Acquiring the Mental Lexicon Through Sensorimotor Category Learning

We report the electrophysiological correlates of learning a new category through either direct sensorimotor experience (E) or verbal definition (V). (1) Ss who successfully learned to categorize and name via E all showed an increasing late positivity in their ERPs; Ss who failed to learn did not. (2) All successful E learners could also state the rule verbally; nonlearners could not. (3) The increasing late positivity began to appear and increase only beginning with those trials in which the learners had discovered and could state the rule verbally. (4) When the nonlearners were told the rule verbally in a second phase of training (V), thereby making them able to categorize and name, they too displayed the late ERP positivity. (5) The positivity was present once the rule was told to the Ss, even if the subsequent training was without feedback, whether their training trials were easy or difficult, and even when Ss failed to categorize correctly; surprisingly, the positivity was there even when categorization was impossible (i.e., the rule did not distinguish the textures). (6) Ss thought they were not doing too badly even in the impossible condition, and even when they were given feedback indicating they were performing at chance level (50%). (7) An early ERP negativity emerged in Ss who were given false positive feedback (80%) under the impossible condition. We conclude that learners, whether they learned from experience or from a verbal definition, apply the rule mentally, and mental rule application is what the late ERP positivity reflects

Acquiring the Mental Lexicon Through Sensorimotor Category Learning

We report the electrophysiological correlates of learning a new category through either direct sensorimotor experience (E) or verbal definition (V). (1) Ss who successfully learned to categorize and name via E all showed an increasing late positivity in their ERPs; Ss who failed to learn did not. (2) All successful E learners could also state the rule verbally; nonlearners could not. (3) The increasing late positivity began to appear and increase only beginning with those trials in which the learners had discovered and could state the rule verbally. (4) When the nonlearners were told the rule verbally in a second phase of training (V), thereby making them able to categorize and name, they too displayed the late ERP positivity. (5) The positivity was present once the rule was told to the Ss, even if the subsequent training was without feedback, whether their training trials were easy or difficult, and even when Ss failed to categorize correctly; surprisingly, the positivity was there even when categorization was impossible (i.e., the rule did not distinguish the textures). (6) Ss thought they were not doing too badly even in the impossible condition, and even when they were given feedback indicating they were performing at chance level (50%). (7) An early ERP negativity emerged in Ss who were given false positive feedback (80%) under the impossible condition. We conclude that learners, whether they learned from experience or from a verbal definition, apply the rule mentally, and mental rule application is what the late ERP positivity reflects

The Timing of a Conscious Decision. From Ear to Mouth

RP onset occurs earlier with a fixed interval, repeated spontaneous voluntary movement. When \ud averaged on the stimulus’ onset, this motor preparation precedes the presentation of the repeated digit (hence, presumably also the decision to respond) in the fixed rate condition, but follows it when the timing is not predictable. though this does not necessarily mean that RP onset does not precede the decision to respond in both conditions

Les aménagements gagnants d'une CLAAC : ce qu'en disent les étudiants

Comprend des références bibliographiques

Les conditions d'efficacité des classes d'apprentissage actif

PA-2013-012La présente recherche a été subventionnée par le ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur dans le cadre du Programme d’aide à la recherche sur l’enseignement et l’apprentissage (PAREA).Comprend des références bibliographiques

Charmed meson decay constants in three-flavor lattice QCD

We present the first lattice QCD calculation with realistic sea quark content of the D^+ meson decay constant f_{D^+}. We use the MILC Collaboration's publicly available ensembles of lattice gauge fields, which have a quark sea with two flavors (up and down) much lighter than a third (strange). We obtain f_{D^+} = 201 +/- 3 +/- 17 MeV, where the errors are statistical and a combination of systematic errors. We also obtain f_{D_s} = 249 +/- 3 +/- 16 MeV for the D_s meson.Comment: note added on recent CLEO measurement; PRL versio

Hypothesis-driven genome-wide association studies provide novel insights into genetics of reading disabilities

Peer reviewe

Genome-wide analyses of individual differences in quantitatively assessed reading- and language-related skills in up to 34,000 people

The use of spoken and written language is a fundamental human capacity. Individual differences in reading- and language-related skills are influenced by genetic variation, with twin-based heritability estimates of 30 to 80% depending on the trait. The genetic architecture is complex, heterogeneous, and multifactorial, but investigations of contributions of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were thus far underpowered. We present a multicohort genome-wide association study (GWAS) of five traits assessed individually using psychometric measures (word reading, nonword reading, spelling, phoneme awareness, and nonword repetition) in samples of 13,633 to 33,959 participants aged 5 to 26 y. We identified genome-wide significant association with word reading (rs11208009, P = 1.098 x 10(-8)) at a locus that has not been associated with intelligence or educational attainment. All five reading-/language-related traits showed robust SNP heritability, accounting for 13 to 26% of trait variability. Genomic structural equation modeling revealed a shared genetic factor explaining most of the variation in word/nonword reading, spelling, and phoneme awareness, which only partially overlapped with genetic variation contributing to nonword repetition, intelligence, and educational attainment. A multivariate GWAS of word/nonword reading, spelling, and phoneme awareness maximized power for follow-up investigation. Genetic correlation analysis with neuroimaging traits identified an association with the surface area of the banks of the left superior temporal sulcus, a brain region linked to the processing of spoken and written language. Heritability was enriched for genomic elements regulating gene expression in the fetal brain and in chromosomal regions that are depleted of Neanderthal variants. Together, these results provide avenues for deciphering the biological underpinnings of uniquely human traits.Peer reviewe

Comment letters to the National Commission on Commission on Fraudulent Financial Reporting, 1987 (Treadway Commission) Vol. 1

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_sop/1661/thumbnail.jp