60 research outputs found
A longitudinal study of grapheme-colour synaesthesia in childhood: 6/7 years to 10/11 years
No full textGrapheme-colour synaesthesia is a condition characterised by enduring and consistent associations between letter/digits and colours. This study is the continuation of longitudinal research begun by Simner, Harrold, Creed, Monro and Foulkes (2009) which aimed to explore the development of this condition in real time within a childhood population. In that earlier study we randomly sampled over 600 children and tested them aged 6/7 years and 7/8 years. We identified the child synaesthetes within that cohort and measured their development over 1 year, in comparison to a group of nonsynaesthetic children with both average and superior memories. We were able to show the beginnings of a developmental progression in which synaesthetic associations (e.g. A = red) mature over time from relatively chaotic pairings into a system of fixed consistent associations. In the current study we return to this same population three years later when participants are now 10/11 years. We used the same paired-association memory task to determine the synaesthetic status of our participants and to also establish synaesthetes’ inventories of grapheme-colour associations. We compared their inventories to those from age 6/7 year and 7/8 years to examine how synaesthesia matures over time. Together with earlier findings, our study shows that grapheme-colour synaesthesia emerges with a protracted lineal trajectory, with 34% of letters/digits fixed at age 6/7 years, 48% fixed at 7/8 years and 71% fixed at 10/11 years. We also show several cases where synaesthesia is not developing in the same time-frame as peers, either because it has died out at an older age, or because it was slower to develop than other cases. Our study paints the first picture of the emergence of synaesthesia in real-time over four years within a randomly sampled population of child synaesthetes
Colour fluctuations in grapheme-colour synaesthesia: The effect of clinical and non-clinical mood changes
No full textSynaesthesia is a condition that gives rise to unusual secondary sensations (e.g., colours are perceived when listening to music). These unusual sensations tend to be reported as being stable throughout adulthood (e.g., Simner & Logie, 2007, Neurocase, 13, 358) and the consistency of these experiences over time is taken as the behavioural hallmark of genuineness. Our study looked at the influence of mood states on synaesthetic colours. In Experiment 1, we recruited grapheme‐colour synaesthetes (who experience colours from letters/digits) and elicited their synaesthetic colours, as well as their mood and depression states, in two different testing sessions. In each session, participants completed the PANAS‐X (Watson & Clark, 1999) and the BDI‐II (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996, Manual for Beck Depression Inventory‐II), and chose their synaesthetic colours for letters A‐Z from an interactive colour palette. We found that negative mood significantly decreased the luminance of synaesthetic colours. In Experiment 2, we showed that synaesthetic colours were also less luminant for synaesthetes with anxiety disorder, versus those without. Additional evidence suggests that colour saturation, too, may inversely correlate with depressive symptoms. These results show that fluctuations in mood within both a normal and clinical range influence synaesthetic colours over time. This has implications for our understanding about the longitudinal stability of synaesthetic experiences, and of how mood may interact with the visual (imagery) systems
A Comparison of the Arabic Numerals One through Nine Written by Adults from Native English Speaking vs.Non native English Speaking Countries
No full textA Comparison of Arabic Numeral Allographs Written by Adults from English Speaking vs. Non English Speaking Countries
No full textThe purpose of this investigation was to examine the claim that when Arabic numerals appear on a
questioned document, such as a check or passport application, it may be possible to determine if the document
was written by a foreign author. In line with prediction, the evidence revealed reliable differences among
certain numerical allographs produced by adults in Belarus, Canada, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Despite these
findings, however, the evidence further revealed the need for caution when using copybook information to make
this determination
Solid oxide steam electrolysis for high temperature hydrogen production
No full textThis study has focused on solid oxide electrolyser cells for high temperature steam electrolysis. Solid oxide electrolysis is the reverse operation of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), so many of the same component materials may be used. However, other electrode materials are of interest to improve performance and efficiency.
In this work anode materials were investigated for use in solid oxide electrolysers. Perovskite materials of the form L₁₋ｘSrｘMO₃ , where M is Mn, Co, or Fe. LSM is a well understood electrode material for the SOFC. Under electrolysis operation LSM performed well and no interface reactions were observed between the anode and YSZ electrolyte. LSM has a relatively low conductivity and the electrode reaction is limited to the triple phase boundary regions. Mixed ionic-electronic conductors of LSCo and LSF were investigated, with these materials the anode reaction is not limited to triple phase boundaries. The LSCo anode had adherence problems in the electrolysis cells due to the thermal expansion coefficient mismatch with the YSZ electrolyte. The LSCo reacted with the YSZ at the anode/electrolyte interface forming insulating zirconate phases. Due to these issues the LSCo anode cells performed the poorest of the three. The performance of electrolysis cells with LSF anode exceeded both LSM and LSCo, particularly under steam operation, although an interface reaction between the LSF anode and YSZ electrolyte was observed.
In addition to the anode material studies this work included the development of solid oxide electrolyser tubes from tape cast precursor materials. Tape casting is a cheap processing method, which allows for co-firing of all ceramic components. The design development resulted in a solid design, which can be fabricated reliably, and balances strength with performance. The design used LSM anode, YSZ electrolyte, and Ni-YSZ cathode materials but could easily be adapted for the use of other component materials. Proper sintering rates, cathode tape formulation, tube length, tape thickness, and electrolyte thickness were factors explored in this work to improve the electrolyser tubes
Handwriting and fine motor problems after treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia
No full textFine motor skills and handwriting performance were investigated in 17 children at least two years after treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It was hypothesized that as a late effect of vincristine neuropathy, children would still have fine motor and/or handwriting problems. Gross and fine motor functioning were examined with the Movement ABC. Handwriting was studied with the BHK and a computerized handwriting task. Two years after cessation of treatment leukemia survivors still showed fine motor and/or handwriting problems.</p
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