Interactions between sentence comprehension and concurrent action: The role of movement effects and timing

Embodied approaches to language comprehension suggest that we understand sentences by using our perception and action systems for simulating their contents. In line with this assumption, the action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE) shows that sensibility judgments for sentences are faster when the direction of the described action matches the direction of the response movement. The aim of this thesis was to investigate whether this compatibility is effective between sentence direction and movement direction or between sentence direction and the direction of the movement effect. To this end, movements were dissociated from their effects in several experiments. Participants indicated whether sentences describing transfer actions toward or away from the body are sensible or not by producing a movement effect on a screen at a location near the body or far from the body. These movement effects were achieved by moving the hand from a middle button to a near or far button, i.e., toward the body or away from the body. In one condition, a movement effect resulted from pressing the button whose location corresponded with the location of the effect. Crucially for the above research question, there was another condition in which an action effect resulted from pressing the button at the opposite location. Since in the first series of experiments, the ACE turned out to be unreliable and in part seemed to be reversed, it was difficult to address the initial question. Therefore, a second series of experiments additionally investigated the role of timing between response preparation and sentence comprehension as a potential cause of the negative ACE. Results showed a positive ACE when the same directional feature was concurrently activated within the two processes, leading to priming between them. A negative ACE appeared when the directional feature was already bound into the sentence representation and thus was less accessible when needed for response preparation. In both cases, the ACE was related to the movement effect. These results suggest that the ACE occurs on the higher level of cognitive representations referring to distal information

Action-sentence compatibility: The role of action effects and timing

Research on embodied approaches to language comprehension suggests that we understand linguistic descriptions of actions by mentally simulating these actions. Evidence is provided by the action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE) which shows that sensibility judgments for sentences are faster when the direction of the described action matches the response direction. In two experiments, we investigated whether the ACE relies on actions or on intended action effects. Participants gave sensibility judgments of auditorily presented sentences by producing an action effect on a screen at a location near the body or far from the body. These action effects were achieved by pressing a response button that was located in either the same spatial direction as the action effect, or in the opposite direction. We used a go/no-go task in which the direction of the to-be-produced action effect was either cued at the onset of each sentence (Experiment 1) or at different points in time before and after sentence onset (Experiment 2). Overall, results showed a relationship between the direction of the described action and the direction of the action effect. Furthermore, Experiment 2 indicated that depending on the timing between cue presentation and sentence onset, participants responded either faster when the direction of the described action matched the direction of the action effect (positive ACE), or slower (negative ACE). These results provide evidence that the comprehension of action sentences involves the activation of representations of action effects. Concurrently activated representations in sentence comprehension and action planning can lead to both priming and interference, which is discussed in the context of the theory of event coding

Recruitment via social media: advantages and potential biases

© The Author(s) 2019. Background: Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors are under-represented in research. Social media is increasingly used for recruitment given its ability to reach large audiences. Differences in participant characteristics and potential biases due to recruitment source are not well understood. Purpose: This study aimed to: (a) compare recruitment strategies (hospital-based v. social media) in enrollment metrics, and (b) among enrolled participants, evaluate group differences in patient characteristics and patient reported outcomes (PROs). Methods: Preliminary data from a cancer and fertility study with female AYAs were evaluated. Hospital-based recruitment used electronic medical records (EMR) to identify eligible patients. Social media recruitment involved posting on partner organizations’ social media outlets. PROs included validated measures related to the parent study. Descriptive statistics evaluated recruitment metrics. Independent samples t-tests and chi-square identified differences in participant characteristics and PROs based on recruitment. Results: Social media yielded a higher enrollment rate (37%; n = 54/146) compared with hospital-based recruitment (7%; n = 21/289) and required fewer study resources. Compared with hospital-based recruitment, participants from social media were more likely to be White (p = 0.01), with a longer time since treatment (p = 0.03); and reported higher levels of reproductive concern (p = 0.004) and negative mood (p = 0.02), and more negative illness perceptions (ps \u3c 0.05). Conclusion: Recruitment via social media may be a more effective and efficient strategy compared with hospital-based methods. However, group differences were identified that could bias findings and limit generalizability. Advantages of social media should be considered with an understanding of how methodology may impact enrollment and results

Application of Building Typologies for Modelling the Energy Balance of the Residential Building Stock

Building typologies can serve as a basis for analysing the national housing sector. During the TABULA project which was introducing or further developing building typologies in thirteen EU countries, six of the European partners have carried out model calculations which aim at imaging the energy consumption and estimating the energy saving potentials of their national residential building stocks (IWU / Germany, NOA / Greece, POLITO / Italy, VITO / Belgium, STU-K / Czech Republic, SBi / Denmark). The results show that the model calculations can provide plausible projections of the energy consumption of the national residential buildings stock. The fit of model calculations and national energy statistics is satisfactory, deviations can often be explained and corrected by adapting standard boundary conditions of the applied calculation models to more realistic values. In general, the analysis shows that building typologies can be a helpful tool for modelling the energy consumption of national building stocks and for carrying out scenario analysis beyond the TABULA project. The consideration of a set of representative buildings makes it possible to have a detailed view on various packages of measures for the complete buildings stock or for its sub-categories. The effects of different insulation measures at the respective construction elements as well as different heat supply measures including renewable energies can be considered in detail. The quality of future model calculations will depend very much on the availability of statistical data. For reliable scenario analysis information is necessary about the current state of the building stock (How many buildings and heating systems have been refurbished until now?) and about the current trends (How many buildings and heating systems are being refurbished every year?). The availability and regular update of the relevant statistical data will be an important basis for the development and evaluation of national climate protection strategies in the building secto

Gastric function in Caiman crocodilus (Crocodylia: Reptilia)--I. Rate of gastric digestion and gastric motility as a function of temperature

1. 1. A cannulation method was devised that allows continuous safe gastric sampling and recording of intragastric pressure in Caiman crocodilus.2. 2. In C. crocodilus, fed 5 per cent of the body weight, complete gastric emptying takes an average of 99 (+/-10) hr at 30[deg]C, to an average of 315 (+/-16) hr at 15[deg]C.3. 3. Two types of gastric contractions were recorded in C. crocodilus, by means of intragastric pressure measurements, at 20, 25 and 30[deg]C.4. 4. The two types of contractions were recorded regardless of the feeding state of the animals.5. 5. Their frequency and amplitude increase with temperature or upon feeding.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22043/1/0000461.pd