Stimulus Variables Research Articles

Impact of the variability of presentation ways of stimuli and their associated sign-language explanation in educational computer programs on academic achievement of the English language among Deaf High school students: أثر اختلاف أسلوب عرض المثيرات والشرح الإشاري المصاحب لها في برامج الحاسوب التعليمية على التحصيل الدراسي في مادة اللغة الإنجليزية لدى التلاميذ الصم بالمرحلة الثانوية

This research aims at exposing the impact of the variability of presentation ways of visual stimuli and their associated sign-language explanation(visual stimuli without sign-language explanation/ visual stimuli followed by sign-language explanation/ visual stimuli simultaneous with the presentation of sign-language explanation) in educational computer programs on academic achievement of some English words among high school students (deaf group) in the integration program At Ain Jaloot Secondary School and the integration program in Dumah Al Jandal Secondary School. The study population included students of the integration program of the two schools, the sample size was determined and it included (36) deaf students who were randomly distributed into three pilot groups. The prior assessment was applied by using the electronic achievement test prepared by the Quiz Creator application, its reliability and validity were then confirmed by checking the coherence of the three groups. The three pilot groups enrolled for an educational computer program, in which the first group studied the impact of the variability of visual stimuli without sign-language explanation, the second group studied the visual stimuli followed by sign-language explanation, then the third group studied the visual stimuli simultaneous with the presentation of sign-language explanation the groups and each group of the three groups included a sample of 12 deaf students. The results of the study showed: Presence of differences which are statically significant (P value= 0.05) between the average degrees of the three groups in favor of the second group who studied the visual stimuli followed by a sign-language explanation.

HRness in Breast and Ovarian Cancers.

Ovarian and breast cancers are currently defined by the main pathways involved in the tumorigenesis. The majority are carcinomas, originating from epithelial cells that are in constant division and subjected to cyclical variations of the estrogen stimulus during the female hormonal cycle, therefore being vulnerable to DNA damage. A portion of breast and ovarian carcinomas arises in the context of DNA repair defects, in which genetic instability is the backdrop for cancer initiation and progression. For these tumors, DNA repair deficiency is now increasingly recognized as a target for therapeutics. In hereditary breast/ovarian cancers (HBOC), tumors with BRCA1/2 mutations present an impairment of DNA repair by homologous recombination (HR). For many years, BRCA1/2 mutations were only screened on germline DNA, but now they are also searched at the tumor level to personalize treatment. The reason of the inactivation of this pathway remains uncertain for most cases, even in the presence of a HR-deficient signature. Evidence indicates that identifying the mechanism of HR inactivation should improve both genetic counseling and therapeutic response, since they can be useful as new biomarkers of response.

Improving the Assessment of Trigeminal Sensitivity: a Pilot Study

The trigeminal system is a chemosensory system, next to smell and taste, allowing intranasal sensations such as freshness, spiciness, etc. The lateralization task is used to measure trigeminal sensitivity and consists in identifying the nostril stimulated by an odorous substance in a two-alternative forced-choice procedure. However, when performed in the standard method, this task takes almost 25 to 30 min to administer and only gives access to few information. The aim of this pilot study was to compare two alternative methods of administering the lateralization task with the standard method in a group of 53 participants (41.6 years; 32 women). Specifically, we compared (1) the standard method of 40 constant stimuli with a duration of 500 ms, (2) a short version of 20 variable stimuli ranging from 200 to 600 ms (different duration method—DD), and (3) an automatic adaptive staircase method where the test adjusts the duration of stimulation according to the participant’s responses (adaptive duration method—AD). Based on the number of correct answers and the thresholds obtained with the automatic staircase method, the average scores for the two alternative methods correlate with the score at the standard method. In addition, both alternative methods are able to discriminate between participants with a high sensitivity and those with a lower sensitivity. Finally, the DD method is significantly shorter in terms of administration time than the other two methods. This pilot study presents two novel methods to evaluate trigeminal sensitivity which each have a specific superiority over the established technique. The DD method cuts testing time in half whereas the AD method provides threshold estimates for individual nostrils.

The Real and Actual Tourism Accessibility in Protected Areas

Mass tourism in conservation areas creates a problem because of tourists’ environmental negligence. Accessibility factor is known as one of the essential factors that cause mass tourism. The accessibility factor emerges due to a difference between the perceived accessibility (actual accessibility) by tourists and the accessibility of the actual conservation area (real accessibility). Conservation areas that have limited accessibility are perceived to have open and free accessibility similar to other general tourism areas accessibility. This paper was written to explain the concept of tourism accessibility to conservation areas as one of the causes of the entry of mass tourists whose behaviours are not in accordance with conservation goals. The complexity of accessibility is explained through influential components as well as stimulus variables that cause bias on the perception of accessibility. The literature review approach was carried out by analysing 11 related articles. Accessibility of tourist areas is divided into real accessibility which describes the real conditions of geographical elements, tourists, and tourist destinations; and perceived/actual accessibility, namely accessibility perceived by tourists and influenced by stimulus factors. Both types of accessibility consist of geographical, individual/personal, and destination components. The elaboration of accessibility elements and interaction models between accessibility components will contribute to the accessibility theory of geographical and psycho-social approaches.

Generative Feedback Explains Distinct Brain Activity Codes for Seen and Mental Images

The relationship between mental imagery and vision is a long-standing problem in neuroscience. Currently, it is not known whether differences between the activity evoked during vision and reinstated during imagery reflect different codes for seen and mental images. To address this problem, we modeled mental imagery in the human brain as feedback in a hierarchical generative network. Such networks synthesize images by feeding abstract representations from higher to lower levels of the network hierarchy. When higher processing levels are less sensitive to stimulus variation than lower processing levels, as in the human brain, activity in low-level visual areas should encode variation in mental images with less precision than seen images. To test this prediction, we conducted an fMRI experiment in which subjects imagined and then viewed hundreds of spatially varying naturalistic stimuli. To analyze these data, we developed imagery-encoding models. These models accurately predicted brain responses to imagined stimuli and enabled accurate decoding of their position and content. They also allowed us to compare, for every voxel, tuning to seen and imagined spatial frequencies, as well as the location and size of receptive fields in visual and imagined space. We confirmed our prediction, showing that, in low-level visual areas, imagined spatial frequencies in individual voxels are reduced relative to seen spatial frequencies and that receptive fields in imagined space are larger than in visual space. These findings reveal distinct codes for seen and mental images and link mental imagery to the computational abilities of generative networks.

Sensation weighting in duration discrimination: A univariate, multivariate, and varied-design study of presentation-order effects

Stimulus discriminability is often assessed by comparisons of two successive stimuli: a fixed standard (St) and a varied comparison stimulus (Co). Hellström’s sensation weighting (SW) model describes the subjective difference between St and Co as a difference between two weighted compounds, each comprising a stimulus and its internal reference level (ReL). The presentation order of St and Co has two important effects: Relative overestimation of one stimulus is caused by perceptual time-order errors (TOEs), as well as by judgment biases. Also, sensitivity to changes in Co tends to differ between orders StCo and CoSt: the Type B effect. In three duration discrimination experiments, difference limens (DLs) were estimated by an adaptive staircase method. The SW model was adapted for modeling of DLs generated with this method. In Experiments 1 and 2, St durations were 100, 215, 464, and 1,000 ms in separate blocks. TOEs and Type B effects were assessed with univariate and multivariate analyses, and were well accounted for by the SW model, suggesting that the two effects are closely related, as this model predicts. With short St durations, lower DLs were found with the order CoSt than with StCo, challenging alternative models. In Experiment 3, St durations of 100 and 215 ms, or 464 and 1,000 ms, were intermixed within a block. From the SW model this was predicted to shift the ReL for the first-presented interval, thereby also shifting the TOE. This prediction was confirmed, strengthening the SW model’s account of the comparison of stimulus magnitudes.

Evaluation of Auditory Stream Segregation in Musicians and Nonmusicians.

Introduction One of the major cues that help in auditory stream segregation is spectral profiling. Musicians are trained to perceive a fine structural variation in the acoustic stimuli and have enhanced temporal perception and speech perception in noise. Objective To analyze the differences in spectral profile thresholds in musicians and nonmusicians. Methods The spectral profile analysis threshold was compared between 2 groups (musicians and nonmusicians) in the age range between 15 and 30 years old. The stimuli had 5 harmonics, all at the same amplitude (f0 = 330 Hz, mi4). The third (variable tone) has a similar harmonic structure; however, the amplitude of the third harmonic component was higher, producing a different timbre in comparison with the standards. The subject had to identify the odd timbre tone. The testing was performed at 60 dB HL in a sound-treated room. Results The results of the study showed that the profile analysis thresholds were significantly better in musicians compared with nonmusicians. The result of the study also showed that the profile analysis thresholds were better with an increase in the duration of music training. Thus, improved auditory processing in musicians could have resulted in a better profile analysis threshold. Conclusions Auditory stream segregation was found to be better in musicians compared with nonmusicians, and the performance improved with an increase in several years of training. However, further studies are essential on a larger group with more variables for validation of the results.

Gabor patterns as stimuli in a rodent visual attention task

BackgroundGabor patterns are defined as the product of a sinusoid function and a Gaussian envelope and are commonly used in visual and attentional research due to their ability to selectively stimulate the primary visual cortex. The aim of this study was to investigate whether Gabor patterns can be used as visual stimuli in the rodent continuous performance test (rCPT), a newly developed task to study attentional function and impulsivity. MethodsSixteen male C57BL/6 J mice were trained in the rCPT using Gabor patterns as visual stimuli and their performance was compared to sixteen mice that were trained using traditional high-contrast pattern stimuli. Mice were compared during training, baseline, and a variable stimulus duration probe. ResultsThe Gabor pattern group required more training sessions to reach criteria than the group with high-contrast patterns. At baseline, the Gabor pattern group showed a higher false alarm rate and a lower discriminability index. As task difficulty increased during the variable stimulus duration probe, differences between groups became more pronounced. Specifically, the Gabor pattern group showed decreased hit rate and discriminability index, as well as increased false alarm rate and premature responses compared to the high-contrast pattern group. ConclusionThis feasibility study showed that it is possible to use Gabor patterns as visual stimuli in the rCPT, although it increases task demands. We discuss the differences between Gabor patterns and high-contrast patterns in the context of translatability of animal models in visual and cognitive research and give two examples of applicability.

Revealing the information contents of memory within the stimulus information representation framework.

The information contents of memory are the cornerstone of the most influential models in cognition. To illustrate, consider that in predictive coding, a prediction implies that specific information is propagated down from memory through the visual hierarchy. Likewise, recognizing the input implies that sequentially accrued sensory evidence is successfully matched with memorized information (categorical knowledge). Although the existing models of prediction, memory, sensory representation and categorical decision are all implicitly cast within an information processing framework, it remains a challenge to precisely specify what this information is, and therefore where, when and how the architecture of the brain dynamically processes it to produce behaviour. Here, we review a framework that addresses these challenges for the studies of perception and categorization–stimulus information representation (SIR). We illustrate how SIR can reverse engineer the information contents of memory from behavioural and brain measures in the context of specific cognitive tasks that involve memory. We discuss two specific lessons from this approach that generally apply to memory studies: the importance of task, to constrain what the brain does, and of stimulus variations, to identify the specific information contents that are memorized, predicted, recalled and replayed.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Memory reactivation: replaying events past, present and future’.

Midsession reversal learning: Pigeons learn what stimulus to avoid.

The midsession reversal task involves a simple simultaneous discrimination in which, each session, choice of 1 stimulus (S1) is correct for the first 40 trials of each session, and choice of the other stimulus (S2) is correct for the remaining 40 trials. After considerable training with this task, pigeons typically continue to choose S2 too early (making anticipatory errors) and continue choosing S1 for following the reversal (making perseverative errors). Errors can be reduced, however, by decreasing the probability of reinforcement for correct S2 choices or by increasing the response requirement for S2 choices. Increasing the number of S2 stimuli (over trials, 1 S2 stimulus on each trial), however, does not reduce errors. Instead, it results in an increase in anticipatory errors but no change in perseverative errors. In the present experiment, we increased the number of S1 stimuli (over trials, 1 S1 stimulus on each trial) and found an increase in the number of perseverative errors but no change in anticipatory errors. The results suggest that the pigeons acquire this task by learning which stimuli to avoid, rather than which stimuli to choose, although it is also possible that these effects result from attention drawn to the variable stimuli when they are incorrect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Intonational variation and incrementality in listener judgments of ethnicity

The current study examines how listeners make gradient and variable ethnolinguistic judgments in an experimental context where the speaker’s identity is well-known. It features an open-guise experiment (Soukup, 2013) that assessed whether sociolinguistic judgments are subject to incrementality, with judgments increasing in magnitude as variable stimuli demonstrate more extreme differences. In particular, this task tested whether judgments of President Barack Obama as sounding ‘more’ or ‘less’ black (e.g., Alim & Smitherman, 2012) are sensitive to differences in intonation. Half of critical stimuli featured an L+H* pitch accent, which occurs more frequently in African American Language than in Mainstream U.S. English (Holliday, 2016). Four stimuli apiece were created from these phrases by making each pitch accent more extreme by semitone-based F0 steps. Seventy-nine listeners rated these stimuli via the question, “How black does Obama sound here?” Mixed-effects modeling indicated that listeners rated more phonetically extreme L+H* stimuli as sounding blacker, regardless of listener identity. A post-hoc analysis found that listeners attended to different voice quality features in L+H* stimuli. We discuss implications for research in intonation, ethnic identification, incrementality, language attitudes, and sociolinguistic awareness.

Digital Food ordering system based on Spring Framework

As people nowadays engage themselves in busy schedules they skip their meals just because they have to go somewhere for food. So to avoid these, applications like Zomato, swiggy,and foodpanda need to be efficient and be able to order multiple items from multiple restaurants in a single order. Food orders from mobile devices are common nowadays, and they can help consumers order food more easily and efficiently. It can also give manufacturers and consumers full benefit. This allows the consumer to get the advantage of delivering food online. This research used a quantitative approach with 187 respondents to find out what stimulus variables important people in the online supply order.In existing systems, only order is placed in a single grocer. With this system we can place orders for multiple grocers.Apps are limited to mobile phones where this web application is accessed across various devices like mobile phones, PC , PDA ,tablets etc.

Auto-responsive technologies for thermal renovation of opaque facades

Auto-responsive technologies (ARTs) operate in an intrinsic mode undergoing reversible changes in one or more of their properties in direct response to external stimuli variations. The aim of this paper is to identify their potential use for the thermal renovation of opaque facades of buildings in order to reach climate adaptivity. Adaptive facade concept offers a huge potential for thermal renovation, by improving occupants’ comfort, promoting sector decarbonization, and being an opportunity for adapting facades to climate change.A literature review permitted the systematization of thermal renovation adaptive strategies (TRAS) in which ARTs can be useful. The facade reversible changes (outputs) required for each strategy were identified, as well as the possible adaptation mechanisms to obtain them. The technologies responding within the recognized adaptation mechanisms were described and compared, their readiness level identified and their role within the TRAS was assigned.An approach to assess the suitability of each ART regarding TRAS for existing facades was conceived. It uses the criteria of aesthetic change, additional space and demolition needs, localization and area of intervention.The role of each ART within each TRAS, here systematized, will support the definition of the ART's operational range for each application and climate, and will promote the research and development of these technologies for thermal renovation of buildings’ facades.

Stimulus Onset Modulates Auditory and Visual Dominance.

Investigations of multisensory integration have demonstrated that, under certain conditions, one modality is more likely to dominate the other. While the direction of this relationship typically favors the visual modality, the effect can be reversed to show auditory dominance under some conditions. The experiments presented here use an oddball detection paradigm with variable stimulus timings to test the hypothesis that a stimulus that is presented earlier will be processed first and therefore contribute to sensory dominance. Additionally, we compared two measures of sensory dominance (slowdown scores and error rate) to determine whether the type of measure used can affect which modality appears to dominate. When stimuli were presented asynchronously, analysis of slowdown scores and error rates yielded the same result; for both the 1- and 3-button versions of the task, participants were more likely to show auditory dominance when the auditory stimulus preceded the visual stimulus, whereas evidence for visual dominance was observed as the auditory stimulus was delayed. In contrast, for the simultaneous condition, slowdown scores indicated auditory dominance, whereas error rates indicated visual dominance. Overall, these results provide empirical support for the hypothesis that the modality that engages processing first is more likely to show dominance, and suggest that more explicit measures of sensory dominance may favor the visual modality.

Categorical perception in animal communication and decision-making

AbstractThe information an animal gathers from its environment, including that associated with signals, often varies continuously. Animals may respond to this continuous variation in a physical stimulus as lying in discrete categories rather than along a continuum, a phenomenon known as categorical perception. Categorical perception was first described in the context of speech and thought to be uniquely associated with human language. Subsequent work has since discovered that categorical perception functions in communication and decision-making across animal taxa, behavioral contexts, and sensory modalities. We begin with an overview of how categorical perception functions in speech perception and, then, describe subsequent work illustrating its role in nonhuman animal communication and decision-making. We synthesize this work to suggest that categorical perception may be favored where there is a benefit to 1) setting consistent behavioral response rules in the face of variation and potential overlap in the physical structure of signals, 2) especially rapid decision-making, or 3) reducing the costs associated with processing and/or comparing signals. We conclude by suggesting other systems in which categorical perception may play a role as a next step toward understanding how this phenomenon may influence our thinking about the function and evolution of animal communication and decision-making.

Functional Clusters of Neurons in Layer 6 of Macaque V1.

Layer 6 appears to perform a very important role in the function of macaque primary visual cortex, V1, but not enough is understood about the functional characteristics of neurons in the layer 6 population. It is unclear to what extent the population is homogeneous with respect to their visual properties or if one can identify distinct subpopulations. Here we performed a cluster analysis based on measurements of the responses of single neurons in layer 6 of primary visual cortex in male macaque monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) to achromatic grating stimuli that varied in orientation, direction of motion, spatial and temporal frequency, and contrast. The visual stimuli were presented in a stimulus window that was also varied in size. Using the responses to parametric variation in these stimulus variables, we extracted a number of tuning response measures and used them in the cluster analysis. Six main clusters emerged along with some smaller clusters. Additionally, we asked whether parameter distributions from each of the clusters were statistically different. There were clear separations of parameters between some of the clusters, particularly for f1/f0 ratio, direction selectivity, and temporal frequency bandwidth, but other dimensions also showed differences between clusters. Our data suggest that in layer 6 there are multiple parallel circuits that provide information about different aspects of the visual stimulus.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The cortex is multilayered and is involved in many high-level computations. In the current study, we have asked whether there are subpopulations of neurons, clusters, in layer 6 of cortex with different functional tuning properties that provide information about different aspects of the visual image. We identified six major functional clusters within layer 6. These findings show that there is much more complexity to the circuits in cortex than previously demonstrated and open up a new avenue for experimental investigation within layers of other cortical areas and for the elaboration of models of circuit function that incorporate many parallel pathways with different functional roles.

Empirical Investigation of Effective Management of Working Capital on Firm Performance: Evidence from the Nigerian Agricultural Sector

The focus of this study is to find out the link between working capital management and firm performance in agriculture firms listed in the Nigerian stock exchange. The research used yearly data for Livestock Feeds Plc from 2002 to 2018 and Okomo oil company Plc from 2007 to 2018. The study employed cash conversion cycle, account payables, account receivables and inventory turnover as stimulus variables with earnings per share as outcome variable. The data was analyzed employing descriptive statistics, ADF unit root test and regression technique. The study revealed that, earnings per share and working capital management represented by account receivables is found to be positive and statistically significant for the both companies used for the study. The association between earnings per share and account payables is found to be negative and statistically insignificant for the both companies. The connection between cash conversion cycle and earnings per share is positive and statistically significant for the both firms. The relationship between inventory management and earnings per share in Livestock Feeds Plc is negative and not statistically significant but that of Okomo oil company Plc is positive but not statistically significant. The overall equation was statistically significant for both firms judging from their R2 and F-statistics. Based on the findings, it is concluded that efficient management of working capital has influence on firm performance. Therefore, it is recommended for financial managers in agricultural firms to periodically review firm’s accounts receivables and payables. Also Sales, purchases and inventory units must work as a team to ensure that an optimal inventory level is maintained.

ANALISIS PERSEPSI KONSUMEN TERHADAP KEPUTUSAN MEMBELI ULANG PRODUK KUOTA IM3 OOREDOO DI KOTA BANJARMASIN

The study aims to determine the effect of consumer perception factors that can influence the decision to repurchase IM3 Ooredoo products to consumers in the city of Banjarmasin. The factors of consumer perception examined include Price, Service Quality, Location, Personal and Stimulus. The population of the study is all Banjarmasin city residents who use the IM3 Ooredoo Quota. Samples were taken with a non-probability sampling method with a sampling quota of 125 samples. By using a questionnaire with a Likert scale method. The statistical test method uses Multiple Linear Regression Analysis, with the hypothesis testing of the t statistical test and the F statistical test. The results of the analysis based on the use of all independent variables indicate that consumers' perceptions namely Price, Service Quality, Location, Personal and Stimulus together are able to influence Buying Decisions Repeat IM3 Ooredoo Quota Products in Banjarmasin City. While partially only stimulus variables are not able to show a significant relationship with the variable Repurchase Decision of IM3 Ooredoo Products in Banjarmasin City.Keywords: Price, Service Quality, Location, Personal, Stimulus, Repurchase Decision

New Perspectives in Computing the Point of Subjective Equality Using Rasch Models.

In psychophysics, the point of subject equality (PSE) is any of the points along a stimulus dimension at which a variable stimulus (visual, tactile, auditory, and so on) is judged by an observer to be equal to a standard stimulus. Rasch models have been found to offer a valid solution for computing the PSE when the method of constant stimuli is applied in the version of the method of transitions. The present work provides an overview of the procedures for computing the PSE using Rasch models and proposes some new developments. An adaptive procedure is described that allows for estimating the PSE of an observer without presenting him/her with all stimuli pairs. This procedure can be particularly useful in those situations in which psychophysical conditions of the individuals require that the number of trials is limited. Moreover, it allows for saving time that can be used to scrutinize the results of the experiment or to run other experiments. Also, the possibility of using Rasch-based fit statistics for identifying observers who gave unexpected judgments is explored. They could be individuals who, instead of carefully evaluating the presented stimuli pairs, gave random, inattentive, or careless responses, or gave the same response to many consecutive stimuli pairs. Otherwise, they could be atypical and clinically relevant individuals who deserve further investigation. The aforementioned developments are implemented using procedures and statistics that are well established in the framework of Rasch models. In particular, computerized adaptive testing procedures are used for efficiently estimating the PSE of the observers, whereas infit and outfit mean-squares statistics are used for detecting observers who gave unexpected judgments. Results of the analyses carried out on simulated data sets suggest that the proposed developments can be used in psychophysical experiments.

Creativity and leadership: neurocognitive insights in use

Creativity is seen as the “basis of competitive advantage”. Therefore it also is distinguishes the more from the less successful military leader. This quality of leaders is so important that it is one of the Austrian Armed Forces Leadership Principles: flexibility (in mind and manoeuvre) – being flexible in thought and action, to be mentally versatile. To increase the chances for extraordinary creative outcomes there are several aspects, which can be used in the DMP, in military training as well as in leadership. This article focuses on stimulus variation, reference level variation, association variation, emotional state variation, reduced and focused attention. By linking these aspects with steps of the decision making process, training and leadership new approaches in the daily business can be found and better achievements reached.