Infant intermodal speech perception is a left-hemisphere function

Prelinguistic infants recognized structural correspondences in acoustic and optic properties of synchronized, naturally spoken disyllables, but did so only when they were looking to their right sides. This result suggests that intermodal speech perception is facilitated by rightward orientation of attention and subserved by the left hemisphere.     

Segregation of form, color, movement, and depth: anatomy, physiology, and perception

Anatomical and physiological observations in monkeys indicate that the primate visual system consists of several separate and independent subdivisions that analyze different aspects of the same retinal image: cells in cortical visual areas 1 and 2 and higher visual areas are segregated into three interdigitating subdivisions that differ in their selectivity for color, stereopsis, movement, and orientation. The pathways selective for form and color seem to be derived mainly from the parvocellular geniculate subdivisions, the depth- and movement-selective components from the magnocellular. At lower levels, in the retina and in the geniculate, cells in these two subdivisions differ in their color selectivity, contrast sensitivity, temporal properties, and spatial resolution. These major differences in the properties of cells at lower levels in each of the subdivisions led to the prediction that different visual functions, such as color, depth, movement, and form perception, should exhibit corresponding differences. Human perceptual experiments are remarkably consistent with these predictions. Moreover, perceptual experiments can be designed to ask which subdivisions of the system are responsible for particular visual abilities, such as figure/ground discrimination or perception of depth from perspective or relative movement--functions that might be difficult to deduce from single-cell response properties.     

Speech perception takes precedence over nonspeech perception

Some components of a speech signal, when made more intense, are heard simultaneously as speech and nonspeech--a form of duplex perception. At lower intensities, the speech alone is heard. Such intensity-dependent duplexity implies the existence of a phonetic mode of perception that takes precedence over auditory modes.     

Human echo perception

It has been shown that human test subjects have the ability, under controlled laboratory conditions, to use echoes to detect the presence or absence of targets placed before them. In addition, blind and sighted persons have been able to detect a target monaurally, to make simple shape discriminations, and to locate a target in space. Signal, environmental, and individual variability affect performance in a measurable fashion. This research is an initial step in measuring the limits of a human being's ability to use echoes as a source of information about his physical surroundings. At this point it seems unlikely that the unaided human ear can rival the bat's auditory system for echo perception. It may be, however, that modern technology can partially bridge the evolutionary gap and bring more useful echoes to man's ear than those it now receives. Such an accomplishment would allow us to examine the extent to which man might benefit from this means of sensing his environment.     

天蚕不同蛾色产卵与幼虫体色的调查

对不同蛾色分离、产卵数量、幼虫体色、茧色和茧质调查结果表明：蛾色不同其造卵数和产卵数有差异,产卵数量最高的是黄色蛾早×黄色蛾6组合,平均为260粒,产卵净度达86．5％。浅灰色、黑色和暗黑色产卵量较低;幼虫体色可分为浅黄色和绿色2个类型,幼虫体色不同,其茧色也有差异,可分为黄色、浅黄色、浅绿色和绿色;不同茧色的茧层率差异不显著,雄茧高于雌茧的茧层率1％左右。     

Infant carrying by male chacma baboons

Male chacma baboons, Papio ursinus, carry their offspring during confrontations with higher ranking immigrant males, who are a threat to the infants' lives. The infants sometimes initiate these confrontations by approaching and provoking immigrant males when protective males are close by. Mothers rarely interfere during these interactions.     

色差仪和肉色板在猪肉肉色评定中的应用

用色差仪将标准肉色板(日本制)的6个色级进行了测定,统计分析6个色级的L*、a*、b*、C和H0值的变化规律。以肉眼对照肉色板评定法和色差仪评定法对淮猪(HH)、苏淮白猪(75%大约克猪 25%新淮猪,SHB)、大约克猪×淮猪(YH)、长白猪×淮猪(LH)、杜×长.大(DLY)洋三元猪等5个品种(系)或杂交组合共计23头猪进行了宰后肉色评定,将两种测定方法的结果进行比较分析。结果表明,b*值在肉色的评定中参考意义较小;在个体肉色相差较小时(如在3.0~3.5分之间),色差仪评定法与肉眼对照评定法对猪肉肉色的评定结果不一致;当个体肉色相差较大时,这两种方法的评定结果基本一致。     

Space perception in early infancy: perception within a common auditory-visual space

Infants as young as 30 days become visibly distressed upon observing their mothers speak to them while the mother's voice is displaced in space. Their ability to perceive this discrepancy indicates that infant perception occurs within a space that is common to the visual and auditory modes.     

Speech perception in infants

Discriminiationi of synthetic speech sounds was studied in 1- and 4-month-old infants. The speech sounds varied along an acoustic dimension previously shown to cue phonemic distinctions among the voiced and voiceless stop consonants in adults. Discriminability was measured by an increase in conditioned response rate to a second speech sound after habituation to the first speech sound. Recovery from habituation was greater for a given acoustic difference when the two stimuli were from different adult phonemic categories than when they were from the same category. The discontinuity in discrimination at the region of the adult phonemic boundary was taken as evidence for categorical perception.     

Visual perception and xerography

An electrostatic copying machine was used to model the perception of simultaneous brightness contrast. Such a model may assist the study of sensory inhibition by permitting the study of complex situations as they are transformed by rules similar to those at work in neural integration.     

Dimensions of mind perception

Participants compared the mental capacities of various human and nonhuman characters via online surveys. Factor analysis revealed two dimensions of mind perception, Experience (for example, capacity for hunger) and Agency (for example, capacity for self-control). The dimensions predicted different moral judgments but were both related to valuing of mind.