509 research outputs found
Observation of resonant interactions among surface gravity waves
We experimentally study resonant interactions of oblique surface gravity
waves in a large basin. Our results strongly extend previous experimental
results performed mainly for perpendicular or collinear wave trains. We
generate two oblique waves crossing at an acute angle, while we control their
frequency ratio, steepnesses and directions. These mother waves mutually
interact and give birth to a resonant wave whose properties (growth rate,
resonant response curve and phase locking) are fully characterized. All our
experimental results are found in good quantitative agreement with four-wave
interaction theory with no fitting parameter. Off-resonance experiments are
also reported and the relevant theoretical analysis is conducted and validated.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
The effect of simultaneously presented words and auditory tones on visuomotor performance
The experiment reported here used a variation of the spatial cueing task to examine the effects of unimodal and bimodal attention-orienting primes on target identification latencies and eye gaze movements. The primes were a nonspatial auditory tone and words known to drive attention consistent with the dominant writing and reading direction, as well as introducing a semantic, temporal bias (past–future) on the horizontal dimension. As expected, past-related (visual) word primes gave rise to shorter response latencies on the left hemifield and future-related words on the right. This congruency effect was differentiated by an asymmetric performance on the right space following future words and driven by the left-to-right trajectory of scanning habits that facilitated search times and eye gaze movements to lateralized targets. Auditory tone prime alone acted as an alarm signal, boosting visual search and reducing response latencies. Bimodal priming, i.e., temporal visual words paired with the auditory tone, impaired performance by delaying visual attention and response times relative to the unimodal visual word condition. We conclude that bimodal primes were no more effective in capturing participants’ spatial attention than the unimodal auditory and visual primes. Their contribution to the literature on multisensory integration is discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
Does the linguistic expectancy bias extend to a second language?
The linguistic expectancy bias (LEB) reflects the tendency to describe expectancy-consistent behavior more abstractly than expectancy-inconsistent. The current studies replicate the LEB in Portuguese and examine it in a second language (English). Earlier studies found differences in processing a first language (L1) and a second language (L2) shaping affective and cognitive processes. We did not expect these differences to shape the LEB because controlled lexical decisions (e.g., use of verbs and adjectives) are unlikely, even when using L2. Participants wrote stereotypically male or female behavioral descriptions for male and female targets. A new group of participants read those descriptions and was asked about their causes. Expectancy-consistent behavior was described more abstractly and shaped more dispositional inferences in L1 and L2. Aside from replicating the LEB in a different language, these studies indicate that structural features of language preserve a linguistic bias with implications for social perception even when using a second language.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
Situating person memory: the role of the visual context on memory for behavioral information
Person memory has been mainly investigated as an individual process. In contrast, we argue that person memory results from the interplay between the individual and the context. Thus, the way people acquire and retrieve social information is constrained by the context in which these processes take place. This argument was explored in three experiments. In an impression formation paradigm, we manipulated the meaningfulness of contextual information (objects) for a stereotypical target. Results showed that meaningful contextual information presented during the encoding of behavioral information improved memory.for the behavioral information but also for the contextual information (Experiment 1-2); that this memory advantage only occurs when the encoding goal requires some degree of cognitive organization (Experiment 2); and finally, that meaningful contextual information also enhances memory when presented at retrieval (Experiment 3). These results are consistent with a situated cognition perspective according to which the context where cognitive activities take place can be used to facilitate cognitive activity. We discuss the implications of these results for the standard person memory view and identify new routes for future research.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
Retrieval Contexts and the Concreteness Effect: Dissociations in Memory of Concrete and Abstract Words
Decades of research on the concreteness effect, namely better memory for concrete as compared with abstract words, suggest it is a fairly robust phenomenon. Nevertheless, little attention has been given to limiting retrieval contexts. Two experiments evaluated intentional memory for concrete and abstract word lists in three retrieval contexts: free recall, explicit word-stem completion, and implicit word-stem completion. Concreteness effects were observed in free recall and in explicit word-stem completion, but not in implicit word-stem completion. These findings are consistent with both a bidirectional version of the relational-distinctiveness processing framework (Ruiz-Vargas, Cuevas, & Marschark, 1996) and a second framework combining insights from dual coding theory (Paivio, 1971, 1986) and the transfer appropriate processing framework (Roediger, Weldon, & Challis, 1989). Also, consistent with the relational-distinctiveness framework, the second experiment suggested that concreteness effects might depend on relational processing at encoding: Concreteness effects were observed in explicit memory for related word lists but not for unrelated word lists. © 2005 Psychology Press Ltd
Testing T Invariance in the Interaction of Slow Neutrons with Aligned Nuclei
The study of five-fold (P even, T odd) correlation in the interaction of slow
polarized neutrons with aligned nuclei is a possible way of testing the time
reversal invariance due to the expected enhancement of T violating effects in
compound resonances. Possible nuclear targets are discussed which can be
aligned both dynamically as well as by the "brute force" method at low
temperature. A statistical estimation is performed of the five-fold correlation
for low lying p wave compound resonances of the Sb, Sb and
I nuclei. It is shown that a significant improvement can be achieved
for the bound on the intensity of the fundamental parity conserving time
violating (PCTV) interaction.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, published versio
- …