Visual Perception of Humanoid Movement

We examined similarity judgements of arm movements generated by different control strategies with the goal of producing natural looking movements on humanoid robots and virtual humans. We examined a variety of movements generated by human motion capture data as well as fourteen differenct synthetic motion generation algorithms that were developed based on human motor production theories and computational considerations. In experiments we displayed motion clips generated by these 15 different methods on both a humanoid robot and a computer graphic character and obtained judgements of similarity between pairs of movements. Experimental results reveal that for movements with obviously different paths as occurred with two production techniques then, as expected, hand paths dominated in the perception of similarity. However, for roughly similar paths as occurred for the other techniques then judgements about fast movements appeared to be based on their velocity profile while judgements to slow movements were based on more detailed representation of the movement

Sharing practice on framing feedback around student development

In this article we share practical and evidence-based advice on framing assessment feedback around student development. The practices that we share are centred on two aspects of framing feedback. The first is in how feedback is generated and how the teacher can author effective feedback by making it personal, situated within the student’s learning journey and by providing actionable points for the next assignment. The second aspect that we share is the framing of feedback in relation to student reflection and use of the feedback, scaffolding the development of a dialogue between student and teacher, and helping the student to situate their assignment and feedback within their own wider learning journey. Ultimately, we want students to find feedback useful and for feedback to represent a positive interaction between teacher and student, but both teachers and students need tools that help them to create usable feedback

Event segmentation and biological motion perception in watching dance

We used a combination of behavioral, computational vision and fMRI methods to examine human brain activity while viewing a 386 s video of a solo Bharatanatyam dance. A computational analysis provided us with a Motion Index (MI) quantifying the silhouette motion of the dancer throughout the dance. A behavioral analysis using 30 naïve observers provided us with the time points where observers were most likely to report event boundaries where one movement segment ended and another began. These behavioral and computational data were used to interpret the brain activity of a different set of 11 naïve observers who viewed the dance video while brain activity was measured using fMRI. Results showed that the Motion Index related to brain activity in a single cluster in the right Inferior Temporal Gyrus (ITG) in the vicinity of the Extrastriate Body Area (EBA). Perception of event boundaries in the video was related to the BA44 region of right Inferior Frontal Gyrus as well as extensive clusters of bilateral activity in the Inferior Occipital Gyrus which extended in the right hemisphere towards the posterior Superior Temporal Sulcus (pSTS)

Norm-based coding of voice identity in human auditory cortex

Listeners exploit small interindividual variations around a generic acoustical structure to discriminate and identify individuals from their voice—a key requirement for social interactions. The human brain contains temporal voice areas (TVA) [1] involved in an acoustic-based representation of voice identity [2, 3, 4, 5 and 6], but the underlying coding mechanisms remain unknown. Indirect evidence suggests that identity representation in these areas could rely on a norm-based coding mechanism [4, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11]. Here, we show by using fMRI that voice identity is coded in the TVA as a function of acoustical distance to two internal voice prototypes (one male, one female)—approximated here by averaging a large number of same-gender voices by using morphing [12]. Voices more distant from their prototype are perceived as more distinctive and elicit greater neuronal activity in voice-sensitive cortex than closer voices—a phenomenon not merely explained by neuronal adaptation [13 and 14]. Moreover, explicit manipulations of distance-to-mean by morphing voices toward (or away from) their prototype elicit reduced (or enhanced) neuronal activity. These results indicate that voice-sensitive cortex integrates relevant acoustical features into a complex representation referenced to idealized male and female voice prototypes. More generally, they shed light on remarkable similarities in cerebral representations of facial and vocal identity

How do you say ‘hello’? Personality impressions from brief novel voices

On hearing a novel voice, listeners readily form personality impressions of that speaker. Accurate or not, these impressions are known to affect subsequent interactions; yet the underlying psychological and acoustical bases remain poorly understood. Furthermore, hitherto studies have focussed on extended speech as opposed to analysing the instantaneous impressions we obtain from first experience. In this paper, through a mass online rating experiment, 320 participants rated 64 sub-second vocal utterances of the word ‘hello’ on one of 10 personality traits. We show that: (1) personality judgements of brief utterances from unfamiliar speakers are consistent across listeners; (2) a two-dimensional ‘social voice space’ with axes mapping Valence (Trust, Likeability) and Dominance, each driven by differing combinations of vocal acoustics, adequately summarises ratings in both male and female voices; and (3) a positive combination of Valence and Dominance results in increased perceived male vocal Attractiveness, whereas perceived female vocal Attractiveness is largely controlled by increasing Valence. Results are discussed in relation to the rapid evaluation of personality and, in turn, the intent of others, as being driven by survival mechanisms via approach or avoidance behaviours. These findings provide empirical bases for predicting personality impressions from acoustical analyses of short utterances and for generating desired personality impressions in artificial voices

A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N=10,535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β=0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β=0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

A Many-analysts Approach to the Relation Between Religiosity and Well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N = 10, 535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β = 0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β = 0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

Creating a Curriculum Centered on Reproducible Research for the Psychologists of the Future

Within Psychology at the University of Glasgow, over the past few years, we have looked to refocus our research curriculum across all teaching levels to centre on reproducible methods, and to develop and improve academic communication practices consistent with the ideas of accountability and integrity in disseminating reproducible science. This change was partly based on the issues within our field, highlighted by the Replication Crisis, as well as on discussions and reflections about the necessary skills sought in a graduate researcher. In terms of our statistics and research method provision, the changes we have put in place mean our curriculum now promotes student independence in their research practice by emphasising traditionally overlooked skills, including, and in particular, data wrangling, visualisation, and dynamic reproducible report writing. In addition, students learn about concepts such as probability through simulation and how to work with data through "real and messy" open datasets, helping to build diverse practical skills and to develop their own competence and confidence in all areas of academic and data literacy. These developments have partly been made possible through a change of analytical software, and as such all our research methods classes are now taught in R, but fundamental to the approach has been the focus on the skills taught and not simply a change of software. Furthermore, we promote a focus on the importance of the research question and the hypothesis, as opposed to the outcome, by using assignments based on pre-registration and Registered Reports, as well as assessments discussing the benefits and limitations of open science practices, aiming to develop a more holistic view of the issues within our students and future graduates. Through honest discussions of different approaches and through developing a diverse skillset, we have looked to build a cohort that knows how research should be conducted, can discuss the reasoning behind those ideas, and has the skillset to implement that approach. That said, these developments have not been without issue and, throughout this talk, as well as highlighting what we have implemented and why, I will also discuss what has not worked and present advice on common implementation challenges, ranging from staff training to building an inclusive and supportive student community. In brief, I will share the rationale, experiences, and materials behind our approach to developing students as accountable practitioners of reproducible research with the hope that our experiences can be of benefit to a diverse range of fields. All our materials for teaching data wrangling and analysis are available at https://psyteachr.github.io