Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “SYMBOLISM”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Tangential symbols: using visual symbolization to teach pharmacological principles of drug addiction to international audiences.

Visual art was used to teach the biopsychiatric model of addiction to audiences in the Caribbean, Europe and Mideast. Art slides were tangentially linked to slides of pharmacological data. Stylistically dense art was processed by the intuitive right brain while spare notational pharmacological data was processed by the intellectual (rationalistic) left brain. Simultaneous presentation of these data enhanced attention and retention. This teaching paradigm was based on the nonliterate methods developed by Medieval architects and refined by Italian Renaissance philosopher, Marsilio Ficino.

Art↗
PubMed2006

Competition affects gene flow from oilseed rape (female symbol) to Brassica rapa (male symbol).

Unlike most studies on hybridisation between oilseed rape and Brassica rapa, this study focused on hybridisation with oilseed rape as the maternal parent. This is a key cross because, assuming that plastids are inherited maternally, F(1)-hybrid production with maternal oilseed rape (B. napus) is the only transgene escape route from transplastomic oilseed rape. We investigated such F(1)-hybrid production in winter oilseed rape co-cultivated with weedy B. rapa at three plant densities each with two proportions of the different species. The paternity of the progeny produced on oilseed rape was assessed, and several fitness parameters were determined in oilseed rape mother plants in order to correlate hybridisation and plant competition. At higher density, the vegetative fitness per mother plant decreased significantly, but the density only affected the frequency of F(1)-hybrids significantly (a decrease) in the treatment with equal proportions of each species. As to the proportions, at higher B. napus frequencies, there were fewer F(1)-hybrids per mother plant and a significant increase in most biomass components. Thus, B. rapa was the stronger competitor in its effect on both the vegetative and reproductive fitness in B. napus, and the hybridisation frequency. In conclusion, the relative frequency of the two species was a more influential parameter than the density. Hybridisation with B. napus as the female will be most likely at current field densities of B. napus and when B. rapa is an abundant weed.

Biomass↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Symbolic functioning and language development in children with Down syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the relationship between preverbal skills and language development has important implications for identifying communication delay/disorders and for early childhood intervention. In the case of children with Down syndrome, it is well established that symbolic play is associated with the emergence of language. However, the exact nature of this relationship remains unclear, as many previous studies have addressed functional play and not actual symbolic play, which is felt to have stronger links to language development. The design of studies has also meant that adults may have inadvertently modelled the targeted behaviours, in which case it is unclear whether the children truly comprehend the symbolic acts that they produce. AIMS: This study set out to investigate further symbolic functioning and language in children with Down syndrome by exploring truly symbolic play as opposed to functional play, as well as the understanding of a graded set of novel symbols. The aim was to find out whether the symbolic behaviours would be associated with each other and with language development or non-verbal cognition. It was hypothesized that symbolic functioning on a test of symbolic play and symbolic comprehension would be significantly correlated with each other and with language abilities as they all measure underlying skills in symbolic representation. It was hypothesized that symbolic skills and language would be less closely correlated with non-verbal abilities. Another goal was to study understanding of three types of symbols: gestures, miniatures and abstract symbols. It was hypothesized that gestures would be significantly easier to understand than miniatures or abstract symbols. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Twenty-one children with Down syndrome aged between 32 and 95 months were assessed on the Test of Pretend Play and a novel symbolic comprehension task as well as on standardized language and non-verbal tests. Correlational analysis was carried out to determine the relationship between the various tests, and the children were divided into three age categories to examine how the relationship changed with development. Analysis was also carried out on the children's performance across the gesture, miniature and symbolic subtests of the symbolic comprehension task. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: When effects of chronological age were partialled out, symbolic play and symbolic comprehension were significantly correlated with each other and with expressive and receptive language, but not with non-verbal ability. The association between language and symbolic functioning was significantly stronger in the younger children, but these measures started to dissociate with increasing age and language development. The data support the proposition that language becomes more domain specific as a result of experience and development. The results from the symbolic comprehension experiment revealed that the children found gestures significantly easier to understand than miniatures or substitute objects used as abstract symbols to represent other objects. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that tests of symbolic functioning offer valuable contributions to assessment with implications for intervention in children with Down syndrome and to the understanding of disorders of language and communication.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2006

Exploratory evaluation of several teratogen warning symbols.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has noted potential inadequacies in the warning labels and symbols used with some teratogenic medications. A clear teratogen warning symbol represents an important component of risk mitigation for accidental teratogen exposure. METHODS: Several teratogen warning symbols were developed through rapid prototyping and focus groups. A nationally distributed field trial (n = 300) examined the relative effectiveness of 6 candidate symbols, including the symbol in use at the time of the study. Measures included open-ended interpretation, closed-ended preference, and demographic surveys. Each participant was shown a single symbol and asked what it meant, to whom it applied, and what that person should do. Text statements were added to the symbol and participants were asked to reinterpret the warning. Participants were told the intended message of the warning, shown all 6 symbols, and asked to choose the most effective symbol. RESULTS: Four of 6 symbols achieved levels of correct interpretation close to or exceeding the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) benchmark of 85% and none exceeded the ANSI limit of 5% critical confusion. Symbols elicited varying conceptual responses. Respondents considered 1 symbol to be the most effective, by a 4 to 1 margin. Several outcomes varied by age and by ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS: Several symbols emerged as viable alternatives to the current symbol; however, no 1 symbol was clearly found to be the most effective. Instead, the symbol considered "best" depends on the messages that are considered most essential to the warning. Additionally, it appears a symbol without the addition of text can convey most, but possibly not all, of the meaning required of the warning label. Next steps should include further symbol refinement, closer examination of text additions to symbols, and validation of the candidate symbols and warnings through a large-scale field trial.

Drug Labeling↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Early understanding and production of graphic symbols.

Young children's ability to understand and produce graphic symbols within an environment of social communication was investigated in two experiments. Children aged 2, 3, and 4 years produced graphic symbols of simple objects on their own, used them in a social communicative game, and responded to experimenter's symbols. In Experiment 1 (N = 48), 2-year-olds did not effectively produce symbols or use the experimenter's symbols in the choice task, whereas 3- and 4-year-olds improved their drawings following the game and performed above chance with the experimenter's symbols. Ability to produce an effective graphic symbol was correlated with success on a task that measured understanding of the experimenter's symbols, supporting the claim that children's ability to produce a graphic symbol rests on the understanding of the symbolic function of pictures. In Experiment 2, 32 children aged 3 and 4 years improved their third set of drawings when they received feedback that their drawings were not effective communications. The results suggest that production and understanding of graphic symbols can be facilitated by the same social factors that improve verbal symbolic abilities, thereby raising the question of domain specificity in symbolic development.

Child Development↗
PubMed1982

A human performance evaluation of graphic symbol-design features.

16 subjects learned each of two tactical display symbol sets (conventional symbols and iconic symbols) in turn and were then shown a series of graphic displays containing various symbol configurations. For each display, the subject was asked questions corresponding to different behavioral processes relating to symbol use (identification, search, comparison, pattern recognition). The results indicated that: (a) conventional symbols yielded faster pattern-recognition performance than iconic symbols, and iconic symbols did not yield faster identification than conventional symbols, and (b) the portrayal of additional feature information (through the use of perimeter density or vector projection coding) slowed processing of the core symbol information in four tasks, but certain symbol-design features created less perceptual interference and had greater correspondence with the portrayal of specific tactical concepts than others. The results were discussed in terms of the complexities involved in the selection of symbol design features for use in graphic tactical displays.

Attention↗
PubMed1991

The relative effectiveness of symbols and words to convey photocopier functions.

Two experiments have been conducted to examine preference patterns of inexperienced users for symbols intended to communicate photocopier functions and the relative effectiveness with which keywords, subject-generated symbols and industry symbols are matched to verbal descriptions of various photocopier operations. First, inexperienced photocopier users were asked to draw a set of symbols that they believed best represented 16 designated copier functions, and subsequently a second set of subjects compared these generated symbols with those currently used by the photocopier industry, and gave their preference. Inexperienced users generally preferred the subject-generated symbols, except for those involving the fairly complex 'sidedness' functions. Secondly, inexperienced users were asked to match keywords, generated symbols and industry symbols to verbal descriptions of the same 16 photocopier functions. Essentially, keywords and generated symbols did not differ in matching accuracy, while both were more accurately matched than industry symbols. However, the complexity of the photocopier function to be conveyed and the familiarity of the user with a given copier operation did produce several exceptions to this overall pattern. The results suggest that careful ergonomics research can produce symbols that are at least as effective as keywords in conveying photocopier functions. The universal nature of such symbols and their possibilities for cross-cultural use are also noted.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Crystallographic point groups of five-dimensional space. 2. Their geometrical symbols.

Our previous paper emphasized a method for obtaining the crystallographic point groups of five-dimensional space, i.e. the subgroups of the crystal family holohedries. Moreover, it recalled the names of the crystal families and the symbols of their holohedries. These results being obtained, this paper gives a geometrical symbol to each of these point groups described as Weigel-Phan-Veysseyre symbols (WPV symbols). In most cases, these symbols make it possible to reconstitute all the elements of the groups. The point symmetry operation symbols, which are the basis of the Hermann-Mauguin symbols (HM symbols) as well as of the WPV symbols, that have been defined from the cyclic groups generated by the five-dimensional point symmetry operations are recalled. The basic principles of the WPV system of crystallographic point-group symbols are explained and a list of 196 symbols of five-dimensional space out of 955 is given. All the information given by the WPV symbol of a point group is detailed and analysed through some examples and the study of the (hexagon oblique)-al crystal family. Finally, the polar point groups of five-dimensional space are specified.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1988

Symbolic cross-modal transfer in two species of chimpanzees.

2 common chimpanzees and 1 pygmy chimpanzee, all of whom were proficient lexigram symbol users, were tested on symbolic cross-modal tasks. Previous cross-modal work with nonhuman primates has been limited to nonsymbolic matching tasks. None of these chimpanzees received any advance training on cross-modal tasks prior to the testing reported here. The common chimpanzees, Sherman and Austin, were tested on visual to haptic, visual-symbolic to haptic, haptic to visual-symbolic, and olfactory to visual-symbolic matching tasks. The pygmy chimpanzee, Kanzi, was tested on auditory-symbolic to pictorial and auditory-symbolic to visual-symbolic matching tasks. All subjects were able to match stimuli across the tested dimensions with no training. These results indicate that chimpanzees who have received symbol training can perform symbolic cross-modal tasks similar to those that are typically used with human subjects. These tasks require not only cross-modal associations but also the transformation of information from symbolic to representational modes.

Animals↗