Mental simulation of four visual object properties: similarities and differences as assessed by the sentence–picture verification task

In the sentence–picture verification (SPV) task, people read sentences implying the shape/size/colour/orientation of objects. They then verify whether pictured objects, which either match or mismatch the implied visual information mentioned in the sentence. Faster verification times on matching trials (match advantage) are considered supportive to the notion that readers perform mental simulations during sentence comprehension. This study advances this work by applying a within-subjects design to the SPV-task, enabling us to directly address the strength of and correlation between the match advantages for the properties shape, size, colour, and orientation. Results showed varying match advantages with colour showing the strongest effect, and no match advantage for orientation. Shape, size, and colour were significantly correlated, whereas there were no significant correlations with orientation. These findings suggest that interpretations of match advantages could benefit from a re-evaluation of mental simulation accountsby distinguishing between intrinsic (shape, size, and colour) and extrinsic (orientation) object properties.     

镜像神经元的发现及其对身心二元论的超越

镜像神经元是意大利帕尔玛大学Rizzolatti等人在恒河猴大脑腹侧运动前皮层F5区发现的一种神经元。这种神经元在猴子操作和观察同一个指向某种目标的动作时(如伸手抓食物)皆被激活,似乎这种神经元映射了其它个体的动作,因此被命名为“镜像神经元”。镜像神经元通过具身的模拟把动作的执行和动作的知觉结合在一起,把观察过程与身体运动过程相融合,克服了二元论在身心之间所设置的障碍,为人们正确认识身心关系开辟了新的视角。     

Risk behaviour and mental workload: Multimodal assessment techniques applied to motorbike riding simulation

We present data from an ongoing research project on the cognitive, emotional and neuropsychological basis of risk behaviour. The main aim of the project is to build a model of risk behaviour so that if we know certain cognitive, behavioural and emotional variables, we will be able to predict decisions made in the face of uncertainty and risk, with the final goal of designing programs for evaluating, preventing and controlling risk behaviour. The objective of the present study was to look for individual differences in hazard perception during a static riding simulation and their relationship with mental workload. We used a multidimensional methodology, including behavioural, subjective and physiological data. The behavioural measures were obtained in a static riding simulation during eight hazard situations. We evaluated whether eye activity measures correlated with cognitive workload and different types of risky behaviours. Eye movement parameters were measured using a video-based eye tracking system. We found that risk-prone individuals showed specific patterns of risky behaviours and that peak of saccadic velocity and subjective mental workload indexes were both reliable indicators of risk proneness. Mental workload was higher for participants showing attitudes to risk behaviours probably because of a lack of conscious awareness of specific cues indicating dangerous scenarios.     

EMPATHY AND THE EXTENDED MIND

I draw upon the conceptual resources of the extended mind thesis (EM) to analyze empathy and interpersonal understanding. Against the dominant mentalistic paradigm, I argue that empathy is fundamentally an extended bodily activity and that much of our social understanding happens outside of the head. First, I look at how the two dominant models of interpersonal understanding, theory theory and simulation theory, portray the cognitive link between folk psychology and empathy. Next, I challenge their internalist orthodoxy and offer an alternative "extended" characterization of empathy. In support of this characterization, I analyze some narratives of individuals with Moebius syndrome, a kind of expressive deficit resulting from bilateral facial paralysis. I conclude by discussing how a Zen Buddhist ethics of responsiveness is helpful for articulating the practical significance of an extended, body-based account of empathy.     

Does matter really matter? Computer simulations,experiments, and materiality

A number of recent discussions comparing computer simulation and traditional experimentation have focused on the significance of “materiality.” I challenge several claims emerging from this work and suggest that computer simulation studies are material experiments in a straightforward sense. After discussing some of the implications of this material status for the epistemology of computer simulation, I consider the extent to which materiality (in a particular sense) is important when it comes to making justified inferences about target systems on the basis of experimental results.     

The philosophy of simulation: hot new issues or same old stew?

Computer simulations are an exciting tool that plays important roles in many scientific disciplines. This has attracted the attention of a number of philosophers of science. The main tenor in this literature is that computer simulations not only constitute interesting and powerful new science, but that they also raise a host of new philosophical issues. The protagonists in this debate claim no less than that simulations call into question our philosophical understanding of scientific ontology, the epistemology and semantics of models and theories, and the relation between experimentation and theorising, and submit that simulations demand a fundamentally new philosophy of science in many respects. The aim of this paper is to critically evaluate these claims. Our conclusion will be sober. We argue that these claims are overblown and that simulations, far from demanding a new metaphysics, epistemology, semantics and methodology, raise few if any new philosophical problems. The philosophical problems that do come up in connection with simulations are not specific to simulations and most of them are variants of problems that have been discussed in other contexts before. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Studying action representation in children via motor imagery

The use of motor imagery is a widely used experimental paradigm for the study of cognitive aspects of action planning and control in adults. Furthermore, there are indications that motor imagery provides a window into the process of action representation. These notions complement internal model theory suggesting that such representations allow predictions (estimates) about the mapping of the self to parameters of the external world; processes that enable successful planning and execution of action. The ability to mentally represent action is important to the development of motor control. This paper presents a critical review of motor imagery research conducted with children (typically developing and special populations) with focus on its merits and possible shortcomings in studying action representation. Included in the review are age-related findings, possible brain structures involved, experimental paradigms, and recommendations for future work. The merits of this review are associated with the apparent increasing attraction for using and studying motor imagery to understand the developmental aspects of action processing in children.     

基于计算机仿真的颜色认知实验方法研究

近年来计算机仿真的实验研究方法逐渐成为颜色认知研究的主流方法,该方法克服了传统方法的诸多缺陷。本研究在现有技术的基础上构建了颜色研究仿真系统,并改进了CIE规定的有关CRT显示器颜色标定的方法。笔者通过颜色匹配实验考察了人对CRT显示器上仿真照明体颜色外观的辨别精度,结果表明上述颜色仿真系统在颜色认知实验中具有良好的适用性,并发现被试在计算机模拟颜色刺激的条件下,可进行精确的颜色匹配;不同照明条件下的色差有所不同。这些结果也为建立颜色认知模型提供了人的基准匹配数据。     

Smells like sib spirit: kin recognition in three-spined sticklebacks (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gasterosteus aculeatus</Emphasis>) is mediated by olfactory cues

The ability to recognise kin has been demonstrated in several animal species. However, the mechanisms of kin recognition often remain unknown. The most frequently discussed sensory modalities to recognise kin are visual, olfactory and acoustical cues. Three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) are able to differentiate between kin and non-kin when presented visual and olfactory cues combined. To elucidate, which cues they use to recognise kin female sticklebacks were given the choice between two identical computer animations of courting stickleback males. Next to one animation, water conditioned by a brother was added, while near the other, water from an unrelated male was added. In half of the experiments, the brother was familiar while in the other half he was unfamiliar to the female. Both scenarios were carried out with both outbred and inbred fish. The results showed that the females adjusted their choice behaviour according to relatedness. Furthermore, they were able to recognise both familiar as well as unfamiliar brothers. Inbreeding did not affect this ability. Hence, three-spined sticklebacks are able to recognise their relatives using olfactory cues alone. The cognitive mechanisms underlying this ability were independent from familiarity and not impaired by inbreeding.     

Combined reasoning by automated cooperation

Different reasoning systems have different strengths and weaknesses, and often it is useful to combine these systems to gain as much as possible from their strengths and retain as little as possible from their weaknesses. Of particular interest is the integration of first-order and higher-order techniques. First-order reasoning systems, on the one hand, have reached considerable strength in some niches, but in many areas of mathematics they still cannot reliably solve relatively simple problems, for example, when reasoning about sets, relations, or functions. Higher-order reasoning systems, on the other hand, can solve problems of this kind automatically. But the complexity inherent in their calculi prevents them from solving a whole range of problems. However, while many problems cannot be solved by any one system alone, they can be solved by a combination of these systems.We present a general agent-based methodology for integrating different reasoning systems. It provides a generic integration framework which facilitates the cooperation between diverse reasoners, but can also be refined to enable more efficient, specialist integrations. We empirically evaluate its usefulness, effectiveness and efficiency by case studies involving the integration of first-order and higher-order automated theorem provers, computer algebra systems, and model generators.