The Role of Visual Eccentricity on Preference for Abstract Symmetry

This study tested preference for abstract patterns, comparing random patterns to a two-fold bilateral symmetry. Stimuli were presented at random locations in the periphery. Preference for bilateral symmetry has been extensively studied in central vision, but evaluation at different locations had not been systematically investigated. Patterns were presented for 200 ms within a large circular region. On each trial participant changed fixation and were instructed to select any location. Eccentricity values were calculated a posteriori as the distance between ocular coordinates at pattern onset and coordinates for the centre of the pattern. Experiment 1 consisted of two Tasks. In Task 1, participants detected pattern regularity as fast as possible. In Task 2 they evaluated their liking for the pattern on a Likert-scale. Results from Task 1 revealed that with our parameters eccentricity did not affect symmetry detection. However, in Task 2, eccentricity predicted more negative evaluation of symmetry, but not random patterns. In Experiment 2 participants were either presented with symmetry or random patterns. Regularity was task-irrelevant in this task. Participants discriminated the proportion of black/white dots within the pattern and then evaluated their liking for the pattern. Even when only one type of regularity was presented and regularity was task-irrelevant, preference evaluation for symmetry decreased with increasing eccentricity, whereas eccentricity did not affect the evaluation of random patterns. We conclude that symmetry appreciation is higher for foveal presentation in a way not fully accounted for by sensitivity.     

Art Expertise Reduces Influence of Visual Salience on Fixation in Viewing Abstract-Paintings

When viewing a painting, artists perceive more information from the painting on the basis of their experience and knowledge than art novices do. This difference can be reflected in eye scan paths during viewing of paintings. Distributions of scan paths of artists are different from those of novices even when the paintings contain no figurative object (i.e. abstract paintings). There are two possible explanations for this difference of scan paths. One is that artists have high sensitivity to high-level features such as textures and composition of colors and therefore their fixations are more driven by such features compared with novices. The other is that fixations of artists are more attracted by salient features than those of novices and the fixations are driven by low-level features. To test these, we measured eye fixations of artists and novices during the free viewing of various abstract paintings and compared the distribution of their fixations for each painting with a topological attentional map that quantifies the conspicuity of low-level features in the painting (i.e. saliency map). We found that the fixation distribution of artists was more distinguishable from the saliency map than that of novices. This difference indicates that fixations of artists are less driven by low-level features than those of novices. Our result suggests that artists may extract visual information from paintings based on high-level features. This ability of artists may be associated with artists’ deep aesthetic appreciation of paintings.     

Food Preference,Keeper Ratings,and Reinforcer Effectiveness in Exotic Animals: The Value of Systematic Testing

Food preference describes the behavior of selecting between items for consumption; reinforcer effectiveness is the functional effect of that item in controlling behavior. Food preference and reinforcer effectiveness were examined in giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and African elephants (Loxodonta africana). A pairwise comparison between food items was used to assess food preference. High-, moderate-, and low-preference items were selected and tested for reinforcer effectiveness. High-preference items controlled behavior more effectively than less-preferred items. Caregiver ratings of food preferences were also collected for each subject, but these reports did not necessarily coincide with actual subject preferences. Caregiver ratings correlated with the food preferences of only 1 individual of each species; thus, preferences of 1 nonhuman animal may be falsely generalized to all animals of that species. Results suggest that food choice and reinforcer effectiveness should be investigated empirically and not rely on anecdotal reports.     

心理疲劳对情绪图片注意偏向的研究

目的:探讨在实验室中诱发心理疲劳后是否会对带有负性情绪的图片产生注意偏向。方法:选取34名某军医大学本科生为被试者,记录被试者完成认知负荷任务后的主观情绪体验成绩及疲劳量表得分,并采集被试者对情绪性图片进行的点探测任务的反应时及错误率。结果:在主观报告上,被试者的负性情绪和躯体疲劳感得分显著高于完成认知任务前,在点探测任务的行为数据上,被试者对于带有负性情绪的图片的反应时长于带有正性情绪的图片,反应错误率也高于正性图片。结论:认知负荷任务能够有效诱发被试者的躯体疲劳感和负性情绪。具有疲劳感和负性情绪的被试者并未对带有负性情绪的图片产生注意偏向。     

The Nature and Value of Bioethics Expertise

In this article, I address the extent to which experts in bioethics can contribute to healthcare delivery by way of aid in clinical decision‐making and policy‐formation. I argue that experts in bioethics are moral experts, in that their substantive moral views are more likely to be correct than those of non‐bioethicists, all else being equal, but that such expertise is of use in a relatively limited class of cases. In so doing, I respond to two recent arguments against the view that bioethicists are moral experts, one by Christopher Cowley and another by David Archard. I further argue that bioethics experts have significant additional contributions to make to healthcare delivery, and highlight a hitherto neglected aspect of that contribution: amelioration of moral misconception among clinicians. I describe in detail several aspects of moral misconception, and show how the bioethicist is in a prime position to resolve that sort of error.     

The Influence of Dominance on Shelter Preference and Eviction Rates in the Crayfish, Orconectes rusticus

The establishment and reinforcement of dominance status is thought to provide an individual with increased access to preferred resources, such as food, mates, and shelter. Resources within an environment vary based on their availability, abundance, and specific characteristics of the resource. Animals can exhibit preferences for resources by increasing the intensity of competition for access to the resource. We investigated the role that dominance has in acquiring and controlling resources within crayfish populations. Populations of 5 size‐matched crayfish were allowed to establish a social hierarchy in the presence of shelters of differing structure in 10 different trials. Crayfish agonistic interactions and the use and control of shelters were quantified from 96 h continuous video recordings. Shelter preference was defined by crayfish use of specific shelter types that were occupied for longer durations. Analysis of the social hierarchy demonstrated that crayfish have a linearity hierarchy in this context. In addition, it is clear that dominance rank had a significant impact on shelter use, shelter acquisition, and shelter eviction. Crayfish with lower average dominance ranks selected specific shelter types (smaller and fewer openings). Dominant crayfish used big shelters and were less likely to be evicted from shelters. These results demonstrate that dominance in crayfish serves a role in the acquisition of resources and is also important for the control of those resources.     

The Influence of Emotion on Keyboard Typing: An Experimental Study Using Auditory Stimuli

In recent years, a novel approach for emotion recognition has been reported, which is by keystroke dynamics. The advantages of using this approach are that the data used is rather non-intrusive and easy to obtain. However, there were only limited investigations about the phenomenon itself in previous studies. Hence, this study aimed to examine the source of variance in keyboard typing patterns caused by emotions. A controlled experiment to collect subjects’ keystroke data in different emotional states induced by International Affective Digitized Sounds (IADS) was conducted. Two-way Valence (3) x Arousal (3) ANOVAs was used to examine the collected dataset. The results of the experiment indicate that the effect of arousal is significant in keystroke duration (p < .05), keystroke latency (p < .01), but not in the accuracy rate of keyboard typing. The size of the emotional effect is small, compared to the individual variability. Our findings support the conclusion that the keystroke duration and latency are influenced by arousal. The finding about the size of the effect suggests that the accuracy rate of emotion recognition technology could be further improved if personalized models are utilized. Notably, the experiment was conducted using standard instruments and hence is expected to be highly reproducible.     

The Influence of Work-Related Chronic Stress on the Regulation of Emotion and on Functional Connectivity in the Brain

Despite mounting reports about the negative effects of chronic occupational stress on cognitive and emotional functions, the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Recent findings from structural MRI raise the question whether this condition could be associated with a functional uncoupling of the limbic networks and an impaired modulation of emotional stress. To address this, 40 subjects suffering from burnout symptoms attributed to chronic occupational stress and 70 controls were investigated using resting state functional MRI. The participants'' ability to up- regulate, down-regulate, and maintain emotion was evaluated by recording their acoustic startle response while viewing neutral and negatively loaded images. Functional connectivity was calculated from amygdala seed regions, using explorative linear correlation analysis. Stressed subjects were less capable of down-regulating negative emotion, but had normal acoustic startle responses when asked to up-regulate or maintain emotion and when no regulation was required. The functional connectivity between the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex correlated with the ability to down-regulate negative emotion. This connectivity was significantly weaker in the burnout group, as was the amygdala connectivity with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the motor cortex, whereas connectivity from the amygdala to the cerebellum and the insular cortex were stronger. In subjects suffering from chronic occupational stress, the functional couplings within the emotion- and stress-processing limbic networks seem to be altered, and associated with a reduced ability to down-regulate the response to emotional stress, providing a biological substrate for a further facilitation of the stress condition.     

健康教育及心理护理对突发性耳聋患者的负性情绪及患者满意度的影响

目的:探讨健康教育及心理护理对突发性耳聋患者的负性情绪及患者满意度的影响。方法:将120例突发性耳聋患者随机分入对照组与观察组,每组各60例。给予对照组患者常规护理措施,观察组患者接受系统的健康教育及个体化的心理护理。采用焦虑自评量表(SAS)以及抑郁自评量表(SDS)对两组干预前后负性情绪进行评估,同时比较两组临床疗效及患者满意度。结果:治疗后观察组SAS评分及SDS评分显著低于对照组(P<0.05);观察组与对照组治疗总有效率分别为78.3%和61.7%,差别具有统计学意义(P<0.05);治疗后观察组患者满意率显著高于对照组(95.0%vs 81.7%,P<0.05)。结论:对突发性耳聋患者采取系统的健康教育,同时给予个体化的心理干预,可显著减轻患者的负性情绪,提高临床疗效及患者满意度。     

The Influence of Interspecific Competition and Host Preference on the Phylogeography of Two African Ixodid Tick Species

A comparative phylogeographic study on two economically important African tick species, Amblyomma hebraeum and Hyalomma rufipes was performed to test the influence of host specificity and host movement on dispersion. Pairwise AMOVA analyses of 277 mtDNA COI sequences supported significant population differentiation among the majority of sampling sites. The geographic mitochondrial structure was not supported by nuclear ITS-2 sequencing, probably attributed to a recent divergence. The three-host generalist, A. hebraeum, showed less mtDNA geographic structure, and a lower level of genetic diversity, while the more host-specific H. rufipes displayed higher levels of population differentiation and two distinct mtDNA assemblages (one predominantly confined to South Africa/Namibia and the other to Mozambique and East Africa). A zone of overlap is present in southern Mozambique. A mechanistic climate model suggests that climate alone cannot be responsible for the disruption in female gene flow. Our findings furthermore suggest that female gene dispersal of ticks is more dependent on the presence of juvenile hosts in the environment than on the ability of adult hosts to disperse across the landscape. Documented interspecific competition between the juvenile stages of H. rufipes and H. truncatum is implicated as a contributing factor towards disrupting gene flow between the two southern African H. rufipes genetic assemblages.     

When Challenging Art Gets Liked: Evidences for a Dual Preference Formation Process for Fluent and Non-Fluent Portraits

Although fluency theory predominates psychological research on human aesthetics, its most severe limitation may be to explain why art that challenges or even violates easy processing can nevertheless be aesthetically rewarding. We discuss long-standing notions on art’s potential to offer mental growth opportunities and to tap into a basic epistemic predisposition that hint at a fluency counteracting aesthetic pleasure mechanism. Based on divergent strands of literature on empirical, evolutionary, and philosophical aesthetics, as well as research on disfluency, we presumed that challenging art requires deliberate reflexive processing at the level of “aboutness” in order to be experientially pleasing. Here, we probed such a cognitive mastering mechanism, achieved by iterative cycles of elaboration, as predicted by our model of aesthetic experiences. For the study, two kinds of portraits were applied, one associable to a high fluency and one to a high stimulation potential (according to results of an extensive rating study). In Experiment 1, we provided a repeated evaluation task, which revealed a distinctive preference effect for challenging portraits that was absent in the visual exposition conditions of a familiarity and a mere exposure task (Experiment 2). In a follow-up task (Experiment 3) this preference effect was observed with a novel and more encompassing pool of portraits, which corroborated its stability and robustness. In an explorative stimulus-transfer task (Experiment 4), we investigated the presumed underlying mechanism by testing whether the observed effect would generalize onto novel portraits of the same artist-specific styles. Results discounted an alternative interpretation of a perceptual adaptation effect and hinted at meaning-driven mental activity. Conjointly, findings for inexperienced viewers were indicative of an elaboration based mastering mechanism that selectively operated for mentally challenging portraits. Moreover, findings were in line with a dual-process view of human preference formation with art. Theoretical implications and boundary conditions are discussed.     

人为刺激奔跑训练对驯养猎豹的影响

对上海野生动物园内的6头驯养猎豹采取人工刺激的方法让它们逐步恢复短距离急速奔跑,并将这6头猎豹的行为、生理生化指标和精液与园内圈养和半散养的6头猎豹加以比较,结果表明训练后猎豹正在逐步恢复捕食、交配等野外行为特性,而且训练后猎豹的血红蛋白含量等生理生化指标和精液质量与圈养和半散养的猎豹发生了较为显著的变化.本研究结果对于保护及展示猎豹这一特有物种起到一定的积极作用.     

The Influence of Learning on Host Plant Preference in a Significant Phytopathogen Vector,Diaphorina citri

Although specialist herbivorous insects are guided by innate responses to host plant cues, host plant preference may be influenced by experience and is not dictated by instinct alone. The effect of learning on host plant preference was examined in the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri; vector of the causal agent of citrus greening disease or huanglongbing. We investigated: a) whether development on specific host plant species influenced host plant preference in mature D. citri; and b) the extent of associative learning in D. citri in the form of simple and compound conditioning. Learning was measured by cue selection in a 2-choice behavioral assay and compared to naïve controls. Our results showed that learned responses in D. citri are complex and diverse. The developmental host plant species influenced adult host plant preference, with female psyllids preferring the species on which they were reared. However, such preferences were subject to change with the introduction of an alternative host plant within 24–48 hrs, indicating a large degree of experience-dependent response plasticity. Additionally, learning occurred for multiple sensory modalities where novel olfactory and visual environmental cues were associated with the host plant. However, males and females displayed differing discriminatory abilities. In compound conditioning tasks, males exhibited recognition of a compound stimulus alone while females were capable of learning the individual components. These findings suggest D. citri are dynamic animals that demonstrate host plant preference based on developmental and adult experience and can learn to recognize olfactory and visual host plant stimuli in ways that may be sex specific. These experience-based associations are likely used by adults to locate and select suitable host plants for feeding and reproduction and may suggest the need for more tailored lures and traps, which reflect region-specific cultivars or predominate Rutaceae in the area being monitored.     

The Influence of Perceptual Training on Working Memory in Older Adults

Normal aging is associated with a degradation of perceptual abilities and a decline in higher-level cognitive functions, notably working memory. To remediate age-related deficits, cognitive training programs are increasingly being developed. However, it is not yet definitively established if, and by what mechanisms, training ameliorates effects of cognitive aging. Furthermore, a major factor impeding the success of training programs is a frequent failure of training to transfer benefits to untrained abilities. Here, we offer the first evidence of direct transfer-of-benefits from perceptual discrimination training to working memory performance in older adults. Moreover, using electroencephalography to evaluate participants before and after training, we reveal neural evidence of functional plasticity in older adult brains, such that training-induced modifications in early visual processing during stimulus encoding predict working memory accuracy improvements. These findings demonstrate the strength of the perceptual discrimination training approach by offering clear psychophysical evidence of transfer-of-benefit and a neural mechanism underlying cognitive improvement.     

The Influence of Target Animacy and Social Rank on Hand Preference in Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus)

International Journal of Primatology - Brain hemispheres have different functions and control the movements of the contralateral side of the body. One of these functions is processing emotions. The...     

认知风格、内外向和情绪对军人认知反应能力的影响

该文主要通过测评研究认知风格、内外向和情绪对军人认知反应能力的影响。结果表明,场独立性者对图形的认知反应能力比场依赖性者强,情绪稳定性高者的认知反应能力好于情绪稳定性低者,外向性格者的认知反应能力总体上要高于内向性格者。