Evolution of symbolic communication : an embodied perspective

This thesis investigates the emergence in human evolution of communication through symbols, or conventional, arbitrary signs. Previous work has argued that symbolic speech was preceded by communication through nonarbitrary signs, but how vocal symbolic communication arose out of this has not been extensively studied. Thus far, past research has emphasized the advantages of vocal symbols and pointed to communicative and evolutionary pressures that would have spurred their development. Based on semiotic principles, I examine emergence in terms of two factors underlying symbols: interpretation and conventionalization. I address the question with a consideration of embodied human experience – that is, accounting for the particular features that characterize human communication. This involves simultaneous expression through vocal and gestural modalities, each of which has distinct semiotic properties and serves distinct functions in language today. I examine research on emerging sign systems together with research on properties of human communication to address the question of symbol emergence in terms of the specific context of human evolution. I argue that, instead of in response to pressures for improved communication, symbolic vocalizations could have emerged through blind cultural processes out of the conditions of multimodal nonarbitrary communication in place prior to modern language. Vocalizations would have been interpreted as arbitrary by virtue of their semiotic profile relative to that of gesture, and arbitrary vocalizations could have become conventionalized via the communicative support of nonarbitrary gestures. This scenario avoids appealing to improbable evolutionary and psychological processes and provides a comprehensive and evolutionarily sound explanation for symbol emergence. I present experiments that test hypotheses stemming from this claim. I show that novel arbitrary vocal forms are interpreted and adopted as symbols even when these are uninformative and gesture is the primary mode of communication. I also present computational models that simulate multi-channel, heterosemiotic communication like that of arbitrary speech and nonarbitrary gesture. These demonstrate that information like that provided by gesture can enable the conventionalization of symbols across a population. The results from experiments and simulations together support the claim that symbolic communication could arise naturally from multimodal nonarbitrary communication, offering an explanation for symbol emergence more consistent with evolutionary principles than existing proposals

Concert recording 2017-04-29

[Track 1]. When the children are asleep from Carousel / Richard Rogers & Oscar Hammerstein -- [Track 2]. Quartet from The secret garden / Lucy Simon -- [Track 3]. Agony from Into the woods / Stephen Sondheim -- [Track 4]. Stepsister\u27s lament from Cinderella / Rogers & Hammerstein -- [Track 5]. Only love from The scarlet pimpernel / Frank Wildhorn -- [Track 6]. Schroeder from You\u27re a good man Charlie Brown / Clark Gesner -- [Track 7]. Where in the world from The secret garden [Track 8]. How could I ever know from The secret garden / Lucy Simon -- [Track 9]. Who am I from Peter Pan / Leonard Bernstein -- [Track 10]. Some things are meant to be from Little Women / Jason Howland -- [Track 11]. With you from Ghost / Bruce Joel Rubin -- [Track 12]. When he sees me from Waitress [Track 13]. Never ever getting rid of me from Waitress / Sara Bareilles -- [Track 14]. Sepia life from Grateful / John Bucchino -- [Track 15]. Thank you for the music from Mamma mia / Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus -- [Track 16]. Agony reprise from Into the woods / Stephen Sondheim -- [Track 17]. If I loved you from Carousel / Rodgers & Hammerstein

Usual care for youth with autism spectrum disorder: Community-based providers’ reported familiarity with treatment practices

ObjectiveTo examine patterns and predictors of familiarity with transdisciplinary psychosocial (e.g., non-pharmacologic) practices for practitioners treating youths with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States.MethodPractitioners (n = 701) from behavioral, education, medical, and mental health backgrounds who worked with youth (ages 7–22) with ASD completed the Usual Care for Autism Survey, which assessed provider demographics and self-reported familiarity with transdisciplinary treatment practices for the most common referral problems of ASD. We examined relations between provider-, setting-, and client-level characteristics with familiarity of key groups of the treatment practices (practice sets). Practice sets were identified using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and demographic predictors of practice subsets were examined using generalized estimating equations (GEE).ResultsThe EFA yielded a three-factor solution: (1) environmental modifications/antecedent strategies; (2) behavior analytic strategies; and (3) cognitive strategies, with overall familiarity ranked in this order. Medical providers indicated the least familiarity across disciplines. More experience with ASD and treating those with intellectual disabilities predicted greater familiarity with only environmental modifications/antecedent strategies and behavior analytic, but not cognitive strategies. Experience treating low SES clients predicted familiarity with environmental modification and behavior analytic strategies while experience treating high SES clients predicted familiarity with behavior analytic and cognitive strategies.ConclusionThis is the first study to identify transdisciplinary, interpretable sets of practices for treating youth with ASD based on community providers’ reported familiarity. Results highlight factors associated with familiarity with practice sets, which is essential for mapping practice availability, and optimizing training and dissemination efforts for youth with ASD

Multi-ancestry study of blood lipid levels identifies four loci interacting with physical activity.

Many genetic loci affect circulating lipid levels, but it remains unknown whether lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, modify these genetic effects. To identify lipid loci interacting with physical activity, we performed genome-wide analyses of circulating HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels in up to 120,979 individuals of European, African, Asian, Hispanic, and Brazilian ancestry, with follow-up of suggestive associations in an additional 131,012 individuals. We find four loci, in/near CLASP1, LHX1, SNTA1, and CNTNAP2, that are associated with circulating lipid levels through interaction with physical activity; higher levels of physical activity enhance the HDL cholesterol-increasing effects of the CLASP1, LHX1, and SNTA1 loci and attenuate the LDL cholesterol-increasing effect of the CNTNAP2 locus. The CLASP1, LHX1, and SNTA1 regions harbor genes linked to muscle function and lipid metabolism. Our results elucidate the role of physical activity interactions in the genetic contribution to blood lipid levels

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr

Pest population dynamics are related to a continental overwintering gradient

Overwintering success is an important determinant of arthropod populations that must be considered as climate change continues to influence the spatiotemporal population dynamics of agricultural pests. Using a long-term monitoring database and biologically relevant overwintering zones, we modeled the annual and seasonal population dynamics of a common pest, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), based on three overwintering suitability zones throughout North America using four decades of soil temperatures: the southern range (able to persist through winter), transitional zone (uncertain overwintering survivorship), and northern limits (unable to survive winter). Our model indicates H. zea population dynamics are hierarchically structured with continental-level effects that are partitioned into three geographic zones. Seasonal populations were initially detected in the southern range, where they experienced multiple large population peaks. All three zones experienced a final peak between late July (southern range) and mid-August to mid-September (transitional zone and northern limits). The southern range expanded by 3% since 1981 and is projected to increase by twofold by 2099 but the areas of other zones are expected to decrease in the future. These changes suggest larger populations may persist at higher latitudes in the future due to reduced low-temperature lethal events during winter. Because H. zea is a highly migratory pest, predicting when populations accumulate in one region can inform synchronous or lagged population development in other regions. We show the value of combining long-term datasets, remotely sensed data, and laboratory findings to inform forecasting of insect pests

Priorities for synthesis research in ecology and environmental science

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the National Science Foundation grant #1940692 for financial support for this workshop, and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and its staff for logistical support.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Priorities for synthesis research in ecology and environmental science

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the National Science Foundation grant #1940692 for financial support for this workshop, and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and its staff for logistical support.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Attention bias to emotional faces varies by IQ and anxiety in Williams syndrome

Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) often experience significant anxiety. A promising approach to anxiety intervention has emerged from cognitive studies of attention bias to threat. To investigate the utility of this intervention in WS, this study examined attention bias to happy and angry faces in individuals with WS (N=46). Results showed a significant difference in attention bias patterns as a function of IQ and anxiety. Individuals with higher IQ or higher anxiety showed a significant bias toward angry, but not happy faces, whereas individuals with lower IQ or lower anxiety showed the opposite pattern. These results suggest that attention bias interventions to modify a threat bias may be most effectively targeted to anxious individuals with WS with relatively high IQ