The Attentional Blink is Modulated by First Target Contrast: Implications of an Attention Capture Hypothesis

When two targets (T1 & T2) are presented in rapid succession, observers often fail to report T2 if they attend to T1. The bottleneck theory proposes that this attentional blink (AB) is due to T1 occupying a slow processing stage when T2 is presented. Accordingly, if increasing T1 difficulty increases T1 processing time, this should cause a greater AB. The attention capture hypothesis suggests that T1 captures attention, which cannot be reallocated to T2 in time. Accordingly, if increasing T1 difficulty decreases T1 saliency, this should cause a smaller AB. In two experiments we find support for an attention capture hypothesis. In Experiment 1 we find that AB magnitude increases with T1 contrast – but only when T1 is unmasked. In Experiment 2 we add Gaussian noise to targets and vary T1 contrast but keep T1‘s SNR constant. Again we find that AB magnitude increases with T1 contrast

A generalization of Dung's Abstract Framework for Argumentation:Arguing with Sets of Attacking Arguments

Abstract. One of the most widely studied systems of argumentation is the one described by Dung in a paper from 1995. Unfortunately, this framework does not allow for joint attacks on arguments, which we argue must be required of any truly abstract argumentation framework. A few frameworks can be said to allow for such interactions among arguments, but for various reasons we believe that these are inadequate for modelling argumentation systems with joint attacks. In this paper we propose a generalization of the framework of Dung, which allows for sets of arguments to attack other arguments. We extend the semantics associated with the original framework to this generalization, and prove that all results in the paper by Dung have an equivalent in this more abstract framework.

A Processor Core Model for Quantum Computing

We describe an architecture based on a processing 'core' where multiple qubits interact perpetually, and a separate 'store' where qubits exist in isolation. Computation consists of single qubit operations, swaps between the store and the core, and free evolution of the core. This enables computation using physical systems where the entangling interactions are 'always on'. Alternatively, for switchable systems our model constitutes a prescription for optimizing many-qubit gates. We discuss implementations of the quantum Fourier transform, Hamiltonian simulation, and quantum error correction.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; improved some arguments as suggested by a refere

Quantum information transport to multiple receivers

The importance of transporting quantum information and entanglement with high fidelity cannot be overemphasized. We present a scheme based on adiabatic passage that allows for transportation of a qubit, operator measurements and entanglement, using a 1-D array of quantum sites with a single sender (Alice) and multiple receivers (Bobs). Alice need not know which Bob is the receiver, and if several Bobs try to receive the signal, they obtain a superposition state which can be used to realize two-qubit operator measurements for the generation of maximally entangled states.Comment: Modified in view of referee's comments, new author added, natural scheme for operator measurements identified, hence W state preparation replaced with GHZ state preparation via operator measurements. 4 pages, 3 figure