Semantic Distance Modulates the N400 Event-Related Potential in Verbal Analogical Reasoning

Computational accounts have traditionally focused on mapping between structured representations as fundamental to analogical processing. However, a recent connectionist model has been used to argue that structured representations may not be necessary to solve verbal analogies. Green and colleagues (2010) have shown that brain areas associated with analogical mapping become more engaged as semantic distance increases between verbal analogy source and targets. Herein, we had participants verify verbal analogies characterized for semantic distance while we monitored their brain waves using EEG. Our results suggest that the semantic distance between the source and target of a verbal analogy does influence early semantic processing as reflected in the N400 Event-Related Potential. However, successfully differentiating valid and invalid verbal analogies engages areas of prefrontal cortex widely associated with inhibitory processing and the integration of abstract relations in working memory. Thus, it appears that traditional semantic priming alone is likely insufficient to explain the full extent of analogical processing

Supplementary data and analysis for estimating walleye selectivity

This document has been issued as VIMS Data Report 61 and provides data tables and results of exploratory analyses conducted as part of the complete data analysis for Myers et al. 2014 published in the Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. Estimates of size- and sex-specific selectivity of fishing gear are important for making informed management decisions. We distinguish between capture selectivity – the relative catchability of the components of the population – and harvest selectivity, which is the combined effects of capture selectivity and the decision to retain or release a fish of a given population component. We used short-term recaptures from three extensive tagging programs in Minnesota and Wisconsin to estimate directly the size- and sex- specific selectivity of angling for captured and for harvested walleye Sander vitreus, and of spear fishing for harvested walleye. Estimates were obtained using generalized linear models with an information-theoretic approach to determining the significance of individual and interactive effects of length and sex on selectivity. The primary conclusions of this research are presented in Myers et al. 2014. Residual analyses for the models presented in the manuscript, results of unpublished exploratory analyses, and the complete data set used to conduct the analyses are presented in this supplementary document. Through this data report, interested readers can repeat the analyses conducted in Myers et al. 2014, as well as see the results of additional analyses not presented in the primary publication

raw-eeg-edf

Raw EEG in EDF forma