Absence of depth processing in the large-frame rod-and-frame effect

Attenuation of the rod-and-frame effect (RFE) with depth separation (Gogel & Newton, 1975) was investigated with the rod and frame in either intersecting or parallel depth planes (PDP). In the former case, in which either the top of the rod or the frame was inclined 45 deg away from the observer, no attenuation was found for frames projecting a retinal angle of 39.2 or 13.5 deg. In the PDP paradigm, the rod was optically 60 cm nearer the observer than was the frame. The depth adjacency effect of Gogel and Newton was replicated, but only for small retinal angles (7.2 and 6.8 deg) of the frame and for a 15-deg frame tilt, but not for larger retinal angles (39.2 and 12.7 deg) or for frames tilted at 22 deg. The absence of attenuation with depth separation in large frames and its presence in small frames is consistent with the identification of these phenomena with properties of the ambient and focal visual systems, respectively (Leibowitz & Post, 1982).     

The role of sensory factors in cognitive aging research.

Performance on complex, cognitive tasks often is sensitive to low-level sensory and perceptual factors. These relations are particularly important for cognitive aging researchers because aging is associated with a variety of changes in sensory and perceptual function. In the article that follows, I first selectively outline some relations between task performance and sensory function. Next, I summarize age-related changes in visual function and the implications of these changes for task performance, using the digit-symbol subtest of the WAIS as an example. I offer some reasons why age-related sensory decline may not be important to all cognitive tasks. Finally, I provide several recommendations for cognitive gerontologists who want to minimize the risk that the age differences they observe are sensory in nature.     

The role of frame size on vertical and horizontal observers in the rod-and-frame illusion.

The rod-and-frame illusion was used to examine a proposed distinction between the mechanism responsible for frame effects on rod-adjustment errors with large displays and the mechanism responsible for errors with small displays. It was suggested that visual-vestibular mechanisms are involved only when the rod is surrounded by a large tilted frame. Errors in the perceived vertical with small frame would instead be due to purely visual mechanisms. To examine this dual process model, we compared errors at small and large frame when the body was vertical or horizontal. There is evidence to suggest that tilting the body affects visual-vestibular interactions, but there is no reason to expect that body tilt would affect intravisual interactions. Hence, we hypothesized that body tilt would increase errors for large frame, but not for small frame. Eight subjects were tested in four different conditions, corresponding to the combination of two body orientations (vertical versus horizontal) and two frame sizes (47.5 versus 10.5 deg of visual angle). Fourier analysis of data was performed. Repeated measures ANOVA tested the hypothesis about frame size and body orientation. The hypothesis was not confirmed. More specifically, we found that tilting the body increased errors for the small frame as well as for the large frame. The interaction between frame size and body orientation was not significant. Results are discussed in relation to the proposed dual-process model.     

The rod-and-frame effect: the whole is less than the sum of its parts

Since the discovery of the influence of the tilted frame on the visual perception of the orientation perceived as vertical (VPV), the frame has been treated as a unitary object-a Gestalt. We evaluated the effect of 1-line, 2-line, 3-line, and 4-line (square frame) stimuli of two different sizes, and asked whether the influence of the square frame on VPV is any greater than the additive combination of separate influences produced by the individual lines constituting the frame. We found that, for each size, the square frame is considerably less influential than the additive combination of the influences of the individual lines. The results conform to a mass action rule, in which the lengths and orientations of the individual line components are what matters and the organization of the lines into a square does not-no higher-level Gestalt property is involved in the induction effect on VPV.     

The effect of variation of frame shape on the angular function of the rod-and-frame illusion

The angular function of the rod-and-frame illusion was studied under conditions of variation in frame shape. The results support predictions arising from the hypothesis that as a frame is varied in tilt, vertical settings of a rod will be in error in the direction of the major frame axis closest to true vertical.     

The role of cognitive factors in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive symptoms: a prospective study

Cognitive models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) posit that specific kinds of dysfunctional beliefs (e.g., pertaining to responsibility and the significance of intrusive thoughts) underlie the development of this disorder. The present study was designed to prospectively evaluate whether dysfunctional beliefs thought to underlie OCD act as a specific vulnerability factor in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive symptomatology. Eighty-five individuals were prospectively followed over a period of time thought to be associated with an increased onset of OCD symptoms -- childbirth and the postpartum. The majority of these new mothers and fathers experienced intrusive infant-related thoughts and performed neutralizing behaviors similar to, but less severe than, those observed in OCD. Scores on a measure of dysfunctional beliefs thought to underlie OCD predicted the development of obsessive-compulsive symptoms after controlling for pre-existing OCD symptoms, anxiety, and depression. Dysfunctional beliefs also predicted the severity of checking, washing, and obsessional OCD symptom dimensions, but not neutralizing, ordering, or hoarding symptom dimensions. These data provide evidence for specific dysfunctional beliefs as risk factors in the development of some types of OCD symptoms.     

The role of cognitive factors in body-size perception and recall-size estimation in normal-weight women

ObjectiveBased on the hypothesis that remembered body size differs from perceived body size, the objectives of this study were to assess the difference between body-size perception and recall size and to investigate the neuropsychological correlates of body-size estimation.MethodNinety-one normal-weight women were randomized into three body-size estimation conditions: photo-size estimation, mirror-size estimation and recall-size estimation without a photo or mirror. All participants first estimated the size of a neutral object, then adjusted distorted images of themselves according to experimental conditions. Finally, the participants completed the Trail Making Test (TMT) as a neuropsychological measure.ResultsBody-size estimations were influenced by the experimental condition in opposite directions for body-size perception and recall-size estimation. Participants who overestimated their body size took longer to complete the TMT-B, a measure of cognitive flexibility.ConclusionBody perception and body memory are clearly separable components of body image. An individual's amount of mental flexibility appears to be associated with body-size distortions, particularly body-size overestimations. Further research is needed on the nature of potential causal mechanisms for this phenomenon, including the use of relevant tests to explore cognitive flexibility and the effects of potentially confounding variables.     

The rod-and-frame illusion in erect and supine observers

Previous studies have found that the effect of a tilted frame on egocentric rod adjustments is greater when an overhead display in a horizontal plane is viewed from a supine body position than when a vertical display is viewed from an erect body position. The present studies were designed to see whether this phenomenon could be attributed to an intravisual orientation contrast effect or to the effects of visually induced eye torsion. No significant erect-supine differences were found on measures of either effect. Errors in the direction of frame tilt were significantly greater in the supine position when observers were asked to align a visible rod or an unseen hand-held disk with the head, but no effect of body position was found in matching the orientation of the disk with the rod. The data suggest that erect-supine differences in frame effects are not attributable simply to intravisual factors. The results are discussed in terms used by Harris (1974) to describe “straight-ahead shifts” in judging spatial directions with respect to the median plane.     

Determinants of the rod-and-frame effect: Role of organization and subjective contour

In Experiment 1, performance on a conventional (full) rod and frame was compared with that on three other displays. These included a closure condition in which only the corners of a luminous frame were present, a subjective contour condition in which the rod was seen against ablack square subjective surface, and a pattern condition in which four luminous disks were arranged to form the corners of a square pattern. In all cases, a square-like form was perceived. The rod-and-frame effect (RFE) was greatest on the full frame, which differed significantly from all the rest. Closure produced the next greatest influence, while the responses to subjective and pattern conditions did not differ from each other. Experiment 2 showed that a subjective frame was no more effective than the subjective surface of Experiment 1, and verified the importance of 90-deg corner elements in the rod-and-frame display. The conclusion drawn was that equivalent form organizations are not sufficient to produce equivalent levels of the RFE, but certain luminance-difference contours appear to be essential.     

Blur-modulated orientation perception in the rod-and-frame task

In order to assess the role of blur in a rod-and-frame task, an afocal blurring technique was developed that restricted the blur to the frame. Three levels of blur were investigated, along with a nonblurred, directly viewed frame. Results showed a significant drop in the rod-and-frame effect (RFE) with increasing blur (decreasing spatial frequency), but spatial frequencies even as low as .092 cpd failed to reduce the RFE to zero. Decreasing luminance was correlated with increased blur, but control studies showed that variation in luminance levels between .007 and .0015 cd m^?2 had no effect on RFE. The finding of a spatial frequency dependency in the rod-and-frame task permits the development of a neuropsychological theory of individual and gender differences typically found in studies of static spatial orientation.     

The role of the feedforward paradigm in cognitive psychology

Feedforward control is a process adjusting behaviour in a continuative way. Feedforward takes place when an equilibrium state is disrupted and the system has to automatically retrieve the homeostatic stable state. It also occurs when a perturbation is previewed and must be eliminated in order to achieve a desired goal. According to the most general definition, a feedforward process operates by fixing the future representation of the desired state, the achieving of which stops the process. Then, feedforward works by means of the refinement determined by successive comparisons between the actual and target products. In its applications, a feedforward process is thought to be modulated by the subject’s purpose and the environmental state. Over the years, the feedforward process has assumed different connotations in several contests of cognitive psychology. An overview of the research fields in psychology that significantly progressed with the introduction of a feedforward paradigm is provided by: (a) reviewing models in which the feedforward concept plays a fundamental role in the system control; (b) examining critical experiments related to the interaction of feedforward and feedback processes; (c) evidencing practical applications for some of the presented feedforward-based architectures.     

The gap between rod and frame influences the rod-and-frame effect with small and large inducing displays

The role of the spatial separation between the ends of a rod and a frame’s inner edge (gap) in modulating the rod-and-frame effect (RFE) has been studied here with frames subtending either large or small retinal angles. With a large frame, rod settings were always in the direction of frame tilt (direct effects) and varied inversely with gap size. With a small frame, rod settings were in the direction of frame tilt for tilts between 7.5° and 15°; with larger frame tilts, rod settings in the direction opposite that of the frame were observed (indirect effects). Increasing gap size produced a tendency toward negativity (away from frame tilt). Consequently, direct effects were larger for small gaps, while the opposite was true for indirect effects. Overall, these results point to the importance of gap size in modulating the RFE, for both large and small displays.     

Light intensity in the rod-and-frame test reconsidered

Abstract.— Previously collected data (Nyborg, 1972) on the perception of the vertical in the Rod-and-Frame Test (RFT) were reanalysed according to the method of signed errors presented by Nyborg (1974). Regression analysis showed no systematic relationship between light intensity and frame dependence and that the effect of light intensity on the perception of vertical in the RFT in general is negligible, thus confirming the conclusions drawn originally.     

Orientation contrast effects in the rod-and-frame test

Previous research indicates that a tilted visual display is capable of inducing eye torsion and an illusion of self-tilt in objectively upright observers. These effects may contribute to performance errors on the rod-and-frame test by rotating the perceived axes of visual space toward the tilted frame. The kinesthetic-matching method was used in the present study to see whether an effect of the visual orientation contrast between red and frame sides might also contribute to rod-and-frame test performance. Observers aligned invisible hand-held rods with the visual rod at various tilts under a control condition when the frame was absent, and under experimental conditions with the frame upright or set at 45°. The frame induced matching errors in the direction away from the frame sides which were most nearly parallel to the rod. Since no rotation of apparent visual axes should occur under these conditions, the data suggest that an orientation contrast effect is involved in the rod-and-frame test.     

Depth adjacency and the rod-and-frame illusion

The effects of psychological set on perception of first and second pain were determined for 20 subjects. Percutaneous electrical shock intensities (6–8 mA, 3 msec) sufficient to evoke double pain responses were used in all subjects. Psychological sets included PAST (“Place yourself in a previous experience that was free of any significant emotional tone”), PRESENT (“Feel your foot that will be shocked”), and FUTURE (“Think to yourself that you are about to be shocked”). Perception of second pain was never perceived in PAST and FUTURE sets but was always perceived in the PRESENT set. Furthermore, at minimal rates of stimulation ( > 1/3 sec), summation of second pain occurred in the PRESENT set but not in the FUTURE set. All subjects startled in the FUTURE set and did not startle in PAST or PRESENT sets. Each subject reported that the aversiveness of the shock related to painful sensations in PAST and PRESENT sets and to ones own body responses in the FUTURE set.