An Evaluation of Visual Perception Visual Memory Cognitive Functions and Emotional Status among Genders in Elderly Subjects

Background: Gender differences in visual memory and perception and cognitive test performance have been significantly influenced by factors like sex Objective: The current study aimed to evaluate the gender differences in patterns of cognitive test performance and visual perception in healthy elderly individuals. Methods: Cognitive functions and visual perception was analyzed using clock drawing test and picture identification test in 20 elderly men and women (10 each) and their emotional status was assessed using depression scale Results: The results revealed that females had a better visual memory and depth perception compared to men and the value was statistically significant at p<0.05. Females performed better than men on tests of Picture identification and were better in phonemic verbal skills compared to male men and the value was statistically significant at p<0.05 Conclusion: The present study concluded an innovative finding that women were better in their performance related to visual depth perception and cognitive functions.

The Psychology and Parapsychology of Spiritual Emergency

A defining aspect of Spiritual Emergency (SE) is ‘psychic opening’ which may predict psi performance. This study tested paranormal (psi) performance of individuals who have or have had experiences of spiritual emergency (i.e., ‘SE-Experients’), and compared their performance against controls. The study also assessed psychological aspects of SE to differentiate it from psychosis and other proposed psi-inhibitive symptoms—namely, alogia (i.e., poverty of speech), depression, anxiety, and stress. Two groups of participants were formed: controls (mainly Psychology students) and SE-Experients. Participants either completed the study on computer in the laboratory or online. Questionnaires on spiritual emergency (which includes a subscale on psychic opening), positive symptoms of psychosis, alogia, spiritual identity, paranormal belief, mysticism, depression, anxiety, and stress, were administered to participants, who then completed the Imagery Cultivation (IC) picture-identification psi task, which uses a shamanic-like journeying protocol (Storm & Rock, 2009). The differences between controls and SE-experients on the psi measures, direct hitting (as a percent hit-rate) and mean rank scores, were not significant, but the sum-of-ranks difference was highly significant. Also, SE-experients had a marginally significant mean rank score. Direct hitting did not correlate significantly with any variable, except rank scores, which correlated significantly with psychic opening, spiritual identity, and paranormal belief, and marginally significantly with spiritual emergency. Direct hitting, rank scores, and SE did not correlate significantly with alogia, depression, anxiety, or stress, but the psychosis measure did correlate significantly with alogia, depression, anxiety, stress, and SE. The statistical evidence suggests some proportion of SE-experients experience psychic opening. While SE and psychosis overlap, only SE was predicted by spiritual identity, extrovertive mysticism, and paranormal belief (but not alogia), whereas psychosis was predicted by alogia only.

Intervention in relative clauses: Effects of relativized minimality on L2 representation and processing

This article reports on an experiment investigating the effects of featural Relativized Minimality (Friedmann et al., 2009) on the representation and processing of relative clauses in the second language (L2) English of Mandarin speakers. Object relatives (ORCs) are known to cause greater problems in first language (L1) acquisition and in adult processing than subject relatives (SRCs). Featural Relativized Minimality explains this in terms of intervention effects, caused by a DP (the subject of the ORC) located between the relative head and its source. Intervention effects are claimed to be reduced if the relative head and the intervenor differ in features, such as number (e.g. I know the king who the boys pushed). We hypothesize that L2 learners will show intervention effects when processing ORCs and that such effects will be reduced if the intervenor differs in number from the relative head. There were two tasks: picture identification and self-paced reading. Both manipulated relative clause type (SRC/ORC) and intervenor type (±plural). Accuracy was high in interpreting relative clauses, suggesting no representational problem. Regarding reading times, ORCs were processed slower than SRCs, supporting an intervention effect. However, faster reading times were found in ORCs when intervenor and head noun matched in number, contrary to hypothesis. We suggest that our more stringent stimuli may have resulted in the lack of an effect for mismatched ORCs, in contrast to some earlier findings for L1 acquirers.

Spanish Pediatric Picture Identification Test

Purpose The purpose of this study was to construct and validate a recorded word recognition test for monolingual Spanish-speaking children utilizing a picture board and a picture-pointing task. Design The Spanish Pediatric Picture Identification Test was developed and validated in this study. Test construction steps included (a) producing new digital recordings of word lists created by Comstock and Martin (1984) using a bilingual Spanish–English female, (b) obtaining list equivalency, (c) creating digitally illustrated pictures representing the word lists, (d) validating the pictures using monolingual Spanish-speaking and bilingual Spanish–English children, and (e) re-establishing list equivalency and obtaining performance–intensity functions using a picture-pointing task with monolingual Spanish-speaking children and bilingual Spanish–English adults. Results Normative data for three Spanish word recognition lists were established. Performance–intensity functions at sensation levels from 0 to 40 dB SL in 8-dB steps were obtained, establishing list equivalency for Lists 1, 2, and 3. Conclusions The Spanish Pediatric Picture Identification Test was developed and validated as a picture-pointing task for word recognition with monolingual Spanish-speaking children. The two validated channel recordings include an English translation for ease of testing by clinicians lacking Spanish language skills. Future validation will be conducted with bilingual Spanish–English children with normal hearing and with hearing loss.

An Enhanced Intellectual CAPTCHA based on Intrinsic Situation Reaction Turing Test

Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) is a challenge response tactics for identifying whether intervened user is human or bot. It is a benchmark task in the field of artificial intelligence that acquires capabilities to secure a webpage or database from programmed loop. There are various ways to attempt such tests i.e. distorted text recognition, motion text recognition, picture identification, mathematical calculation and AI problems as gaming CAPTCHA. Nowadays CAPTCHA is well thought-out as a broadly employed technique which is exploited by web services to prevent their system from unusual relay attacks. It is basically a Turing test required to differentiate whether the accessed client is either a human being or a robot. CAPTCHA is a trending approach where user needs to play an artificial game which is based on some logics that can be understood by human and almost impossible for robots. Gaming CAPTCHA is trending now where user is required to understand the task and perform as it required. But dragging an object towards target area on the basis of object recognition is not a big deal either for human or bots. It is required to put some intellectual efforts that automated programs do not understand. Proposed system is able to provide highly secured technique that easily differentiates human and bots. Proposed CAPTCHA is based on situation reaction test where user is required to take fundamentally correct decision as per the situation. Situation reaction based CAPTCHA is a new and effective approach where hard AI problem proposed that only possible for human and almost impossible for bots. Robot is always weak in correct decision making especially in real life situations that is why situation reaction CAPTCHA plays an important role in the field of turing test.