Development of the system of cognitive functions in right- and left-handed boys aged six to seven years: A study taking into consideration specific features of early ontogeny

Characteristics of early ontogeny and the formation of cognitive functions of left-and right-handed boys six to seven years of age have been studied with the genesis of handedness taken into account. A comparative analysis of cognition in right-and left-handed children has been performed using a unified approach to the history of early ontogeny with special emphasis on cognitive functions. The negative effect of pathological pregnancies and births, as well as disturbances in early ontogeny, on the development of cognitive functions in both left-and right-handed boys has been shown. The most “vulnerable” functions in right-handed boys with a history of various pathologies are the organization of activity and visuospatial perception; in left-handed boys, these are fine motor skills and speech development. In the absence of pathologies in the medical history, significantly higher indices of the organization of activity and visuomotor coordination have been found in right-handed boys and significantly higher indices of visuospatial perception, in left-handed boys.     

Formation of the System of Visual Perception in Ontogeny

Structural, electrophysiological, and behavioral evidence characterizing the specific features of the visual perception at different stages of ontogeny is considered. The main tendency of the formation of the mature type of the brain organization of the visual system is traced from local sensory reactions to active cognitive perception. The formation of the mature type of the organization of the visual perception is largely determined by the involvement of gradually maturing frontal areas. These areas, involved in the processing of sensory-specific information via pathways descending to deep regulatory structures and other cortical areas, provide for a selective dynamic organization of the visual perception system, which functions depending on the specific perceptive task.     

A universal model of esthetic perception based on the sensory coding of natural stimuli

Philosophers have pointed out that there is a close relation between the esthetics of art and the beauty of natural scenes. Supporting this similarity at the experimental level, we have recently shown that visual art and natural scenes share fractal-like, scale-invariant statistical properties. Moreover, evidence from neurophysiological experiments shows that the visual system uses an efficient (sparse) code to process optimally the statistical properties of natural stimuli. In the present work, a hypothetical model of esthetic perception is described that combines both lines of evidence. Specifically, it is proposed that an artist creates a work of art so that it induces a specific resonant state in the visual system. This resonant state is thought to be based on the adaptation of the visual system to natural scenes. The proposed model is universal and predicts that all human beings share the same general concept of esthetic judgment. The model implies that esthetic perception, like the coding of natural stimuli, depends on stimulus form rather than content, depends on higher-order statistics of the stimuli, and is non-intuitive to cognitive introspection. The model accommodates the central tenet of neuroesthetic theory that esthetic perception reflects fundamental functional properties of the nervous system.     

Examining art: dissociating pattern and perceptual influences on oculomotor behaviour

When observing art the viewer's understanding results from the interplay between the marks made on the surface by the artist and the viewer's perception and knowledge of it. Here we use a novel set of stimuli to dissociate the influences of the marks on the surface and the viewer's perceptual experience upon the manner in which the viewer inspects art. Our stimuli provide the opportunity to study situations in which (1) the same visual stimulus can give rise to two different perceptual experiences in the viewer, and (2) the visual stimuli differ but give rise to the same perceptual experience in the viewer. We find that oculomotor behaviour changes when the perceptual experience changes. Oculomotor behaviour also differs when the viewer's perceptual experience is the same but the visual stimulus is different. The methodology used and insights gained from this study offer a first step toward an experimental exploration of the relative influences of the artist's creation and viewer's perception when viewing art and also toward a better understanding of the principles of composition in portraiture.     

Visual arts education provisions for primary schools in Turkey

This article examines the history of art education in Turkey. Since the beginning, the purposes of the arts and art education have been a point of discussion by various authorities. Whether art education should be taught, and how it needs to be taught, have been at the forefront of educationalists' minds. As a result, introducing certain models of art education has been a challenge. The objective of this article is to present the changes in art education since the 19th century in Turkey. The main focus is on art education practices and policies and an overview of key events in Turkey's history of art education. The article also presents issues related to the importance of visual arts education in Turkish primary school settings. In so doing, this research aims to show readers how past developments helped to create the current visual art education policy in Turkey.     

Environmental and genetic effects shape the development of personality traits in the mangrove killifish Kryptolebias marmoratus

Consistent individual differences in behaviour are well documented, for example, individuals can be defined as consistently bold or consistently shy. To date our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning consistent individual differences in behaviour (also termed behavioural types (BTs)) remains limited. Theoretical work suggests life‐history tradeoffs drive BT variation, however, empirical support is scarce. Moreover, whilst life‐history is known to be phenotypically plastic in response to environmental conditions during ontogeny, the extent to which such plasticity drives plasticity in behavioural traits and personality remains poorly understood. Using a natural clonal vertebrate, Kryptolebias marmoratus, we control for genetic variation and investigate developmental plasticity in life‐history and three commonly studied behavioural traits (exploration, boldness, aggression) in response to three ecologically relevant environments; conspecific presence, low food and perceived risk. Simulated predation risk was the only treatment that generated repeatable behaviour i.e. personality during ontogeny. Treatments differed in their effects on mean life‐history and behavioural scores. Specifically, low food fish exhibited reduced growth rate and exploration but did not differ from control fish in their boldness or aggression scores. Conspecific presence resulted in a strong negative effect on mean aggression, boldness and exploration during ontogeny but had minimal effect on life‐history traits. Simulated predation risk resulted in increased reproductive output but had minimal effect upon average behavioural scores. Together these results suggest that life‐history plasticity/variation may be insufficient in driving variation in personality during development. Finally, using offspring derived from each rearing environment we investigate maternal effects and find strong maternal influence upon offspring size, but not behaviour. These results highlight and support the current understanding that risk perception is important in shaping personality, and that social experience during ontogeny is a major influence upon behavioural expression.     

A Psychosemantic Analysis of the Understanding of the Motivational Structure of the Behavior of a Film Character

The psychosemantic approach has developed a number of methodological techniques for studying the distinctive features of artistic perception. These include a multidimensional evaluation by the semantic differential method of a visual relation to a work of art [3,5,7,9, and others]; a procedure for determining the cognitive complexity of perception by Kelly's method of personality constructs [5]; construction of a character similarity matrix on the basis of subjective scaling [12]; and a method of "multiple identification" that evaluates the probability of adopting some particular role position [6]. This line of inquiry has yielded considerable substantive material characterizing the categorical features of visual assessments of a work of art.     

Measurement and modeling of peripheral detection and discrimination thresholds

This report describes experimental measurements of threshold contrasts as a function of the angle to the visual axis (peripheral threshold contrasts). The visual tasks consist in detection (perception of presence) and discrimination (perception of a form feature) of simple visual signs during a fixation period realistic observing conditions being chosen. Proceeding from the experimental findings a model for forecasting off-axis threshold contrast functions on different visual conditions is developed based upon spatial frequency filters. Further with the aid of a known model visibility fields are calculated.     

Pushing back frontiers: Towards a history of art in a global perspective

Traditionally, art history is a discipline focusing on the developments of Western art and architecture. It is time, however, to broaden our perspective. The world is changing, art is changing, somutatis mutandis is art history. This does not happen on its own accord. Art history needs rewriting and art historians have to do it. We need to take a critical look at our premises and points of departure, and we need to change the art historical curricula at universities and art schools. At Leiden University, the Netherlands, the Department of Art History has opted for a new orientation and decided to study the history of art from a global perspective. This means that students will meet with three lines of approach to the visual art and material culture from regions other than the West. Firstly, they are introduced to the art and material culture of Asian, African, and Amerindian civilizations by colleagues from those fields, which Leiden is so fortunate to have. The Faculty of Arts at Leiden University, houses a wide variety of language and culture studies of the world. The second approach focuses on interactions, mutual influences, and interculturalization processes in art and culture. And the third addresses methodical-theoretical reflection on art history in a global perspective. The aim here is to formulate a theoretical framework for the study of art worldwide, thereby pursuing ‘comparative art history’. In order to achieve these perspectives, exchanging ideas and concepts with anthropologists can be very productive.     

Development of Vision and Visual Notions in Infants

The development of basic visual functions in children of the first year of life—the process of preparation of infants for visual perception has been considered. For children at the age until 2 years there were described stages and age standards of formation of visual notions about shape, size, color of stimuli and about their location and translocation in space. The effect of defects of basic visual functions on formation of visual notions is discussed.     

Ontogeny of the pain

The article gives an overview of developmental aspects of the ontogeny of pain both in experimental models and in children. The whole article is devoted to the ontogenesis in pain perception and the possible influence on it. The role of endogenous opioids on the development of pain and other important substances such as serotonin, nerve growth factor (NGF) and nicotine are mentioned. There are also important differences of the ontogenesis of thermal and mechanical nociceptive stimulation. The physiological and pathophysiological findings are the backgrounds for principles of treatment, taking into account the special status of analgesics during ontogeny. In particular there are mentioned the special effects of endogenous opioids and especially morphine. It describes the role of vitamin D and erythropoietin during the development of pain perception. This article also mentioned the critical developmental periods in relation to the perception of pain. The attention is paid to stress and immunological changes during the ontogeny of pain. Another important role is played by microglia. The work is concluded by some statements about the use of physiological and pathophysiological findings during the treatment of pain in pediatric practice. Codein analgesia is also described because codein starts to be very modern drug with the dependence.     

Multi-timescale perceptual history resolves visual ambiguity

When visual input is inconclusive, does previous experience aid the visual system in attaining an accurate perceptual interpretation? Prolonged viewing of a visually ambiguous stimulus causes perception to alternate between conflicting interpretations. When viewed intermittently, however, ambiguous stimuli tend to evoke the same percept on many consecutive presentations. This perceptual stabilization has been suggested to reflect persistence of the most recent percept throughout the blank that separates two presentations. Here we show that the memory trace that causes stabilization reflects not just the latest percept, but perception during a much longer period. That is, the choice between competing percepts at stimulus reappearance is determined by an elaborate history of prior perception. Specifically, we demonstrate a seconds-long influence of the latest percept, as well as a more persistent influence based on the relative proportion of dominance during a preceding period of at least one minute. In case short-term perceptual history and long-term perceptual history are opposed (because perception has recently switched after prolonged stabilization), the long-term influence recovers after the effect of the latest percept has worn off, indicating independence between time scales. We accommodate these results by adding two positive adaptation terms, one with a short time constant and one with a long time constant, to a standard model of perceptual switching.     

The visual system as a constraint on the survival and success of specific artworks

Why should vision science turn its gaze towards artworks? One possibility is that understanding visual processing might yield some fundamental insight into the nature of art. However, there are many examples of phenomena that can be seen - such as automobiles, clouds or leaves - but which are not explained in any deep sense by the properties of human visual perception. We examine one art historical question that might benefit from knowledge about the visual system: why do some artworks 'survive' historically while others fade into the dustbin of time? One possible reason, suggested by studies of rapid visual categorization, is that some objects are recognized more quickly and easily than others and thus are less culturally specific in terms of pictorial representation. A second, related, explanation is that many artistic techniques use the eyes as a channel to evoke other senses, cognition, emotions and the motor system. 'Art' is a social and historical construct - after all, the concept of 'fine art' was invented in the 18th century - and thus many aspects of artistic appreciation are specific to particular cultural and historical contexts. Some great works, however, may be adopted by successive generations because of an ability to appeal to a shared perceptual system.     

When art moves the eyes: a behavioral and eye-tracking study

The aim of this study was to investigate, using eye-tracking technique, the influence of bottom-up and top-down processes on visual behavior while subjects, na?ve to art criticism, were presented with representational paintings. Forty-two subjects viewed color and black and white paintings (Color) categorized as dynamic or static (Dynamism) (bottom-up processes). Half of the images represented natural environments and half human subjects (Content); all stimuli were displayed under aesthetic and movement judgment conditions (Task) (top-down processes). Results on gazing behavior showed that content-related top-down processes prevailed over low-level visually-driven bottom-up processes when a human subject is represented in the painting. On the contrary, bottom-up processes, mediated by low-level visual features, particularly affected gazing behavior when looking at nature-content images. We discuss our results proposing a reconsideration of the definition of content-related top-down processes in accordance with the concept of embodied simulation in art perception.     

The ventriloquist effect results from near-optimal bimodal integration

Ventriloquism is the ancient art of making one's voice appear to come from elsewhere, an art exploited by the Greek and Roman oracles, and possibly earlier. We regularly experience the effect when watching television and movies, where the voices seem to emanate from the actors' lips rather than from the actual sound source. Originally, ventriloquism was explained by performers projecting sound to their puppets by special techniques, but more recently it is assumed that ventriloquism results from vision "capturing" sound. In this study we investigate spatial localization of audio-visual stimuli. When visual localization is good, vision does indeed dominate and capture sound. However, for severely blurred visual stimuli (that are poorly localized), the reverse holds: sound captures vision. For less blurred stimuli, neither sense dominates and perception follows the mean position. Precision of bimodal localization is usually better than either the visual or the auditory unimodal presentation. All the results are well explained not by one sense capturing the other, but by a simple model of optimal combination of visual and auditory information.     

Out of words: The æsthesodic cine‐eye of Robert Gardner: An Exegesis and Interview

Anthropological evaluations of the film work of Robert Gardner have been compromised by their reluctance to engage with it as art, and more broadly, to celebrate rather than vilify the aesthetic possibilities of the genre of ethnographic film. Even recent experiments with reflexivity have done little to challenge the realism that undergirds anthropological reception of non‐fiction film. By contrast, this article and interview considers Gardner's work as both anthropology and art. In particular, it addresses the evolving dialectic of the verbal and the visual in his films, from Bhinden Harbour (1951) to Passenger (1998). It also argues that recent efforts by anthropologists to rethink the concept of culture from a post‐semiotic perspective, foregrounding corporeal embodiment in the constitution of culture as much as the self, expand the theoretical boundaries of visual anthropology. In turn, it suggests that this reorientation towards sensation and perception should allow for a more approbatory understanding of Gardner's films.     

CD38 and CD157 as receptors of the immune system: a bridge between innate and adaptive immunity

This paper reviews some of the results and the speculations presented at the Torino CD38 Meeting in June, 2006 and focused on CD38 and CD157 seen as a family of molecules acting as surface receptors of immune cells. This partisan view was adopted in the attempt to combine the enzymatic functions with what the immunologists consider key functions in different cell models. At the moment, it is unclear whether the two functions are correlated, indifferent, or independent. Here we present conclusions inferred exclusively on human cell models, namely T and B lymphocytes, dendritic cells, and granulocytes. As an extra analytical tool, we try to follow in the history of life when the enzymatic and receptorial functions were generated, mixing ontogeny, membrane localization, and cell anchorage.     

Transactions of the House of Delegates,Los Angeles,April 30-May 3, 1961

The ideal test for visual screening is one which is easily performed by a technician with limited training, inexpensive and not time-consuming, easily understandable by all applicants, and one which will correspond generally with a more thorough examination by an ophthalmologist. The ideal screening technique should test accurately those functions needed for any particular occupation. The visual screeners now in great preponderance have certain advantages for ease and are generally acceptable for approximating the visual acuity. Visual screeners do not accurately test the astigmatic applicant, and they have not proven their value in testing depth perception and color vision. The use of the Harrington Flocks Screener is recommended for testing the visual field. The use of the Verhoeff Steropter for depth perception and the American Optical pseudoisochromatic plates for color testing is recommended when these tests are needed.The old Snellen test cards, or the projector chart for measuring distance vision, and the test cards for measuring near vision are often much more reliable than are the visual screeners.     

Visual perception: knowing what to expect

If perception is hypothesis, where do the hypotheses come from? A new study suggests that the human visual system uses the history of past stimulation to predict its current input.     

The functional impact of mental imagery on conscious perception

Mental imagery has been proposed to contribute to a variety of high-level cognitive functions, including memory encoding and retrieval, navigation, spatial planning, and even social communication and language comprehension. However, it is debated whether mental imagery relies on the same sensory representations as perception, and if so, what functional consequences such an overlap might have on perception itself. We report novel evidence that single instances of imagery can have a pronounced facilitatory influence on subsequent conscious perception. Either seeing or imagining a specific pattern could strongly bias which of two competing stimuli reach awareness during binocular rivalry. Effects of imagery and perception were location and orientation specific, accumulated in strength over time, and survived an intervening visual task lasting several seconds prior to presentation of the rivalry display. Interestingly, effects of imagery differed from those of feature-based attention. The results demonstrate that imagery, in the absence of any incoming visual signals, leads to the formation of a short-term sensory trace that can bias future perception, suggesting a means by which high-level processes that support imagination and memory retrieval may shape low-level sensory representations.