Encoding and inhibition of arbitrary episodic context with abstract concepts

Published online: 18 August 2021Context is critical for conceptual processing, but the mechanism underpinning its encoding and reinstantiation during abstract concept processing is unclear. Context may be especially important for abstract concepts—we investigated whether episodic context is recruited differently when processing abstract compared with concrete concepts. Experiments 1 and 2 presented abstract and concrete words in arbitrary contexts at encoding (Experiment 1: red/green colored frames; Experiment 2: male/female voices). Recognition memory for these contexts was worse for abstract concepts. Again using frame color and voice as arbitrary contexts, respectively, Experiments 3 and 4 presented words from encoding in the same or different context at test to determine whether there was a greater recognition memory benefit for abstract versus concrete concepts when the context was unchanged between encoding and test. Instead, abstract concepts were less likely to be remembered when context was retained. This suggests that at least some types of episodic context—when arbitrary—are attended less, and may even be inhibited, when processing abstract concepts. In Experiment 5, we utilized a context—spatial location—which (as we show) tends to be relevant during real-world processing of abstract concepts.We presented words in different locations, preserving or changing location at test. Location retention conferred a recognitionmemory advantage for abstract concepts. Thus, episodic context may be encoded with abstract concepts when context is relevant to real-world processing. The systematic contexts necessary for understanding abstract concepts may lead to arbitrary context inhibition, but greater attention to contexts that tend to be more relevant during real-world processing

Physical properties of SrSn4 single crystals

We present detailed thermodynamic and transport measurements on single crystals of the recently discovered binary intermetallic superconductor, SrSn4. We find this material to be a slightly anisotropic three-dimensional, strongly-coupled, possibly multi-band, superconductor. Hydrostatic pressure causes a decrease in the superconducting transition temperature at the rate of -0.068 K/kbar. Band structure calculations are consistent with experimental data on Sommerfeld coefficient and upper superconducting critical field anisotropy and suggest complex, multi-sheet Fermi surface formed by four bands.Comment: Figure 11 correcte

Thermal expansion and magnetostriction of pure and doped RAgSb2 (R = Y, Sm, La) single crystals

Data on temperature-dependent, anisotropic thermal expansion in pure and doped RAgSb2 (R = Y, Sm, La) single crystals are presented. Using the Ehrenfest relation and heat capacity measurements, uniaxial pressure derivatives for long range magnetic ordering and charge density wave transition temperatures are evaluated and compared with the results of the direct measurements under hydrostatic pressure. In-plane and c-axis pressure have opposite effect on the phase transitions in these materials, with in-plane effects being significantly weaker. Quantum oscillations in magnetostriction were observed for the three pure compounds, with the possible detection of new frequencies in SmAgSb2 and LaAgSb2. The uniaxial (along the c-axis) pressure derivatives of the dominant extreme orbits (beta) were evaluated for YAgSb2 and LaAgSb2

Interplay between magnetism and superconductivity and appearance of a second superconducting transition in alpha-FeSe at high pressure

We synthesized tetragonal alpha-FeSe by melting a powder mixture of iron and selenium at high pressure. Subsequent annealing at normal pressure results in removing traces of hexagonal beta- FeSe, formation of a rather sharp transition to superconducting state at Tc ~ 7 K, and the appearance of a magnetic transition near Tm = 120 K. Resistivity and ac-susceptibility were measured on the annealed sample at hydrostatic pressure up to 4.5 GPa. A magnetic transition visible in ac-susceptibility shifts down under pressure and the resistive anomaly typical for a spin density wave (SDW) antiferromagnetic transition develops near the susceptibility anomaly. Tc determined by the appearance of a diamagnetic response in susceptibility, increases linearly under pressure at a rate dTc/dP = 3.5 K/GPa. Below 1.5 GPa, the resistive superconducting transition is sharp; the width of transition does not change with pressure; and, Tc determined by a peak in drho/dT increases at a rate ~ 3.5 K/GPa. At higher pressure, a giant broadening of the resistive transition develops. This effect cannot be explained by possible pressure gradients in the sample and is inherent to alpha-FeSe. The dependences drho(T)/dT show a signature for a second peak above 3 GPa which is indicative of the appearance of another superconducting state in alpha-FeSe at high pressure. We argue that this second superconducting phase coexists with SDW antiferromagnetism in a partial volume fraction and originates from pairing of charge carriers from other sheets of the Fermi surface

Sex differences in heel pad stiffness during in vivo loading and unloading

Due to conflicting data from previous studies a new methodological approach to evaluate heel pad stiffness and soft tissue deformation has been developed. The purpose of this study was to compare heel pad (HP) stiffness in both limbs between males and females during a dynamic unloading and loading activity. Ten males and 10 females volunteered to perform three dynamic trials to unload and load the HP. The dynamic protocol consisted of three continuous phases: foot flat (baseline phase), bilateral heel raise (unloading phase) and foot flat (loading phase) with each phase lasting two seconds. Six retroreflective markers (3 mm) were attached to the skin of the left and right heels using a customised marker set. Three-dimensional motion analysis cameras synchronised with force plates collected the kinematic and kinetic data throughout the trials. Three-way repeated measures ANOVA together with a Bonferroni post hoc test were applied to the stiffness and marker displacement datasets. On average, HP stiffness was higher in males than females during the loading and unloading phases. ANOVA results revealed no significant differences for the stiffness and displacement outputs with respect to sex, sidedness or phase interactions (p > .05) in the X, Y and Z directions. Irrespective of direction, there were significant differences in stiffness between the baseline and unloading conditions (p .116). Finally, females portrayed lower levels of mean HP stiffness whereas males had stiffer heels particularly in the vertical direction (Z) when the HP was both unloaded and loaded. High HP stiffness values and very small marker displacements could be valuable indicators for the risk of pathological foot conditions

Autism-spectrum traits in neurotypicals predict the embodiment of manipulation knowledge about object concepts: Evidence from eyetracking

Sensorimotor-based theories of cognition predict that even subtle developmental motor differences, such as those characterizing autism spectrum disorder (ASD), impact how we represent the meaning of manipulable objects (e.g., faucet). Here, we test 85 neurotypical participants, who varied widely on the Adult Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ), a measure intended to capture variability in ASD characteristics in the general adult population (participant scores were all below the clinical threshold for autism). Participants completed a visual world eyetracking task designed to assess the activation of conceptual representations of manipulable objects. Participants heard words referring to manually manipulable objects (e.g., faucet) while we recorded their eye movements to arrays of four objects: the named object, a related object typically manipulated similarly (e.g., jar), and two unrelated objects. Consistent with prior work, we observed more looks to the related object than to the unrelated ones (i.e., a manipulation-relatedness effect). This effect likely reflects the overlapping conceptual representations of objects sharing manipulation characteristics (e.g., faucet and jar), due to embodied sensorimotor properties being part of their representations. Critically, we observed—among typically developed young adults—that as AQ scores increased, manipulation-relatedness effects decreased. In contrast, in a visual control condition, in which a target object was paired with related objects of a similar shape (e.g., snake and rope), relatedness effects increased with AQ scores. The results show that AQ scores can predict variation in how object-concept representations are activated for typically developed individuals. More speculatively, they are consistent with the hypothesis that in individuals with ASD, differences in object-concept representations emerge at least in part via differences in sensorimotor experience