MMN and Differential Waveform

A mismatch negativity response (MMN) and a new differential waveform were derived in an effort to evaluate a neural refractory or recovery effect in adult listeners. The MMN was elicited using oddball test runs in which the standard and deviant stimuli differed in frequency. To derive the differential waveform, the same standard and deviant stimuli were presented alone. MMN responses were obtained by subtracting the averaged responses to standards from the deviants. The differential waveforms were obtained by subtracting the averaged responses to standards presented alone from deviants presented alone. Scalp topography for the MMN and differential waveforms were similar. A significant (p < .05) positive and negative correlation was found between the earlier and later components of the bimodal MMN and the N1 and P2 component of the differential waveform, respectively. Further, N1 and P2 of the differential waveform were significant (p < .05) predictor variables of early and late peak amplitudes of the MMN. These results suggest that refractory effects may overlay/modify the morphology of the MMN waveform

The power of popular publicity: new social media and the affective dynamics of the sport racism scandal

Sociologists have tended to take insufficient account of the importance of emotions to the social power of the institution of media, particularly as altered by the emergence of social media in the current media ecology. This paper compensates for this neglect by means of a brief illustrative case study of the effect of social media on the public reception of the 2011 Sepp Blatter racism scandal and of other ‘race-related’ scandals in the UK. In proposing media scandals’ wider sociological significance regarding the dynamic, multi-accented relationships between emotions and power, it analyses how England’s prevailing climate of ‘postcolonial guilt’ was reinforced and conveyed through social media networks

The evolution of language: a comparative review

For many years the evolution of language has been seen as a disreputable topic, mired in fanciful &quot;just so stories&quot; about language origins. However, in the last decade a new synthesis of modern linguistics, cognitive neuroscience and neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory has begun to make important contributions to our understanding of the biology and evolution of language. I review some of this recent progress, focusing on the value of the comparative method, which uses data from animal species to draw inferences about language evolution. Discussing speech first, I show how data concerning a wide variety of species, from monkeys to birds, can increase our understanding of the anatomical and neural mechanisms underlying human spoken language, and how bird and whale song provide insights into the ultimate evolutionary function of language. I discuss the ‘‘descended larynx’ ’ of humans, a peculiar adaptation for speech that has received much attention in the past, which despite earlier claims is not uniquely human. Then I will turn to the neural mechanisms underlying spoken language, pointing out the difficulties animals apparently experience in perceiving hierarchical structure in sounds, and stressing the importance of vocal imitation in the evolution of a spoken language. Turning to ultimate function, I suggest that communication among kin (especially between parents and offspring) played a crucial but neglected role in driving language evolution. Finally, I briefly discuss phylogeny, discussing hypotheses that offer plausible routes to human language from a non-linguistic chimp-like ancestor. I conclude that comparative data from living animals will be key to developing a richer, more interdisciplinary understanding of our most distinctively human trait: language

Modeling the evolution of communication: From Stimulus Associations To grounded symbolic associations

This paper describes a model for the evolution of communication systems using simple syntactic rules, such as word combinations. It also focuses on the distinction between simple word-object associations and symbolic relationships. The simulation method combines the use of neural networks and genetic algorithms. The behavioral task is influenced by Savage-Rumbaugh &amp; Rumbaugh&apos; s (1978) ape language experiments. The results show that languages that use combination of words (e.g. &quot;verb-object&quot; rule) can emerge by autoorganization and cultural transmission. Neural networks are tested to see if evolved languages are based on symbol acquisition. The implications of this model for Deacon&apos;s (1997) hypothesis on the role of symbolic acquisition for the origin of language are discussed

Recalibrating color categories using world knowledge

Mitterer H, de Ruiter J. Recalibrating color categories using world knowledge. Psychological Science. 2008;19(7):629-634

Origins of scaling in genetic code

“The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com” Copyright SpringerThe principle of least effort in communications has been shown, by Ferrer i Cancho and Sol´e, to explain emergence of power laws (e.g., Zipf’s law) in human languages. This paper applies the principle and the informationtheoretic model of Ferrer i Cancho and Sol´e to genetic coding. The application of the principle is achieved via equating the ambiguity of signals used by “speakers” with codon usage, on the one hand, and the effort of “hearers” with needs of amino acid translation mechanics, on the other hand. The re-interpreted model captures the case of the typical (vertical) gene transfer, and confirms that Zipf’s law can be found in the transition between referentially useless systems (i.e., ambiguous genetic coding) and indexical reference systems (i.e., zero-redundancy genetic coding). As with linguistic symbols, arranging genetic codes according to Zipf’s law is observed to be the optimal solution for maximising the referential power under the effort constraints. Thus, the model identifies the origins of scaling in genetic coding — via a trade-off between codon usage and needs of amino acid translation. Furthermore, the paper extends Ferrer i Cancho – Sol´e model to multiple inputs, reaching out toward the case of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) where multiple contributors may share the same genetic coding. Importantly, the extended model also leads to a sharp transition between referentially useless systems (ambiguous HGT) and indexical reference systems (zero-redundancy HGT). Zipf’s law is also observed to be the optimal solution in the HGT case.Peer reviewe

Language and cognition influence on evolution of cultures

Evolution of cultures is influenced by languages. To understand this influence the paper analyzes how language and cognition interact in thinking. Is language just used for communication of completed thoughts, or is it fundamental for thinking? We review a hypothesis that language and cognition are two separate but closely interacting mechanisms, and identify each of them. Language accumulates cultural wisdom; cognition develops mental representations modeling surrounding world and adapts cultural knowledge to concrete circumstances of life. Language is acquired from surrounding language ‘ready-made’ and therefore can be acquired early in life. Cognition can not be acquired directly from experience; language is a necessary intermediary, a “teacher.” This model is consistent with recent neuroimaging data about cognition, remaining unnoticed by other theories. The proposed theory explains a number of properties of language and cognition, which previously seemed mysterious. It suggests mechanisms by which language grammars influence emotionality of languages and directs cultural evolution. This theory may explain specifics of English and Arabic cultures. We review theoretical and experimental evidence and discuss future direction