Three experiments examined the effects of target-distractor (T-D) similarity and old age on the efficiency of searching for single targets and enumerating multiple targets. Experiment 1 showed that increasing T-D similarity selectively reduced the efficiency of enumerating small (less than 4) numerosities (subitizing) but had little effect on…

Although English verbs can be either regular ("walk"-"walked") or irregular ("sing"-"sang"), "denominal verbs" that are derived from nouns, such as the use of the verb "ring" derived from the noun "a ring", take the regular form even if they are homophonous with an existing irregular verb: "The soldiers ringed the city" rather than "The soldiers…

Goals: Research with lateralized word presentation has suggested that strong ("close") and weak ("remote") semantic associates are processed differently in the left and right cerebral hemispheres [e.g., Beeman, M. j., & Chiarello, C. (1998). Complementary right- and left-hemisphere language comprehension. "Current Directions in Psychological…

The bending of a laser beam in a medium with a density and refractive index gradient in the same direction has been described previously. When a transparent container is half filled with a salt or sugar solution and an equal amount of water is floated on top of it, then diffusion will create a concentration gradient from top to bottom. A laser…

Two experiments examined whether 4-, 6-, and 10-month-old infants process natural looking faces by feature, i.e. processing internal facial features independently of the facial context or holistically by processing the features in conjunction with the facial context. Infants were habituated to two faces and looking time was measured. After…

Previous experiments in the hippocampal CA1 area have shown that corticosterone can facilitate long-term potentiation (LTP) in a rapid non-genomic fashion, while the same hormone suppresses LTP that is induced several hours after hormone application. Here, we elaborated on this finding by examining whether corticosterone exerts opposite effects on…

Readers' eye movements were monitored as they read sentences containing noun-noun compounds that varied in frequency (e.g., elevator mechanic, mountain lion). The left constituent of the compound was either plausible or implausible as a head noun at the point at which it appeared, whereas the compound as a whole was always plausible. When the head…

To investigate the generalizability of the results of single-case experimental studies, evaluating the effect of one or more treatments, in applied research various simultaneous and sequential replication strategies are used. We discuss one approach for aggregating the results for single-cases: the use of hierarchical linear models. This approach…

Previous work on fish, frogs, and salamanders, showed the ability for estrogen (EE2) and anthropogenic endocrine disruptors to skew sex ratios and cause hermaphrodism. This study addressed the effects of estrogens on growth and development rates of African clawed frog tadpoles ("Xenopus laevis") during their gender determination stages. The…

We have developed experiments and materials to model human genetics using rapid cycling "Brassica rapa", also known as Fast Plants. Because of their self-incompatibility for pollination and the genetic diversity within strains, "B. rapa" can serve as a relevant model for human genetics in teaching laboratory experiments. The experiment presented…

This article introduces a practice-centred inquiry method called an "ethno-experiment". The method is built on a social constructionist understanding of practice as a social performance rather than as an individual's act. Additionally, it draws on Garfinkel's early ethnomethodological work and Marshall's self-reflective inquiry to construct a…

Based on an ancient Chinese algorithm, J H He suggested a simple but effective method to find the frequency of a nonlinear oscillator. In this paper, a modified version is suggested to improve the accuracy of the frequency; two examples are given, revealing that the obtained solutions are of remarkable accuracy and are valid for the whole solution…

Empirical attempts to understand connections between abstract cognition and sensori-motor processes have pointed toward an embodied view of cognition, where cognitive activity is strongly tied to sensori-motor activity. Here the authors test the ability of the cognitive system to impose structure on the world using a well-established phenomenon in…

A number of anthropologists have argued that religious concepts are minimally counterintuitive and that this gives them mnemic advantages. This paper addresses the question of why people have the memory architecture that results in such concepts being more memorable than other types of concepts by pointing out the benefits of a memory structure…

This article presents two target-location experiments. In the first experiment, 19 participants located a 25-foot chalk circle 93% of the time with a Global Positioning System (GPS) compared to 12% of the time without it. In a single-subject follow-up experiment, the participant came within 1 foot of the target on all GPS trials. Target-location…