The roles of awareness and encoding effectiveness in repetition blindness

Three experiments examined the necessity of awareness in producing the repetition blindness (RB) effect. This was done by using a novel procedure in which three orthographically similar items appeared in the RSVP stream (e.g., mine, mile, file). On these trials participants would often be unaware of the second similar item, so report of the third similar item served as an index of how often RB occurs when participants are unaware of the second similar item. Results give no indication that RB can occur without awareness of the preceding similar item. Additional comparisons revealed that RB late in the RSVP stream was significantly smaller than RB occurring early in the RSVP stream. These results are discussed in terms of current RB theories. It is suggested that awareness often co-occurs with RB because both processes rely on encoding effectiveness. It is also proposed that encoding effectiveness determines the magnitude of RB

Identifying the contributions of letter identity and relative letter position to orthographic priming

Still and Morris (2008) discovered that nonword anagram primes interfere with word target processing when the letters in the prime appear in reverse order of the letters in the target (e.g., yruf - FURY). This finding was unexpected as facilitation is typically found when a word target is preceded by an orthographically similar nonword prime (e.g., Grainger & Jacobs, 1999). The present study was designed to replicate and extend Still and Morris\u27 finding of anagram interference. Results across three experiments indicate that anagram interference is modulated by target word frequency, stimulus length, prime exposure duration, and whether or not the anagram prime and target share letters in the same relative positions (e.g., enorht vs. oetnrh vs. htoren for the target THRONE). In addition to replicating the finding of anagram interference, these results show that the anagram interference is robust and is not limited to a specific set of stimuli. Current models of word recognition are unable to account for the finding of anagram interference

Eyes Wide Open: Pupil Size as a Proxy for Inhibition in the Masked-Priming Paradigm

A core assumption underlying competitive-network models of word recognition is that in order for a word to be recognized, the representations of competing orthographically similar words must be inhibited. This inhibitory mechanism is revealed in the masked-priming lexical-decision task (LDT) when responses to orthographically similar word prime-target pairs are slower than orthographically different word prime-target pairs (i.e., inhibitory priming). In English, however, behavioral evidence for inhibitory priming has been mixed. In the present study, we utilized a physiological correlate of cognitive effort never before used in the masked-priming LDT, pupil size, to replicate and extend behavioral demonstrations of inhibitory effects (i.e., Nakayama, Sears, & Lupker, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 34, 1236-1260, 2008, Exp. 1). Previous research had suggested that pupil size is a reliable indicator of cognitive load, making it a promising index of lexical inhibition. Our pupillometric data replicated and extended previous behavioral findings, in that inhibition was obtained for orthographically similar word prime-target pairs. However, our response time data provided only a partial replication of Nakayama et al. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 34, 1236-1260, 2008. These results provide converging lines of evidence that inhibition operates in word recognition and that pupillometry is a useful addition to word recognition researchers\u27 toolbox

Accelerator performance analysis of the Fermilab Muon Campus

Fermilab is dedicated to hosting world-class experiments in search of new physics that will operate in the coming years. The Muon g-2 Experiment is one such experiment that will determine with unprecedented precision the muon anomalous magnetic moment, which offers an important test of the Standard Model. We describe in this study the accelerator facility that will deliver a muon beam to this experiment. We first present the lattice design that allows for efficient capture, transport, and delivery of polarized muon beams. We then numerically examine its performance by simulating pion production in the target, muon collection by the downstream beam line optics, as well as transport of muon polarization. We finally establish the conditions required for the safe removal of unwanted secondary particles that minimizes contamination of the final beam.Comment: 10 p

A Critical Look at Four Multicultural Reform Efforts in One Urban College of Education

The article describes multicultural reform projects at an urban college of education including analyses of student\u27s descriptions of their experiences in urban schools, the results of a faculty diversity self-study group and issues arising from culturally responsive pedagogy in an early childhood teaching class. The author\u27s assertion that diversity education is an essential part of teacher education is discussed, and the importance of continuous critical analysis of teacher education is emphasized