5. A grand tour of exoplanets

‘A grand tour of exoplanets’ explores exoplanets. Since there are far too many known exoplanets already for many of them to get familiar names such as the Solar System planets have, they are identified by a two-part naming convention. The first part of the name is the star they orbit, and the second part is a lower-case letter indicating the order in which the planet associated with that star was discovered. There are two main ways that exoplanets are found: the radial velocity (RV) technique and the transit method. Planets can be characterized by their instellation and by size or mass.

Impatiens galactica (Balsaminaceae), a new spurless species of section Trimorphopetalum from Madagascar

Impatiens galactica, a new species from lowland rainforest in Marojejy National Park, NE Madagascar, is described and illustrated. It belongs to Impatiens section Trimorphopetalum and is related to I. messmerae, also known from Mt. Marojejy. Impatiens galactica differs from the latter species in the shape of the lateral sepals, and in the dorsal petal and the lateral united petals being entirely glabrous and lacking small white scales. Furthermore, I. galactica has a distinct flower morphology with strongly reduced upper lobes of the lateral united petals. The lateral petals are thus resembling the lower case letter “b” or “d”, respectively. Additionally, it has unusually coloured yellowish white, semi-transparent flowers with an orange-yellow, shiny line along the midrib of the lower sepal, all of which are lacking in I. messmerae.

Priming within the ‘Attentional Blink’ in an RSVP Task

Recent experiments (eg M M Chun and M C Potter, 1995 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance21 109 – 127; J E Raymond, K L Shapiro, and K M Arnell, 1992 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance18 849 – 860) with RSVP (rapid serial visual presentation) suggest that the attentional blink is caused by local interference. We present data from three RSVP experiments that provide further clues regarding the attentional blink. In experiment 1, subjects detected an ‘X’ and then identified a red letter; in experiment 2, subjects had to say whether the first red target was an ‘X’ and then identify a red letter. In experiment 3, subjects identified two red letters. We systematically varied the lag between the first and second targets. On half the trials, we also primed the second target by placing an identical letter in the lag one position (the position after the first target). In experiment 3, we also examined if the priming effect was semantic with a lower case letter. The first two experiments suggest that the priming effect is very short-lived and mainly sensory in nature. The priming effect disappears altogether if the first target is not present. More interestingly, we found that when subjects failed to detect the ‘X’, priming could still happen. The third experiment replicates and extends the results of the first two experiments. We also show that priming, albeit in a weak form, may still happen during the time when the attentional blink is supposed to occur. These results suggest that it is not an inhibition that causes the attentional blink and that sensory processing continues during the blink.

Developmental Patterns in Elemental Reading Skills: Visual Discrimination of Primary-Type Upper-Case and Lower-Case Letters

Two hundred children in grades K-3 were administered visual, matching-to-sample tasks involving, (a) upper-case primary type and (b) lower-case primary type. Each upper- or lower-case letter was embedded in a display along with the three letters that had been rated as maximally similar to it in form. Performance was analyzed by calculating the percentage of students in each of four age groups correctly discriminating each item. This analysis revealed clear developmental trends and also showed performance to be higher on upper-than on lower-case letters. An ancillary, factor analytic solution was also computed and is discussed. Implications both for future research and concerning the style of type used in beginning readers are presented.

Developmental Patterns in Elemental Skills: Knowledge of Upper-Case and Lower-Case Letter Names

Two hundred children in grades K-3 were administered a test designed to assess knowledge of letter names in both upper- and lower-case primary type. Children exhibited better knowledge of upper- than lower-case letter names. Rank order, correlational analyses performed to determine the relationship of letter naming to visual discrimination and letter frequency revealed different patterns for upper- and lower-case letters. A subsequent, factor analytic treatment of the data also suggested differences in upper- and lower-case letter naming. Results are related to reading readiness norms and pedagogical implications are dealt with briefly.

The Romaunt of the Rose and Source Manuscripts

The Authorship of the Romaunt of the Rose, subject of ardent controversy for nearly a century, can at last be established beyond any significant measure of doubt, for there is a new and highly reliable kind of evidence to show that at least two men were responsible for the existing partial translation of the famed Roman de la rose into Middle English. More than 200 MSS of the original French poem, composed by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun in the thirteenth century, have been catalogued by the late Ernest Langlois. The French scholar divided these MSS into three main groups, I, II, and III, and into subgroups or families marked by capital letters; while individual MSS he designated by the family letter plus a lower-case letter, Ab, He, Ha, and so on. In consequence of Langlois' great work, scholars have been enabled to compare the ME Romaunt with the variant readings of the MSS of its French original, and as will be demonstrated below, such comparison throws revealing light upon the facts of the Romaunt's composition.