Self-recognition and abstraction abilities in the common chimpanzee studied with distorting mirrors.

The reactions of chimpanzees to regular mirrors and the results of the standard Gallup mark test have been well documented. In addition to using the mark test to demonstrate self-recognition in a regular mirror, we exposed six female chimpanzees to mirrors that produced distorted or multiplied self-images. Their reactions to their self-images, in terms of mirror-guided self-referenced behaviors, indicated that correct assessment of the source of the mirror image was made by each subject in each of the mirrors. Recognition of a distorted self-image implies an ability for abstraction in the subjects in that the distortion must be rationalized before self-recognition occurs. The implications of these results in terms of illuminating the relative importance of feature and contingency of movement cues to self-recognition are discussed.

Are drawings dead? …and performance over aesthetics?

When the act of 'drawing' became what can only be called formalised, (whose growth can be said to have blossomed during the Renaissance), there developed a separation between the drawing and its procurement. Recently, David Ross Scheer, in his book ‘The Death of Drawing, Architecture in the Age of Simulation’ wrote: ‘…whereas architectural drawings exist to represent construction, architectural simulations exist to anticipate building performance.’ Meanwhile, Paolo Belardi, in his work ‘Why Architects Still Draw’ likens a drawing to an acorn, where he says: ‘It is the paradox of the acorn: a project emerges from a drawing – even from a sketch, rough and inchoate - just as an oak tree emerges from an acorn.’ He tells us that Giorgio Vasari would work late at night ‘seeking to solve the problems of perspective’ and he makes a passionate plea that this reflective process allows the concept to evolve, grow and/or develop. However, without belittling Belardi, the virtual model now needs this self-same treatment where it is nurtured, coaxed and encouraged to be the inchoate blueprint of the resultant oak tree. The model now too can embrace the creative process going through the first phase of preparation, where it focuses on the problem. The manipulation of the available material can then be incubated so that it is reasoned and generates feedback. This paper serves to align this shift in perception, methodologies and assess whether the 2D paper abstraction still has a purpose and role in today’s digital world!

State-of-the-practice retro-reflective measurement devices for pavement markings. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C.

Evaluation of retro reflective measurement devices. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C.

Evaluation of retro reflective measurement devices. Summary report.

Federal Highway Administration, Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C.

Recessed reflective markers feasibility study. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C.

Optimal application and placement of roadside reflective devices for curves on two-lane rural highways. Final report.

Ohio Department of Transportation, Columbus

Snowplowable raised reflective pavement markers at hazardous locations in New Jersey.

Federal Highway Administration, Implementation Division, Washington, D.C.

Reflective characteristics of roadway pavements during wet weather.

"May 1986."

Optimal placement of reflective pavement markers. Final report.

Ohio Department of Transportation, Columbus

Evaluation of snowplowable raised reflective pavement markers in New Jersey. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C.

Health effects evaluation data file : data file design, abstraction, coding, and computerization of the 1977 and 1978 health hazard evaluation and technical assistance reports /

Mode of access: Internet.

Theorem proving with abstraction, part II /

Supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant MCS 77-22830.

The evolution of programs : program abstraction and instantiation /

"NSF-MCS-79-04897."