Inhibition of Return in the visual field

Inhibition of return (IOR) as an indicator of attentional control is characterized by an eccentricity effect, that is, the more peripheral visual field shows a stronger IOR magnitude relative to the perifoveal visual field. However, it could be argued that this eccentricity effect may not be an attention effect, but due to cortical magnification. To test this possibility, we examined this eccentricity effect in two conditions: the same-size condition in which identical stimuli were used at different eccentricities, and the size-scaling condition in which stimuli were scaled according to the cortical magnification factor (M-scaling), thus stimuli being larger at the more peripheral locations. The results showed that the magnitude of IOR was significantly stronger in the peripheral relative to the perifoveal visual field, and this eccentricity effect was independent of the manipulation of stimulus size (same-size or size-scaling). These results suggest a robust eccentricity effect of IOR which cannot be eliminated by M-scaling. Underlying neural mechanisms of the eccentricity effect of IOR are discussed with respect to both cortical and subcortical structures mediating attentional control in the perifoveal and peripheral visual field

Intelligente Systeme für eine alternde Gesellschaft

Die Referentin stellt in ihrem Vortrag ihre Forschung zur Entwicklung von Assistenzsystemen und intelligenten Umgebungen für eine alternde Gesellschaft vor. Die verwendeten Technologien bauen im Wesentlichen auf biologische Prinzipien und menschliche Sinnessysteme wie Sehen, Hören und Fühlen auf. Ziel ist es, älteren Menschen so lang wie möglich die Gelegenheit zu bieten, in ihren eigenen vier Wänden zu wohnen, sie im Alltag zu fordern und zu fördern sowie zu unterstützen. Dabei können intelligente Assistenzsysteme von großem Nutzen sein. Die elektronischen Assistenten sollten sich dabei der jeweiligen psychischen und physischen Verfassung des Menschen anpassen, so dass der Mensch weder unter- noch überfordert ist

Studying Spatial Cognition: A report on the DFG workshop on "The Representation of Motion"

this article, we want to give an impression of this collaborative enterprise that combines scientific work in individual projects with communication and cooperation among the projects and with additional projects not funded in this program. This example is set by describing a workshop on "The Representation of Motion", held in October 1998 in Munich, organized by C. Eschenbach and K. Schill. The workshop is part of a series of topic-centered workshops, organized by members of the priority program and meant to encourage the interaction within the program and the integration of further projects on kindred topics. This series complements workshops of the whole program, on the one hand, and bilateral workshops of projects collaborating on concrete tasks, on the other hand