1,720,964 research outputs found
Aiming at the Target: The Role of Visual Illusions, Oculomotor Activity, and Cardiac Dynamics in Preparation for Self-Paced Tasks.
No full textThis thesis investigates the mechanisms underlying performance outcomes in self-paced aiming tasks through a multidisciplinary approach. Specifically, it examines the influence of visual illusions, the quiet eye phenomenon, and preparatory cardiac deceleration on motor performance. While these factors have been widely studied, their functional roles remain unclear. The first study explores how the Delboeuf illusion and cardiac activity affect shooting accuracy. Results indicate that visual illusions and pre-shot heart rate do not significantly impact action control or shooting performance. The second study compares eye-tracking (ET) and electrooculography (EOG) in measuring the quiet eye during golf putting and examines its functional role in performance enhancement. EOG is validated as a reliable method, providing insights into the temporal and spectral characteristics of eye movements. Findings suggest that the quiet eye may optimise performance by promoting motor stability and efficiency. The third study analyzes the temporal and spectral dynamics of cardiac deceleration before movement execution in golf, suggesting that parasympathetic activation plays a crucial role in optimising motor preparation.
Overall, this thesis underscores the importance of synchronising physiological responses for effective motor preparation. Methodological limitations, future research directions, and practical implications are discussed
Searching for the Critical p of Macphail's Null Hypothesis: The Contribution of Numerical Abilities of Fish.
Full text linkIn 1985, Macphail argued that there are no differences among the intellects of non-human vertebrates and that humans display unique cognitive skills because of language. Mathematical abilities represent one of the most sophisticated cognitive skills. While it is unquestionable that humans exhibit impressive mathematical skills associated with language, a large body of experimental evidence suggests that Macphail hypothesis must be refined in this field. In particular, the evidence that also small-brained organisms, such as fish, are capable of processing numerical information challenges the idea that humans display unique cognitive skills. Like humans, fish may take advantage of using continuous quantities (such as the area occupied by the objects) as proxy of number to select the larger/smaller group. Fish and humans also showed interesting similarities in the strategy adopted to learn a numerical rule. Collective intelligence in numerical estimation has been also observed in humans and guppies. However, numerical acuity in humans is considerably higher than that reported in any fish species investigated, suggesting that quantitative but not qualitative differences do exist between humans and fish. Lastly, while it is clear that contextual factors play an important role in the performance of numerical tasks, inter-species variability can be found also when different fish species were tested in comparable conditions, a fact that does not align with the null hypothesis of vertebrate intelligence. Taken together, we believe that the recent evidence of numerical abilities in fish call for a deeper reflection of Macphail's hypothesis
The impact of brain lateralization and Anxiety-Like behaviour in an extensive operant conditioning task in Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Full text link© 2019 by the authors. Several studies in mammals, birds, and fish have documented better cognitive abilities associated with an asymmetrical distribution of cognitive functions in the two halves of the brain, also known as 'functional brain lateralization'. However, the role of brain lateralization in learning abilities is still unclear. In addition, although recent studies suggest a link between some personality traits and accuracy in cognitive tasks, the relation between anxiety and learning skills in Skinner boxes needs to be clarified. In the present study, we tested the impact of brain lateralization and anxiety-like behaviour in the performance of an extensive operant conditioning task. Zebrafish tested in a Skinner box underwent 500 trials in a colour discrimination task (red vs. yellow and green vs. blue). To assess the degree of lateralization, fish were observed in a detour test in the presence of a dummy predator, and anxiety-like behaviour was studied by observing scototaxis response in an experimental tank divided into light and dark compartments. Although the low performance in the colour discrimination task did not permit the drawing of firm conclusions, no correlation was found between the accuracy in the colour discrimination task and the behaviour in the detour and scototaxis tests. This suggests that neither different degrees of asymmetries in brain lateralization nor anxiety may significantly impact the learning skills of zebrafish
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Promoting workplace psychological wellbeing through Yoga and Tai Chi classes in female university employees
Full text linkIntroductionAcademic environments are known for their high demands, often resulting in significant distress among employees. Thus, identifying effective intervention strategies to mitigate workplace stress is essential. The present study aims to evaluate the potential benefits of mind–body interventions (i.e., Yoga and Tai Chi) on the psychological wellbeing and perceived mental and physical health of female university employees.MethodsA total of 166 female university employees and faculty members participated in 10 sessions of Tai Chi or Yoga. They completed self-report questionnaires assessing ruminative thoughts, somatic anxiety, general distress, perceived physical and mental health, and assertive and cooperative behaviors before and after the 10 Tai Chi/Yoga sessions. Additionally, participants completed a state anxiety questionnaire before and after Tai Chi/Yoga second and second-to-last lessons.ResultsResults showed significant differences between scores pre and post Tai Chi and Yoga programs, with lower ruminative thoughts (p = 0.007), lower somatic anxiety (p < 0.001), and higher perceived mental health (p = 0.038) at the end of the programs (i.e., after 10 sessions) compared to the beginning. Moreover, significant differences were found in state anxiety scores, with a reduction in state anxiety at the end of the second (p < 0.001) and second-to-last (p < 0.001) lessons compared to the start.ConclusionOur findings highlight the potential positive impact of Tai Chi and Yoga programs on the psychological wellbeing and perceived mental health of female university employees. Immediate reductions in state anxiety following single sessions further underscore the potential of these practices for short-term stress relief. Overall, the results support the implementation of mind–body practices in workplace settings to promote a healthier work environment
Variations on the Author
Full text link“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
Full text linkWe 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
Full text linkWe 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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