This volume integrates theory and experiment to place the study of vision within the context of the action systems which use visual information. This theme is developed by stressing: (a) The importance of situating anyone part of the brain in the context of its interactions with other parts of the brain in subserving animal behavior. The title of this volume emphasizes that visual function is to be be viewed in the context of the integrated functions of the organism. (b) Both the intrinsic interest of frog and toad as animals in which to study the neural mechanisms of visuomotor coordination, and the importance of comparative studies with other organisms so that we may learn from an analysis of both similarities and differences. The present volume thus supplements our studies of frog and toad with papers on salamander, bird and reptile, turtle, rat, gerbil, rabbit, and monkey. (c) Perhaps most distinctively, the interaction between theory and experiment.

This volume integrates theory and experiment to place the study of vision within the context of the action systems which use visual information. This theme is developed by stressing: (a) The importance of situating anyone part of the brain in the context of its interactions with other parts of the brain in subserving animal behavior. The title of this volume emphasizes that visual function is to be be viewed in the context of the integrated functions of the organism. (b) Both the intrinsic interest of frog and toad as animals in which to study the neural mechanisms of visuomotor coordination, and the importance of comparative studies with other organisms so that we may learn from an analysis of both similarities and differences. The present volume thus supplements our studies of frog and toad with papers on salamander, bird and reptile, turtle, rat, gerbil, rabbit, and monkey. (c) Perhaps most distinctively, the interaction between theory and experiment.

This volume is devoted to mathematical models of the cortex. Computational models of individual neurons and ensembles of neurons are increasingly used in research on cortical organization and function. This is, in part, because of the now ubiquitous presence of powerful and affordable computers. The volume begins with a short history of models of cortical neurons and circuitry that introduces the principal modeling styles. An attempt has been made throughout the volume to make it accessible to readers with minimal mathematical backgrounds.

Rapid advances in sensors, computers, and algorithms continue to fuel dramatic improvements in intelligent robots. In addition, robot vehicles are starting to appear in a number of applications. For example, they have been installed in public settings to perform such tasks as delivering items in hospitals and cleaning floors in supermarkets; recently, two small robot vehicles were launched to explore Mars.This book presents the latest advances in the principal fields that contribute to robotics. It contains contributions written by leading experts addressing topics such as Path and Motion Planning, Navigation and Sensing, Vision and Object Recognition, Environment Modeling, and others.

Computation in Neurons and Neural Systems contains the collected papers of the 1993 Conference on Computation and Neural Systems which was held between July 31--August 7, in Washington, DC. These papers represent a cross-section of the state-of-the-art research work in the field of computational neuroscience, and includes coverage of analysis and modeling work as well as results of new biological experimentation.

Neural computation arises from the capacity of nervous tissue to process information and accumulate knowledge in an intelligent manner. Conventional computational machines have encountered enormous difficulties in duplicatingsuch functionalities. This has given rise to the development of Artificial Neural Networks where computation is distributed over a great number of local processing elements with a high degree of connectivityand in which external programming is replaced with supervised and unsupervised learning. The papers presented in this volume are carefully reviewed versions of the talks delivered at the International Workshop on Artificial Neural Networks (IWANN '93) organized by the Universities of Catalonia and the Spanish Open University at Madrid and held at Barcelona, Spain, in June 1993. The 111 papers are organized in seven sections: biological perspectives, mathematical models, learning, self-organizing networks, neural software, hardware implementation, and applications (in five subsections: signal processing and pattern recognition, communications, artificial vision, control and robotics, and other applications).

Until about two decades ago, the study of writing systems and their relationship to literacy acquisition was sparse and generally modeled after studies of English language learners. This situation is now changing. As the worldwide demand for literacy continues to grow, researchers from different countries with different language backgrounds have begun examining the connection between their writing systems and literacy acquisition. This text, which derives from a NATO sponsored conference on orthography and literacy, brings together the research of seventy scholars from across the world--the largest assemblage of such experts to date. Their findings are grouped into three parts, as follows: Part I, Literacy Acquisition in Different Writing Systems, describes the relationship between orthography and literacy in twenty-five orthographic systems. This section serves as a handy reference source for understanding the orthographies of languages as diverse as Arabic, Chinese, English, Icelandic, Kannada, and Kishwahili. Part II, Literacy Acquisition From a Cross-Linguistic Perspective, makes direct comparisons of literacy acquisition in English and other orthographic systems. The overall conclusion that emerges from these eight chapters is that the depth of an orthographic system does influence literacy acquisition primarily by slowing down the acquisition of reading skills. Even so, studies show that dyslexic readers can be found across all orthographic systems whether shallow or deep, which shows that dyslexia also has internal cognitive and biological components. Part III, Literacy Acquisition: Instructional Perspectives, explores literacy acquisition from developmental and instructional perspectives and ends with a look into the future of literacy research. This Handbook is appropriate for scholars, researchers, and graduate students in such diverse fields as cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, literacy education, English as a second language, and communication disorders.

Originally published in 1988, in several respects this book is a tribute to the outstanding career of the late Donald B. Lindsley (1907-2003) who, over a span of more than 55 years, had contributed greatly to the development of research in the fields of neurophysiology, psychophysiology, and experimental psychology. The impetus for the book was a conference held at UCLA to honor Professor Lindsley for his numerous and significant contributions to psychology. The chapters of this book have been written by Professor Lindsley’s colleagues and co-workers, and by former students and postdoctoral fellows. The introductory chapter, written by Lindsley himself, tells of 2000 years of "pondering". The chapter is a discussion of the lengthy history of neurophysiology, psychophysiology, and behaviour. Many of the topics mentioned in this chapter are subsequently presented in the book as reports of ongoing research in the field.

"This book is aimed at researchers and practitioners involved in designing and managing complex multimedia information systems"--Provided by publisher.