Perceptual and Motor Skills

The relationships of the perception of depth, slant in depth, and of apparent orientation in depth were examined. Trained Os judged the presence or absence of slant (45° in the sagittal plane) and of its direction concomitantly with judgments of relative depth between luminous standard and comparison rods. It was shown that perception of slant in depth is a special case of depth perception. Failure to perceive slant or the attribution of slant to vertical rods was accompanied by inaccurate judgments of depth, suggesting that the determinants in such non-veridical judgments were non-attendance to cues, guessing, fatigue, etc. The concomitance of veridical judgments of slant and accurate judgments of depth suggested that Os were attending depth cues assiduously. However, accurate judgments of depth were also made when Os detected slant but reported its inclination in the non-veridical direction, i.e., where apparent reversals of orientation in depth (perspective reversals of three-dimensional objects) were possible. This suggests that vis-a-vis depth perception the percept was veridical, but that in interpreting their two-dimensional retinal image, Os reversed the spatial ordering along the depth dimension of the near and far parts of an object. Apparent reversal of orientation in depth seems to be a process distinct from that involved in depth perception.

Previous theorists have conceptualized apparent reversals of direction of rotation either as misperceptions based on misleading perspective cues or as chance events occurring in the absence of valid depth cues. On the basis of three experiments with six stimulus figures observed by five practiced Os, it was concluded that apparent motion reversals are a consequence of an automatic, abrupt apparent reversal of orientation in depth, analogous to a perspective reversal. It was found that these apparent reversals (1) are systematic, non-random events and (2) occur quite readily in the absence of misleading perspective cues or in the presence of valid depth cues.

As counterbalancing the effect of gravity should increase the speed of reaction time (RT), 50 college men completed three discrete RT tests while standing, sitting, and sitting with the weight of the legs supported. Progressive decreases in body weight were accompanied by parallel increases in speed of RT. The RTs of the upper 14% of the group, classified by body weight, did not differ from the lowest 14%. Correlations between body weight and RT within the three RT conditions were not significant.

It has been assumed, on the basis of research carried out more than 50 yr. ago and lacking adequate controls, that the magnitude of the Mueller-Lyer illusion is inversely related to the angle between the oblique lines and directly related to the length of the oblique lines of the figure (up to some maximum length). The present study investigated, under controlled conditions, the relation between the magnitude of the illusion and these two characteristics of the figure. Data confirmed earlier research and indicated no significant interaction between these two variables. Both angle and length of the oblique lines are linearly related to the magnitude of the illusion.

On the basis of new research and the literature a reformulation of the relation between nonverbal cues and judgments of emotion which specifies 4 types of nonverbal cues and 2 types of information about emotion is described.

In three experiments in which Os’ degree of movement during monocular regard was varied, exaggerated body sway produced expected improvement in accuracy of depth judgments. However, small head sways failed to produce improvement in performance. The relatively small influence of minor head movements of unrestrained Os suggests that uncomfortable head restraints impose unnecessary and possibly distracting restrictions on cooperative Os.

To show that a conditioned response could be established in Planaria using massed training trials and this conditioning could be transferred via cannibalism, this experiment utilized 5 training groups, an experimental group with light-shock paired (LSP) and control groups of light-shock not paired, light, shock, and naive (neither light nor shock). All groups were given 225 massed trials and then tested under 25 trials of paired light and shock. These groups were then cannibalized by a second group of Ss and this second group tested under 25 trials of paired light and shock. The data indicated that a classically conditioned response was obtained only in the LSP training group and training was transferred in all groups via cannibalism without significant change.

The number of categories of stimulation requisite to maximal information transmission in a size-judgment task was investigated. Absolute judgments were made of the size of visual stimuli in an otherwise stimulus-free visual field. The stimuli ranged from approximately 1 to 160’ of visual angle. Three experimental phases of presentation were used: (1) pretest familiarization, no knowledge of results; (2) pretest familiarization, knowledge of results after each presentation; and (3) no pretest familiarization, no knowledge of results. Performance level increased throughout Phases 1 and 2. Knowledge of results in Phase 2 gave noticeable increase in performance. Performance level dropped during the third or retention phase, although not below the highest level achieved in the first phase. The data suggest that 9 categories should be employed for maximal information transmission with no feedback, about 11 with feedback.

The purpose of this study was to determine the presence or lack of equivalence of Forms C and D of the Benton Visual Retention Test both as a memory task and as a copying task in a sample of 80 children with low IQs. Contrary to previous findings for a sample of average intelligence, this study showed Forms C and D to be equivalent on all except one scoring dimension.

The effects of chlorpromazine were studied in four rats performing on a two-lever discrimination problem. 5s were trained to press one lever under conditions of a brightly illuminated stimulus light and the second lever when the stimulus light was dimly illuminated. After the accuracy of this discrimination had become consistent from day to day, chlorpromazine was administered in dosages of 0.0, 0.25, 1.0, 2.0, .3.0, or 4.0 mg/kg of body weight. Each S received each dosage on three different occasions in an ascending, mixed, and descending sequence of dosages. The major findings were: (a) Chlorpromazine in dosages ranging from 0.25 to 2.0 mg/kg decreased the accuracy of the discrimination and the rate of correct responding. (b) Over this same range of dosages, rate of incorrect responding increased. (c) Dosages larger than 2.0 mg/ kg had no further depressive effects on rate of correct responding or the accuracy of the performance but decreased to nearly zero the rate of incorrect responding.

A luminous stimulus in the dark may abruptly vanish or fragment, as if it were a fixed image. Current methodology is reviewed with consideration of effects of procedures on eye movements, attention, and point of fixation disappearances caused by insensitivity of the dark adapted fovea. A study is desirable which shows procedural differences like those in current research significantly modify results. Perceptual phenomena other than disappearance are present and may compete with disappearances during stimulus inspection. A procedure is suggested for regularly obtaining disappearances and reducing artifacts. Our interpretation emphasizes the interaction of central and peripheral variables and the concept of the phase sequence.

Theory influences the observations and outcomes of an experiment. The instrument of measurement may have an even more subtle impact on findings by limiting both the measurements made and the responses of the organism to the experimental situation. Experiments relating to activity level and food deprivation illustrate instrumental intervention.

A review of the psychological literature on behavioral reaction to infection is presented in four major sections: Introduction, Developmental consequences of infectious disease, Psychosomatic aspects of infectious disease, and General summary and conclusions. 199 references.

Psychiatric patients received rising scores or random scores on a series of tasks presented in four different sequences, after which their estimated success on a new task, persistence, and MMPI Social Desirability scores were assessed. First-admission patients’ behavior reflected learning about the task situation, whereas Ss with many hospitalizations appeared to interpret interruption on the new task as failure.

The relationship between weak or strong Rorschach human movement responses and attitudes toward space explorations was studied. A group of 104 teachers and school administrators were given first a Space Exploration Scale, which was intended to tap attitudes toward expansive behavior, and then three M responses were elicited on Card III. The M responses were rated independently by three judges as depicting either weak or strong activity. Only those 70 Ss for whom there was unanimous agreement were used for comparison analyses. Although there was some tendency for 5s who produced strong M to be more positive in their space exploration attitudes than Ss who produced weak M, the difference was not statistically significant.

An alphabetical listing of 55 references on motor skills is given.

In Exp. I, Si made and rated decisions about two possible outcomes involving tachistoscopically presented materials. The noise (N) condition consisted of a display of random letters; in the signal (S) condition an English word was centered within the random letters. Receiver-operating characteristic curves based upon the data from two durations (.02 and .03 sec.) were close to those predicted by the theory of signal detection (TSD). Exp. II presented a horizontal line of 6 letters at .01-sec. duration. S was to decide whether a particular letter had (S) or had not (N) been part of the display. Again, S rated his confidence in each decision. Although this proved a more difficult task (as indicated by the value of d’), the ROC curves were again as predicted by TSD.

To compare cognitive behavior, 4 langurs (Presbytis entellus) and 6 rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were run on tests of visual patterns and object discriminations. Langurs were significantly superior to rhesus monkeys in both, which suggests a higher phylogenetic rank for langurs.

This study tested the neurological hypothesis which Dallenbach (1923) proposed to explain the differences in attensity for visual stimuli presented to the right and left of ocular fixation. The result predicted by Dallenbach, of greater attensity on the side opposite the preferred hand, was not obtained. Differences in attensity which were consistently reported by several Os but which were idiosyncratic in direction were explained in terms of attention. This study also determined whether O's perception of relative attensity to the left and right of fixation or other overt characteristics of laterality were correlated with perceptual accuracy to the left and right. Since all Os reproduced the elements of tachistoscopic patterns to the left of fixation more accurately, this study provides additional evidence against the hypothesis of lateral dominance, in terms of a stable ‘structural’ difference, as the determinant of hemifield differences in the perception of visual patterns of multiple elements.

Eight female high school students solved inductive reasoning problems under two different types of experimental conditions, with or without knowledge of results and with positive or negative reinforcement. The data lend support to the hypothesis that incidence of errors is greater under no knowledge of results conditions and that the effect is more noticeable with difficult items than with easy ones. Response time was not affected by the knowledge of results conditions. Difficulties encountered in manipulating negative reinforcement (because Ss made fewer errors than had been anticipated) prohibited testing of the positive/negative reinforcement hypothesis as originally planned.

This listing contains 52 references to research on skills.

The relation of auditory-visual integration and tactual-visual integration to intelligence and reading achievement was studied in a sample of 121 white fourth-grade boys. Results showed that auditory-visual integrative skills were significantly related to intelligence and reading achievement whereas tactual-visual integrative skills were not. The two intersensory tasks were not significantly related to each other. Four types of reading errors were significantly (p = .01) related to auditory-visual integration, but no relationship between tactual-visual integration and reading errors reached significance. Qualitative aspects of performance on the two intersensory tasks were described.

The purpose of the present study was to compare a binocular rivalry (BR) field with a figure reversal (FR) field along 33 rating dimensions. Thirteen (39%) of the scales differentiated BR and FR. In addition, personality measures of rigidity and anxiety were obtained for each S and related to scale performance. While rigidity was found unrelated to attributes assigned to the two visual fields, anxiety correlated significantly with several of the ratings. While the operational rate of reversal measure has consistently emerged as a marker variable for Eysenck's extraversion and Cattell's cortertia (U. I. 22) factors, the attributive rating method appears promising for inferring elevations in tension level.

The present experiment permitted a systematic comparison of the effects of Stage 4 and 1-REM sleep deprivation. One group of Ss was deprived of Stage 4 sleep for 7 nights while another was deprived of 1-REM sleep. Measurements of the EEG during sleep and of personality variables revealed that the two types of deprivation are quite different. Stage 4 deprivation resulted in a sharp increase in Stage 2 sleep on deprivation nights while 1-REM deprivation resulted in an increase in Stage 1 without rapid eye movements. Stage 4 deprivation produced a depressive outlook in 5s while 1-REM deprivation resulted in a state of higher irritability and lability.

The picture-identification technique (PI) requires S to assign statements to unfamiliar facial photographs; PI is scored for variables represented by the statements according to whether the faces are liked or disliked. Some users seem to assume that the technique reveals something about the person's "true" self. Other users have assumed that it indicates something about what S considers desirable. To elucidate the issue, 37 5s (16 female, 21 male) performed three operations on two kinds of statements. The three operations were: PI, self-report (SR), and social desirability ratings (SD). The two kinds of statements were: (1) statements from a standard inventory and (2) statements made by Ss in a class-assigned autobiography but made to look like part of the standard inventory. Results showed that PI reflects both SR and SD. In cases in which SD and SR conflict (i.e., S finds a statement true of himself but not desirable or false of himself and desirable), PI is more likely to indicate SD. In general, 5s tended to endorse desirable items and reject the undesirable; however, 5 was much more likely to endorse an item which he considered undesirable if that item were taken from his own autobiography. Finally, other 5s rated more of the autobiographical items as desirable than their authors did.

This alphabetical listing of references to work on motor skills contains 56 items.

11 experimental 5s and 11 control 5s were given the Rorschach test two times: The control group received standard instructions both times, and the experimental group were given instructions the second time which introduced a set to fake the test. It was found that both repetition of the test and the special instructions each produced significant changes in some scoring categories. When the effects of both repetition and special instructions were examined together, the instructions clearly carried more weight in determining change. This leads to the tentative conclusion that a set to fake the test influences the scores of naive Ss.

On the basis of different implications of the concept, need for approval, for the ratings which make up the assumed-similarity-between-opposites score, two hypotheses were developed. The first posited that the high need-for-approval person would inhibit derogatory ratings of his least-preferred coworker and predicted that these ratings and ratings of the most-preferred coworker would converge with increasing need for approval. The second assumed that high need-for-approval subjects would be attuned to the demands of the test situation and try to discriminate more widely between most- and least-preferred co-workers; it predicted diverging ratings with increases in need for approval. Regression analysis provided tentative support for the second hypothesis.

Cerebral palsied children with perceptual-motor deficits (N = 12) and normal adults (N = 12) were shown a complex display in which one light alternated with four other lights to induce apparent motion. Both groups reported a novel type of motion when the four lights were arranged in the form of a diamond; phi thresholds differed significantly from those for an array in which the four lights suggested no particular form. The children had lower over-all thresholds than the adults but there was no significant groups-by-figures interaction. The results are interpreted as evidence against the notion of generalized perceptual deficit in brain-damaged children.

38 5s viewed tachistoscopically random polygons of 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 16, and 24 sides for 1, .1, and .01 sec. The judged number of sides of polygons with 6, 8, 11, 16, and 24 sides was consistently underestimated. The degree of underestimation increased with increasing stimulus complexity and decreasing exposure time.

The hypothesis that punishment provides a positive reinforcement for the user was tested, by making the opportunity to punish contingent upon staying on target on the pursuit rotor during learning. Groups given the opportunity to "punish" another S's mistakes did not spend more time on target than did control groups; therefore the hypothesis that punishing had acquired secondary reinforcing properties prior to the experiment was not supported. There was some evidence that switching from receiving to administering shock produced an initial performance increment, but this effect was short-lasting. There were no effects of prior shock, or shock administration, upon subsequent performance under normal conditions.

8 reading readiness factors were examined with regard to their importance as perceived by male and female teachers with elementary experience (ELEM), secondary experience (NOELEM) and no experience (NOTEACH). Each of the groups were able to rank the factors with some significant consistency, although within-group variation was large. High ranks by the ELEM group were given to mental age, background of experience, and emotional adjustment, but health, hearing, and school adjustment received low rankings. The NOELEM group ranked vision and background high and health, hearing, and school adjustment low. Emotional adjustment, mental age, and vision were ranked high by the NOTEACH group, while hearing and school adjustment were ranked low.

A serial reaction task was used as the interpolated activity in an experiment testing short-term memory (STM) for word strings after 30 sec. Significant effects of the complexity of each task upon performance of the other were found, viz., retention of five-word stimuli led to poorer performance on an interpolated task than retention of three-word stimuli, and a stimulus-response lag in the reaction task reduced memory scores. However, there was not clear evidence for reciprocity of performance levels from trial to trial within Ss. The recognition that STM experiments employ divided-attention paradigms is potentially important in the interpretation of proactive inhibition effects.

115 items relevant to perception are listed alphabetically for this year.

"Yes"-"No" psychophysical experiments assume that the greater the intensity of the stimulus, the greater the probability of a "Yes" response. On the basis of this assumption (a) the relationships between the method of limits and the method of constant stimuli are derived, (b) a procedure for comparing data obtained by the two methods is recommended, and (c) a procedure for comparing ascending and descending series within the method of limits is given.

Several responses to Necker cubes were shown to be influenced by characteristics of the stimulus. This study used a linear components of variance analysis to examine individual differences with respect to these influences. Two well-delineated independent dimensions of individual differences emerged. It was suggested that one of these may be related to field dependency and another to the adoption by Ss of different strategies in their attempts to increase reversal rates. Four other components of variance involving measures of perspective dominance emerged, suggesting that other dimensions of individual differences exist.

In both experiments reported, groups of 5s whose Mma = 3 yr. or Mma = 5 yr. (similar CAs) were used. In Exp. I, 10 items differing in quantity and/or kind were presented, using a pair comparisons procedure, to 112 male retardates. Their choices were scaled and the highest and lowest items were selected for use in Exp. II. In Exp. II 72 Ss, randomly selected from those in Exp. I, were instructed to traverse a finger maze as rapidly as possible; a third for the most preferred reward (highest item from Exp. I), a third for the least preferred, and a third for no reward. As a group retardates (Exp. I) did consistently indicate differences in magnitude of reward. In Exp. II a significant difference in maze performance was associated with the reward conditions, demonstrating that prediction of performance from knowledge of incentive heirarchies obtained on a group basis is possible with retarded Ss. MA, CA, and length of institutionalization were not related to incentive choices (Exp. I) or performance (Exp. II).

The present investigation examined the effects of display extent and object velocity on the accuracy of target arrival estimation after target disappearance. After viewing a target which moved across a variable length display aperture at one of three target velocities and then disappeared, 5s estimated the time at which the target would reach a fixed destination. Elapsed time between time of target disappearance and S's response was recorded. Each of 15 5s made 90 such judgments. It was found that target velocity was a significant source of variation but that display extent did not reach statistical significance. The interaction between target velocity and display extent was also statistically significant. When time estimates were converted to velocity estimates and the standard deviation of estimate was plotted against mean velocity estimate, a linear function similar to those reported by Brown (1960, 1961) was obtained.

199 university freshmen were given instruction in increasing reading efficiency through one of four methods (e.g., tachistoscopic, controlled reader, controlled pacing, paperback scanning). Data indicated that all four methods produced significant (p = .01) gains in rate, the paperback scanning method being significantly superior to the other methods. No significant change appeared in comprehension level. All but the tachistoscopic method produced gains in flexibility.

In a test of game theory as a descriptive model for behavior, a group of naive Ss played 2 × 2 zero-sum competitive games having small amounts of money as payoffs. The optimal strategies for each game were mixed. 5s were provided with a device which allowed them to choose a probability and play a given alternative with that probability, i.e., the device provided a ready means of choosing and playing a mixed strategy. The data indicate that Ss do not play, or learn to play, the optimal strategy. Furthermore, Ss’ use of the strategy-choosing device indicates that they have little tendency to choose a given alternative with a fixed probability.

When the head is turned to the right or left there is a constant error in judgments of the direction of a sound, an effect similar to the visual A-effect with head tilt.

111 items relevant to perception are listed alphabetically for this year.

Third- and fourth-grade children were administered a series of perceptual-motor tasks, termed the Figure Reproduction Test, and two tests of intellectual ability, the Pintner Test and Stanford Achievement Test. The results confirm the hypothesis that some children display a motoric style while others are represented by a conceptual style. Low positive, and in some cases, significant relationships were obtained between the intellectual ability tests and the perceptual-motor test, but a general appraisal of the data indicates specificity of abilities.

In 2 studies, isolated 5s (N = 59), while undergoing 4 days of dark, quiet sensory deprivation (SD), exhibited superior auditory vigilance compared with that shown by non-deprived controls (N = 76). This finding contrasts with the usual reports of performance decrements attributed to SD. There are indications that performance on such tests may be quite different when measured post-isolation rather than during isolation. Reasons for the apparent differences are discussed, as are the concepts of arousal, stimulus hunger, and dis-tractibility, which appear to be useful in understanding these vigilance results.

41 items concerned with some aspect of motor skills learning or performance are listed alphabetically.

Body-part size estimates of males and females were obtained under conditions of normal room illumination and darkness. In addition, estimates of two body parts were obtained when each part was being actively moved and when it was immobile. The effect of active movement was to reduce underestimation of these sites. The movement-nonmovement condition also interacted with other variables. Other results regarding relative differences among estimates of various body parts and the effects of room illumination and S's sex tended to confirm previous findings.

Reversal indices were extracted from spatial reversal data obtained from 5 mammalian and 9 avian species currently being tested with successive discrimination methodology. While neither Problem I nor its first reversal errors significantly separated avian and mammalian species, the reversal index did, largest index being obtained for birds.

821 undergraduates were asked to participate in either one of 2 fictitious experiments: Exp. A (a pain-tolerance test with others) or B (a pain-tolerance test alone). Ss received 1 of 4 forms each of which described a different prospective affiliate. The 4 descriptions included an affiliate who (a) was undergoing the same treatment (same state or SS), (b) had just completed the same treatment (other state-relevant or OS-REL), (c) knew nothing of the experiment (other state-irrelevant or OS-IRR), and (d) was a physiologist who would give S physiological feedback (information or INFO). Analysis revealed that (a) the SS and INFO conditions produced greater affiliation behavior than either of the 2 OS conditions, (b) affiliation behavior was more prominent among the females of the SS and INFO groups but not among those of the 2 OS groups, and (c) affiliation behavior did not interact with birth order in the pattern usually found in waiting-affiliation.

Overweight, underweight, and normal Ss estimated their body appearance by selecting from a graded series of pictured physiques that one most nearly like their own. As compared to the normal group, overweight and underweight 5s were more inaccurate in judging their body appearance. There was a tendency for both deviant groups to overestimate their body size and shape.

The behaviour of humans in several situations may be largely dependent on their ability to recognize random sequences. This paper reports an experiment on the recognition of bias, in which various strings of binary digits, each varying in degree of bias, were presented to 44 university students. The method used was the method of paired comparisons and the results were subjected to a multiple-comparison test. It was concluded that, in general Ss recognized the differences between the strings.

To investigate the effect of the "filled-unfilled space" illusion on perception of depth, 40 Os estimated the relative distances of comparison and standard targets when there was a rod from O's chin rest to the standard and when the rod was absent. The apparent distance of the standard was greater when the rod was present.

Two tests of immediate memory, the Benton Visual Retention Test and the Digit Span subtest of the WAIS, correlated significantly with a short-term task of memory. It was reasoned that short-term memory such as was measured by the task utilized here is frequently a point of considerable concern in cases of brain pathology. Findings suggest that the Digit Span subtest and the Benton are capable of assessing this type of functioning.

43 Ss ranked 11 pictures for 8 concepts and demonstrated consistent stereotyped perceptions of physiques. Of the 8 concepts tested the same 5 were statistically significant for both males and females and 1 for males only.