Search

Abstract: Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was recorded to detect the 40 Hz component in auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs) to Dau''s chirp sound regularly repeated 40 times/s. The phase coherence of the 40 Hz component increased with the chirp intensity until the latter reached about 30 dB above its absolute hearing threshold and then saturated. We constructed a differential-equation model for the phase dynamics which showed similar behavior to the experimental result in terms of the phase coherence. One of the two parameters in the model was seen to be influenced by the stimulus intensity while the other seemed unaffected. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Reasoning about seven physics principles within and across ontological kinds was examined among 188 5- and 7-year-olds and 59 adults. Individuals in all age groups tended to appropriately generalize what they learned across ontological kinds. However, children also showed sensitivity to ontological kind in their projections: when learning principles with reference to people they were more likely to assume that the principles apply to another person than to an inanimate object, and when learning with reference to an inanimate object they were more likely to assume that the principles apply to another inanimate object than to a person. Five-year-olds, but not 7-year-olds, projected concepts learned about people to a greater extent than principles learned about inanimate objects, closely paralleling the findings of Carey for the biological domain (Carey, S. (1985). Conceptual change in childhood. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press). Results from a separate sample of 22 5-year-olds suggest that the primary findings cannot be explained by response perseveration. The present findings indicate that children understand physics principles that apply to both animate and inanimate objects, but distinguish between these ontological kinds. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]