Incoming Information Research Articles

How Listening Versus Reading Alters Consumers’ Interpretations of News

This research investigates how listening to versus reading news alters its interpretation. A proposed theory argues that because listeners (vs. readers) are less able to regulate the rate of incoming information, they selectively attend to the more emotionally arousing elements in a story, such as those that are more negative. This selective attention leads listeners to form different interpretations of news than readers, the nature of which depend on the valence of the story. Six main experiments and three supplemental ones (N = 14,744) support the predicted effects on impression formation as well as the proposed mechanism. For example, participants who listened to (vs. read) a mixed-valence news story on the risks and benefits of a product processed its negative details more selectively, and in turn formed more pessimistic impressions of its safety. Moderators are also explored, showing that negativity biases similar to those observed for listeners arose among readers when their control over information flow was restricted, and that a positivity bias arose among listeners when the positive (vs. negative) information in a story was more surprising. Theoretical contributions to previous research on reading versus listening comprehension are discussed, as are the substantive implications for media firms and consumers.

Distinguishing expectation and attention effects in processing temporal patterns of visual input

The current study investigated how the brain sets up expectations from stimulus regularities by evaluating the neural responses to expectations driven implicitly (by the stimuli themselves) and explicitly (by task demands). How the brain uses prior information to create expectations and what role attention plays in forming or holding predictions to efficiently respond to incoming sensory information is still debated. We presented temporal patterns of visual input while recording EEG under two different task conditions. When the patterns were task-relevant and pattern recognition was required to perform the button press task, three different event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were elicited, each reflecting a different aspect of pattern expectation. In contrast, when the patterns were task-irrelevant, none of the neural indicators of pattern recognition or pattern violation detection were observed to the same temporally structured sequences. Thus, results revealed a clear distinction between expectation and attention that was prompted by task requirements. These results provide complementary pieces of evidence that implicit exposure to a stimulus pattern may not be sufficient to drive neural effects of expectations that lead to predictive error responses. Task-driven attentional control can dissociate from stimulus-driven expectations, to effectively minimize distracting information and maximize attentional regulation.

The scope and limits of fine-grained image and category information in the ventral visual pathway.

Humans can easily abstract incoming visual information into discrete semantic categories. Previous research employing functional MRI (fMRI) in humans has identified cortical organizing principles that allow not only for coarse-scale distinctions such as animate versus inanimate objects but also more fine-grained distinctions at the level of individual objects. This suggests that fMRI carries rather fine-grained information about individual objects. However, most previous work investigating fine-grained category representations either additionally included coarse-scale category comparisons of objects, which confounds fine-grained and coarse-scale distinctions, or only used a single exemplar of each object, which confounds visual and semantic information. To address these challenges, here we used multisession human fMRI (female and male) paired with a broad yet homogenous stimulus class of 48 terrestrial mammals, with 2 exemplars per mammal. Multivariate decoding and representational similarity analysis (RSA) revealed high image-specific reliability in low- and high-level visual regions, indicating stable representational patterns at the image level. In contrast, analyses across exemplars of the same animal yielded only small effects in the lateral occipital complex (LOC), indicating rather subtle category effects in this region. Variance partitioning with a deep neural network and shape model showed that across exemplar effects in EVC were largely explained by low-level visual appearance, while representations in LOC appeared to also contain higher category-specific information. These results suggest that representations typically measured with fMRI are dominated by image-specific visual or coarse-grained category information but indicate that commonly employed fMRI protocols may reveal subtle yet reliable distinctions between individual objects.Significance Statement While it has been suggested that functional MRI (fMRI) responses in ventral visual cortex carry fine-grained information about individual objects, much previous research has confounded fine-grained with coarse-scale category information or only used individual visual exemplars, which potentially confounds semantic and visual object information. Here we address these challenges in a multisession fMRI study where participants viewed a highly homogenous stimulus set of 48 land mammals with 2 exemplars per animal. Our results reveal a strong dominance of image-specific effects and additionally indicate subtle yet reliable category-specific effects in lateral occipital complex, underscoring the capacity of commonly employed fMRI protocols to uncover fine-grained visual information.

Retinotopic coding organizes the interaction between internally and externally oriented brain networks.

The human brain seamlessly integrates internally generated thoughts with incoming sensory information, yet the networks supporting internal (default network, DN) and external (dorsal attention network, dATN) processing are traditionally viewed as antagonistic. This raises a crucial question: how does the brain integrate information between these seemingly opposed systems? Here, using precision neuroimaging methods, we show that these internal/external networks are not as dissociated as traditionally thought. Using densely-sampled 7T fMRI data, we defined individualized whole-brain networks from participants at rest and calculated the retinotopic preferences of individual voxels within these networks during an visual mapping task. We show that while the overall network activity between the DN and dATN is independent at rest, considering a latent retinotopic code reveals a complex, voxel-scale interaction stratified by visual responsiveness. Specifically, the interaction between the DN and dATN at rest is structured at the voxel-level by each voxel's retinotopic preferences, such that the spontaneous activity of voxels preferring similar visual field locations is more anti-correlated than that of voxels preferring different visual field locations. Further, this retinotopic scaffold integrates with the domain-specific preferences of subregions within these networks, enabling efficient, parallel processing of retinotopic and domain-specific information. Thus, DN and dATN are not independent at rest: voxel-scale interaction between these networks preserves and encodes information in both positive and negative BOLD responses, even in the absence of visual input or task demands. These findings suggest that retinotopic coding may serve as a fundamental organizing principle for brain-wide communication, providing a new framework for understanding how the brain balances and integrates internal cognition with external perception.

Effects of speech tracking method using hearing aids for hearing disorder in older people.

Speech tracking is defined as a complex act or task of listening in which the learner tracks the speech heard and repeats it as accurately as possible while paying attention to incoming contextual information. This ability involves auditory input, speech output, repetition, and divided attention. In this small-scale study, we aimed to use a speech-tracking method to train older adults with hearing loss and examine its effects on hearing loss from multiple perspectives, including hearing handicap, frailty, and neuropsychological testing. Auditory rehabilitation was provided to older patients who purchased hearing aids at the clinic and wanted to engage in rehabilitation. The Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly, Nursing Home Hearing Handicap Index, speech-tracking rate, Token Test, Communication Activities of Daily Living, Kihon Checklist, Mini-Mental State Examination, Digit Symbol Substitution Test, symbol search, and word recall were used for assessments before and after rehabilitation using the speech-tracking method. Changes in scores of each assessment item and sub-item were examined using Wilcoxon's signed-rank test, and changes per question were examined using the sign test. The speech tracking rate (p<0.001), Token Test score (p<0.001), and Mini-Mental State Examination score (p=0.035) improved significantly after the training. Notably, the speech-tracking rate improved for 31 of the 33 participants, with a maximum increase of 19.6 phrases per minute. The combination of a hearing aid and the speech-tracking method improved auditory comprehension.

Highly scalable quantum router with frequency-independent scattering spectra

Abstract Optical quantum routers play a crucial role in quantum networks and have been extensively studied in both theory and experiment, leading to significant advancements in their performance. However, these routers impose stringent requirements for achieving desired routing results, as the incident photon frequency must be in strict resonance with one or several specific frequencies. To address this challenge, we propose an efficient quantum router scheme composed of semi-infinite coupled-resonator waveguide (CRW) and a giant atom. The single-channel router scheme enables stable output with 100% transfer rate over the entire energy band of the CRW. Leveraging this intriguing result, we further propose a multi-channel router scheme that possesses high stability and universality, while also being capable of performing various functionalities. The complete physical explanation of the underlying mechanism for this intriguing result is also presented. We hope that quantum router with output results unaffected by the frequency of the incoming information carriers presents a more reliable solution for the implementation of quantum networks.

"All the Stars Will Be Wells with a Rusty Pulley": Neural Processing of the Social and Pragmatic Content in a Narrative.

Making sense of natural language and narratives requires building and manipulating a situation model by adding incoming information to the model and using the context stored in the model to comprehend subsequent details and events. Situation model maintenance is supported by the default mode network (DMN), but comprehension of the individual moments in the narrative relies on access to the conceptual store within the semantic system. The present study examined how these systems are engaged by different narrative content to investigate whether highly informative, or semantic, content is a particularly strong driver of semantic system activation compared with contextually driven content that requires using the situation model, which might instead engage DMN regions. The study further investigated which subregions of the graded semantic hub in the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL) were engaged by the type of narrative content. To do this, we quantified the semantic, pragmatic, social, ambiguous, and emotional content for each sentence in a complete narrative, the English translation of The Little Prince. Increased activation in the transmodal hub in the ventral ATL was only observed for high semantic (i.e., informative) relative to low semantic sentences. Activation in the dorsolateral and ventrolateral ATL subregions was observed for both high relative to low semantic and social content sentences, but the ventrolateral ATL effects were more extensive in the social condition. There was high correspondence between the social and pragmatic content results, particularly in the ventrolateral ATL. We argue that the ventrolateral ATL may be particularly engaged by internal, or endogenous, processing demands, aided by functional connections between the anterior middle temporal gyrus and the DMN. Pragmatic and social content may have driven endogenous processing given the pervasive and plot-progressing nature of this content in the narrative. We put forward a revised account of how the semantic system is engaged in naturalistic contexts, a critical step toward better understanding real-world semantic and social processing.

The narrative structure of working cognition: Combining the Theory of Narrative Thought and Conviction Narrative Theory

I have combined two theories of narrative cognition to produce an integrated and more complete theory, called the theory of Narratively Structured Cognition (NSC). The latter is about how incoming information from the internal and external environments is structured by time and causality as the past causing the present, which will cause the future. This structure is narrative in form and is called the working narrative. It is a cognitive mechanism for predicting the future, which is called the expected future. The real future has yet to happen, so it cannot be evaluated for looming threats, but the expected future can be. Detected threats prompt action to delay, diminish, or eliminate them before the future becomes the present and the damage is done. NSC is presented first, followed by a brief comparison of the two earlier theories and how NSC combines them. Then uses for the expanded theory are discussed: The working narrative as the source of the everyday narratives we use for thinking and communication; research on narrative comprehension and use, and similar work; NSC as a foundational backstory for theories about everyday narratives and for other theories that use narrative as a core concept. I close with some very tentative suggestions about using NSC, or parts of it, to provide AI with a conscience.

A default mode network subsystem supports both item and associative word encoding: Insights from a meta-analysis

Abstract Recent meta-analytic evidence has underscored the significant role of the default mode network (DMN) in facilitating item word encoding. This study builds on this finding through a comprehensive meta-analysis of fMRI-based subsequent memory studies that use words as stimuli. The results highlight several key functions within the DMN. Firstly, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) subsystem of the DMN plays a pivotal role in enhancing successful word encoding, suggesting its vital involvement in the semantic processing of incoming verbal information. Secondly, the utility of the dmPFC subsystem extends beyond item word encoding to associative word encoding tasks, demonstrating its broad applicability in verbal information encoding. Thirdly, regions within the left inferior frontal cortex, a core component of the dmPFC subsystem, show increased activity during associative compared to item word encoding, emphasizing their role in integrating verbal information with contextual details. Contrary to previous research that linked the DMN with encoding interference—often attributed to the core subsystem’s tendency for mind-wandering—this study highlights the facilitative role of the dmPFC subsystem in memory encoding. The contrasting roles of the DMN subsystems, both interfering and facilitating, challenge traditional views and advocate for a more nuanced understanding of the network’s role in memory encoding.

Knowledge of Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) in Children among Eye Care Professionals in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Objective: Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI), a brain-based visual disorder that affects neural networks that process incoming visual information throughout the brain, poses challenges in diagnosis and managing visual impairment in children. With the prevalence rise in CVI cases among children, there is a growing demand for ophthalmologists and optometrists to address these conditions, emphasising the importance of improving knowledge and awareness for better visual rehabilitation. This study intends to quantify the level of understanding of CVI in children among eye care professionals in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Material and Methods: Two hundred thirty registered eye care professionals, including ophthalmologists and optometrists across Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, participated in this cross-sectional web-based survey. A standardised questionnaire was created through Google Forms and distributed via social media platforms between April and June 2022.Results: The finding showed that the eye care professionals have significantly basic knowledge regarding CVI in children (x2=369; df=2; p-value≤0.01). Most respondents correctly identified variable loss of vision, visual field defects, and abnormal behaviour as clinical features of CVI in children. Additionally, over half of the respondents selected magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the appropriate investigation choice.Conclusion: These findings indicate that eye care professionals have basic knowledge and awareness of CVI in children. More research is needed to enhance knowledge and raise awareness about CVI in children among eye-care professionals.

Fostering Creativity in Order to Develop Mental Model Templates for Planning in National Emergencies

National Emergencies set the need for quick responses and actions from all institutions that are responsible for national security and/or citizens’ health. Course of action development as part of mitigation planning in such situations, is a complex and difficult procedure because of the uncertainty of the future events, the risk associated with decisions for human actions and the time pressure because of the emergency. This means that planning for addressing national emergencies is not a common and simple task. Moreover, because emergencies appear seldom, most of the stakeholders have lack of experience. Thus, they need more time to assimilate the incoming information into their mission planning process and finally to propose the appropriate courses of actions. An antidote to the above difficulties can be the appropriate training in combination with the enhancement of the creativity of the stakeholders. In order to address that, we propose a novel methodology of creating mind map templates, based on creativity techniques, for specific operations that can be applied to national emergencies. Our methodology, called “MEMOS”, was developed according to the relative theoretical frameworks and then tested with a case study, including hypothetical security scenarios in national emergency situations. The proposed templates can be used as inspiration tools or idea tanks in order to guide and speed up the process of course of action development in mitigation planning for similar future security operations.

Timecourse of bottom-up and top-down language processing during a picture-based semantic priming task

ABSTRACT Understanding spoken language requires rapid analysis of incoming information at multiple levels. Information at lower levels (e.g. acoustic/phonetic) cascades forward to affect processing at higher levels (e.g. lexical/semantic), and higher-level information may feed back to influence lower-level processing. Most studies have sought to examine a single stage of processing in isolation. Consequently, there is a poor understanding of how different stages relate temporally. In the present study, we characterise multiple stages of linguistic processing simultaneously as they unfold. Listeners (N = 30) completed a priming task while we collected their EEG, where a picture (e.g. of a peach) biased them to expect a target word from a minimal pair (e.g. beach/peach). We examine the processes of perceptual gradiency, semantic integration, and top-down feedback, to yield a more complete understanding of how these processes relate in time. Then, we discuss how the results from simplified priming paradigms may compare to more naturalistic settings.

The relationship between the concepts of intelligence and artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is needed to perceive, remember, creatively process incoming information an order of magnitude better and faster than natural intelligence (or in reverse order), constantly replenish its reserves in order to make extraordinary decisions and actions in specific situations. However, without natural intelligence, all this is impossible to do, and therefore it would be correct to say about the improvement of the prototype (its elements), and not the creation of an artificial prototype.

Advancing Zebrafish Husbandry: Takeaways From the 2024 Husbandry Workshop and Husbandry Summit.

The 2024 Zebrafish Husbandry Workshop and Summit held during the World Aquaculture Society Meeting in San Antonio focused on key areas for improving zebrafish husbandry research. Discussions highlighted the need for comprehensive literature on husbandry, better communication and collaboration between researchers and facility staff, and the adoption of a standardized reference diet. Current literature lacks comprehensive data and often overlooks crucial factors such as housing density and space requirements for fish development. Collaborative efforts between researchers and facility managers are essential for acquiring accurate husbandry data and minimizing pathogen risks. Standardizing descriptive language and parameter lists in publications and enhancing communication between facilities can improve research quality. Action items proposed include better communication of incoming fish information, standardization of pathogen monitors, transparency in husbandry practices, and fostering a spirit of collaboration among organizations. The summit emphasized the importance of increased PI awareness about husbandry, testing existing standardized diets, forming consortia to oversee diet standardization, creating unified repositories and forums, and conducting evidence-based husbandry studies.

PECULIARITIES OF INFORMATION AND ANALYTICAL SUPPORT IN DECISION-MAKING WITHIN GOVERNMENT BODIES

The modern world is increasingly entering the era of an information society, where the role of information becomes ever more significant. Information is accumulating rapidly and in large volumes, so quickly that people struggle to process and thoroughly comprehend the incoming information flow, leading to an overall reduction in usable information. In order to process relevant data effectively in the context of professional or other activities today, it is no longer sufficient to rely solely on traditional administrative experience to make informed management decisions. It is essential to incorporate scientific knowledge, comprehensive awareness, analytical and forecasting skills, as well as socio-political responsibilities, with an appropriate recognition of these processes. This is particularly relevant for public administration bodies—both central and regional levels of executive state power—and increasingly for local government authorities, which are gaining more authority as part of the decentralization process. In Ukraine, in particular, the ideology and framework for interaction between the state and society are changing, with an increased use of decentralization mechanisms that delegate specific functions and powers from state bodies (to varying degrees) to the level of territorial communities and even to civil society. The purpose of this article is to define the peculiarities of information and analytical support in the decision-making process within government bodies. The article systematizes approaches to information and analytical support in public administration. It identifies the subjects and objects of the information and analytical support system in state management processes and specifies the goals of such support. It justifies the need to highlight the key elements of the information and analytical support system for public administration. The article also outlines the principles guiding information and analytical activities conducted by government and local authorities. Levels of information and analytical work are established, taking into account the temporal dimension. Furthermore, the article identifies issues with information and analytical support in government bodies in Ukraine and suggests ways to address these challenges.

Gatekeeping Perspektif Bruce Westle and Malcolm Mclean Dalam Produksi Berita Online www.wonogirikab.go.id

The Wonogiri Regency Government has a website called www.wonogirikab.go.id, which every day provides information in the form of news, appeals, or announcements. The content presented is in the form of activities by Regional Apparatus Organizations (OPD), the regent's agenda, and Wonogiri Regional government programs. From this, the media needs to filter incoming information through a strategy called gatekeeping. This gatekeeping strategy aims to reduce media inaccuracies in presenting news. In this research, the author uses the gatekeeping theory of Bruce Westley and Malcolm McLean which emphasizes the role of a gatekeeper. Gatekeepers are individuals who carry out gatekeeping from pre-production to post-production of online news. Research method through case studies. Data collection techniques include documentation, interviews, and observation. Data analysis uses the Miles and Huberman model, including data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The results of research in the field showed that in the gatekeeping process from pre-production to post-production of news on the website www.wonogirikab.goid, the duties of a reporter and editor were only carried out by one person. Pre-production starts with determining news criteria, team discussions, and on-location coverage. The production process is carried out by cameramen and reporters when looking for information. Lastly, post-production is the editing stage by the editor and approval by the Head of the Wonogiri Regency Communication and Information Service.

Schema-driven prediction effects on episodic memory across the lifespan.

The predictive processing framework posits that one of the main functions of the brain is to anticipate the incoming information. Internal models facilitate interactions with the world by predicting future states against which actual evidence is compared. The difference between predicted and actual states, the prediction error (PE), signals novel information. However, how PE affects cognitive processing downstream is not fully understood: one such aspect pertains to how PE influences episodic memories, and whether those effect on memory differ across the lifespan. We examine the relationship between PE and episodic memory in children, young and older adults. We use a novel paradigm whereby rich visual narratives are used to build action schemas that enable probing different mnemonic aspects. To create different levels of PE, we manipulate the story endings to be either expected, neutral or unexpected with respect to the unfolded action. We show that (i) expected endings are better encoded than neutral endings and (ii) unexpected endings improve the encoding of mismatching events and other aspects of the narrative. These effects are differentially modulated across the lifespan with PE-driven encoding being more prominent in children and young adults and with schema integration playing a larger role on memory encoding in older adults. These results highlight the role of predictions by enriching past experiences and informing future anticipations.This article is part of the theme issue 'Elements of episodic memory: lessons from 40 years of research'.

An empirical investigation of the linkages between conventional and organic milk markets in Austria

This work investigates the strength and the pattern of linkages among the three markets of qualitatively differentiated milk (i.e., conventional, organic without heymilk, and organic with heymilk) in Austria using the flexible TVP-VAR frequency connectedness approach and information on prices from 2018 to 2023. The main empirical findings are: (a) Taken together, the markets have maintained a moderate degree of connectedness to each other.&amp;nbsp; (b) Price linkages have been frequency-dependent; much of the adjustments to incoming information have been completed within 3 months. (c) Connectedness has been asymmetric; the highest quality (organic with heymilk) has been a net transmitter of price shocks to organic without heymilk. (d) The intensity of connectedness has been time-varying; however, the internal structure of the market network (i.e., the net transmitters and receivers of price shocks) has remained fairly stable.

VARIABLE ASSESSMENT OF THE TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS SCHEME FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF GOODS TO THE TRADE NETWORK

The distribution of goods to the trade network is a complex process that requires a careful approach to determining the hierarchical structure of the interaction of participants in the logistics chain and planning their activities. An essential element of this process is choosing the configuration of the transport and logistics scheme, which ensures efficient and timely delivery of goods to the trade network. In this study, we propose to carry out a variable assessment of the efficiency of the distribution of goods according to basic schemes on the ground of taking into account a set of factors, such as the distance of transportation, volume of cargo, delivery terms, specific costs for transportation and storage of freight, the impact of changes in the speed of movement and the time of cargo operations. It makes it possible to present the choice of a rational transport and logistics scheme in the form of an optimisation process to make it more flexible and adaptable to the changing conditions that characterise the current distribution of goods. The article aims to establish a rational structure for determining the efficiency of the delivery of goods to the trade network based on evaluating a sensible version of the transport and logistics scheme, which ensures the conditions for implementing technological operations in time. The methodological basis for establishing a rational version of the transport and logistics scheme is a developed structural model of the influence of input parameters on the total costs and timeliness of delivery of a batch of goods to the trade network. Such a research model describes the functional relationship between incoming information flows about the volumes of orders for the delivery of goods, the nature of changes in the parameters of cars in motion and under loading-unloading, information about the structure of the available car fleet, and the characteristics of the communication network and the controlling influences represented by the choice of a rational total of trunk and delivery routes. Designating a logical sequence of communication between these flows enables determining the value of the components of the efficiency criterion of the transport and logistics delivery system. We established that the transport and logistics scheme of delivery is the basis for the development of transportation routes and the organisation of the functioning of warehouse distribution complexes. The developed structure for evaluating the efficiency of the delivery of goods to the trade network allows for determining the core conditions of activity of the logistics chain participants and specifying a set of technical, operational, and economic indicators of their work. Accounting for the time parameters of the transport and logistics chain enables taking into account the influence of fluctuations in the high-speed mode of movement and idle time at loading and unloading points. The developed models for estimating the time parameters of cargo delivery facilitate efficient planning of the transportation routes and determine the rational time for delivery of each consignment. All local models work in a complex with the general structure of evaluating the efficiency of goods delivery and ensuring a more efficient and transparent management of logistics processes. Their use allows logistics companies to reduce delivery costs, improve the quality of customer service, and increase the competitiveness of the trading network in the market. Keywords: delivery, product, trade network, delivery chain, logistics system.

NEED FOR RECEIVING HEALTH INFORMATION THROUGH COMMUNITY RADIO SPEAKERS IN HIEP AN WARD, THU DAU MOT CITY, BINH DUONG PROVINCE

Loudspeakers are one of the state's means of communication used to propagate policies in recent times and have been very effective, contributing to propaganda and the development of legal policies. The issue of health communication has been effectively adopted through programs on health policy and health science. In order to have a scientific basis for surveying the role of loudspeakers in the new period in urban areas, creating a basis to advise industries, especially the health sector, on the satisfaction and effectiveness of loudspeakers. clear towards the people. With 7 in-depth interview samples in qualitative research conducted in Hiep An ward, Thu Dau Mot city, about the need to use and develop a quantitative assessment toolkit in the future. The results show that the rate of information reception is quite high, the age of reception increases gradually with age, the listening time per day fluctuates but still reaches a high rate, satisfaction with loudspeakers reaches a high level and the need to receive information from community loudspeakers in the future. Conclusion: Media reception from speakers is quite high, the received content is not proactive, so the incoming information does not meet the needs of today's low-tech and diverse media society. Therefore, there is a great need for a quantitative study with a more representative sample size to demonstrate the qualitative results that this study brings and at the same time, survey the content and effectiveness of health communication content from loudspeakers.