Lateralised sleep spindles relate to false memory generation

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Sleep is known to enhance false memories: After presenting participants with lists of semantically related words, sleeping before recalling these words results in a greater acceptance of unseen “lure” words related in theme to previously seen words. Furthermore, the right hemisphere (RH) seems to be more prone to false memories than the left hemisphere (LH). In the current study, we investigated the sleep architecture associated with these false memory and lateralisation effects in a nap study. Participants viewed lists of related words, then stayed awake or slept for approximately 90 min, and were then tested for recognition of previously seen-old, unseen-new, or unseen-lure words presented either to the LH or RH. Sleep increased acceptance of unseen-lure words as previously seen compared to the wake group, particularly for RH presentations of word lists. RH lateralised stage 2 sleep spindle density relative to the LH correlated with this increase in false memories, suggesting that RH sleep spindles enhanced false memories in the RH

ADAPTIVE SERVICE TESTING FOR OBSERVABILITY

Described herein are techniques for optimizing network and application tests based on a prioritization scheme. These techniques may minimize costs and network overhead while reducing complexity for operations teams

The practices of mathematics education doctoral students

This paper looks at the practices (or praxeologies) of mathematics education doctoral students and their supervisors from the perspectives of activity theory and the anthropological theory of the didactic. The paper examines three ways to view mathematics education research before discussing : research methods and methodologies ; the debate on qualitative and quantitative research ; and implications for the supervision of doctoral students

Hemispheric processing of memory is affected by sleep

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Sleep is known to affect learning and memory, but the extent to which it influences behavioural processing in the left and right hemispheres of the brain is as yet unknown. We tested two hypotheses about lateralised effects of sleep on recognition memory for words: whether sleep reactivated recent experiences of words promoting access to the long-term store in the left hemisphere (LH), and whether sleep enhanced spreading activation differentially in semantic networks in the hemispheres. In Experiment 1, participants viewed lists of semantically related words, then slept or stayed awake for 12 h before being tested on seen, unseen but related, or unrelated words presented to the left or the right hemisphere. Sleep was found to promote word recognition in the LH, and to spread activation equally within semantic networks in both hemispheres. Experiment 2 ensured that the results were not due to time of day effects influencing cognitive performance

Teaching engineering design through Lego Mindstorms

This paper examines a particular methodology of teaching engineering design to undergraduate engineering students, which relies on Lego® Mindstormsâ¢. A number of important issues are addressed, including the timing of the design module within the programme, prior knowledge required and assessment components. The module, which has been running for three years, was found to have many positive attributes, not only in relation to the core design activity, but also in generating good team-building and engaging students with the degree programme

Cognitive influences in language evolution:Psycholinguistic predictors of loan word borrowing

Languages change due to social, cultural, and cognitive influences. In this paper, we provide an assessment of these cognitive influences on diachronic change in the vocabulary. Previously, tests of stability and change of vocabulary items have been conducted on small sets of words where diachronic change is imputed from cladistics studies. Here, we show for a substantially larger set of words that stability and change in terms of documented borrowings of words into English and into Dutch can be predicted by psycholinguistic properties of words that reflect their representational fidelity. We found that grammatical category, word length, age of acquisition, and frequency predict borrowing rates, but frequency has a non-linear relationship. Frequency correlates negatively with probability of borrowing for high-frequency words, but positively for low-frequency words. This borrowing evidence documents recent, observable diachronic change in the vocabulary enabling us to distinguish between change associated with transmission during language acquisition and change due to innovations by proficient speakers

Effects of experience in a developmental model of reading

There is considerable evidence showing that age of acquisition (AoA) is an important factor influencing lexical processing. Early-learned words tend to be processed more quickly compared to later-learned words. The effect could be due to the gradual reduction in plasticity as more words are learned. Alternatively, it could originate from differences within semantic representations. We implemented the triangle model of reading including orthographic, phonological and semantic processing layers, and trained it according to experience of a language learner to explore the AoA effects in both naming and lexical decision. Regression analyses on the model’s performance showed that AoA was a reliable predictor of naming and lexical decision performance, and the effect size was larger for lexical decision than for naming. The modelling results demonstrate that AoA operates differentially on concrete and abstract words, indicating that both the mapping and the representation accounts of AoA were contributing to the model’s performance

A Man For All Seasons : A Tribute to Dean J. Martin Burke

A Man For All Seasons : A tribute to Dean J. Martin Burk