1,720,982 research outputs found
Male body movements as possible cues to physical strength: A biomechanical analysis
No full textObjectives
Comparative research suggests that male courtship displays signal condition-dependent traits tofemales; these displays might also provide cues to potential male competitors. Although some associations betweenhuman movements and physical/behavioral qualities have been found, such research has typically only been conducted from a perspective of female mate choice. Here, using advanced motion capture and biomechanical analyses, we examine the extent to which male dancing provides cues about the dancer's physical qualities to both males and females.
Methods
Thirty men aged 19–37 were recorded using motion-capture technology as they danced to a standard rhythm. Participants also completed a vascular fitness test, assessments of upper- and lower-body strength, and biomechanical indices were extracted from their dance movements. Dance clips were converted into virtual humanoid characters (avatars) and rated by 27 women and 21 men on perceived dance quality.
Results
General linear mixed modeling revealed that both handgrip strength and arm movements of the dancer were statistically significant predictors of dance quality ratings; stronger males who displayed larger, more variable, and faster movements of their arms being rated as better dancers. There was no effect of the sex of the observer in predicting dance quality ratings, indicating that male and female observers rated dance quality equivalently. Physical fitness was not associated with perceived dance quality.
Conclusions
Men and women are able to derive certain quality cues from observing male dance movements in the form of controlled stimuli. Thus, male dancing may form a condition-dependent ornament of certain aspects of mate quality
Male dance moves that catch a woman's eye
No full textMale movements serve as courtship signals in many animal species, and may honestly reflect the genotypic and/or phenotypic quality of the individual. Attractive human dance moves, particularly those of males, have been reported to show associations with measures of physical strength, prenatal androgenization and symmetry. Here we use advanced three-dimensional motion-capture technology to identify possible biomechanical differences between women's perceptions of 'good' and 'bad' male dancers. Nineteen males were recorded using the 'Vicon' motion-capture system while dancing to a basic rhythm; controlled stimuli in the form of avatars were then created in the form of 15 s video clips, and rated by 39 females for dance quality. Initial analyses showed that 11 movement variables were significantly positively correlated with perceived dance quality. Linear regression subsequently revealed that three movement measures were key predictors of dance quality; these were variability and amplitude of movements of the neck and trunk, and speed of movements of the right knee. In summary, we have identified specific movements within men's dance that influence women's perceptions of dancing ability. We suggest that such movements may form honest signals of male quality in terms of health, vigour or strength, though this remains to be confirmed
Men’s personality and women’s perception of their dance quality
No full textRecent research shows that women judge men who show variability in their body movements as good dancers. Here we report data on women’s perception of dance quality in 48 men, aged 18–42 years, and relate them to men’s self-reported personality traits. Male participants completed a standardised personality inventory (the NEO-FFI) and then danced to a basic rhythm while their body movements were tracked with optical 3D motion-capture technology. Dance movements were applied to a featureless virtual humanoid character and judged on their dance quality by 53 women, aged 17–57 years, who viewed 15 s of the rendered video clips of each male dancer. Conscientiousness and social agreeableness was correlated positively and significantly with women’s perception of men’s dance quality. Extraversion showed a positive correlation and neuroticism and openness were associated negatively with women’s perception of men’s dance quality, though these correlations failed to reach significance. We suggest that male dance movements may convey aspects of their personality, though possible consequences in terms of female mate preferences and selection remain to be explored
Lower body symmetry and running performance in elite Jamaican track and field athletes
No full textIn a study of degree of lower body symmetry in 73 elite Jamaican track and field athletes we show that both their knees and ankles (but not their feet) are-on average-significantly more symmetrical than those of 116 similarly aged controls from the rural Jamaican countryside. Within the elite athletes, events ranged from the 100 to the 800 m, and knee and ankle asymmetry was lower for those running the 100 m dashes than those running the longer events with turns. Nevertheless, across all events those with more symmetrical knees and ankles (but not feet) had better results compared to international standards. Regression models considering lower body symmetry combined with gender, age and weight explain 27 to 28% of the variation in performance among athletes, with symmetry related to about 5% of this variation. Within 100 m sprinters, the results suggest that those with more symmetrical knees and ankles ran faster. Altogether, our work confirms earlier findings that knee and probably ankle symmetry are positively associated with sprinting performance, while extending these findings to elite athletes
Male Movements as Honest Cues to Reproductive Quality
No full textBackground: Research concerning sexual selection suggests that ornaments and traits convey information that is valuable to observers when making decisions based on adaptive problems. In the animal kingdom males perform dynamic courtship displays and females assess such displays when choosing a mate. In humans however this avenue of research is in its infancy but an emerging field of study has sought to find out if dance movements, which are thought to be courtship displays, provide observers with condition dependent information.
Objectives: i) To create a methodology that records dance movements with high accuracy whilst eliminating structural cues known to influence mate choice decisions while maintaining a highly realistic human form. ii) Use this methodology to assess whether traits of interest (health, fitness, strength and age) can be detected by observers. iii) To establish if particular movements are mediating perceptions of dance quality and their condition.
Methods: A cutting edge motion capture system and professional animation software was used to record dances. Each male dancer either provided information on his health status, physical fitness, strength or age. Dance animations were shown to observers and their perceptions were correlated against the traits of interest. These were also correlated against basic biomechanical characteristics to establish possible mediators.
Results: It was revealed that whilst health measures were not related to dance ratings, strength measures were and these perceptions were mediated by movements of the upper body. A final study found that age was detectable by male participants and related to masculinity ratings of female raters but no biomechanical mediators were found.
Conclusion: Men and women are able to derive certain quality cues from observing male dance and in some instances biomechanical characteristics mediated this relationship. This provides evidence that dance may be used in the assessment of males in the context of sexual selection
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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