Electrophysiological investigations of the timing of face processing

As important social stimuli, faces playa critical role in our lives. Much of our interaction with other people depends on our ability to recognize faces accurately. It has been proposed that face processing consists of different stages and interacts with other systems (Bruce & Young, 1986). At a perceptual level, the initial two stages, namely structural encoding and face recognition, are particularly relevant and are the focus of this dissertation. Event-related potentials (ERPs) are averaged EEG signals time-locked to a particular event (such as the presentation of a face). With their excellent temporal resolution, ERPs can provide important timing information about neural processes. Previous research has identified several ERP components that are especially related to face processing, including the N 170, the P2 and the N250. Their nature with respect to the stages of face processing is still unclear, and is examined in Studies 1 and 2. In Study 1, participants made gender decisions on a large set of female faces interspersed with a few male faces. The ERP responses to facial characteristics of the female faces indicated that the N 170 amplitude from each side of the head was affected by information from eye region and by facial layout: the right N 170 was affected by eye color and by face width, while the left N 170 was affected by eye size and by the relation between the sizes of the top and bottom parts of a face. In contrast, the P100 and the N250 components were largely unaffected by facial characteristics. These results thus provided direct evidence for the link between the N 170 and structural encoding of faces. In Study 2, focusing on the face recognition stage, we manipulated face identity strength by morphing individual faces to an "average" face. Participants performed a face identification task. The effect of face identity strength was found on the late P2 and the N250 components: as identity strength decreased from an individual face to the "average" face, the late P2 increased and the N250 decreased. In contrast, the P100, the N170 and the early P2 components were not affected by face identity strength. These results suggest that face recognition occurs after 200 ms, but not earlier. Finally, because faces are often associated with social information, we investigated in Study 3 how group membership might affect ERP responses to faces. After participants learned in- and out-group memberships of the face stimuli based on arbitrarily assigned nationality and university affiliation, we found that the N170 latency differentiated in-group and out-group faces, taking longer to process the latter. In comparison, without group memberships, there was no difference in N170 latency among the faces. This dissertation provides evidence that at a neural level, structural encoding of faces, indexed by the N170, occurs within 200 ms. Face recognition, indexed by the late P2 and the N250, occurs shortly afterwards between 200 and 300 ms. Social cognitive factors can also influence face processing. The effect is already evident as early as 130-200 ms at the structural encoding stage.

Automatic Preparation of ETD Material from the Internet Archive for the DSpace Repository Platform

A big challenge associated with getting an institutional repository off the ground is getting content into it. This article will look at how to use digitization services at the Internet Archive alongside software utilities that the author developed to automate the harvesting of scanned dissertations and associated Dublin Core XML files to create an ETD Portal using the DSpace platform. The end result is a metadata-rich, full-text collection of theses that can be constructed for little out of pocket cost.

Armory and Lineages of Canada 1914

A book called "Armory and Lineages Of Canada 1914" with the copyright year 1913. The book is signed by H.K. Woodruff and it is also signed by Margaret Woodruff Band. Within the back pages is a list of dates of births, weddings and deaths. The full text is available in the Brock University Special Collections and Archives. There are other full text copies of later editions available in the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28armory%20and%20lineages%20of%20canada%29

Creativity and the working artist/teacher : the relationships

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the relationships between creativity and the working artist/teacher employed by an art college. The topic emerged from my job as an instructor at The Ontario College of Art which was used as the primary data resource and provided the highest caliber of professionals to chose from. Existent data were used to facilitate the study generated by the research of Cawelti, Rappaport, and Wood (1992). The data were generated by a group of 5 faculty members from The University of Northern Iowa, recognized for their expertise in the arts (a painter, a poet, a sculptor, a novelist, and a photographer). They were asked to respond to the following statement: "In as much detail as you like, list the things that you did, thought, or felt the last time you created an artistic product. II Cawelti, Rappaport, and Wood (1992) produced three models of the creative process, each building on the previous, with the resultant third,being in my opinion, an excellent illustration (text/visual) of the creative process. Model three (Appendix D) presented a "multi-dimensional view of the creative process: time, space, observatility, and consciousnessll (p. 90). Model three utilized a visual mapping device along the bottom of the page linked to text segments above. Both the visual and the text were interrelated so that they harmonized into a comprehensive "picture." The parti'cipants of this qualitative study were asked to consider model three from their professional perspective as artist/teachers. The interpretive sciences directed the methodology. The hermeneutic circle of continuous reflection from the whole to the part and back to the whole was an important aspect of the data analyses. Four members of the Foundation Department at The Ontario College of Art were the key participants. A series of conversational interviews was the primary source of data collection, this was augmented by observation, fie,ldnotes, and follow up telephone interviews. Transcripts of interviews were returned to participants for reflection and the telephone was used to discuss any additional -points raised. Analysis consisted of coding and organizing data according to emerging themes. These themes formed the basis for the narrative stories. The text of the narrative stories were given back to each participant for further comment. Revisions were made until both the researcher and the participants felt that the stories reflected reality. The resultant whole was critiqued from the researcher's perspective. The significance of this study was discussed as it pertains to the working artist/teacher and areas in need of further study are pointed out.

Extending the irrelevant sound effect beyond serial recall

The finding that serial recall perfonnance for visually presented items is impaired by concurrently presented speech or sounds is referred to as the irrelevant sound effect (lSE). The foremost explanation for the effect is based on interference with rehearsal and seriation processes. The present series of experiments demonstrates tha t neither rehearsal nor seriation processes is necessary to observe the ISE. Evidence comes from three experiments that a) allow participants to report to-be-remembered items in any order, b) eliminate rehearsal by engaging participants in a cover task and surprising them with a memory test, and c) show that surprise non-serial recognition is immune to rehearsal-based experimental manipulations that modulate the ISE in more typical serial recall tasks. Together,the results show that models that rely on rehearsal or seriation processes to account for the ISE need to be reconsidered. Results are discussed in tenns of interference with encoding of to-be-remembered material.

Haswell's Engineers' and Mechanics' Pocket-Book

The book is bound in a leather case with a clasp in the front. Inside is printed "S.D. Woodruff, St. Catharines, C.W." in the front of the book and there is a label which says "Band, 74 De Vere Gardens, Toronto 20, Ontario". A full text version of this book is available at the following link: https://archive.org/details/haswellsengineer00hasw

Journal for the Dominion Accountant

Journal for the Dominion Accountant (soft cover). This notebook has the name Thomas Benson written on the front cover. The book is stained. The stains do not affect the text. Some of the pages are missing. [This is from Upper Canada College], 1877-1878.

Notebook entitled Wages

Notebook entitled Wages (soft cover) – The book has mould spots on the pages. This does not affect the text. Names of wage earners include: Julia Park, Nancy McCoy, Nellie McCormick and Alice. Wages were paid by H.K. Woodruff, 1880.