Tag: Students

Approved tag

Interdisciplinary research team at York makes breakthrough discovery in vision research

A breakthrough discovery by York University researchers shows that children have difficulty suppressing irrelevant visual details when having to resolve other specific details.

The purpose of the research was to determine if young children can suppress their visual surroundings when attempting to inspect a specific detail in front of them (i.e. to recognize if someone is wearing a hat, do human brains have the innate ability to suppress other details of the person like hair colour) or if this ability develops over time.

Vision Research Image.jpg
The research space used to conduct the study

The study, “Development of spatial suppression surrounding the focus of visual attention,” was published in the Journal of Vision and was conducted by an interdisciplinary research team including Department of Psychology PhD student Audrey Wong-Kee-You and her primary supervisor, Professor Scott A. Adler. Lassonde Professor John Tsotsos, from the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, also collaborated on the research.

A main component of the research involved a study held at the Ontario Science Centre with 400 kids participating, designed and conducted by Wong-Kee-You. She concluded that this quality to suppress irrelevant visual details when having to focus on other specific details only develops by 16 to 18 years of age and is, in fact, not an innate characteristic of the human brain.

The research can be applied in countless ways, such as informing educational practices by enabling educators to better align teaching methods and educational requirements to age-appropriate attentional skills or influencing how environments for children are designed.

In the future we may be better equipped to recognize difficulties in children and determine how to best deal with them to improve their visual function, said researchers.

This is also a revelation for those in the field of machine learning, as the principles of machine learning theory are built on the idea that one need only feed an artificial brain with sufficient data. These results show that the human brain takes years to develop and does so while it learns about its world.

This insight from human visual development suggests that a different approach to machine learning and artificial intelligence is needed if it is to truly behave as humans do.

The interdisciplinary nature of this research is a key part of its success.

“I had spent a good portion of my PhD reading and learning about descriptive models of visual attention, but meeting John [Tsotsos] and working on this project gave me the opportunity to familiarize myself with his computational theory, the selective tuning model of attention,” said Wong-Kee-You. “This gave me a different perspective and allowed me to consider the strengths of theories with an algorithmic mechanism.”

STS Seminar Series explores the psychological contributions to science and technology studies, Sept. 24

Kieran O'Doherty

The second event in this year’s Research Seminar Series in Science & Technology Studies (STS) takes place on Sept. 24 and features guest speaker Kieran O’Doherty, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Guelph.

Now in its 26th year, the series has hosted hundreds experts from across Canada and around the world presenting on a wide range of STS-related topics. The talks are free and open to the public, and STS majors are especially encouraged to attend. Refreshments will be provided.

The Sept. 24 seminar, titled “Psychological Contributions to Science and Technology Studies,” will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in 203 Bethune College (Norman’s).

Kieran O'Doherty
Kieran O’Doherty

Science and technology are central to almost all domains of human activity. As a result, they are the focus of subdisciplines such as the philosophy of science, the philosophy of technology, the sociology of knowledge, and the history of science and technology. Further, multidisciplinary programs such as science and technology studies focus on a systematic investigation of the dynamic relationships between science, technology and human life. Many contributions to STS question mechanistic and universalistic scientific visions and instead argue for a socially and culturally situated conception of the production of scientific knowledge and technological artifacts.

To date, psychology has been marginal in this space, and the contributions that have come from psychology have tended to come from relatively narrow epistemological orientations. O’Doherty argues that it is because of mainstream psychology’s adherence to a vision of itself as a science modelled on the natural sciences – universal, objective, guided by a view of humans as a collection of variables to be measured – that it has failed to engage meaningfully with STS.

To counter this trend, O’Doherty and his colleagues recently collected contributions on the study of science and technology specifically from psychologists working from perspectives that are aligned with STS. The resulting book, Psychological Studies of Science and Technology, was published this year by Palgrave-Macmillan. Contributors’ orientations include theoretical psychology, critical psychology, feminist psychology, queer psychology, history of psychology and qualitative psychology, among others.

In this talk, O’Doherty will reflect on the position of psychology in relation to STS and argue that a pluralistic vision of psychology has much to offer.

Here’s a look at the rest of the Fall 2019 lineup:

Oct. 8: Kean Birch (York University), “Automated Neoliberalism”

Oct. 22: Zbigniew Stachniak (York University), “The IBM Images Archive”

Nov. 5: Kelly Bronson (University of Ottawa), “Data-driven: Agribusiness, Activists and Their Shared Politics of the Future”

Nov. 19: Kate Henne (University of Waterloo), “Grey Matters: Imagining Traumatic Brain Injury Through the Lens of Sex Difference”

Dec. 3: John McLevey (University of Waterloo), “Democracies in Crisis? Online Deception, Disinformation and Political Polarization in Comparative Perspective”

Unless otherwise specified, all seminars in this series will take place on Tuesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in 203 Bethune College (Norman’s).

Further details will appear in YFile prior to each talk, and the lineup for Winter 2019 will be released at a later date. This series is sponsored by York University’s Department of Science & Technology Studies, Faculty of Science, and co-ordinated by members of the department. For more information about the Research Seminar Series in Science & Technology Studies, contact Professor Conor Douglas at cd512@yorku.ca or visit sts.info.yorku.ca/seminar-series.

Do you own your DNA profile? A special lecture at York University considers this thorny question

mylesjackson_by-Annette-Hornischer2 (002)
Myles Jackson

Consider this scenario: Commercial DNA testing kits are easy to use. You spit in a tube, pop it in the mail and in a few short weeks, you learn what countries hold your ancestral roots.

But what are the legal theories of ownership that shape and have been shaped by this genetic information? In the age of these easy-to-access commercial DNA testing kits, these legal theories have become particularly relevant now that private genomics companies are selling datasets containing this genetic information and the companies acquiring this data include drug manufacturers. How secure is this information? Should we be concerned about where and how our genetic information is used? What could go wrong?

mylesjackson_by-Annette-Hornischer2 (002)
Myles Jackson

The Distinguished History of Science Lecture at York University, which takes place Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 3:30 p.m., seeks to consider these questions. Princeton University Professor Myles Jackson will deliver the lecture, and, in his remarks, he will consider the legalities of who exactly owns an individual’s genetic information. Jackson, who is an internationally renowned historian of science, is currently a professor of the history of science at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study. An eminent and authoritative explorer of the intersections between science, technology, aesthetics and society, Jackson’s scholarship interweaves economic, commercial, and scientific insights and his inquires span the depth and breadth of molecular science, physics, intellectual property and privacy issues.

The Distinguished History of Science Lecture will take place in Room 010 Vanier College. It is free and open to the public. All are welcome.

The lecture is made possible through the generous sponsorship provided by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) and the Department of Humanities (LA&PS).

A message from the provost regarding the Climate Day of Action, Sept. 27

Photo by Singkham from Pexels

Photo by Singkham from PexelsThe following is an important message to York University community members from Provost and Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps:

Several outside organizations, including Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have expressed support for a Climate Day of Action on Friday, Sept. 27. We recognize the compelling imperative to mitigate climate change and its harmful effects on people and nature worldwide. Sustainability is a core value of York University, and we are known for advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through a wide range of research, teaching, community engagement and service activities.

Members of the York University community who wish to participate in the Climate Day of Action activities during their normal class or work hours on Sept. 27 will be accommodated where possible and should take note of the following guidelines:

Staff are expected to request a personal or vacation day to be absent from work to participate in Climate Day of Action activities on Sept. 27. Managers are encouraged to accommodate such requests wherever possible, even on short notice.

Faculty who intend to cancel a class on Sept. 27 to participate in Climate Day of Action activities are expected to inform their students and their dean’s office of the cancellation at the earliest possible opportunity. It is essential that the faculty member provide their students and their dean’s office with clear information on how they intend to cover course material scheduled for that day through alternate means (via a makeup class, special readings, online activities or other means). Faculty may wish to incorporate discussion around the climate strike into their syllabi where appropriate; any change to course requirements would require students’ agreement.

Students have been at the forefront of many climate-related protests globally, and we recognize that some York University students will participate in this national event on Sept. 27. Under our governance framework, the University Senate has authority over academic policy matters. I will be bringing a motion to Senate at its meeting scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 26 to declare Sept. 27 a day of academic accommodation for which no student shall receive an academic penalty for not attending classes, and concurrently that course directors provide students an appropriate extension of deadlines that day and reasonable alternative access to materials covered during their absence that does not alter the academic standards associated with the missed activity. Deciding not to attend classes on this day to participate in the external event does not relieve students of the responsibility for mastering materials covered. Students should talk to their instructors in advance of Sept. 27 to confirm alternative arrangements for any assignments due on Sept. 27 or tests scheduled for that day.

Celebrate art, ecology and education at Maloca Community Garden’s Harvest Gathering

In celebration of the work involved in sustaining a rich and inspiring space for teaching and learning about sustainable gardening practices, the York University community is invited to attend a special event at the Maloca Community Garden on Oct. 1.

The garden, run by the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) Maloca Community Garden Club, strives to create an environment for multicultural and intergenerational learning and sharing through agricultural practices. This year marks the garden’s 20th anniversary.

All students, faculty, staff, friends and adjacent communities are invited to the Harvest Gathering at the Maloca Community Garden to participate in garden-based workshops and conversations, and hear a presentation about the Finding Flowers project co-led by FES professors Lisa Myers and Sheila Colla.

Finding Flowers is an interdisciplinary research project that fosters the study of pollinator conservation and mobilizes spaces for the relationships between pollinators, medicine plants, Indigenous plant-food networks and extractivist industries.

Working alongside pre-existing gardens created by Mi’kmaq artist Mike MacDonald in 1995 and 2003, the Finding Flowers project aims to preserve, expand and build new Indigenous gardens at various locations across Canada.

Continuing its ecological, artistic and educational research on native plant-pollinator conservation, Indigenous plant-food networks, and radical forms of care among human and other-than-human species, the Finding Flowers project is planting a new garden, Mike MacDonald’s Butterfly & Medicine Garden, at Maloca throughout 2019 and 2020.

During the Maloca Harvest Gathering on Oct. 1, guests will be invited to participate in the following activities:

  • the Mike MacDonald’s Butterfly & Medicine Garden planting, seeds and herbs harvest and garden infusions with members of the Finding Flowers project;
  • a native plant dye workshop with Lisa Myers;
  • a storytelling gathering with past Maloca collaborators, including Silvia Vazquez Olguin (FES graduate);
  • a garden walk with Jacqueline Dwyer (FES graduate, Black Farmers Collective);
  • a dinner by Pow Wow Café and garden refreshments by the Finding Flowers project; and
  • a Finding Flowers presentation with the project’s principal investigators, Sheila Colla and Lisa Myers.

The free event, scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., offers an opportunity to learn about Maloca’s history and future, as well as the seasonal programming of the garden. RSVP through the Eventbrite page at eventbrite.com/e/maloca-harvest-gathering-tickets-68615016361.

The event is organized by the Finding Flowers project and supported by FES and the New Frontiers in Research Fund.

More about Finding Flowers

“Finding Flowers: A biocultural and interdisciplinary approach to pollinator conservation through ecology, art and pedagogy” is a research project that cultivates Mi’kmaq artist Mike MacDonald’s extensive study of the profound relationships between pollinators, medicine plants, Indigenous plant-food networks and extractivist industries. Finding Flowers mobilizes spaces for cross-pollination between environmental matters, Indigenous artistic practice and biocultural research on native plants and pollinators. This is done by: working alongside Indigenous gardens; curating exhibitions of Indigenous artists responding to elements and concepts from Mike MacDonald’s gardens; developing socially engaged arts, ecology, sustainability and citizen science programming; undertaking ecological experiments to better understand plant-pollinator interactions; and expanding interdisciplinary academic research on these topics.

Attend a panel discussion on ethical considerations of child-centred studies

Child in classroom
Child in classroom

A special panel on Sept. 23, titled “Recruitment and Reciprocity in Child-Centred Research,” will explore a variety of unique research projects focusing on children and youth.

Organized by Assistant Professor Abigail Shabtay and Assistant Professor Anu Sriskandarajah of the Children, Childhood & Youth (CCY) program (Department of Humanities, York University), the panel includes six professors who will discuss some of the key practical and ethical considerations involved in the recruitment processes for child-centred studies.

It takes place at 10:30 a.m. in the Renaissance Room, 001 Vanier College.

Participating in the panel are: Srikandarajah and Abigail Shabtay; Rachel Berman (School of Early Childhood Studies, Ryerson University); Natalie Coulter (Department of Communication Studies, York University); and Gail Prasad and Lucy Angus (Faculty of Education, York University).

The CCY program has a strong focus on research with children and young people – research that engages children and youth as active participants in the knowledge construction process. A cornerstone of the program is a fourth-year honours research project in which majors conduct their own research projects with child and youth participants. This panel will give students in the York community a better understanding of the practical and ethical considerations involved in this process.

“Conducting research with children and youth is fraught with unique ethical issues,” said Sriskandarajah. “To address some of the key concerns that accompany such research, we have put together this amazing panel to allow students to understand key ethical implications in practice. We aim, through this discussion, to illustrate the importance of reciprocity within the research process whereby reciprocity should be seen as a guiding principle from the onset of the project – from design, to recruitment, to the dissemination of the research.”

Undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to attend, as well as researchers interested in conducting research with children and youth.

“Numerous undergraduate and graduate students across the University begin designing their child-focused research projects this September,” said Shabtay. “With this panel, we hope to provide students with the tools and resources to engage in ethical approaches to research with children, seeing children as active participants in the research process, and giving students practical tools to help with their research project design.”

Take a sneak peek through York University’s new telescope before it opens to the public

Would you like to view celestial objects through the Faculty of Science’s new one-metre telescope? The Allan I. Carswell Observatory is inviting faculty and staff at the University and their families to attend a sneak peek on Thursday, Sept. 26, starting at 7:30 p.m. (registration opens at 7 p.m.).

Installation of the telescope

The largest telescope on a university campus anywhere in Canada was installed on Aug. 16 at the Allan I. Carswell Observatory at York University.

“This state-of-the-art, one-metre reflecting telescope will offer students unprecedented opportunities to explore and understand the night sky for their classes and research,” said physics and astronomy Professor Paul Delaney, observatory director.

“For the public, unrivalled views of the night sky will be available every Wednesday evening starting Oct. 2 during the observatory’s regular public viewing sessions.”

Tickets are free, but limited to four per person to ensure maximum enjoyment and minimum wait times for the telescope eyepiece. Twenty visitors will be invited to enter the one-metre dome every 30 minutes starting at 7 p.m. Observatory team members will be on hand to describe what visitors are viewing as well as the characteristics of the telescope.

Faculty and staff should meet in Room 317 of the Petrie Science & Engineering Building about 30 minutes before their scheduled time.

Refreshments will be available.

Organizers request that you book your tickets by Monday, Sept. 23 using the Eventbrite links below.

Remember to dress for the weather. The observatory domes are unheated and uncooled, so whatever the temperature is outside is what it will be in the dome while you are viewing.

Eventbrite ticket links:

Aerial view of the telescope being installed

Weekend wrap: Field hockey Lions roll past Gryphons and Martlets to go 3-0

Lions logo
York U Lions

The York University Lions field hockey team secured back-to-back wins against the University of Guelph and McGill University on Sunday afternoon, winning 3-0 and 10-0, respectively, at Queen’s University.

The two wins give the Lions a second place standing in the league, trailing only the University of Toronto by three points.

York’s first game against Guelph was a must-win matchup, as the Gryphons were aiming for a top-two spot in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA). Fortunately for the Lions, they were triumphant over their opponents. More details on the York Lions website.

No. 4 nationally ranked men’s soccer Lions drop Mustangs 4-0 at home

The No. 4 nationally ranked York University Lions men’s soccer team defeated Western University 4-0 on Friday night at Alumni Field.

The Lions’ leading scorer, Lucas Puntillo, got his team rolling early as he volleyed a shot off a headed pass from striker Christopher Jacovou, smashing it past the Mustangs’ fifth-year keeper, Kody Thomson. His goal would put the Lions up 1-0 heading into halftime. More details.

On Sunday night, the men’s soccer team handed Brock University its first defeat of the season, winning 3-0 at Alumni Field.

It took only 16 minutes for the Lions to get on the scoreboard. Third-year forward Merci Yuma found the back of the net for the third time this season.

Four minutes later, former U SPORTS all-Canadian Cristian Cavallini got his first goal in his first start for the Lions. Cavallini placed his shot in the bottom right corner of the net in the 20th minute, putting the Lions up 2-0. More details.

Rugby Lions keep win streak alive with third win in a row

The York University Lions women’s rugby team defeated the University of Waterloo 39-5 at CIF Field in Waterloo, Ont., on Sunday afternoon.

Tries for the Lions came from prop Bernice Ediagbonya and rookies Esther Sivalingam and Erin Preston, while Faith Williams and veteran Michela Stratton accounted for two tries each. Full-back Chanelle Lindegaard scored the two-point conversion. More details.

Women’s soccer Lions hold No. 8 nationally ranked Mustangs to draw at home

The York University Lions women’s soccer team held the No. 8 nationally ranked Western University scoreless to a 0-0 tie on Friday night at Alumni Field.

The best opportunity in the game came in the 74th minute when rookie left back Jocelyn Gagliardi’s cross found fourth-year forward Kiyani Johnson onside and one-on-one with Mustang keeper Angelica Galluzzo.

Johnson faked her shot right and dribbled left, but Galluzzo was able to sprawl out to deflect the ball away for the crucial save. More details.

Two days later, the women’s soccer team played Brock University to a 0-0 tie on Sunday night at Alumni Field.

Contrary to the final score, the Lions stuffed the stat sheet in multiple columns. Controlling the play from start to finish, York dominated from corner kicks 8-1. During play, York outshot Brock 15-5, with eight shots on net. More details.

Defence stands tall, but No. 5 nationally ranked Marauders come back for win over football Lions 

It was a defensive battle all afternoon on Saturday at Alumni Field as the York University Lions football team was defeated by a score of 27-9 by the No. 5 nationally ranked McMaster University.

The Lions led the Marauders 13-9 heading into the final quarter, but the frame started with the visitors on the goal line and running back Jordan Lyons punched it in from there to take a lead they would not relinquish. More details.

YCAR announces 2019 Undergraduate Essay Award winners

The York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR) is pleased to announce its 2019 Undergraduate Essay Award winners: Safa Warsi and Harkit Bhandal.

Safa Warsi is a fourth-year psychology major who has spent time as a research assistant in various psychology labs at York. She is interested in culture and religion, particularly the context of the experiences of minorities in North America. She received the award in the Asian Diaspora category. Professor Richard Lalonde nominated her PSYC 3890 paper, “Views on the Model Minority Stereotype in a South Asian Canadian Context,” for this award. The paper considers the model minority stereotype (MMS), which depicts Asians having certain seemingly positive attributes (e.g. competence and achievement), whilst also having seemingly negative traits (e.g. unsociability and emotional reservation). Research to date on this subject has largely focused on East Asian American samples, while Warsi’s study explores whether MMS exists in South Asian Canadian populations.

Harkit Bhandal’s love for coffee fuels what she enjoys doing most – researching, reading and writing about South Asian diasporic identities. Meghna George, Bhandal’s teaching assistant for AP/ANTH 1120, nominated her paper in the award’s Asia category. “Understandings of Military Power, Intoxication and Love in Kashmir, India” focuses on how clinicians’ and patients’ understandings of substance abuse and addiction at a drug rehabilitation clinic known as the DDC reflect an extension of and resistance to military power in the Kashmir Valley.

A fourth-year undergraduate student, Bhandal focuses the majority of her written and advocacy work on how institutions have produced a negative image of second-generation Punjabi Canadian males. She writes about how second-generation Punjabi Canadian males contest and negotiate their gender performance dependent on the institution in which they interact. Beyond her academic work, Bhandal volunteers at her local women’s shelter. She loves to journal and purchase journals she doesn’t need.

Both papers will be published later this year in New Voices on Asia, a special occasional paper series at YCAR.

Papers for the 2019-20 academic year can be submitted at any time and will be accepted until April 30, 2020.

For more information on the Undergraduate Essay Awards, visit ycar.apps01.yorku.ca/research-fellowships-awards/undergraduate-asia-and-asian-diaspora-essay-awards.

UIT launches a new service called MyApps

Woman typing on a keyboard

As part of a continued commitment by University Information Technology (UIT) to enriching the community’s experience, a new service called MyApps will make its debut Sept. 16.

The MyApps service will replace the current WebFAS service, and it offers a more modern and convenient solution for delivering software to students, faculty and staff. MyApps  enables University community members to launch software such as Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Acrobat and IBM’s SPSS from any browser either on campus or at home.

Over the past months, UIT staff have been testing and piloting MyApps with much success. Now that the pilot phase is complete, UIT is ready to bring MyApps to the York community. Everyone is encouraged to begin using the new service starting Sept. 16. Access to WebFAS will be continued until Dec. 20, after which it will no longer be available.

Here is a list of what to expect from MyApps:

  • A modern interface:  MyApps provides a modern, one-stop University portal to access software.
  • Better performance:  Applications will run as seamlessly as if they were locally installed on your computer.
  • Consistent user experience:  All applications behave the same, whether launched from a Mac or PC.
  • Seamless authentication:  When using a Windows machine, if you have already authenticated with your Passport York credentials, you will not be prompted to log in to MyApps.

To learn more about MyApps, visit https://staff.computing.yorku.ca/support-services/myapps.

Questions or comments should be sent by email to askit@yorku.ca or by calling 416-736-5800.