Byrne & Russon suggest that there are two kinds of imitation learning – action level and program level – and that the latter is critical for great apes' learning. I have interpreted this phenomenon from the standpoint of clinical neuropsychology and conjecture that action-level imitation might be related to parietal lobe function and program-level imitation might be related to frontal lobe function.

Online experimental methods are used in psychological studies investigating the perceptions and impressions of facial photographs, even without substantial evidence supporting their reliability and validity. Although, the quality of visual stimuli is more difficult to control remotely, the methods might allow us to obtain a large amount of data. Then the statistical analysis of a larger volume of data may reduce errors and suggest significant difference in the stimuli. Therefore, we analyzed the reliability and validity of online surveys in investigating (...) the perceptions and impressions of facial photographs created from averaged faces with skin tones modified using computer graphics. In this study, we conducted online and laboratory experiments with well-controlled conditions. For each experiment, 50 participants completed the same questionnaire regarding their impressions of the same 28 CG facial photographs. The results showed significant correlations between the two experiments for all 19 items in the questionnaire. SD in the Online1 compared to the Control from the stimuli and individual differences were 56–84 and 88–104% in each questionnaire items, respectively. Moreover, the rates of mismatching perceptual evaluations to the corresponding physical features demonstrated in the photographs were 4.9–9.7% on average in an additional online survey of another 2,000 participants. These results suggest that online surveys can be applied to experiments to investigate impressions from CG facial photographs instead of general laboratory experiment by obtaining an appropriate number of participants to offset larger statistical errors that may result from the increased noise in the data from conducting the experiment online. (shrink)

There is general agreement today that traditional approaches to immigration admissions in the major receiving countries of the West have serious shortcomings either in concept or implementation, or at times in both. These essays, all written by leading immigration experts, consider the philosophical and moral constraints on immigration law and policy, the basic elements of a comprehensive migration policy, and specific policy areas, including family reunification and asylum. Taken together, these perspectives represent a fresh, comparative look at some of the (...) most urgent issues in this pivotal area of law and policy. (shrink)