The unexplained nature of reading.

The effects of properties of words on their reading aloud response times (RTs) are 1 major source of evidence about the reading process. The precision with which such RTs could potentially be predicted by word properties is critical to evaluate our understanding of reading but is often underestimated due to contamination from individual differences. We estimated this precision without such contamination individually for 4 people who each read 2,820 words 50 times each. These estimates were compared to the precision achieved by a 31-variable regression model that outperforms current cognitive models on variance-explained criteria. Most (around 2/3) of the meaningful (non-first-phoneme, non-noise) word-level variance remained unexplained by this model. Considerable empirical and theoretical-computational effort has been expended on this area of psychology, but the high level of systematic variance remaining unexplained suggests doubts regarding contemporary accounts of the details of the mechanisms of reading at the level of the word. Future assessment of models can take advantage of the availability of our precise participant-level database

Symphonic tone poem for orchestra

Thesis (M.M.)--Boston Universit

Roadmap to a Successful Product Development: From Concept to Launch

Technological companies are frequently developing new products. The marketing success rate is very often very poor for these new products. Many of the product failures can be traced to the lack of a disciplined process to follow from the concept of the product to the market research required to determine the attributes and price points that the market desires. The purpose of this research is to develop and test a disciplined step by step process with feedback paths to accomplish a successful product launch. A New Product Development (NPD) process typically involves a number of stages required to design a product and bring it to market. These stages start at the planning or scoping stage, followed by the market planning stage, the product concept stage, the product design stage, and finally the testing and the launch stages. This manuscript describes and evaluates three of the six stages from the NPD process that include, product concept (Stage 3), product design (Stage 4) and testing (Stage 5). The product concept stage generates the bulk of the ground work in preparation for the design of the near final product which takes place during the product design stage. While all NPD process stages are necessary, the product concept stage involves numerous complex and intricate steps that are critical to the design of a successful product. The primary purpose of the research described herein is to design two adjoining methods that consist of systematic and rational multi-phase platforms with feedback mechanisms that allow for adjustments. The first method is termed the product concept process (Stage 3) which informs on project viability during the early steps of the product development process and before the initiation of the final product design. The second method is termed the product design process (Stage 4) with logical steps that ensure a balance between market needs and product performance and reliability. The product concept process (Stage 3) consists of different phases with detailed interconnected steps that carry a product concept through a conceptual stage (Phase I), into the generation of a “proof-of-concept” or an alpha prototype that allows for the initiation of Phase II steps. Steps within each phase describe estimates for development cost, market risk analysis, performance evaluation, and product manufacturing cost estimation. The final steps of the product concept process describe the pre-product design stage (Phase III), which is an expansion of the broader development cost estimates generated in Phase II and thus provides additional rigorous estimates for product development costs. Notably, modification or re-design of the product concept at any step within the three Phases resulting in their conversion into successful prospects that garner market acceptance and potential profitability is another tangible objective of this product development process. The second method described in this research is the product design process (Stage 4). This process starts after the successful evaluation of all steps from the previous product concept process. The product design process includes the Initial Design: Path 1. This Phase involves the execution of product industrial design, market evaluation, mechanical and customer interface design, electronic and software design as well as cost analysis. Upon successful completion of the Initial Design Path, the Final Design (Path 2) is initiated. Path 2 serves to integrate various components interconnections. Path 2 also accommodates customer options which is capstoned by a thorough manufacturing cost analysis. Path 1 and Path 2 of the product design process employ feedback loops so that the process retains a balance between market needs, costs and eventually product performance and reliability. These two methods terminate in Stage 5, the fabrication and testing stage. This is the Stage that demonstrates the effectiveness or lack thereof of the two methods. It is intended that these methods be followed in sequence but as will be described in some of the cases, if the essence of each step of each Phase or Path is accomplished, even if out of sequence, the NPD can be successful. The two processes described in this study are used to evaluate a number of small/medium electronic products. Currently, For the purpose of this study, “small” implies a development project that would cost less than $250,000 to complete. A “medium” project development is that which can cost between$250,000 and $750,000 to complete. With respect to product design, it is also noteworthy that there are no current formal size-rating systems for defining small versus medium product designs. For the purpose of this study, a small electronic product is one that sells to the end user for$5,000 or less. A medium electronic product is one that sells to the end user for $25,000 or less. Electronic products that sell for more than$25,000 will require additional examination steps that are not described in the product development process. This study examines the successes and failures of several small/medium product development processes with respect to their submission and compliance to the disciplines of the product development process tool and the product design process tool

Letters in words are read simultaneously, not in left-to-right sequence

The identification of individual letters is necessary for reading words in alphabetic script (Pelli, Farell, & Moore, 2003). Sequential models of letter processing (Whitney, 2001) in reading words posit an initial left-to-right sequence of letter processing (in left-to-right languages, such as English), each letter taking 10–25 ms to process before the next is processed. In contrast, simultaneous models of letter processing (e.g., Tydgat & Grainger, 2009) in reading words posit that information about the identity of each letter starts to be extracted at the same time point, regardless of horizontal position. Here we show that people reading four-letter words do not extract identity information for any letter from an 18 ms display of the word, but some information about all four letters is available from 24 ms of display. Our results indicate that a left-to-right sequence of attention across letters is not used in establishing the cognitive representation of words. Instead, all letters are processed simultaneously

EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS OF MEPROBAMATE ON NORMAL SUBJECTS

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72318/1/j.1749-6632.1957.tb46007.x.pd

Minimum Aerosol Layer Detection Sensitivities and Their Subsequent Impacts on Aerosol Optical Thickness Retrievals in CALIPSO Level 2 Data Products

Due to instrument sensitivities and algorithm detection limits, level 2 (L2) Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) 532 nm aerosol extinction profile retrievals are often populated with retrieval fill values (RFVs), which indicate the absence of detectable levels of aerosol within the profile. In this study, using 4 years (20072008 and 20102011) of CALIOP version 3 L2 aerosol data, the occurrence frequency of daytime CALIOP profiles containing all RFVs (all-RFV profiles) is studied. In the CALIOP data products, the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) of any all-RFV profile is reported as being zero, which may introduce a bias in CALIOP-based AOT climatologies. For this study, we derive revised estimates of AOT for all-RFV profiles using collocated Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Dark Target (DT) and, where available, AErosol RObotic NEtwork (AERONET) data. Globally, all-RFV profiles comprise roughly 71 % of all daytime CALIOP L2 aerosol profiles (i.e., including completely attenuated profiles), accounting for nearly half (45 %) of all daytime cloud-free L2 aerosol profiles. The mean collocated MODIS DT (AERONET) 550 nm AOT is found to be near 0.06 (0.08) for CALIOP all-RFV profiles. We further estimate a global mean aerosol extinction profile, a so-called noise floor, for CALIOP all-RFV profiles. The global mean CALIOP AOT is then recomputed by replacing RFV values with the derived noise-floor values for both all-RFV and non-all-RFV profiles. This process yields an improvement in the agreement of CALIOP and MODIS over-ocean AOT

Minimum Aerosol Layer Detection Sensitivities and Their Subsequent Impacts on Aerosol Optical Thickness Retrievals in CALIPSO Level 2 Data Products

Due to instrument sensitivities and algorithm detection limits, level 2 (L2) Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) 532 nm aerosol extinction profile retrievals are often populated with retrieval fill values (RFVs), which indicate the absence of detectable levels of aerosol within the profile. In this study, using 4 years (2007– 2008 and 2010–2011) of CALIOP version 3 L2 aerosol data, the occurrence frequency of daytime CALIOP profiles containing all RFVs (all-RFV profiles) is studied. In the CALIOP data products, the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) of any all-RFV profile is reported as being zero, which may introduce a bias in CALIOP-based AOT climatologies. For this study, we derive revised estimates of AOT for all-RFV profiles using collocated Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Dark Target (DT) and, where available, AErosol RObotic NEtwork (AERONET) data. Globally, all-RFV profiles comprise roughly 71 % of all daytime CALIOP L2 aerosol profiles (i.e., including completely attenuated profiles), accounting for nearly half (45 %) of all daytime cloud-free L2 aerosol profiles. The mean collocated MODIS DT (AERONET) 550 nm AOT is found to be near 0.06 (0.08) for CALIOP all-RFV profiles. We further estimate a global mean aerosol extinction profile, a so-called “noise floor”, for CALIOP all-RFV profiles. The global mean CALIOP AOT is then recomputed by replacing RFV values with the derived noise-floor values for both all-RFV and nonall-RFV profiles. This process yields an improvement in the agreement of CALIOP and MODIS over-ocean AOT

Near-Cloud Atmospheric Ingredients for Deep Convection Initiation

A lack of routine environmental observations located near deepening cumulus congestus clouds limits verification of important theorized and simulated updraft–environment interaction processes occurring during deep convection initiation (CI). We analyze radiosonde profiles collected during several hundred CI events near a mountain range in central Argentina during the CACTI field campaign. Statistical analyses illustrate environmental conditions supporting radar-observed CI outcomes that span a spectrum of convective cell depths, widths, and durations, as well as events lacking precipitating convection. Tested environmental factors include a large variety of sounding-derived measurements of CAPE, CIN, moisture, terrain-relative winds, vertical shear, and lifted parcel properties, with supplemental model reanalysis of background larger-scale vertical motion. CAPE and CIN metrics do not consistently differentiate CI success from failure. Only a few environmental factors contain consistent monotonic relationships among the spectrum of cloud depths achieved during CI: (i) the depth and strength of background ascent, and (ii) the component of low-level flow oriented parallel to the ridgeline. These metrics suggest that the ability of the surrounding flow to lift parcels to their LFC and terrain-modified flow are consistently relevant processes for CI. Low- to midlevel relative humidity strongly discriminated between CI and non-CI events, likely reflecting entrainment-driven dilution processes. However, we could not confidently conclude that relative humidity similarly discriminated robust from marginal CI events. Circumstantial evidence was found linking cell width, an important cloud property governing the probability of CI, to LCL height, boundary layer depth, depth and magnitude of the CIN layer, and ambient wind shear