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Detecting global patterns in the environment is essential to object perception and recognition. Consistent with this, pigeons have been shown to readily detect and locate geometrically arranged, structured targets embedded in randomized backgrounds. Here we show for the first time that pigeons can detect and localize trial-unique targets derived solely from global patterns resulting from periodicity, symmetry and their combination using randomly generated segments of black and white local elements. The results indicate pigeons can perceptually segment and detect a wide variety of emergent global structures and do so even when they are unique to each trial. The perceptual and cognitive mechanisms underlying this discrimination likely play important roles in the abilities of how pigeons, and likely other birds, detect and categorize the properties of natural objects at different spatial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amongst the variety of /r/ allophones is a labialised variant commonly described as the labiodental approximant [ʋ]. This seems, in recent times, to have become quite a common variant for young British English speech and is 'established as an acceptable feature of mature speech in non-standard accents in the south-east of England'. Deterding and Kwek have also reported the existence of the labiodental approximant [ʋ] in the speech of some young speakers of Singapore English, presenting preliminary impressionistic findings of its existence and attitudes of Singaporeans towards its use. This article further substantiates these previous claims by providing acoustic evidence that the labiodental approximant [ʋ] is indeed present in Singapore English and that it can be differentiated from the more common post-alveolar approximant [ɹ] by comparing the nadir values of their third formants as well as the calculations of third formant rises towards the onset of following vowels. The article also provides further empirical evidence of the phonological environments that condition the realisation of this variant and also of its users. At its core, this article sets the foundations for further phonetic and phonological studies of /r/ variants in Singapore English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous examples of meaningful inter-individual differences in visual processing have been documented in low- and high-level vision. For mid-level vision or perceptual organization, vision scientists have only recently started to study the inter-individual differences structure. In this study, we focus on orientation and proximity as emergent features and combine a quantitative information processing approach with an individual differences approach. We first replicated the results reported in Hawkins, Houpt, Eidels, and Townsend (2016) in a set of 52 observers. That is, observers showed higher processing capacity for detecting a change in a stimulus configuration when the emergent features orientation or proximity were changed. Next, we asked whether individual differences processing capacities were similar across emergent features. The capacity to detect any type of change correlated moderately across individuals, whereas the capacity to detect changes in either emergent feature alone was not strongly correlated. This indicates that there is no general sensitivity to emergent features and that observers can be good at detecting orientation changes whilst being poor at detecting proximity changes (and vice versa). An additional exploratory multivariate analysis of the data revealed that response times and accuracies correlated strongly within each emergent feature. Moreover, specific factors related to change detection and inward displacements were observed, revealing consistent individual differences in our data. We discuss the results in the context of the literature on individual differences in vision where both specific, fragmented factors as well as broad, general factors have been reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We previously demonstrated that chimpanzees, like humans, showed better accuracy and faster response time in discriminating visual patterns when the patterns were presented in redundant and uninformative contexts than when they were presented alone. In the present study, we examined the effect of redundant context on pattern discrimination in pigeons (Columba livia) and large-billed crows (Corvus macrorhynchos) using the same task and stimuli as those used in our previous study on chimpanzees. Birds were trained to search for an odd target among homogenous distractors. Each stimulus was presented in one of three ways: (1) alone, (2) with identical context that resulted in emergent configuration to chimpanzees (congruent context), or (3) with identical context that did not result in emergent configuration to chimpanzees (incongruent context). In contrast to the facilitative effect of congruent contexts we previously reported in chimpanzees, the same contexts disrupted target localization performance in both pigeons and crows. These results imply that birds, unlike chimpanzees, do not perceive emergent configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on subject extraction in Māori, the indigenous Polynesian language of New Zealand. Māori has a range of verbal and non-verbal predicate constructions. I argue that, whilst subject topicalisation is generally permitted in all constructions, subject questioning is restricted (see Bauer 1993; 1997). More specifically, I claim that subject questioning is permitted in verbal and prepositional predicate constructions, but prohibited in nominal predicate constructions, all else being equal (see also de Lacy 1999). I adopt and defend a cleft analysis of questions according to which the questioned constituent is the matrix predicate phrase and the matrix subject is a headless relative clause (Bauer 1991; 1993; 1997). I propose that the restriction on subject questioning results from intervention in this headless relative clause. I argue that the C head probes for a nominal feature rather than a traditional Aʹ-feature. Consequently, nominal predicate phrases intervene with Aʹ-movement of the subject, whilst verbal and prepositional predicate phrases do not. My analysis suggests that Aʹ-movement is generally triggered using nominal features in Māori. I discuss this proposal from an emergentist perspective, i.e. one where formal features are not innately pre-specified but rather emerge during language acquisition guided by the Third Factor cognitive bias to “Maximise Minimal Means” (Biberauer 2017; Biberauer & Roberts 2015; 2017).

The perception of a visual stimulus is dependent not only upon local features, but also on the arrangement of those features. When stimulus features are perceptually well organized (e.g., symmetric or parallel), a global configuration with a high degree of salience emerges from the interactions between these features, often referred to as emergent features. Emergent features can be demonstrated in the Configural Superiority Effect (CSE): presenting a stimulus within an organized context relative to its presentation in a disarranged one results in better performance. Prior neuroimaging work on the perception of emergent features regards the CSE as an "all or none" phenomenon, focusing on the contrast between configural and non-configural stimuli. However, it is still not clear how emergent features are processed between these two endpoints. The current study examined the extent to which behavioral and neuroimaging markers of emergent features are responsive to the degree of configurality in visual displays. Subjects were tasked with reporting the anomalous quadrant in a visual search task while being scanned. Degree of configurality was manipulated by incrementally varying the rotational angle of low-level features within the stimulus arrays. Behaviorally, we observed faster response times with increasing levels of configurality. These behavioral changes were accompanied by increases in response magnitude across multiple visual areas in occipito-temporal cortex, primarily early visual cortex and object-selective cortex. Our findings suggest that the neural correlates of emergent features can be observed even in response to stimuli that are not fully configural, and demonstrate that configural information is already present at early stages of the visual hierarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to reconcile two claims that have long been thought to be incompatible: (a) that we compositionally determine the meaning of complex expressions from the meaning of their parts, and (b) that prototypes are components of the meaning of lexical terms such as fish, red, and gun. Hypotheses (a) and (b) are independently plausible, but most researchers think that reconciling them is a difficult, if not hopeless task. In particular, most linguists and philosophers agree that (a) is not negotiable; so they tend to reject (b). Recently, there have been some attempts to reconcile these claims (Prinz, Furnishing the mind: concepts and their perceptual basis 2002; The Oxford handbook of compositionality 2012; Jönsson and Hampton, Cognition 106:913-923, 2008; Hampton and Jönsson, The Oxford handbook of compositionality 2012; Schurz, The Oxford handbook of compositionality 2012), but they all adopt an implausibly weak notion of compositionality. Furthermore, parties to this debate tend to fall into a problematic way of individuating prototypes that is too externalistic. In contrast, I propose that we can reconcile (a) and (b) if we adopt, instead, an internalist and pluralist conception of prototypes and a context-sensitive but strong notion of compositionality. I argue that each of this proposals is independently plausible, and that, when taken together, provide the basis for a satisfactory account of prototype compositionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two sets of design principles for analogical visual displays, based on the concepts of emergent features and perceptual objects, are described. An interpretation of previous empirical findings for three displays (bar graph, polar graphic, alphanumeric) is provided from both perspectives. A fourth display (configural coordinate) was designed using principles of ecological interface design (i.e. direct perception). An experiment was conducted to evaluate performance (accuracy and latency of state identification) with these four displays. Numerous significant effects were obtained and a clear rank ordering of performance emerged (from best to worst): configural coordinate, bar graph, alphanumeric and polar graphic. These findings are consistent with principles of design based on emergent features; they are inconsistent with principles based on perceptual objects. Some limitations of the configural coordinate display are discussed and a redesign is provided. Practitioner Summary: Principles of ecological interface design, which emphasise the quality of very specific mappings between domain, display and observer constraints, are described; these principles are applicable to the design of all analogical graphical displays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several previous studies have focused on modelling and analysing the collective dynamic behaviour of population-based algorithms. However, an empirical approach for identifying and characterising such a behaviour is surprisingly lacking. In this paper, we present a newmodel to capture this collective behaviour, and to extract and quantify features associated with it. The proposed model studies the topological distribution of an algorithm's activity from both a genotypic and a phenotypic perspective, and represents population dynamics using multiple levels of abstraction. The model can have different instantiations. Here it has been implemented using amodified version of selforganising maps. These are used to represent and track the population motion in the fitness landscape as the algorithm operates on solving a problem. Based on this model, we developed a set of features that characterise the population's collective dynamic behaviour. By analysing them and revealing their dependency on fitness distributions, we were then able to define an indicator of the exploitation behaviour of an algorithm. This is an entropy-based measure that assesses the dependency on fitness distributions of different features of population dynamics. To test the proposed measures, evolutionary algorithms with different crossover operators, selection pressure levels and population handling techniques have been examined, which lead populations to exhibit a wide range of exploitation-exploration behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This keynote paper is divided into two parts. On the one hand, it explores how the modeling of pen strokes can be exploited to design biomedical tools allowing the analysis of neuromuscular systems with the objective of developing a diagnostic protocol useful in assessing brain stroke risk factors. On the other hand, it explains how the methodology followed to model a neuromuscular system producing handwriting strokes can be generalized, by means of various strides, to model the Solar System, the Milky Way and the whole Universe. The conducting thread that links up such apparently unrelated pattern recognition problems is the Central Limit Theorem. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Mima mounds are ~1-m-high hillocks found on every continent except Antarctica. Despite often numbering in the millions within a single field, their origin has been a mystery, with proposed explanations ranging from glacial processes to seismic shaking. One hypothesis proposes that mounds in North America are built by burrowing mammals to provide refuge from seasonally saturated soils. We test this hypothesis with a numerical model, parameterized with measurements of soil transport by gophers from a California mound field, that couples animal behavior with geomorphic processes. The model successfully simulates the development of the mounds as well as key details such as the creation of vernal pools, small intermound basins that provide habitat for endemic species. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the spatial structure of the modeled mound fields is similar to actual mound fields and provides an example of self-organized topographic features. We conclude that, scaled by body mass, Mima mounds are the largest structures built by nonhuman mammals and may provide a rare example of an evolutionary coupling between landforms and the organisms that create them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We examined the perceptions of emergent configurations in humans and chimpanzees using a targetlocalization task. The stimulus display consisted of a target placed among multiple identical distractors. The target and distractors were presented either solely, within congruent contexts in which salient configurations emerge, or within incongruent contexts in which salient configurations do not emerge. We found that congruent contexts had similar facilitative effects on target localization by humans and chimpanzees. whereas similar disruptive effects emerged when the stimuli were presented within incongruent contexts. When display size was manipulated, targets under the congruent-context condition were localized in a parallel manner, but those under the no-context and incongruent-context conditions were localized in a serial manner by both species. These results suggest that both humans and chimpanzees perceive emergent configurations when targets and distractors are presented within certain congruent contexts and that they process such emergent configurations preattentively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gestalt phenomena are often so powerful that mere demonstrations can confirm their existence, but Gestalts have proven hard to define and measure. Here we outline a theory of basic Gestalts (TBG) that defines Gestalts as emergent features (EFs). The logic relies on discovering wholes that are more discriminable than are the parts from which they are built. These wholes contain EFs that can act as basic features in human vision. As context is added to a visual stimulus, a hierarchy of EFs appears. Starting with a single dot and adding a second yields the first two potential EFs: the proximity (distance) and orientation (angle) between the two dots. A third dot introduces two more potential EFs: symmetry and linearity; a fourth dot produces surroundedness. This hierarchy may extend to collinearity, parallelism, closure, and more. We use the magnitude of Configural Superiority Effects to measure the salience of EFs on a common scale, potentially letting us compare the strengths of various grouping principles. TBG appears promising, with our initial experiments establishing and quantifying at least three basic EFs in human vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two types of line graph and one type of bar graph were compared in two experiments, requiring participants to answer integrated questions from memory. Questions were visual in nature and were related to the concept of statistical interaction. Both types of line graph contained the emergent feature of line parallelism, assumed to facilitate the task of detecting interactions. One type was unusual: it contained two separate, orthogonal value axes, instead of a single, integrated axis. In Experiment I, questions were relatively simple. Its results were fitted to a simple model of cognitive task execution. In Experiment II, the graphs were introduced as presenting the outcomes of an imaginary research study. In both experiments the line graphs resulted in superior performance, though memorising the unusual line graphs remained difficult, despite extensive pre-experimental training. The discussion focuses on the importance of graph-related and task-related variables in explaining performance on graph-based, memory-based tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objective: We tested the hypothesis that a monitoring display proposed by Blike et al. improves the performance of anesthesiologists. We measured the performance of anesthesiologists using the new display and compared it to their performance with a traditional display. We studied three different displays on how they affected recognition and differentiation of five etiologies of shock-anaphylaxis, bradycardia, hypovolemia, ischemia and pulmonary embolus.Methods: The participants monitored heart rate, systemic arterial and pulmonary blood pressure, central venous pressure, and cardiac output during five shock states and five non-shock states. The resulting 10 data sets made up ten decision screens, which we presented randomly on a computer monitor to the subjects in one of three different formats (a Single Sensor Single Indicator (SSSI) Numeric display; an Object display; and an Object Minus Shapes display). Subjects used soft-buttons on a computer touch-screen monitor to: a) advance to the next display; b) differentiate a non-shock state from a shock state; and, c) select the etiology of shock state represented by the display (Figure 4). The internal clock and memory of the computer made the collection of data automatic.Results: The subjects recognized a problem more rapidly with the help of a graphical "pointer on a reference scale" in both Object displays, but their accuracy had not improved in comparison to the SSSI Numeric display. The shape of the Object display improved performance of etiology determination compared to the Object Minus Shapes display and SSSI Numeric display. Testing (10 trials) was completed in less than 45 minutes.Conclusions: The new display with "emergent features" can improve the diagnostic performance of clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that object displays facilitate integration task performance because they contain information that is not readily accessible in standard bar displays. The first experiment demonstrated that when the extra information present in an object display is added to a bar display, as in the augmented bar display, integration task performance can be improved in the bar display. The second experiment shows that integration task performance is poor with an object display when the extra information present in the object display is not relevant to the integration task. If the decision statistic can be specified at the time of display design, an augmented bar display may be appropriate since it offers good performance for both separate and integral tasks; if the decision statistic cannot be specified at the time of display design, the use of an object display may hinder performance if the decision statistic and emergent feature are not correlated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Two experiments were performed to test and extend the current ‘emergent features’ approach to display design for dynamic failure detection tasks. It was predicted that a display whose emergent features were well-mapped to goal-relevant task invariants would lead to better failure detection performance than either of two alternative displays. Contrary to prediction, Experiment 1 showed no differences in failure detection speed or accuracy across displays. The reason for this may have been that subjects did not discover the mapping between the mathematical properties of the task and the emergent feature, so in Experiment 2 subjects were explicitly instructed about the mapping and were advised on how to use the display geometry to help their performance. A significant difference in failure detection speed emerged, but the display supporting fastest performance was not the one with the well-mapped emergent feature. These results suggest that alternative perceptual organizational factors were at work which overpowered the intended effect. The results also underscore the difficulty of developing a theory of display design, and their impact on current theories is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]