On the role of peripheral visual afferent information for the control of rapid video-aiming movements

It has been shown that, even for very fast and short duration movements, seeing one's hand in peripheral vision, or a cursor representing it on a video screen, resulted in a better direction accuracy of a manual aiming movement than when the task was performed while only the target was visible. However, it is still unclear whether this was caused by on-line or off-line processes. Through a novel series of analyses, the goal of the present study was to shed some light on this issue. We replicated previous results showing that the visual information concerning one's movement, which is available between 40 degrees and 25 degrees of visual angle, is not useful to ensure direction accuracy of video-aiming movements, whereas visual afferent information available between 40 degrees and 15 degrees of visual angle improved direction accuracy over a target-only condition. In addition, endpoint variability on the direction component of the task was scaled to direction variability observed at peak movement velocity. Similar observations were made in a second experiment when the position of the cursor was translated to the left or to the right as soon as it left the starting base. Further, the data showed no evidence of on-line correction to the direction dimension of the task for the translated trials. Taken together, the results of the two experiments strongly suggest that, for fast video-aiming movements, the information concerning one's movement that is available in peripheral vision is used off-line.     

Binocular depth perception in the pigeon.

By means of a discrete-trial simultaneous discrimination procedure, pigeons were trained to respond differentially to visual arrays that were identical except that one of them contained a circle displaced in depth when viewed stereoscopically. Performance was severely disrupted when one eye was occluded. The monocular deficit was peculiar to the depth task, inasmuch as no such decrement was seen on a pattern discrimination. The results imply that presence of the displaced circle was discriminated on the basis of a binocular cue. It was also found that pigeons could discriminate the direction of the displacement. Discrimination of depth was independent of the global form and still occurred when elements of the array were randomly displaced in depth. Performance was not disrupted when the absolute convergence angle of the depth stimulus was changed. The cue that consistently accounted for the behavior seen was the detection of the relative angles of convergence--that is, the retinal disparity of the two planes in depth. Thus, despite the lateral position of the eyes of the pigeon, a small binocular field mediates the binocular discrimination of near objects in depth.     

观察不同形状和颜色时眼运动的顺序性

实验使用EVM3200型眼动仪测量被试在观察四种不同形状和四种不同颜色时眼运动轨迹的特点,来研究人眼运动的顺序性。结果表明：人眼在观察不同形状和颜色时,眼运动具有时间序列和空间序列的特性;形状和颜色一样具有诱目性序列特征;眼运动凝视点受到刺激所处空间位置的明显影响;首次凝视点是研究眼运动的重要变量。     

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF SCIENCE IN THE DIALOGUE PROPOSED BY WILLIAM KLINK?

Abstract. Klink rejects the use of ecological models in environmental decision making because their predictions cannot be tested by rigorous scientific methods. I argue that models that cannot be tested according to the rigorous standards of the physical sciences can still be considered “scientific”; they are useful (and, in practice, used) for assessing the impacts of human actions on the environment and choosing between alternative courses of action. It is, however, important to be aware of the uncertainties and to make corrections as new data and insights become available. The interplay between (1) model-based decisions and action and (2) their consequences and subsequent corrections can be regarded as a dialogue between humans and nature (or God) in the sense proposed by Klink. Klink also claims that future actions should be informed by the larger vision of theology and should not be based on science. I suggest that science has an indispensible role. The larger vision is needed to respond to the fundamental religious question: How should I live—and why? But this question cannot be answered without first addressing the fundamental scientific question: How does the world work? I suggest that responses to the first question can be formulated as visions of a future state of existence that we feel compelled to strive to realize, and that science is necessary to provide “maps of reality” needed to realize visions. I also suggest that Christian traditions can probably provide adequate visions; the crucial need is for improving our “maps of reality.”     

THREE COMPARATIVE MAPS OF THE HUMAN

Abstract. This article is a response to the 1994 Star Island conference on the "Decade of the Brain" from a Jewish perspective. After a brief introduction about the logical function of models and maps, I compare and contrast three models of the human: Ezekiel's vision of the chariot in the Hebrew Scriptures, Franz Rosenzweig's geometry of the human face in Der Stern der Erlosung (the Star of Redemption), and a standard anatomical picture of the human brain. Whereas Rosenzweigs face is seen to be compatible with Ezekiel's chariot, both are seen to be radically distinct from the implicit conception of what a human being is in modern medical science. I conclude with a suggestion that the differences are to be understood in terms of their different intended functions and express my hope for some new kind of model that will incorporate the functional advantages of both.     

Reduced visual acuity is mirrored in low vision imagery

Research has examined the nature of visual imagery in normally sighted and blind subjects, but not in those with low vision. Findings with normally sighted subjects suggest that imagery involves primary visual areas of the brain. Since the plasticity of visual cortex appears to be limited in adulthood, we might expect imagery of those with adult-onset low vision to be relatively unaffected by these losses. But if visual imagery is based on recent and current experience, we would expect images of those with low vision to share some properties of impaired visual perception. We examined key parameters of mental images reported by normally sighted subjects, compared to those with early- and late-onset low vision, and with a group of subjects with restricted visual fields using an imagery questionnaire. We found evidence that those with reduced visual acuity report the imagery distances of objects to be closer than those with normal acuity and also depict objects in imagery with lower resolution than those with normal visual acuity. We also found that all low vision groups, like the normally sighted, image objects at a substantially greater distance than when asked to place them at a distance that ‘just fits’ their imagery field (overflow distance). All low vision groups, like the normally sighted, showed evidence of a limited visual field for imagery, but our group with restricted visual fields did not differ from the other groups in this respect. We conclude that imagery of those with low vision is similar to that of those with normal vision in being dependent on the size of objects or features being imaged, but that it also reflects their reduced visual acuity. We found no evidence for a dependence on imagery of age of onset or number of years of vision impairment.     

Embodying the psychological attitude: types of consciousness in the transformation of culture

It is time to reclaim C.G. Jung’s vision of psychology as the foundational science upon which all sciences and institutions would be based, and as the discipline, theory, and practice necessary for fostering humanity’s overall psychocultural development. Jung identified eight distinct ‘types’ of consciousness through which humankind engages its emerging psychological attitude. Jung’s view of psychological development as hingeing on the differentiation of function-attitudes provides the means for understanding not only ourselves and each other, but our society as well. This paper offers an example of such an analysis by focusing on the current conflict within American political culture. The goal is as lofty as it is necessary: the operationalization of Jung’s vision of psychology as the powerful influencer of human cultural evolution that it has the potential to be. The immediate goal is to instigate the first step toward this vision of Jung’s ‘complex psychology’ by stimulating conversations among Jungians about how they can foster that vision, leading them towards taking up roles as ‘citizen therapists’, actively involved in their communities in cultivating greater empathy and the withdrawal of projections in the interest of furthering ‘collective consciousness’.     

视觉的知觉-动作双系统理论中的论争

视觉的知觉-动作双系统理论认为,视觉的腹侧和背侧通路是两个独立系统,功能分别为表征世界和指导动作,相对应的视觉加工是彼此分离的。有关两条通路之间关系的其他观点可归结为两类：一类否认这种分工,另一类强调两个系统能相互影响。首先评述各种理论的核心问题、实验证据和贡献,进而分析视觉加工发生在一个特定系统的条件,得出的结论是：两个系统之间的功能划分是相对的,并因此导致了视觉加工的多变性。     

大学生生命愿景、自我效能感与应对方式的关系

采用问卷法以377名大学生为被试研究了生命愿景、一般自我效能感及应对方式的关系。研究结果为:1)大学生生命愿景整体水平较高,存在着性别和年级差异,女生的生命愿景显著高于男生;大一学生显著高于大四;2)生命愿景不同水平的大学生在一般自我效能感上存在显著性差异(t=7.35,p<0.001);在积极应对与消极应对因子上有显著性差异。3)大学生生命愿景与一般自我效能感呈显著正相关,并对自我效能感具有良好的预测作用;4)大学生生命愿景与积极应对方式呈显著正相关,与消极应对方式呈显著负相关;5)大学生生命愿景通过一般自我效能感对应对方式产生间接影响。结论为生命愿景作为应对源对大学生应对校园压力发挥积极作用。     

Development of chromatic induction in infancy

The perception of colour in an embedded field is affected by the surround colour. This phenomenon is known as chromatic induction. In the present study we investigated whether the colour perception by infants aged 5–7 months could be affected by the surround colour. In Experiments 1 and 2 each stimulus was composed of an array of six squares in tandem. The colour appearance of the array in the familiarization stimulus was established by chromatic induction. In Experiment 1 we used familiarization stimuli that were perceived as two‐colour array with a two‐colour surround. In Experiment 2 we used a familiarization stimulus that was perceived as a uniform‐colour array with a two‐colour surround. In the test phase, the uniform‐colour array and the two‐colour array were presented on a white uniform‐colour surround in both experiments. The results showed that in Experiment 1 the 5‐ and 7‐month‐old infants had novelty preference for the uniform‐colour test array. This suggested that the infants' colour perception could be affected by surround colour. The results of Experiment 2 showed that the 7‐month‐olds showed a novelty preference for the two‐colour test array, but the 5‐month‐olds showed no novelty preference. This suggested that 7‐month‐olds' colour perception could be affected by surround colour, but that of 5‐month‐olds could not. We discuss the contradiction of the results between Experiments 1 and 2. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.