The Embodied Penman: Effector‐Specific Motor–Language Integration During Handwriting

Several studies have illuminated how processing manual action verbs (MaVs) affects the programming or execution of concurrent hand movements. Here, to circumvent key confounds in extant designs, we conducted the first assessment of motor–language integration during handwriting—a task in which linguistic and motoric processes are co‐substantiated. Participants copied MaVs, non‐manual action verbs, and non‐action verbs as we collected measures of motor programming and motor execution. Programming latencies were similar across conditions, but execution was faster for MaVs than for the other categories, regardless of whether word meanings were accessed implicitly or explicitly. In line with the Hand‐Action‐Network Dynamic Language Embodiment (HANDLE) model, such findings suggest that effector‐congruent verbs can prime manual movements even during highly automatized tasks in which motoric and verbal processes are naturally intertwined. Our paradigm opens new avenues for fine‐grained explorations of embodied language processes.     

A generalized visual latency explanation of the Pulfrich phenomenon.

The classical visual latency explanation of the Pulfrich phenomenon is generalized to allow for the possibility that the visual system uses velocity information from motion detectors to compensate for spatial lag due to time lag, in identifying the instantaneous position of a moving object. The results of the reported experiment verify one consequence of the generalized version: the elliptical apparent path is skewed away from the filtered eye. The results suggest also that the extrapolation factor increases with visual latency and that there is a different extrapolation factor for each eye when the eyes are illuminated unequally.     

NEWSART: Negative binomial weighted spectral analysis in real time

In this paper, digital filters are described for concurrent adaptive estimation of the spectral powers at several target frequencies. Least-squares estimation is used, with a tapered weight function that discounts time-series data according to age. Frequency selectivity and reliability of spectral estimates are controlled by different parameters. The spectral windows are closely approximated by Student’st distribution, which is useful in the planning of experiments.     

FORTRAN subroutine for an EEG feedback digital filter

A method of constructing digital filters is outlined and illustrated in an application for research uses of EEG feedback. The method is based on least squares estimation with geometric weighting. Old data in the time series are discounted according to age, as new data arrive. Recurrence relations are used, allowing the computations to be performed in real time. A FORTRAN digital filter is formulated that simultaneously estimates (1) the spectral power in a band centered at a target frequency, (2) the total spectral power, and (3) the dominant frequency.     

Playing it by ear: Overcoming the limitations of speech synthesizers

Inexpensive speech synthesizers are now available that either plug into the card slots on computers or connect to their serial ports. With some practice in listening, the speech produced by these synthesizers is quite intelligible, and because they present information that appears on the screen of the monitor, they make it possible for blind persons to interact with computers. However, they provide only a partial solution. In too many instances, some of the text appearing on the monitor screen cannot be directed to the synthesizer, and the missing information is often crucial. This happens because the writers of application programs sometimes modify the computer’s disk operating system. This limitation can be overcome by using special hardware that reads the screen buffer directly and creates a virtual image of the screen in memory external to the computer. Because the image is updated continually, it is always an accurate representation of whatever appears on the screen. The characters contained in the external buffer can be sent to a speech synthesizer, and can be examined selectively by means of a small keyboard. Several successful hardware solutions have been demonstrated, and one of these solutions is described here in detail.     

The Intergenerational Transmission of Party Preferences in Multiparty Contexts: Examining Parental Socialization Processes in the Netherlands

Research shows that parents have a strong influence on the party preferences of their children. Yet little is known about how such preferences are transmitted in multiparty systems with weak party identification and high electoral volatility. We propose a model of intergenerational transmission that includes both direct effects of parents' party preferences on those of their children, as well as indirect effects through left–right and issue positions. We test this model with original survey data of Dutch adolescents (14–20 years old) and their parents (N = 751 adolescent-parent pairs). We find two paths through which parents exert influence on the party preferences of their adolescent children. On the first path, parental party preferences function as a direct predictor of adolescent party preferences. On the second path, adolescent left–right and issue positions function as a mediator between parental left–right and issue positions and adolescent party preferences, with the effect of left–right positions being stronger than that of issue positions. The frequency with which adolescents discuss political topics with their parents moderates these effects.     

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