scholarly journals Functional Fixedness: The Functional Significance of Delayed Attentional Disengagement Based on Attention Sets

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 328-328
Author(s):  
T. Wright ◽  
W. Boot
Keyword(s):  
Functional Significance ◽  
Attentional Disengagement ◽  
Functional Fixedness

Functional significance of preserved color patterns of mollusks from the Gosport Sand (Eocene) of Alabama

1988 ◽  
Vol 62 (01) ◽  
pp. 83-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia H. Kelley ◽  
Charles T. Swann
Keyword(s):  
Functional Morphology ◽  
Functional Significance ◽  
Intraspecific Variability ◽  
Color Pattern ◽  
Color Patterns ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Life Mode ◽  
Molluscan Fauna ◽  
Excellent Preservation ◽  
Architectural Constraints

The excellent preservation of the molluscan fauna from the Gosport Sand (Eocene) at Little Stave Creek, Alabama, has made it possible to describe the preserved color patterns of 15 species. In this study the functional significance of these color patterns is tested in the context of the current adaptationist controversy. The pigment of the color pattern is thought to be a result of metabolic waste disposal. Therefore, the presence of the pigment is functional, although the patterns formed by the pigment may or may not have been adaptive. In this investigation the criteria proposed by Seilacher (1972) for testing the functionality of color patterns were applied to the Gosport fauna and the results compared with life mode as interpreted from knowledge of extant relatives and functional morphology. Using Seilacher's criteria of little ontogenetic and intraspecific variability, the color patterns appear to have been functional. However, the functional morphology studies indicate an infaunal life mode which would preclude functional color patterns. Particular color patterns are instead interpreted to be the result of historical factors, such as multiple adaptive peaks or random fixation of alleles, or of architectural constraints including possibly pleiotropy or allometry. The low variability of color patterns, which was noted within species and genera, suggests that color patterns may also serve a useful taxonomic purpose.

Complex Vesicles, Microtubules, and Cytoplasmic Filaments in the Endothelial Cells of Normal Dog Aorta

1968 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 172-173
Author(s):  
C. N. Sun ◽  
J. J. Ghidoni
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Endothelial Cells ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Functional Significance ◽  
Tubular Structures ◽  
Aldehyde Fixation ◽  
Cytoplasmic Filaments

Endothelial cells in longitudinal and cross sections of aortas from 3 randomly selected “normal” mongrel dogs were studied by electron microscopy. Segments of aorta were distended with cold cacodylate buffered 5% glutaraldehyde for 10 minutes prior to being cut into small, well oriented tissue blocks. After an additional 1-1/2 hour period in glutaraldehyde, the tissue blocks were well rinsed in buffer and post-fixed in OsO4. After dehydration they were embedded in a mixture of Maraglas, D.E.R. 732, and DDSA.Aldehyde fixation preserves the filamentous and tubular structures (300 Å and less) for adequate demonstration and study. The functional significance of filaments and microtubules has been recently discussed by Buckley and Porter; the precise roles of these cytoplasmic components remains problematic. Endothelial cells in canine aortas contained an abundance of both types of structures.

Attentional Bias Among Adolescents Who Stutter: Evidence for a Vigilance–Avoidance Effect

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
pp. 3349-3363
Author(s):  
Naomi H. Rodgers ◽  
Jennifer Y. F. Lau ◽  
Patricia M. Zebrowski
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Cutoff Score ◽  
Attentional Disengagement ◽  
Social Stimuli ◽  
Facial Stimuli ◽  
The Social ◽  
Attentional Engagement ◽  
High Social Anxiety

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine group and individual differences in attentional bias toward and away from socially threatening facial stimuli among adolescents who stutter and age- and sex-matched typically fluent controls. Method Participants included 86 adolescents (43 stuttering, 43 controls) ranging in age from 13 to 19 years. They completed a computerized dot-probe task, which was modified to allow for separate measurement of attentional engagement with and attentional disengagement from facial stimuli (angry, fearful, neutral expressions). Their response time on this task was the dependent variable. Participants also completed the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) and provided a speech sample for analysis of stuttering-like behaviors. Results The adolescents who stutter were more likely to engage quickly with threatening faces than to maintain attention on neutral faces, and they were also more likely to disengage quickly from threatening faces than to maintain attention on those faces. The typically fluent controls did not show any attentional preference for the threatening faces over the neutral faces in either the engagement or disengagement conditions. The two groups demonstrated equivalent levels of social anxiety that were both, on average, very close to the clinical cutoff score for high social anxiety, although degree of social anxiety did not influence performance in either condition. Stuttering severity did not influence performance among the adolescents who stutter. Conclusion This study provides preliminary evidence for a vigilance–avoidance pattern of attentional allocation to threatening social stimuli among adolescents who stutter.

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