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<p>As an object approaches an observer’s eye, tau, defined as the inverse relative expansion rate of the object’s image on the retina (Lee, 1976) approximates time-to-collision (TTC). Many studies have suggested that human observers use TTC information, but evidence for the use of tau remains inconclusive. Here we present two studies that investigated the use of tau in object-motion and observer-motion situations. In Study I, we dissociated several monocular variables that potentially contributed to TTC perception, and found that participants were most sensitive to TTC information when performing a relative TTC estimation task; and less sensitive to non-time variables such as distance-to-collision, speed and object size. Additionally, when we manipulated sources of information to specify conflicting time-of-arrivals, TTC specified by tau was weighted more than TTC derived from distance and speed. Thus, we concluded that even in the presence of monocular depth information, observers strongly utilize tau when estimating TTC.</p> <p>In Study II, observers estimated TTC of a looming target in the presence or absence of background expansion. Results demonstrated that participants overestimated TTC in situations where the surroundings of the target’s contours expanded at a reduced rate. Moreover, simulated self-motion was unnecessary to induce this bias, as results were comparable in situations where this relative expansion was limited to the target’s immediate surroundings. Therefore, we also concluded that a relative tau variable, based on the relative rate of expansion, is utilized whenever expansion beyond the object’s immediate boundaries is less than the target’s absolute rate of expansion.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T00:35:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T12:13:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T14:22:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T14:31:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T14:37:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T19:04:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-30T18:58:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-12-04T14:43:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-12-05T14:11:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Satie Tagara (satie@marilia.unesp.br) on 2017-12-07T17:47:44Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 coelho_bt_me_mar.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-07T17:47:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 coelho_bt_me_mar.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-09-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A hipótese da mente estendida afirma não existir um limite identificável para os processos cognitivos, e que por vezes, eles se estendem para o ambiente. Irei neste trabalho inicialmente detalhar os argumentos que sustentam a hipótese, expondo casos onde o uso recorrente de ferramentas e tecnologias acabam se tornando um extensão do corpo. Detalho a cognição incorporada e situada, programa de pesquisa de teor revisionista que dá base para a hipótese, e questiona diretamente os pressupostos da ciência cognitiva tradicional, nomeadamente, de um agente epistêmico passivo que processa e manipula representações. Em seguida, apresento objeções que foram levantadas contra a hipótese, assim como possíveis respostas a estas objeções. Por fim, apresento uma defesa da hipótese a partir de evidências empíricas presentes na pesquisa em psicologia ecológica. / The extended-mind hypothesis states that there is no identifiable limit for cognitive processes, and that sometimes the mind extend into the environment. In this paper I will first detail the arguments that support the hypothesis, exposing cases where the recurrent use of tools and technologies end up becoming an extension of the body. I detail the embodied and situated cognition research program, who has a revisionist content that provides the basis for the hypothesis, and questions directly the presuppositions of traditional cognitive science, namely, a passive epistemic agent that processes and manipulates representations. Then I present objections that have been raised against the hypothesis, as well as possible answers to these objections. Finally, I present a defense of the hypothesis based on empirical evidence in ecological psychology research.

Behavioural scientists argue that ‘social learning' provides the link between biological phenomena and cultural phenomena because of its role in the ‘cultural transmission' of knowledge among individuals within and across generations. However, leading authors within the social sciences have proposed alternative ways of thinking about social life not founded on the Modern oppositions including nature-culture, biology-culture, body-mind, and individual-society. Similarly, the distinction between a domain of nature and a domain of nurture has also been extensively criticized within biology. Finally, advocates of ‘radical embodied cognitive science' offer an alternative to the representational-computational view of the mind which supports the conventional notion of culture and cultural information. This thesis attempts to integrate developmental systems theory, radical embodied cognitive science, and relational thinking, with the goal to bring the field of social learning closer to these critical theoretical developments. In Chapter 2, I find no justification for the claim that the genome carries information in the sense of specification of biological form. Chapter 3 presents a view of ontogeny as a historical, relational, constructive and contingent process. Chapter 4 uses the notions of environmental information, abilities, affordances, and intentions to make sense of behaviour and learning. In Chapter 5, I argue that the notion of social learning can be understood in terms of relational histories of development rather than in terms of transmission of information. I then report empirical studies investigating behavioural coordination and social learning consistent with this theoretical framework. Chapter 6 presents evidence that dyads in a joint making activity synchronize their attention constrained by their changing situation and that coordination of attention is predictive of implicit and explicit learning. Chapter 7 presents evidence that joint attention does not require gaze following and that attentional coordination is predictive of learning a manual task. Together, these theoretical and empirical studies suggest a new way of thinking about how humans and other animals live and learn socially, one that is consistent with critical theoretical and philosophical developments that are currently neglected in the literature on social learning.

As the corporate world, communities, and individuals become more globalized and demands on natural resources increase, a new emphasis on environmental leadership including a new pragmatic environmental ethos is needed to meet certain basic human needs of future generations. The research problem addressed in this study was the lack of knowledge concerning how environmental cognitive dissonance influences consumption practices related to inefficient resource utilization and ecosystem degradation. The purpose of this study was to provide an understanding of the breadth and depth of environmental cognitive dissonance among visitors to the Kruger National Park in South Africa. The research questions addressed the development, manifestation, and mitigation of environmental cognitive dissonance. This qualitative case study was designed for a purposeful sample of 12 participants visiting the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Data were collected via structured interviews, field observations, and questionnaires, and then were analyzed using a data spiral and cross case analysis. The dominant findings indicated that (a) awareness of personal values, culture, and perceptions of the environment were responsible for basic attitudes regarding the environment and consumption; (b) wasteful habits, excessive consumption, and market influences were juxtaposed with nostalgic/episodic memories and deep thoughts about personal consumptive habits; and (c) an interactive multisensory experience in a pristine and wild environment changed perceptions and values regarding ecosystems and ecosystem preservation. The results of this study could help stewards of natural resources develop a new understanding of consumptive behavior and a new consumer ethos of stewardship and environmental leadership, one that inspires healthy and sustainable ecosystems.

Right now you are reading a sentence. Earlier, you might have been looking at a realistic picture, such as a photograph, or an outline drawing in a set of instructions. If you are a programmer, you work with sentence-like structures, such as code, or a system diagram. These are all graphic representations. To varying degrees, the effectiveness of every graphic representation relies on its ability to convey the designer’s intended meaning and elicit the intended reaction from its audience. However, the design of graphic representations, even in technical domains such as visual programming language design or interactive information visualization, currently relies heavily on general principles based solely on practice, intuition, and informal measures of effectiveness from the applied art and craft of design (as opposed to scientific analysis or theory). There is an increasing demand for a scientific understanding of design and its evaluation from stakeholders (who seek evidence for effectiveness) and designers (who seek to advance their field). Because both the creation of graphic displays and their perception are literally embodied experiences, a model was developed with an embodiment orientation, specifically based on how graphics are perceptually and cognitively processed. In my research, I found that graphic representations are constituted of two properties, pictorial and symbolic information, that emerge through two interrelated aspects of perception. In sighted individuals, for example, every graphic representation makes use of biological capabilities to process visual sensation (i.e., light hitting the retina), which are processed in relation to culturally-learned capabilities (i.e., writing). I observed how graphic representations – such as pictures, diagrams, and sentences – are “naturally selected” (i.e., during different phases of design or problem solving). From these observations, I developed a model that distinguishes and predicts the effectiveness of pictures, diagrams, and sentences, in terms of how object relations and attributes are pictorially or symbolically represented, relative to the functional roles of those representations, contexts, and in some cases, individual perceptual-cognitive differences among perceivers. This model is a step toward a science of graphics that could lead to evaluation techniques for information systems, theories for inclusive design, and ergonomically designed software programming tools.