1,721,309 research outputs found
Geometrical intuition and the learning and teaching of geometry
No full textIntuition is often regarded as essential in the learning of geometry, but how such skills might be effectively developed in students remains an open question. This paper reviews the role and importance of geometrical intuition and suggests it involves the skills to create and manipulate geometrical figures in the mind, to see geometrical properties, to relate images to concepts and theorems in geometry, and decide where and how to start when solving problems in geometry. Based on these theoretical considerations, we illustrate a range of student tasks that we argue should contribute to developing students’ geometrical intuition
An eye-tracking study of visual attention in chimpanzees and bonobos when viewing different tool-using techniques
Get PDFChimpanzees and bonobos are excellent tool users and can socially learn various skills. Previous studies on social learning mainly measure success/failure in acquiring new techniques, with less direct measurement of proximate mechanisms like visual attention during the process. This study investigates how great apes observe tool-using demonstrations through eye-tracking. After checking initial techniques, six chimpanzees and six bonobos were shown video demonstrations of human demonstrators using a tube to dip (low-efficiency) or suck (high-efficiency) juice, and then tried the task themselves. Attention to each video was compared to participants' knowledge. Although no individuals acquired the high-efficiency technique through video demonstrations, eye-tracking results revealed attentional differences between individuals familiar with different techniques. Compared with individuals already familiar with both techniques, individuals knowing only the dipping technique showed less attention to the unfamiliar sucking technique. This result indicates that apes may not attend much to what they do not know well, which aligns with reported interplay of action observation and understanding. Attentional patterns to the action part of the two techniques was non-significant between species, though bonobos looked marginally more at faces and chimpanzees looked significantly more at food. This study highlights the importance of conducting detailed investigations into social learning processes, with eye-tracking as one valuable method
Socially contagious urination in chimpanzees
No full texthttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100020964 Japan Science and Technology Agency Fusion Oriented REsearch for disruptive Science and Technologyhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001691 Japan Society for the Promotion of Scienc
Frying Rabs with <i>tempura</i> for Notch signaling. In this issue, Charng and colleagues identify and characterize a gene that encodes a lipid transferase that is required for proper Notch signaling. They called this gene “<i>tempura</i>” after the Japanese deep fried dish; substrates, e.g., Rab-GTPases (depicted as a shrimp being submerged into laboratory equipment) have lipids attached by the Tempura protein.
No full text<p><i>Image credit: Kuchuan Chen, Karen Schulze, Wu-Lin Charng, Yuki Yamamoto, Shinya Yamamoto, Hector Sandoval, and Hugo Bellen.</i></p
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
Bonobo personality:Age and sex effects and links with behavior and dominance
Get PDFThe study described in this chapter examines whether individual differences in six rating-based bonobo personality dimensions---Assertiveness, Conscientiousness, Openness, Attentiveness, Agreeableness, and Extraversion---are related to sex and age and behaviors and dominance. To these ends, the study tested predictions based on previous studies of human and chimpanzee personality, and bonobo behavior and socioecology. Sex and age differences in Assertiveness, Openness and Extraversion and correlations between these personality dimensions and behavior were consistent with our predictions. Conscientiousness showed associations with observed behaviors but requires further investigation as sex and age effects differed from those reported in humans and chimpanzees. Agreeableness and Attentiveness showed few associations with age, sex, and behaviors, indicating the need to further investigate validity of these factors. This study shows that personality dimensions in bonobos are correlated with sex, age and behaviors in ways that are consistent with what is known for bonobos and their socioecology
Similarities and Differences between Chimpanzees and Humans in Social Intelligence and Other Aspects
No full textチンパンジーはヒ卜に最も近縁な進化の隣人である。生物学的にも「ヒト科チンパンジー」と分類される。筆者は，このようなチンパンジーとヒトを比較することにより. 「こころ」の進化について明らかにすることを目指してきた。本論文では，比較認知科学研究者の立場からこれまでの研究を概観し，チンパンジーとヒトの共通点と相違点について論じてみたい。長い間ヒトに特有と考えられてきた行動や特性の多くはチンパンジーでもみられることが明らかとなってきた。道具使用や文化の存在などである。社会的知性にかんしても同様である。たとえば利他行動では，自分には即時的な利益がなくても，チンパンジーが同種他個体の手助けをすることが実証的に示された。しかし，ヒ卜との違いも指摘されている。ヒ卜では他人が困っているのを見ると自発的に助けようとする心理が働くこともあるが，チンパンジーではこの自発的な手助けが稀だった。相手の要求に応じて手助けする。これがチンパンジーの特徴だと言えるかもしれない。チンパンジーとヒ卜でこのような違いがみられる理由に，それぞれの社会や生息環境の違いがあげられる。それぞれの種がそれぞれの環境に適応して進化してきた。その種にみられない知性や能力は，たんにその種にとって不必要だっただけかもしれない。主に植物性食物を食べるチンパンジーは，基本的に自分の食べ物は自分ひとりで確保することができる。それに対し，動物性食物に頼るようになったヒトでは，協力して狩りをし，獲物を分配する必要があったと考えられる。このような違いが手助け行動の自発性の違いにも表れているのではないだろうか。どちらが優でどちらが劣だという問題ではない。種を比較することで，それぞれの特徴を浮き彫りにする。その結果，自己および他者のアイデンティティーを尊重することにつながればと願っている。The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), one of our closest living relatives, can be biologically categorized in a taxonomic family, Hominidae (anglicized hominid), together with Homo sapiens and the other great apes. There have been many studies investigating the evolution of the mind by comparing chimpanzees with human beings. In this article, I will discuss the similarities and differences between the two species from the perspective of comparative cognitive science. Recent studies have revealed that chimpanzees demonstrate similar behavioral and cognitive properties, such as tool- use, culture, and sophisticated social intelligence previously considered unique to human beings. Like human beings, chimpanzees are also known to show altruistic traits, such as helping others among their species without any direct benefit to themselves. Yet, several differences between the two species have also been brought to light: e. g. chimpanzees help others upon request, but not voluntarily. Such differences might be due to those in the two species' social and/ or ecological environments, with each evolving in accordance with its surroundings, and acquiring the essential behavioral and cognitive properties for survival. We cannot say which species is superior. Instead, we can characterize through comparison, and as a result, solicit respect for our own and other species' identities
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