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Skilled readers are typically most accurate at identifying words when fixating them slightly left of the central character, the so-called optimal viewing position. There are two main explanations for this effect, which are not mutually exclusive. The first claims that the optimal viewing position lies left-of-center due to the particular constraints of the human perceptual system. The second explains the effect in terms of the beginnings of words generally being more informative about word identity. The complexities of natural languages make it difficult to tease apart the relative contribution of each explanation. We explore this issue through the lens of a Bayesian cognitive model and two experiments using artificial lexicons in which we can carefully control how information is distributed across wordforms. Our results replicate previous findings and further suggest that readers may use implicit knowledge about information distribution to minimize uncertainty when targeting words.

This study examined the migratory patterns of introduced rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in three rivers in Prince Edward Island, Canada, using acoustic telemetry and otolith microchemistry. Only 6% of acoustically tagged fish in three river systems left coastal embayments. A cohort of rainbow trout in all three rivers entered saline waters. Habitat use differed among migrants in the three rivers, as Montague River fish occupied estuary habitat (mean 20.79 PSU) more often than West River and Dunk River fish that tended to occupy both riverine tidal (mean 1.27 and 4.29 PSU, respectively) and freshwater habitats ( L'etude se penche sur les habitudes migratoires de truites arc-en-ciel (Oncorhynchus mykiss) introduites dans trois rivieres de llle-du-Prmce-Edouard (Canada) en utilisant la telemetrie acoustique et la microchimie des otolites. Seuls 6 % des poissons dotes d'etiquettes acoustiques dans les trois reseaux hydrographiques ont quitte les echancrures cotieres. Une cohorte de truites arc-en-ciel dans chacune des trois rivieres est entree en eaux salees. L'utilisation de l'habitat variait entre les migrants des trois rivieres, les poissons de la riviere Montague occupant un habitat estuarien (20,79 USP en moyenne) plus souvent que les poissons des rivieres West et Dunk, qui avaient tendance a occuper des habitats fluviaux tidaux (1,27 et 4,29 USP en moyenne, respectivement) et d'eau douce (, Introduction Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) have been introduced to over 90 countries (MacCrimmon 1971; Crawford and Muir 2008), as the species is a valued recreational angling target. However, their impacts [...]

Language maps signals onto meanings through the use of two distinct types of structure. First, the space of meanings is discretized into categories that are shared by all users of the language. Second, the signals employed by the language are compositional: The meaning of the whole is a function of its parts and the way in which those parts are combined. In three iterated learning experiments using a vast, continuous, open-ended meaning space, we explore the conditions under which both structured categories and structured signals emerge ex nihilo. While previous experiments have been limited to either categorical structure in meanings or compositional structure in signals, these experiments demonstrate that when the meaning space lacks clear preexisting boundaries, more subtle morphological structure that lacks straightforward compositionality--as found in natural languages--may evolve as a solution to joint pressures from learning and communication.

Language maps signals onto meanings through the use of two distinct types of structure. First, the space of meanings is discretized into categories that are shared by all users of the language. Second, the signals employed by the language are compositional: The meaning of the whole is a function of its parts and the way in which those parts are combined. In three iterated learning experiments using a vast, continuous, open-ended meaning space, we explore the conditions under which both structured categories and structured signals emerge ex nihilo. While previous experiments have been limited to either categorical structure in meanings or compositional structure in signals, these experiments demonstrate that when the meaning space lacks clear preexisting boundaries, more subtle morphological structure that lacks straightforward compositionality-as found in natural languages-may evolve as a solution to joint pressures from learning and communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]