Auditory spatial concepts in blind football experts

ObjectivesWe compared the spatial concepts given to sounds' directions by blind football players with both blind non-athletes and sighted individuals.MethodParticipants verbally described the directions of sounds around them by using predefined spatial concept labels, under two blocked conditions: 1) facing front, 2) pointing with the hand towards the stimulus.ResultsBlind football players categorized the directions more precisely (i.e., they used simple labels for describing the cardinal directions and combined labels for the intermediate ones) than the other groups, and their categorization was less sensitive to the response conditions than blind non-athletes. Sighted participants' categorization was similar to previous studies, in which the front and back regions were generally more precisely described than the sides, where simple labels were often used for describing directions around the absolute left and right.ConclusionsThe differences in conceptual categorization of sound directions are a) in sighted individuals, influenced by the representation of the visual space b) in blind individuals, influenced by the level of expertise in action and locomotion based on non-visual information, which can be increased by auditive stimulation provided by blind football training.     

Cognitive representation of auditory space in blind football experts

ObjectivesWe compared the mental representation of sound directions in blind football players, blind non-athletes and sighted individuals.DesignStanding blindfolded in the middle of a circle with 16 loudspeakers, participants judged whether the directions of two subsequently presented sounds were similar or not.MethodStructure dimensional analysis (SDA) was applied to reveal mean cluster solutions for the groups.ResultsHierarchical cluster analysis via SDA resulted in distinct representation structures of sound directions. The blind football players' mean cluster solution consisted of pairs of neighboring directions. The blind non-athletes also clustered the directions in pairs, but included non-adjacent directions. In the sighted participants' structure, frontal directions were clustered pairwise, the absolute back was singled out, and the side regions accounted for more directions.ConclusionsOur results suggest that the mental representation of egocentric auditory space is influenced by sight and by the level of expertise in auditory-based orientation and navigation.     

词边界信息在中文词汇学习与识别中的作用:眼动研究的证据

空格作为英语等大多数拼音文字阅读中的词边界信息,能帮助读者成功地从文本的一连串的字母中切分出词,促进了词汇的习得和识别。然而在中文里没有明确的词边界信息,那么提供词边界信息(即加入空格)能否促进中文词汇识别或帮助读者学习新词?本文将从空格对成人、儿童和留学生在阅读中眼动控制的影响来回顾和总结词边界信息在中文词汇识别与学习中的作用。在此基础上,提出对建立汉字与词汇识别模型、眼动控制模型以及对指导汉语教学工作的启示。     

Serotonin transporter and BDNF polymorphisms interact to predict trait worry

Background and Objectives: Excessive worry is associated with a range of psychological disorders. While previous studies have examined genes associated with a range of different anxiety phenotypes, none have explored genes specifically associated with the general tendency to worry. Design: The present study tested associations between trait worry and functional polymorphisms of three candidate genes: the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) of the SLC6A4 gene, the Val66Met region of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene, and the Val158Met region of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene. Methods: A heterogeneous sample of adult participants (n = 173) completed the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) and provided DNA samples for genotyping. Results: Results revealed a significant interaction between 5-HTTLPR and BDNF genotypes predicting levels of worry. Specifically, there was a significant positive association between 5-HTTLPR short alleles and PSWQ scores, but only in BDNF met allele carriers. COMT genotype was not significantly associated levels of worry, nor did COMT interact with 5-HTTLPR or BDNF genotypes to predict PSWQ scores. Conclusions: These findings provide preliminary evidence about the putative genetic etiology of worrying. Key limitations of the present study and corresponding directions for future research on this topic are discussed.     

A latent class distance association model for cross‐classified data with a categorical response variable

In this paper we propose a latent class distance association model for clustering in the predictor space of large contingency tables with a categorical response variable. The rows of such a table are characterized as profiles of a set of explanatory variables, while the columns represent a single outcome variable. In many cases such tables are sparse, with many zero entries, which makes traditional models problematic. By clustering the row profiles into a few specific classes and representing these together with the categories of the response variable in a low‐dimensional Euclidean space using a distance association model, a parsimonious prediction model can be obtained. A generalized EM algorithm is proposed to estimate the model parameters and the adjusted Bayesian information criterion statistic is employed to test the number of mixture components and the dimensionality of the representation. An empirical example highlighting the advantages of the new approach and comparing it with traditional approaches is presented.     

Uncovering unknown unknowns: Towards a Baconian approach to management decision-making

Bayesian decision theory and inference have left a deep and indelible mark on the literature on management decision-making. There is however an important issue that the machinery of classical Bayesianism is ill equipped to deal with, that of “unknown unknowns” or, in the cases in which they are actualised, what are sometimes called “Black Swans”. This issue is closely related to the problems of constructing an appropriate state space under conditions of deficient foresight about what the future might hold, and our aim is to develop a theory and some of the practicalities of state space elaboration that addresses these problems. Building on ideas originally put forward by Bacon (1620), we show how our approach can be used to build and explore the state space, how it may reduce the extent to which organisations are blindsided by Black Swans, and how it ameliorates various well-known cognitive biases.     

The power of the imagination to affect peripersonal space representations

It is known that visual processing is altered for objects near the hands as well as for objects near the imagined position of the hands, indicating that the imagination can be used to remap peri-hand space. Little is known, however, about the physical conditions that allow for this remapping. In the present study, participants in one experiment performed visual searches through displays that were beyond reach while imagining that their hands were near the display. This imagined impossible posture slowed visual search rates, showing that imagination effectively remapped peri-hand space to be near the display. In another experiment, participants searched displays they were holding, but sometimes imagined their hands to be far away. This produced faster search rates, revealing a remapping of peri-hand space away from the monitor. The results provide new insights into the mechanisms involved in the representation of peri-hand space and about the power of imagined actions to influence body representations.     

Physical and perceptual accuracy of upright and inverted face drawings

This study considers the conception that drawing or copying a face that is vertically inverted will improve the accuracy of the drawing by preventing holistic interference. We used a novel parameterized face space both for generating face stimuli and for measuring the physical accuracy of drawings. One group of participants (the artists) were asked to draw 16 parameterized faces (eight upright and eight inverted). We computed two physical measures of accuracy by comparing the face-space representation of each drawing to the original face. A second and third group of participants (the raters) compared the similarity between each original face and each pair of drawings of that face (one upright and one inverted per artist). For the second group, all faces were presented upright; for the third group, all faces were presented inverted. Our results showed that upright drawings were more accurate than inverted drawings, both in terms of the physical face-space measure and in terms of the perceptual judgments for both orientations. Our data suggest that holistic processing may aid rather than hinder face drawing accuracy.     

A psychophysiological and driving performance evaluation of focal and ambient visual processing demands in simulated driving

Research has focused little on the ambient and focal visual channels within which driving and side-task information can be processed. In the current experiment, for the purpose of demonstrating differentiation of focal and ambient visual processing attentional demands on driving performance and physiological response, subjects participated in a dual-task driving simulation that contained focal and ambient components. We hypothesized that ambient demands would not have any effects on driving performance or physiological response, whereas the focal-side-task would cause a deterioration in driving performance and specific changes in physiological response. Support for these hypotheses would provide evidence that focal visual processing is attention demanding, whereas the processing of ambient visual information is not.Some results suggest that ambient visual information was processed pre-attentively, whereas focal visual information requires attentional resources to be processed. Driving performance deteriorated and changes in physiological response occurred when the focal side-task was added to driving, but not when the ambient side-task was added. However, we failed to see predicted changes in driving performance and physiological response as the demands of the focal and ambient components of the driving simulation varied. The results of the current study suggest that a differentiation in attention demands between focal and ambient vision does exist, but that further research is needed to better understand the nature and practical consequences of the differentiation.