Both parapsychologists and skeptics have interests in investigating the nature of belief in the paranormal, albeit with somewhat different objectives in mind. Despite substantial variation across studies in the definition of the scope of paranormal belief, some degree of order can be imposed on the empirical literature by taking due account of the multidimensionality of paranormal belief. In th...

This paper presents a hybrid approach to segment singleor multiple-touching handwritten numeral strings in form document, the core of which is the combined use of foreground, background and recognition analysis. The algorithm first located some feature points on both the foreground and background skeleton images containing connected numeral strings in form document. Possible segmentation paths ...

We review research showing that the meaning of physical actions matters, that meaning can vary, and that the key element of meaning to affect judgments is the perceived validity of the thoughts. This article first describes studies on embodied persuasion for which changing the meaning of a behavior also changes the effect of that behavior on attitudes. Second, this article focuses on the impact...

Ambient mass spectrometry has emerged as a significant tool to facilitate forensic investigation considering its well-known advantages of rapid, direct, nondestructive, high-throughput detection of a broad range of raw samples, as well as its potential capability of miniaturization and automation. New mass spectrometry technologies include more versatile ionization sources, allowing the next ge...

South African secondary students see themselves as a ‘new generation’, the first to come of age in the democratic nation. They are intelligent, politically aware and highly motivated, but very few currently stand a chance of achieving their goals of further education and professional careers (Taylor, Muller, Vinjevold, 2003). If the new South Africa is to realise the possibility of a just socie...

The authors present a new method of writer identification, employing the full power of multiple experiments, which yields a statistically significant result. Each individual binarized and segmented character is represented as a histogram of 512 binary pixel patterns—3 × 3 black and white patches. In the process of comparing two given inscriptions under a “single author” assumption, the algorith...

This paper is concerned with the problem of self-identification in the domain of action. We claim that this problem can arise not just for the self as object, but also for the self as subject in the ascription of agency. We discuss and evaluate some proposals concerning the mechanisms involved in self-identification and in agencyascription, and their possible impairments in pathological cases. ...