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Previous event-related potential studies have indicated that both a widespread N400 and an anterior N700 index differential processing of concrete and abstract words, but the nature of these components in relation to concreteness and imagery has been unclear. Here, we separated the effects of word concreteness and task demands on the N400 and N700 in a single word processing paradigm with a within-subjects, between-tasks design and carefully controlled word stimuli. The N400 was larger to concrete words than to abstract words, and larger in the visualization task condition than in the surface task condition, with no interaction. A marked anterior N700 was elicited only by concrete words in the visualization task condition, suggesting that this component indexes imagery. These findings are consistent with a revised or extended dual coding theory according to which concrete words benefit from greater activation in both verbal and imagistic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For three decades a number of computer-aided systems have been developed in order to assist in the design of digital type. Even though some of them are used by typographers in commercial type design, they are not yet widely accepted. One reason is the lack of appropriate design metaphors in systems which provide low-level operations (e.g. the manipulation of outlines). Another reason is the lack of essential functionality in high-level approaches (not all characters can be modeled). While these two reasons correspond with the underlying paradigms of those systems, namely the outline and the stroke approach, the presented model provides a synthesis of both. By exploring the high-level semantics of the stroke-based paradigm, letterforms can be composed by individual strokes. Properties like round corners at stroke intersections, as they typically appear in the design of Western type, can be modeled via outline segments attached to the associated stroke elements. As a consequence, Latin characters as well as characters incorporating hand-written characters, like Kanji, can be expressed using a single model. These two classes of types are considered by the typographic community to be fundamentaly different. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to produce computer files containing keys, together with the commands necessary to typeset them directly from the program that constructs them, greatly simplifies the production of high quality identification keys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exists a large and growing population of non computer professionals utilizing word processing software on personal computers. Noncomputer professional users of word processing technology are sometimes referred to as intermittent users. The purpose of this research was to understand the word processing characteristics and needs of this important group of users. We developed a mode that describes their word processing performance and carried out two contorted experiments. We found that intermittent users behave bike experts when executing a very somali set of routine tasks but tend to be quite novice-bike in most other tasks. Their editing behavior can be described as non optimal and relatively stable. Help systems and interface design are important factors of word processing technology that improve the performance of intermittent users. Our study indicates that intermittent users prefer and perform better with a menu-driven interface, in addition, we found that even a rudimentary help system can be a great aid to the intermittent user. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new generalized model for information transfer that has at its heart a machine- readable record. The model points out how the core machine-readable record makes possible interfacing computer typesetting with advanced information technology, the interfacing of primary with secondary publications, and the interfacing of data with document information systems. The model also illustrates how modular information transfer systems can be incrementally enlarged. IMPRINT (IMbricated PRogram for INformation Transfer) is one system based on this modular imbricated (overlapping) model. Some of the modules in IMPRINT, which have been developed by Cognitive Systems Incorporated, are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]