804 research outputs found
Grammatical gender selection and the representation of morphemes: The production of Dutch diminutives
In this study, we investigated grammatical feature selection during noun phrase production in Dutch. More specifically, we studied the conditions under which different grammatical genders select either the same or different determiners. Pictures of simple objects paired with a gender-congruent or a gender-incongruent distractor word were presented. Participants named the pictures using a noun phrase with the appropriate gender-marked determiner. Auditory (Experiment 1) or visual cues (Experiment 2) indicated whether the noun was to be produced in its standard or diminutive form. Results revealed a cost in naming latencies when target and distractor take different determiner forms independent of whether or not they have the same gender. This replicates earlier results showing that congruency effects are due to competition during the selection of determiner forms rather than gender features. The overall pattern of results supports the view that grammatical feature selection is an automatic consequence of lexical node selection and therefore not subject to interference from incongruent grammatical features. Selection of the correct determiner form, however, is a competitive process, implying that lexical node and grammatical feature selection operate with distinct principles
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Tripartite Organization of the Ventral Stream by Animacy and Object Size
Occipito-temporal cortex is known to house visual object representations, but the organization of the neural activation patterns along this cortex is still being discovered. Here we found a systematic, large-scale structure in the neural responses related to the interaction between two major cognitive dimensions of object representation: animacy and real-world size. Neural responses were measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging while human observers viewed images of big and small animals and big and small objects. We found that real-world size drives differential responses only in the object domain, not the animate domain, yielding a tripartite distinction in the space of object representation. Specifically, cortical zones with distinct response preferences for big objects, all animals, and small objects, are arranged in a spoked organization around the occipital pole, along a single ventromedial, to lateral, to dorsomedial axis. The preference zones are duplicated on the ventral and lateral surface of the brain. Such a duplication indicates that a yet unknown higher-order division of labor separates object processing into two substreams of the ventral visual pathway. Broadly, we suggest that these large-scale neural divisions reflect the major joints in the representational structure of objects and thus place informative constraints on the nature of the underlying cognitive architecture.Psycholog
The inversion, part-whole, and composite effects reflect distinct perceptual mechanisms with varied relationships to face recognition
Face recognition is thought to rely on specific mechanisms underlying a perceptual bias toward processing faces as undecomposable wholes. This face-specific "holistic processing" is commonly quantified using 3 measures: the inversion, part-whole, and composite effects. Consequently, many researchers assume that these 3 effects measure the same cognitive mechanism(s) and these mechanisms contribute to the wide range of individual differences seen in face recognition ability. We test these assumptions in a large sample (N = 282), with individual face recognition abilities measured by the well-validated Cambridge Face Perception Test. Our results provide little support for either assumption. The small to nonexistent correlations among inversion, part-whole, and composite effects (correlations between -.03 and .28) fail to support the first assumption. As for the second assumption, only the inversion effect moderately predicts face recognition (r = .42); face recognition was weakly correlated with the part-whole effect (r = .25) and not correlated with the composite effect (r = .04). We rule out multiple artifactual explanations for our results by using valid tasks that produce standard effects at the group level, demonstrating that our tasks exhibit psychometric properties suitable for individual differences studies, and demonstrating that other predicted correlations (e.g., between face perception measures) are robust. Our results show that inversion, part-whole, and composite effects reflect distinct perceptual mechanisms, and we argue against the use of the single, generic term holistic processing when referring to these effects. Our results also question the contribution of these mechanisms to individual differences in face recognition
Coexistence of pressure-induced structural phases in bulk black phosphorus: a combined x-ray diffraction and Raman study up to 18 GPa
We report a study of the structural phase transitions induced by pressure in
bulk black phosphorus by using both synchrotron x-ray diffraction for pressures
up to 12.2 GPa and Raman spectroscopy up to 18.2 GPa. Very recently black
phosphorus attracted large attention because of the unique properties of
fewlayers samples (phosphorene), but some basic questions are still open in the
case of the bulk system. As concerning the presence of a Raman spectrum above
10 GPa, which should not be observed in an elemental simple cubic system, we
propose a new explanation by attributing a key role to the non-hydrostatic
conditions occurring in Raman experiments. Finally, a combined analysis of
Raman and XRD data allowed us to obtain quantitative information on presence
and extent of coexistences between different structural phases from ~5 up to
~15 GPa. This information can have an important role in theoretical studies on
pressure-induced structural and electronic phase transitions in black
phosphorus
Grammatical feature selection in noun phrase production: evidence from German and Dutch
Theoretical and Experimental Linguistic
UNA PANORAMICA SULL\u2019ANEMIA SIDEROPENICA NEGLI ATLETI/AN OVERVIEW ON IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA IN ATHLETES
Diversi studi in letteratura riportano come la capacit\ue0 prestativa degli atleti di
endurance sia fortemente compromessa in seguito all\u2019insorgenza di anemia
sideropenica. Questa, infatti, \ue8 una delle pi\uf9 importanti cause di overtraining negli
atleti che pratica attivit\ue0 sportive di lunga durata come: la maratona, la marcia, il
ciclismo. Tra le diverse cause di anemia ferropriva ricordiamo: una dieta
inadeguata a soddisfare le richieste di ferro dell\u2019organismo, una riduzione
dell\u2019assorbimento di ferro a livello intestinale e/o un\u2019eccessiva perdita di questo
elemento da parte dell\u2019atleta. Il controllo periodico tramite analisi ematochimiche,
metaboliche e funzionali potrebbe essere un valido strumento per
individuare precocemente il rischio di insorgenza di anemia negli atleti. Una
diagnosi precoce di anemia o del rischio di sviluppare questo pericoloso quadro
fisiopatologico potrebbe, infatti, aiutare il tecnico e lo staff medico a rimodulare il
carico di lavoro e il regime alimentare dell\u2019atleta a rischio.Several studies showed that athletes\u2019 endurance performance is reduced following
the onset of iron deficiency anemia. It, indeed, is one of the main causes of
overtraining in athletes who play endurance sports, such as marathon, walking
race, cycling. Causes of iron deficiency anemia include: inadequate amounts of
iron to meet body demands, decreased absorption of iron from gut and/or excessive loss of iron from athlete\u2019s body. Periodic monitoring evaluation process
by ematochemical metabolic and functional analysis could be a valid tool to early
identify the risk of anemia in athletes. Early diagnosis of anemia or of the risk of
developing this dangerous physiopathological phenomenon could help the
technical and medical staff modulate the workload and athlete\u2019s diet at risk of anemia
INFLUENCE OF FELDENKRAIS METHOD ON SPINE HEALTH IN PROFESSIONAL ORCHESTRAL MUSICIANS. PILOT STUDY/INFLUENZA DEL METODO FELDENKRAIS SULLA SALUTE DEL RACHIDE IN MUSICISTI ORCHESTRALI PROFESSIONISTI. STUDIO PILOTA
Obiettivo: Lo scopo di questo studio è stato quello di esaminare se il Metodo
Feldenkrais fosse utile per migliorare la flessibilità muscolare e ridurre il
dolore alla schiena in musicisti orchestrali professionisti.
Materiali e metodi: Diciassette partecipanti sono stati reclutati da un
orchestra sinfonica di Palermo (Italia) e divisi casualmente in un gruppo di
controllo (C, n = 8) e un gruppo Feldenkrais (F, n = 9). Il primo non ha
partecipato al protocollo Feldenkrais e a qualsiasi altra attività fisica; mentre
il secondo ha preso parte ad un programma costituito da quattro lezioni di
gruppo di Consapevolezza Attraverso il Movimento (CAM) eseguito 2 ore
alla settimana per 4 settimane. Al fine di valutare lo stato di salute della
colonna vertebrale, abbiamo usato il sit-and-reach test ed il trunk lift test. Le
differenze all'interno di ogni gruppo e tra il gruppo C e il gruppo F sono state
rispettivamente esaminate con il test di Wilcoxon e quello di Mann-Whitney;
e considerate significative con p ≤ 0,05.
Risultati: La flessibilità muscolare del bicipite femorale e della regione
lombare, e la forza, la flessibilità e la resistenza dei muscoli estensori del
tronco era leggermente aumentata nel gruppo F rispetto al gruppo C dopo il
protocollo Feldenkrais; anche se questa variazione non era statisticamente
significativa. Diversamente, il gruppo C ha mostrato una riduzione del 5% in
entrambi i test dopo 4 settimane. Dopo il protocollo Feldenkrais, l’altezza
del gruppo F era significativamente maggiore rispetto a prima del
trattamento. Inoltre, abbiamo trovato che il numero dei partecipanti, che
hanno dichiarato di avere dolore forte e frequente alla schiena e agli arti,
diminuiva durante il periodo di svolgimento del protocollo Feldenkrais.
Questo effetto era maggiore nella regione cervicale rispetto a quella lombare
e agli arti superiori.
Conclusioni: I nostri risultati mostrano che il Metodo Feldenkrais ha effetti
positivi sulla flessibilità muscolare e supporta l'uso di questo metodo per
sciogliere le tensioni e le contrazioni muscolari che possono causare dolore
nei musicisti orchestrali professionisti.Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore whether Feldenkrais
Method was useful for improving muscular flexibility and reducing back
pain in professional orchestral musicians.
Materials and methods: Seventeen participants were recruited from a
symphony orchestra of Palermo (Italy) and randomly divided in a control
group (C, n=8) and a Feldenkrais group (F, n=9). The first didn’t participate
in the Feldenkrais protocol and any other physical activity; while the second
took part into a program consisting of four Awareness through movement
(ATM) classes performed 2 hours/week for 4 weeks. In order to assess
muscle fitness of spine, we used sit-and-reach and trunk lift test. The
differences within each group and between C and F groups were respectively
examined with Wilcoxon matched pair test and Mann-Whitney test; and
considered significant with p≤0.05.
Results: The muscular flexibility of hamstring and low back, and trunk
extensor strength, flexibility and endurance slightly increased in F group
compared with C group after Feldenkrais protocol even if this variation was
not statistically significant. Differently, C group showed a reduction by 5%
in both tests after 4 weeks. After Feldenkrais protocol, height of F group was
significantly bigger than before treatment. Moreover, we found that the
number of participants, who stated to have strong and frequent pain in the
back and limbs, decreased during performing the Feldenkrais protocol. This
effect was bigger in the cervical than lumbar spine and upper limbs.Conclusion: Our outcomes illustrate that Feldenkrais method has positive
effects on muscle flexibility and supports the use of this method for
dissolving muscle tensions and contractions that can cause pain in
professional orchestral musicians
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