scholarly journals The Use of Patterns to Disguise Environmental Cues During an Anticipatory Judgment Task

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Causer ◽  
A. Mark Williams
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Ball Contact ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Uniform Designs ◽  
Test Film ◽  
Skilled Group

A number of novel manipulations to the design of playing uniforms were used to try to disguise the actions of penalty takers in soccer. Skilled and less-skilled soccer goalkeepers were required to anticipate penalty kick outcome while their opponent wore one of three different uniform designs that were intended to disguise the availability of potentially key information from the hip region. Variations of shapes/patterns were designed to conceal the actual alignment of the hips. Three occlusion points were used in the test film: −160 ms, −80 ms before, and at foot–ball contact. Skilled individuals reported higher accuracy scores than their less-skilled counterparts (p < .05). There were no performance decrements for the less-skilled group across the different uniform conditions (p > .05); however, the skilled group decreased their accuracy on the experimental conditions compared with the control (p < .05). Findings highlight the potential benefits of designing playing uniforms that facilitate disguise in sport.

Promoting learning and unlearning through textual enhancement in a closely related L1-L2 relationship

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Paolo Della Putta
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Instructional Treatment ◽  
Group A ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Textual Enhancement ◽  
Group B ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Grammatical Judgment

AbstractThis study investigates the differential effects of Textual Enhancement (TE) on the learning and unlearning of two syntactic properties of Spanish – the absence of the Pre-possessive Determiner Article (PPDA) and the presence of the Prepositional Accusative (PA) – which each pose specific acquisitional difficulties for Italian-speaking learners of Spanish (ISS) due to their asymmetrical relationships with corresponding L1 structures. 77 ISS were divided in two experimental groups: group A read 5 texts with TE on PA – the feature to be learned – and group B read the same 5 texts with TE on PPDA – the feature to be unlearned. The participants took a timed grammatical judgment task three times (before, five days after, and two months after the instructional treatment). The results are compared with those of Della Putta (2016), a symmetrical study to this, in which the same teaching intervention and experimental conditions were adopted with Spanish-speaking learners of Italian, whose task was to unlearn PA and to learn PPDA. The bidirectional comparison shows a similar, weak effect of TE, although in the present study, unlike in Della Putta (2016), unlearning did not seem to be more difficult than learning. These similarities and differences are discussed and theoretically motivated.

Energy Expenditure During Acute Periods of Sitting, Standing, and Walking

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 573-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth A. Creasy ◽  
Renee J. Rogers ◽  
Thomas D. Byard ◽  
Robert J. Kowalsky ◽  
John M. Jakicic
Keyword(s):  
Energy Expenditure ◽  
Sedentary Behavior ◽  
Indirect Calorimetry ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Laptop Computer ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Increase Energy Expenditure ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Harmful Effects

Background:Identifying strategies to increase energy expenditure (EE) may help combat the harmful effects of sedentary behavior. This study examined EE during sitting, standing, and walking.Methods:Participants (N = 74) were randomized to 2 of the following activities: sitting using a laptop computer (SIT-C), sitting watching television (SIT-T), standing watching television (STAND), and walking at a self-selected pace ≤3.0 (mph) (WALK). Each activity lasted 15 minutes with a 3-minute transition period between activities. The experimental conditions were: SIT-C to STAND (N = 18), SIT-T to WALK (N = 18), STAND to SIT-C (N = 20), and WALK to SIT-T (N = 18). EE was measured using indirect calorimetry.Results:Based on the first activity performed, EE during WALK (55.92 ± 14.19 kcal) was significantly greater than SIT-C (19.63 ± 6.90 kcal), SIT-T (18.66 ± 4.01 kcal), and STAND (21.92 ± 5.08 kcal) (P < .001). Cumulative EE in SIT-T to WALK (74.50 ± 17.88 kcal) and WALK to SIT-T (82.72 ± 21.70 kcal) was significantly greater than EE in SIT-C to STAND (45.38 ± 14.78 kcal) and STAND to SIT-C (45.64 ± 9.69 kcal) (P < .001).Conclusions:Conclusion: Substituting periods of sitting or standing with walking significantly increases EE, but substituting periods of sitting with standing may not affect EE. Thus, the potential benefits of standing as opposed to sitting need further investigation beyond the role of EE.

scholarly journals High potential for formation and persistence of chimeras following aggregated larval settlement in the broadcast spawning coral, Acropora millepora

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1729) ◽  
pp. 699-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Puill-Stephan ◽  
M. J. H. van Oppen ◽  
K. Pichavant-Rafini ◽  
B. L. Willis
Keyword(s):  
Marine Invertebrates ◽  
Larval Settlement ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Broadcast Spawning ◽  
Acropora Millepora ◽  
Reef Corals ◽  
Life History Stages ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
High Level

In sessile modular marine invertebrates, chimeras can originate from fusions of closely settling larvae or of colonies that come into contact through growth or movement. While it has been shown that juveniles of brooding corals fuse under experimental conditions, chimera formation in broadcast spawning corals, the most abundant group of reef corals, has not been examined. This study explores the capacity of the broadcast spawning coral Acropora millepora to form chimeras under experimental conditions and to persist as chimeras in the field. Under experimental conditions, 1.5-fold more larvae settled in aggregations than solitarily, and analyses of nine microsatellite loci revealed that 50 per cent of juveniles tested harboured different genotypes within the same colony. Significantly, some chimeric colonies persisted for 23 months post-settlement, when the study ended. Genotypes within persisting chimeric colonies all showed a high level of relatedness, whereas rejecting colonies displayed variable levels of relatedness. The nearly threefold greater sizes of chimeras compared with solitary juveniles, from settlement through to at least three months, suggest that chimerism is likely to be an important strategy for maximizing survival of vulnerable early life-history stages of corals, although longer-term studies are required to more fully explore the potential benefits of chimerism.

scholarly journals Potential limitations for potato yields in raised soil field systems near Lake Titicaca

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 444-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Sánchez de Lozada ◽  
Philippe Baveye ◽  
Robert F. Lucey ◽  
Ricardo Mamani ◽  
Walter Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Agricultural Practice ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Lake Titicaca ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Potato Yields ◽  
Raised Fields

During the last two decades, various non-governmental organizations have strongly encouraged Bolivian farmers in the Altiplano region near Lake Titicaca to resume the ancestral agricultural practice of constructing raised fields. In addition to improved drainage and possibilities this practice affords for sub-irrigation, advocated benefits of this system traditionally include frost mitigation and high crop yields. Until recently, reliable data to assess the extent of these benefits were unfortunately lacking. In this context, field experiments on raised fields were designed and carried out at two locations in the Bolivian Altiplano to obtain reliable potato yield and temperature data. Observed yields ranged from 2.73 to 10.80 t ha-1 at the first site, where salinity caused significant yield variability (R² = 0.79). At the second site, yields per raised platform varied between 8.25 and 33.45 t ha-1. However, comparable yields were obtained in flat control plots in spite of a mid-season frost, and the minimum temperatures differed only by 1ºC in the conventional plots relative to the raised fields. These results suggest that, under the experimental conditions, the potential benefits of raised fields in terms of frost mitigation or increased yields might only be observable in exceptionally bad years, when extreme frosts wipe out entire potato crops on conventional fields. Nevertheless, it is argued that in spite of these marginally supportive observations, raised-field agriculture may still be a viable option for farmers to consider if the water-filled channels between the raised fields are managed for fish and fertilizer production.

scholarly journals Regulatory mechanisms of group distributions in a gregarious arthropod

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (11) ◽  
pp. 150428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Broly ◽  
Romain Mullier ◽  
Cédric Devigne ◽  
Jean-Louis Deneubourg
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Homogeneous Set ◽  
Set Up

In a patchy environment, how social animals manage conspecific and environmental cues in their choice of habitat is a leading issue for understanding their spatial distribution and their exploitation of resources. Here, we experimentally tested the effects of environmental heterogeneities (artificial shelters) and some of their characteristics (size and fragmentation) on the aggregation process of a common species of terrestrial isopod (Crustacea). One hundred individuals were introduced into three different heterogeneous set-ups and in a homogeneous set-up. In the four set-ups, the populations split into two aggregates: one large (approx. 70 individuals) and one smaller (approx. 20 individuals). These aggregates were not randomly distributed in the arena but were formed diametrically opposite from one another. The similarity of the results among the four set-ups shows that under experimental conditions, the environmental heterogeneities have a low impact on the aggregation dynamics and spatial patterns of the isopod, merely serving to increase the probability of nucleation of the larger aggregation at these points. By contrast, the regulation of aggregate sizes and the regular distribution of groups are signatures of local amplification processes, in agreement with the short-range activator and long-range inhibitor model (scale-dependent feedbacks). In other words, we show how small-scale interactions may govern large-scale spatial patterns. This experimental illustration of spatial self-organization is an important step towards comprehension of the complex game of competition among groups in social species.

Improving the use of available feed resources to overcome sheep feeding deficits in western China

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (9) ◽  
pp. 1545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Philp ◽  
Adam M. Komarek ◽  
Sarah J. Pain ◽  
Xueling Li ◽  
William Bellotti
Keyword(s):  
Crude Protein ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Gansu Province ◽  
Western China ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Low Protein ◽  
Constant Quantity ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Potential Strategy

Socioeconomic and agro-ecological circumstances often compel smallholder livestock farmers in the developing world to maintain livestock over winter, and this can incur production penalties due to insufficient feed quality and availability. Recent policy efforts in western China have attempted to address this issue through the promotion of lucerne production to support growing livestock numbers with its high nitrogen content, however lucerne is underutilised by farmers and rarely maintained beyond harvest. The potential benefits to production of storing enough lucerne to meet the minimum nitrogen requirements of rumen function during the winter deficit were explored in an experiment in Qingyang Prefecture, Gansu Province, P.R. China. Tan weaner sheep (mean weight 15.4 kg) were fed corn straw, corn grain and lucerne hay in respective ratios of 80 : 20 : 0 [metabolisable energy (ME) = 7.4 MJ/kg DM, crude protein = 40 g/kg DM; ‘R1’] or 55 : 20 : 25 (ME = 8.2 MJ/kg DM, crude protein = 65 g/kg DM; ‘R2’). Rations were offered daily in a constant quantity that supplied ~80% maintenance energy requirements at the start of the experiment. Sheep fed R2 retained 0.7 kg more on average than those fed R1 (P < 0.01) after 20 days under experimental conditions with a mean weight change of –0.089 kg/day for R1 and –0.055 kg/day for R2 (P < 0.01). Sheep fed R1 experienced a sustained loss in digestive function over time, with ration DM digestibility decreasing by 0.56% per day (P < 0.01, R2 = 0.65), and MJ of ME per kg of ingested DM (M/D) decreasing by 0.06 MJ/kg DM per day (P < 0.001, R2 = 0.98). The mean M/D of R1 had fallen to 6.1 after 20 days (P < 0.01). The mean DM digestibility and M/D observed in R2-fed animals remained comparatively stable, with no statistically significant differences between starting and finishing values (P > 0.05). The results indicate that the capacity for underfed Tan weaner sheep to absorb energy from low protein rations typical of winter rapidly degrades and that the lucerne hay in the diet prevented this decline. Furthermore, these findings demonstrate that conserving lucerne for inclusion in winter rations is a potential strategy for smallholder farmers to maintain the digestive efficiency of Tan sheep during sustained underfeeding contributing to greater retention of liveweight on restricted diets.

Odors as Cues for the Recall of Words Unrelated to Odor

1996 ◽  
Vol 83 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1227-1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia L. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Recall Phase ◽  
Ambient Odor ◽  
Facilitated Recall

The effectiveness of an ambient odor as a retrieval cue for words unrelated to odor was investigated. After incidental learning of 40 adjectives, 40 participants were tested for recall during three unannounced recall phases (15 min., 48 hr., and 5 days). Participants in two control conditions learned with no odor present and either had no odor present during any recall phase or only during recall after 5 days. Participants in two conditions learned with an odor present and either had the odor present during recall only after 5 days or during recall both after 15 min. and after 5 days. Analyses indicated that, while participants in the control conditions recalled significantly less during each succeeding recall phase, recall by participants in the two experimental conditions did not decrease significantly. Recall by participants in the two experimental conditions was significantly higher during recall after 5 days (when the odor was reintroduced) than either control group. The addition of a salient cue during learning and retrieval facilitated recall more than the presence of constant environmental cues.

scholarly journals Influence of the Graphical Levels of Detail of a Virtual Thrower on the Perception of the Movement

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Vignais ◽  
Richard Kulpa ◽  
Cathy Craig ◽  
Sébastien Brault ◽  
Franck Multon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Graphical Representation ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Stereoscopic Vision ◽  
Reference Level ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Complete Control ◽  
Levels Of Detail ◽  
Accurate Perception ◽  
Point Light

Virtual reality has a number of advantages for analyzing sports interactions such as the standardization of experimental conditions, stereoscopic vision, and complete control of animated humanoid movement. Nevertheless, in order to be useful for sports applications, accurate perception of simulated movement in the virtual sports environment is essential. This perception depends on parameters of the synthetic character such as the number of degrees of freedom of its skeleton or the levels of detail (LOD) of its graphical representation. This study focuses on the influence of this latter parameter on the perception of the movement. In order to evaluate it, this study analyzes the judgments of immersed handball goalkeepers that play against a graphically modified virtual thrower. Five graphical representations of the throwing action were defined: a textured reference level (L0), a nontextured level (L1), a wire-frame level (L2), a moving point light display (MLD) level with a normal-sized ball (L3), and a MLD level where the ball is represented by a point of light (L4). The results show that judgments made by goalkeepers in the L4 condition are significantly less accurate than in all the other conditions (p < .001). This finding means that the goalkeepers' perception of the movement is influenced more by the size of the ball during the judgment task than the graphical LOD of the throwing action. The MLD representation of the movement thus appears to be sufficient for a sports duel analysis in virtual environments.

Visualization of Uncertainty Aids Spatial Judgments but Fails to Improve Metacognitive Efficiency

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 1390-1393
Author(s):  
Olivia Burton ◽  
Diane Pomeroy ◽  
Vanja Radenovic ◽  
Jason S. McCarley
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Order Type ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Uncertainty Visualization ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Spatial Judgment ◽  
Performance Research

Uncertainty is an element of many decision-making tasks and inherently compromises performance. Research has found only equivocal evidence that uncertainty representations—displays that explicitly denote data quality—offset the performance costs of uncertainty. As yet, though, no work has examined the potential benefits of uncertainty displays to metacognition, display readers’ ability to assess the quality of their own decision-making processes. The current study examined the benefits of uncertainty visualization to first-order (Type 1) and metacognitive (Type 2) sensitivity in a spatial judgment task. Data revealed only small improvements in Type 1 and Type 2 sensitivity with visualized uncertainty displays, and gave no evidence of disproportionate gains to metacognition.

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