105 research outputs found
Investigating eye movement acquisition and analysis technologies as a causal factor in differential prevalence of crossed and uncrossed fixation disparity during reading and dot scanning
Previous studies examining binocular coordination during reading have reported conflicting results in terms of the nature of disparity (e.g. Kliegl, Nuthmann, & Engbert (Journal of Experimental Psychology General 135:12-35, 2006); Liversedge, White, Findlay, & Rayner (Vision Research 46:2363-2374, 2006). One potential cause of this inconsistency is differences in acquisition devices and associated analysis technologies. We tested this by directly comparing binocular eye movement recordings made using SR Research EyeLink 1000 and the Fourward Technologies Inc. DPI binocular eye-tracking systems. Participants read sentences or scanned horizontal rows of dot strings; for each participant, half the data were recorded with the EyeLink, and the other half with the DPIs. The viewing conditions in both testing laboratories were set to be very similar. Monocular calibrations were used. The majority of fixations recorded using either system were aligned, although data from the EyeLink system showed greater disparity magnitudes. Critically, for unaligned fixations, the data from both systems showed a majority of uncrossed fixations. These results suggest that variability in previous reports of binocular fixation alignment is attributable to the specific viewing conditions associated with a particular experiment (variables such as luminance and viewing distance), rather than acquisition and analysis software and hardware.<br/
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Topical advection as a baseline model for corpus-based lexical dynamics
An important question in the field of corpus-based evolutionary language dynamics research is concerned with distinguishing selection-driven linguistic change from neutral evolution, and from changes stemming from language-external factors (cultural drift). A commonly used proxy for the popularity or selective fitness of an element is its corpus frequency. However, a number of recent works have pointed out that raw frequencies can often be misleading. We propose a model for controlling for drift in contextual topics in corpora - the topical-cultural advection model - and demonstrate that this simple measure is capable of accounting for a considerable amount of variability in word frequency changes in a corpus spanning two centuries of language use
Conceptual similarity and communicative need shape colexification:An experimental study
Colexification refers to the phenomenon of multiple meanings sharing one word
in a language. Cross-linguistic lexification patterns have been shown to be
largely predictable, as similar concepts are often colexified. We test a recent
claim that, beyond this general tendency, communicative needs play an important
role in shaping colexification patterns. We approach this question by means of
a series of human experiments, using an artificial language communication game
paradigm. Our results across four experiments match the previous
cross-linguistic findings: all other things being equal, speakers do prefer to
colexify similar concepts. However, we also find evidence supporting the
communicative need hypothesis: when faced with a frequent need to distinguish
similar pairs of meanings, speakers adjust their colexification preferences to
maintain communicative efficiency, and avoid colexifying those similar meanings
which need to be distinguished in communication. This research provides further
evidence to support the argument that languages are shaped by the needs and
preferences of their speakers
Dynamical Transition in the Open-boundary Totally Asymmetric Exclusion Process
We revisit the totally asymmetric simple exclusion process with open
boundaries (TASEP), focussing on the recent discovery by de Gier and Essler
that the model has a dynamical transition along a nontrivial line in the phase
diagram. This line coincides neither with any change in the steady-state
properties of the TASEP, nor the corresponding line predicted by domain wall
theory. We provide numerical evidence that the TASEP indeed has a dynamical
transition along the de Gier-Essler line, finding that the most convincing
evidence was obtained from Density Matrix Renormalisation Group (DMRG)
calculations. By contrast, we find that the dynamical transition is rather hard
to see in direct Monte Carlo simulations of the TASEP. We furthermore discuss
in general terms scenarios that admit a distinction between static and dynamic
phase behaviour.Comment: 27 pages, 18 figures. v2 to appear in J Phys A features minor
corrections and better-quality figure
Relaxation rate of the reverse biased asymmetric exclusion process
We compute the exact relaxation rate of the partially asymmetric exclusion
process with open boundaries, with boundary rates opposing the preferred
direction of flow in the bulk. This reverse bias introduces a length scale in
the system, at which we find a crossover between exponential and algebraic
relaxation on the coexistence line. Our results follow from a careful analysis
of the Bethe ansatz root structure.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figure
Construction of a Coordinate Bethe Ansatz for the asymmetric simple exclusion process with open boundaries
The asymmetric simple exclusion process with open boundaries, which is a very
simple model of out-of-equilibrium statistical physics, is known to be
integrable. In particular, its spectrum can be described in terms of Bethe
roots. The large deviation function of the current can be obtained as well by
diagonalizing a modified transition matrix, that is still integrable: the
spectrum of this new matrix can be also described in terms of Bethe roots for
special values of the parameters. However, due to the algebraic framework used
to write the Bethe equations in the previous works, the nature of the
excitations and the full structure of the eigenvectors were still unknown. This
paper explains why the eigenvectors of the modified transition matrix are
physically relevant, gives an explicit expression for the eigenvectors and
applies it to the study of atypical currents. It also shows how the coordinate
Bethe Ansatz developped for the excitations leads to a simple derivation of the
Bethe equations and of the validity conditions of this Ansatz. All the results
obtained by de Gier and Essler are recovered and the approach gives a physical
interpretation of the exceptional points The overlap of this approach with
other tools such as the matrix Ansatz is also discussed. The method that is
presented here may be not specific to the asymmetric exclusion process and may
be applied to other models with open boundaries to find similar exceptional
points.Comment: references added, one new subsection and corrected typo
All-sky Galactic radiation at 45 MHz and spectral index between 45 and 408 MHz
Aims: We study the Galactic large-scale synchrotron emission by generating a
reliable all-sky spectral index map and temperature map at 45 MHz. Methods: We
use our observations, the published all-sky map at 408 MHz, and a
bibliographical compilation to produce a map corrected for zero-level offset
and extragalactic contribution. Results: We present full sky maps of the
Galactic emission at 45 MHz and the Galactic spectral index between 45 and 408
MHz with an angular resolution of 5\degs. The spectral index varies between 2.1
and 2.7, reaching values below 2.5 at low latitude because of thermal free-free
absorption and its maximum in the zone next to the Northern Spur.Comment: A&A accepte
Reading Text Increases Binocular Disparity in Dyslexic Children
Children with developmental dyslexia show reading impairment compared to their peers, despite being matched on IQ, socio-economic background, and educational opportunities. The neurological and cognitive basis of dyslexia remains a highly debated topic. Proponents of the magnocellular theory, which postulates abnormalities in the M-stream of the visual pathway cause developmental dyslexia, claim that children with dyslexia have deficient binocular coordination, and this is the underlying cause of developmental dyslexia. We measured binocular coordination during reading and a non-linguistic scanning task in three participant groups: adults, typically developing children, and children with dyslexia. A significant increase in fixation disparity was observed for dyslexic children solely when reading. Our study casts serious doubts on the claims of the magnocellular theory. The exclusivity of increased fixation disparity in dyslexics during reading might be a result of the allocation of inadequate attentional and/or cognitive resources to the reading process, or suboptimal linguistic processing per se
Social rearing environment influences dog behavioral development
Early life experiences are known to influence behavior later in life. In dogs, environmental influences of early home rearing could be exploited to improve the chances of developing adult behavior most suited to the adult environment. For working dog organizations, such as Guide Dogs, suitable adult behavior is important to ensure that dogs can fulfill their role as guides for people with visual impairment. Here, we test the hypothesis that dogs' home rearing environment will influence behavioral development. To investigate this hypothesis, carers of potential guide dogs (puppy walkers) completed a questionnaire, termed the Puppy Walker Questionnaire (PWQ), about the dog's behavior at 5, 8, and 12 months of age. An additional 11 questions were answered about the home environment at the last assessment. Because no questionnaire existed which measured behavior most relevant to Guide Dogs, questions from an existing questionnaire (Canine Behaviour and Research Questionnaire) were combined with additional questions. Thus, a subsidiary aim of the study was to test the reliability of the PWQ for measuring behavioral development of potential guide dogs. The PWQ, scored on a 100-mm visual analogue scale, grouped into 5 new scales: trainability, distractibility, general anxiety, body sensitivity, and stair anxiety, with 4 Canine Behaviour and Research Questionnaire scales: excitability, separation-related behavior, attachment and attention seeking, and energy level. For each reliable scale, multivariate linear regression identified significant predictors from the home environmental questions. The results suggest that home rearing environment is indeed important for behavioral development: 9 of 11 environmental variables were significant predictors of behavioral scores. Those environmental variables that appeared most important were social in nature. Dogs were scored as higher in energy level, excitability, and distractibility if they had been raised in a home with children, lower on energy level and distractibility the more experience of puppy walking their carer had, and lower on separation-related behavior the more they had been able to play with other dogs. These findings have implications for matching between dogs' early and later home environments. Follow-up of dogs in this study could help to elucidate effects on guiding suitability and matching between dog and guide dog owner
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