Identifying the mechanisms underpinning recognition of structured sequences of action

© 2012 The Experimental Psychology SocietyWe present three experiments to identify the specific information sources that skilled participants use to make recognition judgements when presented with dynamic, structured stimuli. A group of less skilled participants acted as controls. In all experiments, participants were presented with filmed stimuli containing structured action sequences. In a subsequent recognition phase, participants were presented with new and previously seen stimuli and were required to make judgements as to whether or not each sequence had been presented earlier (or were edited versions of earlier sequences). In Experiment 1, skilled participants demonstrated superior sensitivity in recognition when viewing dynamic clips compared with static images and clips where the frames were presented in a nonsequential, randomized manner, implicating the importance of motion information when identifying familiar or unfamiliar sequences. In Experiment 2, we presented normal and mirror-reversed sequences in order to distort access to absolute motion information. Skilled participants demonstrated superior recognition sensitivity, but no significant differences were observed across viewing conditions, leading to the suggestion that skilled participants are more likely to extract relative rather than absolute motion when making such judgements. In Experiment 3, we manipulated relative motion information by occluding several display features for the duration of each film sequence. A significant decrement in performance was reported when centrally located features were occluded compared to those located in more peripheral positions. Findings indicate that skilled participants are particularly sensitive to relative motion information when attempting to identify familiarity in dynamic, visual displays involving interaction between numerous features

Is speeding a "real" antisocial behavior? A comparison with other antisocial behaviors

The relationship between speed and crashes has been well established in the literature, with the consequence that speed reduction through enforced or other means should lead to a reduction in crashes. The extent to which the public regard speeding as a problem that requires enforcement is less clear. Analysis was conducted on public perceptions of antisocial behaviors including speeding traffic. The data was collected as part of the British Crime Survey, a face-to-face interview with UK residents on issues relating to crime. The antisocial behavior section required participants to state the degree to which they perceived 16 antisocial behaviors to be a problem in their area. Results revealed that speeding traffic was perceived as the greatest problem in local communities, regardless of whether respondents were male or female, young, middle aged, or old. The rating of speeding traffic as the greatest problem in the community was replicated in a second, smaller postal survey, where respondents also provided strong support for enforcement on residential roads, and indicated that traveling immediately above the speed limit on residential roads was unacceptable. Results are discussed in relation to practical implications for speed enforcement, and the prioritization of limited police resources. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Risky attitudes towards road use in pre-drivers

Motor vehicle accidents are one of the principal causes of adolescent disability or mortality and male drivers are more likely to be involved in road accidents than female drivers. In part such associations between driver age and sex have been linked to differences in risky behaviour (e.g. speed, violations) and individual characteristics (e.g. sensation seeking, deviant behaviour). The aim of this research is to determine whether associations between risky road user behaviour and individual characteristics are a function of driver behaviour or whether they are intrinsic and measurable in individuals too young to drive. Five hundred and sixty-seven pre-driver students aged 11-16 from three secondary schools completed questionnaires measuring enthusiasm for speed, sensation seeking, deviant behaviour and attitudes towards driver violations. Boys reported more risky attitudes than girls for all measures. Associations between sensation seeking, deviant behaviour and attitudes towards risky road use were present from early adolescence and were strongest around age 14, before individuals learn to drive. Risky attitudes towards road use are associated with individual characteristics and are observed in adolescents long before they learn to drive. Safe attitudes towards road use and driver behaviour should be promoted from childhood in order to be effective. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Jaw bone marrow-derived osteoclast precursors internalize more bisphosphonate than long-bone marrow precursors

Bisphosphonates (BPs) are widely used in the treatment of several bone diseases, such as osteoporosis and cancers that have metastasized to bone, by virtue of their ability to inhibit osteoclastic bone resorption. Previously, it was shown that osteoclasts present at different bone sites have different characteristics. We hypothesized that BPs could have distinct effects on different populations of osteoclasts and their precursors, for example as a result of a different capacity to endocytose the drugs. To investigate this, bone marrow cells were isolated from jaw and long bone from mice and the cells were primed to differentiate into osteoclasts with the cytokines M-CSF and RANKL. Before fusion occurred, cells were incubated with fluorescein-risedronate (FAM-RIS) for 4 or 24 h and uptake was determined by flow cytometry. We found that cultures obtained from the jaw internalized 1.7 to 2.5 times more FAM-RIS than long-bone cultures, both after 4 and 24 h, and accordingly jaw osteoclasts were more susceptible to inhibition of prenylation of Rap1a after treatment with BPs for 24 h. Surprisingly, differences in BP uptake did not differentially affect osteoclastogenesis. This suggests that jaw osteoclast precursors are less sensitive to bisphosphonates after internalization. This was supported by the finding that gene expression of the anti-apoptotic genes Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL was higher in jaw cells than long bone cells, suggesting that the jaw cells might be more resistant to BP-induced apoptosis. Our findings suggest that bisphosphonates have distinct effects on both populations of osteoclast precursors and support previous findings that osteoclasts and precursors are bone-site specific. This study may help to provide more insights into bone-site-specific responses to bisphosphonates