Newly learned novel cues to location are combined with familiar cues but not always with each other

Mature perceptual systems can learn new arbitrary sensory signals (novel cues) to properties of the environment, but little is known about the extent to which novel cues are integrated into normal perception. In normal perception, multiple uncertain familiar cues are combined, often near-optimally (reliability-weighted averaging), to increase perceptual precision. We trained observers to use abstract novel cues to estimate horizontal locations of hidden objects on a monitor. In Experiment 1, four groups of observers each learned to use a different novel cue. All groups benefitted from a suboptimal but significant gain in precision using novel and familiar cues together after short-term training (3 x ~1.5 hour sessions), extending previous reports of novel-familiar cue combination. In Experiment 2, we tested whether two novel cues may also be combined with each other. One pair of novel cues could be combined to improve precision but the other could not, at least not after three sessions of repeated training. Overall, our results provide extensive evidence that novel cues can be learned and combined with familiar cues to enhance perception, but mixed evidence for whether perceptual and decision-making systems can extend this ability to the combination of multiple novel cues with only short-term training.

Sharing the load: How a personally coloured calculator for grapheme-colour synaesthetes can reduce processing costs

Synaesthesia refers to a diverse group of perceptions. These unusual perceptions are defined by the experience of concurrents; these are conscious experiences that are catalysed by attention to some normally unrelated stimulus, the inducer. In grapheme-colour synaesthesia numbers, letters, and words can all cause colour concurrents, and these are independent of the actual colour with which the graphemes are displayed. For example, when seeing the numeral ‘3’ a person with synaesthesia might experience green as the concurrent irrespective of whether the numeral is printed in blue, black, or red. As a trait, synaesthesia has the potential to cause both positive and negative effects. However, regardless of the end effect, synaesthesia incurs an initial cost when compared with its equivalent example from normal perception; this is the additional processing cost needed to generate the information on the concurrent. We contend that this cost can be reduced by mirroring the concurrent in the environment. We designed the Digital-Colour Calculator (DCC) app, allowing each user to personalise and select the colours with which it displays its digits; it is the first reported example of a device/approach that leverages the concurrent. In this article we report on the reactions to the DCC for a sample of fifty-three synaesthetes and thirty-five non-synaesthetes. The synaesthetes showed a strong preference for the DCC over its normal counterpart. The non-synaesthetes showed no obvious preference. When using the DCC a subsample of the synaesthete group showed consistent improvement in task speed (around 8%) whereas no synaesthete showed a decrement in their speed.

Exploring the Effect on 5 Senses in Children under Nitrous Oxide Sedation

BACKGROUND Sensation and perception are two separate processes that are very closely related. Sensation is the input about the outside world obtained by our sensory receptors while perception is the difficult system by which the brain selects, organizes and interprets these sensations. Effects of nitrous oxide on the sensation and perception has not been unturned although role in physiological, anxiolytic, behavioural, psychomotor and analgesic parameters have been examined in both children and adults. The human senses have long been unnoticed, despite their responsiveness being of great importance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of nitrous oxide inhalation sedation on 5 senses i.e. sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste at different titrations of nitrous oxide and oxygen. METHODS 7 to 12 years old children with Frankl’s behaviour rating score of 2, 3 and 4 with no prior dental experience and requiring dental treatment under nitrous oxide sedation who were systemically healthy were included in the study. The 5 senses (i.e. hearing, touch, smell, taste and vision) were evaluated with different materials at 4 different titration levels to evaluate the effect of nitrous oxide on the 5 senses T0: 100 % oxygen, T1: 30 % nitrous oxide, T2: 50 % nitrous oxide, T3: 100 % oxygen. RESULTS The results of the present study depicted that there is significant difference in the perception of various senses at different concentrations of nitrous oxide and also when compared to baseline values. It was observed that the patient regained the normal perception in 5 minutes after 100 % oxygen post-operatively. CONCLUSIONS Nitrous oxide is found to depress/relax one’s senses too. KEY WORDS Vision, Smell, Taste, Touch, Sound, Perception, Consciousness, Nitrous Oxide Sedation, Oxygen, Behaviour

The Persistence of Slowed Time Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Two Longitudinal Studies in France

The home confinement imposed on people to fight the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the flow of time by disrupting daily life, making them feel that time was passing slowly. The aim of this longitudinal study was to evaluate the evolution over time of this subjective experience of time and its significant predictors (boredom, decreased happiness, life rhythm, and sleep quality). Twso samples of French participants were followed up: the first for several weeks during the first lockdown (April 2020) and then 1year later (April 2021; Study 1), and the second during the first lockdown (April 2020) and then 6months (November 2020) and 1year later (April 2021; Study 2). Our study shows that the French participants have the feeling that time has passed slowly since the beginning of the first lockdown and that it has not resumed its normal course. This is explained by a persistent feeling of boredom characteristic of a depressive state that has taken hold in the population. The findings therefore suggest that the repeated contexts of confinement did not contribute to re-establishing a normal perception of time, to which a subjective acceleration of time would have testified.

THE ESTIMATION OF THE OF ASSIMILATION OF EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL DEGREE BY STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS COURSE IN DISTANCE EDUCATION

The article deals with the influence of the unsettling situation on assimilation of educational material during the distance education. The questionnaire «Hospital Fnxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)" has been adapted to estimate the degree of material assimilation. A survey was conducted among 2nd year full-time students of SamSTU studying mathematics, the results of the survey were processed and analyzed. It was found that 87.5% of women and 89.65% of men have anxious expectations during distance learning, and 41.37% had moderate anxiety. in boys and 43.75% of girls, high anxiety was observed in 48.28% of boys and 43.75% of girls. With a normal perception of a lesson or lecture (0-7 points on the questionnaire), the assimilation of educational material is 80% – 100%, depending on the General training and abilities of the student, with an average degree of anxiety (8-10 points on the questionnaire).

The Power Struggle along the US-Mexico Border: A Space of Dehumanization and of Assertion of Justice

The article explores the power relations between the US immigration policy and the practices of faith-based organizations at the US-Mexico border through qualitative methods. It studies how high-level technologies implemented at the border reduce migrants to mere targets, stripping them out from their human value. It also analyzes the experiences of three faith-based organizations located at Tijuana and San Diego to understand how their humanitarian work changes the normal perception of the border as a space that only serves the purpose of the State. I argue that despite of the violence lived almost every day at the border-heightened by the implementation of military techniques- undocumented migrants can momentarily find moments of peace and justice.

The Power Struggle along the US-Mexico Border: A Space of Dehumanization and of Assertion of Justice

The article explores the power relations between the US immigration policy and the practices of faith-based organizations at the US-Mexico border through qualitative methods. It studies how high-level technologies implemented at the border reduce migrants to mere targets, stripping them out from their human value. It also analyzes the experiences of three faith-based organizations located at Tijuana and San Diego to understand how their humanitarian work changes the normal perception of the border as a space that only serves the purpose of the State. I argue that despite of the violence lived almost every day at the border-heightened by the implementation of military techniques- undocumented migrants can momentarily find moments of peace and justice.

Test-Retest Reliability of Kinematic Parameters of Timed Up and Go in People with Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease defined as a state of hyperglycaemia in fasting or postprandial states. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) often show reduced physical function, including low levels of strength, balance or mobility. In this regard, the timed up and go (TUG) is a widely used physical fitness test in people with T2DM. However, there is a lack of studies evaluating the properties TUG in this population. The present study aimed to evaluate the test-retest reliability of kinetic and kinematic parameters obtained from TUG in the diabetic population with different levels of diabetic neuropathy. A total of 56 patients with T2DM participated in the study. They were divided into three groups according to the vibration threshold: (a) severe neuropathy, (b) moderate neuropathy and (c) normal perception. The TUG was performed using two force platforms to assess kinematic measurements. The results show that both kinetic and kinematic variables had good to excellent reliability. The reliability of TUG was excellent for the whole sample and the groups with non-severe neuropathy. However, it was just good for the group with severe neuropathy.

Colour and The Argument from Illusion

For A. J. Ayer, the occurrence of delusions confutes the notion that we perceive the world directly. He argues instead that perceptions are caused by immaterial “sense data” which somehow represent the properties of material things to us in our experiences. J. L. Austin systematically rejects Ayer’s claims, arguing that the occurrence of delusions does not preclude the possibility of direct perception, and that, indeed, our normal perception is direct. I challenge both philosophers’ ideas by examining how they deal with the phenomenon of colour.

Colour and the Argument from Illusion

For A. J. Ayer, the occurrence of delusions confutes the notion that we perceive the world directly. He argues instead that perceptions are caused by immaterial “sense data” which somehow represent the properties of material things to us in our experiences. J. L. Austin systematically rejects Ayer’s claims, arguing that the occurrence of delusions does not preclude the possibility of direct perception, and that, indeed, our normal perception is direct. I challenge both philosophers’ ideas by examining how they deal with the phenomenon of colour.