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PubMed1993

Decomposing adult age differences in symbol arithmetic.

A componential analysis was conducted to determine the locus of adult age differences in symbol arithmetic. Measures of the duration of two proposed components, substitution of digits for symbols and the addition or subtraction of the digits resulting from these substitutions, were obtained from 52 young adults and 52 older adults. Tests of working memory, perceptual speed, motor speed, and associative learning were also administered to all subjects. The results were most consistent with an interpretation postulating that the speed of many different cognitive processes decreases with increased age. Considerable age-related variance remained in the measures of symbol arithmetic performance after statistical control of working memory and associative learning performance, casting doubt on alternative hypotheses of the source of age-related differences in this task.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

[Automatic activation of addition and multiplication facts: an examination of effects of SOA, problem size, and presentation of operator symbol].

The purpose of this study was to examine boundary conditions and time course in automatic activation of addition and multiplication facts. Utilizing a number-matching task in which subjects were required to verify whether a target had been presented in a previously viewed number pair, the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA), problem size, and operator symbol were manipulated. As a result, products were rejected more slowly than unrelated numbers in all problem size conditions, but sums were rejected more slowly than unrelated numbers only in small size condition, and this effect was not related to SOA and operator symbol. These results suggest that (a) automatic activation is restricted to small facts in addition, but not restricted in multiplication, (b) operator symbols have no effect on automatic activation, and (c) time course in automatic activation of addition facts does not differ from that of multiplication facts.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Detecting Gene Symbols and Names in Biological Texts: A First Step toward Pertinent Information Extraction.

Gathering data on molecular interactions to be fed into a specialized database has motivated the development of a computer system to help extracting pertinent information from texts, relying on advanced linguistic tools, completed with object-oriented knowledge modeling capabilities. As a first step toward this challenging objective, a program for the identification of gene symbols and names inside sentences has been devised. The main difficulty is that these names and symbols do not appear to follow construction rules. The program is thus made up of a series of sieves of different natures, lexical, morphological and semantic, to distinguish among the words of a sentence those which can only be potential gene symbols or names. Its performance has been evaluated, in terms of coverage and precision ratios, on a corpus of texts concerning D. melanogaster for which the list of names of known genes is available for checking.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Prototype symbolization in hooded crows].

The ability in prototype symbolization was studied in four crows trained in matching concept. The experimental approach was characterized by the absence of direct training providing an association between the pictured arrays and Arabic numerals. Experimental sessions were divided into demonstrative and test phases. In the demonstrative phases, the sample and the reinforced stimulus belonged to the same category: if the sample was a pictured array, the reinforced stimulus was also the pictured array, if the sample was a numeral, the reinforced stimulus was likewise a numeral. Matching-to-sample competence was sufficient to perform this task successfully. In case of a correct choice a crow received some mealworms, their number was equal to the number of items in the pictured array or the Arabic numeral. In the test phases, the sample and the comparison stimuli were of different categories. If the sample was a pictured array, the comparison stimuli were numerals; if the sample was a numeral, the comparisons were the pictured arrays. Such tests required the birds to choose a numeric symbol corresponding to the pictured array or to choose the array of pictured items numerically equal to the Arabic symbol. All four crows performed this task successfully. Birds were able to set up a correspondence between the Arabic numeral from 1 to 4 and the number of elements in pictured arrays by way of mental juxtaposition of the earlier received information. Similar experiments showed that crows are likely to be able to perform mental operations with numerals analogous to simple arithmetic addition.

Animal Communication↗
PubMed2004

Estimating respiratory pattern variability by symbolic dynamics.

OBJECTIVES: The traditional techniques of data analysis are often not sufficient to characterize the complex dynamics of respiration. In this study the respiratory pattern variability was analyzed using symbolic dynamics. METHODS: A group of 20 patients on weaning trials from mechanical ventilation were studied at two different pressure support ventilation levels. Breath duration (T(TOT)) time series and the relation T(I)/T(TOT), that contains the influence of inspiratory time (T(I)), were considered. Length-3 words and 3 different symbols were proposed. The incidence of the overlapping tau and the parameter alpha were analyzed. RESULTS: From the breath duration time series, the distribution of words with probability of occurrence higher than 6% was concentrated on one word for low respiratory variability, whereas high variability was characterized by 4 words, presenting a statistically significant difference (p </= 0.0005). The probability occurrence of words "110" and "111" was also significantly different (p</= 0.0005) when comparing both variabilities. CONCLUSION: The analysis carried out obtained discriminant functions able to correctly classify all the testing set series. These results permit the consideration of symbolic dynamics as a promising methodology to study the respiratory pattern variability.

Data Interpretation, Statistical↗
PubMed2004

Information hidden in signals and macromolecules I. Symbolic time-series analysis.

We describe the conceptual background and practical implementation of some recently developed techniques for the analysis of symbol sequences and symbolic time series. We emphasize their associated software realization, the WinGramm suite of programs, that includes programs for the calculation of conditional entropies, context-free grammatical complexity, algorithmic distance and redundancy, as well as for the generation of surrogates that preserve symbol pairs and triplets. We demonstrate the usefulness of these programs by means of two illustrative examples, taken from computational neuroscience. In the first one, we obtain evidence of the Markovian character of the cortical inter spike intervals of the rat before penicillin treatment, and its disappearance afterwards. In the second one, we extend previous investigations about neural spike-trains generated by the isolated neuron of the slowly adapting stretch receptor organ (SAO), in order to classify sequences of different length of known neural behaviors. We include new spike trains, digitized employing the optimal partition procedure described by Steuer, Molgedey, Ebeling, & Jimenez-Montaño, (2001).

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Enhancing radiological volumes with symbolic anatomy using image fusion and collaborative virtual reality.

Radiological volumes are typically reviewed by surgeons using cross-sections and iso-surface reconstructions. Applications that combine collaborative stereo volume visualization with symbolic anatomic information and data fusions would expand surgeons' capabilities in interpretation of data and in planning treatment. Such an application has not been seen clinically. We are developing methods to systematically combine symbolic anatomy (term hierarchies and iso-surface atlases) with patient data using data fusion. We describe our progress toward integrating these methods into our collaborative virtual reality application. The fully combined application will be a feature-rich stereo collaborative volume visualization environment for use by surgeons in which DICOM datasets will self-report underlying anatomy with visual feedback. Using hierarchical navigation of SNOMED-CT anatomic terms integrated with our existing Tele-immersive DICOM-based volumetric rendering application, we will display polygonal representations of anatomic systems on the fly from menus that query a database. The methods and tools involved in this application development are SNOMED-CT, DICOM, VISIBLE HUMAN, volumetric fusion and C++ on a Tele-immersive platform. This application will allow us to identify structures and display polygonal representations from atlas data overlaid with the volume rendering. First, atlas data is automatically translated, rotated, and scaled to the patient data during loading using a public domain volumetric fusion algorithm. This generates a modified symbolic representation of the underlying canonical anatomy. Then, through the use of collision detection or intersection testing of various transparent polygonal representations, the polygonal structures are highlighted into the volumetric representation while the SNOMED names are displayed. Thus, structural names and polygonal models are associated with the visualized DICOM data. This novel juxtaposition of information promises to expand surgeons' abilities to interpret images and plan treatment.

Anatomy↗
PubMed1984

Non-speech communication symbols and systems: where have we been and where are we going?

During the past quarter century, and especially during the past decade, we have seen the emergence of various non-speech communication symbols and systems as viable means of communication by and with severely handicapped individuals. A brief overview of the full range of both aided (static or graphic) and unaided (dynamic or manual) non-speech symbols and systems is presented. A hierarchy of difficulty, cognitive requisites, approximation to English (or other natural languages), abstraction, acceptance, etc. is considered. Advantages of non-speech communication are related to general input simplification, response production, receptive language/auditory processing, stimulus processing/stimulus association, and symbolic representation. The advantages of vocabulary limits and attentional facilitation for intervention with severely handicapped individuals are discussed. Major research issues are also explored.

Attention↗
PubMed1995

Social skills training for young adolescents: symbolic and behavioral components.

The assertiveness program developed by Wise, Bundy, Bundy, and Wise (1991), which focused on the unique problems and peer interactions of young adolescents, was expanded to a 12-week program and presented to a group of 28 sixth graders. Cognitive acquisition and retention of the symbolic information was measured with a pretest, posttest, and follow-up administration of the multiple-choice tests that were designed and used in the prior study. Verbal content of assertive behavior was measured in a pretest and posttest role-play situation. When trained students were compared to a control group on the symbolic measures, a significant effect for treatment (p < or = .000); a significant effect for measures (p < or = .000); and a significant Treatment x Measure interaction (p < or = .000) were found. A comparison of means showed a significant difference between pretest vs. posttest and follow-up (p < or = .000). However, no difference between posttest and follow-up was found (p < .351). Unlike the earlier study, in which girls benefited more from training than did boys, no treatment by gender interaction was found for the cognitive measure (p < .691). Boys and girls benefited similarly in terms of the cognitive acquisition of assertiveness information from this program. However, the results did not show that these students were able to demonstrate assertiveness on the behavioral level. Results are discussed in terms of the difference between simply having stored symbolic information regarding assertive responses and recognizing contexts in which accessing the information would be appropriate. Suggestions for designing programs aimed at bringing about changes in adolescents' assertive behavior that will generalize to their lives beyond the training context are also offered.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1994

Effects of liuwei dihuang wan [symbol: see text:bd and some other TCM drugs on bone biomechanics and serum 25 (OH)D3 content in rats.

After a relatively long-term injection of hydrocortisone into rats, the strength of bone (anti-stress capacity) reduced evidently, while the rigidity (anti-deformity capacity) increased markedly (ie, bone fragility elevated). At the same time, the content of serum 25(OH)D3 decreased remarkably. After oral administration of Liuwei Dihuang Wan ([see symbol: see text]), anti-stress capability of bone increased evidently and its anti-deformity capability returned to normal; however, there was no elevation of serum 25(OH)D3 content. The effect of Longmu Zhuanggu Chongji ([see symbol: see text]) or Jisheng Shenqi Wan (see symbol: see text]) was lower than that of Liuwei Dihuang Wan. The experiments suggests that Liuwei Dihuang Wan is beneficial to preventing and curing osteoporosis, but no correlation between its mechanism and the metabolism of 25(OH)D3 was demonstrated.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Trauma, the good object, and the symbolic: a theoretical integration.

Psychic trauma has returned as a central concept for psychoanalysis after a period of relative eclipse since Ferenczi's pioneering work. Our search for a common clinical understanding of trauma, however, may have been hampered by the lack of a shared definition within the diversity of contemporary theoretical models. In this paper, the threat of destruction or loss of the good object, here redefined as a function of symbolic representation of the human world of cultural meanings and value, is proposed as a common ground for theories as diverse as those of Ferenczi, Freud, Klein, and Lacan. As a corollary, the role of the psychoanalyst in treatment of traumatised patients must be viewed in relation to the symbolic function of the good object. When this function has been damaged, the analyst cannot rely upon the intrinsic features of analytic treatment to provide conditions of safety for therapeutic re-experiencing of the past and for facilitation of a new object experience, but must at times take active measures. It is suggested that Ferenczi may have tried to become the good object for his patients, rather than using the analytic position to help restore the symbolic function. Loewald's clinical theory is presented as consistent with the latter approach.

Humans↗
PubMed1975

[The staff of Aesculapius. Symbol of the art of healing and of the doctor].

The Staff of Aesculapius, the symbol of the art of healing and of the doctor, is one of the oldest and best known of all emblems. It has persisted over thousands of years in spite of numerous changes and revivals and is today the universal sign of medical activity. The manifold origins and the logically incomprehensible content of ideas of the rod with its snake, and also its many levels of interpretation are sketched in this contribution. It is shown how, in the histroy of humanity myths, symbols and folklore, which are fed from different sources, finally condense into an optical symbol of human activity.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Blank comparison analysis of emergent symbolic mapping by young children.

Eight typically developing children first learned to select pictures in response to dictated words in a three-choice matching-to-sample format. Next, the matching-to sample baseline was transformed via a stimulus control shaping procedure: Matching trials displayed two pictures and a third stimulus (termed a "blank" comparison). The blank was to be selected if the dictated sample did not match either of the displayed pictures. The blank comparison baseline was then used to evaluate the children's response to matching displays that presented novel sample and comparison stimuli. The blank comparison method permitted the children to indicate whether the novel sample-comparison pair were related (by selecting the picture) or not related (by selecting the blank). The method was used to evaluate emergent symbolic mapping and learning of new word:picture matching relations by the children. This study illustrates new, potentially more informative methods for analyzing symbol mapping in young children. The methods were shown to have considerable promise for advancing theoretical analyses of emergent mapping in both behavior analytic and developmental language research.

Association Learning↗
PubMed1979

Figural symbolism in Chinese ideographs.

Hebrew-speaking subjects were presented with 42 pairs of Chinese characters designating antonymic concepts and were required to match them with their corresponding Hebrew words. Correct translation was significant and was related to foreign language study and academic experience. Highest success was found for the activity domain of the semantic differential and for attributes judged to afford a diagrammatic representation. Examination of the character-referent relationships suggested that translation success was due to principles of figural symbolism rather than to pictographic representation of the attributes in question. The results are seen as suggestive of the effects of figural symbolization on the invention and/or evolution of natural scripts and are discussed in terms of the manner in which the graphic medium has been fashioned to convey abstract concepts.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Implications for phonetic symbolism: the relationship between pure tones and geometric figures.

In studies of phonetic symbolism, the most commonly cited attribute of speech relevant to the phenomenon has been frequency. The present study was conducted in order to examine the relationship between pure tone frequencies and geometric figures. A pure tone oscillator was constructed which produced tones in a continuous sweep from 4-12,250 Hz. Six geometric shapes were employed and varied along three binary dimensions (size, complexity, and density) producing a total of 48 stimulus figures. Twelve male and twelve female subjects adjusted pure tone frequencies until they "best fit" the visually presented geometric figure in a complete within-subject, block-randomization design of 48 trials. There was consistency in the assignment of pure tone frequencies to the dimensions of the geometric figures. Round figures (circles and ellipses) generally received lower frequency assignments than other figures, and the shape by size interaction was also found to be statistically significant. The results are interpreted in light of recent research in psycholinguistics and in particular to the hypothesis of a "universal phonetic symbolism".

Female↗
PubMed1993

Healing and the invention of metaphor: the effectiveness of symbols revisited.

In this essay, I argue that a theory of meaning adequate to account for the effectiveness of symbolic healing and psychotherapy requires some variant of the three concepts of myth, metaphor and archetype. Myth stands for the overarching narrative structures of the self produced and lent authority by cultural tradition. Archetype stands not for performed ideas or images, but for the bodily-given in meaning. Metaphor occupies an intermediate realm, linking narrative and bodily-given experience through imaginative constructions and enactments that allow movement in sensory-affective quality space. This pluralistic perspective itself constitutes a middle-ground between constructivist and realist approaches to meaning that can integrate causal and interpretive models of symbolic healing.

Fantasy↗
PubMed1981

Precursors of symbol formation and childhood autism.

The salience of various precursory requirements for the formation of symbols is discussed. The conclusion is drawn that several necessary precursors could be assumed, and two experiments are described that were designed to test for the presence of these precursors in autistic children compared to matched retarded children. First, there was a study of the children's ability to imitate and form internal images, and then there was a study of their development of a concept of object permanence and ability to anticipate. These studies led to the conclusion that the autistic children could form internal images but seemed to lack the ability to manipulate them in a purposeful and meaningful manner, as reflected in their inability to show symbolic imitations and their lack of tendency to use elements of their perceptions that might allow prediction of future events. The findings are discussed in terms of cognitive and social development.

Arousal↗
PubMed1980

The social and symbolic quality of autistic children's communication.

The developmental status of the communicatory behavior of 11 autistic children was assessed. Children were observed during free play sessions under two conditions: when teachers were present to direct the children's behavior and when teachers were absent and the children played among themselves. Mean changes in the children's communicatory behavior were measured over time (8 months) using the behavior scale designed for this study. The relationship between the developmental status of the children's communicatory behavior and standardized measures of their social and cognitive functioning (e.g., IQ, Vineland Social Age) was also assessed. The results revealed that the quantity and social quality of autistic children's communicatory behavior were greater in the teachers' presence than in their absence and that the symbolic and social quality of the children's communicatory behavior increased over 8 months. Also, positive correlations were found between social and symbolic levels of communication and standardized tests of social and cognitive functioning. The implications of these findings for the assessment of autistic children are discussed.

Autistic Disorder↗