On-line processing of wh-questions in children with G-SLI and typically developing children

Background: The computational grammatical complexity ( CGC) hypothesis claims that children with G(rammatical)-specific language impairment ( SLI) have a domain-specific deficit in the computational system affecting syntactic dependencies involving 'movement'. One type of such syntactic dependencies is filler-gap dependencies. In contrast, the Generalized Slowing Hypothesis claims that SLI children have a domain-general deficit affecting processing speed and capacity. Aims: To test contrasting accounts of SLI we investigate processing of syntactic (filler-gap) dependencies in wh-questions. Methods & Procedures: Fourteen 10; 2 - 17; 2 G-SLI children, 14 age- matched and 17 vocabulary-matched controls were studied using the cross- modal picturepriming paradigm. Outcomes & Results: G-SLI children's processing speed was significantly slower than the age controls, but not younger vocabulary controls. The G- SLI children and vocabulary controls did not differ on memory span. However, the typically developing and G-SLI children showed a qualitatively different processing pattern. The age and vocabulary controls showed priming at the gap, indicating that they process wh-questions through syntactic filler-gap dependencies. In contrast, G-SLI children showed priming only at the verb. Conclusions: The findings indicate that G-SLI children fail to establish reliably a syntactic filler- gap dependency and instead interpret wh-questions via lexical thematic information. These data challenge the Generalized Slowing Hypothesis account, but support the CGC hypothesis, according to which G-SLI children have a particular deficit in the computational system affecting syntactic dependencies involving 'movement'. As effective remediation often depends on aetiological insight, the discovery of the nature of the syntactic deficit, along side a possible compensatory use of semantics to facilitate sentence processing, can be used to direct therapy. However, the therapeutic strategy to be used, and whether such similar strengths and weaknesses within the language system are found in other SLI subgroups are empirical issues that warrant further research.

Impairment in movement skills of children with autistic spectrum disorders

We undertook this study to explore the degree of impairment in movement skills in children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and a wide IQ range. Movement skills were measured using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC) in a large, well defined, population-derived group of children (n=101: 89 males,12 females; mean age 11y 4mo, SD 10mo; range 10y-14y 3mo) with childhood autism and broader ASD and a wide range of IQ scores. Additionally, we tested whether a parent-completed questionnaire, the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ), was useful in identifying children who met criteria for movement impairments after assessment (n=97 with complete M-ABCs and DCDQs). Of the children with ASD, 79% had definite movement impairments on the M-ABC; a further 10% had borderline problems. Children with childhood autism were more impaired than children with broader ASD, and children with an IQ less than 70 were more impaired than those with IQ more than 70. This is consistent with the view that movement impairments may arise from a more severe neurological impairment that also contributes to intellectual disability and more severe autism. Movement impairment was not associated with everyday adaptive behaviour once the effect of IQ was controlled for. The DCDQ performed moderately well as a screen for possible motor difficulties. Movement impairments are common in children with ASD. Systematic assessment of movement abilities should be considered a routine investigation.

Perceived spatial displacement of motion-defined contours in peripheral vision

The perceived displacement of motion-defined contours in peripheral vision was examined in four experiments. In Experiment 1, in line with Ramachandran and Anstis' finding [Ramachandran, V. S., & Anstis, S. M. (1990). Illusory displacement of equiluminous kinetic edges. Perception, 19, 611-616], the border between a field of drifting dots and a static dot pattern was apparently displaced in the same direction as the movement of the dots. When a uniform dark area was substituted for the static dots, a similar displacement was found, but this was smaller and statistically insignificant. In Experiment 2, the border between two fields of dots moving in opposite directions was displaced in the direction of motion of the dots in the more eccentric field, so that the location of a boundary defined by a diverging pattern is perceived as more eccentric, and that defined by a converging as less eccentric. Two explanations for this effect (that the displacement reflects a greater weight given to the more eccentric motion, or that the region containing stronger centripetal motion components expands perceptually into that containing centrifugal motion) were tested in Experiment 3, by varying the velocity of the more eccentric region. The results favoured the explanation based on the expansion of an area in centripetal motion. Experiment 4 showed that the difference in perceived location was unlikely to be due to differences in the discriminability of contours in diverging and converging pattems, and confirmed that this effect is due to a difference between centripetal and centrifugal motion rather than motion components in other directions. Our result provides new evidence for a bias towards centripetal motion in human vision, and suggests that the direction of motion-induced displacement of edges is not always in the direction of an adjacent moving pattern. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Involuntary inhibition of movement initiation alters oculomotor competition resolution

Identifying a stimulus as the target for a goal-directed movement involves inhibiting competing responses. Separable inhibitory interconnections bias local competition to ensure only one stimulus is selected and to alter movement initiation. Behavioural evidence of these inhibitory processes comes from the effects of distracters on oculomotor landing positions and saccade latencies. Here, we investigate the relationship between these two sources of inhibition. Targets were presented with or without close and remote distracters. In separate experiments the possible position and identity of the target and distracters were manipulated. In all cases saccade landing position was found to be less affected by the presence of the close distracter when remote distracters were also present. The involuntary increase in the latency of saccade initiation caused by the presence of the remote distracters alters the state of competitive processes involved in selecting the saccade target thus changing its landing position.

The perception of emotion from body movement in point-light displays of interpersonal dialogue

We examined whether it is possible to identify the emotional content of behaviour from point-light displays where pairs of actors are engaged in interpersonal communication. These actors displayed a series of emotions, which included sadness, anger, joy, disgust, fear, and romantic love. In experiment 1, subjects viewed brief clips of these point-light displays presented the right way up and upside down. In experiment 2, the importance of the interaction between the two figures in the recognition of emotion was examined. Subjects were shown upright versions of (i) the original pairs (dyads), (ii) a single actor (monad), and (iii) a dyad comprising a single actor and his/her mirror image (reflected dyad). In each experiment, the subjects rated the emotional content of the displays by moving a slider along a horizontal scale. All of the emotions received a rating for every clip. In experiment 1, when the displays were upright, the correct emotions were identified in each case except disgust; but, when the displays were inverted, performance was significantly diminished for some ernotions. In experiment 2, the recognition of love and joy was impaired by the absence of the acting partner, and the recognition of sadness, joy, and fear was impaired in the non-veridical (mirror image) displays. These findings both support and extend previous research by showing that biological motion is sufficient for the perception of emotion, although inversion affects performance. Moreover, emotion perception from biological motion can be affected by the veridical or non-veridical social context within the displays.

Towards a unifying framework for pattern transformation in swarm systems

This paper identifies the major challenges in the area of pattern formation. The work is also motivated by the need for development of a single framework to surmount these challenges. A framework based on the control of macroscopic parameters is proposed. The issue of transformation of patterns is specifically considered. A definition for transformation and four special cases, namely elementary and geometrical transformations by repositioning all or some robots in the pattern are provided. Two feasible tools for pattern transformation namely, a macroscopic parameter method and a mathematical tool - Moebius transformation also known as the linear fractional transformation are introduced. The realization of the unifying framework considering planning and communication is reported.

Modeling and simulating a mathematical tool for multi-robot pattern transformation

The work reported in this paper is motivated by the need to investigate general methods for pattern transformation. A formal definition for pattern transformation is provided and four special cases namely, elementary and geometric transformation based on repositioning all and some agents in the pattern are introduced. The need for a mathematical tool and simulations for visualizing the behavior of a transformation method is highlighted. A mathematical method based on the Moebius transformation is proposed. The transformation method involves discretization of events for planning paths of individual robots in a pattern. Simulations on a particle physics simulator are used to validate the feasibility of the proposed method.

Swarm pattern transformation methodologies

The work reported in this paper is motivated by the need for developing swarm pattern transformation methodologies. Two methods, namely a macroscopic method and a mathematical method are investigated for pattern transformation. The first method is based on macroscopic parameters while the second method is based on both microscopic and macroscopic parameters. A formal definition to pattern transformation considering four special cases of transformation is presented. Simulations on a physics simulation engine are used to confirm the feasibility of the proposed transformation methods. A brief comparison between the two methods is also presented.

A swarm pattern transformation method based on macroscopic parameter operations

The work reported in this paper is motivated by biomimetic inspiration - the transformation of patterns. The major issue addressed is the development of feasible methods for transformation based on a macroscopic tool. The general requirement for the feasibility of the transformation method is determined by classifying pattern formation approaches an their characteristics. A formal definition for pattern transformation is provided and four special cases namely, elementary and geometric transformation based on repositioning all and some robotic agents are introduced. A feasible method for transforming patterns geometrically, based on the macroscopic parameter operation of a swarm is considered. The transformation method is applied to a swarm model which lends itself to the transformation technique. Simulation studies are developed to validate the feasibility of the approach, and do indeed confirm the approach.

Efficient FPGA-based regular expression pattern matching

An approach to the automatic generation of efficient Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) circuits for the Regular Expression-based (RegEx) Pattern Matching problems is presented. Using a novel design strategy, as proposed, circuits that are highly area-and-time-efficient can be automatically generated for arbitrary sets of regular expressions. This makes the technique suitable for applications that must handle very large sets of patterns at high speed, such as in the network security and intrusion detection application domains. We have combined several existing techniques to optimise our solution for such domains and proposed the way the whole process of dynamic generation of FPGAs for RegEX pattern matching could be automated efficiently.

Evolving features-algorithms knowledge map to support NIDS data intelligence and learning loop architecting – a generalised approach to NIDS pattern feature space knowledge processing

This paper describes a proposed new approach to the Computer Network Security Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS) application domain knowledge processing focused on a topic map technology-enabled representation of features of the threat pattern space as well as the knowledge of situated efficacy of alternative candidate algorithms for pattern recognition within the NIDS domain. Thus an integrative knowledge representation framework for virtualisation, data intelligence and learning loop architecting in the NIDS domain is described together with specific aspects of its deployment.

Investigating feasible tools for swarm pattern transformation

Abstract-The work reported in this paper is motivated by the need for developing swarm pattern transformation methodologies. Two methods, namely a macroscopic method and a mathematical method are investigated for pattern transformation. The first method is based on macroscopic parameters while the second method is based on both microscopic and macroscopic parameters. A formal definition to pattern transformation considering four special cases of transformation is presented. Simulations on a physics simulation engine are used to confirm the feasibility of the proposed transformation methods. A brief comparison between the two methods is also presented.