Significant Experimental Effects Research Articles

Phonology, Orthography, and Semantic Activation in Reading Chinese

Phonological and orthographic constraints on semantic activation in reading Chinese were investigated using a phonologically mediated semantic priming technique. In Experiment 1, we observed no significant mediated priming and homophone density effects for homophone mediated primes having no orthographic similarity with semantic primes. Such primes, when they contained regular phonetic radicals, did produce significant effects in Experiment 2. In Experiment 3, targets were facilitated to the same extent by mediated primes that were either orthographically similar and homophonic to or only orthographically similar to semantic primes. In Experiment 4, facilitatory effects equivalent to semantic priming were observed for orthographically similar homophone mediated primes containing regular and consistent phonetic radicals. We argue that access to semantics in reading Chinese is constrained by both phonology and orthography operating in interaction with each other, and that phonology has no inherently privileged role over orthography in constraining semantic activation.

Some advantages of video conferencing over high-quality audio conferencing: fluency and awareness of attentional focus

There are many commercial systems capable of transmitting a video image of parties in a conversation over a digital network. Typically, these have been used to provide facial images of the participants. Experimental evidence for the advantages of such a capability has been hard to find. This paper describes two experiments that demonstrate significant advantages for video conferencing over audio-only conferencing, in the context of a negotiation task using electronically shared data. In the video condition there was a large, high-quality image of the head and upper torso of the participant(s) at the other end of the link and high-quality sound. For the audio-alone condition the sound was the same but there was no video image. The criteria by which these two communication conditions were compared were not the conventional measures of task outcome. Rather, measures relating to conversational fluency and interpersonal awareness were applied. In each of the two experiments, participants completed the same task with data presented by a shared editor. In Experiment 1, they worked in pairs and in Experiment 2 they worked at quartets with two people at each end of the link. Fluency was assessed from transcripts in terms of length of utterance, overlapping speech and explicit questions. Only the latter measure discriminated between the two communication conditions in both experiments. The other measures showed significant effects in Experiment 2 but not in Experiment 1. Given this pattern of results it is concluded that video can result in more fluent conversation, particularly where there are more than two discussants. However, in the case of dyadic conversation auditory cues to turn taking, etc., would seem to suffice. In both experiments there was a large and significant effect on interpersonal awareness as assessed by ratings of the illusion of presence, and most clearly, awareness of the attentional focus of the remote partner (s). In Experiment 2, the ratings for the remote partners were similar to those for the co-located discussants, demonstrating the effectiveness of the video link with regard to these subjective scales.

The Response of Epigeal Beetles (Col.: Carabidae, Staphylinidae) to Varied Grazing Regimes on Upland Nardus stricta Grasslands

1. The effect of different livestock grazing regimes on the insect fauna of an upland, semi-natural grassland was measured in 1993 and 1994 by a survey of the epigeal Carabidae and Staphylinidae within an experiment established in 1991. Grazing by sheep, or sheep and cattle, to achieve two different inter-tussock sward heights, provided four treatments. In addition, a further treatment was ungrazed from 1992 to test the impact on beetles of a short-term cessation of grazing, trampling and dung inputs. 2. Pitfall traps sampled Carabidae and Staphylinidae within the Nardus stricta-dominated grassland of the experiment. Data on these epigeal Coleoptera were collected from April to October in 1993 and 1994; years three and four of the experiment. 3. The epigeal Coleoptera species were ranked by decreasing abundance in traps, where the captures in traps were accumulated for both seasons. The responses to the grazing regimes were analyzed using ANOVA, applied to the most abundant species (that together represented 99% of the two seasons' catch). There were significant experimental effects of grazing regime on five of these 32 Coleoptera species, namely Carabus violaceus, Othius angustus, Pterostichus strenuus, Xantholinus linearis and Olophrum piceum. 4. The ordination technique, Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA), was applied to the data on the Coleoptera assemblage. Variables measured to represent the experimental treatments (mean vegetation height, stocking rate and botanical diversity) and environmental covariables (altitude and aspect) were entered in the direct gradient analysis procedure of CCA. This application of CCA partialled out the effects of altitude and aspect of each plot and revealed the significant effects of vegetation structure, botanical species composition and stocking density on a larger number of Coleoptera species than suggested from ANOVA. 5. Twenty-four of the 32 most abundant Coleoptera species correlated with the effects of different grazing regimens imposed on Nardus grassland. Greater abundances of C. violaceus, O. angustus, X. linearis and T. corticinus were indicative of the typical upland grassland and heathland Coleoptera assemblage. These species could be monitored to balance the impact of grazing management on arthropod biodiversity with the need to restrict the dominance of N. stricta in drier upland grasslands, achieved in this instance, by summer grazing sheep and cattle to maintain an average, between-tussock sward height of 6-7 cm. However, the results from the direct gradient analysis suggest that the grazing regimes should be varied in rotation over time to achieve a mosaic of structurally different grassland patches (0.70-4.73 ha) because this encourages a larger overall number of beetle species.

Effect of Virginiamycin on in Vivo Digestibility Rumen Fermentation and Nitrogen Balance

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of virginiamycin. Digestibility was determined with wethers, fed a diet of 0.65 maize silage and 0.35 concentrate on a dry matter basis (Experiment I) or a complete dry feed (Experiment II) at maintenance, and with growing bulls fed a maize silage diet ad libitum supplemented with 7.5 g concentrate per kg live weight (Experiment III). Virginiamycin was incorporated at 0 or 65 ppm in the concentrate and 0 or 25 ppm in the complete dry feed. No significant effect on dry or organic matter digestibility was observed, although digestibilities of protein and ether extract were reduced by virginiamycin in experiments I and II, respectively. Rumen fermentation was studied in experiments I and II. Virginiamycin increased acetic acid concentration and reduced butyric acid concentration in experiment I, but exerted no significant effect in experiment II. An interaction between diet type and virginiamycin was found for the C2/C3 ratio. Nitrogen balance, measured in experiment III, was not affected by virginiamycin.

Comparisons of Sex Offenders with Non-Offenders on Attitudes Toward Masturbation and Female Fantasy as Related to Participation in Human Sexuality Sessions

Abstract Sex offenders (molesters and rapists) and non-offenders were measured according to participation (experimental groups) and non-participation (comparison groups) in fourteen sessions in human sexuality. Dependent variables were ratings on (1) negative attitudes toward masturbation and (2) normal and perverse desire/disgust relative to fantasies about women. Subjects totaled 51 males, 28 non-offenders and 23 sex offenders. Participants were combined according to offender/non-offender status with non-participants in a 2 × 2 factorial design. The experimental offenders and non-offenders scored significantly more positive attitudes toward masturbation but a significant main effect indicated a differential effect between rapists and molesters, with rapists showing more similarity to non-offenders than molesters. Concerning fantasies about women, results produced a significant experimental effect related to strong disgust of perverse fantasies about women. Again, a significant main effect and interaction revealed more similarity between rapists and non-offenders with molesters virtually unaffected. Even though results are limited, for generalization purposes because of the small sample size, the study strongly suggests that education in human sexuality may be one viable approach in preventing sex offenses and rehabilitating sex offenders.

Effects of the amount of barley and time of access to grass silage on the voluntary intake, eating behaviour and production of dairy cows

AbstractThree separate changeover experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of the amount of rolled barley and time of access to silage on the voluntary intake, eating behaviour and production of dairy cows. In Experiment 1, twenty‐four milking cows were used to compare the effect of 4 1 and 6 1 kg d−1 rolled barley on voluntary intake and milk production. In Experiment 2, fourteen cows were used in a comparison of the effect on voluntary intake and milk production of 5‐ and 22‐h access to silage. Experiment 3 measured the effects on intake of silage of 2 and 4 kg d−1 rolled barley and of 5‐ and 22‐h access to silage. In Experiment I, increasing the amount of barley eaten reduced intake of silage by 0–50 kg dry matter (DM) per kg barley DM but in Experiment 3 with 5‐h access to silage there was no significant difference between the amounts of silage eaten with 2 and 4 kg d−1 barley. However, in Experiment 3 when allowed 22‐h access to silage, the replacement rate was 0–53 kg DM silage per kg DM barley. Increasing access from 5 to 22 h increased silage intake by 37% in Experiment 1 and by 27% in Experiment 3. Milk yield was significantly increased by 4% when extra barley was given in Experiment 1 but there was no significant effect in Experiment 3. Increasing the time of access to silage led to an 11% increase in milk yield in Experiment 2 but there was no significant effect in Experiment 3. There was much variation between cows in the depression of silage intake per kg change in barley DM eaten with coefficients of variation of 131% and 109% in Experiments 1 and 3, respectively. When allowed access to silage for 22 h daily, on average, each cow spent 180 min eating silage in ten meals, although there was appreciable variation between cows in eating behaviour. The amount of barley did not affect the cows' rate of eating silage nor the duration of eating.

Effectiveness of contingent and non-contingent electric shock in reducing cigarette smoking.

An attempt was made to examine the effects of negative practice with both contingent and non-contingent electric shock upon the cigarette smoking of 15 college students. A control group participated but received no treatment. An analysis of co-variance (co-varying initial smoking rate) yielded a significant experimental effect. Further analysis showed that significant decreases in smoking frequency occurred only in the contingent-shock group. It was suggested that this procedure might be useful in the initial phases of a program for reduction of smoking.

Some Properties of the Five-Point Function in Perturbation Theory

A preliminary investigation of the five-point function in its dependence on two complex variables is presented. Only single-loop diagrams are examined. The approach involves a determination of the singularity curves and of their regular and singular parts. The geometrical properties of singularity curves are described in detail; in particular, a method for determining the tangency of two curves is given. The following general conclusions are drawn: First, real and complex vertex singularities are near the physical regions and, therefore, can produce significant experimental effects. On the other hand, scattering singularities and five-point poles seem to be further removed from the physical regions. Second, it is not likely that a simple scheme can be found for the description of the analytic properties of the five-point function. A short discussion of scattering singularities involving unstable masses is also given.