisection tasks. Participants were presented with Arabic number triplets and had to judge either the number magnitude or the spatial location of the middle number relative to the two outer numbers. For the numerical judgment, adults with DYS were slower than both groups of control peers. They were also more strongly affected by the factors related to number magnitude such as the range of the triplets or the distance between the middle number and the real arithmetical mean. By contrast, adults with DYS were as accurate and fast as adults who never experienced math disability when they had to make a spatial judgment. Moreover, number–space congruency affected performance similarly in the three experimental groups. These findings support the hypothesis of a deficit of number magnitude representation in DYS with a relative preservation of some spatial mechanisms in DYS. Results are discussed in terms of direct and indirect number–space interactions.     

Similarity and categorization: from vision to touch

Even though human perceptual development relies on combining multiple modalities, most categorization studies so far have focused on the visual modality. To better understand the mechanisms underlying multisensory categorization, we analyzed visual and haptic perceptual spaces and compared them with human categorization behavior. As stimuli we used a three-dimensional object space of complex, parametrically-defined objects. First, we gathered similarity ratings for all objects and analyzed the perceptual spaces of both modalities using multidimensional scaling analysis. Next, we performed three different categorization tasks which are representative of every-day learning scenarios: in a fully unconstrained task, objects were freely categorized, in a semi-constrained task, exactly three groups had to be created, whereas in a constrained task, participants received three prototype objects and had to assign all other objects accordingly. We found that the haptic modality was on par with the visual modality both in recovering the topology of the physical space and in solving the categorization tasks. We also found that within-category similarity was consistently higher than across-category similarity for all categorization tasks and thus show how perceptual spaces based on similarity can explain visual and haptic object categorization. Our results suggest that both modalities employ similar processes in forming categories of complex objects.     

The Extended Mind Rehabilitates The Metaphysical Hegel

The nonmetaphysical interpretation of Hegel's philosophy asserts that the metaphysical reading is not credible and so his philosophy must be rationally reconstructed so as to elide its metaphysical aspects. This article shows that the thesis of the extended mind approaches the metaphysical reading, thereby undermining denials of its credibility and providing the resources to articulate and defend the metaphysical reading of Hegel's philosophy. This fully rehabilitates the metaphysical Hegel. The article does not argue for the truth of the metaphysical Hegel's claims. Rather, it defends the correctness of reading his philosophy as metaphysical.     

Athletics and executive functioning: How athletic participation and sport type correlate with cognitive performance

ObjectivesThis study aims to further the knowledge regarding the documented link between physical exercise and cognitive function. Specifically, we examined the relationship between the type and level of sports in which college students participate and their executive functioning (EF).DesignWe utilized a 3-way quasi-experimental design, and grouped participants by athletic status (athlete or non-athlete), sport type (self-paced, externally paced, or non-athlete; see Singer, 2000), and level (high-skilled or recreational).MethodsWe evaluated EF by administering a battery of validated tests of decision making, problem solving, and inhibition.ResultsWe found that athletes scored higher on some of the EF measures than non-athletes. Furthermore, we observed that scores varied by sport type according to which subset of EF each test measured. Self-paced athletes scored highest on an inhibition task, and externally paced athletes scored highest on a problem-solving task.ConclusionsOur results suggest that athletes outperform non-athletes on tests of such EF domains as inhibition and problem solving, and that different types of athletic experience may correlate with higher levels of particular EF domains.     

The paradoxes of permission an action based solution

The aim of this article is to construct a deontic logic in which the free choice postulate allow (Ross, 1941) [11] would be consistent and all the implausible result mentioned in (Hanson, in press) [5] will be blocked. To achieve this we first developed a new theory of action. Then we build a new deontic logic in which the deontic action operator and the deontic proposition operator are explicitly distinguished.     

Domain Specific Relationships of 2D:4D Digit Ratio in Risk Perception and Risk Behavior

The 2D:4D digit ratio (henceforth, 2D:4D) is accepted as a marker of prenatal testosterone, demonstrating gender differences. The present study reveals that 2D:4D shows not only gender differences but also individual differences in personality and risk-taking behavior. We measured individual participants’ 2D:4D, structural personality, and risk-taking attitude scores. The result of the current study replicates the gender difference in 2D:4D in previous researches. However, we found different aspects of the correlations among 2D:4D, personality, and risk-taking attitude. Path analyses indicated that 2D:4D passes through personality factors before reaching the risk-taking attitude, particularly in the financial domain activities of investing and gambling. Also we observed a specific relationship between right-hand 2D:4D and emotionality and between left-hand 2D:4D and agreeableness. Finally, we suggest multiple path models of 2D:4D and personality in risk taking depending on the domain.     

ZYGON 'S DUAL MISSION

The first mission of Zygon has been the exploration of the relation between Religion and Science. The second, I suggest, has been consideration of the relation between Ethics and Technology. Some articles have given attention to the relation of Religion to Ethics, or that of Science to Technology. The interaction of Ethics and Science, and that of Religion and Technology, are also significant. I give examples of articles or symposia in each of these categories and close with great hope for Zygon's future.     

The nature of epistemic feelings

Among the phenomena that make up the mind, cognitive psychologists and philosophers have postulated a puzzling one that they have called “epistemic feelings.” This paper aims to (1) characterize these experiences according to their intentional content and phenomenal character, and (2) describe the nature of these mental states as nonconceptual in the cases of animals and infants, and as conceptual mental states in the case of adult human beings. Finally, (3) the paper will contrast three accounts of the causes and mechanisms of epistemic feelings: the doxastic account; the mental scanner account; and the heuristic mechanism account. The paper will argue in favor of the heuristic mechanism account.