Languages adapt to their contextual niche

abstractIt is well established that context plays a fundamental role in how we learn and use language. Here we explore how context links short-term language use with the long-term emergence of different types of language system. Using an iterated learning model of cultural transmission, the current study experimentally investigates the role of the communicative situation in which an utterance is produced (situational context) and how it influences the emergence of three types of linguistic systems: underspecified languages (where only some dimensions of meaning are encoded linguistically), holistic systems (lacking systematic structure), and systematic languages (consisting of compound signals encoding both category-level and individuating dimensions of meaning). To do this, we set up a discrimination task in a communication game and manipulated whether the feature dimension shape was relevant or not in discriminating between two referents. The experimental languages gradually evolved to encode information relevant to the task of achieving communicative success, given the situational context in which they are learned and used, resulting in the emergence of different linguistic systems. These results suggest language systems adapt to their contextual niche over iterated learning.</jats:p

The Use of Culturally Sensitive Education on Organ Donation and Its Impact on Attitudes and Willingness to Donate Organs

In regards to transplantation, ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected by the donor shortage. The high morbidity rates and decreased willingness to donate commonplace among these demographics has created a devastating imbalance. Increasing minority donor presence will make the allocation process more favorable for minority candidates. The current study entailed the provision of a culturally sensitive educational intervention to sixty-five (n=65) students at the University of Southern Mississippi. Surveys were administered pre/post intervention to assess knowledge and attitudes towards donation. Pre-intervention data reflected findings from prior research, post-intervention data showed that the intervention was able to mitigate these findings and that it was more effective in minorities, lamenting the need for more culturally specific approaches in the efforts to increase donor presence

Using the Hurdy-Gurdy to Create Alternative Musical Scores

The musical work which is described in much of this thesis involves an instrument from Hungary, one that was made for me, called a bass hurdy-gurdy. Professional artists and musicians participated in experiments in three-dimensional musical scoring. These experiments are recounted in detail, including improvisation, jazz, drone, found objects and, of course, extended techniques on the hurdy-gurdy. Whereas musical expression and education normally rely more on traditional ideals such as traditional notation, voice leading, song-form, technique, prestige, and nationalism, this research uses more unusual materials such as found objects, fragments of ideas, humor, unexpected scenes, even tree branches—giving this collection of works a Bohemian and ephemeral kind of sensibility. Musicians were then given a chance towards the end to offer text feedback, all of which is included in this written document. Also included here are my photographs, as well as links to how it sounded. Presented here are lesserknown methods of composition that will be thought of as: alternate musical scoring

How banks can self-monitor their lending to comply with the equal credit opportunity act

The authors provide a step-by-step discussion of how an individual lender in the United States can self-monitor its loan process for compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and provide an empirical example for illustration. Along the way, they discuss the problems faced by individual lenders who attempt to self-monitor their lending process and conclude with a discussion of the continuing, constructive role for bank examiners and regulators in this endeavor.Regulation B: Equal Credit Opportunity

Simulated evolution of mating signal diversification in a primate radiation

Divergence in allopatry and subsequent diversification of mating signals on secondary contact (reinforcement) is a major driver of phenotypic diversity. Observing this evolutionary process directly is often impossible, but simulated evolution can pinpoint key drivers of phenotypic variation. We developed evolutionary simulations in which mating signals, modelled as points in phenotype space, evolve across time under varying evolutionary scenarios. We model mate recognition signals in guenons, a primate radiation exhibiting colourful and diverse face patterns hypothesized to maintain reproductive isolation via mate choice. We simulate face pattern evolution across periods of allopatry and sympatry, identifying the role of key parameters in driving evolutionary endpoints. Results show that diversification in allopatry and assortative mate choice on secondary contact can induce rapid phenotypic diversification, resulting in distinctive (between species) and stereotyped (within species) face patterns, similar to extant guenons. Strong selection against hybrids is key to diversification, with even low levels of hybrid fitness often resulting in merged populations on secondary contact. Our results support a key role for reinforcement by assortative mating in the maintenance of species diversity and support the long-proposed prehistorical scenario for how such striking diversity was produced and maintained in perhaps the most colourful of all mammalian clades

Redefining government's role in agriculture in the nineties

The authors argue that government policies in agriculture have been costly and misdirected worldwide. For them, this inefficiency need not continue. The Urugauy Round is an ideal opportunity for developed and developing nations to strike a bargain. They suggest 1) making agricultural trade subject to the full discipline of the GATT by eliminating waivers and exemptions that have set agricultural commodities apart from other products in their treatment under the GATT, 2) bringing developing countries fully into the GATT, by eliminating their special status, 3) getting all countries to reform their agricultural policies, to reduce the many policy-induced distortions that plague the sector. The authors claim that such a bargain would result in a redefinition of governments'role in agriculture, increased sectoral efficiency nationally, and a more smoothly functioning and tightly knit world agricultural trading system.Crops&Crop Management Systems,Environmental Economics&Policies,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Economic Theory&Research,Agricultural Research

Waterwheel patch: using mobile device sensors for live participation in an online networked environment.

This paper documents our current research into using mobile devices to integrate remote physical movement and sound into the online structure of Waterwheel's Tap, allowing participation away from keyboard and mouse based computers. We asked participants in Australia, Indonesia, Europe and the U.S.A. to explore their local waterways or bodies of water. Taking a cue from research using sensors in dance, we are using mobile devices carried by, or attached to, these participants in order to transmit location and motion sensor data, plus live audio, for use as experimental content, feedback and control sources for elements of the Waterwheel Tap while outdoors

Waterwheel patch: using mobile device sensors for live participation in an online networked environment.

This paper documents our current research into using mobile devices to integrate remote physical movement and sound into the online structure of Waterwheel's Tap, allowing participation away from keyboard and mouse based computers. We asked participants in Australia, Indonesia, Europe and the U.S.A. to explore their local waterways or bodies of water. Taking a cue from research using sensors in dance, we are using mobile devices carried by, or attached to, these participants in order to transmit location and motion sensor data, plus live audio, for use as experimental content, feedback and control sources for elements of the Waterwheel Tap while outdoors

Adaptive Structure, Cultural Transmission & Language

Over the past 20 years the study of language evolution has made significant leaps towards becoming a serious scientific endeavour