Factors modulating the effect of divided attention during retrieval of words.

PubMed

Fernandes, Myra A; Moscovitch, Morris

2002-07-01

In this study, we examined variables modulating interference effects on episodic memory under divided attention conditions during retrieval for a list of unrelated words. In Experiment 1, we found that distracting tasks that required animacy or syllable decisions to visually presented words, without a memory load, produced large interference on free recall performance. In Experiment 2, a distracting task requiring phonemic decisions about nonsense words produced a far larger interference effect than one that required semantic decisions about pictures. In Experiment 3, we replicated the effect of the nonsense-word distracting task on memory and showed that an equally resource-demanding picture-based task produced significant interference with memory retrieval, although the effect was smaller in magnitude. Taken together, the results suggest that free recall is disrupted by competition for phonological or word-form representations during retrieval and, to a lesser extent, by competition for semantic representations.

Resolving semantic and proactive interference in memory over the short-term.

PubMed

Atkins, Alexandra S; Berman, Marc G; Reuter-Lorenz, Patricia A; Lewis, Richard L; Jonides, John

2011-07-01

Interference is a major source of short-term errors of memory. The present investigation explores the relationship between two important forms of interference: proactive interference (PI), induced by the need to reject recently studied items no longer relevant to task performance, and semantic interference (SI), induced by the need to reject lures sharing a meaningful relationship with current memoranda. We explore the possibility that shared cognitive control processes are recruited to resolve both forms of interference. In Experiment 1, we find that the requirement to engage in articulatory suppression during the retention interval of tasks that induce either PI or SI increases both forms of interference similarly and selectively. In Experiment 2, we develop a task to examine PI and SI within the same experimental context. The results show interactive effects between factors that lead to the two forms of interference. Taken together, these findings support contextual-cuing models of short-term remembering (Nairne, Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 53-81 2002), where the context in which retrieval occurs can influence susceptibility to interference. Lastly, we discuss several theoretical hypotheses concerning the cognitive control processes that are recruited to resolve SI and PI in short-term remembering.

Resolving semantic and proactive interference in memory over the short-term

PubMed Central

Reuter-Lorenz, Patricia A.; Lewis, Richard L.; Jonides, John

2011-01-01

Interference is a major source of short-term errors of memory. The present investigation explores the relationship between two important forms of interference: proactive interference (PI), induced by the need to reject recently studied items no longer relevant to task performance, and semantic interference (SI), induced by the need to reject lures sharing a meaningful relationship with current memoranda. We explore the possibility that shared cognitive control processes are recruited to resolve both forms of interference. In Experiment 1, we find that the requirement to engage in articulatory suppression during the retention interval of tasks that induce either PI or SI increases both forms of interference similarly and selectively. In Experiment 2, we develop a task to examine PI and SI within the same experimental context. The results show interactive effects between factors that lead to the two forms of interference. Taken together, these findings support contextual-cuing models of short-term remembering (Nairne, Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 53–81 2002), where the context in which retrieval occurs can influence susceptibility to interference. Lastly, we discuss several theoretical hypotheses concerning the cognitive control processes that are recruited to resolve SI and PI in short-term remembering. PMID:21327614

Sleep and Native Language Interference Affect Non-Native Speech Sound Learning

PubMed Central

Earle, F. Sayako; Myers, Emily B.

2015-01-01

Adults learning a new language are faced with a significant challenge: non-native speech sounds that are perceptually similar to sounds in one’s native language can be very difficult to acquire. Sleep and native language interference, two factors that may help to explain this difficulty in acquisition, are addressed in three studies. Results of Experiment 1 showed that participants trained on a non-native contrast at night improved in discrimination 24 hours after training, while those trained in the morning showed no such improvement. Experiments 2 and 3 addressed the possibility that incidental exposure to perceptually similar native language speech sounds during the day interfered with maintenance in the morning group. Taken together, results show that the ultimate success of non-native speech sound learning depends not only on the similarity of learned sounds to the native language repertoire, but also to interference from native language sounds before sleep. PMID:26280264

Sleep and native language interference affect non-native speech sound learning.

PubMed

Earle, F Sayako; Myers, Emily B

2015-12-01

Adults learning a new language are faced with a significant challenge: non-native speech sounds that are perceptually similar to sounds in one's native language can be very difficult to acquire. Sleep and native language interference, 2 factors that may help to explain this difficulty in acquisition, are addressed in 3 studies. Results of Experiment 1 showed that participants trained on a non-native contrast at night improved in discrimination 24 hr after training, while those trained in the morning showed no such improvement. Experiments 2 and 3 addressed the possibility that incidental exposure to perceptually similar native language speech sounds during the day interfered with maintenance in the morning group. Taken together, results show that the ultimate success of non-native speech sound learning depends not only on the similarity of learned sounds to the native language repertoire, but also to interference from native language sounds before sleep. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Predicting dual-task performance with the Multiple Resources Questionnaire (MRQ).

PubMed

Boles, David B; Bursk, Jonathan H; Phillips, Jeffrey B; Perdelwitz, Jason R

2007-02-01

The objective was to assess the validity of the Multiple Resources Questionnaire (MRQ) in predicting dual-task interference. Subjective workload measures such as the Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT) and NASA Task Load Index are sensitive to single-task parameters and dual-task loads but have not attempted to measure workload in particular mental processes. An alternative is the MRQ. In Experiment 1, participants completed simple laboratory tasks and the MRQ after each. Interference between tasks was then correlated to three different task similarity metrics: profile similarity, based on r(2) between ratings; overlap similarity, based on summed minima; and overall demand, based on summed ratings. Experiment 2 used similar methods but more complex computer-based games. In Experiment 1 the MRQ moderately predicted interference (r = +.37), with no significant difference between metrics. In Experiment 2 the metric effect was significant, with overlap similarity excelling in predicting interference (r = +.83). Mean ratings showed high diagnosticity in identifying specific mental processing bottlenecks. The MRQ shows considerable promise as a cognitive-process-sensitive workload measure. Potential applications of the MRQ include the identification of dual-processing bottlenecks as well as process overloads in single tasks, preparatory to redesign in areas such as air traffic management, advanced flight displays, and medical imaging.

Double-slit experiment in momentum space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanov, I. P.; Seipt, D.; Surzhykov, A.; Fritzsche, S.

2016-08-01

Young's classic double-slit experiment demonstrates the reality of interference when waves and particles travel simultaneously along two different spatial paths. Here, we propose a double-slit experiment in momentum space, realized in the free-space elastic scattering of vortex electrons. We show that this process proceeds along two paths in momentum space, which are well localized and well separated from each other. For such vortex beams, the (plane-wave) amplitudes along the two paths acquire adjustable phase shifts and produce interference fringes in the final angular distribution. We argue that this experiment can be realized with the present-day technology. We show that it gives experimental access to the Coulomb phase, a quantity which plays an important role in all charged particle scattering but which usual scattering experiments are insensitive to.

Invasion-Flowback Processes During Hydraulic Fracturing Well Interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kenzhekhanov, Shaken; He, Kai; Xu, Liang; Lord, Paul; Lozano, Martin; Neeves, Keith; Yin, Xiaolong

2017-11-01

Drainage-imbibition cycles that simulate hydraulic fracturing fluid's invasion and flowback during well interference were investigated using NOA81 microfluidic micromodels. Well interference is quite common in unconventional oil and gas fields. It is not unusual for the fracturing fluid injected into a well to be discovered in a nearby well. Normally, the effect of such interference is considered to be negative, as fracturing fluid will be imbibed into the porous rock and block the flow path of hydrocarbons. However, field data show that some interferences are beneficial, and microfluidic experiments presented in this study show that surfactant in the fracturing fluid may be a reason for the observed positive interference. Two fluid drainage-imbibition cycles were conducted in micromodels. The first cycle simulates fracturing of the old well and the second cycle simulates fluid invasion from the new well into the old well's fracture network. The experimental data show that while most such interferences indeed can cause production loss, when the old well's fracturing fluid does not contain surfactant yet the new well's fracturing fluid does, interference can be positive, as the residual water saturation in the porous medium is effectively reduced by surfactants.

Retrocausation acting in the single-electron double-slit interference experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hokkyo, Noboru

The single electron double-slit interference experiment is given a time-symmetric interpretation and visualization in terms of the intermediate amplitude of transition between the particle source and the detection point. It is seen that the retarded (causal) amplitude of the electron wave expanding from the source shows an advanced (retrocausal) bifurcation and merging in passing through the double-slit and converges towards the detection point as if guided by the advanced (retrocausal) wave from the detected electron. An experiment is proposed to confirm the causation-retrocausation symmetry of the electron behavior by observing the insensitivity of the interference pattern to non-magnetic obstacles placed in the shadows of the retarded and advanced waves appearing on the rear and front sides of the double-slit.

Mug shot exposure prior to lineup identification: interference, transference, and commitment effects.

PubMed

Dysart, J E; Lindsay, R C; Hammond, R; Dupuis, P

2001-12-01

The effects of viewing mug shots on subsequent identification performance are as yet unclear. Two experiments used a live staged-crime paradigm to determine if interpolated eyewitness exposure to mug shots caused interference, unconscious transference, or commitment effects influencing subsequent lineup accuracy. Experiment 1 (N = 104) tested interference effects. Similar correct decision rates were obtained for the mug shot and no mug shot groups from both perpetrator-present and absent lineups. Experiment 2 (N = 132) tested for commitment and transference effects. Results showed that the commitment group made significantly more incorrect identifications than either the control or the transference group, which had similar false-identification rates. Commitment effects present a serious threat to identification accuracy from lineups following mug shot searches.

How personal earthquake experience impacts on the Stroop interference effect: an event-related potential study.

PubMed

Qiu, Jiang; Su, Yanhua; Li, Hong; Wei, Dongtao; Tu, Shen; Zhang, Qinglin

2010-11-01

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were measured when 24 Chinese subjects performed the classical Stroop task. All of subjects had experienced the great Sichuan earthquake (5/12), with 12 people in each of the Far (Chengdu city) and the Close (Deyang city) earthquake experience groups. The behavioral data showed that the Stroop task yielded a robust Stroop interference effect as indexed by longer RT for incongruent than congruent color words in both the Chengdu and Deyang groups. Scalp ERP data showed that incongruent stimuli elicited a more negative ERP deflection (N400-600; Stroop interference effect) than did congruent stimuli between 400-600 ms in the Chengdu group, while the Stroop interference ERP effect was not found in the Deyang group. Dipole source analysis localized the generator of the N400-600 in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) and was possibly related to conflict monitoring and cognitive control. Copyright © 2010 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Information Processing and Proactive Interference in Children With and Without Specific Language Impairment

PubMed Central

Marton, Klara; Campanelli, Luca; Eichorn, Naomi; Scheuer, Jessica; Yoon, Jungmee

2014-01-01

Purpose Increasing evidence suggests that children with specific language impairment (SLI) have a deficit in inhibition control, but research isolating specific abilities is scarce. The goal of this study was to examine whether children with SLI differ from their peers in resistance to proactive interference under different conditions. Method An information processing battery with manipulations in interference was administered to 66 children (SLI, age-matched peers, and language-matched controls). In Experiment 1, previously relevant targets were used as distractors to create conflict. Experiment 2 used item repetitions to examine how practice strengthens word representations and how the strength of a response impacts performance on the following item. Results Children with SLI performed similarly to their peers in the baseline condition but were more susceptible to proactive interference than the controls in both experimental conditions. Children with SLI demonstrated difficulty suppressing irrelevant information, made significantly more interference errors than their peers, and showed a slower rate of implicit learning. Conclusion Children with SLI show weaker resistance to proactive interference than their peers, and this deficit impacts their information processing abilities. The coordination of activation and inhibition is less efficient in these children, but future research is needed to further examine the interaction between these two processes. PMID:23900030

Time-resolved double-slit interference pattern measurement with entangled photons

PubMed Central

Kolenderski, Piotr; Scarcella, Carmelo; Johnsen, Kelsey D.; Hamel, Deny R.; Holloway, Catherine; Shalm, Lynden K.; Tisa, Simone; Tosi, Alberto; Resch, Kevin J.; Jennewein, Thomas

2014-01-01

The double-slit experiment strikingly demonstrates the wave-particle duality of quantum objects. In this famous experiment, particles pass one-by-one through a pair of slits and are detected on a distant screen. A distinct wave-like pattern emerges after many discrete particle impacts as if each particle is passing through both slits and interfering with itself. Here we present a temporally- and spatially-resolved measurement of the double-slit interference pattern using single photons. We send single photons through a birefringent double-slit apparatus and use a linear array of single-photon detectors to observe the developing interference pattern. The analysis of the buildup allows us to compare quantum mechanics and the corpuscular model, which aims to explain the mystery of single-particle interference. Finally, we send one photon from an entangled pair through our double-slit setup and show the dependence of the resulting interference pattern on the twin photon's measured state. Our results provide new insight into the dynamics of the buildup process in the double-slit experiment, and can be used as a valuable resource in quantum information applications. PMID:24770360

Improvement on vibration measurement performance of laser self-mixing interference by using a pre-feedback mirror

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Wei; Chen, Qianghua; Wang, Yanghong; Luo, Huifu; Wu, Huan; Ma, Binwu

2018-06-01

In the laser self-mixing interference vibration measurement system, the self mixing interference signal is usually weak so that it can be hardly distinguished from the environmental noise. In order to solve this problem, we present a self-mixing interference optical path with a pre-feedback mirror, a pre-feedback mirror is added between the object and the collimator lens, corresponding feedback light enters into the inner cavity of the laser and the interference by the pre-feedback mirror occurs. The pre-feedback system is established after that. The self-mixing interference theoretical model with a pre-feedback based on the F-P model is derived. The theoretical analysis shows that the amplitude of the intensity of the interference signal can be improved by 2-4 times. The influence factors of system are also discussed. The experiment results show that the amplitude of the signal is greatly improved, which agrees with the theoretical analysis.

Intensity-intensity correlations as a probe of interferences under conditions of noninterference in the intensity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agarwal, G. S.; von Zanthier, J.; Skornia, C.; Walther, H.

2002-05-01

The different behavior of first-order interferences and second-order correlations are investigated for the case of two coherently excited atoms. For intensity measurements this problem is in many respects equivalent to Young's double-slit experiment and was investigated in an experiment by Eichmann et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 2359 (1993)] and later analyzed in detail by Itano et al. [Phys. Rev. A 57, 4176 (1998)]. Our results show that in cases where the intensity interferences disappear the intensity-intensity correlations can display an interference pattern with a visibility of up to 100%. The contrast depends on the polarization selected for the detection and is independent of the strength of the driving field. The nonclassical nature of the calculated intensity-intensity correlations is also discussed.

Retro-Active Emotion: Do Negative Emotional Stimuli Disrupt Consolidation in Working Memory?

PubMed

Kandemir, Güven; Akyürek, Elkan G; Nieuwenstein, Mark R

2017-01-01

While many studies have shown that a task-irrelevant emotionally arousing stimulus can interfere with the processing of a shortly following target, it remains unclear whether an emotional stimulus can also retro-actively interrupt the ongoing processing of an earlier target. In two experiments, we examined whether the presentation of a negative emotionally arousing picture can disrupt working memory consolidation of a preceding visual target. In both experiments, the effects of negative emotional pictures were compared with the effects of neutral pictures. In Experiment 1, the pictures were entirely task-irrelevant whereas in Experiment 2 the pictures were associated with a 2-alternative forced choice task that required participants to respond to the color of a frame surrounding the pictures. The results showed that the appearance of the pictures did not interfere with target consolidation when the pictures were task-irrelevant, whereas such interference was observed when the pictures were associated with a 2-AFC task. Most importantly, however, the results showed no effects of whether the picture had neutral or emotional content. Implications for further research are discussed.

Study of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen state for space-time variables in a two photon interference experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shih, Y. H.; Sergienko, A. V.; Rubin, M. H.

1993-01-01

A pair of correlated photons generated from parametric down conversion was sent to two independent Michelson interferometers. Second order interference was studied by means of a coincidence measurement between the outputs of two interferometers. The reported experiment and analysis studied this second order interference phenomena from the point of view of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox. The experiment was done in two steps. The first step of the experiment used 50 psec and 3 nsec coincidence time windows simultaneously. The 50 psec window was able to distinguish a 1.5 cm optical path difference in the interferometers. The interference visibility was measured to be 38 percent and 21 percent for the 50 psec time window and 22 percent and 7 percent for the 3 nsec time window, when the optical path difference of the interferometers were 2 cm and 4 cm, respectively. By comparing the visibilities between these two windows, the experiment showed the non-classical effect which resulted from an E.P.R. state. The second step of the experiment used a 20 psec coincidence time window, which was able to distinguish a 6 mm optical path difference in the interferometers. The interference visibilities were measured to be 59 percent for an optical path difference of 7 mm. This is the first observation of visibility greater than 50 percent for a two interferometer E.P.R. experiment which demonstrates nonclassical correlation of space-time variables.

The Encoding of Verbal Information. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hopkins, Ronald H.

A research project involving 16 experiments investigated the nature of the encoding process for verbal materials, particularly differences arising from mode of presentation. The results showed that a change in mode of presentation of items produced a recovery from interference in short term retention. Since intermodal interference was lower than…

Predicting memory performance under conditions of proactive interference: immediate and delayed judgments of learning.

PubMed

Wahlheim, Christopher N

2011-07-01

Four experiments examined the monitoring accuracy of immediate and delayed judgments of learning (JOLs) under conditions of proactive interference (PI). PI was produced using paired-associate learning tasks that conformed to variations of classic A-B, A-D paradigms. Results revealed that the relative monitoring accuracy of interference items was better for delayed than for immediate JOLs. However, delayed JOLs were overconfident for interference items, but not for items devoid of interference. Intrusions retrieved prior to delayed JOLs produced inflated predictions of performance. These results show that delayed JOLs enhance monitoring accuracy in PI situations, except when intrusions are mistaken for target responses.

The Role of Long-Term Memory in a Test of Visual Working Memory: Proactive Facilitation but no Proactive Interference

PubMed Central

Oberauer, Klaus; Awh, Edward; Sutterer, David W.

2016-01-01

We report four experiments examining whether associations in visual working memory are subject to proactive interference from long term memory (LTM). Following a long-term learning phase in which participants learned the colors of 120 unique objects, a working memory (WM) test was administered in which participants recalled the precise colors of three concrete objects in an array. Each array in the WM test consisted of one old (previously learned) object with a new color (old-mismatch), one old object with its old color (old-match), and one new object. Experiments 1 to 3 showed that WM performance was better in the old-match condition than in the new condition, reflecting a beneficial contribution from long term memory. In the old mismatch condition, participants sometimes reported colors associated with the relevant shape in LTM, but the probability of successful recall was equivalent to that in the new condition. Thus, information from LTM only intruded in the absence of reportable information in WM. Experiment 4 tested for, and failed to find, proactive interference from the preceding trial in the WM test: Performance in the old-mismatch condition, presenting an object from the preceding trial with a new color, was equal to performance with new objects. Experiment 5 showed that long-term memory for object-color associations is subject to proactive interference. We conclude that the exchange of information between LTM and WM appears to be controlled by a gating mechanism that protects the contents of WM from proactive interference but admits LTM information when it is useful. PMID:27685018

Auditory temporal preparation induced by rhythmic cues during concurrent auditory working memory tasks.

PubMed

Cutanda, Diana; Correa, Ángel; Sanabria, Daniel

2015-06-01

The present study investigated whether participants can develop temporal preparation driven by auditory isochronous rhythms when concurrently performing an auditory working memory (WM) task. In Experiment 1, participants had to respond to an auditory target presented after a regular or an irregular sequence of auditory stimuli while concurrently performing a Sternberg-type WM task. Results showed that participants responded faster after regular compared with irregular rhythms and that this effect was not affected by WM load; however, the lack of a significant main effect of WM load made it difficult to draw any conclusion regarding the influence of the dual-task manipulation in Experiment 1. In order to enhance dual-task interference, Experiment 2 combined the auditory rhythm procedure with an auditory N-Back task, which required WM updating (monitoring and coding of the information) and was presumably more demanding than the mere rehearsal of the WM task used in Experiment 1. Results now clearly showed dual-task interference effects (slower reaction times [RTs] in the high- vs. the low-load condition). However, such interference did not affect temporal preparation induced by rhythms, with faster RTs after regular than after irregular sequences in the high-load and low-load conditions. These results revealed that secondary tasks demanding memory updating, relative to tasks just demanding rehearsal, produced larger interference effects on overall RTs in the auditory rhythm task. Nevertheless, rhythm regularity exerted a strong temporal preparation effect that survived the interference of the WM task even when both tasks competed for processing resources within the auditory modality. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

When Sufficiently Processed, Semantically Related Distractor Pictures Hamper Picture Naming.

PubMed

Matushanskaya, Asya; Mädebach, Andreas; Müller, Matthias M; Jescheniak, Jörg D

2016-11-01

Prominent speech production models view lexical access as a competitive process. According to these models, a semantically related distractor picture should interfere with target picture naming more strongly than an unrelated one. However, several studies failed to obtain such an effect. Here, we demonstrate that semantic interference is obtained, when the distractor picture is sufficiently processed. Participants named one of two pictures presented in close temporal succession, with color cueing the target. Experiment 1 induced the prediction that the target appears first. When this prediction was violated (distractor first), semantic interference was observed. Experiment 2 ruled out that the time available for distractor processing was the driving force. These results show that semantically related distractor pictures interfere with the naming response when they are sufficiently processed. The data thus provide further support for models viewing lexical access as a competitive process.

Effects of divided attention and speeded responding on implicit and explicit retrieval of artificial grammar knowledge.

PubMed

Helman, Shaun; Berry, Dianne C

2003-07-01

The artificial grammar (AG) learning literature (see, e.g., Mathews et al., 1989; Reber, 1967) has relied heavily on a single measure of implicitly acquired knowledge. Recent work comparing this measure (string classification) with a more indirect measure in which participants make liking ratings of novel stimuli (e.g., Manza & Bornstein, 1995; Newell & Bright, 2001) has shown that string classification (which we argue can be thought of as an explicit, rather than an implicit, measure of memory) gives rise to more explicit knowledge of the grammatical structure in learning strings and is more resilient to changes in surface features and processing between encoding and retrieval. We report data from two experiments that extend these findings. In Experiment 1, we showed that a divided attention manipulation (at retrieval) interfered with explicit retrieval of AG knowledge but did not interfere with implicit retrieval. In Experiment 2, we showed that forcing participants to respond within a very tight deadline resulted in the same asymmetric interference pattern between the tasks. In both experiments, we also showed that the type of information being retrieved influenced whether interference was observed. The results are discussed in terms of the relatively automatic nature of implicit retrieval and also with respect to the differences between analytic and nonanalytic processing (Whittlesea & Price, 2001).

Second Language Interference during First Language Processing by Arabic–English Bilinguals

PubMed Central

Alsaigh, Tahani; Kennison, Shelia M.

2017-01-01

The research investigated whether a bilinguals’ second language (L2) is activated during a task involving only the first language (L1). We tested the hypothesis that the amount of L2 interference can vary across settings, with less interference occurring in testing locations where L2 is rarely used. In Experiment 1, we compared language processing for 50 Arabic–English bilinguals tested in Saudi Arabia and 49 Arabic–English tested in the United States. In the task, participants viewed a picture and judged whether a phoneme presented over headphones was part of the L1 picture name. The results showed no effect of testing location on processing. For both groups of bilinguals, we observed L2 interference in mean error rates, but not in mean response times. We also found evidence for L2 interference in correlational analyses between response times and (a) participants’ weekly L2 usage and (b) frequency of English picture names. A second experiment with 24 Arabic monolinguals supported the conclusion that the results with bilinguals were due to L2 interference. Implications for theories of bilingual memory are discussed. PMID:29163322

Language Learning and Control in Monolinguals and Bilinguals

PubMed Central

Bartolotti, James; Marian, Viorica

2012-01-01

Parallel language activation in bilinguals leads to competition between languages. Experience managing this interference may aid novel language learning by improving the ability to suppress competition from known languages. To investigate the effect of bilingualism on the ability to control native-language interference, monolinguals and bilinguals were taught an artificial language designed to elicit between-language competition. Partial activation of interlingual competitors was assessed with eye-tracking and mouse-tracking during a word recognition task in the novel language. Eye-tracking results showed that monolinguals looked at competitors more than bilinguals, and for a longer duration of time. Mouse-tracking results showed that monolinguals’ mouse-movements were attracted to native-language competitors, while bilinguals overcame competitor interference by increasing activation of target items. Results suggest that bilinguals manage cross-linguistic interference more effectively than monolinguals. We conclude that language interference can affect lexical retrieval, but bilingualism may reduce this interference by facilitating access to a newly-learned language. PMID:22462514

Exciton interference revealed by energy dependent exciton transfer rate for ring-structured molecular systems.

PubMed

Yan, Yun-An

2016-01-14

The quantum interference is an intrinsic phenomenon in quantum physics for photon and massive quantum particles. In principle, the quantum interference may also occur with quasi-particles, such as the exciton. In this study, we show how the exciton quantum interference can be significant in aggregates through theoretical simulations with hierarchical equations of motion. The systems under investigation are generalized donor-bridge-acceptor model aggregates with the donor consisting of six homogeneous sites assuming the nearest neighbor coupling. For the models with single-path bridge, the exciton transfer time only shows a weak excitation energy dependence. But models with double-path bridge have a new short transfer time scale and the excitation energy dependence of the exciton transfer time assumes clear peak structure which is detectable with today's nonlinear spectroscopy. This abnormality is attributed to the exciton quantum interference and the condition for a clear observation in experiment is also explored.

An interference account of the missing-VP effect

PubMed Central

Häussler, Jana; Bader, Markus

2015-01-01

Sentences with doubly center-embedded relative clauses in which a verb phrase (VP) is missing are sometimes perceived as grammatical, thus giving rise to an illusion of grammaticality. In this paper, we provide a new account of why missing-VP sentences, which are both complex and ungrammatical, lead to an illusion of grammaticality, the so-called missing-VP effect. We propose that the missing-VP effect in particular, and processing difficulties with multiply center-embedded clauses more generally, are best understood as resulting from interference during cue-based retrieval. When processing a sentence with double center-embedding, a retrieval error due to interference can cause the verb of an embedded clause to be erroneously attached into a higher clause. This can lead to an illusion of grammaticality in the case of missing-VP sentences and to processing complexity in the case of complete sentences with double center-embedding. Evidence for an interference account of the missing-VP effect comes from experiments that have investigated the missing-VP effect in German using a speeded grammaticality judgments procedure. We review this evidence and then present two new experiments that show that the missing-VP effect can be found in German also with less restricting procedures. One experiment was a questionnaire study which required grammaticality judgments from participants without imposing any time constraints. The second experiment used a self-paced reading procedure and did not require any judgments. Both experiments confirm the prior findings of missing-VP effects in German and also show that the missing-VP effect is subject to a primacy effect as known from the memory literature. Based on this evidence, we argue that an account of missing-VP effects in terms of interference during cue-based retrieval is superior to accounts in terms of limited memory resources or in terms of experience with embedded structures. PMID:26136698

Single-photon interference experiment for high schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bondani, Maria

2014-07-01

We follow the reductio ad absurdum reasoning described in the book "Sneaking a Look at God's Cards" by Giancarlo Ghirardi to demonstrate the wave-particle duality of light in a Mach-Zehnder interferometric setup analog to the conventional Young double-slit experiment. We aim at showing the double nature of light by measuring the existence of interference fringes down to the single-photon level. The setup includes a strongly attenuated laser, polarizing beam splitters, half-waveplates, polarizers and single-photon detectors.

The role of long-term memory in a test of visual working memory: Proactive facilitation but no proactive interference.

PubMed

Oberauer, Klaus; Awh, Edward; Sutterer, David W

2017-01-01

We report 4 experiments examining whether associations in visual working memory are subject to proactive interference from long-term memory (LTM). Following a long-term learning phase in which participants learned the colors of 120 unique objects, a working memory (WM) test was administered in which participants recalled the precise colors of 3 concrete objects in an array. Each array in the WM test consisted of 1 old (previously learned) object with a new color (old-mismatch), 1 old object with its old color (old-match), and 1 new object. Experiments 1 to 3 showed that WM performance was better in the old-match condition than in the new condition, reflecting a beneficial contribution from LTM. In the old-mismatch condition, participants sometimes reported colors associated with the relevant shape in LTM, but the probability of successful recall was equivalent to that in the new condition. Thus, information from LTM only intruded in the absence of reportable information in WM. Experiment 4 tested for, and failed to find, proactive interference from the preceding trial in the WM test: Performance in the old-mismatch condition, presenting an object from the preceding trial with a new color, was equal to performance with new objects. Experiment 5 showed that long-term memory for object-color associations is subject to proactive interference. We conclude that the exchange of information between LTM and WM appears to be controlled by a gating mechanism that protects the contents of WM from proactive interference but admits LTM information when it is useful. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Changes in Cue Configuration Reduce the Impact of Interfering Information in a Predictive Learning Task

PubMed Central

Cubillas, Carmelo P.; Vadillo, Miguel A.; Matute, Helena

2017-01-01

Decades of research in extinction and interference show that contexts can play a critical role at disambiguating the meaning of cues that have been paired with different outcomes at different times. For instance, if a cue x is followed by outcome 1 in the first phase of an experiment and by outcome 2 in a second phase, responses to cue x tend to be consistent with outcome 2 when tested in a context similar to that of the second phase of the experiment. However, if participants are taken back to the original context of the first phase (i.e., ABA renewal) or to a completely new context (i.e., ABC or AAB renewal), their responses to x tend to be more consistent with outcome 1. Although the role of physical and temporal contexts has been well studied, other factors that can also modulate the selective retrieval of information after interference have received less attention. The present series of experiments shows how changes in cue configuration can modulate responding in a similar manner. Across five experiments using a human predictive learning task, we found that adding, removing or replacing elements from a compound cue that had undergone an interference treatment gave rise to a recovery of responding akin to that observed after context changes in AAB renewal. These results are consistent with those of previous studies exploring the effect of changes of cue configuration on interference. Taken together, these studies suggest that a change in cue configuration can have the functional properties of a context change, a finding with important implications for formal models of configural learning and for classical accounts of interference and information retrieval. PMID:28111562

Changes in Cue Configuration Reduce the Impact of Interfering Information in a Predictive Learning Task.

PubMed

Cubillas, Carmelo P; Vadillo, Miguel A; Matute, Helena

2016-01-01

Decades of research in extinction and interference show that contexts can play a critical role at disambiguating the meaning of cues that have been paired with different outcomes at different times. For instance, if a cue x is followed by outcome 1 in the first phase of an experiment and by outcome 2 in a second phase, responses to cue x tend to be consistent with outcome 2 when tested in a context similar to that of the second phase of the experiment. However, if participants are taken back to the original context of the first phase (i.e., ABA renewal) or to a completely new context (i.e., ABC or AAB renewal), their responses to x tend to be more consistent with outcome 1. Although the role of physical and temporal contexts has been well studied, other factors that can also modulate the selective retrieval of information after interference have received less attention. The present series of experiments shows how changes in cue configuration can modulate responding in a similar manner. Across five experiments using a human predictive learning task, we found that adding, removing or replacing elements from a compound cue that had undergone an interference treatment gave rise to a recovery of responding akin to that observed after context changes in AAB renewal. These results are consistent with those of previous studies exploring the effect of changes of cue configuration on interference. Taken together, these studies suggest that a change in cue configuration can have the functional properties of a context change, a finding with important implications for formal models of configural learning and for classical accounts of interference and information retrieval.

Quantum erasure with causally disconnected choice.

PubMed

Ma, Xiao-Song; Kofler, Johannes; Qarry, Angie; Tetik, Nuray; Scheidl, Thomas; Ursin, Rupert; Ramelow, Sven; Herbst, Thomas; Ratschbacher, Lothar; Fedrizzi, Alessandro; Jennewein, Thomas; Zeilinger, Anton

2013-01-22

The counterintuitive features of quantum physics challenge many common-sense assumptions. In an interferometric quantum eraser experiment, one can actively choose whether or not to erase which-path information (a particle feature) of one quantum system and thus observe its wave feature via interference or not by performing a suitable measurement on a distant quantum system entangled with it. In all experiments performed to date, this choice took place either in the past or, in some delayed-choice arrangements, in the future of the interference. Thus, in principle, physical communications between choice and interference were not excluded. Here, we report a quantum eraser experiment in which, by enforcing Einstein locality, no such communication is possible. This is achieved by independent active choices, which are space-like separated from the interference. Our setup employs hybrid path-polarization entangled photon pairs, which are distributed over an optical fiber link of 55 m in one experiment, or over a free-space link of 144 km in another. No naive realistic picture is compatible with our results because whether a quantum could be seen as showing particle- or wave-like behavior would depend on a causally disconnected choice. It is therefore suggestive to abandon such pictures altogether.

Quantum erasure with causally disconnected choice

PubMed Central

Ma, Xiao-Song; Kofler, Johannes; Qarry, Angie; Tetik, Nuray; Scheidl, Thomas; Ursin, Rupert; Ramelow, Sven; Herbst, Thomas; Ratschbacher, Lothar; Fedrizzi, Alessandro; Jennewein, Thomas; Zeilinger, Anton

2013-01-01

The counterintuitive features of quantum physics challenge many common-sense assumptions. In an interferometric quantum eraser experiment, one can actively choose whether or not to erase which-path information (a particle feature) of one quantum system and thus observe its wave feature via interference or not by performing a suitable measurement on a distant quantum system entangled with it. In all experiments performed to date, this choice took place either in the past or, in some delayed-choice arrangements, in the future of the interference. Thus, in principle, physical communications between choice and interference were not excluded. Here, we report a quantum eraser experiment in which, by enforcing Einstein locality, no such communication is possible. This is achieved by independent active choices, which are space-like separated from the interference. Our setup employs hybrid path-polarization entangled photon pairs, which are distributed over an optical fiber link of 55 m in one experiment, or over a free-space link of 144 km in another. No naive realistic picture is compatible with our results because whether a quantum could be seen as showing particle- or wave-like behavior would depend on a causally disconnected choice. It is therefore suggestive to abandon such pictures altogether. PMID:23288900

Real-time single-molecule imaging of quantum interference.

PubMed

Juffmann, Thomas; Milic, Adriana; Müllneritsch, Michael; Asenbaum, Peter; Tsukernik, Alexander; Tüxen, Jens; Mayor, Marcel; Cheshnovsky, Ori; Arndt, Markus

2012-03-25

The observation of interference patterns in double-slit experiments with massive particles is generally regarded as the ultimate demonstration of the quantum nature of these objects. Such matter-wave interference has been observed for electrons, neutrons, atoms and molecules and, in contrast to classical physics, quantum interference can be observed when single particles arrive at the detector one by one. The build-up of such patterns in experiments with electrons has been described as the "most beautiful experiment in physics". Here, we show how a combination of nanofabrication and nano-imaging allows us to record the full two-dimensional build-up of quantum interference patterns in real time for phthalocyanine molecules and for derivatives of phthalocyanine molecules, which have masses of 514 AMU and 1,298 AMU respectively. A laser-controlled micro-evaporation source was used to produce a beam of molecules with the required intensity and coherence, and the gratings were machined in 10-nm-thick silicon nitride membranes to reduce the effect of van der Waals forces. Wide-field fluorescence microscopy detected the position of each molecule with an accuracy of 10 nm and revealed the build-up of a deterministic ensemble interference pattern from single molecules that arrived stochastically at the detector. In addition to providing this particularly clear demonstration of wave-particle duality, our approach could also be used to study larger molecules and explore the boundary between quantum and classical physics.

Real-time single-molecule imaging of quantum interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juffmann, Thomas; Milic, Adriana; Müllneritsch, Michael; Asenbaum, Peter; Tsukernik, Alexander; Tüxen, Jens; Mayor, Marcel; Cheshnovsky, Ori; Arndt, Markus

2012-05-01

The observation of interference patterns in double-slit experiments with massive particles is generally regarded as the ultimate demonstration of the quantum nature of these objects. Such matter-wave interference has been observed for electrons, neutrons, atoms and molecules and, in contrast to classical physics, quantum interference can be observed when single particles arrive at the detector one by one. The build-up of such patterns in experiments with electrons has been described as the ``most beautiful experiment in physics''. Here, we show how a combination of nanofabrication and nano-imaging allows us to record the full two-dimensional build-up of quantum interference patterns in real time for phthalocyanine molecules and for derivatives of phthalocyanine molecules, which have masses of 514 AMU and 1,298 AMU respectively. A laser-controlled micro-evaporation source was used to produce a beam of molecules with the required intensity and coherence, and the gratings were machined in 10-nm-thick silicon nitride membranes to reduce the effect of van der Waals forces. Wide-field fluorescence microscopy detected the position of each molecule with an accuracy of 10 nm and revealed the build-up of a deterministic ensemble interference pattern from single molecules that arrived stochastically at the detector. In addition to providing this particularly clear demonstration of wave-particle duality, our approach could also be used to study larger molecules and explore the boundary between quantum and classical physics.

What Klein's "Semantic Gradient" Does and Does Not Really Show: Decomposing Stroop Interference into Task and Informational Conflict Components.

PubMed

Levin, Yulia; Tzelgov, Joseph

2016-01-01

The present study suggests that the idea that Stroop interference originates from multiple components may gain theoretically from integrating two independent frameworks. The first framework is represented by the well-known notion of "semantic gradient" of interference and the second one is the distinction between two types of conflict - the task and the informational conflict - giving rise to the interference (MacLeod and MacDonald, 2000; Goldfarb and Henik, 2007). The proposed integration led to the conclusion that two (i.e., orthographic and lexical components) of the four theoretically distinct components represent task conflict, and the other two (i.e., indirect and direct informational conflict components) represent informational conflict. The four components were independently estimated in a series of experiments. The results confirmed the contribution of task conflict (estimated by a robust orthographic component) and of informational conflict (estimated by a strong direct informational conflict component) to Stroop interference. However, the performed critical review of the relevant literature (see General Discussion), as well as the results of the experiments reported, showed that the other two components expressing each type of conflict (i.e., the lexical component of task conflict and the indirect informational conflict) were small and unstable. The present analysis refines our knowledge of the origins of Stroop interference by providing evidence that each type of conflict has its major and minor contributions. The implications for cognitive control of an automatic reading process are also discussed.

What Klein’s “Semantic Gradient” Does and Does Not Really Show: Decomposing Stroop Interference into Task and Informational Conflict Components

PubMed Central

Levin, Yulia; Tzelgov, Joseph

2016-01-01

The present study suggests that the idea that Stroop interference originates from multiple components may gain theoretically from integrating two independent frameworks. The first framework is represented by the well-known notion of “semantic gradient” of interference and the second one is the distinction between two types of conflict – the task and the informational conflict – giving rise to the interference (MacLeod and MacDonald, 2000; Goldfarb and Henik, 2007). The proposed integration led to the conclusion that two (i.e., orthographic and lexical components) of the four theoretically distinct components represent task conflict, and the other two (i.e., indirect and direct informational conflict components) represent informational conflict. The four components were independently estimated in a series of experiments. The results confirmed the contribution of task conflict (estimated by a robust orthographic component) and of informational conflict (estimated by a strong direct informational conflict component) to Stroop interference. However, the performed critical review of the relevant literature (see General Discussion), as well as the results of the experiments reported, showed that the other two components expressing each type of conflict (i.e., the lexical component of task conflict and the indirect informational conflict) were small and unstable. The present analysis refines our knowledge of the origins of Stroop interference by providing evidence that each type of conflict has its major and minor contributions. The implications for cognitive control of an automatic reading process are also discussed. PMID:26955363

Occurrence and characteristics of mutual interference between LIDAR scanners

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Gunzung; Eom, Jeongsook; Park, Seonghyeon; Park, Yongwan

2015-05-01

The LIDAR scanner is at the heart of object detection of the self-driving car. Mutual interference between LIDAR scanners has not been regarded as a problem because the percentage of vehicles equipped with LIDAR scanners was very rare. With the growing number of autonomous vehicle equipped with LIDAR scanner operated close to each other at the same time, the LIDAR scanner may receive laser pulses from other LIDAR scanners. In this paper, three types of experiments and their results are shown, according to the arrangement of two LIDAR scanners. We will show the probability that any LIDAR scanner will interfere mutually by considering spatial and temporal overlaps. It will present some typical mutual interference scenario and report an analysis of the interference mechanism.

Training Alters the Resolution of Lexical Interference: Evidence for Plasticity of Competition and Inhibition

PubMed Central

Kapnoula, Efthymia C.; McMurray, Bob

2016-01-01

Language learning is generally described as a problem of acquiring new information (e.g., new words). However, equally important are changes in how the system processes known information. For example, a wealth of studies has suggested dramatic changes over development in how efficiently children recognize familiar words, but it is unknown what kind of experience-dependent mechanisms of plasticity give rise to such changes in real-time processing. We examined the plasticity of the language processing system by testing whether a fundamental aspect of spoken word recognition, lexical interference, can be altered by experience. Adult participants were trained on a set of familiar words over a series of 4 tasks. In the high-competition (HC) condition, tasks were designed to encourage coactivation of similar words (e.g., net and neck) and to require listeners to resolve this competition. Tasks were similar in the low-competition (LC) condition, but did not enhance this competition. Immediately after training, interlexical interference was tested using a visual world paradigm task. Participants in the HC group resolved interference to a fuller degree than those in the LC group, demonstrating that experience can shape the way competition between words is resolved. TRACE simulations showed that the observed late differences in the pattern of interference resolution can be attributed to differences in the strength of lexical inhibition. These findings inform cognitive models in many domains that involve competition/interference processes, and suggest an experience-dependent mechanism of plasticity that may underlie longer term changes in processing efficiency associated with both typical and atypical development. PMID:26709587

On the origin and removal of interference patterns in coated multimode fibres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padilla Michel, Yazmin; Pulwer, Silvio; Saffari, Pouneh; Ksianzou, Viachaslau; Schrader, Sigurd

2016-07-01

In this study, we present the experimental investigations on interference patterns, such as those already reported in VIMOS-IFU, and up to now no appropriate explanation has been presented. These interference patterns are produced in multimode fibres coated with acrylate or polyimide, which is the preferred coating material for the fibres used in IFUs. Our experiments show that, under specific conditions, cladding modes interact with the coating and produce interference. Our results show that the conditions at which the fibre is held during data acquisition has an impact in the output spectrum. Altering the positioning conditions of the fibre leads to the changes into the interference pattern, therefore, fibres should be carefully manipulated in order to minimise this potential problem and improve the performance of these instruments. Finally we present a simple way of predicting and modelling this interference produced from the visible to the near infrared spectra. This model can be included in the data reduction pipeline in order to remove the interference patterns. These results should be of interest for the optimisation of the data reduction pipelines of instruments using optical fibres. Considering these results will benefit innovations and developments of high performance fibre systems.

Effects of Length of Retention Interval on Proactive Interference in Short-Term Visual Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meudell, Peter R.

1977-01-01

These experiments show two things: (a) In visual memory, long-term interference on a current item from items previously stored only seems to occur when the current item's retention interval is relatively long, and (b) the visual code appears to decay rapidly, reaching asymptote within 3 seconds of input in the presence of an interpolated task.…

Exciton interference revealed by energy dependent exciton transfer rate for ring-structured molecular systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yan, Yun-An, E-mail: yunan@gznc.edu.cn

2016-01-14

The quantum interference is an intrinsic phenomenon in quantum physics for photon and massive quantum particles. In principle, the quantum interference may also occur with quasi-particles, such as the exciton. In this study, we show how the exciton quantum interference can be significant in aggregates through theoretical simulations with hierarchical equations of motion. The systems under investigation are generalized donor-bridge-acceptor model aggregates with the donor consisting of six homogeneous sites assuming the nearest neighbor coupling. For the models with single-path bridge, the exciton transfer time only shows a weak excitation energy dependence. But models with double-path bridge have a newmore » short transfer time scale and the excitation energy dependence of the exciton transfer time assumes clear peak structure which is detectable with today’s nonlinear spectroscopy. This abnormality is attributed to the exciton quantum interference and the condition for a clear observation in experiment is also explored.« less

Optical interference fringe reduction in frequency-modulation spectroscopy experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hjelme, Dag Roar; Neegard, Steinar; Vartdal, Erling

1995-08-01

We show both theoretically and experimentally that interference fringe signals can always be suppressed to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, provided that the modulation frequency is of the order of the absorption linewidth or higher. Suppression of optical interference fringes by more than 1 order of magnitude and signal-to-noise ratio enhancement of more than 13 dB is demonstrated by use of a proper choice of laser modulation frequency. A further fringe reduction of 10 dB is possible by adjustment of the local oscillator phase.

'Quantum interference with slits' revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rothman, Tony; Boughn, Stephen

2011-01-01

Marcella has presented a straightforward technique employing the Dirac formalism to calculate single- and double-slit interference patterns. He claims that no reference is made to classical optics or scattering theory and that his method therefore provides a purely quantum mechanical description of these experiments. He also presents his calculation as if no approximations are employed. We show that he implicitly makes the same approximations found in classical treatments of interference and that no new physics has been introduced. At the same time, some of the quantum mechanical arguments Marcella gives are, at best, misleading.

Single-slit electron diffraction with Aharonov-Bohm phase: Feynman's thought experiment with quantum point contacts.

PubMed

Khatua, Pradip; Bansal, Bhavtosh; Shahar, Dan

2014-01-10

In a "thought experiment," now a classic in physics pedagogy, Feynman visualizes Young's double-slit interference experiment with electrons in magnetic field. He shows that the addition of an Aharonov-Bohm phase is equivalent to shifting the zero-field wave interference pattern by an angle expected from the Lorentz force calculation for classical particles. We have performed this experiment with one slit, instead of two, where ballistic electrons within two-dimensional electron gas diffract through a small orifice formed by a quantum point contact (QPC). As the QPC width is comparable to the electron wavelength, the observed intensity profile is further modulated by the transverse waveguide modes present at the injector QPC. Our experiments open the way to realizing diffraction-based ideas in mesoscopic physics.

Implicit Object Naming in Visual Search: Evidence from Phonological Competition

PubMed Central

Walenchok, Stephen C.; Hout, Michael C.; Goldinger, Stephen D.

2016-01-01

During visual search, people are distracted by objects that visually resemble search targets; search is impaired when targets and distractors share overlapping features. In this study, we examined whether a nonvisual form of similarity, overlapping object names, can also affect search performance. In three experiments, people searched for images of real-world objects (e.g., a beetle) among items whose names either all shared the same phonological onset (/bi/), or were phonologically varied. Participants either searched for one or three potential targets per trial, with search targets designated either visually or verbally. We examined standard visual search (Experiments 1 and 3) and a self-paced serial search task wherein participants manually rejected each distractor (Experiment 2). We hypothesized that people would maintain visual templates when searching for single targets, but would rely more on object names when searching for multiple items and when targets were verbally cued. This reliance on target names would make performance susceptible to interference from similar-sounding distractors. Experiments 1 and 2 showed the predicted interference effect in conditions with high memory load and verbal cues. In Experiment 3, eye-movement results showed that phonological interference resulted from small increases in dwell time to all distractors. The results suggest that distractor names are implicitly activated during search, slowing attention disengagement when targets and distractors share similar names. PMID:27531018

Optical interference with noncoherent states

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sagi, Yoav; Firstenberg, Ofer; Fisher, Amnon

2003-03-01

We examine a typical two-source optical interference apparatus consisting of two cavities, a beam splitter, and two detectors. We show that field-field interference occurs even when the cavities are not initially in coherent states but rather in other nonclassical states. However, we find that the visibility of the second-order interference, that is, the expectation values of the detectors' readings, changes from 100%, when the cavities are prepared in coherent states, to zero visibility when they are initially in single Fock states. We calculate the fourth-order interference, and for the latter case find that it corresponds to a case where themore » currents oscillate with 100% visibility, but with a random phase for every experiment. Finally, we suggest an experimental realization of the apparatus with nonclassical sources.« less

Selective Attention to Emotion in the Aging Brain

PubMed Central

Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R.; Robertson, Elaine R.; Mikels, Joseph A.; Carstensen, Laura L.; Gotlib, Ian H.

2009-01-01

A growing body of research suggests that the ability to regulate emotion remains stable or improves across the adult life span. Socioemotional selectivity theory maintains that this pattern of findings reflects the prioritization of emotional goals. Given that goal-directed behavior requires attentional control, the present study was designed to investigate age differences in selective attention to emotional lexical stimuli under conditions of emotional interference. Both neural and behavioral measures were obtained during an experiment in which participants completed a flanker task that required them to make categorical judgments about emotional and non-emotional stimuli. Older adults showed interference in both the behavioral and neural measures on control trials, but not on emotion trials. Although older adults typically show relatively high levels of interference and reduced cognitive control during non-emotional tasks, they appear to be able successfully to reduce interference during emotional tasks. PMID:19739908

Selective attention to emotion in the aging brain.

PubMed

Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R; Robertson, Elaine R; Mikels, Joseph A; Carstensen, Laura L; Gotlib, Ian H

2009-09-01

A growing body of research suggests that the ability to regulate emotion remains stable or improves across the adult life span. Socioemotional selectivity theory maintains that this pattern of findings reflects the prioritization of emotional goals. Given that goal-directed behavior requires attentional control, the present study was designed to investigate age differences in selective attention to emotional lexical stimuli under conditions of emotional interference. Both neural and behavioral measures were obtained during an experiment in which participants completed a flanker task that required them to make categorical judgments about emotional and nonemotional stimuli. Older adults showed interference in both the behavioral and neural measures on control trials but not on emotion trials. Although older adults typically show relatively high levels of interference and reduced cognitive control during nonemotional tasks, they appear to be able to successfully reduce interference during emotional tasks. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

Compact transmission system using single-sideband modulation of light for quantum cryptography.

PubMed

Duraffourg, L; Merolla, J M; Goedgebuer, J P; Mazurenko, Y; Rhodes, W T

2001-09-15

We report a new transmission that can be used for quantum key distribution. The system uses single-sideband-modulated light in an implementation of the BB84 quantum cryptography protocol. The system is formed by two integrated unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers and is based on interference between phase-modulated sidebands in the spectral domain. Experiments show that high interference visibility can be obtained.

A tension insensitive PbS fiber temperature sensor based on Sagnac interferometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Xing-hu; Zhang, Jiang-peng; Yang, Kai-li; Dong, Yan-hua; Wen, Jian-xiang; Fu, Guang-wei; Bi, Wei-hong

2017-03-01

In this paper, a tension insensitive PbS fiber temperature sensor based on Sagnac interferometer is proposed and demonstrated. The sensing mechanism of tension and temperature is analyzed. The relationships between the interference spectrum, temperature and tension are analyzed, respectively. The experimental temperature range is 36—70 °C. The experimental results show that the interference spectrum is red shifted, and its sensitivity is 53.89 pm/°C. In tension experiment, the tension range is 0—1 400 μɛ. The experimental results show that there is no wavelength shift in the interference spectrum. The sensor is immune to tension cross-sensitivity compared with other sensors. It can be used for temperature testing in aerospace, chemistry and pharmacy.

Neural Systems Underlying Emotional and Non-emotional Interference Processing: An ALE Meta-Analysis of Functional Neuroimaging Studies

PubMed Central

Xu, Min; Xu, Guiping; Yang, Yang

2016-01-01

Understanding how the nature of interference might influence the recruitments of the neural systems is considered as the key to understanding cognitive control. Although, interference processing in the emotional domain has recently attracted great interest, the question of whether there are separable neural patterns for emotional and non-emotional interference processing remains open. Here, we performed an activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of 78 neuroimaging experiments, and examined common and distinct neural systems for emotional and non-emotional interference processing. We examined brain activation in three domains of interference processing: emotional verbal interference in the face-word conflict task, non-emotional verbal interference in the color-word Stroop task, and non-emotional spatial interference in the Simon, SRC and Flanker tasks. Our results show that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was recruited for both emotional and non-emotional interference. In addition, the right anterior insula, presupplementary motor area (pre-SMA), and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) were activated by interference processing across both emotional and non-emotional domains. In light of these results, we propose that the anterior insular cortex may serve to integrate information from different dimensions and work together with the dorsal ACC to detect and monitor conflicts, whereas pre-SMA and right IFG may be recruited to inhibit inappropriate responses. In contrast, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and posterior parietal cortex (PPC) showed different degrees of activation and distinct lateralization patterns for different processing domains, which suggests that these regions may implement cognitive control based on the specific task requirements. PMID:27895564

An interference model of visual working memory.

PubMed

Oberauer, Klaus; Lin, Hsuan-Yu

2017-01-01

The article introduces an interference model of working memory for information in a continuous similarity space, such as the features of visual objects. The model incorporates the following assumptions: (a) Probability of retrieval is determined by the relative activation of each retrieval candidate at the time of retrieval; (b) activation comes from 3 sources in memory: cue-based retrieval using context cues, context-independent memory for relevant contents, and noise; (c) 1 memory object and its context can be held in the focus of attention, where it is represented with higher precision, and partly shielded against interference. The model was fit to data from 4 continuous-reproduction experiments testing working memory for colors or orientations. The experiments involved variations of set size, kind of context cues, precueing, and retro-cueing of the to-be-tested item. The interference model fit the data better than 2 competing models, the Slot-Averaging model and the Variable-Precision resource model. The interference model also fared well in comparison to several new models incorporating alternative theoretical assumptions. The experiments confirm 3 novel predictions of the interference model: (a) Nontargets intrude in recall to the extent that they are close to the target in context space; (b) similarity between target and nontarget features improves recall, and (c) precueing-but not retro-cueing-the target substantially reduces the set-size effect. The success of the interference model shows that working memory for continuous visual information works according to the same principles as working memory for more discrete (e.g., verbal) contents. Data and model codes are available at https://osf.io/wgqd5/. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Gummed-up memory: chewing gum impairs short-term recall.

PubMed

Kozlov, Michail D; Hughes, Robert W; Jones, Dylan M

2012-01-01

Several studies have suggested that short-term memory is generally improved by chewing gum. However, we report the first studies to show that chewing gum impairs short-term memory for both item order and item identity. Experiment 1 showed that chewing gum reduces serial recall of letter lists. Experiment 2 indicated that chewing does not simply disrupt vocal-articulatory planning required for order retention: Chewing equally impairs a matched task that required retention of list item identity. Experiment 3 demonstrated that manual tapping produces a similar pattern of impairment to that of chewing gum. These results clearly qualify the assertion that chewing gum improves short-term memory. They also pose a problem for short-term memory theories asserting that forgetting is based on domain-specific interference given that chewing does not interfere with verbal memory any more than tapping. It is suggested that tapping and chewing reduce the general capacity to process sequences.

Reciprocal relationships between value orientation and motivational interference during studying and leisure.

PubMed

Hofer, Manfred; Schmid, Sebastian; Fries, Stefan; Kilian, Britta; Kuhnle, Claudia

2010-12-01

Motivational interference is defined as the amount of impairment in a target activity due to the incentives of a non-chosen attractive alternative. The amount to which pupils experience motivational interference while studying or while performing a leisure activity in a school-leisure conflict situation is seen as depending on the values they attach to achievement and well-being. At the same time, values may also be effects of frequent experience of motivational interference in the respective areas. The study is aimed at investigating the reciprocal relationship between personal value orientations and the experience of motivational interference during studying and leisure. A total of 363 pupils (sixth to eighth graders at the time of first measurement) completed the same questionnaire twice in a 2-year interval. The questionnaire included measures of achievement and well-being value orientation and the experience of motivational interference during studying and during leisure in school-leisure conflicts. For this, two scenarios were created. In regression analyses, achievement and well-being value orientations as well as their interaction terms were used as predictors for experience of motivational interference at t(2) while controlling for experience of motivational interference at t(1), and vice versa. Additionally in path models, these relations were tested in an integrative way. Pupils' achievement value orientations were connected to differential changes in experiencing motivational interference during leisure and during studying in one scenario but only for pupils low or medium in well-being value orientation. Conversely, experience of motivational interference at t(1) was related to changes in value orientations 2 years later. High motivational interference during studying led to an increase in well-being value orientation, while high motivational interference during leisure was followed by a decrease in well-being value orientation and an increase in achievement value orientation. Overall, path models supported these results. The results are discussed in terms of value change and are linked to self-control and motivation research.

Perirhinal Cortex Lesions in Rats: Novelty Detection and Sensitivity to Interference

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Rats with perirhinal cortex lesions received multiple object recognition trials within a continuous session to examine whether they show false memories. Experiment 1 focused on exploration patterns during the first object recognition test postsurgery, in which each trial contained 1 novel and 1 familiar object. The perirhinal cortex lesions reduced time spent exploring novel objects, but did not affect overall time spent exploring the test objects (novel plus familiar). Replications with subsequent cohorts of rats (Experiments 2, 3, 4.1) repeated this pattern of results. When all recognition memory data were combined (Experiments 1–4), giving totals of 44 perirhinal lesion rats and 40 surgical sham controls, the perirhinal cortex lesions caused a marginal reduction in total exploration time. That decrease in time with novel objects was often compensated by increased exploration of familiar objects. Experiment 4 also assessed the impact of proactive interference on recognition memory. Evidence emerged that prior object experience could additionally impair recognition performance in rats with perirhinal cortex lesions. Experiment 5 examined exploration levels when rats were just given pairs of novel objects to explore. Despite their perirhinal cortex lesions, exploration levels were comparable with those of control rats. While the results of Experiment 4 support the notion that perirhinal lesions can increase sensitivity to proactive interference, the overall findings question whether rats lacking a perirhinal cortex typically behave as if novel objects are familiar, that is, show false recognition. Rather, the rats retain a signal of novelty but struggle to discriminate the identity of that signal. PMID:26030425

Double-slit experiment with single wave-driven particles and its relation to quantum mechanics.

PubMed

Andersen, Anders; Madsen, Jacob; Reichelt, Christian; Rosenlund Ahl, Sonja; Lautrup, Benny; Ellegaard, Clive; Levinsen, Mogens T; Bohr, Tomas

2015-07-01

In a thought-provoking paper, Couder and Fort [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 154101 (2006)] describe a version of the famous double-slit experiment performed with droplets bouncing on a vertically vibrated fluid surface. In the experiment, an interference pattern in the single-particle statistics is found even though it is possible to determine unambiguously which slit the walking droplet passes. Here we argue, however, that the single-particle statistics in such an experiment will be fundamentally different from the single-particle statistics of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanical interference takes place between different classical paths with precise amplitude and phase relations. In the double-slit experiment with walking droplets, these relations are lost since one of the paths is singled out by the droplet. To support our conclusions, we have carried out our own double-slit experiment, and our results, in particular the long and variable slit passage times of the droplets, cast strong doubt on the feasibility of the interference claimed by Couder and Fort. To understand theoretically the limitations of wave-driven particle systems as analogs to quantum mechanics, we introduce a Schrödinger equation with a source term originating from a localized particle that generates a wave while being simultaneously guided by it. We show that the ensuing particle-wave dynamics can capture some characteristics of quantum mechanics such as orbital quantization. However, the particle-wave dynamics can not reproduce quantum mechanics in general, and we show that the single-particle statistics for our model in a double-slit experiment with an additional splitter plate differs qualitatively from that of quantum mechanics.

Retrieval-induced forgetting in recall: competitor interference revisited.

PubMed

Verde, Michael F

2013-09-01

Participants studied category-exemplar pairs (FRUIT Cherry, FRUIT Grape) and then practiced some of the items (Cherry). In Experiment 1, practice that involved retrieving the item from memory suppressed recall of related items (Grape), a finding known as the retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) effect. In Experiment 2, practice that involved studying the item without retrieval produced no RIF effect. Both retrieval and nonretrieval practice facilitated the subsequent recall of practiced items (Cherry). The dissociation between "strengthening" of practiced items and forgetting of related items is thought to be evidence that RIF is the result of inhibition during earlier retrieval attempts rather than interference from competing memories at retrieval. However, simulations of the SAM-REM model show that competitor interference can account for this dissociation. Experiments 3-6 supported the predictions of the model by demonstrating that nonretrieval practice can produce the RIF effect under conditions that emphasize context encoding or increase the number of competitors. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Three-dimensional characterization of extreme ultraviolet mask blank defects by interference contrast photoemission electron microscopy.

PubMed

Lin, Jingquan; Weber, Nils; Escher, Matthias; Maul, Jochen; Han, Hak-Seung; Merkel, Michael; Wurm, Stefan; Schönhense, Gerd; Kleineberg, Ulf

2008-09-29

A photoemission electron microscope based on a new contrast mechanism "interference contrast" is applied to characterize extreme ultraviolet lithography mask blank defects. Inspection results show that positioning of interference destructive condition (node of standing wave field) on surface of multilayer in the local region of a phase defect is necessary to obtain best visibility of the defect on mask blank. A comparative experiment reveals superiority of the interference contrast photoemission electron microscope (Extreme UV illumination) over a topographic contrast one (UV illumination with Hg discharge lamp) in detecting extreme ultraviolet mask blank phase defects. A depth-resolved detection of a mask blank defect, either by measuring anti-node peak shift in the EUV-PEEM image under varying inspection wavelength condition or by counting interference fringes with a fixed illumination wavelength, is discussed.

Appetitive context conditioning proactively, but transiently, interferes with expression of counterconditioned context fear

PubMed Central

Holmes, Nathan M.

2014-01-01

Four experiments used rats to study appetitive–aversive transfer. Rats trained to eat a palatable food in a distinctive context and shocked in that context ate and did not freeze when tested 1 d later but froze and did not eat when tested 14 d later. These results were associatively mediated (Experiments 1 and 2), observed when rats were or were not food deprived (Experiments 1 and 2), and were not due to latent inhibition (Experiment 3). In contrast, rats trained to eat in the context and shocked there 13 d later froze and did not eat when tested 1 d after the shocked exposure. However, rats that received an additional eating session in the context 1 d before the shocked exposure ate and did not freeze when tested 1 d after the shocked exposure (Experiment 4). The results show that appetitive conditioning transiently interferes with aversive conditioning. They are discussed in terms of a weak context–shock association becoming stronger with the lapse of time (so-called fear incubation) or of the interference by the context–food association becoming weaker with the lapse of time. PMID:25320352

Exploring the effect of sleep and reduced interference on different forms of declarative memory.

PubMed

Schönauer, Monika; Pawlizki, Annedore; Köck, Corinna; Gais, Steffen

2014-12-01

Many studies have found that sleep benefits declarative memory consolidation. However, fundamental questions on the specifics of this effect remain topics of discussion. It is not clear which forms of memory are affected by sleep and whether this beneficial effect is partly mediated by passive protection against interference. Moreover, a putative correlation between the structure of sleep and its memory-enhancing effects is still being discussed. In three experiments, we tested whether sleep differentially affects various forms of declarative memory. We varied verbal content (verbal/nonverbal), item type (single/associate), and recall mode (recall/recognition, cued/free recall) to examine the effect of sleep on specific memory subtypes. We compared within-subject differences in memory consolidation between intervals including sleep, active wakefulness, or quiet meditation, which reduced external as well as internal interference and rehearsal. Forty healthy adults aged 18-30 y, and 17 healthy adults aged 24-55 y with extensive meditation experience participated in the experiments. All types of memory were enhanced by sleep if the sample size provided sufficient statistical power. Smaller sample sizes showed an effect of sleep if a combined measure of different declarative memory scales was used. In a condition with reduced external and internal interference, performance was equal to one with high interference. Here, memory consolidation was significantly lower than in a sleep condition. We found no correlation between sleep structure and memory consolidation. Sleep does not preferentially consolidate a specific kind of declarative memory, but consistently promotes overall declarative memory formation. This effect is not mediated by reduced interference. © 2014 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

Erasing and blurring memories: The differential impact of interference on separate aspects of forgetting.

PubMed

Sun, Sol Z; Fidalgo, Celia; Barense, Morgan D; Lee, Andy C H; Cant, Jonathan S; Ferber, Susanne

2017-11-01

Interference disrupts information processing across many timescales, from immediate perception to memory over short and long durations. The widely held similarity assumption states that as similarity between interfering information and memory contents increases, so too does the degree of impairment. However, information is lost from memory in different ways. For instance, studied content might be erased in an all-or-nothing manner. Alternatively, information may be retained but the precision might be degraded or blurred. Here, we asked whether the similarity of interfering information to memory contents might differentially impact these 2 aspects of forgetting. Observers studied colored images of real-world objects, each followed by a stream of interfering objects. Across 4 experiments, we manipulated the similarity between the studied object and the interfering objects in circular color space. After interference, memory for object color was tested continuously on a color wheel, which in combination with mixture modeling, allowed for estimation of how erasing and blurring differentially contribute to forgetting. In contrast to the similarity assumption, we show that highly dissimilar interfering items caused the greatest increase in random guess responses, suggesting a greater frequency of memory erasure (Experiments 1-3). Moreover, we found that observers were generally able to resist interference from highly similar items, perhaps through surround suppression (Experiments 1 and 4). Finally, we report that interference from items of intermediate similarity tended to blur or decrease memory precision (Experiments 3 and 4). These results reveal that the nature of visual similarity can differentially alter how information is lost from memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Carving Executive Control At Its Joints: Working Memory Capacity Predicts Stimulus-Stimulus, But Not Stimulus-Response, Conflict

PubMed Central

Meier, Matt E.; Kane, Michael J.

2015-01-01

Three experiments examined the relation between working memory capacity (WMC) and two different forms of cognitive conflict: stimulus-stimulus (S-S) and stimulus-response (SR) interference. Our goal was to test whether WMC’s relation to conflict-task performance is mediated by stimulus-identification processes (captured by S-S conflict), response-selection processes (captured by S-R conflict), or both. In Experiment 1, subjects completed a single task presenting both S-S and S-R conflict trials, plus trials that combined the two conflict types. We limited ostensible goal-maintenance contributions to performance by requiring the same goal for all trial types and by presenting frequent conflict trials that reinforced the goal. WMC predicted resolution of S-S conflict as expected: Higher-WMC subjects showed reduced response time interference. Although WMC also predicted S-R interference, here, higher-WMC subjects showed increased error interference. Experiment 2A replicated these results in a version of the conflict task without combined S-S/S-R trials. Experiment 2B increased the proportion of congruent (non-conflict) trials to promote reliance on goal-maintenance processes. Here, higher-WMC subjects resolved both S-S and S-R conflict more successfully than did lower-WMC subjects. The results were consistent with Kane and Engle’s (2003) two-factor theory of cognitive control, according to which WMC predicts executive-task performance through goal-maintenance and conflict-resolution processes. However, the present results add specificity to the account by suggesting that higher-WMC subjects better resolve cognitive conflict because they more efficiently select relevant stimulus features against irrelevant, distracting ones. PMID:26120774

Carving executive control at its joints: Working memory capacity predicts stimulus-stimulus, but not stimulus-response, conflict.

PubMed

Meier, Matt E; Kane, Michael J

2015-11-01

Three experiments examined the relation between working memory capacity (WMC) and 2 different forms of cognitive conflict: stimulus-stimulus (S-S) and stimulus-response (S-R) interference. Our goal was to test whether WMC's relation to conflict-task performance is mediated by stimulus-identification processes (captured by S-S conflict), response-selection processes (captured by S-R conflict), or both. In Experiment 1, subjects completed a single task presenting both S-S and S-R conflict trials, plus trials that combined the 2 conflict types. We limited ostensible goal-maintenance contributions to performance by requiring the same goal for all trial types and by presenting frequent conflict trials that reinforced the goal. WMC predicted resolution of S-S conflict as expected: Higher WMC subjects showed reduced response time interference. Although WMC also predicted S-R interference, here, higher WMC subjects showed increased error interference. Experiment 2A replicated these results in a version of the conflict task without combined S-S/S-R trials. Experiment 2B increased the proportion of congruent (nonconflict) trials to promote reliance on goal-maintenance processes. Here, higher WMC subjects resolved both S-S and S-R conflict more successfully than did lower WMC subjects. The results were consistent with Kane and Engle's (2003) 2-factor theory of cognitive control, according to which WMC predicts executive-task performance through goal-maintenance and conflict-resolution processes. However, the present results add specificity to the account by suggesting that higher WMC subjects better resolve cognitive conflict because they more efficiently select relevant stimulus features against irrelevant, distracting ones. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Interpretation of scanning tunneling quasiparticle interference and impurity states in cuprates.

PubMed

Kreisel, A; Choubey, Peayush; Berlijn, T; Ku, W; Andersen, B M; Hirschfeld, P J

2015-05-29

We apply a recently developed method combining first principles based Wannier functions with solutions to the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations to the problem of interpreting STM data in cuprate superconductors. We show that the observed images of Zn on the surface of Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8} can only be understood by accounting for the tails of the Cu Wannier functions, which include significant weight on apical O sites in neighboring unit cells. This calculation thus puts earlier crude "filter" theories on a microscopic foundation and solves a long-standing puzzle. We then study quasiparticle interference phenomena induced by out-of-plane weak potential scatterers, and show how patterns long observed in cuprates can be understood in terms of the interference of Wannier functions above the surface. Our results show excellent agreement with experiment and enable a better understanding of novel phenomena in the cuprates via STM imaging.

Realistic interpretation of quantum mechanics and encounter-delayed-choice experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Long, GuiLu; Qin, Wei; Yang, Zhe; Li, Jun-Lin

2018-03-01

In this paper, a realistic interpretation (REIN) of the wave function in quantum mechanics is briefly presented. We demonstrate that in the REIN, the wave function of a microscopic object is its real existence rather than a mere mathematical description. Specifically, the quantum object can exist in disjointed regions of space just as the wave function is distributed, travels at a finite speed, and collapses instantly upon a measurement. Furthermore, we analyze the single-photon interference in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) using the REIN. Based on this, we propose and experimentally implement a generalized delayed-choice experiment, called the encounter-delayed-choice experiment, where the second beam splitter is decided whether or not to insert at the encounter of two sub-waves along the arms of the MZI. In such an experiment, the parts of the sub-waves, which do not travel through the beam splitter, show a particle nature, whereas the remaining parts interfere and thus show a wave nature. The predicted phenomenon is clearly demonstrated in the experiment, thus supporting the REIN idea.

Encoding and Retrieval Interference in Sentence Comprehension: Evidence from Agreement

PubMed Central

Villata, Sandra; Tabor, Whitney; Franck, Julie

2018-01-01

Long-distance verb-argument dependencies generally require the integration of a fronted argument when the verb is encountered for sentence interpretation. Under a parsing model that handles long-distance dependencies through a cue-based retrieval mechanism, retrieval is hampered when retrieval cues also resonate with non-target elements (retrieval interference). However, similarity-based interference may also stem from interference arising during the encoding of elements in memory (encoding interference), an effect that is not directly accountable for by a cue-based retrieval mechanism. Although encoding and retrieval interference are clearly distinct at the theoretical level, it is difficult to disentangle the two on empirical grounds, since encoding interference may also manifest at the retrieval region. We report two self-paced reading experiments aimed at teasing apart the role of each component in gender and number subject-verb agreement in Italian and English object relative clauses. In Italian, the verb does not agree in gender with the subject, thus providing no cue for retrieval. In English, although present tense verbs agree in number with the subject, past tense verbs do not, allowing us to test the role of number as a retrieval cue within the same language. Results from both experiments converge, showing similarity-based interference at encoding, and some evidence for an effect at retrieval. After having pointed out the non-negligible role of encoding in sentence comprehension, and noting that Lewis and Vasishth’s (2005) ACT-R model of sentence processing, the most fully developed cue-based retrieval approach to sentence processing does not predict encoding effects, we propose an augmentation of this model that predicts these effects. We then also propose a self-organizing sentence processing model (SOSP), which has the advantage of accounting for retrieval and encoding interference with a single mechanism. PMID:29403414

A Longitudinal Panel Study on Antecedents and Outcomes of Work-Home Interference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steinmetz, Holger; Frese, Michael; Schmidt, Peter

2008-01-01

Theoretical models of the antecedents and outcomes of work-home interference (WHI) suggest that work characteristics (e.g., job stressors, working hours) increase the probability that an individual experiences work-home interference. Since work-home interference is considered as a role stressor, these experiences should be detrimental for…

Lions, tigers, and bears, oh sh!t: Semantics versus tabooness in speech production.

PubMed

White, Katherine K; Abrams, Lise; Koehler, Sarah M; Collins, Richard J

2017-04-01

While both semantic and highly emotional (i.e., taboo) words can interfere with speech production, different theoretical mechanisms have been proposed to explain why interference occurs. Two experiments investigated these theoretical approaches by comparing the magnitude of these two types of interference and the stages at which they occur during picture naming. Participants named target pictures superimposed with semantic, taboo, or unrelated distractor words that were presented at three different stimulus-onset asynchronies (SOA): -150 ms, 0 ms, or +150 ms. In addition, the duration of distractor presentation was manipulated across experiments, with distractors appearing for the duration of the picture (Experiment 1) or for 350 ms (Experiment 2). Taboo distractors interfered more than semantic distractors, i.e., slowed target naming times, at all SOAs. While distractor duration had no effect on type of interference at -150 or 0 SOAs, briefly presented distractors eliminated semantic interference but not taboo interference at +150 SOA. Discussion focuses on how existing speech production theories can explain interference from emotional distractors and the unique role that attention may play in taboo interference.

Retrospective Revaluation of Associative Retroactive Cue Interference

PubMed Central

Miguez, Gonzalo; Laborda, Mario A.; Miller, Ralph R.

2013-01-01

Two fear-conditioning experiments with rats assessed whether retrospective revaluation, which has been observed in cue competition (i.e., when compounded cues are followed with an outcome), can also be observed in retroactive cue interference (i.e., when different cues are reinforced in separate phases with the same outcome). Experiment 1 found that after inducing retroactive cue interference (i.e., X-outcome followed by A-outcome), nonreinforced presentations of the interfering cue (A) decreases interference with responding to the target cue (X), just as has been observed in retrospective revaluation experiments in cue competition. Using the opposite manipulation (i.e., adding reinforced presentations of A), Experiment 2 demonstrated that after inducing retroactive cue interference, additional reinforced presentations of the interfering cue (A) increases interference with responding to the target cue (X); alternatively stated, the amount of interference increases with the amount of training with the interfering cue. Thus, both types of retrospective revaluation occur in retroactive cue competition. The results are discussed in terms of the possibility that similar associative mechanisms underlie cue competition and cue interference. PMID:24142799

The role of visual imagery in the retention of information from sentences.

PubMed

Drose, G S; Allen, G L

1994-01-01

We conducted two experiments to evaluate a multiple-code model for sentence memory that posits both propositional and visual representational systems. Both sentences involved recognition memory. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that subjects' recognition memory for concrete sentences was superior to their recognition memory for abstract sentences. Instructions to use visual imagery to enhance recognition performance yielded no effects. Experiment 2 tested the prediction that interference by a visual task would differentially affect recognition memory for concrete sentences. Results showed the interference task to have had a detrimental effect on recognition memory for both concrete and abstract sentences. Overall, the evidence provided partial support for both a multiple-code model and a semantic integration model of sentence memory.

Experimental Characterization of Close-Emitter Interference in an Optical Camera Communication System

PubMed Central

Chavez-Burbano, Patricia; Rabadan, Jose; Perez-Jimenez, Rafael

2017-01-01

Due to the massive insertion of embedded cameras in a wide variety of devices and the generalized use of LED lamps, Optical Camera Communication (OCC) has been proposed as a practical solution for future Internet of Things (IoT) and smart cities applications. Influence of mobility, weather conditions, solar radiation interference, and external light sources over Visible Light Communication (VLC) schemes have been addressed in previous works. Some authors have studied the spatial intersymbol interference from close emitters within an OCC system; however, it has not been characterized or measured in function of the different transmitted wavelengths. In this work, this interference has been experimentally characterized and the Normalized Power Signal to Interference Ratio (NPSIR) for easily determining the interference in other implementations, independently of the selected system devices, has been also proposed. A set of experiments in a darkroom, working with RGB multi-LED transmitters and a general purpose camera, were performed in order to obtain the NPSIR values and to validate the deduced equations for 2D pixel representation of real distances. These parameters were used in the simulation of a wireless sensor network scenario in a small office, where the Bit Error Rate (BER) of the communication link was calculated. The experiments show that the interference of other close emitters in terms of the distance and the used wavelength can be easily determined with the NPSIR. Finally, the simulation validates the applicability of the deduced equations for scaling the initial results into real scenarios. PMID:28677613

Experimental Characterization of Close-Emitter Interference in an Optical Camera Communication System.

PubMed

Chavez-Burbano, Patricia; Guerra, Victor; Rabadan, Jose; Rodríguez-Esparragón, Dionisio; Perez-Jimenez, Rafael

2017-07-04

Due to the massive insertion of embedded cameras in a wide variety of devices and the generalized use of LED lamps, Optical Camera Communication (OCC) has been proposed as a practical solution for future Internet of Things (IoT) and smart cities applications. Influence of mobility, weather conditions, solar radiation interference, and external light sources over Visible Light Communication (VLC) schemes have been addressed in previous works. Some authors have studied the spatial intersymbol interference from close emitters within an OCC system; however, it has not been characterized or measured in function of the different transmitted wavelengths. In this work, this interference has been experimentally characterized and the Normalized Power Signal to Interference Ratio (NPSIR) for easily determining the interference in other implementations, independently of the selected system devices, has been also proposed. A set of experiments in a darkroom, working with RGB multi-LED transmitters and a general purpose camera, were performed in order to obtain the NPSIR values and to validate the deduced equations for 2D pixel representation of real distances. These parameters were used in the simulation of a wireless sensor network scenario in a small office, where the Bit Error Rate (BER) of the communication link was calculated. The experiments show that the interference of other close emitters in terms of the distance and the used wavelength can be easily determined with the NPSIR. Finally, the simulation validates the applicability of the deduced equations for scaling the initial results into real scenarios.

Selective attention for masked and unmasked emotionally toned stimuli: effects of trait anxiety, state anxiety, and test order.

PubMed

Edwards, Mark S; Burt, Jennifer S; Lipp, Ottmar V

2010-05-01

We investigated selective attention for masked and unmasked, threat, and positively valenced words, in high trait anxious (HTA) and low trait anxious (LTA) individuals using the emotional Stroop colour-naming task. State anxiety was varied within participants through the threat of electric shock. To investigate whether the sequencing of the state anxiety manipulation affected colour-naming latencies, the ordering of the shock threat and shock safe conditions was counterbalanced across participants. The results indicated that the ordering of the state anxiety manipulation moderated masked and unmasked threat bias effects. Specifically, relative to LTA individuals, HTA individuals showed a threat interference effect, but this effect was limited to those who performed under the threat of shock in the later stages of the experiment. Irrespective of exposure mode and state anxiety status, all individuals showed interference for threat in the early stages of the experiment, relative to a threat facilitation effect in the later stages of the experiment. For the unmasked trials alone, the data also revealed a significant threat interference effect for the HTA group relative to the LTA group in the shock threat condition, and this effect was evident irrespective of shock threat order. The results are discussed with respect to the automatic nature of emotional processing in anxiety.

Conditions of Practice in Perceptual Skill Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Memmert, D.; Hagemann, N.; Althoetmar, R.; Geppert, S.; Seiler, D.

2009-01-01

This study uses three experiments with different kinds of training conditions to investigate the "easy-to-hard" principle, context interference conditions, and feedback effects for learning anticipatory skills in badminton. Experiment 1 (N = 60) showed that a training program that gradually increases the difficulty level has no advantage over the…

Interference in Joint Picture Naming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gambi, Chiara; Van de Cavey, Joris; Pickering, Martin J.

2015-01-01

In 4 experiments we showed that picture naming latencies are affected by beliefs about the task concurrently performed by another speaker. Participants took longer to name pictures when they believed that their partner concurrently named pictures than when they believed their partner was silent (Experiments 1 and 4) or concurrently categorized the…

An Improved Time-Frequency Analysis Method in Interference Detection for GNSS Receivers

PubMed Central

Sun, Kewen; Jin, Tian; Yang, Dongkai

2015-01-01

In this paper, an improved joint time-frequency (TF) analysis method based on a reassigned smoothed pseudo Wigner–Ville distribution (RSPWVD) has been proposed in interference detection for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers. In the RSPWVD, the two-dimensional low-pass filtering smoothing function is introduced to eliminate the cross-terms present in the quadratic TF distribution, and at the same time, the reassignment method is adopted to improve the TF concentration properties of the auto-terms of the signal components. This proposed interference detection method is evaluated by experiments on GPS L1 signals in the disturbing scenarios compared to the state-of-the-art interference detection approaches. The analysis results show that the proposed interference detection technique effectively overcomes the cross-terms problem and also preserves good TF localization properties, which has been proven to be effective and valid to enhance the interference detection performance of the GNSS receivers, particularly in the jamming environments. PMID:25905704

The time course of protecting a visual memory representation from perceptual interference

PubMed Central

van Moorselaar, Dirk; Gunseli, Eren; Theeuwes, Jan; N. L. Olivers, Christian

2015-01-01

Cueing a remembered item during the delay of a visual memory task leads to enhanced recall of the cued item compared to when an item is not cued. This cueing benefit has been proposed to reflect attention within visual memory being shifted from a distributed mode to a focused mode, thus protecting the cued item against perceptual interference. Here we investigated the dynamics of building up this mnemonic protection against visual interference by systematically varying the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between cue onset and a subsequent visual mask in an orientation memory task. Experiment 1 showed that a cue counteracted the deteriorating effect of pattern masks. Experiment 2 demonstrated that building up this protection is a continuous process that is completed in approximately half a second after cue onset. The similarities between shifting attention in perceptual and remembered space are discussed. PMID:25628555

Experimental statistical signature of many-body quantum interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giordani, Taira; Flamini, Fulvio; Pompili, Matteo; Viggianiello, Niko; Spagnolo, Nicolò; Crespi, Andrea; Osellame, Roberto; Wiebe, Nathan; Walschaers, Mattia; Buchleitner, Andreas; Sciarrino, Fabio

2018-03-01

Multi-particle interference is an essential ingredient for fundamental quantum mechanics phenomena and for quantum information processing to provide a computational advantage, as recently emphasized by boson sampling experiments. Hence, developing a reliable and efficient technique to witness its presence is pivotal in achieving the practical implementation of quantum technologies. Here, we experimentally identify genuine many-body quantum interference via a recent efficient protocol, which exploits statistical signatures at the output of a multimode quantum device. We successfully apply the test to validate three-photon experiments in an integrated photonic circuit, providing an extensive analysis on the resources required to perform it. Moreover, drawing upon established techniques of machine learning, we show how such tools help to identify the—a priori unknown—optimal features to witness these signatures. Our results provide evidence on the efficacy and feasibility of the method, paving the way for its adoption in large-scale implementations.

EPR experiment and 2-photon interferometry: Report of a 2-photon interference experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shih, Y. H.; Rubin, M. H.; Sergienko, A. V.

1992-01-01

After a very brief review of the historical Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) experiments, a new two-photon interference type EPR experiment is reported. A two-photon state was generated by optical parametric down conversion. Pairs of light quanta with degenerate frequency but divergent directions of propagation were sent to two independent Michelson interferometers. First and second order interference effectors were studied. Different than other reports, we observed that the second order interference visibility vanished when the optical path difference of the interferometers were much less than the coherence length of the pumping laser beam. However, we also observed that the second order interference behaved differently depending on whether the interferometers were set at equal or different optical path differences.

Quantum interference in plasmonic circuits.

PubMed

Heeres, Reinier W; Kouwenhoven, Leo P; Zwiller, Valery

2013-10-01

Surface plasmon polaritons (plasmons) are a combination of light and a collective oscillation of the free electron plasma at metal/dielectric interfaces. This interaction allows subwavelength confinement of light beyond the diffraction limit inherent to dielectric structures. As a result, the intensity of the electromagnetic field is enhanced, with the possibility to increase the strength of the optical interactions between waveguides, light sources and detectors. Plasmons maintain non-classical photon statistics and preserve entanglement upon transmission through thin, patterned metallic films or weakly confining waveguides. For quantum applications, it is essential that plasmons behave as indistinguishable quantum particles. Here we report on a quantum interference experiment in a nanoscale plasmonic circuit consisting of an on-chip plasmon beamsplitter with integrated superconducting single-photon detectors to allow efficient single plasmon detection. We demonstrate a quantum-mechanical interaction between pairs of indistinguishable surface plasmons by observing Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference, a hallmark non-classical interference effect that is the basis of linear optics-based quantum computation. Our work shows that it is feasible to shrink quantum optical experiments to the nanoscale and offers a promising route towards subwavelength quantum optical networks.

Role of Gestalt grouping in selective attention: evidence from the Stroop task.

PubMed

Lamers, Martijn J M; Roelofs, Ardi

2007-11-01

Selective attention has been intensively studied using the Stroop task. Evidence suggests that Stroop interference in a color-naming task arises partly because of visual attention sharing between color and word: Removing the target color after 150 msec reduces interference (Neumann, 1986). Moreover, removing both the color and the word simultaneously reduces interference less than does removing the color only (La Heij, van der Heijden, & Plooij, 2001). These findings could also be attributed to Gestalt grouping principles, such as common fate. We report three experiments in which the role of Gestalt grouping was further investigated. Experiment I replicated the reduced interference, using words and color patches. In Experiment 2, the color patch was not removed but only repositioned (<2 degrees) after 100 msec, which also reduced interference. In Experiment 3, the distractor was repositioned while the target remained stationary, again reducing interference. These results indicate a role for Gestalt grouping in selective attention.

Expertise and decision-making in American football

PubMed Central

Woods, Adam J.; Kranjec, Alexander; Lehet, Matt; Chatterjee, Anjan

2015-01-01

In American football, pass interference calls can be difficult to make, especially when the timing of contact between players is ambiguous. American football history contains many examples of controversial pass interference decisions, often with fans, players, and officials interpreting the same event differently. The current study sought to evaluate the influence of experience with concepts important for officiating decisions in American football on the probability (i.e., response criteria) of pass interference calls. We further investigated the extent to which such experience modulates perceptual biases that might influence the interpretation of such events. We hypothesized that observers with less experience with the American football concepts important for pass interference would make progressively more pass interference calls than more experienced observers, even when given an explicit description of the necessary criteria for a pass interference call. In a go/no-go experiment using photographs from American football games, three groups of participants with different levels of experience with American football (Football Naïve, Football Player, and Football Official) made pass interference calls for pictures depicting left-moving and right-moving events. More experience was associated with progressively and significantly fewer pass interference calls [F(2,48) = 10.4, p < 0.001], with Football Naïve participants making the most pass interference calls, and Football Officials the least. In addition, our data replicated a prior finding of spatial biases for interpreting left-moving images more harshly than identical right-moving images, but only in Football Players. These data suggest that experience with the concepts important for making a decision may influence the rate of decision-making, and may also play a role in susceptibility to spatial biases. PMID:26217294

Expertise and decision-making in American football.

PubMed

Woods, Adam J; Kranjec, Alexander; Lehet, Matt; Chatterjee, Anjan

2015-01-01

In American football, pass interference calls can be difficult to make, especially when the timing of contact between players is ambiguous. American football history contains many examples of controversial pass interference decisions, often with fans, players, and officials interpreting the same event differently. The current study sought to evaluate the influence of experience with concepts important for officiating decisions in American football on the probability (i.e., response criteria) of pass interference calls. We further investigated the extent to which such experience modulates perceptual biases that might influence the interpretation of such events. We hypothesized that observers with less experience with the American football concepts important for pass interference would make progressively more pass interference calls than more experienced observers, even when given an explicit description of the necessary criteria for a pass interference call. In a go/no-go experiment using photographs from American football games, three groups of participants with different levels of experience with American football (Football Naïve, Football Player, and Football Official) made pass interference calls for pictures depicting left-moving and right-moving events. More experience was associated with progressively and significantly fewer pass interference calls [F (2,48) = 10.4, p < 0.001], with Football Naïve participants making the most pass interference calls, and Football Officials the least. In addition, our data replicated a prior finding of spatial biases for interpreting left-moving images more harshly than identical right-moving images, but only in Football Players. These data suggest that experience with the concepts important for making a decision may influence the rate of decision-making, and may also play a role in susceptibility to spatial biases.

Auditory and motor imagery modulate learning in music performance

PubMed Central

Brown, Rachel M.; Palmer, Caroline

2013-01-01

Skilled performers such as athletes or musicians can improve their performance by imagining the actions or sensory outcomes associated with their skill. Performers vary widely in their auditory and motor imagery abilities, and these individual differences influence sensorimotor learning. It is unknown whether imagery abilities influence both memory encoding and retrieval. We examined how auditory and motor imagery abilities influence musicians' encoding (during Learning, as they practiced novel melodies), and retrieval (during Recall of those melodies). Pianists learned melodies by listening without performing (auditory learning) or performing without sound (motor learning); following Learning, pianists performed the melodies from memory with auditory feedback (Recall). During either Learning (Experiment 1) or Recall (Experiment 2), pianists experienced either auditory interference, motor interference, or no interference. Pitch accuracy (percentage of correct pitches produced) and temporal regularity (variability of quarter-note interonset intervals) were measured at Recall. Independent tests measured auditory and motor imagery skills. Pianists' pitch accuracy was higher following auditory learning than following motor learning and lower in motor interference conditions (Experiments 1 and 2). Both auditory and motor imagery skills improved pitch accuracy overall. Auditory imagery skills modulated pitch accuracy encoding (Experiment 1): Higher auditory imagery skill corresponded to higher pitch accuracy following auditory learning with auditory or motor interference, and following motor learning with motor or no interference. These findings suggest that auditory imagery abilities decrease vulnerability to interference and compensate for missing auditory feedback at encoding. Auditory imagery skills also influenced temporal regularity at retrieval (Experiment 2): Higher auditory imagery skill predicted greater temporal regularity during Recall in the presence of auditory interference. Motor imagery aided pitch accuracy overall when interference conditions were manipulated at encoding (Experiment 1) but not at retrieval (Experiment 2). Thus, skilled performers' imagery abilities had distinct influences on encoding and retrieval of musical sequences. PMID:23847495

Quasi-particle Interference of Heavy Fermions in Resonant X-ray Scattering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gyenis, Andras; da Silva Neto, Eduardo H.; Sutarto, Ronny

Resonant x-ray scattering (RXS) has recently become an increasingly important tool for the study of ordering phenomena in correlated electron systems. Yet, the interpretation of RXS experiments remains theoretically challenging because of the complexity of the RXS cross section. Central to this debate is the recent proposal that impurity-induced Friedel oscillations, akin to quasi-particle interference signals observed with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), can lead to scattering peaks in RXS experiments. The possibility that quasi-particle properties can be probed in RXS measurements opens up a new avenue to study the bulk band structure of materials with the orbital and elementmore » selectivity provided by RXS. We test these ideas by combining RXS and STM measurements of the heavy fermion compound CeMIn5 (M = Co, Rh). Temperature- and doping-dependent RXS measurements at the Ce-M4 edge show a broad scattering enhancement that correlates with the appearance of heavy f-electron bands in these compounds. The scattering enhancement is consistent with the measured quasi-particle interference signal in the STM measurements, indicating that the quasi-particle interference can be probed through the momentum distribution of RXS signals. Overall, our experiments demonstrate new opportunities for studies of correlated electronic systems using the RXS technique.« less

Quasi-particle interference of heavy fermions in resonant x-ray scattering

PubMed Central

Gyenis, András; da Silva Neto, Eduardo H.; Sutarto, Ronny; Schierle, Enrico; He, Feizhou; Weschke, Eugen; Kavai, Mariam; Baumbach, Ryan E.; Thompson, Joe D.; Bauer, Eric D.; Fisk, Zachary; Damascelli, Andrea; Yazdani, Ali; Aynajian, Pegor

2016-01-01

Resonant x-ray scattering (RXS) has recently become an increasingly important tool for the study of ordering phenomena in correlated electron systems. Yet, the interpretation of RXS experiments remains theoretically challenging because of the complexity of the RXS cross section. Central to this debate is the recent proposal that impurity-induced Friedel oscillations, akin to quasi-particle interference signals observed with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), can lead to scattering peaks in RXS experiments. The possibility that quasi-particle properties can be probed in RXS measurements opens up a new avenue to study the bulk band structure of materials with the orbital and element selectivity provided by RXS. We test these ideas by combining RXS and STM measurements of the heavy fermion compound CeMIn5 (M = Co, Rh). Temperature- and doping-dependent RXS measurements at the Ce-M4 edge show a broad scattering enhancement that correlates with the appearance of heavy f-electron bands in these compounds. The scattering enhancement is consistent with the measured quasi-particle interference signal in the STM measurements, indicating that the quasi-particle interference can be probed through the momentum distribution of RXS signals. Overall, our experiments demonstrate new opportunities for studies of correlated electronic systems using the RXS technique. PMID:27757422

Quasi-particle Interference of Heavy Fermions in Resonant X-ray Scattering

DOE PAGES

Gyenis, Andras; da Silva Neto, Eduardo H.; Sutarto, Ronny; ...

2016-10-14

Resonant x-ray scattering (RXS) has recently become an increasingly important tool for the study of ordering phenomena in correlated electron systems. Yet, the interpretation of RXS experiments remains theoretically challenging because of the complexity of the RXS cross section. Central to this debate is the recent proposal that impurity-induced Friedel oscillations, akin to quasi-particle interference signals observed with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), can lead to scattering peaks in RXS experiments. The possibility that quasi-particle properties can be probed in RXS measurements opens up a new avenue to study the bulk band structure of materials with the orbital and elementmore » selectivity provided by RXS. We test these ideas by combining RXS and STM measurements of the heavy fermion compound CeMIn5 (M = Co, Rh). Temperature- and doping-dependent RXS measurements at the Ce-M4 edge show a broad scattering enhancement that correlates with the appearance of heavy f-electron bands in these compounds. The scattering enhancement is consistent with the measured quasi-particle interference signal in the STM measurements, indicating that the quasi-particle interference can be probed through the momentum distribution of RXS signals. Overall, our experiments demonstrate new opportunities for studies of correlated electronic systems using the RXS technique.« less

Quasi-particle interference of heavy fermions in resonant x-ray scattering.

PubMed

Gyenis, András; da Silva Neto, Eduardo H; Sutarto, Ronny; Schierle, Enrico; He, Feizhou; Weschke, Eugen; Kavai, Mariam; Baumbach, Ryan E; Thompson, Joe D; Bauer, Eric D; Fisk, Zachary; Damascelli, Andrea; Yazdani, Ali; Aynajian, Pegor

2016-10-01

Resonant x-ray scattering (RXS) has recently become an increasingly important tool for the study of ordering phenomena in correlated electron systems. Yet, the interpretation of RXS experiments remains theoretically challenging because of the complexity of the RXS cross section. Central to this debate is the recent proposal that impurity-induced Friedel oscillations, akin to quasi-particle interference signals observed with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), can lead to scattering peaks in RXS experiments. The possibility that quasi-particle properties can be probed in RXS measurements opens up a new avenue to study the bulk band structure of materials with the orbital and element selectivity provided by RXS. We test these ideas by combining RXS and STM measurements of the heavy fermion compound Ce M In 5 ( M = Co, Rh). Temperature- and doping-dependent RXS measurements at the Ce- M 4 edge show a broad scattering enhancement that correlates with the appearance of heavy f -electron bands in these compounds. The scattering enhancement is consistent with the measured quasi-particle interference signal in the STM measurements, indicating that the quasi-particle interference can be probed through the momentum distribution of RXS signals. Overall, our experiments demonstrate new opportunities for studies of correlated electronic systems using the RXS technique.

An experimental study of wall adaptation and interference assessment using Cauchy integral formula

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murthy, A. V.

1991-01-01

This paper summarizes the results of an experimental study of combined wall adaptation and residual interference assessment using the Cauchy integral formula. The experiments were conducted on a supercritical airfoil model in the Langley 0.3-m Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel solid flexible wall test section. The ratio of model chord to test section height was about 0.7. The method worked satisfactorily in reducing the blockage interference and demonstrated the primary requirement for correcting for the blockage effects at high model incidences to correctly determine high lift characteristics. The studies show that the method has potential for reducing the residual interference to considerably low levels. However, corrections to blockage and upwash velocities gradients may still be required for the final adapted wall shapes.

Getting more from visual working memory: Retro-cues enhance retrieval and protect from visual interference.

PubMed

Souza, Alessandra S; Rerko, Laura; Oberauer, Klaus

2016-06-01

Visual working memory (VWM) has a limited capacity. This limitation can be mitigated by the use of focused attention: if attention is drawn to the relevant working memory content before test, performance improves (the so-called retro-cue benefit). This study tests 2 explanations of the retro-cue benefit: (a) Focused attention protects memory representations from interference by visual input at test, and (b) focusing attention enhances retrieval. Across 6 experiments using color recognition and color reproduction tasks, we varied the amount of color interference at test, and the delay between a retrieval cue (i.e., the retro-cue) and the memory test. Retro-cue benefits were larger when the memory test introduced interfering visual stimuli, showing that the retro-cue effect is in part because of protection from visual interference. However, when visual interference was held constant, retro-cue benefits were still obtained whenever the retro-cue enabled retrieval of an object from VWM but delayed response selection. Our results show that accessible information in VWM might be lost in the processes of testing memory because of visual interference and incomplete retrieval. This is not an inevitable state of affairs, though: Focused attention can be used to get the most out of VWM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Sometimes area counts more than number.

PubMed

Hurewitz, Felicia; Gelman, Rochel; Schnitzer, Brian

2006-12-19

Using an interference paradigm, we show across three experiments that adults' order judgments of numbers, sizes, or combined area of dots in pairs of arrays occur spontaneously and automatically, but at different speeds and levels of accuracy. Experiment 1 used circles whose sizes varied between but not within arrays. Variation in circle size interfered with judgments of which array had more circles. Experiment 2 used displays in which circle size varied within and between arrays. Between-array differences in the amount of "circle stuff" (area occupied by circles) interfered with judgments of number. Experiment 3 examined whether variation in number also interferes with judgments of area. Interference between discrete and continuous stimulus dimensions occurred in both directions, although it was stronger from the continuous to the discrete than vice versa. These results bear on interpretations of studies with infants and preschoolers wherein subjects respond on the basis of continuous quantity rather than discrete quantity. In light of our results with adults, these findings do not license the conclusion that young children cannot represent discrete quantity. Absent data on attentional hierarchies and speed of processing, it is premature to conclude that infant and child quantity processes are fundamentally different from that of adults.

Gravity and decoherence: the double slit experiment revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samuel, Joseph

2018-02-01

The double slit experiment is iconic and widely used in classrooms to demonstrate the fundamental mystery of quantum physics. The puzzling feature is that the probability of an electron arriving at the detector when both slits are open is not the sum of the probabilities when the slits are open separately. The superposition principle of quantum mechanics tells us to add amplitudes rather than probabilities and this results in interference. This experiment defies our classical intuition that the probabilities of exclusive events add. In understanding the emergence of the classical world from the quantum one, there have been suggestions by Feynman, Diosi and Penrose that gravity is responsible for suppressing interference. This idea has been pursued in many different forms ever since, predominantly within Newtonian approaches to gravity. In this paper, we propose and theoretically analyse two ‘gedanken’ or thought experiments which lend strong support to the idea that gravity is responsible for decoherence. The first makes the point that thermal radiation can suppress interference. The second shows that in an accelerating frame, Unruh radiation does the same. Invoking the Einstein equivalence principle to relate acceleration to gravity, we support the view that gravity is responsible for decoherence.

Interference of resonance fluorescence from two four-level atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, T.; Tan, S. M.; Collett, M. J.; Walls, D. F.

1997-02-01

In a recent experiment by Eichmann et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 2359 (1993)], polarization-sensitive measurements of the fluorescence from two four-level ions driven by a linearly polarized laser were made. Depending on the polarization chosen, different degrees of interference were observed. We carry out a theoretical and numerical study of this system, showing that the results can largely be understood by treating the atoms as independent radiators which are synchronized by the phase of the incident laser field. The interference and its loss may be described in terms of the difference between coherent and incoherent driving of the various atomic transitions in the steady state. In the numerical simulations, which are carried out using the Monte Carlo wave-function method, we remove the assumption that the atoms radiate independently and consider the photodetection process in detail. This allows us to see the total interference pattern build up from individual photodetections and also to see the effects of superfluorescence, which become important when the atomic separation is comparable to an optical wavelength. The results of the calculations are compared with the experiment. We also carry out simulations in the non-steady-state regime and discuss the relationship between the visibility of the interference pattern and which-path considerations.

Discriminability effect on Garner interference: evidence from recognition of facial identity and expression

PubMed Central

Wang, Yamin; Fu, Xiaolan; Johnston, Robert A.; Yan, Zheng

2013-01-01

Using Garner’s speeded classification task existing studies demonstrated an asymmetric interference in the recognition of facial identity and facial expression. It seems that expression is hard to interfere with identity recognition. However, discriminability of identity and expression, a potential confounding variable, had not been carefully examined in existing studies. In current work, we manipulated discriminability of identity and expression by matching facial shape (long or round) in identity and matching mouth (opened or closed) in facial expression. Garner interference was found either from identity to expression (Experiment 1) or from expression to identity (Experiment 2). Interference was also found in both directions (Experiment 3) or in neither direction (Experiment 4). The results support that Garner interference tends to occur under condition of low discriminability of relevant dimension regardless of facial property. Our findings indicate that Garner interference is not necessarily related to interdependent processing in recognition of facial identity and expression. The findings also suggest that discriminability as a mediating factor should be carefully controlled in future research. PMID:24391609

Species invasion shifts the importance of predator dependence.

PubMed

Griffen, Blaine D; Delaney, David G

2007-12-01

The strength of interference between foraging individuals can influence per capita consumption rates, with important consequences for predator and prey populations and system stability. Here we demonstrate how the replacement of a previously established invader, the predatory crab Carcinus maenas, by the recently invading predatory crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus shifts predation from a species that experiences strong predator interference (strong predator dependence) to one that experiences weak predator interference (weak predator dependence). We demonstrate using field experiments that differences in the strength of predator dependence persist for these species both when they forage on a single focal prey species only (the mussel Mytilus edulis) and when they forage more broadly across the entire prey community. This shift in predator dependence with species replacement may be altering the biomass across trophic levels, consistent with theoretical predictions, as we show that H. sanguineus populations are much larger than C. maenas populations throughout their invaded ranges. Our study highlights that predator dependence may differ among predator species and demonstrates that different predatory impacts of two conspicuous invasive predators may be explained at least in part by different strengths of predator dependence.

Flexible and inflexible response components: a Stroop study with typewritten output.

PubMed

Damian, Markus F; Freeman, Norman H

2008-05-01

Two experiments were directed at investigating the relationship between response selection and execution in typewriting, and specifically the extent to which concurrent processing takes place. In a Stroop paradigm adapted from [Logan, G. D., & Zbrodoff, N. J. (1998). Stroop-type interference: Congruity effects in colour naming with typewritten responses. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 24, 978-992], participants typed the names of colour patches with incongruent, congruent, or neutral distractors presented at various stimulus-onset asynchronies. Experiment 1 showed Stroop interference and facilitation for initial keystroke latencies and errors, contrasting with response durations (a measure of response execution) being unaffected by Stroop manipulation. Experiment 2 showed that all three measures were responsive to time pressure; again, Stroop effects were confined to latencies and errors only. The observation that response duration is both flexible under time pressure and protected from response competition, may imply either that response execution is structurally segregated from earlier processing stages, or that encapsulation develops during the acquisition of typing skills.

The effect of induced sadness and moderate depression on attention networks.

PubMed

Bellaera, Lauren; von Mühlenen, Adrian

2017-09-01

This study investigates how sadness and minor/moderate depression influences the three functions of attention: alerting, orienting, and executive control using the Attention Network Test. The aim of the study is to investigate whether minor-to-moderate depression is more similar to sadness or clinical depression with regard to attentional processing. It was predicted that both induced sadness and minor-to-moderate depression will influence executive control by narrowing spatial attention and in turn this will lead to less interference from the flanker items (i.e. less effects of congruency) due to a focused attentional state. No differences were predicted for alerting or orienting functions. The results from the two experiments, the first inducing sadness (Experiment 1) and the second measuring subclinical depression (Experiment 2), show that, as expected, participants who are sad or minor to moderately depressed showed less flanker interference compared to participants who were neither sad nor depressed. This study provides strong evidence, that irrespective of its aetiology, sadness and minor/moderate depression have similar effects on spatial attention.

Mutual interference between statistical summary perception and statistical learning.

PubMed

Zhao, Jiaying; Ngo, Nhi; McKendrick, Ryan; Turk-Browne, Nicholas B

2011-09-01

The visual system is an efficient statistician, extracting statistical summaries over sets of objects (statistical summary perception) and statistical regularities among individual objects (statistical learning). Although these two kinds of statistical processing have been studied extensively in isolation, their relationship is not yet understood. We first examined how statistical summary perception influences statistical learning by manipulating the task that participants performed over sets of objects containing statistical regularities (Experiment 1). Participants who performed a summary task showed no statistical learning of the regularities, whereas those who performed control tasks showed robust learning. We then examined how statistical learning influences statistical summary perception by manipulating whether the sets being summarized contained regularities (Experiment 2) and whether such regularities had already been learned (Experiment 3). The accuracy of summary judgments improved when regularities were removed and when learning had occurred in advance. In sum, calculating summary statistics impeded statistical learning, and extracting statistical regularities impeded statistical summary perception. This mutual interference suggests that statistical summary perception and statistical learning are fundamentally related.

Easy Demonstration of the Poisson Spot

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gluck, Paul

2010-01-01

Many physics teachers have a set of slides of single, double and multiple slits to show their students the phenomena of interference and diffraction. Thomas Young's historic experiments with double slits were indeed a milestone in proving the wave nature of light. But another experiment, namely the Poisson spot, was also important historically and…

Memory Reactivation Enables Long-Term Prevention of Interference.

PubMed

Herszage, Jasmine; Censor, Nitzan

2017-05-22

The ability of the human brain to successively learn or perform two competing tasks constitutes a major challenge in daily function. Indeed, exposing the brain to two different competing memories within a short temporal offset can induce interference, resulting in deteriorated performance in at least one of the learned memories [1-4]. Although previous studies have investigated online interference and its effects on performance [5-13], whether the human brain can enable long-term prevention of future interference is unknown. To address this question, we utilized the memory reactivation-reconsolidation framework [2, 12] stemming from studies at the synaptic level [14-17], according to which reactivation of a memory enables its update. In a set of experiments, using the motor sequence learning task [18] we report that a unique pairing of reactivating the original memory (right hand) in synchrony with novel memory trials (left hand) prevented future interference between the two memories. Strikingly, these effects were long-term and observed a month following reactivation. Further experiments showed that preventing future interference was not due to practice per se, but rather specifically depended on a limited time window induced by reactivation of the original memory. These results suggest a mechanism according to which memory reactivation enables long-term prevention of interference, possibly by creating an updated memory trace integrating original and novel memories during the reconsolidation time window. The opportunity to induce a long-term preventive effect on memories may enable the utilization of strategies optimizing normal human learning, as well as recovery following neurological insults. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring the Effect of Sleep and Reduced Interference on Different Forms of Declarative Memory

PubMed Central

Schönauer, Monika; Pawlizki, Annedore; Köck, Corinna; Gais, Steffen

2014-01-01

Study Objectives: Many studies have found that sleep benefits declarative memory consolidation. However, fundamental questions on the specifics of this effect remain topics of discussion. It is not clear which forms of memory are affected by sleep and whether this beneficial effect is partly mediated by passive protection against interference. Moreover, a putative correlation between the structure of sleep and its memory-enhancing effects is still being discussed. Design: In three experiments, we tested whether sleep differentially affects various forms of declarative memory. We varied verbal content (verbal/nonverbal), item type (single/associate), and recall mode (recall/recognition, cued/free recall) to examine the effect of sleep on specific memory subtypes. We compared within-subject differences in memory consolidation between intervals including sleep, active wakefulness, or quiet meditation, which reduced external as well as internal interference and rehearsal. Participants: Forty healthy adults aged 18–30 y, and 17 healthy adults aged 24–55 y with extensive meditation experience participated in the experiments. Results: All types of memory were enhanced by sleep if the sample size provided sufficient statistical power. Smaller sample sizes showed an effect of sleep if a combined measure of different declarative memory scales was used. In a condition with reduced external and internal interference, performance was equal to one with high interference. Here, memory consolidation was significantly lower than in a sleep condition. We found no correlation between sleep structure and memory consolidation. Conclusions: Sleep does not preferentially consolidate a specific kind of declarative memory, but consistently promotes overall declarative memory formation. This effect is not mediated by reduced interference. Citation: Schönauer M, Pawlizki A, Köck C, Gais S. Exploring the effect of sleep and reduced interference on different forms of declarative memory. SLEEP 2014;37(12):1995-2007. PMID:25325490

Decision Making in Concurrent Multitasking: Do People Adapt to Task Interference?

PubMed Central

Nijboer, Menno; Taatgen, Niels A.; Brands, Annelies; Borst, Jelmer P.; van Rijn, Hedderik

2013-01-01

While multitasking has received a great deal of attention from researchers, we still know little about how well people adapt their behavior to multitasking demands. In three experiments, participants were presented with a multicolumn subtraction task, which required working memory in half of the trials. This primary task had to be combined with a secondary task requiring either working memory or visual attention, resulting in different types of interference. Before each trial, participants were asked to choose which secondary task they wanted to perform concurrently with the primary task. We predicted that if people seek to maximize performance or minimize effort required to perform the dual task, they choose task combinations that minimize interference. While performance data showed that the predicted optimal task combinations indeed resulted in minimal interference between tasks, the preferential choice data showed that a third of participants did not show any adaptation, and for the remainder it took a considerable number of trials before the optimal task combinations were chosen consistently. On the basis of these results we argue that, while in principle people are able to adapt their behavior according to multitasking demands, selection of the most efficient combination of strategies is not an automatic process. PMID:24244527

Two-photon geometrical phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strekalov, D. V.; Shih, Y. H.

1997-10-01

An advanced wave model is applied to a two-photon interference experiment to show that the observed interference effect is due to the geometrical phase of a two-photon state produced in spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The polarization state of the signal-idler pair is changed adiabatically so that the ``loop'' on the Poincaré sphere is opened in the signal channel and closed in the idler channel. Therefore, we observed an essentially nonlocal geometrical phase, shared by the entangled photon pair, or a biphoton.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Biedermann, G. W.; McGuinness, H. J.; Rakholia, A. V.

Here, we demonstrate matter-wave interference in a warm vapor of rubidium atoms. Established approaches to light-pulse atom interferometry rely on laser cooling to concentrate a large ensemble of atoms into a velocity class resonant with the atom optical light pulse. In our experiment, we show that clear interference signals may be obtained without laser cooling. This effect relies on the Doppler selectivity of the atom interferometer resonance. Lastly, this interferometer may be configured to measure accelerations, and we demonstrate that multiple interferometers may be operated simultaneously by addressing multiple velocity classes.

Utility of an appropriate reporter assay: Heliotrine interferes with GAL4/upstream activation sequence-driven reporter gene systems.

PubMed

Luckert, Claudia; Hessel, Stefanie; Lampen, Alfonso; Braeuning, Albert

2015-10-15

Reporter gene assays are widely used for the assessment of transcription factor activation following xenobiotic exposure of cells. A critical issue with such assays is the possibility of interference of test compounds with the test system, for example, by direct inhibition of the reporter enzyme. Here we show that the pyrrolizidine alkaloid heliotrine interferes with reporter signals derived from GAL4-based nuclear receptor transactivation assays by a mechanism independent of luciferase enzyme inhibition. These data highlight the necessity to conduct proper control experiments in order to avoid perturbation of reporter assays by test chemicals. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

High-visibility two-photon interference at a telecom wavelength using picosecond-regime separated sources

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aboussouan, Pierre; Alibart, Olivier; Ostrowsky, Daniel B.

We report on a two-photon interference experiment in a quantum relay configuration using two picosecond regime periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide based sources emitting paired photons at 1550 nm. The results show that the picosecond regime associated with a guided-wave scheme should have important repercussions for quantum relay implementations in real conditions, essential for improving both the working distance and the efficiency of quantum cryptography and networking systems. In contrast to already reported regimes, namely, femtosecond and CW, it allows achieving a 99% net visibility two-photon interference while maintaining a high effective photon pair rate using only standard telecommore » components and detectors.« less

Reduced Distractibility in a Remote Culture

PubMed Central

de Fockert, Jan W.; Caparos, Serge; Linnell, Karina J.; Davidoff, Jules

2011-01-01

Background In visual processing, there are marked cultural differences in the tendency to adopt either a global or local processing style. A remote culture (the Himba) has recently been reported to have a greater local bias in visual processing than Westerners. Here we give the first evidence that a greater, and remarkable, attentional selectivity provides the basis for this local bias. Methodology/Principal Findings In Experiment 1, Eriksen-type flanker interference was measured in the Himba and in Western controls. In both groups, responses to the direction of a task-relevant target arrow were affected by the compatibility of task-irrelevant distractor arrows. However, the Himba showed a marked reduction in overall flanker interference compared to Westerners. The smaller interference effect in the Himba occurred despite their overall slower performance than Westerners, and was evident even at a low level of perceptual load of the displays. In Experiment 2, the attentional selectivity of the Himba was further demonstrated by showing that their attention was not even captured by a moving singleton distractor. Conclusions/Significance We argue that the reduced distractibility in the Himba is clearly consistent with their tendency to prioritize the analysis of local details in visual processing. PMID:22046275

Interference and memory capacity limitations.

PubMed

Endress, Ansgar D; Szabó, Szilárd

2017-10-01

Working memory (WM) is thought to have a fixed and limited capacity. However, the origins of these capacity limitations are debated, and generally attributed to active, attentional processes. Here, we show that the existence of interference among items in memory mathematically guarantees fixed and limited capacity limits under very general conditions, irrespective of any processing assumptions. Assuming that interference (a) increases with the number of interfering items and (b) brings memory performance to chance levels for large numbers of interfering items, capacity limits are a simple function of the relative influence of memorization and interference. In contrast, we show that time-based memory limitations do not lead to fixed memory capacity limitations that are independent of the timing properties of an experiment. We show that interference can mimic both slot-like and continuous resource-like memory limitations, suggesting that these types of memory performance might not be as different as commonly believed. We speculate that slot-like WM limitations might arise from crowding-like phenomena in memory when participants have to retrieve items. Further, based on earlier research on parallel attention and enumeration, we suggest that crowding-like phenomena might be a common reason for the 3 major cognitive capacity limitations. As suggested by Miller (1956) and Cowan (2001), these capacity limitations might arise because of a common reason, even though they likely rely on distinct processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Interpretation of scanning tunneling quasiparticle interference and impurity states in cuprates

DOE PAGES

Kreisel, Andreas; Choubey, Peayush; Berlijn, Tom; ...

2015-05-27

We apply a recently developed method combining first principles based Wannier functions with solutions to the Bogoliubov–de Gennes equations to the problem of interpreting STM data in cuprate superconductors. We show that the observed images of Zn on the surface of Bi 2Sr 2CaCu 2O 8 can only be understood by accounting for the tails of the Cu Wannier functions, which include significant weight on apical O sites in neighboring unit cells. This calculation thus puts earlier crude “filter” theories on a microscopic foundation and solves a long-standing puzzle. We then study quasiparticle interference phenomena induced by out-of-plane weak potentialmore » scatterers, and show how patterns long observed in cuprates can be understood in terms of the interference of Wannier functions above the surface. Furthermore, our results show excellent agreement with experiment and enable a better understanding of novel phenomena in the cuprates via STM imaging.« less

Interference Phenomenon with Mobile Displays

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trantham, Kenneth

2015-01-01

A simple experiment is presented in which the spacing and geometric pattern of pixels in mobile displays is measured. The technique is based on optical constructive interference. While the experiment is another opportunity to demonstrate wave interference from a grating-like structure, this can also be used to demonstrate concepts of solid state…

Searching for Interference Effects in Learning New Face-Name Associations

PubMed Central

James, Lori E.; Tauber, Sarah K.; McMahan, Ethan A.; Oberle, Shalyn; Martinez, Ashley P.; Fogler, Kethera A.

2012-01-01

In 3 experiments, we attempted to increase interference using experimental manipulations in a face-name learning paradigm. All experiments included young and older adult participants because aging is associated with increases in both susceptibility to interference and difficulty in learning face-name associations. None of the experiments produced interference for either age group: The inclusion of confusable (i.e., ambiguous) names and occupations, having to learn an additional piece of information in association with each face, and requiring participants to guess when uncertain all failed to negatively impact name learning. Interference does not appear to be the critical mechanism underlying the difficulty of learning proper names, and it cannot account for older adults’ disproportionate decline in name-learning ability. PMID:22292565

Direct observation of Young’s double-slit interferences in vibrationally resolved photoionization of diatomic molecules

PubMed Central

Canton, Sophie E.; Plésiat, Etienne; Bozek, John D.; Rude, Bruce S.; Decleva, Piero; Martín, Fernando

2011-01-01

Vibrationally resolved valence-shell photoionization spectra of H2, N2 and CO have been measured in the photon energy range 20–300 eV using third-generation synchrotron radiation. Young’s double-slit interferences lead to oscillations in the corresponding vibrational ratios, showing that the molecules behave as two-center electron-wave emitters and that the associated interferences leave their trace in the angle-integrated photoionization cross section. In contrast to previous work, the oscillations are directly observable in the experiment, thereby removing any possible ambiguity related to the introduction of external parameters or fitting functions. A straightforward extension of an original idea proposed by Cohen and Fano [Cohen HD, Fano U (1966) Phys Rev 150:30] confirms this interpretation and shows that it is also valid for diatomic heteronuclear molecules. Results of accurate theoretical calculations are in excellent agreement with the experimental findings.

Molecular reorientation in assembled CO structures and contrast inversion in STM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niemi, Eeva; Nieminen, Jouko

2004-10-01

Recent scanning tunneling microscopy experiments [S. Zöphel, J. Repp, G. Meyer, K.-H. Rieder, Chem. Phys. Lett. 310 (1999) 145; A.J. Heinrich, C.P. Lutz, J.A. Gupta, D.M. Eigler, Science 298 (2002) 1381] for CO on Cu(1 1 1) and Cu(2 1 1) surfaces show CO monomers as dark depressions, whereas dimers and trimers appear as bright patterns. The dark image of a monomer has been shown to result from a destructive interference between two tunneling paths [J. Nieminen, E. Niemi, K.-H. Rieder, Surf. Sci. 552 (2004) L47]. In this Letter, we show how switching between tunneling channels within the through molecule path can be induced by reorientation of a molecule. Hence, a destructive interference between through vacuum and through molecule paths can be reversed into constructive interference by manipulating the adsorbate geometry.

Are precues effective in proactively controlling taboo interference during speech production?

PubMed

White, Katherine K; Abrams, Lise; Hsi, Lisa R; Watkins, Emily C

2018-02-07

This research investigated whether precues engage proactive control to reduce emotional interference during speech production. A picture-word interference task required participants to name target pictures accompanied by taboo, negative, or neutral distractors. Proactive control was manipulated by presenting precues that signalled the type of distractor that would appear on the next trial. Experiment 1 included one block of trials with precues and one without, whereas Experiment 2 mixed precued and uncued trials. Consistent with previous research, picture naming was slowed in both experiments when distractors were taboo or negative compared to neutral, with the greatest slowing effect when distractors were taboo. Evidence that precues engaged proactive control to reduce interference from taboo (but not negative) distractors was found in Experiment 1. In contrast, mixing precued trials in Experiment 2 resulted in no taboo cueing benefit. These results suggest that item-level proactive control can be engaged under certain conditions to reduce taboo interference during speech production, findings that help to refine a role for cognitive control of distraction during speech production.

TPH detection in groundwater: Identification and elimination of positive interferences

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zemo, D.A.; Synowiec, K.A.

1996-01-01

Groundwater assessment programs frequently require total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) analyses (Methods 8015M and 418.1). TPH analyses are often unreliable indicators of water quality because these methods are not constituent-specific and are vulnerable to significant sources of positive interferences. These positive interferences include: (a) non-dissolved petroleum constituents; (b) soluble, non-petroleum hydrocarbons (e.g., biodegradation products); and (c) turbidity, commonly introduced into water samples during sample collection. In this paper, we show that the portion of a TPH concentration not directly the result of water-soluble petroleum constituents can be attributed solely to these positive interferences. To demonstrate the impact of these interferences, wemore » conducted a field experiment at a site affected by degraded crude oil. Although TPH was consistently detected in groundwater samples, BTEX was not detected. PNAs were not detected, except for very low concentrations of fluorene (<5 ug/1). Filtering and silica gel cleanup steps were added to sampling and analyses to remove particulates and biogenic by-products. Results showed that filtering lowered the Method 8015M concentrations and reduced the Method 418.1 concentrations to non-detectable. Silica gel cleanup reduced the Method 8015M concentrations to non-detectable. We conclude from this study that the TPH results from groundwater samples are artifacts of positive interferences caused by both particulates and biogenic materials and do not represent dissolved-phase petroleum constituents.« less

TPH detection in groundwater: Identification and elimination of positive interferences

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zemo, D.A.; Synowiec, K.A.

1996-12-31

Groundwater assessment programs frequently require total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) analyses (Methods 8015M and 418.1). TPH analyses are often unreliable indicators of water quality because these methods are not constituent-specific and are vulnerable to significant sources of positive interferences. These positive interferences include: (a) non-dissolved petroleum constituents; (b) soluble, non-petroleum hydrocarbons (e.g., biodegradation products); and (c) turbidity, commonly introduced into water samples during sample collection. In this paper, we show that the portion of a TPH concentration not directly the result of water-soluble petroleum constituents can be attributed solely to these positive interferences. To demonstrate the impact of these interferences, wemore » conducted a field experiment at a site affected by degraded crude oil. Although TPH was consistently detected in groundwater samples, BTEX was not detected. PNAs were not detected, except for very low concentrations of fluorene (<5 ug/1). Filtering and silica gel cleanup steps were added to sampling and analyses to remove particulates and biogenic by-products. Results showed that filtering lowered the Method 8015M concentrations and reduced the Method 418.1 concentrations to non-detectable. Silica gel cleanup reduced the Method 8015M concentrations to non-detectable. We conclude from this study that the TPH results from groundwater samples are artifacts of positive interferences caused by both particulates and biogenic materials and do not represent dissolved-phase petroleum constituents.« less

Interference and deception detection technology of satellite navigation based on deep learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Weiyi; Deng, Pingke; Qu, Yi; Zhang, Xiaoguang; Li, Yaping

2017-10-01

Satellite navigation system plays an important role in people's daily life and war. The strategic position of satellite navigation system is prominent, so it is very important to ensure that the satellite navigation system is not disturbed or destroyed. It is a critical means to detect the jamming signal to avoid the accident in a navigation system. At present, the detection technology of jamming signal in satellite navigation system is not intelligent , mainly relying on artificial decision and experience. For this issue, the paper proposes a method based on deep learning to monitor the interference source in a satellite navigation. By training the interference signal data, and extracting the features of the interference signal, the detection sys tem model is constructed. The simulation results show that, the detection accuracy of our detection system can reach nearly 70%. The method in our paper provides a new idea for the research on intelligent detection of interference and deception signal in a satellite navigation system.

FIVQ algorithm for interference hyper-spectral image compression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, Jia; Ma, Caiwen; Zhao, Junsuo

2014-07-01

Based on the improved vector quantization (IVQ) algorithm [1] which was proposed in 2012, this paper proposes a further improved vector quantization (FIVQ) algorithm for LASIS (Large Aperture Static Imaging Spectrometer) interference hyper-spectral image compression. To get better image quality, IVQ algorithm takes both the mean values and the VQ indices as the encoding rules. Although IVQ algorithm can improve both the bit rate and the image quality, it still can be further improved in order to get much lower bit rate for the LASIS interference pattern with the special optical characteristics based on the pushing and sweeping in LASIS imaging principle. In the proposed algorithm FIVQ, the neighborhood of the encoding blocks of the interference pattern image, which are using the mean value rules, will be checked whether they have the same mean value as the current processing block. Experiments show the proposed algorithm FIVQ can get lower bit rate compared to that of the IVQ algorithm for the LASIS interference hyper-spectral sequences.

The Cost of Learning: Interference Effects in Memory Development

PubMed Central

Darby, Kevin P.; Sloutsky, Vladimir M.

2015-01-01

Learning often affects future learning and memory for previously learned information by exerting either facilitation or interference effects. Several theoretical accounts of interference effects have been proposed, each making different developmental predictions. This research examines interference effects across development, with the goal of better understanding mechanisms of interference and of memory development. Preschool-aged children and adults participated in a three-phased associative learning paradigm containing stimuli that were either unique or repeated across phases. Both age groups demonstrated interference effects, but only for repeated items. Whereas proactive interference effects were comparable across age groups, retroactive interference reached catastrophic-like levels in children. Additionally, retroactive interference increased in adults when contextual differences between phases were minimized (Experiment 2), and decreased in adults who were more successful at encoding repeated pairs of stimuli during a training phase (Experiment 3). These results are discussed with respect to theories of memory and memory development. PMID:25688907

A dissociation between attention and selection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Remington, R. W.; Folk, C. L.

2001-01-01

It is widely assumed that the allocatian of spatial attention results in the "selection" of attended objects or regions of space. That is, once a stimulus is attended, all its feature dimensions are processed irrespective of their relevance to behavioral goals. This assumption is based in part on experiments showing significant interference for attended stimuli when the response to an irrelevant dimension conflicts with the response to the relevant dimension (e.g., the Stroop effect). Here we show that such interference is not due to attending per se. In two spatial cuing experiments, we found that it was possible to restrict processing of attended stimuli to task-relevant dimensions. This new evidence supports two novel conclusions: (a) Selection involves more than the focusing of attention per se: and (b) task expectations play a key role in detertnining the depth of processing of the elementary feature dimensions of attended stimuli.

Interactions Between Modality of Working Memory Load and Perceptual Load in Distractor Processing.

PubMed

Koshino, Hideya; Olid, Pilar

2015-01-01

The present study investigated interactions between working memory load and perceptual load. The load theory (Lavie, Hirst, de Fockert, & Viding, 2004 ) claims that perceptual load decreases distractor interference, whereas working memory load increases interference. However, recent studies showed that effects of working memory might depend on the relationship between modalities of working memory and task stimuli. Here, we examined whether the relationship between working memory load and perceptual load would remain the same across modalities. The results of Experiment 1 showed that verbal working memory load did not affect a compatibility effect for low perceptual load, whereas it increased the compatibility effect for high perceptual load. In Experiment 2, the compatibility effect remained the same regardless of visual working memory load. These results suggest that the effects of working memory load and perceptual load depend on the relationship between the modalities of working memory and stimuli.

Extracting binaural information from simultaneous targets and distractors: Effects of amplitude modulation and asynchronous envelopes

PubMed Central

Stellmack, Mark A.; Byrne, Andrew J.; Viemeister, Neal F.

2010-01-01

When different components of a stimulus carry different binaural information, processing of binaural information in a target component is often affected. The present experiments examine whether such interference is affected by amplitude modulation and the relative phase of modulation of the target and distractors. In all experiments, listeners attempted to discriminate interaural time differences of a target stimulus in the presence of distractor stimuli with ITD=0. In Experiment 1, modulation of the distractors but not the target reduced interference between components. In Experiment 2, synthesized musical notes exhibited little binaural interference when there were slight asynchronies between different streams of notes (31 or 62 ms). The remaining experiments suggested that the reduction in binaural interference in the previous experiments was due neither to the complex spectra of the synthesized notes nor to greater detectability of the target in the presence of modulated distractors. These data suggest that this interference is reduced when components are modulated in ways that result in the target appearing briefly in isolation, not because of segregation cues. These data also suggest that modulation and asynchronies between modulators that might be encountered in real-world listening situations are adequate to reduce binaural interference to inconsequential levels. PMID:20815459

The dual effect of context on memory of related and unrelated themes: discrimination at encoding and cue at retrieval.

PubMed

Levy-Gigi, Einat; Vakil, Eli

2012-01-01

The influence of contextual factors on encoding and retrieval in recognition memory was investigated using a retroactive interference paradigm. Participants were randomly assigned to four context conditions constructed by manipulating types of presentation modality (pictures vs words) for study, interference, and test stages, respectively (ABA, ABB, AAA, & AAB). In Experiment 1 we presented unrelated items in the study and interference stages, while in Experiment 2 each stage contained items from the same semantic category. The results demonstrate a dual role for context in memory processes-at encoding as well as at retrieval. In Experiment 1 there is a hierarchical order between the four context conditions, depending on both target-test and target-interference contextual similarity. Adding a categorical context in Experiment 2 helped to specify each list and therefore better distinguish between target and interferer information, and in some conditions compensated for their perceptual similarity.

The locus of taboo context effects in picture naming.

PubMed

Hansen, Samuel J; McMahon, Katie L; Burt, Jennifer S; de Zubicaray, Greig I

2016-07-20

Speakers respond more slowly when naming pictures presented with taboo (i.e., offensive/embarrassing) than with neutral distractor words in the picture-word interference paradigm. Over four experiments, we attempted to localize the processing stage at which this effect occurs during word production and determine whether it reflects the socially offensive/embarrassing nature of the stimuli. Experiment 1 demonstrated taboo interference at early stimulus onset asynchronies of -150 ms and 0 ms although not at 150 ms. In Experiment 2, taboo distractors sharing initial phonemes with target picture names eliminated the interference effect. Using additive factors logic, Experiment 3 demonstrated that taboo interference and phonological facilitation effects do not interact, indicating that the two effects originate at different processing levels within the speech production system. In Experiment 4, interference was observed for masked taboo distractors, including those sharing initial phonemes with the target picture names, indicating that the effect cannot be attributed to a processing level involving responses in an output buffer. In two of the four experiments, the magnitude of the interference effect correlated significantly with arousal ratings of the taboo words. However, no significant correlations were found for either offensiveness or valence ratings. These findings are consistent with a locus for the taboo interference effect prior to the processing stage responsible for word form encoding. We propose a pre-lexical account in which taboo distractors capture attention at the expense of target picture processing due to their high arousal levels.

Closed head injury and perceptual processing in dual-task situations.

PubMed

Hein, G; Schubert, T; von Cramon, D Y

2005-01-01

Using a classical psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm we investigated whether increased interference between dual-task input processes is one possible source of dual-task deficits in patients with closed-head injury (CHI). Patients and age-matched controls were asked to give speeded motor reactions to an auditory and a visual stimulus. The perceptual difficulty of the visual stimulus was manipulated by varying its intensity. The results of Experiment 1 showed that CHI patients suffer from increased interference between dual-task input processes, which is related to the salience of the visual stimulus. A second experiment indicated that this input interference may be specific to brain damage following CHI. It is not evident in other groups of neurological patients like Parkinson's disease patients. We conclude that the non-interfering processing of input stages in dual-tasks requires cognitive control. A decline in the control of input processes should be considered as one source of dual-task deficits in CHI patients.

Two Further Experiments on Electron Interference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matteucci, G.; Pozzi, G.

1978-01-01

Presents the results of two experiments concerning the phenomena of the interference of probabilities and of the so called Aharonov-Bohm effect. An electron biprism and a standard electron microscope have been used for the experiments. (Author/GA)

Localizing semantic interference from distractor sounds in picture naming: A dual-task study.

PubMed

Mädebach, Andreas; Kieseler, Marie-Luise; Jescheniak, Jörg D

2017-10-13

In this study we explored the locus of semantic interference in a novel picture-sound interference task in which participants name pictures while ignoring environmental distractor sounds. In a previous study using this task (Mädebach, Wöhner, Kieseler, & Jescheniak, in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 43, 1629-1646, 2017), we showed that semantically related distractor sounds (e.g., BARKING dog ) interfere with a picture-naming response (e.g., "horse") more strongly than unrelated distractor sounds do (e.g., DRUMMING drum ). In the experiment reported here, we employed the psychological refractory period (PRP) approach to explore the locus of this effect. We combined a geometric form classification task (square vs. circle; Task 1) with the picture-sound interference task (Task 2). The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the tasks was systematically varied (0 vs. 500 ms). There were three central findings. First, the semantic interference effect from distractor sounds was replicated. Second, picture naming (in Task 2) was slower with the short than with the long task SOA. Third, both effects were additive-that is, the semantic interference effects were of similar magnitude at both task SOAs. This suggests that the interference arises during response selection or later stages, not during early perceptual processing. This finding corroborates the theory that semantic interference from distractor sounds reflects a competitive selection mechanism in word production.

Experiments in a three-dimensional adaptive-wall wind tunnel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schairer, E. T.

1983-01-01

Three dimensional adaptive-wall experiments were performed in the Ames Research Center (ARC) 25- by 13-cm indraft wind tunnel. A semispan wing model was mounted to one sidewall of a test section with solid sidewalls, and slotted top and bottom walls. The test section had separate top and bottom plenums which were divided into streamwise and cross-stream compartments. An iterative procedure was demonstrated for measuring wall interference and for adjusting the plenum compartment pressures to eliminate such interference. The experiments were conducted at a freestream Mach number of 0.60 and model angles of attack between 0 and 6 deg. Although in all the experiments wall interference was reduced after the plenum pressures were adjusted, interference could not be completely eliminated.

Young's double-slit interference with two-color biphotons.

PubMed

Zhang, De-Jian; Wu, Shuang; Li, Hong-Guo; Wang, Hai-Bo; Xiong, Jun; Wang, Kaige

2017-12-12

In classical optics, Young's double-slit experiment with colored coherent light gives rise to individual interference fringes for each light frequency, referring to single-photon interference. However, two-photon double-slit interference has been widely studied only for wavelength-degenerate biphoton, known as subwavelength quantum lithography. In this work, we report double-slit interference experiments with two-color biphoton. Different from the degenerate case, the experimental results depend on the measurement methods. From a two-axis coincidence measurement pattern we can extract complete interference information about two colors. The conceptual model provides an intuitional picture of the in-phase and out-of-phase photon correlations and a complete quantum understanding about the which-path information of two colored photons.

Allelopathic inhibition ofCynodon dactylon (L.) pers. and other plant species byEuphorbia prostrata L.

PubMed

Alsaadawi, I S; Sakeri, F A; Al-Dulaimy, S M

1990-09-01

Field observations indicated thatEuphorbia prostrata strongly interferes withCynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. Analysis of some physical and chemical soil factors indicated that competition was not the dominant factor of that interference. Soil collected from underE. prostrata stands was very inhibitory to seed germination and seeding growth of some of the test species including C.Dactylon. This suggests the presence of inhibitory compounds in soil ofE. prostrata stands. Subsequent experiments showed that aqueous extract, decaying residues, and root exudates ofE. prostrata were inhibitory to most of the test species including C.Dactylon. Thus, it appears that allelopathy is the major component of the interference, with competition probably accentuating its effect. It also was found that allelopathy is an important component of the interference byE. prostrata againstAmaranthus retroflexus, Medicago sativa, andGossypium hirsutum.

Below-baseline suppression of competitors during interference resolution by younger but not older adults.

PubMed

Healey, M Karl; Ngo, K W Joan; Hasher, Lynn

2014-01-01

Resolving interference from competing memories is a critical factor in efficient memory retrieval, and several accounts of cognitive aging suggest that difficulty resolving interference may underlie memory deficits such as those seen in the elderly. Although many researchers have suggested that the ability to suppress competitors is a key factor in resolving interference, the evidence supporting this claim has been the subject of debate. Here, we present a new paradigm and results demonstrating that for younger adults, a single retrieval attempt is sufficient to suppress competitors to below-baseline levels of accessibility even though the competitors are never explicitly presented. The extent to which individual younger adults suppressed competitors predicted their performance on a memory span task. In a second experiment, older adults showed no evidence of suppression, which supports the theory that older adults' memory deficits are related to impaired suppression.

Neighing, barking, and drumming horses-object related sounds help and hinder picture naming.

PubMed

Mädebach, Andreas; Wöhner, Stefan; Kieseler, Marie-Luise; Jescheniak, Jörg D

2017-09-01

The study presented here investigated how environmental sounds influence picture naming. In a series of four experiments participants named pictures (e.g., the picture of a horse) while hearing task-irrelevant sounds (e.g., neighing, barking, or drumming). Experiments 1 and 2 established two findings, facilitation from congruent sounds (e.g., picture: horse, sound: neighing) and interference from semantically related sounds (e.g., sound: barking), both relative to unrelated sounds (e.g., sound: drumming). Experiment 3 replicated the effects in a situation in which participants were not familiarized with the sounds prior to the experiment. Experiment 4 replicated the congruency facilitation effect, but showed that semantic interference was not obtained with distractor sounds which were not associated with target pictures (i.e., were not part of the response set). The general pattern of facilitation from congruent sound distractors and interference from semantically related sound distractors resembles the pattern commonly observed with distractor words. This parallelism suggests that the underlying processes are not specific to either distractor words or distractor sounds but instead reflect general aspects of semantic-lexical selection in language production. The results indicate that language production theories need to include a competitive selection mechanism at either the lexical processing stage, or the prelexical processing stage, or both. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Large capacity temporary visual memory.

PubMed

Endress, Ansgar D; Potter, Mary C

2014-04-01

Visual working memory (WM) capacity is thought to be limited to 3 or 4 items. However, many cognitive activities seem to require larger temporary memory stores. Here, we provide evidence for a temporary memory store with much larger capacity than past WM capacity estimates. Further, based on previous WM research, we show that a single factor--proactive interference--is sufficient to bring capacity estimates down to the range of previous WM capacity estimates. Participants saw a rapid serial visual presentation of 5-21 pictures of familiar objects or words presented at rates of 4/s or 8/s, respectively, and thus too fast for strategies such as rehearsal. Recognition memory was tested with a single probe item. When new items were used on all trials, no fixed memory capacities were observed, with estimates of up to 9.1 retained pictures for 21-item lists, and up to 30.0 retained pictures for 100-item lists, and no clear upper bound to how many items could be retained. Further, memory items were not stored in a temporally stable form of memory but decayed almost completely after a few minutes. In contrast, when, as in most WM experiments, a small set of items was reused across all trials, thus creating proactive interference among items, capacity remained in the range reported in previous WM experiments. These results show that humans have a large-capacity temporary memory store in the absence of proactive interference, and raise the question of whether temporary memory in everyday cognitive processing is severely limited, as in WM experiments, or has the much larger capacity found in the present experiments.

Motivational salience and genetic variability of dopamine D2 receptor expression interact in the modulation of interference processing

PubMed Central

Richter, Anni; Richter, Sylvia; Barman, Adriana; Soch, Joram; Klein, Marieke; Assmann, Anne; Libeau, Catherine; Behnisch, Gusalija; Wüstenberg, Torsten; Seidenbecher, Constanze I.; Schott, Björn H.

2013-01-01

Dopamine has been implicated in the fine-tuning of complex cognitive and motor function and also in the anticipation of future rewards. This dual function of dopamine suggests that dopamine might be involved in the generation of active motivated behavior. The DRD2 TaqIA polymorphism of the dopamine D2 receptor gene (rs1800497) has previously been suggested to affect striatal function with carriers of the less common A1 allele exhibiting reduced striatal D2 receptor density and increased risk for addiction. Here we aimed to investigate the influences of DRD2 TaqIA genotype on the modulation of interference processing by reward and punishment. Forty-six young, healthy volunteers participated in a behavioral experiment, and 32 underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants performed a flanker task with a motivation manipulation (monetary reward, monetary loss, neither, or both). Reaction times (RTs) were shorter in motivated flanker trials, irrespective of congruency. In the fMRI experiment motivation was associated with reduced prefrontal activation during incongruent vs. congruent flanker trials, possibly reflecting increased processing efficiency. DRD2 TaqIA genotype did not affect overall RTs, but interacted with motivation on the congruency-related RT differences, with A1 carriers showing smaller interference effects to reward alone and A2 homozygotes exhibiting a specific interference reduction during combined reward (REW) and punishment trials (PUN). In fMRI, anterior cingulate activity showed a similar pattern of genotype-related modulation. Additionally, A1 carriers showed increased anterior insula activation relative to A2 homozygotes. Our results point to a role for genetic variations of the dopaminergic system in individual differences of cognition-motivation interaction. PMID:23760450

Global limits and interference patterns in dark matter direct detection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Catena, Riccardo; Gondolo, Paolo

2015-08-13

We compare the general effective theory of one-body dark matter nucleon interactions to current direct detection experiments in a global multidimensional statistical analysis. We derive exclusion limits on the 28 isoscalar and isovector coupling constants of the theory, and show that current data place interesting constraints on dark matter-nucleon interaction operators usually neglected in this context. We characterize the interference patterns that can arise in dark matter direct detection from pairs of dark matter-nucleon interaction operators, or from isoscalar and isovector components of the same operator. We find that commonly neglected destructive interference effects weaken standard direct detection exclusion limitsmore » by up to one order of magnitude in the coupling constants.« less

Global limits and interference patterns in dark matter direct detection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Catena, Riccardo; Gondolo, Paolo, E-mail: riccardo.catena@theorie.physik.uni-goettingen.de, E-mail: paolo.gondolo@utah.edu

2015-08-01

We compare the general effective theory of one-body dark matter nucleon interactions to current direct detection experiments in a global multidimensional statistical analysis. We derive exclusion limits on the 28 isoscalar and isovector coupling constants of the theory, and show that current data place interesting constraints on dark matter-nucleon interaction operators usually neglected in this context. We characterize the interference patterns that can arise in dark matter direct detection from pairs of dark matter-nucleon interaction operators, or from isoscalar and isovector components of the same operator. We find that commonly neglected destructive interference effects weaken standard direct detection exclusion limitsmore » by up to one order of magnitude in the coupling constants.« less

Experimental evolution of recombination and crossover interference in Drosophila caused by directional selection for stress-related traits.

PubMed

Aggarwal, Dau Dayal; Rashkovetsky, Eugenia; Michalak, Pawel; Cohen, Irit; Ronin, Yefim; Zhou, Dan; Haddad, Gabriel G; Korol, Abraham B

2015-11-27

Population genetics predicts that tight linkage between new and/or pre-existing beneficial and deleterious alleles should decrease the efficiency of natural selection in finite populations. By decoupling beneficial and deleterious alleles and facilitating the combination of beneficial alleles, recombination accelerates the formation of high-fitness genotypes. This may impose indirect selection for increased recombination. Despite the progress in theoretical understanding, interplay between recombination and selection remains a controversial issue in evolutionary biology. Even less satisfactory is the situation with crossover interference, which is a deviation of double-crossover frequency in a pair of adjacent intervals from the product of recombination rates in the two intervals expected on the assumption of crossover independence. Here, we report substantial changes in recombination and interference in three long-term directional selection experiments with Drosophila melanogaster: for desiccation (~50 generations), hypoxia, and hyperoxia tolerance (>200 generations each). For all three experiments, we found a high interval-specific increase of recombination frequencies in selection lines (up to 40-50% per interval) compared to the control lines. We also discovered a profound effect of selection on interference as expressed by an increased frequency of double crossovers in selection lines. Our results show that changes in interference are not necessarily coupled with increased recombination. Our results support the theoretical predictions that adaptation to a new environment can promote evolution toward higher recombination. Moreover, this is the first evidence of selection for different recombination-unrelated traits potentially leading, not only to evolution toward increased crossover rates, but also to changes in crossover interference, one of the fundamental features of recombination.

Coulomb Interactions in Hanbury Brown-Twiss Experiments with Electrons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shen, Kan

2009-01-01

This dissertation examines the effect of Coulomb interactions in Hanbury Brown-Twiss (HBT) type experiments with electrons. HBT experiments deal with intensity interference, which is related to the second-order correlation function of the particle field. This is an extension of the usual amplitude interference experiment, such as Young's…

Perceptual Biases in Relation to Paranormal and Conspiracy Beliefs

PubMed Central

van Elk, Michiel

2015-01-01

Previous studies have shown that one’s prior beliefs have a strong effect on perceptual decision-making and attentional processing. The present study extends these findings by investigating how individual differences in paranormal and conspiracy beliefs are related to perceptual and attentional biases. Two field studies were conducted in which visitors of a paranormal conducted a perceptual decision making task (i.e. the face / house categorization task; Experiment 1) or a visual attention task (i.e. the global / local processing task; Experiment 2). In the first experiment it was found that skeptics compared to believers more often incorrectly categorized ambiguous face stimuli as representing a house, indicating that disbelief rather than belief in the paranormal is driving the bias observed for the categorization of ambiguous stimuli. In the second experiment, it was found that skeptics showed a classical ‘global-to-local’ interference effect, whereas believers in conspiracy theories were characterized by a stronger ‘local-to-global interference effect’. The present study shows that individual differences in paranormal and conspiracy beliefs are associated with perceptual and attentional biases, thereby extending the growing body of work in this field indicating effects of cultural learning on basic perceptual processes. PMID:26114604

Perceptual Biases in Relation to Paranormal and Conspiracy Beliefs.

PubMed

van Elk, Michiel

2015-01-01

Previous studies have shown that one's prior beliefs have a strong effect on perceptual decision-making and attentional processing. The present study extends these findings by investigating how individual differences in paranormal and conspiracy beliefs are related to perceptual and attentional biases. Two field studies were conducted in which visitors of a paranormal conducted a perceptual decision making task (i.e. the face/house categorization task; Experiment 1) or a visual attention task (i.e. the global/local processing task; Experiment 2). In the first experiment it was found that skeptics compared to believers more often incorrectly categorized ambiguous face stimuli as representing a house, indicating that disbelief rather than belief in the paranormal is driving the bias observed for the categorization of ambiguous stimuli. In the second experiment, it was found that skeptics showed a classical 'global-to-local' interference effect, whereas believers in conspiracy theories were characterized by a stronger 'local-to-global interference effect'. The present study shows that individual differences in paranormal and conspiracy beliefs are associated with perceptual and attentional biases, thereby extending the growing body of work in this field indicating effects of cultural learning on basic perceptual processes.

Effects of Practice on Task Architecture: Combined Evidence from Interference Experiments and Random-Walk Models of Decision Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamienkowski, Juan E.; Pashler, Harold; Dehaene, Stanislas; Sigman, Mariano

2011-01-01

Does extensive practice reduce or eliminate central interference in dual-task processing? We explored the reorganization of task architecture with practice by combining interference analysis (delays in dual-task experiment) and random-walk models of decision making (measuring the decision and non-decision contributions to RT). The main delay…

Domain-Generality of Timing-Based Serial Order Processes in Short-Term Memory: New Insights from Musical and Verbal Domains

PubMed Central

Kowialiewski, Benjamin; Majerus, Steve

2016-01-01

Several models in the verbal domain of short-term memory (STM) consider a dissociation between item and order processing. This view is supported by data demonstrating that different types of time-based interference have a greater effect on memory for the order of to-be-remembered items than on memory for the items themselves. The present study investigated the domain-generality of the item versus serial order dissociation by comparing the differential effects of time-based interfering tasks, such as rhythmic interference and articulatory suppression, on item and order processing in verbal and musical STM domains. In Experiment 1, participants had to maintain sequences of verbal or musical information in STM, followed by a probe sequence, this under different conditions of interference (no-interference, rhythmic interference, articulatory suppression). They were required to decide whether all items of the probe list matched those of the memory list (item condition) or whether the order of the items in the probe sequence matched the order in the memory list (order condition). In Experiment 2, participants performed a serial order probe recognition task for verbal and musical sequences ensuring sequential maintenance processes, under no-interference or rhythmic interference conditions. For Experiment 1, serial order recognition was not significantly more impacted by interfering tasks than was item recognition, this for both verbal and musical domains. For Experiment 2, we observed selective interference of the rhythmic interference condition on both musical and verbal order STM tasks. Overall, the results suggest a similar and selective sensitivity to time-based interference for serial order STM in verbal and musical domains, but only when the STM tasks ensure sequential maintenance processes. PMID:27992565

Domain-Generality of Timing-Based Serial Order Processes in Short-Term Memory: New Insights from Musical and Verbal Domains.

PubMed

Gorin, Simon; Kowialiewski, Benjamin; Majerus, Steve

2016-01-01

Several models in the verbal domain of short-term memory (STM) consider a dissociation between item and order processing. This view is supported by data demonstrating that different types of time-based interference have a greater effect on memory for the order of to-be-remembered items than on memory for the items themselves. The present study investigated the domain-generality of the item versus serial order dissociation by comparing the differential effects of time-based interfering tasks, such as rhythmic interference and articulatory suppression, on item and order processing in verbal and musical STM domains. In Experiment 1, participants had to maintain sequences of verbal or musical information in STM, followed by a probe sequence, this under different conditions of interference (no-interference, rhythmic interference, articulatory suppression). They were required to decide whether all items of the probe list matched those of the memory list (item condition) or whether the order of the items in the probe sequence matched the order in the memory list (order condition). In Experiment 2, participants performed a serial order probe recognition task for verbal and musical sequences ensuring sequential maintenance processes, under no-interference or rhythmic interference conditions. For Experiment 1, serial order recognition was not significantly more impacted by interfering tasks than was item recognition, this for both verbal and musical domains. For Experiment 2, we observed selective interference of the rhythmic interference condition on both musical and verbal order STM tasks. Overall, the results suggest a similar and selective sensitivity to time-based interference for serial order STM in verbal and musical domains, but only when the STM tasks ensure sequential maintenance processes.

Semantic Interference and Facilitation: Understanding the Integration of Spatial Distance and Conceptual Similarity During Sentence Reading.

PubMed

Guerra, Ernesto; Knoeferle, Pia

2018-01-01

Existing evidence has shown a processing advantage (or facilitation) when representations derived from a non-linguistic context (spatial proximity depicted by gambling cards moving together) match the semantic content of an ensuing sentence. A match, inspired by conceptual metaphors such as 'similarity is closeness' would, for instance, involve cards moving closer together and the sentence relates similarity between abstract concepts such as war and battle. However, other studies have reported a disadvantage (or interference) for congruence between the semantic content of a sentence and representations of spatial distance derived from this sort of non-linguistic context. In the present article, we investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying the interaction between the representations of spatial distance and sentence processing. In two eye-tracking experiments, we tested the predictions of a mechanism that considers the competition, activation, and decay of visually and linguistically derived representations as key aspects in determining the qualitative pattern and time course of that interaction. Critical trials presented two playing cards, each showing a written abstract noun; the cards turned around, obscuring the nouns, and moved either farther apart or closer together. Participants then read a sentence expressing either semantic similarity or difference between these two nouns. When instructed to attend to the nouns on the cards (Experiment 1), participants' total reading times revealed interference between spatial distance (e.g., closeness) and semantic relations (similarity) as soon as the sentence explicitly conveyed similarity. But when instructed to attend to the cards (Experiment 2), cards approaching (vs. moving apart) elicited first interference (when similarity was implicit) and then facilitation (when similarity was made explicit) during sentence reading. We discuss these findings in the context of a competition mechanism of interference and facilitation effects.

The effect of spatio-temporal distance between visual stimuli on information processing in children with Specific Language Impairment.

PubMed

Dispaldro, Marco; Corradi, Nicola

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) have a deficit in processing a sequence of two visual stimuli (S1 and S2) presented at different inter-stimulus intervals and in different spatial locations. In particular, the core of this study is to investigate whether S1 identification is disrupted due to a retroactive interference of S2. To this aim, two experiments were planned in which children with SLI and children with typical development (TD), matched by age and non-verbal IQ, were compared (Experiment 1: SLI n=19; TD n=19; Experiment 2: SLI n=16; TD n=16). Results show group differences in the ability to identify a single stimulus surrounded by flankers (Baseline level). Moreover, children with SLI show a stronger negative interference of S2, both for temporal and spatial modulation. These results are discussed in the light of an attentional processing limitation in children with SLI. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Atom Interferometry in a Warm Vapor

DOE PAGES

Biedermann, G. W.; McGuinness, H. J.; Rakholia, A. V.; ...

2017-04-17

Here, we demonstrate matter-wave interference in a warm vapor of rubidium atoms. Established approaches to light-pulse atom interferometry rely on laser cooling to concentrate a large ensemble of atoms into a velocity class resonant with the atom optical light pulse. In our experiment, we show that clear interference signals may be obtained without laser cooling. This effect relies on the Doppler selectivity of the atom interferometer resonance. Lastly, this interferometer may be configured to measure accelerations, and we demonstrate that multiple interferometers may be operated simultaneously by addressing multiple velocity classes.

Measurement-induced decoherence and information in double-slit interference.

PubMed

Kincaid, Joshua; McLelland, Kyle; Zwolak, Michael

2016-07-01

The double slit experiment provides a classic example of both interference and the effect of observation in quantum physics. When particles are sent individually through a pair of slits, a wave-like interference pattern develops, but no such interference is found when one observes which "path" the particles take. We present a model of interference, dephasing, and measurement-induced decoherence in a one-dimensional version of the double-slit experiment. Using this model, we demonstrate how the loss of interference in the system is correlated with the information gain by the measuring apparatus/observer. In doing so, we give a modern account of measurement in this paradigmatic example of quantum physics that is accessible to students taking quantum mechanics at the graduate or senior undergraduate levels.

Matter-wave diffraction approaching limits predicted by Feynman path integrals for multipath interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnea, A. Ronny; Cheshnovsky, Ori; Even, Uzi

2018-02-01

Interference experiments have been paramount in our understanding of quantum mechanics and are frequently the basis of testing the superposition principle in the framework of quantum theory. In recent years, several studies have challenged the nature of wave-function interference from the perspective of Born's rule—namely, the manifestation of so-called high-order interference terms in a superposition generated by diffraction of the wave functions. Here we present an experimental test of multipath interference in the diffraction of metastable helium atoms, with large-number counting statistics, comparable to photon-based experiments. We use a variation of the original triple-slit experiment and accurate single-event counting techniques to provide a new experimental bound of 2.9 ×10-5 on the statistical deviation from the commonly approximated null third-order interference term in Born's rule for matter waves. Our value is on the order of the maximal contribution predicted for multipath trajectories by Feynman path integrals.

Laboratory plasma interactions experiments: Results and implications to future space systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leung, Philip

1986-01-01

The experimental results discussed show the significance of the effects caused by spacecraft plasma interactions, in particular the generation of Electromagnetic Interference. As the experimental results show, the magnitude of the adverse effects induced by Plasma Interactions (PI) will be more significant for spacecraft of the next century. Therefore, research is needed to control possible adverse effects. Several techniques to control the selected PI effects are discussed. Tests, in the form of flight experiments, are needed to validate these proposed ideas.

Viewing-position effects in the Stroop task: Initial fixation position modulates Stroop effects in fully colored words.

PubMed

Perret, Patrick; Ducrot, Stéphanie

2010-08-01

In two experiments that we conducted with adult (Experiment 1) and child (Experiment 2) participants, we experimentally controlled the eyes' first fixation in the word using a variable viewing-position technique in a classical all-letter-coloring Stroop procedure. We explored the impact of initial-fixation position (optimal viewing position [OVP] vs. end of the word) on the magnitude of Stroop effects (both interference and facilitation). The results showed that both interference and facilitation effects were reduced when the first fixation was located at the end of the word rather than at the OVP. These data make a new contribution to the study of the role of low-level processes in Stroop effects and add support to the growing body of research indicating that oculomotor processes can act as moderators of cognitive processes in the determination of Stroop effects.

Elastic and inelastic electrons in the double-slit experiment: A variant of Feynman's which-way set-up.

PubMed

Frabboni, Stefano; Gazzadi, Gian Carlo; Grillo, Vincenzo; Pozzi, Giulio

2015-07-01

Modern nanotechnology tools allowed us to prepare slits of 90 nm width and 450 nm spacing in a screen almost completely opaque to 200 keV electrons. Then by covering both slits with a layer of amorphous material and carrying out the experiment in a conventional transmission electron microscope equipped with an energy filter we can demonstrate that the diffraction pattern, taken by selecting the elastically scattered electrons, shows the presence of interference fringes, but with a bimodal envelope which can be accounted for by taking into account the non-constant thickness of the deposited layer. However, the intensity of the inelastically scattered electrons in the diffraction plane is very broad and at the limit of detectability. Therefore the experiment was repeated using an aluminum film and a microscope also equipped with a Schottky field emission gun. It was thus possible to observe also the image due to the inelastically scattered electron, which does not show interference phenomena both in the Fraunhofer or Fresnel regimes. If we assume that inelastic scattering through the thin layer covering the slits provides the dissipative process of interaction responsible for the localization mechanism, then these experiments can be considered a variant of the Feynman which-way thought experiment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Inorganic Salt Interference on CO2+ in Aerodyne AMS and ACSM Organic Aerosol Composition Studies.

PubMed

Pieber, Simone M; El Haddad, Imad; Slowik, Jay G; Canagaratna, Manjula R; Jayne, John T; Platt, Stephen M; Bozzetti, Carlo; Daellenbach, Kaspar R; Fröhlich, Roman; Vlachou, Athanasia; Klein, Felix; Dommen, Josef; Miljevic, Branka; Jiménez, José L; Worsnop, Douglas R; Baltensperger, Urs; Prévôt, André S H

2016-10-04

Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) and Aerodyne aerosol chemical speciation monitor (ACSM) mass spectra are widely used to quantify organic aerosol (OA) elemental composition, oxidation state, and major environmental sources. The OA CO 2 + fragment is among the most important measurements for such analyses. Here, we show that a non-OA CO 2 + signal can arise from reactions on the particle vaporizer, ion chamber, or both, induced by thermal decomposition products of inorganic salts. In our tests (eight instruments, n = 29), ammonium nitrate (NH 4 NO 3 ) causes a median CO 2 + interference signal of +3.4% relative to nitrate. This interference is highly variable between instruments and with measurement history (percentiles P 10-90 = +0.4 to +10.2%). Other semi-refractory nitrate salts showed 2-10 times enhanced interference compared to that of NH 4 NO 3 , while the ammonium sulfate ((NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ) induced interference was 3-10 times lower. Propagation of the CO 2 + interference to other ions during standard AMS and ACSM data analysis affects the calculated OA mass, mass spectra, molecular oxygen-to-carbon ratio (O/C), and f 44 . The resulting bias may be trivial for most ambient data sets but can be significant for aerosol with higher inorganic fractions (>50%), e.g., for low ambient temperatures, or laboratory experiments. The large variation between instruments makes it imperative to regularly quantify this effect on individual AMS and ACSM systems.

An Experimental Study of Interference between Receptive and Productive Processes Involving Speech

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldman-Eisler, Frieda; Cohen, Michele

1975-01-01

Reports an experiment designed to throw light on the interference between the reception and production of speech by controlling the level of interference between decoding and encoding, using hesitancy as an indicator of interference. This proved effective in spotting the levels at which interference takes place. (Author/RM)

Laser interference effect evaluation method based on character of laser-spot and image feature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Jianfeng; Luo, Xiaolin; Wu, Lingxia

2016-10-01

Evaluating the laser interference effect to CCD objectively and accurately has great research value. Starting from the change of the image's feature before and after interference, meanwhile, considering the influence of the laser-spot distribution character on the masking degree of the image feature information, a laser interference effect evaluation method based on character of laser-spot and image feature was proposed. It reflected the laser-spot distribution character using the distance between the center of the laser-spot and center of the target. It reflected the change of the global image feature using the changes of image's sparse coefficient matrix, which was obtained by the SSIM-inspired orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) sparse coding algorithm. What's more, the assessment method reflected the change of the local image feature using the changes of the image's edge sharpness, which could be obtained by the change of the image's gradient magnitude. Taken together, the laser interference effect can be evaluated accurately. In terms of the laser interference experiment results, the proposed method shows good rationality and feasibility under the disturbing condition of different laser powers, and it can also overcome the inaccuracy caused by the change of the laser-spot position, realizing the evaluation of the laser interference effect objectively and accurately.

Compensation method of cloud infrared radiation interference based on a spinning projectile's attitude measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Miaomiao; Bu, Xiongzhu; Yu, Jing; He, Zilu

2018-01-01

Based on the study of earth infrared radiation and further requirement of anticloud interference ability for a spinning projectile's infrared attitude measurement, a compensation method of cloud infrared radiation interference is proposed. First, the theoretical model of infrared radiation interference is established by analyzing the generation mechanism and interference characteristics of cloud infrared radiation. Then, the influence of cloud infrared radiation on attitude angle is calculated in the following two situations. The first situation is the projectile in cloud, and the maximum of roll angle error can reach ± 20 deg. The second situation is the projectile outside of cloud, and it results in the inability to measure the projectile's attitude angle. Finally, a multisensor weighted fusion algorithm is proposed based on trust function method to reduce the influence of cloud infrared radiation. The results of semiphysical experiments show that the error of roll angle with a weighted fusion algorithm can be kept within ± 0.5 deg in the presence of cloud infrared radiation interference. This proposed method improves the accuracy of roll angle by nearly four times in attitude measurement and also solves the problem of low accuracy of infrared radiation attitude measurement in navigation and guidance field.

Event models and the fan effect.

PubMed

Radvansky, G A; O'Rear, Andrea E; Fisher, Jerry S

2017-08-01

The current study explored the persistence of event model organizations and how this influences the experience of interference during retrieval. People in this study memorized lists of sentences about objects in locations, such as "The potted palm is in the hotel." Previous work has shown that such information can either be stored in separate event models, thereby producing retrieval interference, or integrated into common event models, thereby eliminating retrieval interference. Unlike prior studies, the current work explored the impact of forgetting up to 2 weeks later on this pattern of performance. We explored three possible outcomes across the various retention intervals. First, consistent with research showing that longer delays reduce proactive and retroactive interference, any retrieval interference effects of competing event models could be reduced over time. Second, the binding of information into events models may weaken over time, causing interference effects to emerge when they had previously been absent. Third, and finally, the organization of information into event models could remain stable over long periods of time. The results reported here are most consistent with the last outcome. While there were some minor variations across the various retention intervals, the basic pattern of event model organization remained preserved over the two-week retention period.

Mathematical Modelling of Allelopathy: IV. Assessment of Contributions of Competition and Allelopathy to Interference by Barley

PubMed Central

Liu, De Li; An, Min; Johnson, I.R.; Lovett, J.V.

2005-01-01

One of the main challenges to the research on allelopathy is technically the separation of allelopathic effect from competition, and quantitatively, the assessment of the contribution of each component to overall interference. A simple mathematical model is proposed to calculate the contribution of allelopathy and competition to interference. As an example of applying the quantitative model to interference by barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. Triumph), the approach used was an addition of allelopathic effect, by an equivalent amount, to the environment of the test plant (white mustard, Sinapis alba), rather than elimination of competition. Experiments were conducted in glasshouse to determine the magnitude of the contributions of allelopathy and competition to interference by barley. The leachates of living barley roots significantly reduced the total dry weight of white mustard. The model involved the calculation of adjusted densities to an equivalent basis for modelling the contribution of allelopathy and competition to total interference. The results showed that allelopathy contributed 40%, 37% and 43% to interference by barley at 6, 12 and 18 white mustard pot−1. The consistency in magnitude of the calculated contribution of allelopathic effect by barley across various densities of receiver plant suggested that the adjusted equivalent density is effective and that the model is able to assess the contribution of each component of interference regardless of the density of receiver plant. PMID:19330162

The complex and quaternionic quantum bit from relativity of simultaneity on an interferometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garner, Andrew J. P.; Müller, Markus P.; Dahlsten, Oscar C. O.

2017-12-01

The patterns of fringes produced by an interferometer have long been important testbeds for our best contemporary theories of physics. Historically, interference has been used to contrast quantum mechanics with classical physics, but recently experiments have been performed that test quantum theory against even more exotic alternatives. A physically motivated family of theories are those where the state space of a two-level system is given by a sphere of arbitrary dimension. This includes classical bits, and real, complex and quaternionic quantum theory. In this paper, we consider relativity of simultaneity (i.e. that observers may disagree about the order of events at different locations) as applied to a two-armed interferometer, and show that this forbids most interference phenomena more complicated than those of complex quantum theory. If interference must depend on some relational property of the setting (such as path difference), then relativity of simultaneity will limit state spaces to standard complex quantum theory, or a subspace thereof. If this relational assumption is relaxed, we find one additional theory compatible with relativity of simultaneity: quaternionic quantum theory. Our results have consequences for current laboratory interference experiments: they have to be designed carefully to avoid rendering beyond-quantum effects invisible by relativity of simultaneity.

The complex and quaternionic quantum bit from relativity of simultaneity on an interferometer.

PubMed

Garner, Andrew J P; Müller, Markus P; Dahlsten, Oscar C O

2017-12-01

The patterns of fringes produced by an interferometer have long been important testbeds for our best contemporary theories of physics. Historically, interference has been used to contrast quantum mechanics with classical physics, but recently experiments have been performed that test quantum theory against even more exotic alternatives. A physically motivated family of theories are those where the state space of a two-level system is given by a sphere of arbitrary dimension. This includes classical bits, and real, complex and quaternionic quantum theory. In this paper, we consider relativity of simultaneity (i.e. that observers may disagree about the order of events at different locations) as applied to a two-armed interferometer, and show that this forbids most interference phenomena more complicated than those of complex quantum theory. If interference must depend on some relational property of the setting (such as path difference), then relativity of simultaneity will limit state spaces to standard complex quantum theory, or a subspace thereof. If this relational assumption is relaxed, we find one additional theory compatible with relativity of simultaneity: quaternionic quantum theory. Our results have consequences for current laboratory interference experiments: they have to be designed carefully to avoid rendering beyond-quantum effects invisible by relativity of simultaneity.

Does altercentric interference rely on mentalizing?: Results from two level-1 perspective-taking tasks

PubMed Central

Gollwitzer, Anton; Santos, Laurie R.

2018-01-01

Considerable debate has focused on whether adults possess an implicit system for representing others’ mental states. Some argue that people automatically represent the perspective of others using evidence from altercentric interference—cases in which another agent’s perspective affects the speed with which one can report one’s own perspective. Others have argued that altercentric interference is not always specific to social stimuli and thus may represent a simpler process such as submentalizing. To distinguish between these positions, Study 1 developed a novel measure of altercentric interference—a “sandbox” measure—that allowed us to more sensitively assess altercentric interference across social and non-social conditions. We replicated previous findings showing that participants experience both egocentric and altercentric interference, but we found that these effects emerge equally in social and non-social conditions. To further test whether altercentric interference emerges in social perspective-taking situations, Study 2 conducted a conceptual replication of a study which used a novel “goggle” paradigm to assess whether individuals implicitly represent others’ perspectives. Although we failed to find evidence of altercentric interference in response times, participants’ accuracy reflected the possibility of interference from others’ perspectives. We argue that these findings provide support for the idea that altercentric interference in response to social stimuli (an avatar) is driven by perspective-taking mechanisms, while such interference in response to non-social stimuli (an arrow) is driven by attention-cuing mechanisms. PMID:29566019

On cuff imbalance and tripolar ENG amplifier configurations.

PubMed

Triantis, Iasonas F; Demosthenous, Andreas; Donaldson, Nick

2005-02-01

Electroneurogram (ENG) recording techniques benefit from the use of tripolar cuffs because they assist in reducing interference from sources outside the cuff. However, in practice the performance of ENG amplifier configurations, such as the quasi-tripole and the true-tripole, has been widely reported to be degraded due to the departure of the tripolar cuff from ideal behavior. This paper establishes the presence of cuff imbalance and investigates its relationship to cuff asymmetry, cuff end-effects and interference source proximity. The paper also presents a comparison of the aforementioned amplifier configurations with a new alternative, termed the adaptive-tripole, developed to automatically compensate for cuff imbalance. The output signal-to-interference ratio of the three amplifier configurations were compared in vivo for two interference signals (stimulus artifact and M-wave) superimposed on compound action potentials. The experiments showed (for the first time) that the two interference signals result in different cuff imbalance values. Nevertheless, even with two distinct cuff imbalances present, the adaptive-tripole performed better than the other two systems in 61.9% of the trials.

Escaping the recent past: Which stimulus dimensions influence proactive interference?

PubMed Central

Craig, Kimberly S.; Berman, Marc G.; Jonides, John; Lustig, Cindy

2013-01-01

Proactive interference occurs when information from the past disrupts current processing and is a major source of confusion and errors in short-term memory (Wickens, Born & Allen, 1963). The present investigation examines potential boundary conditions for interference, testing the hypothesis that potential competitors must be similar along task-relevant dimensions to influence proactive interference effects. We manipulated both the type of task being completed (Experiments 1, 2 and 3) and dimensions of similarity irrelevant to the current task (Experiments 4 and 5) to determine how the recent presentation of a probe item would affect the speed with which participants could reject that item. Experiments 1, 2 and 3 contrasted short-term memory judgments, which require temporal information, with semantic and perceptual judgments, for which temporal information is irrelevant. In Experiments 4 and 5, task-irrelevant information (perceptual similarity) was manipulated within the recent probes task. We found that interference from past items affected short-term memory (STM) task performance but did not affect performance in semantic or perceptual judgment tasks. Conversely, similarity along a nominally-irrelevant perceptual dimension did not affect the magnitude of interference in STM tasks. Results are consistent with the view that items in STM are represented by noisy codes consisting of multiple dimensions, and that interference occurs when items are similar to each other and thus compete along the dimensions relevant to target selection. PMID:23297049

Escaping the recent past: which stimulus dimensions influence proactive interference?

PubMed

Craig, Kimberly S; Berman, Marc G; Jonides, John; Lustig, Cindy

2013-07-01

Proactive interference occurs when information from the past disrupts current processing and is a major source of confusion and errors in short-term memory (STM; Wickens, Born, & Allen, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 2:440-445, 1963). The present investigation examines potential boundary conditions for interference, testing the hypothesis that potential competitors must be similar along task-relevant dimensions to influence proactive interference effects. We manipulated both the type of task being completed (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) and dimensions of similarity irrelevant to the current task (Experiments 4 and 5) to determine how the recent presentation of a probe item would affect the speed with which participants could reject that item. Experiments 1, 2, and 3 contrasted STM judgments, which require temporal information, with semantic and perceptual judgments, for which temporal information is irrelevant. In Experiments 4 and 5, task-irrelevant information (perceptual similarity) was manipulated within the recent probes task. We found that interference from past items affected STM task performance but did not affect performance in semantic or perceptual judgment tasks. Conversely, similarity along a nominally irrelevant perceptual dimension did not affect the magnitude of interference in STM tasks. Results are consistent with the view that items in STM are represented by noisy codes consisting of multiple dimensions and that interference occurs when items are similar to each other and, thus, compete along the dimensions relevant to target selection.

Measurement-induced decoherence and information in double-slit interference

PubMed Central

Kincaid, Joshua; McLelland, Kyle; Zwolak, Michael

2016-01-01

The double slit experiment provides a classic example of both interference and the effect of observation in quantum physics. When particles are sent individually through a pair of slits, a wave-like interference pattern develops, but no such interference is found when one observes which “path” the particles take. We present a model of interference, dephasing, and measurement-induced decoherence in a one-dimensional version of the double-slit experiment. Using this model, we demonstrate how the loss of interference in the system is correlated with the information gain by the measuring apparatus/observer. In doing so, we give a modern account of measurement in this paradigmatic example of quantum physics that is accessible to students taking quantum mechanics at the graduate or senior undergraduate levels. PMID:27807373

Why Do We Move Our Head to Look at an Object in Our Peripheral Region? Lateral Viewing Interferes with Attentive Search

PubMed Central

Nakashima, Ryoichi; Shioiri, Satoshi

2014-01-01

Why do we frequently fixate an object of interest presented peripherally by moving our head as well as our eyes, even when we are capable of fixating the object with an eye movement alone (lateral viewing)? Studies of eye-head coordination for gaze shifts have suggested that the degree of eye-head coupling could be determined by an unconscious weighing of the motor costs and benefits of executing a head movement. The present study investigated visual perceptual effects of head direction as an additional factor impacting on a cost-benefit organization of eye-head control. Three experiments using visual search tasks were conducted, manipulating eye direction relative to head orientation (front or lateral viewing). Results show that lateral viewing increased the time required to detect a target in a search for the letter T among letter L distractors, a serial attentive search task, but not in a search for T among letter O distractors, a parallel preattentive search task (Experiment 1). The interference could not be attributed to either a deleterious effect of lateral gaze on the accuracy of saccadic eye movements, nor to potentially problematic optical effects of binocular lateral viewing, because effect of head directions was obtained under conditions in which the task was accomplished without saccades (Experiment 2), and during monocular viewing (Experiment 3). These results suggest that a difference between the head and eye directions interferes with visual processing, and that the interference can be explained by the modulation of attention by the relative positions of the eyes and head (or head direction). PMID:24647634

Evaluation of bilirubin interference and accuracy of six creatinine assays compared with isotope dilution-liquid chromatography mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Nah, Hyunjin; Lee, Sang-Guk; Lee, Kyeong-Seob; Won, Jae-Hee; Kim, Hyun Ok; Kim, Jeong-Ho

2016-02-01

The aim of this study was to estimate bilirubin interference and accuracy of six routine methods for measuring creatinine compared with isotope dilution-liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (ID-LC/MS). A total of 40 clinical serum samples from 31 patients with serum total bilirubin concentration >68.4μmol/L were collected. Serum creatinine was measured using two enzymatic reagents and four Jaffe reagents as well as ID-LC/MS. Correlations between bilirubin concentration and percent difference in creatinine compared with ID-LC/MS were analyzed to investigate bilirubin interference. Bias estimations between the six reagents and ID-LC/MS were performed. Recovery tests using National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Standard Reference Material (SRM) 967a were also performed. Both the enzymatic methods showed no bilirubin interference. However, three of the four Jaffe methods demonstrated significant bilirubin concentration-dependent interference in samples with creatinine levels <53μmol/L, and two of them showed significant bilirubin interference in samples with creatinine levels ranging from 53.0 to 97.2μmol/L. Comparison of these methods with ID-LC/MS using patients' samples with elevated bilirubin revealed that the tested methods failed to achieve the bias goal at especially low levels of creatinine. In addition, recovery test using NIST SRM 967a showed that bias in one Jaffe method and two enzymatic methods did not achieve the bias goal at either low or high level of creatinine, indicating they had calibration bias. One enzymatic method failed to achieve all the bias goals in both comparison experiment and recovery test. It is important to understand that both bilirubin interference and calibration traceability to ID-LC/MS should be considered to improve the accuracy of creatinine measurement. Copyright © 2015 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Aging, subjective experience, and cognitive control: dramatic false remembering by older adults.

PubMed

Jacoby, Larry L; Bishara, Anthony J; Hessels, Sandra; Toth, Jeffrey P

2005-05-01

Recent research suggests that older adults are more susceptible to interference effects than are young adults; however, that research has failed to equate differences in original learning. In 4 experiments, the authors show that older adults are more susceptible to interference effects produced by a misleading prime. Even when original learning was equated, older adults were 10 times as likely to falsely remember misleading information and were much less likely to increase their accuracy by opting not to answer under conditions of free responding. The results are well described by a multinomial model that postulates multiple modes of cognitive control. According to that model, older adults are likely to be captured by misleading information, a form of goal neglect or deficit in inhibitory functions. Copyright 2005 APA, all rights reserved.

Narrow-band far-infrared interference filters with high-T c, superconducting reflectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schönberger, R.; Prückl, A.; Pechen, E. V.; Anzin, V. B.; Brunner, B.; Renk, K. F.

1994-10-01

We report on experiments showing that high-T c, superconductors are well suitable for constructing of high-quality far-infrared Fabry-Perot interference filters in the terahertz frequency range. In an interference filter we use two plane-parallel MgO plates with YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 thin films as partly transparent reflectors on adjacent surfaces. For the first-order main resonances adjusted to frequencies around 2 THz a quality factor of ≅200 and a peak-transmissivity of 0˜.5 have been reached. Study of the filters with YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 films of different thickness indicate the possibility of reaching still higher selectivity. An analysis of the filter characteristics delivered the dynamical conductivity of the high-T c films.

Individuals with Low Working Memory Spans Show Greater Interference from Irrelevant Information Because of Poor Source Monitoring, Not Greater Activation

PubMed Central

Lilienthal, Lindsey; Rose, Nathan S.; Tamez, Elaine; Myerson, Joel; Hale, Sandra

2014-01-01

Although individuals with high and low working memory (WM) span appear to differ in the extent to which irrelevant information interferes with their performance on WM tasks, the locus of this interference is not clear. The present study investigated whether, when performing a WM task, high- and low-span individuals differ in the activation of formerly relevant, but now irrelevant items, and/or in their ability to correctly identify such irrelevant items. This was done in two experiments, both of which used modified complex WM span tasks. In Experiment 1, the span task included an embedded lexical decision task designed to obtain an implicit measure of the activation of both currently and formerly relevant items. In Experiment 2, the span task included an embedded recognition judgment task designed to obtain an explicit measure of both item and source recognition ability. The results of these experiments indicate that low-span individuals do not hold irrelevant information in a more active state in memory than high-span individuals, but rather that low-span individuals are significantly poorer at identifying such information as irrelevant at the time of retrieval. These results suggest that differences in the ability to monitor the source of information, rather than differences in the activation of irrelevant information, are the more important determinant of performance on WM tasks. PMID:25921723

Large capacity temporary visual memory

PubMed Central

Endress, Ansgar D.; Potter, Mary C.

2014-01-01

Visual working memory (WM) capacity is thought to be limited to three or four items. However, many cognitive activities seem to require larger temporary memory stores. Here, we provide evidence for a temporary memory store with much larger capacity than past WM capacity estimates. Further, based on previous WM research, we show that a single factor — proactive interference — is sufficient to bring capacity estimates down to the range of previous WM capacity estimates. Participants saw a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of 5 to 21 pictures of familiar objects or words presented at rates of 4/s or 8/s, respectively, and thus too fast for strategies such as rehearsal. Recognition memory was tested with a single probe item. When new items were used on all trials, no fixed memory capacities were observed, with estimates of up to 9.1 retained pictures for 21-item lists, and up to 30.0 retained pictures for 100-item lists, and no clear upper bound to how many items could be retained. Further, memory items were not stored in a temporally stable form of memory, but decayed almost completely after a few minutes. In contrast, when, as in most WM experiments, a small set of items was reused across all trials, thus creating proactive interference among items, capacity remained in the range reported in previous WM experiments. These results show that humans have a large-capacity temporary memory store in the absence of proactive interference, and raise the question of whether temporary memory in everyday cognitive processing is severely limited as in WM experiments, or has the much larger capacity found in the present experiments. PMID:23937181

Tonic Inhibitory Control of Dentate Gyrus Granule Cells by α5-Containing GABAA Receptors Reduces Memory Interference.

PubMed

Engin, Elif; Zarnowska, Ewa D; Benke, Dietmar; Tsvetkov, Evgeny; Sigal, Maksim; Keist, Ruth; Bolshakov, Vadim Y; Pearce, Robert A; Rudolph, Uwe

2015-10-07

Interference between similar or overlapping memories formed at different times poses an important challenge on the hippocampal declarative memory system. Difficulties in managing interference are at the core of disabling cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric disorders. Computational models have suggested that, in the normal brain, the sparse activation of the dentate gyrus granule cells maintained by tonic inhibitory control enables pattern separation, an orthogonalization process that allows distinct representations of memories despite interference. To test this mechanistic hypothesis, we generated mice with significantly reduced expression of the α5-containing GABAA (α5-GABAARs) receptors selectively in the granule cells of the dentate gyrus (α5DGKO mice). α5DGKO mice had reduced tonic inhibition of the granule cells without any change in fast phasic inhibition and showed increased activation in the dentate gyrus when presented with novel stimuli. α5DGKO mice showed impairments in cognitive tasks characterized by high interference, without any deficiencies in low-interference tasks, suggesting specific impairment of pattern separation. Reduction of fast phasic inhibition in the dentate gyrus through granule cell-selective knock-out of α2-GABAARs or the knock-out of the α5-GABAARs in the downstream CA3 area did not detract from pattern separation abilities, which confirms the anatomical and molecular specificity of the findings. In addition to lending empirical support to computational hypotheses, our findings have implications for the treatment of interference-related cognitive symptoms in neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly considering the availability of pharmacological agents selectively targeting α5-GABAARs. Interference between similar memories poses a significant limitation on the hippocampal declarative memory system, and impaired interference management is a cognitive symptom in many disorders. Thus, understanding mechanisms of successful interference management or processes that can lead to interference-related memory problems has high theoretical and translational importance. This study provides empirical evidence that tonic inhibition in the dentate gyrus (DG), which maintains sparseness of neuronal activation in the DG, is essential for management of interference. The specificity of findings to tonic, but not faster, more transient types of neuronal inhibition and to the DG, but not the neighboring brain areas, is presented through control experiments. Thus, the findings link interference management to a specific mechanism, proposed previously by computational models. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/3513699-15$15.00/0.

Determination of wind tunnel constraint effects by a unified pressure signature method. Part 2: Application to jet-in-crossflow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hackett, J. E.; Sampath, S.; Phillips, C. G.

1981-01-01

The development of an improved jet-in-crossflow model for estimating wind tunnel blockage and angle-of-attack interference is described. Experiments showed that the simpler existing models fall seriously short of representing far-field flows properly. A new, vortex-source-doublet (VSD) model was therefore developed which employs curved trajectories and experimentally-based singularity strengths. The new model is consistent with existing and new experimental data and it predicts tunnel wall (i.e. far-field) pressures properly. It is implemented as a preprocessor to the wall-pressure-signature-based tunnel interference predictor. The supporting experiments and theoretical studies revealed some new results. Comparative flow field measurements with 1-inch "free-air" and 3-inch impinging jets showed that vortex penetration into the flow, in diameters, was almost unaltered until 'hard' impingement occurred. In modeling impinging cases, a 'plume redirection' term was introduced which is apparently absent in previous models. The effects of this term were found to be very significant.

Two languages, two minds: flexible cognitive processing driven by language of operation.

PubMed

Athanasopoulos, Panos; Bylund, Emanuel; Montero-Melis, Guillermo; Damjanovic, Ljubica; Schartner, Alina; Kibbe, Alexandra; Riches, Nick; Thierry, Guillaume

2015-04-01

People make sense of objects and events around them by classifying them into identifiable categories. The extent to which language affects this process has been the focus of a long-standing debate: Do different languages cause their speakers to behave differently? Here, we show that fluent German-English bilinguals categorize motion events according to the grammatical constraints of the language in which they operate. First, as predicted from cross-linguistic differences in motion encoding, bilingual participants functioning in a German testing context prefer to match events on the basis of motion completion to a greater extent than do bilingual participants in an English context. Second, when bilingual participants experience verbal interference in English, their categorization behavior is congruent with that predicted for German; when bilingual participants experience verbal interference in German, their categorization becomes congruent with that predicted for English. These findings show that language effects on cognition are context-bound and transient, revealing unprecedented levels of malleability in human cognition. © The Author(s) 2015.

Autobiographical Thinking Interferes with Episodic Memory Consolidation

PubMed Central

Craig, Michael; Della Sala, Sergio; Dewar, Michaela

2014-01-01

New episodic memories are retained better if learning is followed by a few minutes of wakeful rest than by the encoding of novel external information. Novel encoding is said to interfere with the consolidation of recently acquired episodic memories. Here we report four experiments in which we examined whether autobiographical thinking, i.e. an ‘internal’ memory activity, also interferes with episodic memory consolidation. Participants were presented with three wordlists consisting of common nouns; one list was followed by wakeful rest, one by novel picture encoding and one by autobiographical retrieval/future imagination, cued by concrete sounds. Both novel encoding and autobiographical retrieval/future imagination lowered wordlist retention significantly. Follow-up experiments demonstrated that the interference by our cued autobiographical retrieval/future imagination delay condition could not be accounted for by the sound cues alone or by executive retrieval processes. Moreover, our results demonstrated evidence of a temporal gradient of interference across experiments. Thus, we propose that rich autobiographical retrieval/future imagination hampers the consolidation of recently acquired episodic memories and that such interference is particularly likely in the presence of external concrete cues. PMID:24736665

Voluntary eyeblinks disrupt iconic memory.

PubMed

Thomas, Laura E; Irwin, David E

2006-04-01

In the present research, we investigated whether eyeblinks interfere with cognitive processing. In Experiment 1, the participants performed a partial-report iconic memory task in which a letter array was presented for 106 msec, followed 50, 150, or 750 msec later by a tone that cued recall of onerow of the array. At a cue delay of 50 msec between array offset and cue onset, letter report accuracy was lower when the participants blinked following array presentation than under no-blink conditions; the participants made more mislocation errors under blink conditions. This result suggests that blinking interferes with the binding of object identity and object position in iconic memory. Experiment 2 demonstrated that interference due to blinks was not due merely to changes in light intensity. Experiments 3 and 4 demonstrated that other motor responses did not interfere with iconic memory. We propose a new phenomenon, cognitive blink suppression, in which blinking inhibits cognitive processing. This phenomenon may be due to neural interference. Blinks reduce activation in area V1, which may interfere with the representation of information in iconic memory.

Autobiographical thinking interferes with episodic memory consolidation.

PubMed

Craig, Michael; Della Sala, Sergio; Dewar, Michaela

2014-01-01

New episodic memories are retained better if learning is followed by a few minutes of wakeful rest than by the encoding of novel external information. Novel encoding is said to interfere with the consolidation of recently acquired episodic memories. Here we report four experiments in which we examined whether autobiographical thinking, i.e. an 'internal' memory activity, also interferes with episodic memory consolidation. Participants were presented with three wordlists consisting of common nouns; one list was followed by wakeful rest, one by novel picture encoding and one by autobiographical retrieval/future imagination, cued by concrete sounds. Both novel encoding and autobiographical retrieval/future imagination lowered wordlist retention significantly. Follow-up experiments demonstrated that the interference by our cued autobiographical retrieval/future imagination delay condition could not be accounted for by the sound cues alone or by executive retrieval processes. Moreover, our results demonstrated evidence of a temporal gradient of interference across experiments. Thus, we propose that rich autobiographical retrieval/future imagination hampers the consolidation of recently acquired episodic memories and that such interference is particularly likely in the presence of external concrete cues.

Electromagnetic interference of bone-anchored hearing aids by cellular phones.

PubMed

Kompis, M; Negri, S; Häusler, R

2000-10-01

We report a case of electromagnetic interference between a bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) and a cellular phone. A 54-year-old women was successfully treated for severe mixed conductive and sensorineural hearing loss with a BAHA. Five years after implantation, the patient experienced a sudden feeling of dizziness, accompanied by a loud buzzing sound and by a sensation of head pressure while examining a digital mobile phone. During a subsequent experiment, the buzzing sound could be reproduced and was identified as electromagnetic interference between the BAHA and digital cellular phones. Seventeen adult BAHA users from our clinic participated in a subsequent survey. Of the 13 patients with some experience of digital cellular phones, 11 reported hearing annoying noises elicited by these devices. However, no other sensation, such as dizziness, was described. Owing to the increasing number of users of both hearing aids and cellular phones, the incidence of electromagnetic interference must be expected to increase as well. Although to date there is no evidence that such interference may be harmful or dangerous to users of conventional or bone-anchored hearing aids, unexpected interference can be a frightening experience.

Better safe than sorry: simplistic fear-relevant stimuli capture attention.

PubMed

Forbes, Sarah J; Purkis, Helena M; Lipp, Ottmar V

2011-08-01

It has been consistently demonstrated that fear-relevant images capture attention preferentially over fear-irrelevant images. Current theory suggests that this faster processing could be mediated by an evolved module that allows certain stimulus features to attract attention automatically, prior to the detailed processing of the image. The present research investigated whether simplified images of fear-relevant stimuli would produce interference with target detection in a visual search task. In Experiment 1, silhouettes and degraded silhouettes of fear-relevant animals produced more interference than did the fear-irrelevant images. Experiment 2, compared the effects of fear-relevant and fear-irrelevant distracters and confirmed that the interference produced by fear-relevant distracters was not an effect of novelty. Experiment 3 suggested that fear-relevant stimuli produced interference regardless of whether participants were instructed as to the content of the images. The three experiments indicate that even very simplistic images of fear-relevant animals can divert attention.

Obtaining tight bounds on higher-order interferences with a 5-path interferometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kauten, Thomas; Keil, Robert; Kaufmann, Thomas; Pressl, Benedikt; Brukner, Časlav; Weihs, Gregor

2017-03-01

Within the established theoretical framework of quantum mechanics, interference always occurs between pairs of paths through an interferometer. Higher order interferences with multiple constituents are excluded by Born’s rule and can only exist in generalized probabilistic theories. Thus, high-precision experiments searching for such higher order interferences are a powerful method to distinguish between quantum mechanics and more general theories. Here, we perform such a test in an optical multi-path interferometer, which avoids crucial systematic errors, has access to the entire phase space and is more stable than previous experiments. Our results are in accordance with quantum mechanics and rule out the existence of higher order interference terms in optical interferometry to an extent that is more than four orders of magnitude smaller than the expected pairwise interference, refining previous bounds by two orders of magnitude.

Weak beacon detection for air-to-ground optical wireless link establishment.

PubMed

Han, Yaoqiang; Dang, Anhong; Tang, Junxiong; Guo, Hong

2010-02-01

In an air-to-ground free-space optical communication system, strong background interference seriously affects the beacon detection, which makes it difficult to establish the optical link. In this paper, we propose a correlation beacon detection scheme under strong background interference conditions. As opposed to traditional beacon detection schemes, the beacon is modulated by an m-sequence at the transmitting terminal with a digital differential matched filter (DDMF) array introduced at the receiving end to detect the modulated beacon. This scheme is capable of suppressing both strong interference and noise by correlation reception of the received image sequence. In addition, the DDMF array enables each pixel of the image sensor to have its own DDMF of the same structure to process its received image sequence in parallel, thus it makes fast beacon detection possible. Theoretical analysis and an outdoor experiment have been demonstrated and show that the proposed scheme can realize fast and effective beacon detection under strong background interference conditions. Consequently, the required beacon transmission power can also be reduced dramatically.

Visual Working Memory Capacity and Proactive Interference

PubMed Central

Hartshorne, Joshua K.

2008-01-01

Background Visual working memory capacity is extremely limited and appears to be relatively immune to practice effects or the use of explicit strategies. The recent discovery that visual working memory tasks, like verbal working memory tasks, are subject to proactive interference, coupled with the fact that typical visual working memory tasks are particularly conducive to proactive interference, suggests that visual working memory capacity may be systematically under-estimated. Methodology/Principal Findings Working memory capacity was probed behaviorally in adult humans both in laboratory settings and via the Internet. Several experiments show that although the effect of proactive interference on visual working memory is significant and can last over several trials, it only changes the capacity estimate by about 15%. Conclusions/Significance This study further confirms the sharp limitations on visual working memory capacity, both in absolute terms and relative to verbal working memory. It is suggested that future research take these limitations into account in understanding differences across a variety of tasks between human adults, prelinguistic infants and nonlinguistic animals. PMID:18648493

Visual working memory capacity and proactive interference.

PubMed

Hartshorne, Joshua K

2008-07-23

Visual working memory capacity is extremely limited and appears to be relatively immune to practice effects or the use of explicit strategies. The recent discovery that visual working memory tasks, like verbal working memory tasks, are subject to proactive interference, coupled with the fact that typical visual working memory tasks are particularly conducive to proactive interference, suggests that visual working memory capacity may be systematically under-estimated. Working memory capacity was probed behaviorally in adult humans both in laboratory settings and via the Internet. Several experiments show that although the effect of proactive interference on visual working memory is significant and can last over several trials, it only changes the capacity estimate by about 15%. This study further confirms the sharp limitations on visual working memory capacity, both in absolute terms and relative to verbal working memory. It is suggested that future research take these limitations into account in understanding differences across a variety of tasks between human adults, prelinguistic infants and nonlinguistic animals.

Path-separated electron interferometry in a scanning transmission electron microscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yasin, Fehmi S.; Harvey, Tyler R.; Chess, Jordan J.; Pierce, Jordan S.; McMorran, Benjamin J.

2018-05-01

We report a path-separated electron interferometer within a scanning transmission electron microscope. In this setup, we use a nanofabricated grating as an amplitude-division beamsplitter to prepare multiple spatially separated, coherent electron probe beams. We achieve path separations of 30 nm. We pass the  +1 diffraction order probe through amorphous carbon while passing the 0th and  ‑1 orders through vacuum. The probes are then made to interfere via imaging optics, and we observe an interference pattern at the CCD detector with up to 39.7% fringe visibility. We show preliminary experimental results in which the interference pattern was recorded during a 1D scan of the diffracted probes across a test phase object. These results qualitatively agree with a modeled interference predicted by an independent measurement of the specimen thickness. This experimental design can potentially be applied to phase contrast imaging and fundamental physics experiments, such as an exploration of electron wave packet coherence length.

Cyclotron resonance spectroscopy in a high mobility two dimensional electron gas using characteristic matrix methods.

PubMed

Hilton, David J

2012-12-31

We develop a new characteristic matrix-based method to analyze cyclotron resonance experiments in high mobility two-dimensional electron gas samples where direct interference between primary and satellite reflections has previously limited the frequency resolution. This model is used to simulate experimental data taken using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy that show multiple pulses from the substrate with a separation of 15 ps that directly interfere in the time-domain. We determine a cyclotron dephasing lifetime of 15.1 ± 0.5 ps at 1.5 K and 5.0 ± 0.5 ps at 75 K.

Criterion for Bose-Einstein condensation in a harmonic trap in the case with attractive interactions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gajda, Mariusz

2006-02-15

Using a model many-body wave function I analyze the standard criterion for Bose-Einstein condensation and its relation to coherence properties of the system. I pay special attention to an attractive condensate under such a condition that a characteristic length scale of the spatial extension of its center of mass differs significantly from length scales of relative coordinates. I show that although no interference fringes are produced in the two-slit Young interference experiment performed on this system, fringes of a high visibility can be observed in a conditional simultaneous detection of two particles.

Selective interference of grasp and space representations with number magnitude and serial order processing.

PubMed

van Dijck, Jean-Philippe; Fias, Wim; Andres, Michael

2015-10-01

It has been proposed that the metrics of space, time and other magnitudes relevant for action are coupled through a generalized magnitude system that also contribute to number representation. Several studies capitalized on stimulus-response compatibility effects to show that numbers map onto left-right representations and grasp representations as a function of their magnitude. However, the tasks typically used do not allow disentangling magnitude from serial order processing. Here, we devised a working memory (WM) task where participants had to remember random sequences of numbers and perform a precision/whole-hand grip (Experiment 1) or a uni-manual left/right button press (Experiment 2) in response to numbers presented during the retention interval. This task does allow differentiating the interference of number magnitude and serial order with each set of responses. Experiment 1 showed that precision grips were initiated faster than whole-hand grips in response to small numbers, irrespective of their serial position in WM. In contrast, Experiment 2 revealed an advantage of right over left button presses as serial position increased, without any influence of number magnitude. These findings demonstrate that grasping and left-right movements overlap with distinct dimensions of number processing. These findings are discussed in the light of different theories explaining the interactions between numbers, space and action.

Teaching Diffraction of Light and Electrons: Classroom Analogies to Classic Experiments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Velentzas, Athanasios

2014-01-01

Diffraction and interference are phenomena that demonstrate the wave nature of light and of particles. Experiments relating to the diffraction/interference of light can easily be carried out in an educational lab, but it may be impossible to perform experiments involving electrons because of the lack of specialized equipment needed for such…

Interference experiment with asymmetric double slit by using 1.2-MV field emission transmission electron microscope.

PubMed

Harada, Ken; Akashi, Tetsuya; Niitsu, Kodai; Shimada, Keiko; Ono, Yoshimasa A; Shindo, Daisuke; Shinada, Hiroyuki; Mori, Shigeo

2018-01-17

Advanced electron microscopy technologies have made it possible to perform precise double-slit interference experiments. We used a 1.2-MV field emission electron microscope providing coherent electron waves and a direct detection camera system enabling single-electron detections at a sub-second exposure time. We developed a method to perform the interference experiment by using an asymmetric double-slit fabricated by a focused ion beam instrument and by operating the microscope under a "pre-Fraunhofer" condition, different from the Fraunhofer condition of conventional double-slit experiments. Here, pre-Fraunhofer condition means that each single-slit observation was performed under the Fraunhofer condition, while the double-slit observations were performed under the Fresnel condition. The interference experiments with each single slit and with the asymmetric double slit were carried out under two different electron dose conditions: high-dose for calculation of electron probability distribution and low-dose for each single electron distribution. Finally, we exemplified the distribution of single electrons by color-coding according to the above three types of experiments as a composite image.

Converging evidence for control of color-word Stroop interference at the item level.

PubMed

Bugg, Julie M; Hutchison, Keith A

2013-04-01

Prior studies have shown that cognitive control is implemented at the list and context levels in the color-word Stroop task. At first blush, the finding that Stroop interference is reduced for mostly incongruent items as compared with mostly congruent items (i.e., the item-specific proportion congruence [ISPC] effect) appears to provide evidence for yet a third level of control, which modulates word reading at the item level. However, evidence to date favors the view that ISPC effects reflect the rapid prediction of high-contingency responses and not item-specific control. In Experiment 1, we first show that an ISPC effect is obtained when the relevant dimension (i.e., color) signals proportion congruency, a problematic pattern for theories based on differential response contingencies. In Experiment 2, we replicate and extend this pattern by showing that item-specific control settings transfer to new stimuli, ruling out alternative frequency-based accounts. In Experiment 3, we revert to the traditional design in which the irrelevant dimension (i.e., word) signals proportion congruency. Evidence for item-specific control, including transfer of the ISPC effect to new stimuli, is apparent when 4-item sets are employed but not when 2-item sets are employed. We attribute this pattern to the absence of high-contingency responses on incongruent trials in the 4-item set. These novel findings provide converging evidence for reactive control of color-word Stroop interference at the item level, reveal theoretically important factors that modulate reliance on item-specific control versus contingency learning, and suggest an update to the item-specific control account (Bugg, Jacoby, & Chanani, 2011).

Sedimentation Velocity Analysis of Large Oligomeric Chromatin Complexes Using Interference Detection.

PubMed

Rogge, Ryan A; Hansen, Jeffrey C

2015-01-01

Sedimentation velocity experiments measure the transport of molecules in solution under centrifugal force. Here, we describe a method for monitoring the sedimentation of very large biological molecular assemblies using the interference optical systems of the analytical ultracentrifuge. The mass, partial-specific volume, and shape of macromolecules in solution affect their sedimentation rates as reflected in the sedimentation coefficient. The sedimentation coefficient is obtained by measuring the solute concentration as a function of radial distance during centrifugation. Monitoring the concentration can be accomplished using interference optics, absorbance optics, or the fluorescence detection system, each with inherent advantages. The interference optical system captures data much faster than these other optical systems, allowing for sedimentation velocity analysis of extremely large macromolecular complexes that sediment rapidly at very low rotor speeds. Supramolecular oligomeric complexes produced by self-association of 12-mer chromatin fibers are used to illustrate the advantages of the interference optics. Using interference optics, we show that chromatin fibers self-associate at physiological divalent salt concentrations to form structures that sediment between 10,000 and 350,000S. The method for characterizing chromatin oligomers described in this chapter will be generally useful for characterization of any biological structures that are too large to be studied by the absorbance optical system. © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ascorbic acid interference in the measurement of serum biochemical parameters: in vivo and in vitro studies.

PubMed

Martinello, Flávia; da Silva, Edson Luiz

2006-04-01

To investigate the negative interference of ascorbic acid in serum biochemical tests in relation to the dose of vitamin C intake and to the time of blood collection. Healthy volunteers (n = 18) consumed daily doses of vitamin C (0.25-4.0 g) for 1 week and serum parameters were assayed prior to the experiment and on the eighth day of consumption. Blood samples were collected 4, 12 and 24 h after vitamin C intake. Serum levels of ascorbic acid increased significantly after vitamin C ingestion inhibiting urate and total bilirubin tests 4 and 12 h after intake (P < 0.01). A significant negative interference occurred up to 24 h after consumption of 4 g vitamin C for the urate test. In contrast, ingestion of vitamin C did not show interference in glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol tests. Addition of ascorbic acid to serum inhibited the urate test to a similar extent to that observed after vitamin C intake. However, after ingesting vitamin C, the interference for the bilirubin test was greater than that of the in vitro interference. Commonly taken doses of supplementary vitamin C interfered negatively with the serum urate test based on the Trinder method, and with bilirubin metabolism.

Interference thinking in constructing students’ knowledge to solve mathematical problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jayanti, W. E.; Usodo, B.; Subanti, S.

2018-04-01

This research aims to describe interference thinking in constructing students’ knowledge to solve mathematical problems. Interference thinking in solving problems occurs when students have two concepts that interfere with each other’s concept. Construction of problem-solving can be traced using Piaget’s assimilation and accommodation framework, helping to know the students’ thinking structures in solving the problems. The method of this research was a qualitative method with case research strategy. The data in this research involving problem-solving result and transcripts of interviews about students’ errors in solving the problem. The results of this research focus only on the student who experience proactive interference, where student in solving a problem using old information to interfere with the ability to recall new information. The student who experience interference thinking in constructing their knowledge occurs when the students’ thinking structures in the assimilation and accommodation process are incomplete. However, after being given reflection to the student, then the students’ thinking process has reached equilibrium condition even though the result obtained remains wrong.

Interference between face and non-face domains of perceptual expertise: a replication and extension

PubMed Central

Curby, Kim M.; Gauthier, Isabel

2014-01-01

As car expertise increases, so does interference between the visual processing of faces and that of cars; this suggests performance trade-offs across domains of real-world expertise. Such interference between expert domains has been previously revealed in a relatively complex design, interleaving 2-back part-judgment task with faces and cars (Gauthier et al., 2003). However, the basis of this interference is unclear. Experiment 1A replicated the finding of interference between faces and cars, as a function of car expertise. Experiments 1B and 2 investigated the mechanisms underlying this effect by (1) providing baseline measures of performance and (2) assessing the specificity of this interference effect. Our findings support the presence of expertise-dependent interference between face and non-face domains of expertise. However, surprisingly, it is in the condition where faces are processed among cars with a disrupted configuration where expertise has a greater influence on faces. This finding highlights how expertise-related processing changes also occur for transformed objects of expertise and that such changes can also drive interference across domains of expertise. PMID:25346702

A New Reassigned Spectrogram Method in Interference Detection for GNSS Receivers.

PubMed

Sun, Kewen; Jin, Tian; Yang, Dongkai

2015-09-02

Interference detection is very important for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers. Current work on interference detection in GNSS receivers has mainly focused on time-frequency (TF) analysis techniques, such as spectrogram and Wigner-Ville distribution (WVD), where the spectrogram approach presents the TF resolution trade-off problem, since the analysis window is used, and the WVD method suffers from the very serious cross-term problem, due to its quadratic TF distribution nature. In order to solve the cross-term problem and to preserve good TF resolution in the TF plane at the same time, in this paper, a new TF distribution by using a reassigned spectrogram has been proposed in interference detection for GNSS receivers. This proposed reassigned spectrogram method efficiently combines the elimination of the cross-term provided by the spectrogram itself according to its inherent nature and the improvement of the TF aggregation property achieved by the reassignment method. Moreover, a notch filter has been adopted in interference mitigation for GNSS receivers, where receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) are used as metrics for the characterization of interference mitigation performance. The proposed interference detection method by using a reassigned spectrogram is evaluated by experiments on GPS L1 signals in the disturbing scenarios in comparison to the state-of-the-art TF analysis approaches. The analysis results show that the proposed interference detection technique effectively overcomes the cross-term problem and also keeps good TF localization properties, which has been proven to be valid and effective to enhance the interference Sensors 2015, 15 22168 detection performance; in addition, the adoption of the notch filter in interference mitigation has shown a significant acquisition performance improvement in terms of ROC curves for GNSS receivers in jamming environments.

A New Reassigned Spectrogram Method in Interference Detection for GNSS Receivers

PubMed Central

Sun, Kewen; Jin, Tian; Yang, Dongkai

2015-01-01

Interference detection is very important for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers. Current work on interference detection in GNSS receivers has mainly focused on time-frequency (TF) analysis techniques, such as spectrogram and Wigner–Ville distribution (WVD), where the spectrogram approach presents the TF resolution trade-off problem, since the analysis window is used, and the WVD method suffers from the very serious cross-term problem, due to its quadratic TF distribution nature. In order to solve the cross-term problem and to preserve good TF resolution in the TF plane at the same time, in this paper, a new TF distribution by using a reassigned spectrogram has been proposed in interference detection for GNSS receivers. This proposed reassigned spectrogram method efficiently combines the elimination of the cross-term provided by the spectrogram itself according to its inherent nature and the improvement of the TF aggregation property achieved by the reassignment method. Moreover, a notch filter has been adopted in interference mitigation for GNSS receivers, where receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) are used as metrics for the characterization of interference mitigation performance. The proposed interference detection method by using a reassigned spectrogram is evaluated by experiments on GPS L1 signals in the disturbing scenarios in comparison to the state-of-the-art TF analysis approaches. The analysis results show that the proposed interference detection technique effectively overcomes the cross-term problem and also keeps good TF localization properties, which has been proven to be valid and effective to enhance the interference detection performance; in addition, the adoption of the notch filter in interference mitigation has shown a significant acquisition performance improvement in terms of ROC curves for GNSS receivers in jamming environments. PMID:26364637

Retrieval-induced forgetting and interference between cues: training a cue-outcome association attenuates retrieval by alternative cues.

PubMed

Ortega-Castro, Nerea; Vadillo, Miguel A

2013-03-01

Some researchers have attempted to determine whether situations in which a single cue is paired with several outcomes (A-B, A-C interference or interference between outcomes) involve the same learning and retrieval mechanisms as situations in which several cues are paired with a single outcome (A-B, C-B interference or interference between cues). Interestingly, current research on a related effect, which is known as retrieval-induced forgetting, can illuminate this debate. Most retrieval-induced forgetting experiments are based on an experimental design that closely resembles the A-B, A-C interference paradigm. In the present experiment, we found that a similar effect may be observed when items are rearranged such that the general structure of the task more closely resembles the A-B, C-B interference paradigm. This result suggests that, as claimed by other researchers in the area of contingency learning, the two types of interference, namely A-B, A-C and A-B, C-B interference, may share some basic mechanisms. Moreover, the type of inhibitory processes assumed to underlie retrieval-induced forgetting may also play a role in these phenomena. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

When bees hamper the production of honey: lexical interference from associates in speech production.

PubMed

Abdel Rahman, Rasha; Melinger, Alissa

2007-05-01

In this article, the authors explore semantic context effects in speaking. In particular, the authors investigate a marked discrepancy between categorically and associatively induced effects; only categorical relationships have been reported to cause interference in object naming. In Experiments 1 and 2, a variant of the semantic blocking paradigm was used to induce two different types of semantic context effects. Pictures were either named in the context of categorically related objects (e.g., animals: bee, cow, fish) or in the context of associatively related objects from different semantic categories (e.g., apiary: bee, honey, bee keeper). Semantic interference effects were observed in both conditions, relative to an unrelated context. Experiment 3 replicated the classic effects of categorical interference and associative facilitation in a picture-word interference paradigm with the material used in Experiment 2. These findings suggest that associates are active lexical competitors and that the microstructure of lexicalization is highly flexible and adjustable to the semantic context in which the utterance takes place.

Proactive interference in a semantic short-term memory deficit: role of semantic and phonological relatedness.

PubMed

Hamilton, A Cris; Martin, Randi C

2007-01-01

Previous research has indicated that patients with semantic short-term memory (STM) deficits demonstrate unusual intrusions of previously presented material during serial recall tasks (Martin and Lesch, 1996). These intrusions suggest excessive proactive interference (PI) from previous lists. Here, we explore one such patient's susceptibility to PI. Experiment 1 demonstrated patient M.L.'s extreme susceptibility to PI using a probe recognition task that manipulates the recency of negative probes (the recent negatives task). When stimuli consisted of letters, M.L. showed greatly exaggerated effects of PI, well outside of the range of healthy control participants. Experiment 2 used a variation of the recent negatives task to examine the relative contribution of semantic and phonological relatedness in PI. This task manipulated semantic and phonological relatedness of probes and recently presented list items. Relative to healthy control participants, patient M.L. showed exaggerated interference effects for both phonological and semantically related probes, both for probes related to the current list and for probes related to the previous list. These data have important implications for theories of semantic STM deficits. Specifically, these data suggest that it is not the rapid decay of semantic representations that is responsible for difficulties in short-term recall, but rather the abnormal persistence of previously presented material. We propose that this susceptibility to PI is the result of a deficit in control processes acting on STM.

Inexpensive Audio Activities: Earbud-based Sound Experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, Joshua; Boucher, Alex; Meggison, Dean; Hruby, Kate; Vesenka, James

2016-11-01

Inexpensive alternatives to a number of classic introductory physics sound laboratories are presented including interference phenomena, resonance conditions, and frequency shifts. These can be created using earbuds, economical supplies such as Giant Pixie Stix® wrappers, and free software available for PCs and mobile devices. We describe two interference laboratories (beat frequency and two-speaker interference) and two resonance laboratories (quarter- and half-wavelength). Lastly, a Doppler laboratory using rotating earbuds is explained. The audio signal captured by all experiments is analyzed on free spectral analysis software and many of the experiments incorporate the unifying theme of measuring the speed of sound in air.

Retrieval and Encoding Interference: Cross-Linguistic Evidence from Anaphor Processing

PubMed Central

Laurinavichyute, Anna; Jäger, Lena A.; Akinina, Yulia; Roß, Jennifer; Dragoy, Olga

2017-01-01

The main goal of this paper was to disentangle encoding and retrieval interference effects in anaphor processing and thus to evaluate the hypothesis predicting that structurally inaccessible nouns (distractors) are not considered to be potential anaphor antecedents during language processing (Nicol and Swinney, 1989). Three self-paced reading experiments were conducted: one in German, comparing gender-unmarked reflexives and gender-marked pronouns, and two in Russian, comparing gender-marked and -unmarked reflexives. In the German experiment, no interference effects were found. In the first experiment in Russian, an unexpected reading times pattern emerged: in the condition where the distractor matched the gender of the reflexive's antecedent, reading of the gender-unmarked, but not the gender-marked reflexives was slowed down. The same reading times pattern was replicated in a second experiment in Russian where the order of the reflexive and the main verb was inverted. We conclude that the results of the two experiments in Russian are inconsistent with the retrieval interference account, but can be explained by encoding interference and additional semantic processing efforts associated with the processing of gender-marked reflexives. In sum, we found no evidence that would allow us to reject the syntax as an early filer account (Nicol and Swinney, 1989). PMID:28649216

Phonological Coding in Good and Poor Readers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Briggs, Pamela; Underwood, Geoffrey

1982-01-01

A set of four experiments investigates the relationship between phonological coding and reading ability, using a picture-word interference task and a decoding task. Results with regard to both adults and children suggest that while poor readers possess weak decoding skills, good and poor readers show equivalent evidence of direct semantic and…

The Effect of Habitat Acoustics on Common Marmoset Vocal Signal Transmission

PubMed Central

MORRILL, RYAN J.; THOMAS, A. WREN; SCHIEL, NICOLA; SOUTO, ANTONIO; MILLER, CORY T.

2013-01-01

Noisy acoustic environments present several challenges for the evolution of acoustic communication systems. Among the most significant is the need to limit degradation of spectro-temporal signal structure in order to maintain communicative efficacy. This can be achieved by selecting for several potentially complementary processes. Selection can act on behavioral mechanisms permitting signalers to control the timing and occurrence of signal production to avoid acoustic interference. Likewise, the signal itself may be the target of selection, biasing the evolution of its structure to comprise acoustic features that avoid interference from ambient noise or degrade minimally in the habitat. Here, we address the latter topic for common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) long-distance contact vocalizations, known as phee calls. Our aim was to test whether this vocalization is specifically adapted for transmission in a species-typical forest habitat, the Atlantic forests of northeastern Brazil. We combined seasonal analyses of ambient habitat acoustics with experiments in which pure tones, clicks, and vocalizations were broadcast and rerecorded at different distances to characterize signal degradation in the habitat. Ambient sound was analyzed from intervals throughout the day and over rainy and dry seasons, showing temporal regularities across varied timescales. Broadcast experiment results indicated that the tone and click stimuli showed the typically inverse relationship between frequency and signaling efficacy. Although marmoset phee calls degraded over distance with marked predictability compared with artificial sounds, they did not otherwise appear to be specially designed for increased transmission efficacy or minimal interference in this habitat. We discuss these data in the context of other similar studies and evidence of potential behavioral mechanisms for avoiding acoustic interference in order to maintain effective vocal communication in common marmosets. PMID:23592313

The effect of habitat acoustics on common marmoset vocal signal transmission.

PubMed

Morrill, Ryan J; Thomas, A Wren; Schiel, Nicola; Souto, Antonio; Miller, Cory T

2013-09-01

Noisy acoustic environments present several challenges for the evolution of acoustic communication systems. Among the most significant is the need to limit degradation of spectro-temporal signal structure in order to maintain communicative efficacy. This can be achieved by selecting for several potentially complementary processes. Selection can act on behavioral mechanisms permitting signalers to control the timing and occurrence of signal production to avoid acoustic interference. Likewise, the signal itself may be the target of selection, biasing the evolution of its structure to comprise acoustic features that avoid interference from ambient noise or degrade minimally in the habitat. Here, we address the latter topic for common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) long-distance contact vocalizations, known as phee calls. Our aim was to test whether this vocalization is specifically adapted for transmission in a species-typical forest habitat, the Atlantic forests of northeastern Brazil. We combined seasonal analyses of ambient habitat acoustics with experiments in which pure tones, clicks, and vocalizations were broadcast and rerecorded at different distances to characterize signal degradation in the habitat. Ambient sound was analyzed from intervals throughout the day and over rainy and dry seasons, showing temporal regularities across varied timescales. Broadcast experiment results indicated that the tone and click stimuli showed the typically inverse relationship between frequency and signaling efficacy. Although marmoset phee calls degraded over distance with marked predictability compared with artificial sounds, they did not otherwise appear to be specially designed for increased transmission efficacy or minimal interference in this habitat. We discuss these data in the context of other similar studies and evidence of potential behavioral mechanisms for avoiding acoustic interference in order to maintain effective vocal communication in common marmosets. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Polarization-induced interference within electromagnetically induced transparency for atoms of double-V linkage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Yuan; Liu, Chang; Chen, Ping-Xing; Liu, Liang

2018-02-01

People have been paying attention to the role of atoms' complex internal level structures in the research of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) for a long time, where the various degenerate Zeeman levels usually generate complex linkage patterns for the atomic transitions. It turns out, with special choices of the atomic states and the atomic transitions' linkage structure, clear signatures of quantum interference induced by the probe and coupling light's polarizations can emerge from a typical EIT phenomena. We propose to study a four-state system with double-V linkage pattern for the transitions and analyze the polarization-induced interference under the EIT condition. We show that such interference arises naturally under mild conditions on the optical field and atom manipulation techniques. Moreover, we construct a variation form of double-M linkage pattern where the polarization-induced interference enables polarization-dependent cross modulation between incident weak lights that can be effective even at the few-photon level. The theme is to gain more insight into the essential question: how can we build a nontrivial optical medium where incident lights experience polarization-dependent nonlinear optical interactions, valid for a wide range of incidence intensities down to the few-photon level?

Retrieval Practice Fails to Insulate Episodic Memories against Interference after Stroke.

PubMed

Pastötter, Bernhard; Eberle, Hanna; Aue, Ingo; Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T

2017-01-01

Recent work in cognitive psychology showed that retrieval practice of previously studied information can insulate this information against retroactive interference from subsequently studied other information in healthy individuals. The present study examined whether this beneficial effect of interference reduction is also present in patients with stroke. Twenty-two patients with stroke, 4.6 months post injury on average, and 22 healthy controls participated in the experiment. In each of two experimental sessions, participants first studied a list of items (list 1) and then underwent a practice phase in which the list 1 items were either restudied or retrieval practiced. Participants then either studied a second list of items (list 2) or fulfilled an unrelated distractor task. Recall of the two lists' items was assessed in a final criterion test. Results showed that, in healthy controls, additional study of list 2 items impaired final recall of list 1 items in the restudy condition but not in the retrieval practice condition. In contrast, in patients with stroke, list 2 learning impaired final list 1 recall in both conditions. The results indicate that retrieval practice insulated the tested information against retroactive interference in healthy controls, but failed to do so in patients with stroke. Possible implications of the findings for the understanding of long-term memory impairment after stroke are discussed.

Higher-Order Interference in Extensions of Quantum Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Ciarán M.; Selby, John H.

2017-01-01

Quantum interference, manifest in the two slit experiment, lies at the heart of several quantum computational speed-ups and provides a striking example of a quantum phenomenon with no classical counterpart. An intriguing feature of quantum interference arises in a variant of the standard two slit experiment, in which there are three, rather than two, slits. The interference pattern in this set-up can be written in terms of the two and one slit patterns obtained by blocking one, or more, of the slits. This is in stark contrast with the standard two slit experiment, where the interference pattern cannot be written as a sum of the one slit patterns. This was first noted by Rafael Sorkin, who raised the question of why quantum theory only exhibits irreducible interference in the two slit experiment. One approach to this problem is to compare the predictions of quantum theory to those of operationally-defined `foil' theories, in the hope of determining whether theories that do exhibit higher-order interference suffer from pathological—or at least undesirable—features. In this paper two proposed extensions of quantum theory are considered: the theory of Density Cubes proposed by Dakić, Paterek and Brukner, which has been shown to exhibit irreducible interference in the three slit set-up, and the Quartic Quantum Theory of Życzkowski. The theory of Density Cubes will be shown to provide an advantage over quantum theory in a certain computational task and to posses a well-defined mechanism which leads to the emergence of quantum theory—analogous to the emergence of classical physics from quantum theory via decoherence. Despite this, the axioms used to define Density Cubes will be shown to be insufficient to uniquely characterise the theory. In comparison, Quartic Quantum Theory is a well-defined theory and we demonstrate that it exhibits irreducible interference to all orders. This feature of Życzkowski's theory is argued not to be a genuine phenomenon, but to arise from an ambiguity in the current definition of higher-order interference in operationally-defined theories. Thus, to begin to understand why quantum theory is limited to a certain kind of interference, a new definition of higher-order interference is needed that is applicable to, and makes good operational sense in, arbitrary operationally-defined theories.

Experimental triple-slit interference in a strongly driven V-type artificial atom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dada, Adetunmise C.; Santana, Ted S.; Koutroumanis, Antonios; Ma, Yong; Park, Suk-In; Song, Jindong; Gerardot, Brian D.

2017-08-01

Rabi oscillations of a two-level atom appear as a quantum interference effect between the amplitudes associated with atomic superpositions, in analogy with the classic double-slit experiment which manifests a sinusoidal interference pattern. By extension, through direct detection of time-resolved resonance fluorescence from a quantum-dot neutral exciton driven in the Rabi regime, we experimentally demonstrate triple-slit-type quantum interference via quantum erasure in a V-type three-level artificial atom. This result is of fundamental interest in the experimental studies of the properties of V-type three-level systems and may pave the way for further insight into their coherence properties as well as applications for quantum information schemes. It also suggests quantum dots as candidates for multipath-interference experiments for probing foundational concepts in quantum physics.

Retrieval Practice Can Insulate Items against Intralist Interference: Evidence from the List-Length Effect, Output Interference, and Retrieval-Induced Forgetting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kliegl, Oliver; Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T.

2016-01-01

This study sought to determine whether nonselective retrieval practice after study can reduce memories' susceptibility to intralist interference, as it is observed in the list-length effect, output interference, and retrieval-induced forgetting. Across 3 experiments, we compared the effects of nonselective retrieval practice and restudy on…

Shallow Water Acoustic Experiments and Preliminary Planning for FY06 Fieldwork

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-21

To) 5/1/2005-12/31/2010 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Shallow Water Acoustic Experiments and Preliminary Planning for FY06 Fieldwork 5a. CONTRACT NUMBERS...numerical computations show horizontal interference patterns within the duct. Richly de - tailed sound radiation fields are predicted at locations far...4) for the vertical modal amplitude Tm at x^L is now de - scribed in detail. First, the assumption of total transmission at the open-ended

Task-dependency and structure-dependency in number interference effects in sentence comprehension

PubMed Central

Franck, Julie; Colonna, Saveria; Rizzi, Luigi

2015-01-01

We report three experiments on French that explore number mismatch effects in intervention configurations in the comprehension of object A’-dependencies, relative clauses and questions. The study capitalizes on the finding of object attraction in sentence production, in which speakers sometimes erroneously produce a verb that agrees in number with a plural object in object relative clauses. Evidence points to the role of three critical constructs from formal syntax: intervention, intermediate traces and c-command (Franck et al., 2010). Experiment 1, using a self-paced reading procedure on these grammatical structures with an agreement error on the verb, shows an enhancing effect of number mismatch in intervention configurations, with faster reading times with plural (mismatching) objects. Experiment 2, using an on-line grammaticality judgment task on the ungrammatical versions of these structures, shows an interference effect in the form of attraction, with slower response times with plural objects. Experiment 3 with a similar grammaticality judgment task shows stronger attraction from c-commanding than from preceding interveners. Overall, the data suggest that syntactic computations in performance refer to the same syntactic representations in production and comprehension, but that different tasks tap into different processes involved in parsing: whereas performance in self-paced reading reflects the intervention of the subject in the process of building an object A’-dependency, performance in grammaticality judgment reflects intervention of the object on the computation of the subject-verb agreement dependency. The latter shows the hallmarks of structure-dependent attraction effects in sentence production, in particular, a sensitivity to specific characteristics of hierarchical representations. PMID:25914652

Ibogaine interferes with motivational and somatic effects of naloxone-precipitated withdrawal from acutely administered morphine.

PubMed

Parke, Linda A; Burton, Page; McDonald, Robert V; Kim, Joseph A; Siegel, Shepard

2002-02-01

It has been reported that ibogaine interferes with somatic withdrawal reactions in rats chronically treated with morphine. The present experiments demonstrated that ibogaine also interferes with motivational withdrawal reactions and somatic withdrawal reactions in rats treated with morphine on only two occasions. On each of two conditioning trials, naloxone was administered 24 h following an injection of morphine. Four hours prior to each naloxone administration, rats were injected with either ibogaine or saline. In two experiments, ibogaine interfered with naloxone-precipitated withdrawal. In Experiment 1, ibogaine-treated rats displayed a weaker aversion to the withdrawal-paired chamber, and in Experiment 2, ibogaine-treated rats displayed fewer somatic withdrawal reactions than did saline treated rats.

RAC-multi: reader anti-collision algorithm for multichannel mobile RFID networks.

PubMed

Shin, Kwangcheol; Song, Wonil

2010-01-01

At present, RFID is installed on mobile devices such as mobile phones or PDAs and provides a means to obtain information about objects equipped with an RFID tag over a multi-channeled telecommunication networks. To use mobile RFIDs, reader collision problems should be addressed given that readers are continuously moving. Moreover, in a multichannel environment for mobile RFIDs, interference between adjacent channels should be considered. This work first defines a new concept of a reader collision problem between adjacent channels and then suggests a novel reader anti-collision algorithm for RFID readers that use multiple channels. To avoid interference with adjacent channels, the suggested algorithm separates data channels into odd and even numbered channels and allocates odd-numbered channels first to readers. It also sets an unused channel between the control channel and data channels to ensure that control messages and the signal of the adjacent channel experience no interference. Experimental results show that suggested algorithm shows throughput improvements ranging from 29% to 46% for tag identifications compared to the GENTLE reader anti-collision algorithm for multichannel RFID networks.

From double-slit interference to structural information in simple hydrocarbons

PubMed Central

Kushawaha, Rajesh Kumar; Patanen, Minna; Guillemin, Renaud; Journel, Loic; Miron, Catalin; Simon, Marc; Piancastelli, Maria Novella; Skates, C.; Decleva, Piero

2013-01-01

Interferences in coherent emission of photoelectrons from two equivalent atomic centers in a molecule are the microscopic analogies of the celebrated Young’s double-slit experiment. By considering inner-valence shell ionization in the series of simple hydrocarbons C2H2, C2H4, and C2H6, we show that double-slit interference is widespread and has built-in quantitative information on geometry, orbital composition, and many-body effects. A theoretical and experimental study is presented over the photon energy range of 70–700 eV. A strong dependence of the oscillation period on the C–C distance is observed, which can be used to determine bond lengths between selected pairs of equivalent atoms with an accuracy of at least 0.01 Å. Furthermore, we show that the observed oscillations are directly informative of the nature and atomic composition of the inner-valence molecular orbitals and that observed ratios are quantitative measures of elusive many-body effects. The technique and analysis can be immediately extended to a large class of compounds. PMID:24003155

RAC-Multi: Reader Anti-Collision Algorithm for Multichannel Mobile RFID Networks

PubMed Central

Shin, Kwangcheol; Song, Wonil

2010-01-01

At present, RFID is installed on mobile devices such as mobile phones or PDAs and provides a means to obtain information about objects equipped with an RFID tag over a multi-channeled telecommunication networks. To use mobile RFIDs, reader collision problems should be addressed given that readers are continuously moving. Moreover, in a multichannel environment for mobile RFIDs, interference between adjacent channels should be considered. This work first defines a new concept of a reader collision problem between adjacent channels and then suggests a novel reader anti-collision algorithm for RFID readers that use multiple channels. To avoid interference with adjacent channels, the suggested algorithm separates data channels into odd and even numbered channels and allocates odd-numbered channels first to readers. It also sets an unused channel between the control channel and data channels to ensure that control messages and the signal of the adjacent channel experience no interference. Experimental results show that suggested algorithm shows throughput improvements ranging from 29% to 46% for tag identifications compared to the GENTLE reader anti-collision algorithm for multichannel RFID networks. PMID:22315528

[Research on lateral shearing interferometer for field monitoring of natural gas pipeline leak].

PubMed

Zhang, Xue-Feng; Gao, Yu-Bin

2012-09-01

Aimed at the mechanical scanning spectroscopy equipment with poor anti-interference and anti-jamming ability, which affects the accuracy of its natural gas pipeline leak detection in the wild, a new type of lateral shearing interferometer system was designed. The system uses a beam splitter to get optical path difference by a mechanical scanning part, and it cancel the introduction of external vibration interference through the linkage between the two beam splitterw. The interference intensity of interference fringes produced was calculated, and analysis of a rotating beam splitter corresponds to the angle of the optical path difference function, solving for the maximum angle of the forward rotation and reverse rotation, which is the maximum optical path range. Experiments using the gas tank deflated simulated natural gas pipeline leak process, in the interference conditions, and the test data of the type WQF530 spectrometer and the new type of lateral shearing interferometer system were comparedt. The experimental results show that the relative error of both systems is about 1% in indoor conditions without interference. However, in interference environment, the error of WQF530 type spectrometer becomes larger, more than 10%, but the error of the new type of lateral shearing interferometer system is still below 5%. The detection accuracy of the type WQF530 spectrometer decreased significantly due to the environment. Therefore, the seismic design of the system can effectively offset power deviation and half-width increases of center wavelength caused by external interference, and compared to conventional mechanical scanning interferometer devices the new system is more suitable for field detection.

Electronic quenching of O({sup 1}D) by Xe: Oscillations in the product angular distribution and their dependence on collision energy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garofalo, Lauren A.; Smith, Mica C.; Dagdigian, Paul J., E-mail: pjdagdigian@jhu.edu

2015-08-07

The dynamics of the O({sup 1}D) + Xe electronic quenching reaction was investigated in a crossed beam experiment at four collision energies. Marked large-scale oscillations in the differential cross sections were observed for the inelastic scattering products, O({sup 3}P) and Xe. The shape and relative phases of the oscillatory structure depend strongly on collision energy. Comparison of the experimental results with time-independent scattering calculations shows qualitatively that this behavior is caused by Stueckelberg interferences, for which the quantum phases of the multiple reaction pathways accessible during electronic quenching constructively and destructively interfere.

Indistinguishable near-infrared single photons from an individual organic molecule

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Trebbia, Jean-Baptiste; Tamarat, Philippe; Lounis, Brahim

2010-12-15

By using the zero-phonon line emission of an individual organic molecule, we realized a source of indistinguishable single photons in the near infrared. A Hong-Ou-Mandel interference experiment is performed and a two-photon coalescence probability higher than 50% at 2 K is obtained. The contribution of the temperature-dependent dephasing processes to the two-photon interference contrast is studied. We show that the molecule delivers nearly ideal indistinguishable single photons at the lowest temperatures when the dephasing is nearly lifetime limited. This source is used to generate postselected polarization-entangled photon pairs as a test bench for applications in quantum information.

Wide forbidden band induced by the interference of different transverse acoustic standing-wave modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tao, Zhiyong; He, Weiyu; Xiao, Yumeng; Wang, Xinlong

2008-03-01

A non-Bragg nature forbidden band is experimentally observed in an axially symmetric hard-walled duct with a periodically varying cross section. Unlike the familiar Bragg ones, the observed bandgap is found to result from the interference of sound wave modes having different transverse standing-wave profiles, the so-called non-Bragg resonance. The experiments also show that the non-Bragg band can be comparably wider than the Bragg one; furthermore, the sound transmission loss within the band can be much more effective, exhibiting the great significance of the non-Bragg resonance in wave propagation in periodic waveguides.

Cognitive load selectively influences the interruptive effect of pain on attention.

PubMed

Moore, David J; Eccleston, Christopher; Keogh, Edmund

2017-10-01

Pain is known to interrupt attentional performance. Such interference effects seem to occur preferentially for tasks that are complex and/or difficult. However, few studies have directly manipulated memory load in the context of pain interference to test this view. Therefore, this study examines the effect of experimental manipulations of both memory load and pain on 3 tasks previously found to be sensitive to pain interference. Three experiments were conducted. A different task was examined in each experiment, each comprising of a high- and low-cognitive load versions of the task. Experiment 1 comprised an attention span (n-back) task, experiment 2 an attention switching task, and experiment 3 a divided attention task. Each task was conducted under painful and nonpainful conditions. Within the pain condition, an experimental thermal pain induction protocol was administered at the same time participants completed the task. The load manipulations were successful in all experiments. Pain-related interference occurred under the high-load condition but only for the attention span task. No effect of pain was found on either the attentional switching or divided attention task. These results suggest that while cognitive load may influence the interruptive effect of pain on attention, this effect may be selective. Because pain affected the high-load version of the n-back task but did not interrupt performance on attentional switching or dual-task paradigms, this means that our findings did not completely support our hypotheses. Future research should explore further the parameters and conditions under which pain-related interference occurs.

Geometric reduction of dynamical nonlocality in nanoscale quantum circuits.

PubMed

Strambini, E; Makarenko, K S; Abulizi, G; de Jong, M P; van der Wiel, W G

2016-01-06

Nonlocality is a key feature discriminating quantum and classical physics. Quantum-interference phenomena, such as Young's double slit experiment, are one of the clearest manifestations of nonlocality, recently addressed as dynamical to specify its origin in the quantum equations of motion. It is well known that loss of dynamical nonlocality can occur due to (partial) collapse of the wavefunction due to a measurement, such as which-path detection. However, alternative mechanisms affecting dynamical nonlocality have hardly been considered, although of crucial importance in many schemes for quantum information processing. Here, we present a fundamentally different pathway of losing dynamical nonlocality, demonstrating that the detailed geometry of the detection scheme is crucial to preserve nonlocality. By means of a solid-state quantum-interference experiment we quantify this effect in a diffusive system. We show that interference is not only affected by decoherence, but also by a loss of dynamical nonlocality based on a local reduction of the number of quantum conduction channels of the interferometer. With our measurements and theoretical model we demonstrate that this mechanism is an intrinsic property of quantum dynamics. Understanding the geometrical constraints protecting nonlocality is crucial when designing quantum networks for quantum information processing.

[Construction and selection of effective mouse Smad6 recombinant lenti-virus interference vectors].

PubMed

Yu, Jing; Qi, Mengchun; Deng, Jiupeng; Liu, Gang; Chen, Huaiqing

2010-10-01

This experiment was designed to construct mouse Smad6 recombinant RNA interference vectors and determine their interference effects on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). Three recombinant Smad6 RNA interference vectors were constructed by molecular clone techniques with a lenti-virus vector expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP), and the correctness of recombinant vectors was verified by DNA sequencing. Mouse BMSCs were used for transfection experiments and BMP-2 was in use for osteogenic induction of MSCs. The transfection efficiency of recombinant vectors was examined by Laser confocal scanning microscope and the interference effect of recombinant vectors on Smad6 gene expression was determined by real-time RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. Three Smad6 recombinant RNA interference vectors were successfully constructed and their correctness was proved by DNA sequencing. After transfection, GFPs were effectively expressed in MSCs and all of three recombinant vectors gained high transfection efficiency (> 95%). Both real-time PCR and Western blot examination indicated that among three recombinant vectors, No. 2 Svector had the best interference effect and the interference effect was nearly 91% at protein level. In conclusion, Mouse recombinant Smad6 RNA interference (RNAi) vector was successfully constructed and it provided an effective tool for further studies on BMP signal pathways.

Orthographic and Phonological Form Interference during Silent Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Price, Iya Khelm; Witzel, Naoko; Witzel, Jeffrey

2015-01-01

This study reports 2 eye-tracking experiments investigating form interference during sentence-level silent reading. The items involved reduced and unreduced relative clauses (RCs) with words that were orthographically and phonologically similar "(injection-infection"; O+P+, Experiment 1) as well as with words that were orthographically…

Proactive and Retroactive Effects of Negative Suggestion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Alan S.; Brown, Christine M.; Mosbacher, Joy L.; Dryden, W. Erich

2006-01-01

The negative effects of false information presented either prior to (proactive interference; PI) or following (retroactive interference; RI) true information was examined with word definitions (Experiment 1) and trivia facts (Experiment 2). Participants were explicitly aware of which information was true and false when shown, and true-false…

Individual differences in children's pronoun processing during reading: Detection of incongruence is associated with higher reading fluency and more regressions.

PubMed

Eilers, Sarah; Tiffin-Richards, Simon P; Schroeder, Sascha

2018-05-10

In two eye tracking experiments, we tested fourth graders' and adults' sensitivity to gender feature mismatches during reading of pronouns and their susceptibility to interference of feature-matching entities in the sentence. In Experiment 1, we showed children and adults two-phrase sentences such as "Leon{m}/Lisa{f} shooed away the sparrow{m}/the seagull{f} and then he{m} ate the tasty sandwich." Eye tracking measures showed no qualitative differences between children's and adults' processing of the pronouns. Both age groups showed longer gaze durations on subject mismatching than on matching pronouns, and there was no evidence of interference of a gender-matching object. Strikingly, in contrast to the adults, not all fourth graders reported detection of the subject gender mismatch. In Experiment 2, we replicated earlier results with a larger sample of children (N = 75) and found that only half of the fourth graders detected the gender mismatch during reading. The detectors' reading pattern at the pronoun differed from that of the non-detectors. Children who reported detection of the mismatch showed a reading pattern more similar to the adults. Children who did not report detection of the mismatch had comparably slower gaze durations and were less likely to make regressions directly at the pronoun. We conclude that children who read more fluently use their available processing resources to immediately repair grammatical inconsistencies encountered in a text. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Escape Performance Following Exposure to Inescapable Shock: Deficits in Motor Response Maintenance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anisman, Hymie; And Others

1978-01-01

A series of 13 experiments employing mice systematically investigated shock-elicited activity in a circular field and escape performance in a shuttle box following exposure to either escapable or inescapable shock. Results show that escape interference induced by inescapable shock may be comfortably interpreted in terms of a decreased tendency for…

The contribution of disengagement to temporal discriminability.

PubMed

Shipstead, Zach; Nespodzany, Ashley

2018-05-01

The present study examines the idea that time-based forgetting of outdated information can lead to better memory of currently relevant information. This was done using the visual arrays task, along with a between-subjects manipulation of both the retention interval (1 s vs. 4 s) and the time between two trials (1 s vs. 4 s). Consistent with prior work [Shipstead, Z., & Engle, R. W. (2013). Interference within the focus of attention: Working memory tasks reflect more than temporary maintenance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 39, 277-289; Experiment 1], longer retention intervals did not lead to diminished memory of currently relevant information. However, we did find that longer periods of time between two trials improved memory for currently relevant information. This replicates findings that indicate proactive interference affects visual arrays performance and extends previous findings to show that reduction of proactive interference can occur in a time-dependent manner.

Emulating weak localization using a solid-state quantum circuit.

PubMed

Chen, Yu; Roushan, P; Sank, D; Neill, C; Lucero, Erik; Mariantoni, Matteo; Barends, R; Chiaro, B; Kelly, J; Megrant, A; Mutus, J Y; O'Malley, P J J; Vainsencher, A; Wenner, J; White, T C; Yin, Yi; Cleland, A N; Martinis, John M

2014-10-14

Quantum interference is one of the most fundamental physical effects found in nature. Recent advances in quantum computing now employ interference as a fundamental resource for computation and control. Quantum interference also lies at the heart of sophisticated condensed matter phenomena such as Anderson localization, phenomena that are difficult to reproduce in numerical simulations. Here, employing a multiple-element superconducting quantum circuit, with which we manipulate a single microwave photon, we demonstrate that we can emulate the basic effects of weak localization. By engineering the control sequence, we are able to reproduce the well-known negative magnetoresistance of weak localization as well as its temperature dependence. Furthermore, we can use our circuit to continuously tune the level of disorder, a parameter that is not readily accessible in mesoscopic systems. Demonstrating a high level of control, our experiment shows the potential for employing superconducting quantum circuits as emulators for complex quantum phenomena.

Extracommunicative functions of language: verbal interference causes selective categorization impairments.

PubMed

Lupyan, Gary

2009-08-01

In addition to its communicative functions, language has been argued to have a variety of extracommunicative functions, as assessed by its causal involvement in putatively nonlinguistic tasks. In the present work, I argue that language may be critically involved in the ability of human adults to categorize objects on a specific dimension (e.g., color) while abstracting over other dimensions (e.g., size). This ability is frequently impaired in aphasic patients. The present work demonstrates that normal participants placed under conditions of verbal interference show a pattern of deficits strikingly similar to that of aphasic patients: impaired taxonomic categorization along perceptual dimensions, and preserved thematic categorization. A control experiment using a visuospatial-interference task failed to find this selective pattern of deficits. The present work has implications for understanding the online role of language in normal cognition and supports the claim that language is causally involved in nonverbal cognition.

Zero-forcing pre-coding for MIMO WiMAX transceivers: Performance analysis and implementation issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cattoni, A. F.; Le Moullec, Y.; Sacchi, C.

Next generation wireless communication networks are expected to achieve ever increasing data rates. Multi-User Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MU-MIMO) is a key technique to obtain the expected performance, because such a technique combines the high capacity achievable using MIMO channel with the benefits of space division multiple access. In MU-MIMO systems, the base stations transmit signals to two or more users over the same channel, for this reason every user can experience inter-user interference. This paper provides a capacity analysis of an online, interference-based pre-coding algorithm able to mitigate the multi-user interference of the MU-MIMO systems in the context of a realistic WiMAX application scenario. Simulation results show that pre-coding can significantly increase the channel capacity. Furthermore, the paper presents several feasibility considerations for implementation of the analyzed technique in a possible FPGA-based software defined radio.

Facilitation and interference in naming: A consequence of the same learning process?

PubMed

Hughes, Julie W; Schnur, Tatiana T

2017-08-01

Our success with naming depends on what we have named previously, a phenomenon thought to reflect learning processes. Repeatedly producing the same name facilitates language production (i.e., repetition priming), whereas producing semantically related names hinders subsequent performance (i.e., semantic interference). Semantic interference is found whether naming categorically related items once (continuous naming) or multiple times (blocked cyclic naming). A computational model suggests that the same learning mechanism responsible for facilitation in repetition creates semantic interference in categorical naming (Oppenheim, Dell, & Schwartz, 2010). Accordingly, we tested the predictions that variability in semantic interference is correlated across categorical naming tasks and is caused by learning, as measured by two repetition priming tasks (picture-picture repetition priming, Exp. 1; definition-picture repetition priming, Exp. 2, e.g., Wheeldon & Monsell, 1992). In Experiment 1 (77 subjects) semantic interference and repetition priming effects were robust, but the results revealed no relationship between semantic interference effects across contexts. Critically, learning (picture-picture repetition priming) did not predict semantic interference effects in either task. We replicated these results in Experiment 2 (81 subjects), finding no relationship between semantic interference effects across tasks or between semantic interference effects and learning (definition-picture repetition priming). We conclude that the changes underlying facilitatory and interfering effects inherent to lexical access are the result of distinct learning processes where multiple mechanisms contribute to semantic interference in naming. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Implicit sequence learning and contextual cueing do not compete for central cognitive resources.

PubMed

Jiménez, Luis; Vázquez, Gustavo A

2011-02-01

Sequence learning and contextual cueing explore different forms of implicit learning, arising from practice with a structured serial task, or with a search task with informative contexts. We assess whether these two learning effects arise simultaneously when both remain implicit. Experiments 1 and 2 confirm that a cueing effect can be observed under a continuous setting and that there is no interference between contextual cueing and sequence learning. Experiments 3a and 3b tested whether an interference arises specifically when the sequence becomes explicit. Results show that the expression of contextual cueing disappeared in those conditions but that context information is still acquired, and it affects performance when the sequence is removed. The results are discussed in relation to the current debates about the automaticity of implicit learning, and about the role of attention in the acquisition and expression of contextual cueing. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Magnetoplasma sheath waves on a conducting tether in the ionosphere with applications to EMI propagation on large space structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Balmain, K. G.; James, H. G.; Bantin, C. C.

1991-01-01

A recent space experiment confirmed sheath-wave propagation of a kilometer-long insulated wire in the ionosphere, oriented parallel to the Earth's magnetic field. This space tether experiment, Oedipus-A, showed a sheath-wave passband up to about 2 MHz and a phase velocity somewhat slower than the velocity of light in a vacuum, and also demonstrated both ease of wave excitation and low attenuation. The evidence suggests that, on any large structure in low Earth orbit, transient or continuous wave electromagnetic interference, once generated, could propagate over the structure via sheath waves, producing unwanted signal levels much higher than in the absence of the ambient plasma medium. Consequently, there is a need for a review of both electromagnetic interference/electromagnetic compatibility standards and ground test procedures as they apply to large structures in low Earth orbit.

Contextual interference processing during fast categorisations of facial expressions.

PubMed

Frühholz, Sascha; Trautmann-Lengsfeld, Sina A; Herrmann, Manfred

2011-09-01

We examined interference effects of emotionally associated background colours during fast valence categorisations of negative, neutral and positive expressions. According to implicitly learned colour-emotion associations, facial expressions were presented with colours that either matched the valence of these expressions or not. Experiment 1 included infrequent non-matching trials and Experiment 2 a balanced ratio of matching and non-matching trials. Besides general modulatory effects of contextual features on the processing of facial expressions, we found differential effects depending on the valance of target facial expressions. Whereas performance accuracy was mainly affected for neutral expressions, performance speed was specifically modulated by emotional expressions indicating some susceptibility of emotional expressions to contextual features. Experiment 3 used two further colour-emotion combinations, but revealed only marginal interference effects most likely due to missing colour-emotion associations. The results are discussed with respect to inherent processing demands of emotional and neutral expressions and their susceptibility to contextual interference.

Regional gray and white matter volume associated with Stroop interference: evidence from voxel-based morphometry.

PubMed

Takeuchi, Hikaru; Taki, Yasuyuki; Sassa, Yuko; Hashizume, Hiroshi; Sekiguchi, Atsushi; Nagase, Tomomi; Nouchi, Rui; Fukushima, Ai; Kawashima, Ryuta

2012-02-01

During Stroop tasks, subjects experience cognitive interference when they resolve interferences such as identifying the ink color of a printed word while ignoring the word's identity. Stroop paradigms are commonly used as an index of attention deficits and a tool for investigating the functions of the frontal lobes and other associated structures. Despite these uses and the vast amount of attention given to Stroop paradigms, the regional gray matter volume/regional white matter volume (rGMV/rWMV) correlates of Stroop interference have not yet been identified at the whole brain level in normal adults. We examined this issue using voxel-based morphometry in right-handed healthy young adults. We found significant negative relationships between the Stroop interference rate and rGMV in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right inferior frontal gyrus, and cerebellum. Furthermore, we found relationships between the Stroop interference rate and rWMV in bilateral anatomical clusters that extended around extensive WM regions in the dorsal part of the frontal lobe. These findings are the first to reveal rGMV/rWMV that underlie the performance of the Stroop task, a widely used psychological paradigm at the whole brain level. Of note, our findings support the notion that ACC contributes to Stroop performance and show the involvement of regions that have been implicated in response inhibition and attention. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Working Memory Capacity and Stroop Interference: Global versus Local Indices of Executive Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meier, Matt E.; Kane, Michael J.

2013-01-01

Two experiments examined the relations among working memory capacity (WMC), congruency-sequence effects, proportion-congruency effects, and the color-word Stroop effect to test whether congruency-sequence effects might inform theoretical claims regarding WMC's prediction of Stroop interference. In Experiment 1, subjects completed either a…

Resolving Semantic Interference during Word Production Requires Central Attention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kleinman, Daniel

2013-01-01

The semantic picture-word interference task has been used to diagnose how speakers resolve competition while selecting words for production. The attentional demands of this resolution process were assessed in 2 dual-task experiments (tone classification followed by picture naming). In Experiment 1, when pictures and distractor words were presented…

Resistance to Interference of Olfactory Perceptual Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevenson, Richard J.; Case, Trevor I.; Tomiczek, Caroline

2007-01-01

Olfactory memory is especially persistent. The current study explored whether this applies to a form of perceptual learning, in which experience of an odor mixture results in greater judged similarity between its elements. Experiment 1A contrasted 2 forms of interference procedure, "compound" (mixture AW, followed by presentation of new mixtures…

Low cognitive load strengthens distractor interference while high load attenuates when cognitive load and distractor possess similar visual characteristics.

PubMed

Minamoto, Takehiro; Shipstead, Zach; Osaka, Naoyuki; Engle, Randall W

2015-07-01

Studies on visual cognitive load have reported inconsistent effects of distractor interference when distractors have visual characteristic that are similar to the cognitive load. Some studies have shown that the cognitive load enhances distractor interference, while others reported an attenuating effect. We attribute these inconsistencies to the amount of cognitive load that a person is required to maintain. Lower amounts of cognitive load increase distractor interference by orienting attention toward visually similar distractors. Higher amounts of cognitive load attenuate distractor interference by depleting attentional resources needed to process distractors. In the present study, cognitive load consisted of faces (Experiments 1-3) or scenes (Experiment 2). Participants performed a selective attention task in which they ignored face distractors while judging a color of a target dot presented nearby, under differing amounts of load. Across these experiments distractor interference was greater in the low-load condition and smaller in the high-load condition when the content of the cognitive load had similar visual characteristic to the distractors. We also found that when a series of judgments needed to be made, the effect was apparent for the first trial but not for the second. We further tested an involvement of working memory capacity (WMC) in the load effect (Experiment 3). Interestingly, both high and low WMC groups received an equivalent effect of the cognitive load in the first distractor, suggesting these effects are fairly automatic.

Disentangling the causal relationships between work-home interference and employee health.

PubMed

van Hooff, Madelon L M; Geurts, Sabine A E; Taris, Toon W; Kompier, Michiel A J; Dikkers, Josje S E; Houtman, Irene L D; van den Heuvel, Floor M M

2005-02-01

The present study was designed to investigate the causal relationships between (time- and strain-based) work-home interference and employee health. The effort-recovery theory provided the theoretical basis for this study. Two-phase longitudinal data (with a 1-year time lag) were gathered from 730 Dutch police officers to test the following hypotheses with structural equation modeling: (i) work-home interference predicts health deterioration, (ii) health complaints precede increased levels of such interference, and (iii) both processes operate. The relationship between stable and changed levels of work-home interference across time and their relationships with the course of health were tested with a group-by-time analysis of variance. Four subgroups were created that differed in starting point and the development of work-home interference across time. The normal causal model, in which strain-based (but not time-based) work-home interference was longitudinally related to increased health complaints 1 year later, fit the data well and significantly better than the reversed causal model. Although the reciprocal model also provided a good fit, it was less parsimonious than the normal causal model. In addition, both an increment in (strain-based) work-home interference across time and a long-lasting experience of high (strain-based) work-home interference were associated with a deterioration in health. It was concluded that (strain-based) work-home interference acts as a precursor of health impairment and that different patterns of (strain-based) work-home interference across time are related to different health courses. Particularly long-term experience of (strain-based) work-home interference seems responsible for an accumulation of health complaints.

Interfering with memory for faces: The cost of doing two things at once.

PubMed

Wammes, Jeffrey D; Fernandes, Myra A

2016-01-01

We inferred the processes critical for episodic retrieval of faces by measuring susceptibility to memory interference from different distracting tasks. Experiment 1 examined recognition of studied faces under full attention (FA) or each of two divided attention (DA) conditions requiring concurrent decisions to auditorily presented letters. Memory was disrupted in both DA relative to FA conditions, a result contrary to a material-specific account of interference effects. Experiment 2 investigated whether the magnitude of interference depended on competition between concurrent tasks for common processing resources. Studied faces were presented either upright (configurally processed) or inverted (featurally processed). Recognition was completed under FA, or DA with one of two face-based distracting tasks requiring either featural or configural processing. We found an interaction: memory for upright faces was lower under DA when the distracting task required configural than featural processing, while the reverse was true for memory of inverted faces. Across experiments, the magnitude of memory interference was similar (a 19% or 20% decline from FA) regardless of whether the materials in the distracting task overlapped with the to-be-remembered information. Importantly, interference was significantly larger (42%) when the processing demands of the distracting and target retrieval task overlapped, suggesting a processing-specific account of memory interference.

Is naming faces different from naming objects? Semantic interference in a face- and object-naming task.

PubMed

Marful, Alejandra; Paolieri, Daniela; Bajo, M Teresa

2014-04-01

A current debate regarding face and object naming concerns whether they are equally vulnerable to semantic interference. Although some studies have shown similar patterns of interference, others have revealed different effects for faces and objects. In Experiment 1, we compared face naming to object naming when exemplars were presented in a semantically homogeneous context (grouped by their category) or in a semantically heterogeneous context (mixed) across four cycles. The data revealed significant slowing for both face and object naming in the homogeneous context. This semantic interference was explained as being due to lexical competition from the conceptual activation of category members. When focusing on the first cycle, a facilitation effect for objects but not for faces appeared. This result permits us to explain the previously observed discrepancies between face and object naming. Experiment 2 was identical to Experiment 1, with the exception that half of the stimuli were presented as face/object names for reading. Semantic interference was present for both face and object naming, suggesting that faces and objects behave similarly during naming. Interestingly, during reading, semantic interference was observed for face names but not for object names. This pattern is consistent with previous assumptions proposing the activation of a person identity during face name reading.

The causal role of the somatosensory cortex in prosocial behaviour

PubMed Central

Gallo, Selene; Paracampo, Riccardo; Müller-Pinzler, Laura; Severo, Mario Carlo; Suttrup, Judith; Avenanti, Alessio; Keysers, Christian

2018-01-01

Witnessing another person’s suffering elicits vicarious brain activity in areas that are active when we ourselves are in pain. Whether this activity influences prosocial behavior remains the subject of debate. Here participants witnessed a confederate express pain through a reaction of the swatted hand or through a facial expression, and could decide to reduce that pain by donating money. Participants donate more money on trials in which the confederate expressed more pain. Electroencephalography shows that activity of the somatosensory cortex I (SI) hand region explains variance in donation. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) shows that altering this activity interferes with the pain–donation coupling only when pain is expressed by the hand. High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) shows that altering SI activity also interferes with pain perception. These experiments show that vicarious somatosensory activations contribute to prosocial decision-making and suggest that they do so by helping to transform observed reactions of affected body-parts into accurate perceptions of pain that are necessary for decision-making. PMID:29735015

The role of figure-ground segregation in change blindness.

PubMed

Landman, Rogier; Spekreijse, Henk; Lamme, Victor A F

2004-04-01

Partial report methods have shown that a large-capacity representation exists for a few hundred milliseconds after a picture has disappeared. However, change blindness studies indicate that very limited information remains available when a changed version of the image is presented subsequently. What happens to the large-capacity representation? New input after the first image may interfere, but this is likely to depend on the characteristics of the new input. In our first experiment, we show that a display containing homogeneous image elements between changing images does not render the large-capacity representation unavailable. Interference occurs when these new elements define objects. On that basis we introduce a new method to produce change blindness: The second experiment shows that change blindness can be induced by redefining figure and background, without an interval between the displays. The local features (line segments) that defined figures and background were swapped, while the contours of the figures remained where they were. Normally, changes are easily detected when there is no interval. However, our paradigm results in massive change blindness. We propose that in a change blindness experiment, there is a large-capacity representation of the original image when it is followed by a homogeneous interval display, but that change blindness occurs whenever the changed image forces resegregation of figures from the background.

Numerical simulation and experimental verification of extended source interferometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Yinlong; Li, Lin; Wang, Shanshan; Wang, Xiao; Zang, Haijun; Zhu, Qiudong

2013-12-01

Extended source interferometer, compared with the classical point source interferometer, can suppress coherent noise of environment and system, decrease dust scattering effects and reduce high-frequency error of reference surface. Numerical simulation and experimental verification of extended source interferometer are discussed in this paper. In order to provide guidance for the experiment, the modeling of the extended source interferometer is realized by using optical design software Zemax. Matlab codes are programmed to rectify the field parameters of the optical system automatically and get a series of interferometric data conveniently. The communication technique of DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) was used to connect Zemax and Matlab. Then the visibility of interference fringes can be calculated through adding the collected interferometric data. Combined with the simulation, the experimental platform of the extended source interferometer was established, which consists of an extended source, interference cavity and image collection system. The decrease of high-frequency error of reference surface and coherent noise of the environment is verified. The relation between the spatial coherence and the size, shape, intensity distribution of the extended source is also verified through the analysis of the visibility of interference fringes. The simulation result is in line with the result given by real extended source interferometer. Simulation result shows that the model can simulate the actual optical interference of the extended source interferometer quite well. Therefore, the simulation platform can be used to guide the experiment of interferometer which is based on various extended sources.

The roles of shared vs. distinctive conceptual features in lexical access

PubMed Central

Vieth, Harrison E.; McMahon, Katie L.; de Zubicaray, Greig I.

2014-01-01

Contemporary models of spoken word production assume conceptual feature sharing determines the speed with which objects are named in categorically-related contexts. However, statistical models of concept representation have also identified a role for feature distinctiveness, i.e., features that identify a single concept and serve to distinguish it quickly from other similar concepts. In three experiments we investigated whether distinctive features might explain reports of counter-intuitive semantic facilitation effects in the picture word interference (PWI) paradigm. In Experiment 1, categorically-related distractors matched in terms of semantic similarity ratings (e.g., zebra and pony) and manipulated with respect to feature distinctiveness (e.g., a zebra has stripes unlike other equine species) elicited interference effects of comparable magnitude. Experiments 2 and 3 investigated the role of feature distinctiveness with respect to reports of facilitated naming with part-whole distractor-target relations (e.g., a hump is a distinguishing part of a CAMEL, whereas knee is not, vs. an unrelated part such as plug). Related part distractors did not influence target picture naming latencies significantly when the part denoted by the related distractor was not visible in the target picture (whether distinctive or not; Experiment 2). When the part denoted by the related distractor was visible in the target picture, non-distinctive part distractors slowed target naming significantly at SOA of −150 ms (Experiment 3). Thus, our results show that semantic interference does occur for part-whole distractor-target relations in PWI, but only when distractors denote features shared with the target and other category exemplars. We discuss the implications of these results for some recently developed, novel accounts of lexical access in spoken word production. PMID:25278914

Stroop interference and food intake.

PubMed

Overduin, J; Jansen, A; Louwerse, E

1995-11-01

The Stroop task is aimed at assessing attentional bias. Words are displayed one by one on a computer screen and subjects are instructed to name the color in which every word is printed. The attentional bias is supposed to be reflected in the extent to which the word meanings interfere with the speed of color naming: The longer the color naming latency, the larger the attentional bias. Experiments using this task have demonstrated attentional bias for eating and body shape-related words in bulimic, anorexic, and restrained subjects. Explanations of these results have generally been formulated in terms of restricted food intake or emotional concerns about food and body shape-related themes. In contrast, in the present article it was proposed that Stroop interference might reflect a tendency either to withdraw or approach food or body shape-related stimuli. Fifty-one subjects (25 unrestrained, 26 restrained) were administered a Stroop task containing neutral, food, and body shape-related words. There were two conditions to which subjects were randomly allocated: the "appetizer" and "no-appetizer" condition. The appetizer was a bit of pudding to be ingested by the subject just before the Stroop task. Following the Stroop task an ice cream taste test was presented in which the subjects were allowed to eat as much as they liked. The amount of ice cream eaten was registered secretly. The results show that in unrestrained subjects Stroop interference for food words was found only in the appetizer condition. Restrained subjects, however, showed a permanent interference for food words. A significant correlation of .58 between Stroop food-word interference and ice cream intake was found only in unrestrained subjects. In restrained eaters the correlation was near 0. No effect of condition or restraint was found on Stroop body shape-word interference. The findings indicate that (1) ingestion of an appetizer seems to have evoked an attentional bias for food words in nonrestraints that correlated with food intake; (2) restrained eaters showed continuous attentional bias. This appears to support the urge-to-act explanation of Stroop interference. The lack of correlation between restraints' attentional bias and ad lib food intake could have been caused by inhibition of approach which is one of the characteristics of restrained eating: The present procedure seems not to have triggered disinhibited eating in these subjects. Among other things it is concluded that Stroop interference, as a measure of "craving" triggered by food cue, might be a useful aid in assessing the risk of relapse in treated binge eating patients.

Assessment and control of spacecraft electromagnetic interference

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1972-01-01

Design criteria are presented to provide guidance in assessing electromagnetic interference from onboard sources and establishing requisite control in spacecraft design, development, and testing. A comprehensive state-of-the-art review is given which covers flight experience, sources and transmission of electromagnetic interference, susceptible equipment, design procedure, control techniques, and test methods.

Meaning and the Elimination of Sensory Interference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Douglas L.; And Others

1976-01-01

Research has indicated that interference produced by the sharing of sensory features of paired-associate stimulus words was not eliminated by processing the pairs at the meaning level. These experiments were intended to extend the range of conditions under which the sensory interference effect might persist, and to incorporate the findings within…

Predator interference and stability of predator-prey dynamics.

PubMed

Přibylová, Lenka; Berec, Luděk

2015-08-01

Predator interference, that is, a decline in the per predator consumption rate as predator density increases, is generally thought to promote predator-prey stability. Indeed, this has been demonstrated in many theoretical studies on predator-prey dynamics. In virtually all of these studies, the stabilization role is demonstrated as a weakening of the paradox of enrichment. With predator interference, stable limit cycles that appear as a result of environmental enrichment occur for higher values of the environmental carrying capacity of prey, and even a complete absence of the limit cycles can happen. Here we study predator-prey dynamics using the Rosenzweig-MacArthur-like model in which the Holling type II functional response has been replaced by a predator-dependent family which generalizes many of the commonly used descriptions of predator interference. By means of a bifurcation analysis we show that sufficiently strong predator interference may bring about another stabilizing mechanism. In particular, hysteresis combined with (dis)appearance of stable limit cycles imply abrupt increases in both the prey and predator densities and enhanced persistence and resilience of the predator-prey system. We encourage refitting the previously collected data on predator consumption rates as well as for conducting further predation experiments to see what functional response from the explored family is the most appropriate.

Efficient source separation algorithms for acoustic fall detection using a microsoft kinect.

PubMed

Li, Yun; Ho, K C; Popescu, Mihail

2014-03-01

Falls have become a common health problem among older adults. In previous study, we proposed an acoustic fall detection system (acoustic FADE) that employed a microphone array and beamforming to provide automatic fall detection. However, the previous acoustic FADE had difficulties in detecting the fall signal in environments where interference comes from the fall direction, the number of interferences exceeds FADE's ability to handle or a fall is occluded. To address these issues, in this paper, we propose two blind source separation (BSS) methods for extracting the fall signal out of the interferences to improve the fall classification task. We first propose the single-channel BSS by using nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) to automatically decompose the mixture into a linear combination of several basis components. Based on the distinct patterns of the bases of falls, we identify them efficiently and then construct the interference free fall signal. Next, we extend the single-channel BSS to the multichannel case through a joint NMF over all channels followed by a delay-and-sum beamformer for additional ambient noise reduction. In our experiments, we used the Microsoft Kinect to collect the acoustic data in real-home environments. The results show that in environments with high interference and background noise levels, the fall detection performance is significantly improved using the proposed BSS approaches.

Identification and mitigation of interference sources present in SSB-based wireless MRI receiver arrays

PubMed Central

Riffe, Matthew J.; Twieg, Michael D.; Gudino, Natalia; Blumenthal, Colin J.; Heilman, Jeremy A.; Griswold, Mark A.

2013-01-01

Purpose Single sideband amplitude modulation (SSB) is an appealing platform for highly parallel wireless MRI detector arrays because the spacing between channels is ideally limited only by the MRI signal bandwidth. However this assumes that no other sources of interference are present outside that bandwidth. This work investigates the practical interference between multiple SSB-encoded MRI signals. Methods Noise from coil preamplifiers and carrier bleed-through are identified as sources of interference. Two different SSB systems were designed for 1.5T with different noise filtering properties. We show how the differences between the filtered noise profiles impact the received MR signal’s dynamic range (DRsig) and image signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) through simulation, bench measurements, and phantom imaging experiments. Results When operating individually in the MR scanner, both SSB systems were shown to minimally impact the original DRsig and SNR. On the other hand, when all eight channels were operating simultaneously, an average SNR loss was observed to be 12% in the one system, while a second system with more complex filtering was able to achieve a 3% loss in SNR. Conclusion Successful wireless transmission of multiple SSB-encoded MRI signals is possible as long as channel interference is properly managed through design and simulation. PMID:23413242

Investigating and Improving Student Understanding of Quantum Mechanics in the Context of Single Photon Interference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshman, Emily; Singh, Chandralekha

2017-01-01

Single photon experiments involving a Mach-Zehnder interferometer can illustrate the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics, e.g., the wave-particle duality of a single photon, single photon interference, and the probabilistic nature of quantum measurement involving single photons. These experiments explicitly make the connection between the…

Conditions for Interference Versus Facilitation During Sequential Sensorimotor Adaptation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bock, Otmar; Schneider, Stefan; Bloomberg, Jacob

2001-01-01

We investigated how sensorimotor adaptation acquired during one experimental session influenced the adaptation in a subsequent session. The subjects' task was to track a visual target using a joystick-controlled cursor, while the relationship between joystick and cursor position was manipulated to introduce a sensorimotor discordance. Each subject participated in two sessions, separated by a pause of 2 min to 1 month duration. We found that adaptation was achieved within minutes, and persisted in the memory for at least a month, with only a small decay (experiment A). When the discordances administered in the two sessions were in mutual conflict, we found evidence for task interference (experiment B). However, when the discordances were independent, we found facilitation rather than interference (experiment C); the latter finding could not be explained by the use of an "easier" discordance in the second session (experiment D). We conclude that interference is due to an incompatibility between task requirements, and not to a competition of tasks for short-term memory. We further conclude that the ability to adapt to a sensorimotor discordance.

The effect of speed-accuracy strategy on response interference control in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Wylie, S A; van den Wildenberg, W P M; Ridderinkhof, K R; Bashore, T R; Powell, V D; Manning, C A; Wooten, G F

2009-07-01

Studies that used conflict paradigms such as the Eriksen Flanker task show that many individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) have pronounced difficulty resolving the conflict that arises from the simultaneous activation of mutually exclusive responses. This finding fits well with contemporary views that postulate a key role for the basal ganglia in action selection. The present experiment aims to specify the cognitive processes that underlie action selection deficits among PD patients in the context of variations in speed-accuracy strategy. PD patients (n=28) and healthy controls (n=17) performed an arrow version of the flanker task under task instructions that either emphasized speed or accuracy of responses. Reaction time (RT) and accuracy rates decreased with speed compared to accuracy instructions, although to a lesser extent for the PD group. Differences in flanker interference effects among PD and healthy controls depended on speed-accuracy strategy. Compared to the healthy controls, PD patients showed larger flanker interference effects under speed stress. RT distribution analyses suggested that PD patients have greater difficulty suppressing incorrect response activation when pressing for speed. These initial findings point to an important interaction between strategic and computational aspects of interference control in accounting for cognitive impairments of PD. The results are also compatible with recent brain imaging studies that demonstrate basal ganglia activity to co-vary with speed-accuracy adjustments.

The residual protective effects of enactment.

PubMed

Wammes, Jeffrey D; Fernandes, Myra A

2017-07-01

Research has demonstrated the importance of the quality of initial retrieval events (Test 1) for performance on later memory tests (Test 2). We explored whether enacting words at encoding, relative to simply reading them, provided protection against the detrimental effects of a degraded retrieval experience, through the addition of motor processing to the extant memory representation. Participants encoded a mixed list of enacted and read words, then completed Test 1, and a later Test 2. Encoding and Test 2 were always completed under full attention (FA). Critically though, Test 1 was completed either under FA, or under divided attention (DA) with a distracting task requiring semantic and phonological processing. We predicted a larger enactment effect following DA relative to FA, indicating greater preservation of enacted words from dual-task interference. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated that the enactment effect was indeed larger following DA than FA, indicating greater preservation of enacted words after dual-task interference. In Experiment 2, we showed that this effect was even more potent over longer time scales, which served as a conceptual replication. In Experiment 3, we showed that enactment provides little to no protection when the distracting task requires motor processing, and in Experiment 4, we returned to the phonological distracting task and showed that in contrast with enactment, generation at encoding does not afford the same protection to memory. Taken together, these finding suggest that enactment renders words relatively immune to the detrimental effects of dual-tasking during testing, through the addition of a different kind, rather than a greater degree, of processing to the memory trace at encoding. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analytical and experimental investigation of fatigue in a sheet specimen with an interference-fit bolt

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crews, J. H., Jr.

1975-01-01

A fatigue analysis, based on finite-element calculations and fatigue tests, was conducted for an aluminum-alloy sheet specimen with a steel interference-fit bolt. The stress analysis of the region near the bolt hole showed that the beneficial effect of an interference-fit bolt can be interpreted as the combined result of two effects: (1) load transfer through the bolt and (2) the compressive interference stresses in the sheet. Results of the fatigue tests show that progressively higher interference levels produced longer fatigue lives. The tests also show that a high level of interference prevents fretting at the bolt-sheet interface and that interferences larger than this level produced little additional improvement in fatigue life.

Design of General-purpose Industrial signal acquisition system in a large scientific device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Bin; Yang, Lei

2018-02-01

In order to measure the industrial signal of a large scientific device experiment, a set of industrial data general-purpose acquisition system has been designed. It can collect 4~20mA current signal and 0~10V voltage signal. Through the practical experiments, it shows that the system is flexible, reliable, convenient and economical, and the system has characters of high definition and strong anti-interference ability. Thus, the system fully meets the design requirements..

Khat-induced hypnagogic hallucinations.

PubMed

Granek, M; Shalev, A; Weingarten, A M

1988-10-01

Khat is a plant whose leaves are chewed for their stimulating effect. This effect is attributed to cathinone, an alkaloid identical to dextroamphetamine. Khat chewing is widespread among eastern African and Yemenite populations and is believed to be innocuous. Our experience shows, however, that a substantial number of chronic khat chewers experience persistent hypnagogic hallucinations - a symptom that has not yet been described. Three vignettes illustrates this phenomena, which often interferes with psychiatric diagnosis. Different explanatory models are discussed, among them chronic suppression of REM sleep.

An experimental SMI adaptive antenna array for weak interfering signals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dilsavor, R. L.; Gupta, I. J.

1989-01-01

A modified sample matrix inversion (SMI) algorithm designed to increase the suppression of weak interference is implemented on an existing experimental array system. The algorithm itself is fully described as are a number of issues concerning its implementation and evaluation, such as sample scaling, snapshot formation, weight normalization, power calculation, and system calibration. Several experiments show that the steady state performance (i.e., many snapshots are used to calculate the array weights) of the experimental system compares favorably with its theoretical performance. It is demonstrated that standard SMI does not yield adequate suppression of weak interference. Modified SMI is then used to experimentally increase this suppression by as much as 13dB.

Harnessing recombination to speed adaptive evolution in Escherichia coli.

PubMed

Winkler, James; Kao, Katy C

2012-09-01

Evolutionary engineering typically involves asexual propagation of a strain to improve a desired phenotype. However, asexual populations suffer from extensive clonal interference, a phenomenon where distinct lineages of beneficial clones compete and are often lost from the population given sufficient time. Improved adaptive mutants can likely be generated by genetic exchange between lineages, thereby reducing clonal interference. We present a system that allows continuous in situ recombination by using an Esherichia coli F-based conjugation system lacking surface exclusion. Evolution experiments revealed that Hfr-mediated recombination significantly speeds adaptation in certain circumstances. These results show that our system is stable, effective, and suitable for use in evolutionary engineering applications. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Probability cueing of distractor locations: both intertrial facilitation and statistical learning mediate interference reduction.

PubMed

Goschy, Harriet; Bakos, Sarolta; Müller, Hermann J; Zehetleitner, Michael

2014-01-01

Targets in a visual search task are detected faster if they appear in a probable target region as compared to a less probable target region, an effect which has been termed "probability cueing." The present study investigated whether probability cueing cannot only speed up target detection, but also minimize distraction by distractors in probable distractor regions as compared to distractors in less probable distractor regions. To this end, three visual search experiments with a salient, but task-irrelevant, distractor ("additional singleton") were conducted. Experiment 1 demonstrated that observers can utilize uneven spatial distractor distributions to selectively reduce interference by distractors in frequent distractor regions as compared to distractors in rare distractor regions. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that intertrial facilitation, i.e., distractor position repetitions, and statistical learning (independent of distractor position repetitions) both contribute to the probability cueing effect for distractor locations. Taken together, the present results demonstrate that probability cueing of distractor locations has the potential to serve as a strong attentional cue for the shielding of likely distractor locations.

Chlorinated Cyanurates: Method Interferences and Application Implications

EPA Science Inventory

Experiments were conducted to investigate method interferences, residual stability, regulated DBP formation, and a water chemistry model associated with the use of Dichlor & Trichlor in drinking water.

Functional connections between activated and deactivated brain regions mediate emotional interference during externally directed cognition.

PubMed

Di Plinio, Simone; Ferri, Francesca; Marzetti, Laura; Romani, Gian Luca; Northoff, Georg; Pizzella, Vittorio

2018-04-24

Recent evidence shows that task-deactivations are functionally relevant for cognitive performance. Indeed, higher cognitive engagement has been associated with higher suppression of activity in task-deactivated brain regions - usually ascribed to the Default Mode Network (DMN). Moreover, a negative correlation between these regions and areas actively engaged by the task is associated with better performance. DMN regions show positive modulation during autobiographical, social, and emotional tasks. However, it is not clear how processing of emotional stimuli affects the interplay between the DMN and executive brain regions. We studied this interplay in an fMRI experiment using emotional negative stimuli as distractors. Activity modulations induced by the emotional interference of negative stimuli were found in frontal, parietal, and visual areas, and were associated with modulations of functional connectivity between these task-activated areas and DMN regions. A worse performance was predicted both by lower activity in the superior parietal cortex and higher connectivity between visual areas and frontal DMN regions. Connectivity between right inferior frontal gyrus and several DMN regions in the left hemisphere was related to the behavioral performance. This relation was weaker in the negative than in the neutral condition, likely suggesting less functional inhibitions of DMN regions during emotional processing. These results show that both executive and DMN regions are crucial for the emotional interference process and suggest that DMN connections are related to the interplay between externally-directed and internally-focused processes. Among DMN regions, superior frontal gyrus may be a key node in regulating the interference triggered by emotional stimuli. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Stopping while Going! Response Inhibition Does Not Suffer Dual-Task Interference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yamaguchi, Motonori; Logan, Gordon D.; Bissett, Patrick G.

2012-01-01

Although dual-task interference is ubiquitous in a variety of task domains, stop-signal studies suggest that response inhibition is not subject to such interference. Nevertheless, no study has directly examined stop-signal performance in a dual-task setting. In two experiments, stop-signal performance was examined in a psychological refractory…

Interference in Processing Agreement: The Impact of Grammatical Cues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garraffa, Maria; Di Domenico, Alberto

2016-01-01

Agreement is a covariation in morphological form that reflects relations between words. A series of experiments were carried out in Italian during production and comprehension where an element interferes with agreement. The likelihood of interference found in both modalities is related to the markedness of the intervener and to its grammatical…

Negative Transfer and Positive Interference: Some Confusion in Introductory Psychology Textbooks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Edward

1981-01-01

Discusses weakness in 11 introductory psychology textbooks in distinguishing between the terms proactive behavior and negative transfer. Negative transfer relates to a detrimental effect of prior experience on the learning of a new task, whereas proactive interference concerns a detrimental affect of prior interference on the recall of a second…

A Release from Proactive Interference Analysis of Gender Schema Encoding for Occupations in Adults and Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kee, D.W.; Gregory-Domingue, A.; Rice, K.; Tone, K.

2005-01-01

The present study examined gender schema encoding (activation of gender stereotypes) in the absence deliberate purposes relating to people (stereotype application). A release from proactive interference short-term-memory task was used. College (Experiment 1) and sixth-grade (Experiment 2) participants were asked to retain item identity and…

The Effect of Modality Shifts on Practive Interference in Long-Term Memory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dean, Raymond S.; And Others

1983-01-01

In experiment one, subjects learned a word list in blocked or random forms of auditory/visual change. In experiment two, high- and low-conceptual rigid subjects read passages in shift conditions or nonshift, exclusively in auditory or visual modes. A shift in modality provided a powerful release from proactive interference. (Author/CM)

Attentional Capture by Salient Color Singleton Distractors Is Modulated by Top-Down Dimensional Set

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muller, Hermann J.; Geyer, Thomas; Zehetleitner, Michael; Krummenacher, Joseph

2009-01-01

Three experiments examined whether salient color singleton distractors automatically interfere with the detection singleton form targets in visual search (e.g., J. Theeuwes, 1992), or whether the degree of interference is top-down modulable. In Experiments 1 and 2, observers started with a pure block of trials, which contained either never a…

The Picture-Word Interference Paradigm: Grammatical Class Effects in Lexical Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Simone, Flavia; Collina, Simona

2016-01-01

Four picture-word interference experiments aimed to test the role of grammatical class in lexical production. In Experiment 1 target nouns and verbs were produced in presence of semantically unrelated distractors that could also be nouns and verbs. Participants were slower when the distractor was of the same grammatical category of the target. To…

Monte Carlo source simulation technique for solution of interference reactions in INAA experiments: a preliminary report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allaf, M. Athari; Shahriari, M.; Sohrabpour, M.

2004-04-01

A new method using Monte Carlo source simulation of interference reactions in neutron activation analysis experiments has been developed. The neutron spectrum at the sample location has been simulated using the Monte Carlo code MCNP and the contributions of different elements to produce a specified gamma line have been determined. The produced response matrix has been used to measure peak areas and the sample masses of the elements of interest. A number of benchmark experiments have been performed and the calculated results verified against known values. The good agreement obtained between the calculated and known values suggests that this technique may be useful for the elimination of interference reactions in neutron activation analysis.

LDEF active optical system components experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blue, M. D.

1992-01-01

A preliminary report on the Active Optical System Components Experiment is presented. This experiment contained 136 components in a six inch deep tray including lasers, infrared detectors and arrays, ultraviolet light detectors, light-emitting diodes, a light modulator, flash lamps, optical filters, glasses, and samples of surface finishes. Thermal, mechanical, and structural considerations leading to the design of the tray hardware are discussed. In general, changes in the retested component characteristics appear as much related to the passage of time as to the effects of the space environment, but organic materials, multilayer optical interference filters, and extreme-infrared reflectivity of black paints show unexpected changes.

Evidence for decay in verbal short-term memory: a commentary on Berman, Jonides, and Lewis (2009).

PubMed

Campoy, Guillermo

2012-07-01

M. G. Berman, J. Jonides, and R. L. Lewis (2009) adapted the recent-probes task to investigate the causes of forgetting in short-term memory. In 7 experiments, they studied the persistence of memory traces by assessing the level of proactive interference generated by previous-trial items over a range of intertrial intervals. None of the experiments found a reduction in proactive interference over time, which they interpreted as evidence against time-based decay. However, it is possible that decay actually occurred over a shorter time period than was tested in this study, wherein the shortest decay interval was 3,300 ms. By reducing the time scale, the 2 experiments reported in the current commentary revealed a sharp decrease in proactive interference over time, with this reduction reaching a plateau in less than 3 s. This pattern suggests that decay operates in the early stages, whereas subsequent forgetting is likely to be due to interference. 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Exploration of Effective Persuasive Strategies Used in Resisting Product Advertising: A Case Study of Adult Health Check-Ups.

PubMed

Tien, Han-Kuang; Chung, Wen

2018-05-10

This research addressed adults' health check-ups through the lens of Role Transportation Theory. This theory is applied to narrative advertising that lures adults into seeking health check-ups by causing audiences to empathize with the advertisement's character. This study explored the persuasive mechanism behind narrative advertising and reinforced the Protection Motivation Theory model. We added two key perturbation variables: optimistic bias and truth avoidance. To complete the verification hypothesis, we performed two experiments. In Experiment 1, we recruited 77 respondents online for testing. We used analyses of variance to verify the effectiveness of narrative and informative advertising. Then, in Experiment 2, we recruited 228 respondents to perform offline physical experiments and conducted a path analysis through structural equation modelling. The findings showed that narrative advertising positively impacted participants' disease prevention intentions. The use of Role Transportation Theory in advertising enables the audience to be emotionally connected with the character, which enhances persuasiveness. In Experiment 2, we found that the degree of role transference can interfere with optimistic bias, improve perceived health risk, and promote behavioral intentions for health check-ups. Furthermore, truth avoidance can interfere with perceived health risks, which, in turn, reduce behavioral intentions for health check-ups.

Does proactive interference play a significant role in visual working memory tasks?

PubMed

Makovski, Tal

2016-10-01

Visual working memory (VWM) is an online memory buffer that is typically assumed to be immune to source memory confusions. Accordingly, the few studies that have investigated the role of proactive interference (PI) in VWM tasks found only a modest PI effect at best. In contrast, a recent study has found a substantial PI effect in that performance in a VWM task was markedly improved when all memory items were unique compared to the more standard condition in which only a limited set of objects was used. The goal of the present study was to reconcile this discrepancy between the findings, and to scrutinize the extent to which PI is involved in VWM tasks. Experiments 1-2 showed that the robust advantage in using unique memory items can also be found in a within-subject design and is largely independent of set size, encoding duration, or intertrial interval. Importantly, however, PI was found mainly when all items were presented at the same location, and the effect was greatly diminished when the items were presented, either simultaneously (Experiment 3) or sequentially (Experiments 4-5), at distinct locations. These results indicate that PI is spatially specific and that without the assistance of spatial information VWM is not protected from PI. Thus, these findings imply that spatial information plays a key role in VWM, and underscore the notion that VWM is more vulnerable to interference than is typically assumed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Proactive effects of memory in young and older adults: The role of change recollection

PubMed Central

Wahlheim, Christopher N.

2015-01-01

Age-related deficits in episodic memory are sometimes attributed to older adults being more susceptible to proactive interference. These deficits have been explained by impaired abilities to inhibit competing information and to recollect target information. In the present article, I propose that a change recollection deficit also contributes to age differences in proactive interference. Change recollection occurs when individuals can remember how information changed across episodes, and this counteracts proactive interference by preserving the temporal order of information. Three experiments were conducted to determine whether older adults are less likely to counteract proactive interference by recollecting change. Paired-associate learning paradigms with two lists of word pairs included pairs that repeated across lists, pairs that only appeared in List 2 (control items), and pairs with cues that repeated and responses that changed across lists. Young and older adults’ abilities to detect changed pairs in List 2 and to later recollect those changes at test were measured, along with cued recall of the List 2 responses and confidence in recall performance. Change recollection produced proactive facilitation in the recall of changed pairs, whereas the failure to recollect change resulted in proactive interference. Confidence judgments were sensitive to these effects. The critical finding was that older adults recollected change less than did young adults, and this partially explained older adults’ greater susceptibility to proactive interference. These findings have theoretical implications, showing that a change recollection deficit contributes to age-related deficits in episodic memory. PMID:24710672

Proactive effects of memory in young and older adults: the role of change recollection.

PubMed

Wahlheim, Christopher N

2014-08-01

Age-related deficits in episodic memory are sometimes attributed to older adults being more susceptible to proactive interference. These deficits have been explained by impaired abilities to inhibit competing information and to recollect target information. In the present article, I propose that a change recollection deficit also contributes to age differences in proactive interference. Change recollection occurs when individuals can remember how information changed across episodes, and this counteracts proactive interference by preserving the temporal order of information. Three experiments were conducted to determine whether older adults are less likely to counteract proactive interference by recollecting change. Paired-associate learning paradigms with two lists of word pairs included pairs that repeated across lists, pairs that only appeared in List 2 (control items), and pairs with cues that repeated and responses that changed across lists. Young and older adults' abilities to detect changed pairs in List 2 and to later recollect those changes at test were measured, along with cued recall of the List 2 responses and confidence in recall performance. Change recollection produced proactive facilitation in the recall of changed pairs, whereas the failure to recollect change resulted in proactive interference. Confidence judgments were sensitive to these effects. The critical finding was that older adults recollected change less than did young adults, and this partially explained older adults' greater susceptibility to proactive interference. These findings have theoretical implications, showing that a change recollection deficit contributes to age-related deficits in episodic memory.

Unambiguous Signature of the Berry Phase in Intense Laser Dissociation of Diatomic Molecules.

PubMed

Bouakline, Foudhil

2018-05-03

We report strong evidence of Berry phase effects in intense laser dissociation of D 2 + molecules, manifested as Aharonov-Bohm-like oscillations in the photofragment angular distribution (PAD). Our calculations show that this interference pattern strongly depends on the parity of the diatom initial rotational state, (-1) j . Indeed, the PAD local maxima (minima) observed in one case ( j odd) correspond to local minima (maxima) in the other case ( j even). Using simple topological arguments, we clearly show that such interference conversion is a direct signature of the Berry phase. The sole effect of the latter on the rovibrational wave function is a sign change of the relative phase between two interfering components, which wind in opposite senses around a light-induced conical intersection (LICI). Therefore, encirclement of the LICI leads to constructive ( j odd) or destructive ( j even) self-interference of the initial nuclear wavepacket in the dissociative limit. To corroborate our theoretical findings, we suggest an experiment of strong-field indirect dissociation of D 2 + molecules, comparing the PAD of the ortho and para molecular species in directions nearly perpendicular to the laser polarization axis.

Robust Adaptive Beamforming with Sensor Position Errors Using Weighted Subspace Fitting-Based Covariance Matrix Reconstruction.

PubMed

Chen, Peng; Yang, Yixin; Wang, Yong; Ma, Yuanliang

2018-05-08

When sensor position errors exist, the performance of recently proposed interference-plus-noise covariance matrix (INCM)-based adaptive beamformers may be severely degraded. In this paper, we propose a weighted subspace fitting-based INCM reconstruction algorithm to overcome sensor displacement for linear arrays. By estimating the rough signal directions, we construct a novel possible mismatched steering vector (SV) set. We analyze the proximity of the signal subspace from the sample covariance matrix (SCM) and the space spanned by the possible mismatched SV set. After solving an iterative optimization problem, we reconstruct the INCM using the estimated sensor position errors. Then we estimate the SV of the desired signal by solving an optimization problem with the reconstructed INCM. The main advantage of the proposed algorithm is its robustness against SV mismatches dominated by unknown sensor position errors. Numerical examples show that even if the position errors are up to half of the assumed sensor spacing, the output signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio is only reduced by 4 dB. Beam patterns plotted using experiment data show that the interference suppression capability of the proposed beamformer outperforms other tested beamformers.

Single-component supported lipid bilayers probed using broadband nonlinear optics.

PubMed

Olenick, Laura L; Chase, Hilary M; Fu, Li; Zhang, Yun; McGeachy, Alicia C; Dogangun, Merve; Walter, Stephanie R; Wang, Hong-Fei; Geiger, Franz M

2018-01-31

Broadband SFG spectroscopy is shown to offer considerable advantages over scanning systems in terms of signal-to-noise ratios when probing well-formed single-component supported lipid bilayers formed from zwitterionic lipids with PC headgroups. The SFG spectra obtained from bilayers formed from DOPC, POPC, DLPC, DMPC, DPPC and DSPC show a common peak at ∼2980 cm -1 , which is subject to interference between the C-H and the O-H stretches from the aqueous phase, while membranes having transition temperatures above the laboratory temperature produce SFG spectra with at least two additional peaks, one at ∼2920 cm -1 and another at ∼2880 cm -1 . The results validate spectroscopic and structural data from SFG experiments utilizing asymmetric bilayers in which one leaflet differs from the other in the extent of deuteration. Differences in H 2 O-D 2 O exchange experiments reveal that the lineshapes of the broadband SFG spectra are significantly influenced by interference from OH oscillators in the aqueous phase, even when those oscillators are not probed by the incident infrared light in our broadband setup. In the absence of spectral interference from the OH stretches of the solvent, the alkyl chain terminal methyl group of the bilayer is found to be tilted at an angle of 15° to 35° from the surface normal.

Quantum interference in an interfacial superconductor.

PubMed

Goswami, Srijit; Mulazimoglu, Emre; Monteiro, Ana M R V L; Wölbing, Roman; Koelle, Dieter; Kleiner, Reinhold; Blanter, Ya M; Vandersypen, Lieven M K; Caviglia, Andrea D

2016-10-01

The two-dimensional superconductor that forms at the interface between the complex oxides lanthanum aluminate (LAO) and strontium titanate (STO) has several intriguing properties that set it apart from conventional superconductors. Most notably, an electric field can be used to tune its critical temperature (T c ; ref. 7), revealing a dome-shaped phase diagram reminiscent of high-T c superconductors. So far, experiments with oxide interfaces have measured quantities that probe only the magnitude of the superconducting order parameter and are not sensitive to its phase. Here, we perform phase-sensitive measurements by realizing the first superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) at the LAO/STO interface. Furthermore, we develop a new paradigm for the creation of superconducting circuit elements, where local gates enable the in situ creation and control of Josephson junctions. These gate-defined SQUIDs are unique in that the entire device is made from a single superconductor with purely electrostatic interfaces between the superconducting reservoir and the weak link. We complement our experiments with numerical simulations and show that the low superfluid density of this interfacial superconductor results in a large, gate-controllable kinetic inductance of the SQUID. Our observation of robust quantum interference opens up a new pathway to understanding the nature of superconductivity at oxide interfaces.

A model of human motor sequence learning explains facilitation and interference effects based on spike-timing dependent plasticity.

PubMed

Wang, Quan; Rothkopf, Constantin A; Triesch, Jochen

2017-08-01

The ability to learn sequential behaviors is a fundamental property of our brains. Yet a long stream of studies including recent experiments investigating motor sequence learning in adult human subjects have produced a number of puzzling and seemingly contradictory results. In particular, when subjects have to learn multiple action sequences, learning is sometimes impaired by proactive and retroactive interference effects. In other situations, however, learning is accelerated as reflected in facilitation and transfer effects. At present it is unclear what the underlying neural mechanism are that give rise to these diverse findings. Here we show that a recently developed recurrent neural network model readily reproduces this diverse set of findings. The self-organizing recurrent neural network (SORN) model is a network of recurrently connected threshold units that combines a simplified form of spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) with homeostatic plasticity mechanisms ensuring network stability, namely intrinsic plasticity (IP) and synaptic normalization (SN). When trained on sequence learning tasks modeled after recent experiments we find that it reproduces the full range of interference, facilitation, and transfer effects. We show how these effects are rooted in the network's changing internal representation of the different sequences across learning and how they depend on an interaction of training schedule and task similarity. Furthermore, since learning in the model is based on fundamental neuronal plasticity mechanisms, the model reveals how these plasticity mechanisms are ultimately responsible for the network's sequence learning abilities. In particular, we find that all three plasticity mechanisms are essential for the network to learn effective internal models of the different training sequences. This ability to form effective internal models is also the basis for the observed interference and facilitation effects. This suggests that STDP, IP, and SN may be the driving forces behind our ability to learn complex action sequences.

Effect of occlusal interference on habitual activity of human masseter.

PubMed

Michelotti, A; Farella, M; Gallo, L M; Veltri, A; Palla, S; Martina, R

2005-07-01

It has been suggested that occlusal interference may increase habitual activity in the jaw muscles and may lead to temporomandibular disorders (TMD). We tested these hypotheses by means of a double-blind randomized crossover experiment carried out on 11 young healthy females. Strips of gold foil were glued either on a selected occlusal contact area (active interference) or on the vestibular surface of the same tooth (dummy interference) and left for 8 days each. Electromyographic masseter activity was recorded in the natural environment by portable recorders under interference-free, dummy-interference, and active-interference conditions. The active occlusal interference caused a significant reduction in the number of activity periods per hour and in their mean amplitude. The EMG activity did not change significantly during the dummy-interference condition. None of the subjects developed signs and/or symptoms of TMD throughout the whole study, and most of them adapted fairly well to the occlusal disturbance.

Flexible Two-Photon Interference Fringes with Thermal Light.

PubMed

Cao, De-Zhong; Ren, Cheng; Ni, Jin-Yang; Zhang, Yan; Zhang, Su-Heng; Wang, Kaige

2017-05-16

Flexible interference patterning is an important tool for adaptable measurement precisions. We report on experimental results of controllable two-photon interference fringes with thermal light in an incoherent rotational shearing interferometer. The two incoherent beams in the interferometer are orthogonally polarized, and their wavefront distributions differ only in an angle of rotation. The spacings and directions of the two-photon interference fringes vary with the rotation angle, as illustrated in three cases of two-photon correlation measurements in experiment.

NEW APPROACHES: Demonstration of a dancing interference fringe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kagawa, K.; Yamanaka, H.; Yokoi, S.; Hattori, H.

1997-11-01

A unique and amusing piece of laser art is proposed for use in physics education. It is shown that a dynamic and beautiful interference fringe can be produced when a He - Ne laser beam illuminates a droplet, which is called Brandy's tear, on a glass surface. This interference fringe can be explained in terms of the interference of multiple spherical waves scattered by the droplet. This kind of demonstration experiment is very helpful for exciting students' curiosity.

Slow stamen movement in a perennial herb decreases male–male and male–female interference

PubMed Central

Wang, Lingyan; Bao, Yu; Wang, Hanxi; He, Chunguang; Wang, Ping

2017-01-01

Abstract Approximately 80 % of angiosperm species produce hermaphroditic flowers, which face the problem of male–male sexual interference (one or more anthers gets in the way of disseminating pollen from other anthers) or male–female sexual interference (the pistil interferes with disseminating pollen from the anthers by preventing the anther from touching a pollinator, or the anther prevents pollinator from depositing outcross pollen on the stigma). Slow stamen movement in hermaphrodite flowers has been interpreted as an adaptation for reducing male–male sexual interference. Using slow stamen movement in Lychnis cognata (Caryophyllaceae), this study presents new evidence that this phenomenon can reduce both male–male and male–female sexual interference. Ten stamens in L. cognata flowers vertically elongated their filaments in two batches and displayed similar patterns in pollen dispensing. More importantly, 10 stamens bend out of the floral centre by curving the filament also in 2 batches and pollen grains located at the flower centre displayed the highest viability. Thus, three stages of stamen movement can be identified, comprising two male stages (M1 and M2) and one female stage (F). We found that the main pollinator for L. cognata, Bhutanitis yulongensis (Papilionodae) generally preferred M1 flowers. Manipulation experiments show that vertical stamen movement enabled the anthers to dehisce at different times to prolong the presentation of pollen grains. Horizontal movement of the stamen decreased both male–male and male–female interference. However, vertical stamen movement had a minor role in increasing amount of pollen received by the stigma. This study provides the first direct experimental evidence of concurrent male–male and male–female interference in a flower. We suggest that the selection pressure to reduce such interference might be a strong force in floral evolution. We also propose that other selective pressure, including pollen dispensing mechanisms, pollen longevity, pollinator behaviour and weather, might contribute to floral evolution. PMID:28702163

Slow stamen movement in a perennial herb decreases male-male and male-female interference.

PubMed

Wang, Lingyan; Bao, Yu; Wang, Hanxi; He, Chunguang; Wang, Ping; Sheng, Lianxi; Tang, Zhanhui

2017-07-01

Approximately 80 % of angiosperm species produce hermaphroditic flowers, which face the problem of male - male sexual interference (one or more anthers gets in the way of disseminating pollen from other anthers) or male - female sexual interference (the pistil interferes with disseminating pollen from the anthers by preventing the anther from touching a pollinator, or the anther prevents pollinator from depositing outcross pollen on the stigma). Slow stamen movement in hermaphrodite flowers has been interpreted as an adaptation for reducing male - male sexual interference. Using slow stamen movement in Lychnis cognata (Caryophyllaceae), this study presents new evidence that this phenomenon can reduce both male - male and male - female sexual interference. Ten stamens in L. cognata flowers vertically elongated their filaments in two batches and displayed similar patterns in pollen dispensing. More importantly, 10 stamens bend out of the floral centre by curving the filament also in 2 batches and pollen grains located at the flower centre displayed the highest viability. Thus, three stages of stamen movement can be identified, comprising two male stages (M1 and M2) and one female stage (F). We found that the main pollinator for L. cognata, Bhutanitis yulongensis (Papilionodae) generally preferred M1 flowers. Manipulation experiments show that vertical stamen movement enabled the anthers to dehisce at different times to prolong the presentation of pollen grains. Horizontal movement of the stamen decreased both male - male and male - female interference. However, vertical stamen movement had a minor role in increasing amount of pollen received by the stigma. This study provides the first direct experimental evidence of concurrent male - male and male - female interference in a flower. We suggest that the selection pressure to reduce such interference might be a strong force in floral evolution. We also propose that other selective pressure, including pollen dispensing mechanisms, pollen longevity, pollinator behaviour and weather, might contribute to floral evolution.

Object Interference in Subject-Verb Agreement: The Role of Intermediate Traces of Movement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franck, Julie; Soare, Gabriela; Frauenfelder, Ulrich H.; Rizzi, Luigi

2010-01-01

The research presented here uses theoretical constructs of formal syntax to account for performance data in agreement production. The phenomenon examined is object interference in French, i.e., incorrect agreement of the verb with the object. In the first experiment, interference is shown to occur in object relative clauses despite the absence of…

The Effect of Interference on Temporal Order Memory for Random and Fixed Sequences in Nondemented Older Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tolentino, Jerlyn C.; Pirogovsky, Eva; Luu, Trinh; Toner, Chelsea K.; Gilbert, Paul E.

2012-01-01

Two experiments tested the effect of temporal interference on order memory for fixed and random sequences in young adults and nondemented older adults. The results demonstrate that temporal order memory for fixed and random sequences is impaired in nondemented older adults, particularly when temporal interference is high. However, temporal order…

Visual selective attention with virtual barriers.

PubMed

Schneider, Darryl W

2017-07-01

Previous studies have shown that interference effects in the flanker task are reduced when physical barriers (e.g., hands) are placed around rather than below a target flanked by distractors. One explanation of this finding is the referential coding hypothesis, whereby the barriers serve as reference objects for allocating attention. In five experiments, the generality of the referential coding hypothesis was tested by investigating whether interference effects are modulated by the placement of virtual barriers (e.g., parentheses). Modulation of flanker interference was found only when target and distractors differed in size and the virtual barriers were beveled wood-grain objects. Under these conditions and those of previous studies, the author conjectures that an impression of depth was produced when the barriers were around the target, such that the target was perceived to be on a different depth plane than the distractors. Perception of depth in the stimulus display might have led to referential coding of the stimuli in three-dimensional (3-D) space, influencing the allocation of attention beyond the horizontal and vertical dimensions. This 3-D referential coding hypothesis is consistent with research on selective attention in 3-D space that shows flanker interference is reduced when target and distractors are separated in depth.

Resource Isolation Method for Program’S Performance on CMP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, Ti; Liu, Chunxiu; Xu, Zheng; Li, Huicong; Ma, Qiang

2017-10-01

Data center and cloud computing are more popular, which make more benefits for customers and the providers. However, in data center or clusters, commonly there is more than one program running on one server, but programs may interference with each other. The interference may take a little effect, however, the interference may cause serious drop down of performance. In order to avoid the performance interference problem, the mechanism of isolate resource for different programs is a better choice. In this paper we propose a light cost resource isolation method to improve program’s performance. This method uses Cgroups to set the dedicated CPU and memory resource for a program, aiming at to guarantee the program’s performance. There are three engines to realize this method: Program Monitor Engine top program’s resource usage of CPU and memory and transfer the information to Resource Assignment Engine; Resource Assignment Engine calculates the size of CPU and memory resource should be applied for the program; Cgroups Control Engine divide resource by Linux tool Cgroups, and drag program in control group for execution. The experiment result show that making use of the resource isolation method proposed by our paper, program’s performance can be improved.

Gone for 60 seconds: reactivation length determines motor memory degradation during reconsolidation.

PubMed

de Beukelaar, Toon T; Woolley, Daniel G; Wenderoth, Nicole

2014-10-01

When a stable memory is reactivated it becomes transiently labile and requires restabilization, a process known as reconsolidation. Animal studies have convincingly demonstrated that during reconsolidation memories are modifiable and can be erased when reactivation is followed by an interfering intervention. Few studies have been conducted in humans, however, and results are inconsistent regarding the extent to which a memory can be degraded. We used a motor sequence learning paradigm to show that the length of reactivation constitutes a crucial boundary condition determining whether human motor memories can be degraded. In our first experiment, we found that a short reactivation (less than 60 sec) renders the memory labile and susceptible to degradation through interference, while a longer reactivation does not. In our second experiment, we reproduce these results and show a significant linear relationship between the length of memory reactivation and the detrimental effect of the interfering task performed afterwards, i.e., the longer the reactivation, the smaller the memory loss due to interference. Our data suggest that reactivation via motor execution activates a time-dependent process that initially destabilizes the memory, which is then followed by restabilization during further practice.

Prohibitin-mediated mitochondrial ubiquitination during spermiogenesis in Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis

PubMed Central

Hou, Cong-Cong; Wei, Chao-Guang; Lu, Cheng-Peng; Gao, Xin-Ming; Yang, Wan-Xi; Zhu, Jun-Quan

2017-01-01

The sperm of Eriocheir sinensis has a cup-shaped nucleus that contains several mitochondria embedded at the opening of the cup. The acrosome vesicle also contains derivants of mitochondria. The mitochondria distribution pattern involves a decrease in the number and changes in the structure and transportation of these organelles. The decreased number of sperm mitochondria is achieved through autophagy or the ubiquitination pathway. Prohibitin (PHB), the mitochondria inner membrane protein, is an evolutionarily highly conserved protein, is closely associated with spermatogenesis and sperm quality control and is also a potential substrate of ubiquitination. However, whether PHB protein mediates the ubiquitination pathway of sperm mitochondria in crustacean animals remains poorly understood. In the present study, we revealed that PHB, a substrate of ubiquitin, participates in the ubiquitination and degradation of mitochondria during spermiogenesis in E. sinensis. To confirm this finding, we used shRNA interference to reduce PHB expression and an overexpression technique to increase PHB expression in vitro. The interference experiment showed that the reduced PHB expression directly affected the polyubiquitination level and mitochondria status, whereas PHB overexpression markedly increased the polyubiquitination level. In vitro experiments also showed that PHB and its ubiquitination decide the fate of mitochondria. PMID:29228727

Interference Control in Preschoolers: Factors Influencing Performance on the Day-Night Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montgomery, Derek E.; Anderson, Maren; Uhl, Elizabeth

2008-01-01

Two experiments investigated preschoolers' interference control in variants of the day-night task. The day-night task involves instructing children across 16 trials to say the word "day" when viewing a card depicting a nighttime sky and to say "night" when shown a picture of the daytime sky. The purpose of the experiments was to investigate…

The role of test context in latent inhibition of conditioned inhibition: Part of a search for general principles of associative interference.

PubMed

Miguez, Gonzalo; Soares, Julia S; Miller, Ralph R

2015-09-01

In two lick suppression experiments with rats, we assessed interference with behavior indicative of conditioned inhibition by a latent inhibition treatment as a function of test context. We asked what effect the test context has, given identical latent inhibition treatments in Phase 1 and identical conditioned inhibition trainings in Phase 2. In Experiment 1, an AAA versus AAB context-shift design determined that the latent inhibition treatment in Phase 1 attenuated behavior indicative of the conditioned inhibition training administered in Phase 2, regardless of the test context, which could reflect a failure to either acquire or express conditioned inhibition. In Experiment 2, an ABA versus ABB design showed that test performance in Contexts A and B reflected the treatments that had been administered in those contexts (i.e., conditioned inhibition was observed in Context B but not A), which could reflect either the context specificity of either latent inhibition or conditioned inhibition. In either case, latent inhibition of conditioned inhibition training in at least some situations was seen to reflect an expression deficit rather than an acquisition deficit. These data, in conjunction with prior reports, suggest that latent inhibition is relatively specific to the context in which it was administered, whereas conditioned inhibition is specific to its training context only when it is the second-learned relationship concerning the target cue. These experiments are part of a larger effort to delineate control by the test context of two-phase associative interference, as a function of the nature of target training and the nature of interference training.

The effect of interference on temporal order memory for random and fixed sequences in nondemented older adults.

PubMed

Tolentino, Jerlyn C; Pirogovsky, Eva; Luu, Trinh; Toner, Chelsea K; Gilbert, Paul E

2012-05-21

Two experiments tested the effect of temporal interference on order memory for fixed and random sequences in young adults and nondemented older adults. The results demonstrate that temporal order memory for fixed and random sequences is impaired in nondemented older adults, particularly when temporal interference is high. However, temporal order memory for fixed sequences is comparable between older adults and young adults when temporal interference is minimized. The results suggest that temporal order memory is less efficient and more susceptible to interference in older adults, possibly due to impaired temporal pattern separation.

Testing for reproductive interference in the population dynamics of two congeneric species of herbivorous mites.

PubMed

Sato, Y; Alba, J M; Sabelis, M W

2014-12-01

When phylogenetically close, two competing species may reproductively interfere, and thereby affect their population dynamics. We tested for reproductive interference (RI) between two congeneric haplo-diploid spider mites, Tetranychus evansi and Tetranychus urticae, by investigating their interspecific mating and their population dynamics when they competed on the same plants. They are both pests of tomato, but differ in the host plant defences that they suppress or induce. To reduce the effect of plant-mediated interaction, we used a mutant tomato plant lacking jasmonate-mediated anti-herbivore defences in the competition experiment. In addition, to manipulate the effect of RI, we introduced founder females already mated with conspecific males in mild RI treatments or founder, virgin females in strong RI treatments (in either case together with heterospecific and conspecific males). As females show first-male sperm precedence, RI should occur especially in the founder generation under strong RI treatments. We found that T. urticae outcompeted T. evansi in mild, but not in strong RI treatments. Thus, T. evansi interfered reproductively with T. urticae. This result was supported by crossing experiments showing frequent interspecific copulations, strong postmating reproductive isolation and a preference of T. evansi males to mate with T. urticae (instead of conspecific) females, whereas T. urticae males preferred conspecific females. We conclude that interspecific mating comes at a cost due to asymmetric mate preferences of males. Because RI by T. evansi can improve its competitiveness to T. urticae, we propose that RI partly explains why T. evansi became invasive in Europe where T. urticae is endemic.

Testing for reproductive interference in the population dynamics of two congeneric species of herbivorous mites

PubMed Central

Sato, Y; Alba, J M; Sabelis, M W

2014-01-01

When phylogenetically close, two competing species may reproductively interfere, and thereby affect their population dynamics. We tested for reproductive interference (RI) between two congeneric haplo-diploid spider mites, Tetranychus evansi and Tetranychus urticae, by investigating their interspecific mating and their population dynamics when they competed on the same plants. They are both pests of tomato, but differ in the host plant defences that they suppress or induce. To reduce the effect of plant-mediated interaction, we used a mutant tomato plant lacking jasmonate-mediated anti-herbivore defences in the competition experiment. In addition, to manipulate the effect of RI, we introduced founder females already mated with conspecific males in mild RI treatments or founder, virgin females in strong RI treatments (in either case together with heterospecific and conspecific males). As females show first-male sperm precedence, RI should occur especially in the founder generation under strong RI treatments. We found that T. urticae outcompeted T. evansi in mild, but not in strong RI treatments. Thus, T. evansi interfered reproductively with T. urticae. This result was supported by crossing experiments showing frequent interspecific copulations, strong postmating reproductive isolation and a preference of T. evansi males to mate with T. urticae (instead of conspecific) females, whereas T. urticae males preferred conspecific females. We conclude that interspecific mating comes at a cost due to asymmetric mate preferences of males. Because RI by T. evansi can improve its competitiveness to T. urticae, we propose that RI partly explains why T. evansi became invasive in Europe where T. urticae is endemic. PMID:24865602

Teaching Optics Topics in College Physics Laboratory*

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kezerashvili, Roman Y.

2006-12-01

We propose a list of designed experiments that could be presented at the laboratory class in the second semester of College and University Physics courses to study properties of light. The study of light can be organized into three domains: geometric optics, wave optics and quantum optics. These domains are not strictly disjoint. In the sets of experiments for the first domain students study the laws of reflection and refraction of light by measuring the dependence of the angles of reflection and refraction on the angle of incident, spherical mirrors and lenses, geometric optics of human eye. In the sets of experiments for the second domain students study the wave properties of light: dispersion, interference, diffraction and polarization. Experiments designed to verify the Malus's law and measure the Brewster's angle, determine the wavelength of laser light and study the interference on a transmission and reflection diffraction grating, diffraction on the different size slits and wires. The purposes of experiments for the third domain are to study the spectral lines of different gases, determine the Rydberg's constant from the spectrum of hydrogen atom, and verify the laws of the photoelectric effect and Einstein's quantum idea. The objectives of all experiments are to show the real action of physics laws, help students better understand and visualize the subject of the lecture. *Supported by US Department of Education grant P120A060052

Computation of aerodynamic interference effects on oscillating airfoils with controls in ventilated subsonic wind tunnels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fromme, J. A.; Golberg, M. A.

1979-01-01

Lift interference effects are discussed based on Bland's (1968) integral equation. A mathematical existence theory is utilized for which convergence of the numerical method has been proved for general (square-integrable) downwashes. Airloads are computed using orthogonal airfoil polynomial pairs in conjunction with a collocation method which is numerically equivalent to Galerkin's method and complex least squares. Convergence exhibits exponentially decreasing error with the number n of collocation points for smooth downwashes, whereas errors are proportional to 1/n for discontinuous downwashes. The latter can be reduced to 1/n to the m+1 power with mth-order Richardson extrapolation (by using m = 2, hundredfold error reductions were obtained with only a 13% increase of computer time). Numerical results are presented showing acoustic resonance, as well as the effect of Mach number, ventilation, height-to-chord ratio, and mode shape on wind-tunnel interference. Excellent agreement with experiment is obtained in steady flow, and good agreement is obtained for unsteady flow.

[Research on improving spectrum resolution of optimized Wollaston prism array].

PubMed

Zhang, Peng; Wang, Jian-Rong; Zhang, Guo-Chen; Hou, Wen

2011-11-01

In order to not affect the image quality of interference fringes on the basis of the structure by increasing the structure angle of Wollaston prism to improve spectrum resolution, the authors optimized the structure of Wollaston prism. Calculating the function of the splitting angle and the structure angle, analysis indicated that taking the isosceles triangle prism with the same nature of the second wedge-shaped prism after the Wollaston prism, which makes the o and e light parallel to the optical axis, and alpha=0 degrees, the imaging interference fringes are no longer affected by changes in the splitting angle. Several optimized Wollaston prisms were made as an array to improve the spectral resolution. Experiments used traditional and optimized Wollaston prism array to detect the spectrum of the 980 nm laser. Experimental data showed that using optimized Wollaston prism array gets a clearer contrast of interference fringes, and the spectral data with Fourier transform are more accurate with DSP.

Entanglement generation and manipulation in the Hong-Ou-Mandel experiment: a hidden scenario beyond two-photon interference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Li-Kai; Cai, Han; Peng, Tao; Wang, Da-Wei

2018-06-01

The Hong‑Ou‑Mandel (HOM) effect was long believed to be a two-photon interference phenomenon. It describes the fact that two indistinguishable photons mixed at a beam splitter will bunch together to one of the two output modes. Considering the two single-photon emitters such as trapped ions, we explore a hidden scenario of the HOM effect, where entanglement can be generated between the two ions when a single photon is detected by one of the detectors. A second photon emitted by the entangled photon sources will be subsequently detected by the same detector. However, we can also control the fate of the second photon by manipulating the entangled state. Instead of two-photon interference, the phase of the entangled state is responsible for the photon’s path in our proposal. Toward a feasible experimental realization, we conduct a quantum jump simulation on the system to show its robustness against experimental errors.

Interference between perennial grassland and Lavandula stoechas subsp. pedunculata seedlings: a case of spatial segregation cause by competition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez, Ana M.; Peco, Begoña

2004-07-01

This paper analyses the relationship between Lavandula stoechas subsp. pedunculata, a common Mediterranean scrub species in central Iberia, and perennial grasslands. While Lavandula gives rise to almost monospecific formations in intermediate and upper hill zones, perennial grasses occupy the low areas. The proposed explanatory hypothesis for this spatial distribution is that the scrub is unable to establish itself in grasslands with heavy spatial occupation. We designed two experiments to test this hypothesis, one which analysed the effect of perennial grass cover on Lavandula establishment, and another which focused on its influence on previously implanted seedling survival and growth, distinguishing the effect of shoot and root interference. The results show negative interference during establishment and later in the use of light and nutrients. This results in a very low overall survival probability, with only 1.4% of seedlings surviving the first growth period. This low success rate explains the existence of a clear spatial segregation between scrub patches and perennial-dominated grasslands.

Computerized Testing Software for Assessing Interference Suppression in Children and Adults: The Bivalent Shape Task (BST)

PubMed Central

Mueller, Shane T.; Esposito, Alena G.

2015-01-01

We describe the Bivalent Shape Task (BST), software using the Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL), for testing of cognitive interference and the ability to suppress interference. The test is available via the GNU Public License, Version 3 (GPLv3), is freely modifiable, and has been tested on both children and adults and found to provide a simple and fast non-verbal measure of cognitive interference and suppression that requires no reading. PMID:26702358

In-situ shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy: development and demonstration of a portable sensor system at 785 nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maiwald, M.; Müller, A.; Sumpf, B.

2017-02-01

In-situ shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy (SERDS) experiments are presented using a portable sensor system. Key elements of this system are an in-house developed handheld probe with an implemented dual-wavelength diode laser at 785 nm. An optical power of 120 mW is achieved ex probe. Raman experiments are carried out in the laboratory for qualification using polystyrene as test sample. Here, a shot-noise limited signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 120 is achieved. Stability tests were performed and show a stable position of the Raman line under study within 0.1 cm-1 and a stable Raman intensity better +/- 2% mainly limited by shot noise interference. SERDS experiments are carried out in an apple orchard for demonstration. Green apple leafs are used as test samples. The Raman spectra show huge background interferences by fluorescence and ambient daylight which almost obscure Raman signals from green leafs. The selected excitation power is 50 mW and the exposure time is 0.2 s to avoid detector saturation. SERDS efficiently separates the Raman signals from fluorescence and daylight contributions and generates an 11-fold improvement of the signal-to-background noise with respect to the measured Raman signals. The results demonstrate the capability of the portable SERDS system and enable rapid in-situ and undisturbed Raman investigations under daylight conditions.

Seeing for speaking: Semantic and lexical information provided by briefly presented, naturalistic action scenes

PubMed Central

Bölte, Jens; Hofmann, Reinhild; Meier, Claudine C.; Dobel, Christian

2018-01-01

At the interface between scene perception and speech production, we investigated how rapidly action scenes can activate semantic and lexical information. Experiment 1 examined how complex action-scene primes, presented for 150 ms, 100 ms, or 50 ms and subsequently masked, influenced the speed with which immediately following action-picture targets are named. Prime and target actions were either identical, showed the same action with different actors and environments, or were unrelated. Relative to unrelated primes, identical and same-action primes facilitated naming the target action, even when presented for 50 ms. In Experiment 2, neutral primes assessed the direction of effects. Identical and same-action scenes induced facilitation but unrelated actions induced interference. In Experiment 3, written verbs were used as targets for naming, preceded by action primes. When target verbs denoted the prime action, clear facilitation was obtained. In contrast, interference was observed when target verbs were phonologically similar, but otherwise unrelated, to the names of prime actions. This is clear evidence for word-form activation by masked action scenes. Masked action pictures thus provide conceptual information that is detailed enough to facilitate apprehension and naming of immediately following scenes. Masked actions even activate their word-form information–as is evident when targets are words. We thus show how language production can be primed with briefly flashed masked action scenes, in answer to long-standing questions in scene processing. PMID:29652939

Signatures of Hong-Ou-Mandel interference at microwave frequencies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woolley, M. J.; Lang, C.; Eichler, C.; Wallraff, A.; Blais, A.

2013-10-01

Two-photon quantum interference at a beam splitter, commonly known as Hong-Ou-Mandel interference, is a fundamental demonstration of the quantum mechanical nature of electromagnetic fields and a key component of various quantum information processing protocols. The phenomenon was recently demonstrated with microwave-frequency photons by Lang et al (2013 Nature Phys. 9 345-8). This experiment employed circuit QED systems as sources of microwave photons, and was based on the measurement of second-order cross-correlation and auto-correlation functions of the microwave fields at the outputs of the beam splitter using linear detectors. Here we present the calculation of these correlation functions for the cases of inputs corresponding to: (i) trains of pulsed Gaussian or Lorentzian single microwave photons and (ii) resonant fluorescent microwave fields from continuously driven circuit QED systems. In both cases, the signature of two-photon quantum interference is a suppression of the second-order cross-correlation function for small delays. The experiment described in Lang et al (2013) was performed with trains of Lorentzian single photons, and very good agreement with experimental data is obtained. The results are relevant not only to interference experiments using circuit QED systems, but any such setup with highly controllable sources and time-resolved detection.

Development of a parallel demodulation system used for extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer and fiber Bragg grating sensors.

PubMed

Jiang, Junfeng; Liu, Tiegen; Zhang, Yimo; Liu, Lina; Zha, Ying; Zhang, Fan; Wang, Yunxin; Long, Pin

2006-01-20

A parallel demodulation system for extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (EFPI) and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors is presented, which is based on a Michelson interferometer and combines the methods of low-coherence interference and a Fourier-transform spectrum. The parallel demodulation theory is modeled with Fourier-transform spectrum technology, and a signal separation method with an EFPI and FBG is proposed. The design of an optical path difference scanning and sampling method without a reference light is described. Experiments show that the parallel demodulation system has good spectrum demodulation and low-coherence interference demodulation performance. It can realize simultaneous strain and temperature measurements while keeping the whole system configuration less complex.

Diffraction-limited real-time terahertz imaging by optical frequency up-conversion in a DAST crystal.

PubMed

Fan, Shuzhen; Qi, Feng; Notake, Takashi; Nawata, Kouji; Takida, Yuma; Matsukawa, Takeshi; Minamide, Hiroaki

2015-03-23

Real-time terahertz (THz) wave imaging has wide applications in areas such as security, industry, biology, medicine, pharmacy, and the arts. This report describes real-time room-temperature THz imaging by nonlinear optical frequency up-conversion in an organic 4-dimethylamino-N'-methyl-4'-stilbazolium tosylate (DAST) crystal, with high resolution reaching the diffraction limit. THz-wave images were converted to the near infrared region and then captured using an InGaAs camera in a tandem imaging system. The resolution of the imaging system was analyzed. Diffraction and interference of THz wave were observed in the experiments. Videos are supplied to show the interference pattern variation that occurs with sample moving and tilting.

Interference of spoken word recognition through phonological priming from visual objects and printed words.

PubMed

McQueen, James M; Huettig, Falk

2014-01-01

Three cross-modal priming experiments examined the influence of preexposure to pictures and printed words on the speed of spoken word recognition. Targets for auditory lexical decision were spoken Dutch words and nonwords, presented in isolation (Experiments 1 and 2) or after a short phrase (Experiment 3). Auditory stimuli were preceded by primes, which were pictures (Experiments 1 and 3) or those pictures' printed names (Experiment 2). Prime-target pairs were phonologically onset related (e.g., pijl-pijn, arrow-pain), were from the same semantic category (e.g., pijl-zwaard, arrow-sword), or were unrelated on both dimensions. Phonological interference and semantic facilitation were observed in all experiments. Priming magnitude was similar for pictures and printed words and did not vary with picture viewing time or number of pictures in the display (either one or four). These effects arose even though participants were not explicitly instructed to name the pictures and where strategic naming would interfere with lexical decision making. This suggests that, by default, processing of related pictures and printed words influences how quickly we recognize spoken words.

Color-Object Interference: Further Tests of an Executive Control Account

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

La Heij, Wido; Boelens, Harrie

2011-01-01

Young children are slower in naming the color of a meaningful picture than in naming the color of an abstract form (Stroop-like color-object interference). The current experiments tested an executive control account of this phenomenon. First, color-object interference was observed in 6- and 8-year-olds but not in 12- and 16-year-olds (Experiment…

The European experience.

PubMed

Bisgaard, N

2001-06-01

This article presents an overview of past and current experiences with time division multiple assess-based (Global System for Mobil Communication) mobile telephones in Europe as seen by the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association. Initial fear of widespread interference problems for hearing aid users in general owing to use of a new generation of mobile telephones seems unjustified. The background for the International Electrotechnical Commission 118-13 standard for measuring interference is described. No solution to complete elimination of interference problems resulting from direct contact between hearing aids and mobile telephones has yet been found. Several reports on the subjects are cited, and new work on measurement standards for near-field situations is mentioned.

Two-center interference effects in (e, 2e) ionization of H2 and CO2 at large momentum transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamazaki, Masakazu; Nakajima, Isao; Satoh, Hironori; Watanabe, Noboru; Jones, Darryl; Takahashi, Masahiko

2015-09-01

In recent years, there has been considerable interest in understanding quantum mechanical interference effects in molecular ionization. Since this interference appears as a consequence of coherent electron emission from the different molecular centers, it should depend strongly on the nature of the ionized molecular orbital. Such molecular orbital patterns can be investigated by means of binary (e, 2e) spectroscopy, which is a kinematically-complete electron-impact ionization experiment performed under the high-energy Bethe ridge conditions. In this study, two-center interference effects in the (e, 2e) cross sections of H2 and CO2 at large momentum transfer are demonstrated with a high-statistics experiment, in order to elucidate the relationship between molecular orbital patterns and the interference structure. It is shown that the two-center interference is highly sensitive to the phase, spatial pattern, symmetry of constituent atomic orbital, and chemical bonding nature of the molecular orbital. This work was partially supported by Grant-in-Aids for Scientific Research (S) (No. 20225001) and for Young Scientists (B) (No. 21750005) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

Effects of magnets on pigeon homing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keeton, W. T.

1972-01-01

The function of magnets in the navigation system of homing pigeons is investigated. Only experienced pigeons with magnets or brass bars were studied. Data show that on sunny days, pigeons with the magnets had some difficulty in orientation while those with brass bars had no problems. The same experiment was repeated on cloudy days. These results show that the magnets did not interfere with orientation. This difference suggests that sun and magnetic cues are used interchangeably, but that both together seldom function.

Do Female and Male Employees in Iran Experience Similar Work-Family Interference, Job, and Life Satisfaction?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karimi, Leila

2009-01-01

This study aims at examining gender differences in the experience of work-family interference and perceived job-life satisfaction in a group of Iranian employees. The participants in the study consist of 387 Iranian male and female employees from a variety of organizations. The results of t tests and multiple regression analysis using EQS 6.1…

Combine EPR and two-slit experiments: Interference of advanced waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klyshko, D. N.

1988-10-01

A nonclassical interference effect, using two-photon correlations in nonlinear optical interactions, is discussed. The apparent nonlocality could be conveniently interpreted in terms of advanced waves, emitted by one detector toward the other. A new Bell-type experiment is proposed, in which the measured photon's parameter is the wave-vector (instead of the polarisation), so that the observable can take more than two possible values.

Prototyping method for Bragg-type atom interferometers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Benton, Brandon; Krygier, Michael; Heward, Jeffrey

2011-10-15

We present a method for rapid modeling of new Bragg ultracold atom-interferometer (AI) designs useful for assessing the performance of such interferometers. The method simulates the overall effect on the condensate wave function in a given AI design using two separate elements. These are (1) modeling the effect of a Bragg pulse on the wave function and (2) approximating the evolution of the wave function during the intervals between the pulses. The actual sequence of these pulses and intervals is then followed to determine the approximate final wave function from which the interference pattern can be calculated. The exact evolutionmore » between pulses is assumed to be governed by the Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation whose solution is approximated using a Lagrangian variational method to facilitate rapid estimation of performance. The method presented here is an extension of an earlier one that was used to analyze the results of an experiment [J. E. Simsarian et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2040 (2000)], where the phase of a Bose-Einstein condensate was measured using a Mach-Zehnder-type Bragg AI. We have developed both 1D and 3D versions of this method and we have determined their validity by comparing their predicted interference patterns with those obtained by numerical integration of the 1D GP equation and with the results of the above experiment. We find excellent agreement between the 1D interference patterns predicted by this method and those found by the GP equation. We show that we can reproduce all of the results of that experiment without recourse to an ad hoc velocity-kick correction needed by the earlier method, including some experimental results that the earlier model did not predict. We also found that this method provides estimates of 1D interference patterns at least four orders-of-magnitude faster than direct numerical solution of the 1D GP equation.« less

Ultra-compact laser beam steering device using holographically formed two dimensional photonic crystal.

PubMed

Dou, Xinyuan; Chen, Xiaonan; Chen, Maggie Yihong; Wang, Alan Xiaolong; Jiang, Wei; Chen, Ray T

2010-03-01

In this paper, we report the theoretical study of polymer-based photonic crystals for laser beam steering which is based on the superprism effect as well as the experiment fabrication of the two dimensional photonic crystals for the laser beam steering. Superprism effect, the principle for beam steering, was separately studied in details through EFC (Equifrequency Contour) analysis. Polymer based photonic crystals were fabricated through double exposure holographic interference method using SU8-2007. The experiment results showed a beam steering angle of 10 degree for 30 nm wavelength variation.

The Intention Interference Effect: The Difficulty of Ignoring What You Intend to Do

PubMed Central

Cohen, Anna-Lisa; Kantner, Justin; Dixon, Roger A.; Lindsay, D. Stephen

2013-01-01

Intentions have been shown to be more accessible (e.g., more quickly and accurately recalled) compared to other sorts of to-be-remembered information; a result termed an intention superiority effect (Goschke & Kuhl, 1993). In the current study, we demonstrate an intention interference effect (IIE) in which colour-naming performance in a Stroop task was slower for words belonging to an intention that participants had to remember to carry out (Do the Task condition) versus an intention that did not have to be executed (Ignore the Task condition). In previous work (e.g., Cohen et al., 2005), having a prospective intention in mind was confounded with carrying a memory load. In Experiment 1, we added a digit-retention task to control for effects of cognitive load. In Experiment 2, we eliminated the memory confound in a new way, by comparing intention-related and control words within each trial. Results from both Experiments 1 and 2 revealed an intention interference effect suggesting that interference is very specific to the intention, not just to a memory load. PMID:21592940

NASA In-step: Permeable Membrane Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

Viewgraphs on the Permeable Membrane Experiment are presented. An experiment overview is given. The Membrane Phase Separation Experiment, Membrane Diffusion Interference Experiment, and Membrane Wetting Experiment are described. Finally, summary and conclusions are discussed.

Effect of target-masker similarity on across-ear interference in a dichotic cocktail-party listening task.

PubMed

Brungart, Douglas S; Simpson, Brian D

2007-09-01

Similarity between the target and masking voices is known to have a strong influence on performance in monaural and binaural selective attention tasks, but little is known about the role it might play in dichotic listening tasks with a target signal and one masking voice in the one ear and a second independent masking voice in the opposite ear. This experiment examined performance in a dichotic listening task with a target talker in one ear and same-talker, same-sex, or different-sex maskers in both the target and the unattended ears. The results indicate that listeners were most susceptible to across-ear interference with a different-sex within-ear masker and least susceptible with a same-talker within-ear masker, suggesting that the amount of across-ear interference cannot be predicted from the difficulty of selectively attending to the within-ear masking voice. The results also show that the amount of across-ear interference consistently increases when the across-ear masking voice is more similar to the target speech than the within-ear masking voice is, but that no corresponding decline in across-ear interference occurs when the across-ear voice is less similar to the target than the within-ear voice. These results are consistent with an "integrated strategy" model of speech perception where the listener chooses a segregation strategy based on the characteristics of the masker present in the target ear and the amount of across-ear interference is determined by the extent to which this strategy can also effectively be used to suppress the masker in the unattended ear.

Interference from familiar natural distractors is not eliminated by high perceptual load.

PubMed

He, Chunhong; Chen, Antao

2010-05-01

A crucial prediction of perceptual load theory is that high perceptual load can eliminate interference from distractors. However, Lavie et al. (Psychol Sci 14:510-515, 2003) found that high perceptual load did not eliminate interference when the distractor was a face. The current experiments examined the interaction between familiarity and perceptual load in modulating interference in a name search task. The data reveal that high perceptual load eliminated the interference effect for unfamiliar distractors that were faces or objects, but did not eliminate the interference for familiar distractors that were faces or objects. Based on these results, we proposed that the processing of familiar and natural stimuli may be immune to the effect of perceptual load.

Three-beam coherent combination experiments based on segmented mirrors and measure of phase characteristics of beams passing through Yb-doped fiber amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Ping; Yang, Ruo fu; Shen, Feng; Ao, Mingwu; Jiang, Wenhan

2009-05-01

Coherent combination is one of the most promising ways to realize high power laser output. A three- laser-beam coherent combination system based on adaptive optics (AO) technique has been set up in our laboratory. In this system, three 1064nm laser beams are placed side-by-side and compressed by two reflective mirrors. An active segmented deformable mirror (DM) is used to compensate the optical path difference (OPD) among three laser beams. The beams are overlapped onto a 2900Hz CCD camera to form an interference pattern while the peak intensity of the interference pattern is taken as the cost function to optimize by a stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) algorithm. SPGD algorithm is realized on a RT-Linux dual-core industrial computer. A series of experiments have been accomplished and experimental results show that both static distorted aberrations in the beams and active distorted aberrations (which are brought in by a hot iron and the frequency is about 5Hz) can be compensated successfully when the gain coefficients and the perturbation amplitude of SPGD are chosed appropriately, thereby three beams can be well combined. For controlling the phase of fiber lasers, the phase characteristics of beams passing through Yb-doped dual-clad fiber amplifier are measured by means of investigating the interference pattern under different output power through experiments. The frequency of phase fluctuation is evaluated through analyzing the fluctuation of power within a 90um aperture of far-field focal spot. Experimental results show that the phase fluctuation frequencies of laser beam transmitted through fiber amplifier are mainly in the range of 100~1500Hz. As a result, to control the phase fluctuation of beams passing through fiber amplifier, the bandwidth of any potential phase control scheme must be greater than 1.5 kilohertz.

Need Satisfaction, Work-School Interference and School Dropout: An Application of Self-Determination Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Genevieve; Lekes, Natasha; Gagnon, Hugo; Kwan, Lisa; Koestner, Richard

2012-01-01

Background: In many parts of the world, it is common for secondary school students to be involved in part-time employment. Research shows that working can have a negative impact on school engagement. However, the majority of studies have focused on the amount of time that students spend working rather than on the "quality" of work experience and…

Visual feature binding in younger and older adults: encoding and suffix interference effects.

PubMed

Brown, Louise A; Niven, Elaine H; Logie, Robert H; Rhodes, Stephen; Allen, Richard J

2017-02-01

Three experiments investigated younger (18-25 yrs) and older (70-88 yrs) adults' temporary memory for colour-shape combinations (binding). We focused upon estimating the magnitude of the binding cost for each age group across encoding time (Experiment 1; 900/1500 ms), presentation format (Experiment 2; simultaneous/sequential), and interference (Experiment 3; control/suffix) conditions. In Experiment 1, encoding time did not differentially influence binding in the two age groups. In Experiment 2, younger adults exhibited poorer binding performance with sequential relative to simultaneous presentation, and serial position analyses highlighted a particular age-related difficulty remembering the middle item of a series (for all memory conditions). Experiments 1-3 demonstrated small to medium binding effect sizes in older adults across all encoding conditions, with binding less accurate than shape memory. However, younger adults also displayed negative effects of binding (small to large) in two of the experiments. Even when older adults exhibited a greater suffix interference effect in Experiment 3, this was for all memory types, not just binding. We therefore conclude that there is no consistent evidence for a visual binding deficit in healthy older adults. This relative preservation contrasts with the specific and substantial deficits in visual feature binding found in several recent studies of Alzheimer's disease.

Spontaneous evaluative inferences and their relationship to spontaneous trait inferences.

PubMed

Schneid, Erica D; Carlston, Donal E; Skowronski, John J

2015-05-01

Three experiments are reported that explore affectively based spontaneous evaluative impressions (SEIs) of stimulus persons. Experiments 1 and 2 used modified versions of the savings in relearning paradigm (Carlston & Skowronski, 1994) to confirm the occurrence of SEIs, indicating that they are equivalent whether participants are instructed to form trait impressions, evaluative impressions, or neither. These experiments also show that SEIs occur independently of explicit recall for the trait implications of the stimuli. Experiment 3 provides a single dissociation test to distinguish SEIs from spontaneous trait inferences (STIs), showing that disrupting cognitive processing interferes with a trait-based prediction task that presumably reflects STIs, but not with an affectively based social approach task that presumably reflects SEIs. Implications of these findings for the potential independence of spontaneous trait and evaluative inferences, as well as limitations and important steps for future study are discussed. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Visuomotor learning by passive motor experience

PubMed Central

Sakamoto, Takashi; Kondo, Toshiyuki

2015-01-01

Humans can adapt to unfamiliar dynamic and/or kinematic transformations through the active motor experience. Recent studies of neurorehabilitation using robots or brain-computer interface (BCI) technology suggest that passive motor experience would play a measurable role in motor recovery, however our knowledge of passive motor learning is limited. To clarify the effects of passive motor experience on human motor learning, we performed arm reaching experiments guided by a robotic manipulandum. The results showed that the passive motor experience had an anterograde transfer effect on the subsequent motor execution, whereas no retrograde interference was confirmed in the ABA paradigm experiment. This suggests that the passive experience of the error between visual and proprioceptive sensations leads to the limited but actual compensation of behavior, although it is fragile and cannot be consolidated as a persistent motor memory. PMID:26029091

Change perception and change interference within and across feature dimensions.

PubMed

Pilling, Michael; Barrett, Doug J K

2018-06-04

The ability to perceive a change in a visual object is reduced when that change is presented in competition with other changes which are task-irrelevant. We performed two experiments which investigate the basis of this change interference effect. We tested whether change interference occurs as a consequence of some form of attentional capture, or whether the interference occurs at a stage prior to attentional selection of the task-relevant change. A modified probe-detection task was used to explore this issue. Observers were required to report the presence/absence of a specified change-type (colour, shape) in the probe, in a context in which - on certain trials - irrelevant changes occur in non-probe items. There were two key variables in these experiments: the attentional state of the observer, and the dimensional congruence of changes in the probe and non-probe items. Change interference was strongest when the irrelevant changes were the same as those on the report dimension. However the interference pattern persisted even when observers did not know the report dimension at the time the changes occurred. These results seem to rule out attention as a factor. Our results fit best with an interpretation in which change interference produces feature-specific sensory noise which degrades the signal quality of the target change. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A double-slit experiment for non-classical interference effects in decision making.

PubMed

La Mura, Pierfrancesco

2014-01-01

We discuss the possible nature and role of non-physical entanglement, and the classical vs. non-classical interface, in models of human decision-making. We also introduce an experimental setting designed after the double-slit experiment in physics, and discuss how it could be used to discriminate between classical and non-classical interference effects in human decisions. Copyright © 2013 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Changing room cues reduces the effects of proactive interference in Clark's Nutcrackers, Nucifraga columbiana.

PubMed

Lewis, Jody L; Kamil, Alan C; Webbink, Kate E

2013-04-01

To determine what factors are important for minimizing interference effects in spatial memory, Clark's Nutcrackers, Nucifraga columbiana were tested for their spatial memory for two serial lists of locations per day. In this experiment two unique landmark sets were either different between List 1 and List 2 or the same. We found that Nutcrackers were most susceptible to interference when the landmark sets were the same. This study suggests that repeatedly testing animal memory in the same room, with the same cues, can hamper recall due to interference.

When writing impairs reading: letter perception's susceptibility to motor interference.

PubMed

James, Karin H; Gauthier, Isabel

2009-08-01

The effect of writing on the concurrent visual perception of letters was investigated in a series of studies using an interference paradigm. Participants drew shapes and letters while simultaneously visually identifying letters and shapes embedded in noise. Experiments 1-3 demonstrated that letter perception, but not the perception of shapes, was affected by motor interference. This suggests a strong link between the perception of letters and the neural substrates engaged during writing. The overlap both in category (letter vs. shape) and in the perceptual similarity of the features (straight vs. curvy) of the seen and drawn items determined the amount of interference. Experiment 4 demonstrated that intentional production of letters is not necessary for the interference to occur, because passive movement of the hand in the shape of letters also interfered with letter perception. When passive movements were used, however, only the category of the drawn items (letters vs. shapes), but not the perceptual similarity, had an influence, suggesting that motor representations for letters may selectively influence visual perception of letters through proprioceptive feedback, with an additional influence of perceptual similarity that depends on motor programs.

Neural signatures of second language learning and control.

PubMed

Bartolotti, James; Bradley, Kailyn; Hernandez, Arturo E; Marian, Viorica

2017-04-01

Experience with multiple languages has unique effects on cortical structure and information processing. Differences in gray matter density and patterns of cortical activation are observed in lifelong bilinguals compared to monolinguals as a result of their experience managing interference across languages. Monolinguals who acquire a second language later in life begin to encounter the same type of linguistic interference as bilinguals, but with a different pre-existing language architecture. The current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to explore the beginning stages of second language acquisition and cross-linguistic interference in monolingual adults. We found that after English monolinguals learned novel Spanish vocabulary, English and Spanish auditory words led to distinct patterns of cortical activation, with greater recruitment of posterior parietal regions in response to English words and of left hippocampus in response to Spanish words. In addition, cross-linguistic interference from English influenced processing of newly-learned Spanish words, decreasing hippocampus activity. Results suggest that monolinguals may rely on different memory systems to process a newly-learned second language, and that the second language system is sensitive to native language interference. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Activation of semantic information at the sublexical level during handwriting production: Evidence from inhibition effects of Chinese semantic radicals in the picture-word interference paradigm.

PubMed

Chen, Xuqian; Liao, Yuanlan; Chen, Xianzhe

2017-08-01

Using a non-alphabetic language (e.g., Chinese), the present study tested a novel view that semantic information at the sublexical level should be activated during handwriting production. Over 80% of Chinese characters are phonograms, in which semantic radicals represent category information (e.g., 'chair,' 'peach,' 'orange' are related to plants) while phonetic radicals represent phonetic information (e.g., 'wolf,' 'brightness,' 'male,' are all pronounced /lang/). Under different semantic category conditions at the lexical level (semantically related in Experiment 1; semantically unrelated in Experiment 2), the orthographic relatedness and semantic relatedness of semantic radicals in the picture name and its distractor were manipulated under different SOAs (i.e., stimulus onset asynchrony, the interval between the onset of the picture and the onset of the interference word). Two questions were addressed: (1) Is it possible that semantic information could be activated in the sublexical level conditions? (2) How are semantic and orthographic information dynamically accessed in word production? Results showed that both orthographic and semantic information were activated under the present picture-word interference paradigm, dynamically under different SOAs, which supported our view that discussions on semantic processes in the writing modality should be extended to the sublexical level. The current findings provide possibility for building new orthography-phonology-semantics models in writing. © 2017 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The articulatory in-out effect resists oral motor interference.

PubMed

Lindau, Berit; Topolinski, Sascha

2018-02-01

People prefer words with inward directed consonantal patterns (e.g., MENIKA) compared to outward patterns (KENIMA), because inward (outward) articulation movements resemble positive (negative) mouth actions such as swallowing (spitting). This effect might rely on covert articulation simulations, or subvocalizations, since it occurs also under silent reading. We tested to what degree these underlying articulation simulations are disturbed by oral motor interference. In 3 experiments (total N = 465) we interfered with these articulation simulations by employing concurrent oral exercises that induce oral motor noise while judging inward and outward words (chewing gum, Experiment 1; executing meaningless tongue movements, Experiment 2; concurrent verbalizations, Experiment 3). Across several word stimulus types, the articulatory in-out effect was not modulated by these tasks. This finding introduces a theoretically interesting case, because in contrast to many previous demonstrations regarding other motor-preference effects, the covert simulations in this effect are not susceptible to selective motor interference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Measurement and analysis of time-domain characteristics of corona-generated radio interference from a single positive corona source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xuebao; Li, Dayong; Chen, Bo; Cui, Xiang; Lu, Tiebing; Li, Yinfei

2018-04-01

The corona-generated electromagnetic interference commonly known as radio interference (RI) has become a limiting factor for the design of high voltage direct current transmission lines. In this paper, a time-domain measurement system is developed to measure the time-domain characteristics of corona-generated RI from a single corona source under a positive corona source. In the experiments, the corona current pulses are synchronously measured through coupling capacitors. The one-to-one relationship between the corona current pulse and measured RI voltage pulse is observed. The statistical characteristics of pulse parameters are analyzed, and the correlations between the corona current pulse and RI voltage pulse in the time-domain and frequency-domain are analyzed. Depending on the measured corona current pulses, the time-domain waveform of corona-generated RI is calculated on the basis of the propagation model of corona current on the conductor, the dipolar model for electric field calculation, and the antenna model for inducing voltage calculation. The well matched results between measured and simulated waveforms of RI voltage can show the validity of the measurement and calculation method presented in this paper, which also further show the close correlation between corona current and corona-generated RI.

The PRP Effect Following Callosotomy: Residual Interference Despite Uncoupling of Lateralized Response Codes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ivry, Richard B.; Franz, Elizabeth A.; Kingstone, Alan; Johnston, James C.; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

1995-01-01

A callosotomy patient was tested in two dual-task experiments requiring successive speeded responses to lateralized stimuli. In accord with the recent findings of Pashler, O'Brien, Luck, Hillyard, Mangun, and Gazzaniga (in press), the patient showed a robust psychological refractory period effect (PRP) responses on Task 2 were inversely related to the stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA). However, three aspects of our data indicated that the processing limitations for the patient were different than those observed with control subjects. First, the split-brain patient did not show an increase in reaction time when the two tasks required responses from a common output system (i.e., both manual responses) in comparison to when different output systems were used (i.e., manual-vocal). Second, inconsistent stimulus-response mappings for the two tasks greatly inflated response latencies for the control subjects, but had minimal effect on the performance of the split-brain patient. Third, the consistency manipulation was underadditive with SOA for only the patient, suggesting a later bottleneck in processing following callosotomy than was observed for the control subjects. It is proposed that sectioning the corpus callosum eliminates interference resulting from competing stimulus response codes. Nonetheless, dual-task interference persists for the split-brain subject because a subcortical gate constrains when selected responses can be implemented.

EMGAN: A computer program for time and frequency domain reduction of electromyographic data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hursta, W. N.

1975-01-01

An experiment in electromyography utilizing surface electrode techniques was developed for the Apollo-Soyuz test project. This report describes the computer program, EMGAN, which was written to provide first order data reduction for the experiment. EMG signals are produced by the membrane depolarization of muscle fibers during a muscle contraction. Surface electrodes detect a spatially summated signal from a large number of muscle fibers commonly called an interference pattern. An interference pattern is usually so complex that analysis through signal morphology is extremely difficult if not impossible. It has become common to process EMG interference patterns in the frequency domain. Muscle fatigue and certain myopathic conditions are recognized through changes in muscle frequency spectra.

[Classification of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Typically Developing Children Based on Electroencephalogram Principal Component Analysis and k-Nearest Neighbor].

PubMed

Yang, Jiaojiao; Guo, Qian; Li, Wenjie; Wang, Suhong; Zou, Ling

2016-04-01

This paper aims to assist the individual clinical diagnosis of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder using electroencephalogram signal detection method.Firstly,in our experiments,we obtained and studied the electroencephalogram signals from fourteen attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder children and sixteen typically developing children during the classic interference control task of Simon-spatial Stroop,and we completed electroencephalogram data preprocessing including filtering,segmentation,removal of artifacts and so on.Secondly,we selected the subset electroencephalogram electrodes using principal component analysis(PCA)method,and we collected the common channels of the optimal electrodes which occurrence rates were more than 90%in each kind of stimulation.We then extracted the latency(200~450ms)mean amplitude features of the common electrodes.Finally,we used the k-nearest neighbor(KNN)classifier based on Euclidean distance and the support vector machine(SVM)classifier based on radial basis kernel function to classify.From the experiment,at the same kind of interference control task,the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder children showed lower correct response rates and longer reaction time.The N2 emerged in prefrontal cortex while P2 presented in the inferior parietal area when all kinds of stimuli demonstrated.Meanwhile,the children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder exhibited markedly reduced N2 and P2amplitude compared to typically developing children.KNN resulted in better classification accuracy than SVM classifier,and the best classification rate was 89.29%in StI task.The results showed that the electroencephalogram signals were different in the brain regions of prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal cortex between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and typically developing children during the interference control task,which provided a scientific basis for the clinical diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder individuals.

Another look at retroactive and proactive interference: a quantitative analysis of conversion processes.

PubMed

Blank, Hartmut

2005-02-01

Traditionally, the causes of interference phenomena were sought in "real" or "hard" memory processes such as unlearning, response competition, or inhibition, which serve to reduce the accessibility of target items. I propose an alternative approach which does not deny the influence of such processes but highlights a second, equally important, source of interference-the conversion (Tulving, 1983) of accessible memory information into memory performance. Conversion is conceived as a problem-solving-like activity in which the rememberer tries to find solutions to a memory task. Conversion-based interference effects are traced to different conversion processes in the experimental and control conditions of interference designs. I present a simple theoretical model that quantitatively predicts the resulting amount of interference. In two paired-associate learning experiments using two different types of memory tests, these predictions were corroborated. Relations of the present approach to traditional accounts of interference phenomena and implications for eyewitness testimony are discussed.

[Experimental research on the electromagnetic radiation immunity of a kind of portable monitor].

PubMed

Yuan, Jun; Xiao, Dongping; Jian, Xin

2010-11-01

The paper is focused on a kind of portable monitor that is widely used in military hospitals. In order to study the electromagnetic radiation immunity of the monitor, the experiments of electromagnetic radiation caused by radio frequency continuous wave in reverberation chamber and by ultra wide band (UWB) electromagnetic pulse have been done. The study results show that UWB electromagnetic pulse interferes observably the operating state of the monitor. It should be paid high attention to take protective measures. The monitor tested has some electromagnetic immunity ability for radio frequency continuous wave radiation. The frequent abnormal phenomena are baseline drift and waveform distortion. The electromagnetic sensitivity of the monitor is related to the frequency of interference source. The monitor tested is most sensitive to the frequency of 390 MHz.

Working memory in wayfinding-a dual task experiment in a virtual city.

PubMed

Meilinger, Tobias; Knauff, Markus; Bülthoff, Heinrich H

2008-06-01

This study examines the working memory systems involved in human wayfinding. In the learning phase, 24 participants learned two routes in a novel photorealistic virtual environment displayed on a 220° screen while they were disrupted by a visual, a spatial, a verbal, or-in a control group-no secondary task. In the following wayfinding phase, the participants had to find and to "virtually walk" the two routes again. During this wayfinding phase, a number of dependent measures were recorded. This research shows that encoding wayfinding knowledge interfered with the verbal and with the spatial secondary task. These interferences were even stronger than the interference of wayfinding knowledge with the visual secondary task. These findings are consistent with a dual-coding approach of wayfinding knowledge. 2008 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

Lisosan G, a powder of grain, does not interfere with the drug metabolizing enzymes and has a protective role on carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity.

PubMed

Longo, Vincenzo; Chirulli, Vera; Gervasi, Pier Giovanni; Nencioni, Simona; Pellegrini, Michela

2007-08-01

Lisosan G is a powder of grain registered as an alimentary integrator. The treatment of rats for 4 days with 0.5 g Lisosan G/kg had no effect on various drug metabolizing enzymes. Experiments in vitro showed that Lisosan G had radical scavenger activity. A confirmation of the antioxidative property of Lisosan G was also confirmed when it was administered in vivo to carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4))-intoxicated rats. The toxicity caused by CCl(4)-treatment of rats was restored to the control levels when the rats were given Lisosan G for 4 days before CCl(4). Lisosan G thus does not interfere with drug metabolizing system but has antioxidant properties and protects against CCl(4)-induced hepatotoxicity.

Wave interference: mechanics of the standing wave component and the illusion of "which way" information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hudgins, W. R.; Meulenberg, A.; Penland, R. F.

2015-09-01

Two adjacent coherent light beams, 180° out of phase and traveling on adjacent, parallel paths, remain visibly separated by the null (dark) zone from their mutual interference pattern as they merge. Each half of the pattern can be traced to one of the beams. Does such an experiment provide both "which way" and momentum knowledge? To answer this question, we demonstrate, by examining behavior of wave momentum and energy in a medium, that interfering waves interact. Central to the mechanism of interference is a standing wave component resulting from the combination of coherent waves. We show the mathematics for the formation of the standing wave component and for wave momentum involved in the waves' interaction. In water and in open coaxial cable, we observe that standing waves form cells bounded "reflection zones" where wave momentum from adjacent cells is reversed, confining oscillating energy to each cell. Applying principles observed in standing waves in media to the standing wave component of interfering light beams, we identify dark (null) regions to be the reflection zones. Each part of the interference pattern is affected by interactions between other parts, obscuring "which-way" information. We demonstrated physical interaction experimentally using two beams interfering slightly with one dark zone between them. Blocking one beam "downstream" from the interference region removed the null zone and allowed the remaining beam to evolve to a footprint of a single beam.

Novel method of detecting movement of the interference fringes using one-dimensional PSD.

PubMed

Wang, Qi; Xia, Ji; Liu, Xu; Zhao, Yong

2015-06-02

In this paper, a method of using a one-dimensional position-sensitive detector (PSD) by replacing charge-coupled device (CCD) to measure the movement of the interference fringes is presented first, and its feasibility is demonstrated through an experimental setup based on the principle of centroid detection. Firstly, the centroid position of the interference fringes in a fiber Mach-Zehnder (M-Z) interferometer is solved in theory, showing it has a higher resolution and sensitivity. According to the physical characteristics and principles of PSD, a simulation of the interference fringe's phase difference in fiber M-Z interferometers and PSD output is carried out. Comparing the simulation results with the relationship between phase differences and centroid positions in fiber M-Z interferometers, the conclusion that the output of interference fringes by PSD is still the centroid position is obtained. Based on massive measurements, the best resolution of the system is achieved with 5.15, 625 μm. Finally, the detection system is evaluated through setup error analysis and an ultra-narrow-band filter structure. The filter structure is configured with a one-dimensional photonic crystal containing positive and negative refraction material, which can eliminate background light in the PSD detection experiment. This detection system has a simple structure, good stability, high precision and easily performs remote measurements, which makes it potentially useful in material small deformation tests, refractivity measurements of optical media and optical wave front detection.

Testing can counteract proactive interference by integrating competing information.

PubMed

Wahlheim, Christopher N

2015-01-01

Testing initially learned information before presenting new information has been shown to counteract the deleterious effects of proactive interference by segregating competing sources of information. The present experiments were conducted to demonstrate that testing can also have its effects in part by integrating competing information. Variations of classic A-B, A-D paired-associate learning paradigms were employed that included two lists of word pairs and a cued-recall test. Repeated pairs appeared in both lists (A-B, A-B), control pairs appeared in List 2 only (A-B, C-D), and changed pairs appeared with the same cue in both lists but with different responses (A-B, A-D). The critical manipulation was whether pairs were tested or restudied in an interpolated phase that occurred between Lists 1 and 2. On a final cued-recall test, participants recalled List 2 responses and then indicated when they recollected that responses had earlier changed between lists. The change recollection measure indexed the extent to which competing responses were integrated during List 2. Change was recollected more often for tested than for restudied pairs. Proactive facilitation was obtained in cued recall when change was recollected, whereas proactive interference was obtained when change was not recollected. These results provide evidence that testing counteracted proactive interference in part by making List 1 responses more accessible during List 2, thus promoting integration and increasing later recollection of change. These results have theoretical implications because they show that testing can counteract proactive interference by integrating or segregating competing information.

The influence of training on the attentional blink and psychological refractory period.

PubMed

Garner, K G; Tombu, M N; Dux, P E

2014-05-01

A growing body of research suggests that dual-task interference in sensory consolidation (e.g., the attentional blink, AB) and response selection (e.g., the psychological refractory period, PRP) stems from a common central bottleneck of information processing. With regard to response selection, it is well known that training reduces dual-task interference. We tested whether training that is known to be effective for response selection can also reduce dual-task interference in sensory consolidation. Over two experiments, performance on a PRP paradigm (Exp. 1) and on AB paradigms (differing in their stimuli and task demands, Exps. 1 and 2) was examined after participants had completed a relevant training regimen (T1 practice for both paradigms), an irrelevant training regimen (comparable sensorimotor training, not related to T1 for both tasks), a visual-search training regimen (Exp. 2 only), or after participants had been allocated to a no-training control group. Training that had shown to be effective for reducing dual-task interference in response selection was also found to be effective for reducing interference in sensory consolidation. In addition, we found some evidence that training benefits transferred to the sensory consolidation of untrained stimuli. Collectively, these findings show that training benefits can transfer across cognitive operations that draw on the central bottleneck in information processing. These findings have implications for theories of the AB and for the design of cognitive-training regimens that aim to produce transferable training benefits.

Transfer Failure and Proactive Interference in Short-Term Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ellis, John A.

1977-01-01

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that proactive interference over a series of Brown-Peterson trials results from a combination of the subject's failure to transfer information to a permanent memory state and failure to retrieve information from permanent memory. (Editor)

Disentangling Genuine Semantic Stroop Effects in Reading from Contingency Effects: On the Need for Two Neutral Baselines

PubMed Central

Lorentz, Eric; McKibben, Tessa; Ekstrand, Chelsea; Gould, Layla; Anton, Kathryn; Borowsky, Ron

2016-01-01

The automaticity of reading is often explored through the Stroop effect, whereby color-naming is affected by color words. Color associates (e.g., “sky”) also produce a Stroop effect, suggesting that automatic reading occurs through to the level of semantics, even when reading sub-lexically (e.g., the pseudohomophone “skigh”). However, several previous experiments have confounded congruency with contingency learning, whereby faster responding occurs for more frequent stimuli. Contingency effects reflect a higher frequency-pairing of the word with a font color in the congruent condition than in the incongruent condition due to the limited set of congruent pairings. To determine the extent to which the Stroop effect can be attributed to contingency learning of font colors paired with lexical (word-level) and sub-lexical (phonetically decoded) letter strings, as well as assess facilitation and interference relative to contingency effects, we developed two neutral baselines: each one matched on pair-frequency for congruent and incongruent color words. In Experiments 1 and 3, color words (e.g., “blue”) and their pseudohomophones (e.g., “bloo”) produced significant facilitation and interference relative to neutral baselines, regardless of whether the onset (i.e., first phoneme) was matched to the color words. Color associates (e.g., “ocean”) and their pseudohomophones (e.g., “oshin”), however, showed no significant facilitation or interference relative to onset matched neutral baselines (Experiment 2). When onsets were unmatched, color associate words produced consistent facilitation on RT (e.g., “ocean” vs. “dozen”), but pseudohomophones (e.g., “oshin” vs. “duhzen”) failed to produce facilitation or interference. Our findings suggest that the Stroop effects for color and associated stimuli are sensitive to the type of neutral baseline used, as well as stimulus type (word vs. pseudohomophone). In general, contingency learning plays a large role when repeating congruent items more than incongruent items, but appropriate pair-frequency matched neutral baselines allow for the assessment of genuine facilitation and interference. Using such baselines, we found reading processes proceed to a semantic level for familiar words, but not pseudohomophones (i.e., phonetic decoding). Such assessment is critical for separating the effects of genuine congruency from contingency during automatic word reading in the Stroop task, and when used with color associates, isolates the semantic contribution. PMID:27014177

Disentangling Genuine Semantic Stroop Effects in Reading from Contingency Effects: On the Need for Two Neutral Baselines.

PubMed

Lorentz, Eric; McKibben, Tessa; Ekstrand, Chelsea; Gould, Layla; Anton, Kathryn; Borowsky, Ron

2016-01-01

The automaticity of reading is often explored through the Stroop effect, whereby color-naming is affected by color words. Color associates (e.g., "sky") also produce a Stroop effect, suggesting that automatic reading occurs through to the level of semantics, even when reading sub-lexically (e.g., the pseudohomophone "skigh"). However, several previous experiments have confounded congruency with contingency learning, whereby faster responding occurs for more frequent stimuli. Contingency effects reflect a higher frequency-pairing of the word with a font color in the congruent condition than in the incongruent condition due to the limited set of congruent pairings. To determine the extent to which the Stroop effect can be attributed to contingency learning of font colors paired with lexical (word-level) and sub-lexical (phonetically decoded) letter strings, as well as assess facilitation and interference relative to contingency effects, we developed two neutral baselines: each one matched on pair-frequency for congruent and incongruent color words. In Experiments 1 and 3, color words (e.g., "blue") and their pseudohomophones (e.g., "bloo") produced significant facilitation and interference relative to neutral baselines, regardless of whether the onset (i.e., first phoneme) was matched to the color words. Color associates (e.g., "ocean") and their pseudohomophones (e.g., "oshin"), however, showed no significant facilitation or interference relative to onset matched neutral baselines (Experiment 2). When onsets were unmatched, color associate words produced consistent facilitation on RT (e.g., "ocean" vs. "dozen"), but pseudohomophones (e.g., "oshin" vs. "duhzen") failed to produce facilitation or interference. Our findings suggest that the Stroop effects for color and associated stimuli are sensitive to the type of neutral baseline used, as well as stimulus type (word vs. pseudohomophone). In general, contingency learning plays a large role when repeating congruent items more than incongruent items, but appropriate pair-frequency matched neutral baselines allow for the assessment of genuine facilitation and interference. Using such baselines, we found reading processes proceed to a semantic level for familiar words, but not pseudohomophones (i.e., phonetic decoding). Such assessment is critical for separating the effects of genuine congruency from contingency during automatic word reading in the Stroop task, and when used with color associates, isolates the semantic contribution.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bunkin, N. F., E-mail: nbunkin@kapella.gpi.ru; Suyazov, N. V.; Shkirin, A. V.

Experiments using phase-modulation interference microscopy and Mueller-matrix polarimetry show that double-distilled water free of foreign solid matter contains macroscopic light scatterers. Numerical calculations suggest that these scatterers can be represented as micrometer-size clusters of polydisperse air bubbles with effective radii between 70 and 90 nm. The fractal dimension of the clusters varies from 2.4 to 2.8, and their concentration is on the order of 10{sup 6} cm{sup -3}.

Quantum eraser and the decoherence time of a measurement process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abranyos, Y.; Jakob, M.; Bergou, J.

1999-10-01

We propose a which path quantum eraser scheme based on a recent experiment by Eichmann et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 2359 (1993)] involving two four-level atoms. We show that the quantum eraser can be used for the detection of the decoherence time of macroscopic or mesoscopic entangled superpositions of pointer states of a meter with one of the two atoms, by the visibility of the interference pattern.

Space Theory and Strategy: War From the High Ground Down

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-01

offset to the American Vietnam experience culminating in the American Apollo 11 moon- landing mission in 1969. The Space Race to the Moon paved a...satellite would indicate a clear escalation in violence based on contextual tensions. A blinding laser or radio frequency jamming attack on a...Down 51 characterize, geolocate, and report radio frequency interference is another version of prepositioning space forces.10 Show of force

Modeling subjective well-being in individuals with chronic pain and a physical disability: the role of pain control and pain catastrophizing.

PubMed

Furrer, Angela; Michel, Gisela; Terrill, Alexandra L; Jensen, Mark P; Müller, Rachel

2017-10-23

To investigate the associations between subjective well-being and pain intensity, pain interference, and depression in individuals with physical disabilities. We hypothesized that (1) pain control and (2) pain catastrophizing mediate the effects of subjective well-being on pain intensity, pain interference, and depression. Analyses of cross-sectional data from 96 individuals diagnosed with spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, neuromuscular disease, or post-polio syndrome, with average pain intensity of ≥4 (0-10) on at least half the days in the past month. Two models tested study hypotheses using structural equation. Both models showed acceptable model fit. Pain catastrophizing significantly mediated the effect of subjective well-being on pain intensity and pain interference, but not on depression. Pain control did not significantly mediate the effect of subjective well-being on pain intensity, pain interference, or depression. Path coefficients showed significant direct effects of subjective well-being on pain control (β = 0.39), pain catastrophizing (β = -0.61), pain interference (β = -0.48; -0.42), and depression (β = -0.75; -0.78). This study supports the potential of enhancing subjective well-being and lowering pain catastrophizing for reducing pain intensity, pain interference, and depressive symptoms in individuals with chronic pain and a physical disability. The findings indicate that true experiments to test for causal associations are warranted. Implications for rehabilitation The majority of individuals with physical disabilities report having persistent moderate-to-severe pain that may negatively limit daily activities and quality of life. The present cross-sectional study indicates that individuals who reported greater subjective well-being showed significantly lower pain intensity via the mediating effect of lower pain catastrophizing. Since sample size and respective power are low, these findings should be taken as first indications of potential underlying mechanisms between subjective well-being and pain outcomes that need further confirmation in longitudinal research. However, the findings suggest that treatments which enhance subjective well-being (increasing positive affect and life satisfaction, and decreasing negative affect, e.g., via positive psychology exercises) and reducing pain catastrophizing (via e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy) may have the highest potential for benefiting individuals with disability-associated chronic pain.

Category-length and category-strength effects using images of scenes.

PubMed

Baumann, Oliver; Vromen, Joyce M G; Boddy, Adam C; Crawshaw, Eloise; Humphreys, Michael S

2018-06-21

Global matching models have provided an important theoretical framework for recognition memory. Key predictions of this class of models are that (1) increasing the number of occurrences in a study list of some items affects the performance on other items (list-strength effect) and that (2) adding new items results in a deterioration of performance on the other items (list-length effect). Experimental confirmation of these predictions has been difficult, and the results have been inconsistent. A review of the existing literature, however, suggests that robust length and strength effects do occur when sufficiently similar hard-to-label items are used. In an effort to investigate this further, we had participants study lists containing one or more members of visual scene categories (bathrooms, beaches, etc.). Experiments 1 and 2 replicated and extended previous findings showing that the study of additional category members decreased accuracy, providing confirmation of the category-length effect. Experiment 3 showed that repeating some category members decreased the accuracy of nonrepeated members, providing evidence for a category-strength effect. Experiment 4 eliminated a potential challenge to these results. Taken together, these findings provide robust support for global matching models of recognition memory. The overall list lengths, the category sizes, and the number of repetitions used demonstrated that scene categories are well-suited to testing the fundamental assumptions of global matching models. These include (A) interference from memories for similar items and contexts, (B) nondestructive interference, and (C) that conjunctive information is made available through a matching operation.

Cortical interactions in vision and awareness: hierarchies in reverse.

PubMed

Juan, Chi-Hung; Campana, Gianluca; Walsh, Vincent

2004-01-01

The anatomical connections between visual areas can be organized in 'feedforward', 'feedback' or 'horizontal' laminar patterns. We report here four experiments that test the function of some of the feedback projections in visual cortex. Projections from V5 to V1 have been suggested to be important in visual awareness, and in the first experiment we show this to be the case in the blindsight patient GY. This demonstration is replicated, in principle, in the second experiment and we also show the timing of the V5-V1 interaction to correspond to findings from single unit physiology. In the third experiment we show that V1 is important for stimulus detection in visual search arrays and that the timing of V1 interference with TMS is late (up to 240 ms after the onset of the visual array). Finally we report an experiment showing that the parietal cortex is not involved in visual motion priming, whereas V5 is, suggesting that the parietal cortex does not modulate V5 in this task. We interpret the data in terms of Bullier's recent physiological recordings and Ahissar and Hochstein's reverse hierarchy theory of vision.

Quantum dice

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sassoli de Bianchi, Massimiliano, E-mail: autoricerca@gmail.com

In a letter to Born, Einstein wrote [42]: “Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the ‘old one.’ I, at any rate, am convinced that He does not throw dice.” In this paper we take seriously Einstein’s famous metaphor, and show that we can gain considerable insight into quantum mechanics by doing something as simple as rolling dice. More precisely, we show how to perform measurements on a single die, tomore » create typical quantum interference effects, and how to connect (entangle) two identical dice, to maximally violate Bell’s inequality. -- Highlights: •Rolling a die is a quantum process admitting a Hilbert space representation. •Rolling experiments with a single die can produce interference effects. •Two connected dice can violate Bell’s inequality. •Correlations need to be created by the measurement, to violate Bell’s inequality.« less

99Tc atom counting by quadrupole ICP-MS. Optimisation of the instrumental response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Más, José L.; Garcia-León, Manuel; Bolívar, Juan P.

2002-05-01

In this paper, an extensive work is done on the specific tune of a conventional ICP-MS for 99Tc atom counting. For this, two methods have been used and compared: the partial variable control method and the 5D Simplex method. Instrumental limits of detection of 0.2 and 0.8 ppt, respectively, were obtained. They are noticeably lower than that found with the automatic tune method of the spectrometer, 47 ppt, which shows the need of a specific tune when very low levels of 99Tc have to be determined. A study is presented on the mass interferences for 99Tc. Our experiments show that the formation of polyatomic atoms or refractory oxides as well as 98Mo hydrides seem to be irrelevant for 99Tc atom counting. The opposite occurs with the presence of isobaric interferences, i.e. 99Ru, and the effect of abundance sensitivity, or low-mass resolution, which can modify the response at m/ z=99 to a non-negligible extent.

Coherent electron emission from O2 in collisions with fast electrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chowdhury, Madhusree Roy; Stia, Carlos R.; Tachino, Carmen A.; Fojón, Omar A.; Rivarola, Roberto D.; Tribedi, Lokesh C.

2017-08-01

Absolute double differential cross sections (DDCS) of secondary electrons emitted in ionization of O2 by fast electrons have been measured for different emission angles. Theoretical calculations of atomic DDCS were obtained using the first Born approximation with an asymptotic charge of Z T = 1. The measured molecular DDCS were divided by twice the theoretical atomic DDCS to detect the presence of interference effects which was the aim of the experiment. The experimental to theoretical DDCS ratios showed clear signature of first order interference oscillation for all emission angles. The ratios were fitted by a first order Cohen-Fano type model. The variation of the oscillation amplitudes as a function of the electron emission angle showed a parabolic behaviour which goes through a minimum at 90°. The single differential and total ionization cross sections have also been deduced, besides the KLL Auger cross sections. In order to make a comparative study, we have discussed these results along with our recent experimental data obtained for N2 molecule.

Optical nonclassicality test based on third-order intensity correlations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rigovacca, L.; Kolthammer, W. S.; Di Franco, C.; Kim, M. S.

2018-03-01

We develop a nonclassicality criterion for the interference of three delayed, but otherwise identical, light fields in a three-mode Bell interferometer. We do so by comparing the prediction of quantum mechanics with those of a classical framework in which independent sources emit electric fields with random phases. In particular, we evaluate third-order correlations among output intensities as a function of the delays, and show how the presence of a correlation revival for small delays cannot be explained by the classical model of light. The observation of a revival is thus a nonclassicality signature, which can be achieved only by sources with a photon-number statistics that is highly sub-Poissonian. Our analysis provides strong evidence for the nonclassicality of the experiment discussed by Menssen et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 153603 (2017), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.153603], and shows how a collective "triad" phase affects the interference of any three or more light fields, irrespective of their quantum or classical character.

Determination of Receiver Susceptibility to Radio Frequency Interference from Portable Electronic Devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Truong X.; Ely, Jay J.

2002-01-01

With the increasing pressures to allow wireless devices on aircraft, the susceptibility of aircraft receivers to interference from Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) becomes an increasing concern. Many investigations were conducted in the past, with limited success, to quantify device emissions, path loss, and receiver interference susceptibility thresholds. This paper outlines the recent effort in determining the receiver susceptibility thresholds for ILS, VOR and GPS systems. The effort primarily consists of analysis of data available openly as reported in many RTCA and ICAO documents as well as manufacturers data on receiver sensitivity. Shortcomings with the susceptibility threshold data reported in the RTCA documents are presented, and an approach for an in-depth study is suggested. In addition, intermodulation products were observed and demonstrated in a laboratory experiment when multiple PEDs were in the proximity of each other. These intermodulation effects generate spurious frequencies that may fall within aircraft communication or navigation bands causing undesirable effects. Results from a preliminary analysis are presented that show possible harmful combinations of PEDs and the potentially affected aircraft bands.

Analysis and experiments on Fano interference using a 2D metamaterial cavity for field localized wireless power transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Son Pham, Thanh; Kumara Ranaweera, Aruna; Viet Ngo, Duc; Lee, Jong-Wook

2017-08-01

To meet both safety and efficiency demands of future wireless power transfer (WPT) systems, field leakage to the nearby environment should be controlled below a certain level. Therefore, field localization is one of the key issues in advanced WPT systems. Recently, metamaterials have shown great potential for enhanced control of electromagnetic propagation in various environments. In this work, we investigate a locally modified metamaterial to create a two-dimensional (2D) cavity for field localization at a sub-wavelength scale. We also show that the field localization in the cavity can be explained using Fano-type interference. We believe that this is one of the first works demonstrating that Fano-type interference can be applied for resonance-coupled mid-range WPT. Using the proposed approach, we achieve a localized WPT in a region that is eight times smaller than that of a transmit coil. At a distance of 0.6 meters, the measured efficiency is 56.5%, which represents a six-fold and two-fold enhancement compared to free space and uniform metamaterial slabs, respectively.

Interference between maintenance and processing in working memory: the effect of item-distractor similarity in complex span.

PubMed

Oberauer, Klaus; Farrell, Simon; Jarrold, Christopher; Pasiecznik, Kazimir; Greaves, Martin

2012-05-01

Four experiments examined the effect of phonological similarity between items and distractors on complex span performance. Item-distractor similarity benefited serial recall when distractors followed the items they were similar to, but not when distractors preceded the items they were similar to. These findings are predicted by C-SOB (contextual serial order in a box), a computational model of complex span. The model assumes that distractors are involuntarily encoded into memory, being associated to the preceding item's list position. Distractors interfere with items by superposition of distributed representations that are associated to the same position. Superposition distorts item memory; this distortion is less severe when the distractor is similar to the item. Further support for the assumption that distractors are encoded at the position of the preceding item comes from the finding that intrusions of distractors at recall tended to come from the position of the target item. In addition, intruding distractors tend to replace items to which they are similar, showing that lack of distinctiveness also contributes to interference. (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Experimental industrial signal acquisition board in a large scientific device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Xiangzhen; Ren, Bin

2018-02-01

In order to measure the industrial signal of neutrino experiment, a set of general-purpose industrial data acquisition board has been designed. It includes the function of switch signal input and output, and the function of analog signal input. The main components are signal isolation amplifier and filter circuit, ADC circuit, microcomputer systems and isolated communication interface circuit. Through the practical experiments, it shows that the system is flexible, reliable, convenient and economical, and the system has characters of high definition and strong anti-interference ability. Thus, the system fully meets the design requirements.

Interference in Ballistic Motor Learning: Specificity and Role of Sensory Error Signals

PubMed Central

Lundbye-Jensen, Jesper; Petersen, Tue Hvass; Rothwell, John C.; Nielsen, Jens Bo

2011-01-01

Humans are capable of learning numerous motor skills, but newly acquired skills may be abolished by subsequent learning. Here we ask what factors determine whether interference occurs in motor learning. We speculated that interference requires competing processes of synaptic plasticity in overlapping circuits and predicted specificity. To test this, subjects learned a ballistic motor task. Interference was observed following subsequent learning of an accuracy-tracking task, but only if the competing task involved the same muscles and movement direction. Interference was not observed from a non-learning task suggesting that interference requires competing learning. Subsequent learning of the competing task 4 h after initial learning did not cause interference suggesting disruption of early motor memory consolidation as one possible mechanism underlying interference. Repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of corticospinal motor output at intensities below movement threshold did not cause interference, whereas suprathreshold rTMS evoking motor responses and (re)afferent activation did. Finally, the experiments revealed that suprathreshold repetitive electrical stimulation of the agonist (but not antagonist) peripheral nerve caused interference. The present study is, to our knowledge, the first to demonstrate that peripheral nerve stimulation may cause interference. The finding underscores the importance of sensory feedback as error signals in motor learning. We conclude that interference requires competing plasticity in overlapping circuits. Interference is remarkably specific for circuits involved in a specific movement and it may relate to sensory error signals. PMID:21408054

Radio interference in the near-earth environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erickson, W. C.

1988-01-01

Natural and man-made radio frequency interference (RFI) are potentially serious obstacles to the successful operation of an array of spacecraft used for low frequency (1 to 30 MHz) radio interferometry in the near-earth environment. Several satellites and planetary probes have carried radio astronomy experiments, and the moderate data base that they provide are examined to help understand the near-earth RFI environment. The general conclusion is that the region of space within 100 earth-radii of the earth is a hostile environment for any radio astronomy experiment. If a low frequency array in earth orbit is to yield useful astronomical results, severe interference problems must be anticipated and overcome. A number of recommendations are made to further examine the feasibility of such an array.

Neutron interference in the Earth's gravitational field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galiautdinov, Andrei; Ryder, Lewis H.

2017-06-01

This work relates to the famous experiments, performed in 1975 and 1979 by Werner et al., measuring neutron interference and neutron Sagnac effects in the earth's gravitational field. Employing the method of Stodolsky in its weak field approximation, explicit expressions are derived for the two phase shifts, which turn out to be in agreement with the experiments and with the previously obtained expressions derived from semi-classical arguments: these expressions are simply modified by relativistic correction factors.

Modeling RNA interference in mammalian cells

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background RNA interference (RNAi) is a regulatory cellular process that controls post-transcriptional gene silencing. During RNAi double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) induces sequence-specific degradation of homologous mRNA via the generation of smaller dsRNA oligomers of length between 21-23nt (siRNAs). siRNAs are then loaded onto the RNA-Induced Silencing multiprotein Complex (RISC), which uses the siRNA antisense strand to specifically recognize mRNA species which exhibit a complementary sequence. Once the siRNA loaded-RISC binds the target mRNA, the mRNA is cleaved and degraded, and the siRNA loaded-RISC can degrade additional mRNA molecules. Despite the widespread use of siRNAs for gene silencing, and the importance of dosage for its efficiency and to avoid off target effects, none of the numerous mathematical models proposed in literature was validated to quantitatively capture the effects of RNAi on the target mRNA degradation for different concentrations of siRNAs. Here, we address this pressing open problem performing in vitro experiments of RNAi in mammalian cells and testing and comparing different mathematical models fitting experimental data to in-silico generated data. We performed in vitro experiments in human and hamster cell lines constitutively expressing respectively EGFP protein or tTA protein, measuring both mRNA levels, by quantitative Real-Time PCR, and protein levels, by FACS analysis, for a large range of concentrations of siRNA oligomers. Results We tested and validated four different mathematical models of RNA interference by quantitatively fitting models' parameters to best capture the in vitro experimental data. We show that a simple Hill kinetic model is the most efficient way to model RNA interference. Our experimental and modeling findings clearly show that the RNAi-mediated degradation of mRNA is subject to saturation effects. Conclusions Our model has a simple mathematical form, amenable to analytical investigations and a small set of parameters with an intuitive physical meaning, that makes it a unique and reliable mathematical tool. The findings here presented will be a useful instrument for better understanding RNAi biology and as modelling tool in Systems and Synthetic Biology. PMID:21272352

Experiences with a high-blockage model tested in the NASA Ames 12-foot pressure wind tunnel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coder, D. W.

1984-01-01

Representation of the flow around full-scale ships was sought in the subsonic wind tunnels in order to a Hain Reynolds numbers as high as possible. As part of the quest to attain the largest possible Reynolds number, large models with high blockage are used which result in significant wall interference effects. Some experiences with such a high blockage model tested in the NASA Ames 12-foot pressure wind tunnel are summarized. The main results of the experiment relating to wind tunnel wall interference effects are also presented.

How to Be Proactive About Interference: Lessons From Animal Memory

PubMed Central

Wright, Anthony A.; Katz, Jeffrey S.; Ma, Wei Ji

2015-01-01

Processes of proactive interference were explored using the pigeon as a model system of memory. This study shows that proactive interference extends back in time at least 16 trials (and as many minutes), revealing a continuum of interference and providing a framework for studying memory. Pigeons were tested in a delayed same/different task containing trial-unique pictures. On interference trials, sample pictures from previous trials reappeared as test pictures on different trials. Proactive-interference functions showed greatest interference from the most recent trial and with the longer of two delays (10 s vs. 1 s). These interference functions are accounted for by a time-estimation model based on signal detection theory. The model predicts that accuracy at test is determined solely by the ratio of the elapsed time since the offset of the current-trial sample to the elapsed time since the offset of the interfering sample. Implications for comparing memory of different species and different types of memory (e.g., familiarity vs. recollection) are discussed. PMID:22491142

How to be proactive about interference: lessons from animal memory.

PubMed

Wright, Anthony A; Katz, Jeffrey S; Ma, Wei Ji

2012-05-01

Processes of proactive interference were explored using the pigeon as a model system of memory. This study shows that proactive interference extends back in time at least 16 trials (and as many minutes), revealing a continuum of interference and providing a framework for studying memory. Pigeons were tested in a delayed same/different task containing trial-unique pictures. On interference trials, sample pictures from previous trials reappeared as test pictures on different trials. Proactive-interference functions showed greatest interference from the most recent trial and with the longer of two delays (10 s vs. 1 s). These interference functions are accounted for by a time-estimation model based on signal detection theory. The model predicts that accuracy at test is determined solely by the ratio of the elapsed time since the offset of the current-trial sample to the elapsed time since the offset of the interfering sample. Implications for comparing memory of different species and different types of memory (e.g., familiarity vs. recollection) are discussed.

Cooperative Interference Alignment for the Multiple Access Channel

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-11-01

Communications. I. INTRODUCTION Conventional wireless networks were previously thought to be interference-limited, where interference is mainly caused by...interference-free capacity for any number of users K at high SNR. This fundamental result showed that wireless networks are not interference-limited as...decoding of the K users’ messages. This is applicable in uplink transmissions in cellular communications, where mobiles transmit independent messages

Quantum imaging with undetected photons.

PubMed

Lemos, Gabriela Barreto; Borish, Victoria; Cole, Garrett D; Ramelow, Sven; Lapkiewicz, Radek; Zeilinger, Anton

2014-08-28

Information is central to quantum mechanics. In particular, quantum interference occurs only if there exists no information to distinguish between the superposed states. The mere possibility of obtaining information that could distinguish between overlapping states inhibits quantum interference. Here we introduce and experimentally demonstrate a quantum imaging concept based on induced coherence without induced emission. Our experiment uses two separate down-conversion nonlinear crystals (numbered NL1 and NL2), each illuminated by the same pump laser, creating one pair of photons (denoted idler and signal). If the photon pair is created in NL1, one photon (the idler) passes through the object to be imaged and is overlapped with the idler amplitude created in NL2, its source thus being undefined. Interference of the signal amplitudes coming from the two crystals then reveals the image of the object. The photons that pass through the imaged object (idler photons from NL1) are never detected, while we obtain images exclusively with the signal photons (from NL1 and NL2), which do not interact with the object. Our experiment is fundamentally different from previous quantum imaging techniques, such as interaction-free imaging or ghost imaging, because now the photons used to illuminate the object do not have to be detected at all and no coincidence detection is necessary. This enables the probe wavelength to be chosen in a range for which suitable detectors are not available. To illustrate this, we show images of objects that are either opaque or invisible to the detected photons. Our experiment is a prototype in quantum information--knowledge can be extracted by, and about, a photon that is never detected.

When Learning Disturbs Memory – Temporal Profile of Retroactive Interference of Learning on Memory Formation

PubMed Central

Sosic-Vasic, Zrinka; Hille, Katrin; Kröner, Julia; Spitzer, Manfred; Kornmeier, Jürgen

2018-01-01

Introduction: Consolidation is defined as the time necessary for memory stabilization after learning. In the present study we focused on effects of interference during the first 12 consolidation minutes after learning. Participants had to learn a set of German – Japanese word pairs in an initial learning task and a different set of German – Japanese word pairs in a subsequent interference task. The interference task started in different experimental conditions at different time points (0, 3, 6, and 9 min) after the learning task and was followed by subsequent cued recall tests. In a control experiment the interference periods were replaced by rest periods without any interference. Results: The interference task decreased memory performance by up to 20%, with negative effects at all interference time points and large variability between participants concerning both the time point and the size of maximal interference. Further, fast learners seem to be more affected by interference than slow learners. Discussion: Our results indicate that the first 12 min after learning are highly important for memory consolidation, without a general pattern concerning the precise time point of maximal interference across individuals. This finding raises doubts about the generalized learning recipes and calls for individuality of learning schedules. PMID:29503621

78 FR 59844 - Operation in the 57-64 GHz Band

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-30

.... With regard to the radio astronomy service and National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) concerns... analysis of potential harmful interference from 60 GHz devices to radio astronomy service. 20. Consistent with this experience, the Commission finds that interference to Radio Astronomy Service (RAS) stations...

Propeller Tip Flutter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liebers, Fritz

1932-01-01

The present report is limited to a case of tip flutter recognized by experience as being important. It is the case where outside interferences force vibrations upon the propeller. Such interferences may be set up by the engine, or they may be the result of an unsymmetrical field of flow.

Long-Term Interference Effect: An Alternative to "Learned Helplessness"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glazer, Howard I.; Weiss, Jay M.

1976-01-01

Presents three experiments that explore whether inescapable shock of long duration and moderate intensity (LoShk) produces an avoidance-escape deficit (called an interference effect) by causing animals to learn to respond less actively or by causing them to learn to be "helpless". (Editor)

Situation models and retrieval interference: pictures and words.

PubMed

Radvansky, Gabriel A; Copeland, David E

2006-07-01

Previous studies have found that interference in long-term memory retrieval occurs when information cannot be integrated into a single situation model, but this interference is greatly reduced or absent when the information can be so integrated. The current study looked at the influence of presentation format-sentences or pictures-on this observed pattern. When sentences were used at memorisation and recognition, a spatial organisation was observed. In contrast, when pictures were used, a different pattern of results was observed. Specifically, there was an overall speed-up in response times, and consistent evidence of interference. Possible explanations for this difference were examined in a third experiment using pictures during learning, but sentences during recognition. The results from Experiment 3 were consistent with the organisation of information into situation models in long-term memory, even from pictures. This suggests that people do create situation models when learning pictures, but their recognition memory may be oriented around more "verbatim", surface-form memories of the pictures.

Divided attention interferes with fulfilling activity-based intentions.

PubMed

Brewer, Gene A; Ball, B Hunter; Knight, Justin B; Dewitt, Michael R; Marsh, Richard L

2011-09-01

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of divided attention on activity-based prospective memory. After establishing a goal to fulfill an intention upon completion of an ongoing activity, successful completion of the intention generally suffered when attention was being devoted to an additional task (Experiment 1). Forming an implementation intention at encoding ameliorated the negative effects of divided attention (Experiment 2). The results from the present experiments demonstrate that activity-based prospective memory is susceptible to distraction and that implementing encoding strategies that enhance prospective memory performance can reduce this interference. The current work raises interesting questions about the similarities and differences between event- and activity-based prospective memories. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The Dynamics and Neural Correlates of Audio-Visual Integration Capacity as Determined by Temporal Unpredictability, Proactive Interference, and SOA.

PubMed

Wilbiks, Jonathan M P; Dyson, Benjamin J

2016-01-01

Over 5 experiments, we challenge the idea that the capacity of audio-visual integration need be fixed at 1 item. We observe that the conditions under which audio-visual integration is most likely to exceed 1 occur when stimulus change operates at a slow rather than fast rate of presentation and when the task is of intermediate difficulty such as when low levels of proactive interference (3 rather than 8 interfering visual presentations) are combined with the temporal unpredictability of the critical frame (Experiment 2), or, high levels of proactive interference are combined with the temporal predictability of the critical frame (Experiment 4). Neural data suggest that capacity might also be determined by the quality of perceptual information entering working memory. Experiment 5 supported the proposition that audio-visual integration was at play during the previous experiments. The data are consistent with the dynamic nature usually associated with cross-modal binding, and while audio-visual integration capacity likely cannot exceed uni-modal capacity estimates, performance may be better than being able to associate only one visual stimulus with one auditory stimulus.

The Dynamics and Neural Correlates of Audio-Visual Integration Capacity as Determined by Temporal Unpredictability, Proactive Interference, and SOA

PubMed Central

Wilbiks, Jonathan M. P.; Dyson, Benjamin J.

2016-01-01

Over 5 experiments, we challenge the idea that the capacity of audio-visual integration need be fixed at 1 item. We observe that the conditions under which audio-visual integration is most likely to exceed 1 occur when stimulus change operates at a slow rather than fast rate of presentation and when the task is of intermediate difficulty such as when low levels of proactive interference (3 rather than 8 interfering visual presentations) are combined with the temporal unpredictability of the critical frame (Experiment 2), or, high levels of proactive interference are combined with the temporal predictability of the critical frame (Experiment 4). Neural data suggest that capacity might also be determined by the quality of perceptual information entering working memory. Experiment 5 supported the proposition that audio-visual integration was at play during the previous experiments. The data are consistent with the dynamic nature usually associated with cross-modal binding, and while audio-visual integration capacity likely cannot exceed uni-modal capacity estimates, performance may be better than being able to associate only one visual stimulus with one auditory stimulus. PMID:27977790

Maintenance of memory for melodies: Articulation or attentional refreshing?

PubMed

Nees, Michael A; Corrini, Ellen; Leong, Peri; Harris, Joanna

2017-12-01

Past research on the effects of articulatory suppression on working memory for nonverbal sounds has been characterized by discrepant findings, which suggests that multiple mechanisms may be involved in the rehearsal of nonverbal sounds. In two experiments we examined the potential roles of two theoretical mechanisms of verbal working memory-articulatory rehearsal and attentional refreshing-in the maintenance of memory for short melodies. In both experiments, participants performed a same-different melody comparison task. During an 8-s retention interval, interference tasks were introduced to suppress articulatory rehearsal, attentional refreshing, or both. In Experiment 1, only the conditions that featured articulatory suppression resulted in worse memory performance than in a control condition, and the suppression of both attentional refreshing and articulatory rehearsal concurrently did not impair memory more than articulatory suppression alone. Experiment 2 reproduced these findings and also confirmed that the locus of interference was articulatory and not auditory (i.e., the interference was not attributable to the sound of participants' own voices during articulatory suppression). Both experiments suggested that articulatory rehearsal played a role in the maintenance of melodies in memory, whereas attentional refreshing did not. We discuss potential theoretical implications regarding the mechanisms used for the rehearsal of nonverbal sounds in working memory.

Updating and feature overwriting in short-term memory for timbre.

PubMed

Mercer, Tom; McKeown, Denis

2010-11-01

Previous research has demonstrated a potent, stimulus-specific form of interference in short-term auditory memory. This effect has been interpreted in terms of interitem confusion and grouping, but the present experiments suggested that interference might be a feature-specific phenomenon. Participants compared standard and comparison tones over a 10-sec interval and were required to determine whether they differed in timbre. A single interfering distractor tone was presented either 50 msec or 8 sec after the offset of the standard (Experiment 1) or 2 sec prior to its onset (Experiment 2). The distractor varied in the number of features it shared with the standard and comparison, and this proved critical, since performance on the task was greatly impaired when the distractor either consisted of novel, unshared features (Experiment 1) or contained the distinguishing feature of the comparison tone (Experiments 1 and 2). These findings were incompatible with earlier accounts of forgetting but were fully explicable by the recent timbre memory model, which associates interference in short-term auditory memory with an "updating" process and feature overwriting. These results suggest similarities with the mechanisms that underlie forgetting in verbal short-term memory.

Real-Time Distributed Implementation of Interference Alignment with Analog Feedback

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

manner as in Figure 5(a). As such, six OFDM symbols are transmitted for our three user 2 × 2 MIMO system. The training does not experience precoding nor...pp. 159170, August 2009. [12] O. E. Ayach, S.W. Peters, and R.W. Heath Jr., ”The feasibility of interference alignment over measured MIMO - OFDM ...A Space-Time Receiver with Joint Synchronization and Interference Cancellation in Asynchronous MIMO - OFDM Systems,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular

Verbal overshadowing of visual memories: some things are better left unsaid.

PubMed

Schooler, J W; Engstler-Schooler, T Y

1990-01-01

It is widely believed that verbal processing generally improves memory performance. However, in a series of six experiments, verbalizing the appearance of previously seen visual stimuli impaired subsequent recognition performance. In Experiment 1, subjects viewed a videotape including a salient individual. Later, some subjects described the individual's face. Subjects who verbalized the face performed less well on a subsequent recognition test than control subjects who did not engage in memory verbalization. The results of Experiment 2 replicated those of Experiment 1 and further clarified the effect of memory verbalization by demonstrating that visualization does not impair face recognition. In Experiments 3 and 4 we explored the hypothesis that memory verbalization impairs memory for stimuli that are difficult to put into words. In Experiment 3 memory impairment followed the verbalization of a different visual stimulus: color. In Experiment 4 marginal memory improvement followed the verbalization of a verbal stimulus: a brief spoken statement. In Experiments 5 and 6 the source of verbally induced memory impairment was explored. The results of Experiment 5 suggested that the impairment does not reflect a temporary verbal set, but rather indicates relatively long-lasting memory interference. Finally, Experiment 6 demonstrated that limiting subjects' time to make recognition decisions alleviates the impairment, suggesting that memory verbalization overshadows but does not eradicate the original visual memory. This collection of results is consistent with a recording interference hypothesis: verbalizing a visual memory may produce a verbally biased memory representation that can interfere with the application of the original visual memory.

No evidence for memory interference across sessions in food hoarding marsh tits Poecile palustris under laboratory conditions.

PubMed

Urhan, A Utku; Brodin, Anders

2015-05-01

Scatter hoarding birds are known for their accurate spatial memory. In a previous experiment, we tested the retrieval accuracy in marsh tits in a typical laboratory set-up for this species. We also tested the performance of humans in this experimental set-up. Somewhat unexpectedly, humans performed much better than marsh tits. In the first five attempts, humans relocated almost 90 % of the caches they had hidden 5 h earlier. Marsh tits only relocated 25 % in the first five attempts and just above 40 % in the first ten attempts. Typically, in this type of experiment, the birds will be caching and retrieving many times in the same sites in the same experimental room. This is very different from the conditions in nature where hoarding parids only cache once in a caching site. Hence, it is possible that memories from previous sessions will disturb the formation of new memories. If there is such proactive interference, the prediction is that success should decay over sessions. Here, we have designed an experiment to investigate whether there is such memory interference in this type of experiment. We allowed marsh tits and humans to cache and retrieve in three repeated sessions without prior experience of the arena. The performance did not change over sessions, and on average, marsh tits correctly visited around 25 % of the caches in the first five attempts. The corresponding success in humans was constant across sessions, and it was around 90 % on average. We conclude that the somewhat poor performance of the marsh tits did not depend on proactive memory interference. We also discuss other possible reasons for why marsh tits in general do not perform better in laboratory experiments.

Investigation of potential interferences in the detection of atmospheric ROx radicals by laser-induced fluorescence under dark conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuchs, H.; Tan, Z.; Hofzumahaus, A.; Broch, S.; Dorn, H.-P.; Holland, F.; Künstler, C.; Gomm, S.; Rohrer, F.; Schrade, S.; Tillmann, R.; Wahner, A.

2015-11-01

Direct detection of highly reactive, atmospheric hydroxyl radicals (OH) is widely accomplished by laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) instruments. The technique is also suitable for the indirect measurement of HO2 and RO2 peroxy radicals by chemical conversion to OH. It requires sampling of ambient air into a low pressure cell, where OH fluorescence is detected after excitation by 308 nm laser radiation. Although the residence time of air inside the fluorescence cell is typically only on the order of milliseconds, there is potential that additional OH is internally produced, which would artificially increase the measured OH concentration. Here, we present experimental studies investigating potential interferences in the detection of OH and peroxy radicals for the LIF instruments of Forschungszentrum Jülich for nighttime conditions. For laboratory experiments, the inlet of the instrument was overflown by excess synthetic air containing one or more reactants. In order to distinguish between OH produced by reactions upstream of the inlet and artificial signals produced inside the instrument, a chemical titration for OH was applied. Additional experiments were performed in the simulation chamber SAPHIR where simultaneous measurements by an open-path differential optical absorption spectrometer (DOAS) served as reference for OH to quantify potential artifacts in the LIF instrument. Experiments included the investigation of potential interferences related to the nitrate radical (NO3, N2O5), related to the ozonolysis of alkenes (ethene, propene, 1-butene, 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene, α-pinene, limonene, isoprene), and the laser photolysis of acetone. Experiments studying the laser photolysis of acetone yield OH signals in the fluorescence cell, which are equivalent to 0.05 × 106 cm-3 OH for a mixing ratio of 5 ppbv acetone. Under most atmospheric conditions, this interference is negligible. No significant interferences were found for atmospheric concentrations of reactants during ozonolysis experiments. Only for α-pinene, limonene, and isoprene at reactant concentrations which are orders of magnitude higher than in the atmosphere artificial OH could be detected. The value of the interference depends on the turnover rate of the ozonolysis reaction. For example, an apparent OH concentration of approximately 1 × 106 cm-3 is observed, if 5.8 ppbv limonene reacts with 600 ppbv ozone. Experiments with the nitrate radical NO3 reveal a small interference signal in the OH, HO2 and RO2 detection. Dependencies on experimental parameters point to artificial OH formation by surface reactions at the chamber walls or in molecular clusters in the gas expansion. The signal scales with the presence of NO3 giving equivalent radical concentrations of 1.1 × 105 cm-3 OH, 1 × 107 cm-3 HO2, and 1.7 × 107 cm-3 RO2 per 10 pptv NO3.

Picture-Induced Semantic Interference Reflects Lexical Competition during Object Naming

PubMed Central

Aristei, Sabrina; Zwitserlood, Pienie; Rahman, Rasha Abdel

2012-01-01

With a picture–picture experiment, we contrasted competitive and non-competitive models of lexical selection during language production. Participants produced novel noun–noun compounds in response to two adjacently displayed objects that were categorically related or unrelated (e.g., depicted objects: apple and cherry; naming response: “apple–cherry”). We observed semantic interference, with slower compound naming for related relative to unrelated pictures, very similar to interference effects produced by semantically related context words in picture–word-interference paradigms. This finding suggests that previous failures to observe reliable interference induced by context pictures may be due to the weakness of lexical activation and competition induced by pictures, relative to words. The production of both picture names within one integrated compound word clearly enhances lexical activation, resulting in measurable interference effects. We interpret this interference as resulting from lexical competition, because the alternative interpretation, in terms of response-exclusion from the articulatory buffer, does not apply to pictures, even when they are named. PMID:22363304

Retrieval Interference in Sentence Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Dyke, Julie A.; McElree, Brian

2006-01-01

The role of interference effects in sentence processing has recently begun to receive attention, however whether these effects arise during encoding or retrieval remains unclear. This paper draws on basic memory research to help distinguish these explanations and reports data from an experiment that manipulates the possibility for retrieval…

"Quantum Interference with Slits" Revisited

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rothman, Tony; Boughn, Stephen

2011-01-01

Marcella has presented a straightforward technique employing the Dirac formalism to calculate single- and double-slit interference patterns. He claims that no reference is made to classical optics or scattering theory and that his method therefore provides a purely quantum mechanical description of these experiments. He also presents his…

Language Learning and Control in Monolinguals and Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bartolotti, James; Marian, Viorica

2012-01-01

Parallel language activation in bilinguals leads to competition between languages. Experience managing this interference may aid novel language learning by improving the ability to suppress competition from known languages. To investigate the effect of bilingualism on the ability to control native-language interference, monolinguals and bilinguals…

Configural information in gender categorisation.

PubMed

Baudouin, Jean-Yves; Humphreys, Glyn W

2006-01-01

The role of configural information in gender categorisation was studied by aligning the top half of one face with the bottom half of another. The two faces had the same or different genders. Experiment 1 shows that participants were slower and made more errors in categorising the gender in either half of these composite faces when the two faces had a different gender, relative to control conditions where the two faces were nonaligned or had the same gender. This result parallels the composite effect for face recognition (Young et al, 1987 Perception 16 747-759) and facial-expression recognition (Calder et al, 2000 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 26 527-551). Similarly to responses to face identity and expression, the composite effect on gender discrimination was disrupted by inverting the faces (experiment 2). Both experiments also show that the composite paradigm is sensitive to general contextual interference in gender categorisation.

Different Loci of Semantic Interference in Picture Naming vs. Word-Picture Matching Tasks.

PubMed

Harvey, Denise Y; Schnur, Tatiana T

2016-01-01

Naming pictures and matching words to pictures belonging to the same semantic category impairs performance relative to when stimuli come from different semantic categories (i.e., semantic interference). Despite similar semantic interference phenomena in both picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, the locus of interference has been attributed to different levels of the language system - lexical in naming and semantic in word-picture matching. Although both tasks involve access to shared semantic representations, the extent to which interference originates and/or has its locus at a shared level remains unclear, as these effects are often investigated in isolation. We manipulated semantic context in cyclical picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, and tested whether factors tapping semantic-level (generalization of interference to novel category items) and lexical-level processes (interactions with lexical frequency) affected the magnitude of interference, while also assessing whether interference occurs at a shared processing level(s) (transfer of interference across tasks). We found that semantic interference in naming was sensitive to both semantic- and lexical-level processes (i.e., larger interference for novel vs. old and low- vs. high-frequency stimuli), consistent with a semantically mediated lexical locus. Interference in word-picture matching exhibited stable interference for old and novel stimuli and did not interact with lexical frequency. Further, interference transferred from word-picture matching to naming. Together, these experiments provide evidence to suggest that semantic interference in both tasks originates at a shared processing stage (presumably at the semantic level), but that it exerts its effect at different loci when naming pictures vs. matching words to pictures.

Different Loci of Semantic Interference in Picture Naming vs. Word-Picture Matching Tasks

PubMed Central

Harvey, Denise Y.; Schnur, Tatiana T.

2016-01-01

Naming pictures and matching words to pictures belonging to the same semantic category impairs performance relative to when stimuli come from different semantic categories (i.e., semantic interference). Despite similar semantic interference phenomena in both picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, the locus of interference has been attributed to different levels of the language system – lexical in naming and semantic in word-picture matching. Although both tasks involve access to shared semantic representations, the extent to which interference originates and/or has its locus at a shared level remains unclear, as these effects are often investigated in isolation. We manipulated semantic context in cyclical picture naming and word-picture matching tasks, and tested whether factors tapping semantic-level (generalization of interference to novel category items) and lexical-level processes (interactions with lexical frequency) affected the magnitude of interference, while also assessing whether interference occurs at a shared processing level(s) (transfer of interference across tasks). We found that semantic interference in naming was sensitive to both semantic- and lexical-level processes (i.e., larger interference for novel vs. old and low- vs. high-frequency stimuli), consistent with a semantically mediated lexical locus. Interference in word-picture matching exhibited stable interference for old and novel stimuli and did not interact with lexical frequency. Further, interference transferred from word-picture matching to naming. Together, these experiments provide evidence to suggest that semantic interference in both tasks originates at a shared processing stage (presumably at the semantic level), but that it exerts its effect at different loci when naming pictures vs. matching words to pictures. PMID:27242621

Social priming of dyslexia and reduction of the Stroop effect: what component of the Stroop effect is actually reduced?

PubMed

Augustinova, Maria; Ferrand, Ludovic

2014-03-01

Recently, Goldfarb, Aisenberg, and Henik (2011) showed that in a manual format of the Stroop task, dyslexia priming eliminates the normal magnitude of the interference-based Stroop-like findings otherwise exhibited by individuals participating in such research. Goldfarb et al. (2011) consequently concluded that the effect of word reading in a Stroop task (i.e., one automatic behavior) can be effectively controlled through an automatic instruction "do not read" (i.e., another automatic behavior). The present study further investigated these ideas by examining when and how dyslexia priming controls different processes involved in a Stroop task. To this end, the original finding was first replicated (Experiment 1) and subsequently extended to the vocal (instead of manual) response modality to examine whether previously reported eliminations of the Stroop effect persist with this response format (i.e., format producing larger Stroop effects). Since past work (e.g., Augustinova & Ferrand, 2012a; Brown, Joneleit et al., 2002; Ferrand & Augustinova, 2013) had suggested that various interventions were likely to reduce (rather than eliminate) the interference-based Stroop-like findings with vocal responses, a further aim of these experiments was to identify the component of these findings that dyslexia priming actually reduces. To this end, the effects of this intervention were examined in a more fine-grained variant of the Stroop task that distinguished between interference resulting from task-irrelevant processes involved in computing the lexical and semantic representations of the word (i.e., a written distractor to ignore) and task-relevant processes involved in the selection of a response (i.e., a color target to name) that are both involved in this task. In line with our past work (e.g., Augustinova & Ferrand, 2012a; Ferrand & Augustinova, 2013), the results of two experiments (Experiments 2 and 3) showed that in the vocal format, dyslexia priming reduces but does not eliminate the normal magnitude of the interference-based Stroop-like findings and that this reduction is solely due to the control of processes involved in the selection of a response (i.e., a color target to name) - processes that are known to be controllable in this format (Ferrand & Augustinova, 2013). Given that in this format, dyslexia priming had no effect on task-irrelevant processes involved in computing the lexical and semantic representations of a written distractor to be ignored - processes that are known to be automatic - further implications for the control of automatic processes via dyslexia priming are considered and an interpretation in terms of a unitary control mechanism for both the manual and vocal formats is proposed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hong-Ou-Mandel Interference with a Single Atom.

PubMed

Ralley, K A; Lerner, I V; Yurkevich, I V

2015-09-14

The Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) effect is widely regarded as the quintessential quantum interference phenomenon in optics. In this work we examine how nonlinearity can smear statistical photon bunching in the HOM interferometer. We model both the nonlinearity and a balanced beam splitter with a single two-level system and calculate a finite probability of anti-bunching arising in this geometry. We thus argue that the presence of such nonlinearity would reduce the visibility in the standard HOM setup, offering some explanation for the diminution of the HOM visibility observed in many experiments. We use the same model to show that the nonlinearity affects a resonant two-photon propagation through a two-level impurity in a waveguide due to a "weak photon blockade" caused by the impossibility of double-occupancy and argue that this effect might be stronger for multi-photon propagation.

A polarized low-coherence interferometry demodulation algorithm by recovering the absolute phase of a selected monochromatic frequency.

PubMed

Jiang, Junfeng; Wang, Shaohua; Liu, Tiegen; Liu, Kun; Yin, Jinde; Meng, Xiange; Zhang, Yimo; Wang, Shuang; Qin, Zunqi; Wu, Fan; Li, Dingjie

2012-07-30

A demodulation algorithm based on absolute phase recovery of a selected monochromatic frequency is proposed for optical fiber Fabry-Perot pressure sensing system. The algorithm uses Fourier transform to get the relative phase and intercept of the unwrapped phase-frequency linear fit curve to identify its interference-order, which are then used to recover the absolute phase. A simplified mathematical model of the polarized low-coherence interference fringes was established to illustrate the principle of the proposed algorithm. Phase unwrapping and the selection of monochromatic frequency were discussed in detail. Pressure measurement experiment was carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Results showed that the demodulation precision by our algorithm could reach up to 0.15kPa, which has been improved by 13 times comparing with phase slope based algorithm.

Experimental implementation of a nonlinear beamsplitter based on a phase-sensitive parametric amplifier

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fang, Yami; Feng, Jingliang; Cao, Leiming

2016-03-28

Beamsplitters have played an important role in quantum optics experiments. They are often used to split and combine two beams, especially in the construct of an interferometer. In this letter, we experimentally implement a nonlinear beamsplitter using a phase-sensitive parametric amplifier, which is based on four-wave mixing in hot rubidium vapor. Here we show that, despite the different frequencies of the two input beams, the output ports of the nonlinear beamsplitter exhibit interference phenomena. We make measurements of the interference fringe visibility and study how various parameters, such as the intensity gain of the amplifier, the intensity ratio of themore » two input beams, and the one and two photon detunings, affect the behavior of the nonlinear beamsplitter. It may find potential applications in quantum metrology and quantum information processing.« less

Cognitive control in media multitaskers

PubMed Central

Ophir, Eyal; Nass, Clifford; Wagner, Anthony D.

2009-01-01

Chronic media multitasking is quickly becoming ubiquitous, although processing multiple incoming streams of information is considered a challenge for human cognition. A series of experiments addressed whether there are systematic differences in information processing styles between chronically heavy and light media multitaskers. A trait media multitasking index was developed to identify groups of heavy and light media multitaskers. These two groups were then compared along established cognitive control dimensions. Results showed that heavy media multitaskers are more susceptible to interference from irrelevant environmental stimuli and from irrelevant representations in memory. This led to the surprising result that heavy media multitaskers performed worse on a test of task-switching ability, likely due to reduced ability to filter out interference from the irrelevant task set. These results demonstrate that media multitasking, a rapidly growing societal trend, is associated with a distinct approach to fundamental information processing. PMID:19706386

Nonword reading and Stroop interference: what differentiates attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and reading disability?

PubMed

Stubenrauch, Christa; Freund, Juliane; Alecu de Flers, Simone; DeFlers, Simone; Scharke, Wolfgang; Braun, Mario; Jacobs, Arthur M; Konrad, Kerstin

2014-01-01

Attention deficits and impaired reading performance co-occur more often than expected by chance; however, the underlying mechanism of this association still remains rather unexplored. In two consecutive studies, children aged 8 to 12 years with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and children with reading disability (RD) were examined using a 2 (ADHD versus no ADHD) × 2 (RD versus no RD) factorial design. To further delineate deficient interference control from reading processes, we used a newly developed self-paced word/nonword reading task (Experiment 1, n = 68) and a modified computerized Stroop paradigm, including an orthographic phonological neighbor (OPN) condition (Experiment 2, n = 84). RD (compared to non-RD groups) was associated with impairments in both word and nonword reading, while children with ADHD also showed impaired nonword reading. In the Stroop task, RD, but not ADHD, had a significant impact on task performance. Interestingly, a significant interaction between ADHD, RD, and task condition emerged, which was due to particularly slower reaction times to nonwords in children with RD only, while task performance in children with comorbid ADHD and RD resembled that of ADHD only. Thus, our results demonstrate that impairments in nonword reading were not specific to RD but were also present in children with ADHD. In addition, RD and not ADHD was characterized by poor interference control in the Stroop task. These findings question whether unique cognitive deficits are specific to either ADHD or RD.

Motor resources in peripersonal space are intrinsic to spatial encoding: evidence from motor interference.

PubMed

Iachini, Tina; Ruggiero, Gennaro; Ruotolo, Francesco; Vinciguerra, Michela

2014-11-01

The aim of this study was to explore the role of motor resources in peripersonal space encoding: are they intrinsic to spatial processes or due to action potentiality of objects? To answer this question, we disentangled the effects of motor resources on object manipulability and spatial processing in peripersonal and extrapersonal spaces. Participants had to localize manipulable and non-manipulable 3-D stimuli presented within peripersonal or extrapersonal spaces of an immersive virtual reality scenario. To assess the contribution of motor resources to the spatial task a motor interference paradigm was used. In Experiment 1, localization judgments were provided with the left hand while the right dominant arm could be free or blocked. Results showed that participants were faster and more accurate in localizing both manipulable and non-manipulable stimuli in peripersonal space with their arms free. On the other hand, in extrapersonal space there was no significant effect of motor interference. Experiment 2 replicated these results by using alternatively both hands to give the response and controlling the possible effect of the orientation of object handles. Overall, the pattern of results suggests that the encoding of peripersonal space involves motor processes per se, and not because of the presence of manipulable stimuli. It is argued that this motor grounding reflects the adaptive need of anticipating what may happen near the body and preparing to react in time. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Visuospatial and verbal memory in mental arithmetic.

PubMed

Clearman, Jack; Klinger, Vojtěch; Szűcs, Dénes

2017-09-01

Working memory allows complex information to be remembered and manipulated over short periods of time. Correlations between working memory and mathematics achievement have been shown across the lifespan. However, only a few studies have examined the potentially distinct contributions of domain-specific visuospatial and verbal working memory resources in mental arithmetic computation. Here we aimed to fill this gap in a series of six experiments pairing addition and subtraction tasks with verbal and visuospatial working memory and interference tasks. In general, we found higher levels of interference between mental arithmetic and visuospatial working memory tasks than between mental arithmetic and verbal working memory tasks. Additionally, we found that interference that matched the working memory domain of the task (e.g., verbal task with verbal interference) lowered working memory performance more than mismatched interference (verbal task with visuospatial interference). Findings suggest that mental arithmetic relies on domain-specific working memory resources.

Assessing the Effects of Momentary Priming on Memory Retention During an Interference Task

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schutte, Paul C.

2007-01-01

A memory aid, that used brief (33ms) presentations of previously learned information (target words), was assessed on its ability to reinforce memory for target words while the subject was performing an interference task. The interference task required subjects to learn new words and thus interfered with their memory of the target words. The brief presentation (momentary memory priming) was hypothesized to refresh the subjects memory of the target words. 143 subjects, in a within subject design, were given a 33ms presentation of the target memory words during the interference task in a treatment condition and a blank 33ms presentation in the control condition. The primary dependent measure, memory loss over the interference trial, was not significantly different between the two conditions. The memory prime did not appear to hinder the subjects performance on the interference task. This paper describes the experiment and the results along with suggestions for future research.

A Time-Variant Reliability Model for Copper Bending Pipe under Seawater-Active Corrosion Based on the Stochastic Degradation Process

PubMed Central

Li, Mengmeng; Feng, Qiang; Yang, Dezhen

2018-01-01

In the degradation process, the randomness and multiplicity of variables are difficult to describe by mathematical models. However, they are common in engineering and cannot be neglected, so it is necessary to study this issue in depth. In this paper, the copper bending pipe in seawater piping systems is taken as the analysis object, and the time-variant reliability is calculated by solving the interference of limit strength and maximum stress. We did degradation experiments and tensile experiments on copper material, and obtained the limit strength at each time. In addition, degradation experiments on copper bending pipe were done and the thickness at each time has been obtained, then the response of maximum stress was calculated by simulation. Further, with the help of one kind of Monte Carlo method we propose, the time-variant reliability of copper bending pipe was calculated based on the stochastic degradation process and interference theory. Compared with traditional methods and verified by maintenance records, the results show that the time-variant reliability model based on the stochastic degradation process proposed in this paper has better applicability in the reliability analysis, and it can be more convenient and accurate to predict the replacement cycle of copper bending pipe under seawater-active corrosion. PMID:29584695

Working memory operates over the same representations as attention

PubMed Central

Xie, Jiushu; Xia, Tiansheng; Mo, Lei

2017-01-01

A recent study observed a working memory (WM) Stroop effect with a magnitude equivalent to that of the classic Stroop effect, indicating that WM operates over the same representations as attention. However, more research is needed to examine this proposal. One unanswered question is whether the WM Stroop effect occurs when the WM item and the perceptual task do not have an overlapping response set. We addressed this question in Experiment 1 by conducting an attentional word-color task and a WM word-color task. The results showed that a WM Stroop effect also occurred in that condition, as a word that only indirectly evoked a color representation could interfere with the color judgement in both the attentional task and WM task. In Experiment 2, we used a classic Simon task and a WM Simon task to examine whether holding visuo-spatial information rather than verbal information in WM could interfere with perceptual judgment as well. We observed a WM Simon effect of equivalent magnitude to that of the classic Simon effect. The well-known stimulus-response compatibility effect also existed in the WM domain. The two experiments together demonstrated that WM operates over the same representations as attention, which sheds new light on the hypothesis that working memory is internally directed attention. PMID:28604840

Response trajectories capture the continuous dynamics of the size congruity effect.

PubMed

Faulkenberry, Thomas J; Cruise, Alexander; Lavro, Dmitri; Shaki, Samuel

2016-01-01

In a comparison task involving numbers, the size congruity effect refers to the general finding that responses are usually faster when there is a match between numerical size and physical size (e.g., 2-8) than when there is a mismatch (e.g., 2-8). In the present study, we used computer mouse tracking to test two competing models of the size congruity effect: an early interaction model, where interference occurs at an early representational stage, and a late interaction model, where interference occurs as dynamic competition between response options. In three experiments, we found that the curvature of responses for incongruent trials was greater than for congruent trials. In Experiment 2 we showed that this curvature effect was reliably modulated by the numerical distance between the two stimulus numbers, with large distance pairs exhibiting a larger curvature effect than small distance pairs. In Experiment 3 we demonstrated that the congruity effects persist into response execution. These findings indicate that incongruities between numerical and physical sizes are carried throughout the response process and result from competition between parallel and partially active response options, lending further support to a late interaction model of the size congruity effect. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Working memory operates over the same representations as attention.

PubMed

Chen, Ke; Ye, Yanyan; Xie, Jiushu; Xia, Tiansheng; Mo, Lei

2017-01-01

A recent study observed a working memory (WM) Stroop effect with a magnitude equivalent to that of the classic Stroop effect, indicating that WM operates over the same representations as attention. However, more research is needed to examine this proposal. One unanswered question is whether the WM Stroop effect occurs when the WM item and the perceptual task do not have an overlapping response set. We addressed this question in Experiment 1 by conducting an attentional word-color task and a WM word-color task. The results showed that a WM Stroop effect also occurred in that condition, as a word that only indirectly evoked a color representation could interfere with the color judgement in both the attentional task and WM task. In Experiment 2, we used a classic Simon task and a WM Simon task to examine whether holding visuo-spatial information rather than verbal information in WM could interfere with perceptual judgment as well. We observed a WM Simon effect of equivalent magnitude to that of the classic Simon effect. The well-known stimulus-response compatibility effect also existed in the WM domain. The two experiments together demonstrated that WM operates over the same representations as attention, which sheds new light on the hypothesis that working memory is internally directed attention.

Exposing an “Intangible” Cognitive Skill among Collegiate Football Players: Enhanced Interference Control

PubMed Central

Wylie, Scott A.; Bashore, Theodore R.; Van Wouwe, Nelleke C.; Mason, Emily J.; John, Kevin D.; Neimat, Joseph S.; Ally, Brandon A.

2018-01-01

American football is played in a chaotic visual environment filled with relevant and distracting information. We investigated the hypothesis that collegiate football players show exceptional skill at shielding their response execution from the interfering effects of distraction (interference control). The performances of 280 football players from National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I football programs were compared to age-matched controls in a variant of the Eriksen flanker task (Eriksen and Eriksen, 1974). This task quantifies the magnitude of interference produced by visual distraction on split-second response execution. Overall, football athletes and age controls showed similar mean reaction times (RTs) and accuracy rates. However, football athletes were more proficient at shielding their response execution speed from the interfering effects of distraction (i.e., smaller flanker effect costs on RT). Offensive and defensive players showed smaller interference costs compared to controls, but defensive players showed the smallest costs. All defensive positions and one offensive position showed statistically smaller interference effects when compared directly to age controls. These data reveal a clear cognitive advantage among football athletes at executing motor responses in the face of distraction, the existence and magnitude of which vary by position. Individual differences in cognitive control may have important implications for both player selection and development to improve interference control capabilities during play. PMID:29479325

Cognitive interference can be mitigated by consonant music and facilitated by dissonant music.

PubMed

Masataka, Nobuo; Perlovsky, Leonid

2013-01-01

Debates on the origins of consonance and dissonance in music have a long history. While some scientists argue that consonance judgments are an acquired competence based on exposure to the musical-system-specific knowledge of a particular culture, others favor a biological explanation for the observed preference for consonance. Here we provide experimental confirmation that this preference plays an adaptive role in human cognition: it reduces cognitive interference. The results of our experiment reveal that exposure to a Mozart minuet mitigates interference, whereas, conversely, when the music is modified to consist of mostly dissonant intervals the interference effect is intensified.

Cognitive interference can be mitigated by consonant music and facilitated by dissonant music

PubMed Central

Masataka, Nobuo; Perlovsky, Leonid

2013-01-01

Debates on the origins of consonance and dissonance in music have a long history. While some scientists argue that consonance judgments are an acquired competence based on exposure to the musical-system-specific knowledge of a particular culture, others favor a biological explanation for the observed preference for consonance. Here we provide experimental confirmation that this preference plays an adaptive role in human cognition: it reduces cognitive interference. The results of our experiment reveal that exposure to a Mozart minuet mitigates interference, whereas, conversely, when the music is modified to consist of mostly dissonant intervals the interference effect is intensified. PMID:23778307

Spatial correlations and probability density function of the phase difference in a developed speckle-field: numerical and natural experiments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mysina, N Yu; Maksimova, L A; Ryabukho, V P

Investigated are statistical properties of the phase difference of oscillations in speckle-fields at two points in the far-field diffraction region, with different shapes of the scatterer aperture. Statistical and spatial nonuniformity of the probability density function of the field phase difference is established. Numerical experiments show that, for the speckle-fields with an oscillating alternating-sign transverse correlation function, a significant nonuniformity of the probability density function of the phase difference in the correlation region of the field complex amplitude, with the most probable values 0 and p, is observed. A natural statistical interference experiment using Young diagrams has confirmed the resultsmore » of numerical experiments. (laser applications and other topics in quantum electronics)« less

Multifrequency passive microwave observations of soil moisture in an arid rangeland environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, T. J.; Schmugge, T. J.; Parry, R.; Kustas, W. P.; Ritchie, J. C.; Shutko, A. M.; Khaldin, A.; Reutov, E.; Novichikhin, E.; Liberman, B.

1992-01-01

A cooperative experiment was conducted by teams from the U.S. and U.S.S.R. to evaluate passive microwave instruments and algorithms used to estimate surface soil moisture. Experiments were conducted as part of an interdisciplinary experiment in an arid rangeland watershed located in the southwest United States. Soviet microwave radiometers operating at wavelengths of 2.25, 21 and 27 cm were flown on a U.S. aircraft. Radio frequency interference limited usable data to the 2.25 and 21 cm systems. Data have been calibrated and compared to ground observations of soil moisture. These analyses showed that the 21 cm system could produce reliable and useful soil moisture information and that the 2.25 cm system was of no value for soil moisture estimation in this experiment.

The Whorfian time warp: Representing duration through the language hourglass.

PubMed

Bylund, Emanuel; Athanasopoulos, Panos

2017-07-01

How do humans construct their mental representations of the passage of time? The universalist account claims that abstract concepts like time are universal across humans. In contrast, the linguistic relativity hypothesis holds that speakers of different languages represent duration differently. The precise impact of language on duration representation is, however, unknown. Here, we show that language can have a powerful role in transforming humans' psychophysical experience of time. Contrary to the universalist account, we found language-specific interference in a duration reproduction task, where stimulus duration conflicted with its physical growth. When reproducing duration, Swedish speakers were misled by stimulus length, and Spanish speakers were misled by stimulus size/quantity. These patterns conform to preferred expressions of duration magnitude in these languages (Swedish: long/short time; Spanish: much/small time). Critically, Spanish-Swedish bilinguals performing the task in both languages showed different interference depending on language context. Such shifting behavior within the same individual reveals hitherto undocumented levels of flexibility in time representation. Finally, contrary to the linguistic relativity hypothesis, language interference was confined to difficult discriminations (i.e., when stimuli varied only subtly in duration and growth), and was eliminated when linguistic cues were removed from the task. These results reveal the malleable nature of human time representation as part of a highly adaptive information processing system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Adsorption of multi-heavy metals Zn and Cu onto surficial sediments: modeling and adsorption capacity analysis.

PubMed

Li, Shanshan; Zhang, Chen; Wang, Meng; Li, Yu

2014-01-01

Improved multiple regression adsorption models (IMRAMs) was developed to estimate the adsorption capacity of the components [Fe oxides (Fe), Mn oxides (Mn), organic materials (OMs), residuals] in surficial sediments for multi-heavy metal Zn and Cu. IMRAM is an improved version over MRAM, which introduces a computer program in the model developing process. As MRAM, Zn(Cu) IMRAM, and Cu(Zn) IMRAM again confirmed that there is significant interaction effects that control the adsorption of compounded Zn and Cu, which was neglected by additional adsorption model. The verification experiment shows that the relative deviation of the IMRAMs is less than 13%. It is revealed by the IMRAMs that Mn, which has the greatest adsorption capability for compounded Zn and Cu (54.889 and 161.180 mg/l, respectively), follows by interference adsorption capacity of Fe/Mn (-1.072 and -24.591 mg/l respectively). Zn and Cu influence each other through different mechanisms. When Zn is the adsorbate, compounded Cu mainly affects the adsorption capacities of Fe/Mn and Fe/Mn/OMs; while when Cu is the adsorbate, compounded Zn mainly exerts its effect on Mn, Fe/Mn, and Mn/OMs. It also shows that the compounded Zn or Cu weakened the interference adsorption of Fe/Mn, and meanwhile, strengthened the interference adsorption of Mn/OMs.

Testing can counteract proactive interference by integrating competing information

PubMed Central

Wahlheim, Christopher N.

2015-01-01

Testing initially learned information before presenting new information has been shown to counteract the deleterious effects of proactive interference by segregating competing sources of information. The present experiments were conducted to demonstrate that testing can also have its effects in part by integrating competing information. Variations of classic A–B, A–D paired-associate learning paradigms were employed that included two lists of word pairs and a cued-recall test. Repeated pairs appeared in both lists (A–B, A–B), control pairs appeared in List 2 only (A–B, C–D), and changed pairs appeared with the same cue in both lists but with different responses (A–B, A–D). The critical manipulation was whether pairs were tested or restudied in an interpolated phase that occurred between Lists 1 and 2. On a final cued-recall test, participants recalled List 2 responses and then indicated when they recollected that responses had earlier changed between lists. The change recollection measure indexed the extent to which competing responses were integrated during List 2. Change was recollected more often for tested than for restudied pairs. Proactive facilitation was obtained in cued recall when change was recollected, whereas proactive interference was obtained when change was not recollected. These results provide evidence that testing counteracted proactive interference in part by making List 1 responses more accessible during List 2, thus promoting integration and increasing later recollection of change. These results have theoretical implications because they show that testing can counteract proactive interference by integrating or segregating competing information. PMID:25120241

Acoustic and semantic interference effects in words and pictures.

PubMed

Dhawan, M; Pellegrino, J W

1977-05-01

Interference effects for pictures and words were investigated using a probe-recall task. Word stimuli showed acoustic interference effects for items at the end of the list and semantic interference effects for items at the beginning of the list, similar to results of Kintsch and Buschke (1969). Picture stimuli showed large semantic interference effects at all list positions with smaller acoustic interference effects. The results were related to latency data on picture-word processing and interpreted in terms of the differential order, probability, and/or speed of access to acoustic and semantic levels of processing. A levels of processing explanation of picture-word retention differences was related to dual coding theory. Both theoretical positions converge on an explanation of picture-word retention differences as a function of the relative capacity for semantic or associative processing.

Preliminary investigation of self-as-context in people with fibromyalgia

PubMed Central

Yu, Lin; Norton, Sam; Almarzooqi, Sarah; McCracken, Lance M

2017-01-01

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), based on the Psychological Flexibility (PF) model, has been recently applied to fibromyalgia (FM), and appeared effective in improving functioning. However, evidence for some of the processes within the PF model, self-as-context (SAC) in particular, is lacking within this population. The current study validates a measure of SAC, the Self Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ), and preliminarily investigates the role of SAC in relation to functioning in FM. Participants (N = 298, 93.3% women) self-reporting a diagnosis of FM were recruited via the Internet and completed an online survey. Measures included pain, pain acceptance and SAC, as processes, and pain interference, work and social adjustment, depression and depression-related interference, as outcomes. Confirmatory factor analysis of the SEQ suggested a bi-factor structure, with a general factor underlying all items and two sub-factors, self-as-distinction and self-as-observer (χ2 = 46.55, p = .06, comparative fit index (CFI) = .99, Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI) = .99, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .04). Component factors showed good reliability, Cronbach’s α = .90, and construct validity, supported by significant Pearson’s correlations between SEQ scores, acceptance and outcomes (r = −.14 to −.33). In multiple regression analyses, SEQ scores significantly predicted pain-related interference (β = −.17, p < .05), work and social adjustment (β = −.14, p < .05) and depression (β = −.21, p < .01), but not depression-related interference, after controlling for pain, but only significantly predicted depression after controlling pain acceptance. These preliminary results show potentially important associations between SAC and functioning in people with FM. PMID:28785409

High body mass index is associated with impaired cognitive control.

PubMed

Sellaro, Roberta; Colzato, Lorenza S

2017-06-01

The prevalence of weight problems is increasing worldwide. There is growing evidence that high body mass index (BMI) is associated with frontal lobe dysfunction and cognitive deficits concerning mental flexibility and inhibitory control efficiency. The present study aims at replicating and extending these observations. We compared cognitive control performance of normal weight (BMI < 25) and overweight (BMI ≥ 25) university students on a task tapping either inhibitory control (Experiment 1) or interference control (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 replicated previous findings that found less efficient inhibitory control in overweight individuals. Experiment 2 complemented these findings by showing that cognitive control impairments associated with high BMI also extend to the ability to resolve stimulus-induced response conflict and to engage in conflict-driven control adaptation. The present results are consistent with and extend previous literature showing that high BMI in young, otherwise healthy individuals is associated with less efficient cognitive control functioning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interference Effects from Grammatically Unavailable Constituents during Sentence Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Dyke, Julie A.

2007-01-01

Evidence from 3 experiments reveals interference effects from structural relationships that are inconsistent with any grammatical parse of the perceived input. Processing disruption was observed when items occurring between a head and a dependent overlapped with either (or both) syntactic or semantic features of the dependent. Effects of syntactic…

Sources of Interference from Irrelevant Information: A Developmental Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ridderinkhof, K. Richard; And Others

1997-01-01

Investigated mechanisms underlying reductions in susceptibility to interference from irrelevant information that are evident in the developing child. Used two experiments requiring attention to one stimulus out of many. Found that age changes in selective attention are mediated to an important extent by changes in the speed and efficiency of…

Individual Differences in Digit Span, Susceptibility to Proactive Interference, and Aptitude/Achievement Test Scores.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dempster, Frank N.; Cooney, John B.

1982-01-01

Individual differences in digit span, susceptibility to proactive interference, and various aptitude/achievement test scores were investigated in two experiments with college students. Results indicated that digit span was strongly correlated with aptitude/achievement scores, but did not indicate that susceptibility to proactive interference…

The Role of Response Confusion in Proactive Interference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dillon, Richard F.; Thomas, Heather

1975-01-01

In two experiments using the Brown-Peterson memory paradigm, instructions to guess had small effects on recall, but sizeable effects on incidence of prior list intrustion. However, results indicate that proactive interference is primarily the result of inability to generate correct items, rather than confusion between present and previous items.…

Proactive Interference and Item Similarity in Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bunting, Michael

2006-01-01

Proactive interference (PI) may influence the predictive utility of working memory span tasks. Participants in one experiment (N=70) completed Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) and multiple versions of operation span and probed recall, modified for the type of memoranda (digits or words). Changing memoranda within- or across-trials…

Sources of Interference in Recognition Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Annis, Jeffrey; Malmberg, Kenneth J.; Criss, Amy H.; Shiffrin, Richard M.

2013-01-01

Recognition memory accuracy is harmed by prior testing (a.k.a., output interference [OI]; Tulving & Arbuckle, 1966). In several experiments, we interpolated various tasks between recognition test trials. The stimuli and the tasks were more similar (lexical decision [LD] of words and nonwords) or less similar (gender identification of male and…

Load Theory of Selective Attention and Cognitive Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lavie, Nilli; Hirst, Aleksandra; de Fockert, Jan W.; Viding, Essi

2004-01-01

A load theory of attention in which distractor rejection depends on the level and type of load involved in current processing was tested. A series of experiments demonstrates that whereas high perceptual load reduces distractor interference, working memory load or dual-task coordination load increases distractor interference. These findings…

The intention interference effect.

PubMed

Cohen, Anna-Lisa; Kantner, Justin; Dixon, Roger A; Lindsay, D Stephen

2011-01-01

Intentions have been shown to be more accessible (e.g., more quickly and accurately recalled) compared to other sorts of to-be-remembered information; a result termed an intention superiority effect (Goschke & Kuhl, 1993). In the current study, we demonstrate an intention interference effect (IIE) in which color-naming performance in a Stroop task was slower for words belonging to an intention that participants had to remember to carry out (Do-the-Task condition) versus an intention that did not have to be executed (Ignore-the-Task condition). In previous work (e.g., Cohen et al., 2005), having a prospective intention in mind was confounded with carrying a memory load. In Experiment 1, we added a digit-retention task to control for effects of cognitive load. In Experiment 2, we eliminated the memory confound in a new way, by comparing intention-related and control words within each trial. Results from both Experiments 1 and 2 revealed an IIE suggesting that interference is very specific to the intention, not just to a memory load.

The word class effect in the picture–word interference paradigm

PubMed Central

Janssen, Niels; Melinger, Alissa; Mahon, Bradford Z.; Finkbeiner, Matthew; Caramazza, Alfonso

2010-01-01

The word class effect in the picture–word interference paradigm is a highly influential finding that has provided some of the most compelling support for word class constraints on lexical selection. However, methodological concerns called for a replication of the most convincing of those effects. Experiment 1 was a direct replication of Pechmann and Zerbst (2002; Experiment 4). Participants named pictures of objects in the context of noun and adverb distractors. Naming took place in bare noun and sentence frame contexts. A word class effect emerged in both bare noun and sentence frame naming conditions, suggesting a semantic origin of the effect. In Experiment 2, participants named objects in the context of noun and verb distractors whose word class relationship to the target and imageability were orthogonally manipulated. As before, naming took place in bare noun and sentence frame naming contexts. In both naming contexts, distractor imageability but not word class affected picture naming latencies. These findings confirm the sensitivity of the picture–word interference paradigm to distractor imageability and suggest the paradigm is not sensitive to distractor word class. The results undermine the use of the word class effect in the picture–word interference paradigm as supportive of word class constraints during lexical selection. PMID:19998070

A Psychophysiological Analysis of Developmental Differences in the Ability to Resist Interference.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ridderinkhof, K. Richard; van der Molen, Maurits W.

1995-01-01

Examined age-related changes in visual selective attention--ability to resist interference--in children 5 to 12 years old and adults. The interference effect on stimulus evaluation did not discriminate between age groups; however, the interference effect on correct response activation showed a pronounced age-related reduction, suggesting a…

Proactive interference from items previously stored in visual working memory.

PubMed

Makovski, Tal; Jiang, Yuhong V

2008-01-01

This study investigates the fate of information that was previously stored in visual working memory but that is no longer needed. Previous research has found inconsistent results, with some showing effective release of irrelevant information and others showing proactive interference. Using change detection tasks of colors or shapes, we show that participants tend to falsely classify a changed item as "no change" if it matches one of the memory items on the preceding trial. The interference is spatially specific: Memory for the preceding trial interferes more if it matches the feature value and the location of a test item than if it does not. Interference results from retaining information in visual working memory, since it is absent when items on the preceding trials are passively viewed, or are attended but not memorized. We conclude that people cannot fully eliminate unwanted visual information from current working memory tasks.

[Spatial domain display for interference image dataset].

PubMed

Wang, Cai-Ling; Li, Yu-Shan; Liu, Xue-Bin; Hu, Bing-Liang; Jing, Juan-Juan; Wen, Jia

2011-11-01

The requirements of imaging interferometer visualization is imminent for the user of image interpretation and information extraction. However, the conventional researches on visualization only focus on the spectral image dataset in spectral domain. Hence, the quick show of interference spectral image dataset display is one of the nodes in interference image processing. The conventional visualization of interference dataset chooses classical spectral image dataset display method after Fourier transformation. In the present paper, the problem of quick view of interferometer imager in image domain is addressed and the algorithm is proposed which simplifies the matter. The Fourier transformation is an obstacle since its computation time is very large and the complexion would be even deteriorated with the size of dataset increasing. The algorithm proposed, named interference weighted envelopes, makes the dataset divorced from transformation. The authors choose three interference weighted envelopes respectively based on the Fourier transformation, features of interference data and human visual system. After comparing the proposed with the conventional methods, the results show the huge difference in display time.

Interference of the end: why recency bias in memory determines when a food is consumed again.

PubMed

Garbinsky, Emily N; Morewedge, Carey K; Shiv, Baba

2014-07-01

The results of three experiments reveal that memory for end enjoyment, rather than beginning enjoyment, of a pleasant gustatory experience determines how soon people desire to repeat that experience. We found that memory for end moments, when people are most satiated, interferes with memory for initial moments. Consequently, end moments are more influential than initial moments when people decide how long to wait until consuming a food again. The findings elucidate the role of memory in delay until repeated consumption, demonstrate how sensory-specific satiety and portion sizes influence future consumption, and suggest one process by which recency effects influence judgments and decisions based on past experiences. © The Author(s) 2014.

National Transonic Facility Wall Pressure Calibration Using Modern Design of Experiments (Invited)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Underwood, Pamela J.; Everhart, Joel L.; DeLoach, Richard

2001-01-01

The Modern Design of Experiments (MDOE) has been applied to wind tunnel testing at NASA Langley Research Center for several years. At Langley, MDOE has proven to be a useful and robust approach to aerodynamic testing that yields significant reductions in the cost and duration of experiments while still providing for the highest quality research results. This paper extends its application to include empty tunnel wall pressure calibrations. These calibrations are performed in support of wall interference corrections. This paper will present the experimental objectives, and the theoretical design process. To validate the tunnel-empty-calibration experiment design, preliminary response surface models calculated from previously acquired data are also presented. Finally, lessons learned and future wall interference applications of MDOE are discussed.

30-kW class Arcjet Advanced Technology Transition Demonstration (ATTD) flight experiment diagnostic package

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kriebel, M. M.; Stevens, N. J.

1992-07-01

TRW, Rocket Research Co and Defense Systems Inc are developing a space qualified 30-kW class arcjet flight unit as a part of the Arcjet ATTD program. During space operation the package will measure plume deposition and contamination, electromagnetic interference, thermal radiation, arcjet thruster performance, and plume heating in order to quantify arcjet operational interactions. The Electric Propulsion Space Experiment (ESEX) diagnostic package is described. The goals of ESEX are the demonstration of a high powered arcjet performance and the measurement of potential arcjet-spacecraft interactions which cannot be determined in ground facilities. Arcjet performance, plume characterization, thermal radiation flux and the electromagnetic interference (EMI) experiment as well as experiment operations with a preliminary operations plan are presented.

Relativistic entanglement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horwitz, Lawrence; Arshansky, Rafael I.

2018-07-01

The relativistic quantum theory of Stueckelberg, Horwitz and Piron (SHP) describes in a simple way the experiment on interference in time of an electron emitted by femtosecond laser pulses carried out by Lindner et al. In this paper, we show that, in a way similar to our study of the Lindner et al. experiment (with some additional discussion of the covariant quantum mechanical description of spin and angular momentum), the experiment proposed by Palacios et al. to demonstrate entanglement of a two electron state, where the electrons are separated in time of emission, has a consistent interpretation in terms of the SHP theory. We find, after a simple calculation, results in essential agreement with those of Palacios et al.; but with the observed times as values of proper quantum observables.

Need satisfaction, work-school interference and school dropout: an application of self-determination theory.

PubMed

Taylor, Geneviève; Lekes, Natasha; Gagnon, Hugo; Kwan, Lisa; Koestner, Richard

2012-12-01

In many parts of the world, it is common for secondary school students to be involved in part-time employment. Research shows that working can have a negative impact on school engagement. However, the majority of studies have focused on the amount of time that students spend working rather than on the quality of work experience and its influence on school engagement. This study explored the relation of part-time work and school experiences to dropout intentions among secondary school and junior college students. The study was conceptualized from a self-determination theory perspective (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Participants were 3,248 students from rural and suburban schools in the greater region of Montreal, Canada. Questionnaires were used to assess the number of hours worked, the extent to which work interfered with or facilitated school functioning, autonomy, competence, and relatedness experienced in the work and school domains. School performance and school dropout intentions were also assessed. A curvilinear relation between work hours and dropout intentions was found, reflecting that part-time work began to be associated with higher dropout intentions only when students worked more than 7 hr per week. Analyses also showed that work-school interference was related to dropout intentions, and that this variable served to mediate the relation of employer autonomy support to dropout intentions. These results suggest that both the quantity and the quality of students' part-time work experiences need to be considered when examining the relation of work to school engagement. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Chinese Learners of English See Chinese Words When Reading English Words.

PubMed

Ma, Fengyang; Ai, Haiyang

2018-06-01

The present study examines when second language (L2) learners read words in the L2, whether the orthography and/or phonology of the translation words in the first language (L1) is activated and whether the patterns would be modulated by the proficiency in the L2. In two experiments, two groups of Chinese learners of English immersed in the L1 environment, one less proficient and the other more proficient in English, performed a translation recognition task. In this task, participants judged whether pairs of words, with an L2 word preceding an L1 word, were translation words or not. The critical conditions compared the performance of learners to reject distractors that were related to the translation word (e.g., , pronounced as /bei 1/) of an L2 word (e.g., cup) in orthography (e.g., , bad in Chinese, pronounced as /huai 4/) or phonology (e.g., , sad in Chinese, pronounced as /bei 1/). Results of Experiment 1 showed less proficient learners were slower and less accurate to reject translation orthography distractors, as compared to unrelated controls, demonstrating a robust translation orthography interference effect. In contrast, their performance was not significantly different when rejecting translation phonology distractors, relative to unrelated controls, showing no translation phonology interference. The same patterns were observed in more proficient learners in Experiment 2. Together, these results suggest that when Chinese learners of English read English words, the orthographic information, but not the phonological information of the Chinese translation words is activated. In addition, this activation is not modulated by L2 proficiency.

Cycle of phase, coherence and polarization singularities in Young's three-pinhole experiment.

PubMed

Pang, Xiaoyan; Gbur, Greg; Visser, Taco D

2015-12-28

It is now well-established that a variety of singularities can be characterized and observed in optical wavefields. It is also known that these phase singularities, polarization singularities and coherence singularities are physically related, but the exact nature of their relationship is still somewhat unclear. We show how a Young-type three-pinhole interference experiment can be used to create a continuous cycle of transformations between classes of singularities, often accompanied by topological reactions in which different singularities are created and annihilated. This arrangement serves to clarify the relationships between the different singularity types, and provides a simple tool for further exploration.

Measurement of hygromycin B phosphotransferase activity in crude mammalian cell extracts by a simple dot-blot assay.

PubMed

Sørensen, M S; Duch, M; Paludan, K; Jørgensen, P; Pedersen, F S

1992-03-15

Hygromycin B (Hy) resistance, encoded by the prokaryotic gene hph, is commonly used as a dominant selectable marker for gene transfer experiments in mammalian cells. We describe a simple, quantitative dot-blot assay for measuring the activity in crude mammalian cell extracts of Hy phosphotransferase, the product of the hph gene. The assay shows no cross interference with substrates for neomycin phosphotransferase II, the product of the commonly used marker gene neo; hph and neo may thus be useful as a set of two non-interfering selectable marker and reporter genes for gene transfer experiments in mammalian cells.

Feature-based interference from unattended visual field during attentional tracking in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Störmer, Viola S; Li, Shu-Chen; Heekeren, Hauke R; Lindenberger, Ulman

2011-02-01

The ability to attend to multiple objects that move in the visual field is important for many aspects of daily functioning. The attentional capacity for such dynamic tracking, however, is highly limited and undergoes age-related decline. Several aspects of the tracking process can influence performance. Here, we investigated effects of feature-based interference from distractor objects that appear in unattended regions of the visual field with a hemifield-tracking task. Younger and older participants performed an attentional tracking task in one hemifield while distractor objects were concurrently presented in the unattended hemifield. Feature similarity between objects in the attended and unattended hemifields as well as motion speed and the number of to-be-tracked objects were parametrically manipulated. The results show that increasing feature overlap leads to greater interference from the unattended visual field. This effect of feature-based interference was only present in the slow speed condition, indicating that the interference is mainly modulated by perceptual demands. High-performing older adults showed a similar interference effect as younger adults, whereas low-performing adults showed poor tracking performance overall.

A Physicists Journey Through Silicon Valley

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilfley, Brian

My experiences in grad school showed me many aspects of working in academic physics. The question on my mind, back then, was, What is it like in the commercial world? In this talk, I'll try to convey what it feels like to be in a small company focused on a commercial goal. In particular, I'll try to describe the kind of work one does and the kind of relationships one develops: the two can constructively interfere.

Time-Resolved Remote-Raman Spectroscopic study of Minerals at High Temperature and under Supercritical CO2 Relevant to Venus Exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, S. K.; Misra, A. K.; Clegg, S. M.; Barefield, J. E.; Wiens, R. C.; Acosta, T.

2009-12-01

We have used a remote time-resolved (TR) telescopic Raman system equipped with 532 nm pulsed laser excitation and a gated intensified CCD (ICCD) detector for measuring Raman spectra of a number of minerals under two sets of conditions. The first set of experiments involved probing samples as a function of temperature ranging from 300 to 973 K at 1 atm. These experiments involve a 5x beam expander to focus the 532 nm (30 mJ/pulse 20 Hz) laser beams onto the sample at 9 m from the remote Raman system. The second set of experiments involved placing the samples in a high pressure vessel with a sapphire window containing supercritical CO2 at pressures up to 93 atm and 423 K. At high temperatures and ambient pressure, the remote Raman measurements were made with samples at 9 meter distance inside a high temperature furnace by gating the ICCD detector with 2 micro-s gate to minimize interference from blackbody emission from mineral surfaces at high temperature as well as interference from ambient light. A comparison of Raman spectra of gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2), and olivine (Mg2Fe2-xSiO4), as a function of temperature shows that the Raman lines remains sharp and well defined even in the high temperature spectra. In the pressure vessel, Cr3+ fluorescence from sapphire window interfere with the Raman spectra of hydrous minerals in the high-frequency region (2500-4500 cm-1). With time-resolved Raman measurements the interference of the fluorescence in the Raman spectra on minerals was minimized by gating ICCD to <100 ns. The Fermi resonance doublet of CO2 molecules consisting of Raman lines at 1285 (2ν2) and 1388 (ν1) cm-1 does not interfere with the major Raman fingerprints of silicates, carbonate, sulfates minerals. With suitable time delay of the ICCD detector, the Raman bands from supercritical CO2 atmosphere can be minimized providing pure Raman spectra of the mineral targets. We will present remote Raman data on silicates (olivine, pyroxene, quartz, feldspars and talc), dolomite, gypsum, hydrous iron sulfate and barite under supercritical CO2 environment. With TR remote Raman system using 532 nm (15 mJ/pulse, 20Hz) laser excitation, a large varieties of minerals could be easily identified from their respective Raman fingerprints typically in 1s. Minerals with low Raman cross section (e.g., feldspars, pyroxene, olivine, talc, etc) can be detected and quantified from their respective Raman spectra in 10 to 30 s. These results show that time-resolve remote Raman system is capable of making spectral measurements at several hundred to thousand target points on Venus surface within limited (a few hours) expected lifetime of a lander because of extreme temperature and pressure conditions.

Dependency-dependent interference: NPI interference, agreement attraction, and global pragmatic inferences.

PubMed

Xiang, Ming; Grove, Julian; Giannakidou, Anastasia

2013-01-01

Previous psycholinguistics studies have shown that when forming a long distance dependency in online processing, the parser sometimes accepts a sentence even though the required grammatical constraints are only partially met. A mechanistic account of how such errors arise sheds light on both the underlying linguistic representations involved and the processing mechanisms that put such representations together. In the current study, we contrast the negative polarity items (NPI) interference effect, as shown by the acceptance of an ungrammatical sentence like "The bills that democratic senators have voted for will ever become law," with the well-known phenomenon of agreement attraction ("The key to the cabinets are … "). On the surface, these two types of errors look alike and thereby can be explained as being driven by the same source: similarity based memory interference. However, we argue that the linguistic representations involved in NPI licensing are substantially different from those of subject-verb agreement, and therefore the interference effects in each domain potentially arise from distinct sources. In particular, we show that NPI interference at least partially arises from pragmatic inferences. In a self-paced reading study with an acceptability judgment task, we showed NPI interference was modulated by participants' general pragmatic communicative skills, as quantified by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ, Baron-Cohen et al., 2001), especially in offline tasks. Participants with more autistic traits were actually less prone to the NPI interference effect than those with fewer autistic traits. This result contrasted with agreement attraction conditions, which were not influenced by individual pragmatic skill differences. We also show that different NPI licensors seem to have distinct interference profiles. We discuss two kinds of interference effects for NPI licensing: memory-retrieval based and pragmatically triggered.

Dependency-dependent interference: NPI interference, agreement attraction, and global pragmatic inferences

PubMed Central

Xiang, Ming; Grove, Julian; Giannakidou, Anastasia

2013-01-01

Previous psycholinguistics studies have shown that when forming a long distance dependency in online processing, the parser sometimes accepts a sentence even though the required grammatical constraints are only partially met. A mechanistic account of how such errors arise sheds light on both the underlying linguistic representations involved and the processing mechanisms that put such representations together. In the current study, we contrast the negative polarity items (NPI) interference effect, as shown by the acceptance of an ungrammatical sentence like “The bills that democratic senators have voted for will ever become law,” with the well-known phenomenon of agreement attraction (“The key to the cabinets are … ”). On the surface, these two types of errors look alike and thereby can be explained as being driven by the same source: similarity based memory interference. However, we argue that the linguistic representations involved in NPI licensing are substantially different from those of subject-verb agreement, and therefore the interference effects in each domain potentially arise from distinct sources. In particular, we show that NPI interference at least partially arises from pragmatic inferences. In a self-paced reading study with an acceptability judgment task, we showed NPI interference was modulated by participants' general pragmatic communicative skills, as quantified by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ, Baron-Cohen et al., 2001), especially in offline tasks. Participants with more autistic traits were actually less prone to the NPI interference effect than those with fewer autistic traits. This result contrasted with agreement attraction conditions, which were not influenced by individual pragmatic skill differences. We also show that different NPI licensors seem to have distinct interference profiles. We discuss two kinds of interference effects for NPI licensing: memory-retrieval based and pragmatically triggered. PMID:24109468

Role of condenser iris in optical tweezer detection system.

PubMed

Samadi, Akbar; Reihani, S Nader S

2011-10-15

Optical tweezers have proven to be very useful in various scientific fields, from biology to nanotechnology. In this Letter we show, both by theory and experiment, that the interference intensity pattern at the back focal plane of the condenser consists of two distinguishable areas with anticorrelated intensity changes when the bead is moved in the axial direction. We show that the space angle defining the border of two areas linearly depends on the NA of the objective. We also propose a new octant photodiode, which could significantly improve the axial resolution compared to the commonly used quadrant photodiode technique.

Increased actin polymerization and stabilization interferes with neuronal function and survival in the AMPKγ mutant Loechrig.

PubMed

Cook, Mandy; Bolkan, Bonnie J; Kretzschmar, Doris

2014-01-01

loechrig (loe) mutant flies are characterized by progressive neuronal degeneration, behavioral deficits, and early death. The mutation is due to a P-element insertion in the gene for the γ-subunit of the trimeric AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) complex, whereby the insertion affects only one of several alternative transcripts encoding a unique neuronal isoform. AMPK is a cellular energy sensor that regulates a plethora of signaling pathways, including cholesterol and isoprenoid synthesis via its downstream target hydroxy-methylglutaryl (HMG)-CoA reductase. We recently showed that loe interferes with isoprenoid synthesis and increases the prenylation and thereby activation of RhoA. During development, RhoA plays an important role in neuronal outgrowth by activating a signaling cascade that regulates actin dynamics. Here we show that the effect of loe/AMPKγ on RhoA prenylation leads to a hyperactivation of this signaling pathway, causing increased phosphorylation of the actin depolymerizating factor cofilin and accumulation of filamentous actin. Furthermore, our results show that the resulting cytoskeletal changes in loe interfere with neuronal growth and disrupt axonal integrity. Surprisingly, these phenotypes were enhanced by expressing the Slingshot (SSH) phosphatase, which during development promotes actin depolymerization by dephosphorylating cofilin. However, our studies suggest that in the adult SSH promotes actin polymerization, supporting in vitro studies using human SSH1 that suggested that SSH can also stabilize and bundle filamentous actin. Together with the observed increase in SSH levels in the loe mutant, our experiments suggest that in mature neurons SSH may function as a stabilization factor for filamentous actin instead of promoting actin depolymerization.

Classical reconstruction of interference patterns of position-wave-vector-entangled photon pairs by the time-reversal method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogawa, Kazuhisa; Kobayashi, Hirokazu; Tomita, Akihisa

2018-02-01

The quantum interference of entangled photons forms a key phenomenon underlying various quantum-optical technologies. It is known that the quantum interference patterns of entangled photon pairs can be reconstructed classically by the time-reversal method; however, the time-reversal method has been applied only to time-frequency-entangled two-photon systems in previous experiments. Here, we apply the time-reversal method to the position-wave-vector-entangled two-photon systems: the two-photon Young interferometer and the two-photon beam focusing system. We experimentally demonstrate that the time-reversed systems classically reconstruct the same interference patterns as the position-wave-vector-entangled two-photon systems.

Two-photon interference of polarization-entangled photons in a Franson interferometer.

PubMed

Kim, Heonoh; Lee, Sang Min; Kwon, Osung; Moon, Han Seb

2017-07-18

We present two-photon interference experiments with polarization-entangled photon pairs in a polarization-based Franson-type interferometer. Although the two photons do not meet at a common beamsplitter, a phase-insensitive Hong-Ou-Mandel type two-photon interference peak and dip fringes are observed, resulting from the two-photon interference effect between two indistinguishable two-photon probability amplitudes leading to a coincidence detection. A spatial quantum beating fringe is also measured for nondegenerate photon pairs in the same interferometer, although the two-photon states have no frequency entanglement. When unentangled polarization-correlated photons are used as an input state, the polarization entanglement is successfully recovered through the interferometer via delayed compensation.

Ramsey method for Auger-electron interference induced by an attosecond twin pulse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buth, Christian; Schafer, Kenneth J.

2015-02-01

We examine the archetype of an interference experiment for Auger electrons: two electron wave packets are launched by inner-shell ionizing a krypton atom using two attosecond light pulses with a variable time delay. This setting is an attosecond realization of the Ramsey method of separated oscillatory fields. Interference of the two ejected Auger-electron wave packets is predicted, indicating that the coherence between the two pulses is passed to the Auger electrons. For the detection of the interference pattern an accurate coincidence measurement of photo- and Auger electrons is necessary. The method allows one to control inner-shell electron dynamics on an attosecond timescale and represents a sensitive indicator for decoherence.

Negative Affectivity, Role Stress, and Work-Family Conflict.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoeva, Albena Z.; Chiu, Randy K.; Greenhaus, Jeffrey H.

2002-01-01

Measures of job and family stress and negative affectivity were completed by 148 (of 400) Hong Kong civil service employees. Persons with high negative affectivity experience more work and family stress. Job stress was associated with extensive interference of work with family, and family stress with extensive interference of family with work.…

Two-Laser Interference Visible to the Naked Eye

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kawalec, Tomasz; Bartoszek-Bober, Dobroslawa

2012-01-01

An experimental setup allowing the observation of two-laser interference by the naked eye is described. The key concept is the use of an electronic phase lock between two external cavity diode lasers. The experiment is suitable both for undergraduate and graduate students, mainly in atomic physics laboratories. It gives an opportunity for…

When Prior Knowledge Interferes, Inhibitory Control Matters for Learning: The Case of Numerical Magnitude Representations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laski, Elida V.; Dulaney, Alana

2015-01-01

The present study tested the "interference hypothesis"-that learning and using more advanced representations and strategies requires the inhibition of prior, less advanced ones. Specifically, it examined the relation between inhibitory control and number line estimation performance. Experiment 1 compared the accuracy of adults' (N = 53)…

Effects of Verbal Shadowing on the Recognition of Visually Presented Verbal and Nonverbal Information.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Orwig, Gary W.

1979-01-01

The first experiment determined that verbal interference (shadowing) was detrimental to the subjects' memory of words and high similarity pictures; the second, designed to minimize the possibility that students would sort through the pictures, indicated that verbal interference did not decrease memory of high similarity pictures. (Author/JEG)

Shape Shifting: Local Landmarks Interfere with Navigation By, and Recognition Of, Global Shape

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buckley, Matthew G.; Smith, Alastair D.; Haselgrove, Mark

2014-01-01

An influential theory of spatial navigation states that the boundary shape of an environment is preferentially encoded over and above other spatial cues, such that it is impervious to interference from alternative sources of information. We explored this claim with 3 intradimensional--extradimensional shift experiments, designed to examine the…

Detection of Catechol by Potentiometric-Flow Injection Analysis in the Presence of Interferents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lunsford, Suzanne K.; Widera, Justyna; Zhang, Hong

2007-01-01

This article describes an undergraduate analytical chemistry experiment developed to teach instrumental lab skills while incorporating common interferents encountered in the real-world analysis of catechol. The lab technique incorporates potentiometric-flow injection analysis on a dibenzo-18-crown-6 dual platinum electrode to detect catechol in…

Lexical Selection Is Competitive: Evidence from Indirectly Activated Semantic Associates during Picture Naming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melinger, Alissa; Rahman, Rasha Abdel

2013-01-01

In this study, we present 3 picture-word interference (PWI) experiments designed to investigate whether lexical selection processes are competitive. We focus on semantic associative relations, which should interfere according to competitive models but not according to certain noncompetitive models. In a modified version of the PWI paradigm,…

A Formal Model of Capacity Limits in Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oberauer, Klaus; Kliegl, Reinhold

2006-01-01

A mathematical model of working-memory capacity limits is proposed on the key assumption of mutual interference between items in working memory. Interference is assumed to arise from overwriting of features shared by these items. The model was fit to time-accuracy data of memory-updating tasks from four experiments using nonlinear mixed effect…

Motivational Interference in Study-Leisure Conflicts: How Opportunity Costs Affect the Self-Regulation of University Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grund, Axel; Fries, Stefan

2012-01-01

We examined the effects of motivational interference resulting from tempting action alternatives among a sample of university students with respect to a new measure of different motivational qualities. Participants imagined themselves in a typical study-leisure conflict and provided information about their internal conflict experience in two…

Thin Film Interference: An Experiment with Microwaves and Paraffin Oil

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

D'Anna, Michele; Corridoni, Tommaso

2015-01-01

Thin film interference manifests itself in a wide range of visually pleasing situations in everyday life (in the colored effects caused by a drop of oil on water, in soap bubbles, etc.) and is also involved in important technical applications (semi-reflecting mirrors, anti-reflection lenses, etc.). Yet, despite its familiarity, high school…

When Bees Hamper the Production of Honey: Lexical Interference from Associates in Speech Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abdel Rahman, Rasha; Melinger, Alissa

2007-01-01

In this article, the authors explore semantic context effects in speaking. In particular, the authors investigate a marked discrepancy between categorically and associatively induced effects; only categorical relationships have been reported to cause interference in object naming. In Experiments 1 and 2, a variant of the semantic blocking paradigm…

Carrier-envelope phase-controlled quantum interference in optical poling.

PubMed

Adachi, Shunsuke; Kobayashi, Takayoshi

2005-04-22

We demonstrate the efficiency of the optical poling process that depends on the CE phase-controlled quantum interference. For the experiment we employed our noncollinear optical parametric amplifier system for the self-stabilization of the CE phase, with the f-to-2f spectral interferometry system to control the CE phase.

The Price of Fame: The Impact of Stimulus Familiarity on Proactive Interference Resolution

PubMed Central

Prabhakaran, Ranjani; Thompson-Schill, Sharon L.

2013-01-01

Interference from previously learned information, known as proactive interference (PI), limits our memory retrieval abilities. Previous studies of PI resolution have focused on the role of short-term familiarity, or recency, in causing PI. In the present study, we investigated the impact of long-term stimulus familiarity on PI resolution processes. In two behavioral experiments and one event-related fMRI experiment, long-term familiarity was manipulated through the use of famous and nonfamous stimuli, and short-term familiarity was manipulated through the use of recent and nonrecent probe items in an item recognition task. The right middle frontal gyrus demonstrated greater sensitivity to famous stimuli, suggesting that long-term stimulus familiarity plays a role in influencing PI resolution processes. Further examination of the effect of long-term stimulus familiarity on PI resolution revealed a larger behavioral interference effect for famous stimuli, but only under speeded response conditions. Thus, models of memory retrieval—and of the cognitive control mechanisms that guide retrieval processes—should consider the impact of and interactions among sources of familiarity on multiple time scales. PMID:20429858

The price of fame: the impact of stimulus familiarity on proactive interference resolution.

PubMed

Prabhakaran, Ranjani; Thompson-Schill, Sharon L

2011-04-01

Interference from previously learned information, known as proactive interference (PI), limits our memory retrieval abilities. Previous studies of PI resolution have focused on the role of short-term familiarity, or recency, in causing PI. In the present study, we investigated the impact of long-term stimulus familiarity on PI resolution processes. In two behavioral experiments and one event-related fMRI experiment, long-term familiarity was manipulated through the use of famous and nonfamous stimuli, and short-term familiarity was manipulated through the use of recent and nonrecent probe items in an item recognition task. The right middle frontal gyrus demonstrated greater sensitivity to famous stimuli, suggesting that long-term stimulus familiarity plays a role in influencing PI resolution processes. Further examination of the effect of long-term stimulus familiarity on PI resolution revealed a larger behavioral interference effect for famous stimuli, but only under speeded response conditions. Thus, models of memory retrieval--and of the cognitive control mechanisms that guide retrieval processes--should consider the impact of and interactions among sources of familiarity on multiple time scales.

Beyond the subjective experience of colour: An experimental case study of grapheme-texture synesthesia.

PubMed

Banno, Hayaki; Koga, Hiroki; Yamamoto, Hiroki; Saiki, Jun

2017-07-01

This study was a case investigation of grapheme-texture synestheste TH, a female who subjectively reported experiencing a visual association between grapheme and colour/texture. First, we validated the existence of a synesthetic association in an objective manner. Involuntarily elicited experience is a major hallmark that is common to different types of synesthetes. Our results indicated interference between physical and synesthetic texture, suggesting the involuntary occurrence of synesthetic textural experience. We analysed the behavioural measures using the EZ diffusion model. The result suggested that TH's synesthetic experience was dissociable from that of briefly trained associative processing of non-synesthetes. Second, we investigated how the synesthetic experience of colour and texture dimensions was bound in the visual representation. We found that the interference effects of colour and texture were not independent. This suggested that in the elicited experience, the colour and texture features construct an integrated representation.

Novel methods for matter interferometry with nanosized objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arndt, Markus

2005-05-01

We discuss the current status and prospects for novel experimental methods for coherence^1,2 and decoherence^3 experiments with large molecules. Quantum interferometry with nanosized objects is interesting for the exploration of the quantum-classical transition. The same experimental setup is also promising for metrology applications and molecular nanolithography. Our coherence experiments with macromolecules employ a Talbot-Lau interferometer. We discuss some modifications to this scheme, which are required to extend it to particles with masses in excess of several thousand mass units. In particular, the detection in all previous interference experiments with large clusters and molecules, was based on either laser ionization^1 (e.g. Fullerenes) or electron impact ionization^2 (e.g. Porphyrins etc.). However, most ionization schemes run into efficiency limits when the mass and complexity of the target particle increases. Here we present experimental results for an interference detector which is truly scalable, i.e. one which will even improve with increasing particle size and complexity. ``Mechanically magnified fluorescence imaging'' (MMFI), combines the high spatial resolution, which is intrinsic to Talbot Lau interferometry with the high detection efficiency of fluorophores adsorbed onto a substrate. In the Talbot Lau setup a molecular interference pattern is revealed by scanning the 3^rd grating across the molecular beam^1. The number of transmitted molecules is a function of the relative position between the mask and the molecular density pattern. Both the particle interference pattern and the mechanical mask structure may be far smaller than any optical resolution limit. After mechanical magnification by an arbitrary factor, in our case a factor 5000, the interference pattern can still be inspected in fluorescence microscopy. The fluorescent molecules are collected on a surface which is scanned collinearly and synchronously behind the 3rd grating. The resulting image of the interference pattern is by far large enough to be easily seen by the unaided eye. High contrast interference fringes could be recorded with dyes molecules. ^1B. Brezger et al. , Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 100404 (2002). ^2L. Hackermüller et al. Phys. Rev. Lett 91, 90408 (2003). ^3L. Hackermüller et al. Nature 427, 711 (2004).

Experimental generalized quantum suppression law in Sylvester interferometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viggianiello, Niko; Flamini, Fulvio; Innocenti, Luca; Cozzolino, Daniele; Bentivegna, Marco; Spagnolo, Nicolò; Crespi, Andrea; Brod, Daniel J.; Galvão, Ernesto F.; Osellame, Roberto; Sciarrino, Fabio

2018-03-01

Photonic interference is a key quantum resource for optical quantum computation, and in particular for so-called boson sampling devices. In interferometers with certain symmetries, genuine multiphoton quantum interference effectively suppresses certain sets of events, as in the original Hong–Ou–Mandel effect. Recently, it was shown that some classical and semi-classical models could be ruled out by identifying such suppressions in Fourier interferometers. Here we propose a suppression law suitable for random-input experiments in multimode Sylvester interferometers, and verify it experimentally using 4- and 8-mode integrated interferometers. The observed suppression occurs for a much larger fraction of input–output combinations than what is observed in Fourier interferometers of the same size, and could be relevant to certification of boson sampling machines and other experiments relying on bosonic interference, such as quantum simulation and quantum metrology.

Interference Confocal Microscope Integrated with Spatial Phase Shifter.

PubMed

Wang, Weibo; Gu, Kang; You, Xiaoyu; Tan, Jiubin; Liu, Jian

2016-08-24

We present an interference confocal microscope (ICM) with a new single-body four-step simultaneous phase-shifter device designed to obtain high immunity to vibration. The proposed ICM combines the respective advantages of simultaneous phase shifting interferometry and bipolar differential confocal microscopy to obtain high axis resolution, large dynamic range, and reduce the sensitivity to vibration and reflectance disturbance seamlessly. A compact single body spatial phase shifter is added to capture four phase-shifted interference signals simultaneously without time delay and construct a stable and space-saving simplified interference confocal microscope system. The test result can be obtained by combining the interference phase response and the bipolar property of differential confocal microscopy without phase unwrapping. Experiments prove that the proposed microscope is capable of providing stable measurements with 1 nm of axial depth resolution for either low- or high-numerical aperture objective lenses.

Experimental Study on Interference Effects of Two Tandem Cylinders Wrapped Around by Triple Helical Rods with Gap on Induced Drag

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prastianto, R. W.; Dwipayana, K. H.; Syahroni, N.; Pumbarino, B.

2018-03-01

This paper examines the results of laboratory experiments to investigate the effect of interference of two tandem cylinders covered by triple helical rods with gap to the induced drag force. Two identical rigid models are horizontally positioned with roll support on both ends of each cylinder. Uniform air flow in subcritical regime that correspond to Reynolds number (Re) of 1.6 × 104 ∼ 6.5 × 104 perpendicularly flowed to the models in the wind tunnel with three variations of the distance between the cylinders which are 1.75D, 3D and 5D. At Re = 4.2 × 104 the results show that the maximum shielding effects occur in the rear cylinder at the distance of 1.75D so the drag coefficient (CD) is reduced to 93.6% compared to single cylinder case. This shielding effect will weaken with increasing the distance between the cylinder. In contrast, the fluid flow interference effect on the front cylinder increases due to increasing of spacing between the two cylinders and still occurred at that spacing of 5D until CD reduction reached 10% of the single cylinder case.

DBDA as a Novel Matrix for the Analyses of Small Molecules and Quantification of Fatty Acids by Negative Ion MALDI-TOF MS.

PubMed

Ling, Ling; Li, Ying; Wang, Sheng; Guo, Liming; Xiao, Chunsheng; Chen, Xuesi; Guo, Xinhua

2018-04-01

Matrix interference ions in low mass range has always been a concern when using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) to analyze small molecules (<500 Da). In this work, a novel matrix, N1,N4-dibenzylidenebenzene-1,4-diamine (DBDA) was synthesized for the analyses of small molecules by negative ion MALDI-TOF MS. Notably, only neat ions ([M-H] - ) of fatty acids without matrix interference appeared in the mass spectra and the limit of detection (LOD) reached 0.3 fmol. DBDA also has great performance towards other small molecules such as amino acids, peptides, and nucleotide. Furthermore, with this novel matrix, the free fatty acids in serum were quantitatively analyzed based on the correlation curves with correlation coefficient of 0.99. In addition, UV-Vis experiments and molecular orbital calculations were performed to explore mechanism about DBDA used as matrix in the negative ion mode. The present work shows that the DBDA matrix is a highly sensitive matrix with few interference ions for analysis of small molecules. Meanwhile, DBDA is able to precisely quantify the fatty acids in real biological samples. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

Age-related changes in overcoming proactive interference in associative memory: The role of PFC-mediated executive control processes at retrieval.

PubMed

Dulas, Michael R; Duarte, Audrey

2016-05-15

Behavioral evidence has shown age-related impairments in overcoming proactive interference in memory, but it is unclear what underlies this deficit. Imaging studies in the young suggest overcoming interference may require several executive control processes supported by the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC). The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated whether age-related changes in dissociable executive control processes underlie deficits in overcoming proactive interference in associative memory during retrieval. Participants were tasked with remembering which associate (face or scene) objects were paired with most recently during study, under conditions of high or low proactive interference. Behavioral results demonstrated that, as interference increased, memory performance decreased similarly across groups, with slight associative memory deficits in older adults. Imaging results demonstrated that, across groups, left mid-VLPFC showed increasing activity with increasing interference, though activity did not distinguish correct from incorrect associative memory responses, suggesting this region may not directly serve in successful resolution of proactive interference, per se. Under conditions of high interference, older adults showed reduced associative memory accuracy effects in the DLPFC and anterior PFC. These results suggest that age-related PFC dysfunction may not be ubiquitous. Executive processes supported by ventral regions that detect mnemonic interference may be less affected than processes supported by dorsal and anterior regions that directly resolve interference. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Memory Reactivation Predicts Resistance to Retroactive Interference: Evidence from Multivariate Classification and Pattern Similarity Analyses

PubMed Central

Rugg, Michael D.

2016-01-01

Memory reactivation—the reinstatement of processes and representations engaged when an event is initially experienced—is believed to play an important role in strengthening and updating episodic memory. The present study examines how memory reactivation during a potentially interfering event influences memory for a previously experienced event. Participants underwent fMRI during the encoding phase of an AB/AC interference task in which some words were presented twice in association with two different encoding tasks (AB and AC trials) and other words were presented once (DE trials). The later memory test required retrieval of the encoding tasks associated with each of the study words. Retroactive interference was evident for the AB encoding task and was particularly strong when the AC encoding task was remembered rather than forgotten. We used multivariate classification and pattern similarity analysis (PSA) to measure reactivation of the AB encoding task during AC trials. The results demonstrated that reactivation of generic task information measured with multivariate classification predicted subsequent memory for the AB encoding task regardless of whether interference was strong and weak (trials for which the AC encoding task was remembered or forgotten, respectively). In contrast, reactivation of neural patterns idiosyncratic to a given AB trial measured with PSA only predicted memory when the strength of interference was low. These results suggest that reactivation of features of an initial experience shared across numerous events in the same category, but not features idiosyncratic to a particular event, are important in resisting retroactive interference caused by new learning. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Reactivating a previously encoded memory is believed to provide an opportunity to strengthen the memory, but also to return the memory to a labile state, making it susceptible to interference. However, there is debate as to how memory reactivation elicited by a potentially interfering event influences subsequent retrieval of the memory. The findings of the current study indicate that reactivating features idiosyncratic to a particular experience during interference only influences subsequent memory when interference is relatively weak. Critically, reactivation of generic contextual information predicts subsequent source memory when retroactive interference is either strong and weak. The results indicate that reactivation of generic information about a prior episode mitigates forgetting due to retroactive interference. PMID:27076433

Saving-enhanced memory: the benefits of saving on the learning and remembering of new information.

PubMed

Storm, Benjamin C; Stone, Sean M

2015-02-01

With the continued integration of technology into people's lives, saving digital information has become an everyday facet of human behavior. In the present research, we examined the consequences of saving certain information on the ability to learn and remember other information. Results from three experiments showed that saving one file before studying a new file significantly improved memory for the contents of the new file. Notably, this effect was not observed when the saving process was deemed unreliable or when the contents of the to-be-saved file were not substantial enough to interfere with memory for the new file. These results suggest that saving provides a means to strategically off-load memory onto the environment in order to reduce the extent to which currently unneeded to-be-remembered information interferes with the learning and remembering of other information. © The Author(s) 2014.

Distinguishing Majorana bound states from localized Andreev bound states by interferometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hell, Michael; Flensberg, Karsten; Leijnse, Martin

2018-04-01

Experimental evidence for Majorana bound states (MBSs) is so far mainly based on the robustness of a zero-bias conductance peak. However, similar features can also arise due to Andreev bound states (ABSs) localized at the end of an island. We show that these two scenarios can be distinguished by an interferometry experiment based on embedding a Coulomb-blockaded island into an Aharonov-Bohm ring. For two ABSs, when the ground state is nearly degenerate, cotunneling can change the state of the island, and interference is suppressed. By contrast, for two MBSs the ground state is nondegenerate, and cotunneling has to preserve the island state, which leads to h /e -periodic conductance oscillations with magnetic flux. Such interference setups can be realized with semiconducting nanowires or two-dimensional electron gases with proximity-induced superconductivity and may also be a useful spectroscopic tool for parity-flip mechanisms.

Interferometric imaging using Si3N4 photonic integrated circuits for a SPIDER imager.

PubMed

Su, Tiehui; Liu, Guangyao; Badham, Katherine E; Thurman, Samuel T; Kendrick, Richard L; Duncan, Alan; Wuchenich, Danielle; Ogden, Chad; Chriqui, Guy; Feng, Shaoqi; Chun, Jaeyi; Lai, Weicheng; Yoo, S J B

2018-05-14

This paper reports design, fabrication, and experimental demonstration of a silicon nitride photonic integrated circuit (PIC). The PIC is capable of conducting one-dimensional interferometric imaging with twelve baselines near λ = 1100-1600 nm. The PIC consists of twelve waveguide pairs, each leading to a multi-mode interferometer (MMI) that forms broadband interference fringes or each corresponding pair of the waveguides. Then an 18 channel arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) separates the combined signal into 18 signals of different wavelengths. A total of 103 sets of fringes are collected by the detector array at the output of the PIC. We keep the optical path difference (OPD) of each interferometer baseline to within 1 µm to maximize the visibility of the interference measurement. We also constructed a testbed to utilize the PIC for two-dimension complex visibility measurement with various targets. The experiment shows reconstructed images in good agreement with theoretical predictions.

Resolving task rule incongruence during task switching by competitor rule suppression.

PubMed

Meiran, Nachshon; Hsieh, Shulan; Dimov, Eduard

2010-07-01

Task switching requires maintaining readiness to execute any task of a given set of tasks. However, when tasks switch, the readiness to execute the now-irrelevant task generates interference, as seen in the task rule incongruence effect. Overcoming such interference requires fine-tuned inhibition that impairs task readiness only minimally. In an experiment involving 2 object classification tasks and 2 location classification tasks, the authors show that irrelevant task rules that generate response conflicts are inhibited. This competitor rule suppression (CRS) is seen in response slowing in subsequent trials, when the competing rules become relevant. CRS is shown to operate on specific rules without affecting similar rules. CRS and backward inhibition, which is another inhibitory phenomenon, produced additive effects on reaction time, suggesting their mutual independence. Implications for current formal theories of task switching as well as for conflict monitoring theories are discussed. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved

Bovine lactoferrin and lactoferricin interfere with intracellular trafficking of Herpes simplex virus-1.

PubMed

Marr, A K; Jenssen, H; Moniri, M Roshan; Hancock, R E W; Panté, N

2009-01-01

Although both lactoferrin (Lf), a component of the innate immune system of living organisms, and its N-terminal pepsin cleavage product lactoferricin (Lfcin) have anti-herpes activity, the precise mechanisms by which Lf and Lfcin bring about inhibition of herpes infections are not fully understood. In the present study, experiments were carried out to characterize the activity of bovine Lf and Lfcin (BLf and BLfcin) against the Herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1). HSV-1 cellular uptake and intracellular trafficking were studied by immunofluorescence microscopy. In comparison to the untreated infected control cells, both the BLf- and BLfcin-treated cells showed a significant reduction in HSV-1 cellular uptake. The few virus particles that were internalized appeared to have a delayed intracellular trafficking. Thus, in addition to their interference with the uptake of the virus into host cells, Lf and Lfcin also exert their antiviral effect intracellularly.

Spatial working memory interferes with explicit, but not probabilistic cuing of spatial attention.

PubMed

Won, Bo-Yeong; Jiang, Yuhong V

2015-05-01

Recent empirical and theoretical work has depicted a close relationship between visual attention and visual working memory. For example, rehearsal in spatial working memory depends on spatial attention, whereas adding a secondary spatial working memory task impairs attentional deployment in visual search. These findings have led to the proposal that working memory is attention directed toward internal representations. Here, we show that the close relationship between these 2 constructs is limited to some but not all forms of spatial attention. In 5 experiments, participants held color arrays, dot locations, or a sequence of dots in working memory. During the memory retention interval, they performed a T-among-L visual search task. Crucially, the probable target location was cued either implicitly through location probability learning or explicitly with a central arrow or verbal instruction. Our results showed that whereas imposing a visual working memory load diminished the effectiveness of explicit cuing, it did not interfere with probability cuing. We conclude that spatial working memory shares similar mechanisms with explicit, goal-driven attention but is dissociated from implicitly learned attention. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Spatial working memory interferes with explicit, but not probabilistic cuing of spatial attention

PubMed Central

Won, Bo-Yeong; Jiang, Yuhong V.

2014-01-01

Recent empirical and theoretical work has depicted a close relationship between visual attention and visual working memory. For example, rehearsal in spatial working memory depends on spatial attention, whereas adding a secondary spatial working memory task impairs attentional deployment in visual search. These findings have led to the proposal that working memory is attention directed toward internal representations. Here we show that the close relationship between these two constructs is limited to some but not all forms of spatial attention. In five experiments, participants held color arrays, dot locations, or a sequence of dots in working memory. During the memory retention interval they performed a T-among-L visual search task. Crucially, the probable target location was cued either implicitly through location probability learning, or explicitly with a central arrow or verbal instruction. Our results showed that whereas imposing a visual working memory load diminished the effectiveness of explicit cuing, it did not interfere with probability cuing. We conclude that spatial working memory shares similar mechanisms with explicit, goal-driven attention but is dissociated from implicitly learned attention. PMID:25401460

Investigation of potential interferences in the detection of atmospheric ROx radicals by laser-induced fluorescence under dark conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuchs, Hendrik; Tan, Zhaofeng; Hofzumahaus, Andreas; Broch, Sebastian; Dorn, Hans-Peter; Holland, Frank; Künstler, Christopher; Gomm, Sebastian; Rohrer, Franz; Schrade, Stephanie; Tillmann, Ralf; Wahner, Andreas

2016-04-01

Direct detection of highly reactive, atmospheric hydroxyl radicals (OH) is widely accomplished by laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) instruments. The technique is also suitable for the indirect measurement of HO2 and RO2 peroxy radicals by chemical conversion to OH. It requires sampling of ambient air into a low-pressure cell, where OH fluorescence is detected after excitation by 308 nm laser radiation. Although the residence time of air inside the fluorescence cell is typically only on the order of milliseconds, there is potential that additional OH is internally produced, which would artificially increase the measured OH concentration. Here, we present experimental studies investigating potential interferences in the detection of OH and peroxy radicals for the LIF instruments of Forschungszentrum Jülich for nighttime conditions. For laboratory experiments, the inlet of the instrument was over flowed by excess synthetic air containing one or more reactants. In order to distinguish between OH produced by reactions upstream of the inlet and artificial signals produced inside the instrument, a chemical titration for OH was applied. Additional experiments were performed in the simulation chamber SAPHIR where simultaneous measurements by an open-path differential optical absorption spectrometer (DOAS) served as reference for OH to quantify potential artifacts in the LIF instrument. Experiments included the investigation of potential interferences related to the nitrate radical (NO3, N2O5), related to the ozonolysis of alkenes (ethene, propene, 1-butene, 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene, α-pinene, limonene, isoprene), and the laser photolysis of acetone. Experiments studying the laser photolysis of acetone yield OH signals in the fluorescence cell, which are equivalent to 0.05 × 106 cm-3 OH for a mixing ratio of 5 ppbv acetone. Under most atmospheric conditions, this interference is negligible. No significant interferences were found for atmospheric concentrations of reactants during ozonolysis experiments. Only for propene, α-pinene, limonene, and isoprene at reactant concentrations, which are orders of magnitude higher than in the atmosphere, could artificial OH be detected. The value of the interference depends on the turnover rate of the ozonolysis reaction. For example, an apparent OH concentration of approximately 1 × 106 cm-3 is observed when 5.8 ppbv limonene reacts with 600 ppbv ozone. Experiments with the nitrate radical NO3 reveal a small interference signal in the OH, HO2, and RO2 detection. Dependencies on experimental parameters point to artificial OH formation by surface reactions at the chamber walls or in molecular clusters in the gas expansion. The signal scales with the presence of NO3 giving equivalent radical concentrations of 1.1 × 105 cm-3 OH, 1 × 107 cm-3 HO2, and 1.7 × 107 cm-3 RO2 per 10 pptv NO3.

Estimation and uncertainty analysis of dose response in an inter-laboratory experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toman, Blaza; Rösslein, Matthias; Elliott, John T.; Petersen, Elijah J.

2016-02-01

An inter-laboratory experiment for the evaluation of toxic effects of NH2-polystyrene nanoparticles on living human cancer cells was performed with five participating laboratories. Previously published results from nanocytoxicity assays are often contradictory, mostly due to challenges related to producing a reliable cytotoxicity assay protocol for use with nanomaterials. Specific challenges include reproducibility preparing nanoparticle dispersions, biological variability from testing living cell lines, and the potential for nano-related interference effects. In this experiment, such challenges were addressed by developing a detailed experimental protocol and using a specially designed 96-well plate layout which incorporated a range of control measurements to assess multiple factors such as nanomaterial interference, pipetting accuracy, cell seeding density, and instrument performance. Detailed data analysis of these control measurements showed that good control of the experiments was attained by all participants in most cases. The main measurement objective of the study was the estimation of a dose response relationship between concentration of the nanoparticles and metabolic activity of the living cells, under several experimental conditions. The dose curve estimation was achieved by imbedding a three parameter logistic curve in a three level Bayesian hierarchical model, accounting for uncertainty due to all known experimental conditions as well as between laboratory variability in a top-down manner. Computation was performed using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. The fit of the model was evaluated using Bayesian posterior predictive probabilities and found to be satisfactory.

Resilient memory for melodies: The number of intervening melodies does not influence novel melody recognition.

PubMed

Herff, Steffen A; Olsen, Kirk N; Dean, Roger T

2018-05-01

In many memory domains, a decrease in recognition performance between the first and second presentation of an object is observed as the number of intervening items increases. However, this effect is not universal. Within the auditory domain, this form of interference has been demonstrated in word and single-note recognition, but has yet to be substantiated using relatively complex musical material such as a melody. Indeed, it is becoming clear that music shows intriguing properties when it comes to memory. This study investigated how the number of intervening items influences memory for melodies. In Experiments 1, 2 and 3, one melody was presented per trial in a continuous recognition paradigm. After each melody, participants indicated whether they had heard the melody in the experiment before by responding "old" or "new." In Experiment 4, participants rated perceived familiarity for every melody without being told that melodies reoccur. In four experiments using two corpora of music, two different memory tasks, transposed and untransposed melodies and up to 195 intervening melodies, no sign of a disruptive effect from the number of intervening melodies beyond the first was observed. We propose a new "regenerative multiple representations" conjecture to explain why intervening items increase interference in recognition memory for most domains but not music. This conjecture makes several testable predictions and has the potential to strengthen our understanding of domain specificity in human memory, while moving one step closer to explaining the "paradox" that is memory for melody.