Exploring the elementary harmonic forces in the tonal system

To study the elementary expectations that arise in the perception of tonal music, an exploratory study was performed in which subjects heard a sequence of four chords (to induce a key or tonality) followed by one tone (1 of the 12 tones within an octave), and indicated which tone they expected to be the next tone. Responses were divided into three groups: a random, a fifth, and a tonal group. The expectations in the tonal group are of main interest, as they seem to originate from a tonal representation. In this representation the tonic attracts almost all tones, although to different degrees, while the dominant and the mediant function as centripetal centers that attract only nearby tones. A preliminary model for the formation of elementary expectations based on a 3-level mental representation of the tones in a key is proposed, The predictive capability of the model is compared to that of existing models.     

MEASUREMENT OF THE INTENSITY OF AN UNDERLYING FIGURAL PROCESS: A methodological study

K ünnapas , T. M. Measurement of the intensity of an underlying figural process. A methodological study. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1961, 2 , 174–184.—A method is proposed for studying the intensity of the figural process underlying the well-known phenomenon of figural fluctuations. A metric model is presented according to which a measure of the intensity of the underlying process is obtained in units of dispersion. The model is illustrated by an experimental example. An equation is given which is analogous to that of the damped harmonic vibration. Four parameters are involved in this equation. A technique for determining the parameters is developed. Very good agreement between theoretical and empirical scale values demonstrates the applicability of the proposed method.     

Investigating the structure and age invariance of episodic memory across the adult lifespan

The structure of episodic memory was investigated by assessing different modalities of material (verbal, figural, and spatial) and different types of tests (recall, cued recall, and recognition). A 3-factor model that distinguished among modalities of material was found to be the best representation of memory and the verbal, figural, and spatial memory factors exhibiting construct validity. This 3-factor modality of material model also demonstrated configural, metric, and structural age invariance across a sample of adults (N = 327) between the ages of 18 and 94. There was evidence that latent constructs corresponding to recall, cued recall, and recognition could be distinguished from one another within the verbal domain but not within the figural and spatial domains. A mediation model examining the retrieval constructs was examined within the verbal domain, and there were unique age-related influences on cued recall and recall performance. This result is consistent with findings that increased age is associated with increased difficulty in retrieving information.     

Stop—reaction time and the internal clock

In astop-reaction-time (stop-RT) task, a subject is presented with a regular, isochronous sequence of brief signals separated by a constant time interval, orstimulus onset asynchrony (SOA). His/her task is to press a response key as fast as possible when the sequence stops. As the sequence unfolds, an internal representation of the SOA duration builds up. Stop-RT is assumed to be triggered when aninternal clock, operating as an “alarm clock,” reaches a time criterion. Criterion setting is contingent upon variability in the SOA’s internal representation. In Experiment 1A, stop-RT was measured for isochronous sequences of brief tones, light flashes, and also sequences of tones and flashes presented in regular alternation (tone-light-tone…). Stop-RT was a linear function of SOA duration (ranging from 250 to 1,000 msec), regardless of modality, supporting a “central-clock” hypothesis. On the other hand, taken together, the results of Experiments 1A, 1B, 2, and 3 suggest that no internal representation of thebimodal (tone-light) SOA of alternating sequences builds up. Indeed, an alternating sequence is physically equivalent to two interlaced isochronous subsequences, one auditory and one visual. So,two internal representations, one for the auditory (tone-tone) and one for the visual (light-light) SOA, could build up, andtwo time criteria running “in parallel” could thus support stop-RT. To provide a critical test of parallel timing, stop-RT was measured for bimodal 5∶3 polyrhythms formed by the superposition of auditory and visual isochronous sequences that haddifferent SOA durations (Experiment 4). Parallel timing accounted for a large proportion of variance in polyrhythmic stop-RT data. Overall findings can be accounted for by assuming a functional architecture of an internal clock in which pulses emitted by acentral pacemaker are available in parallel with twomodality-specific switch-accumulator “timing modules.”     

Highs Are to Lows as Experts Are to Novices: Individual Differences in the Representation and Solution of Standardized Figural Analogies

Two experiments compared the strategies used by high and lower scorers on standardized figural analogy tests to represent and solve problems. In Experiment 1, subjects freely sorted completed analogy (A:a::B:b) problems into categories. High scorers categorized problems largely on the basis of well-constrained spatial transformations between problem terms; Low scorers sorted according to perceptual (i.e., shape) similarities among the figures constituting the problems. Experiment 2 compared the two groups' solution strategies in terms of specific patterns of eye movements used in viewing problem and answer terms. High scorers appeared to view problem terms in a more efficient fashion than did lower scorers. The lower scorers focused on noncritical figural relations (mapping figure A onto figure B), and they devoted more resources to processing the answer alternatives than did the high scorers. The pattern of results supports the view that high scorers tend to work in a more forward, or constructive, fashion, whereas lower scorers more often work backwards, using a response-elimination approach. Taken together, these findings converge to suggest specific aptitude-related differences in the representation and solution of standardized figural analogy problems. These differences bear some similarities to expert-novice differences in a number of other problem-solving domains.     

The role of visual short-term memory in empty cell localization

Three experiments examined the visual memory representation supporting performance at long interstimulus intervals (ISIs) in an empty cell localization task. Two arrays of dots within a 4 x 4 grid were displayed briefly in succession. One grid cell did not contain a dot in either array, and the task was to localize the empty cell. In Experiment 1, we replicated previous findings of recovery to high levels of performance at long ISIs. In Experiment 2, we tested whether figural grouping in visual short-term memory (VSTM) supports long-ISI performance by manipulating the complexity of the array pattern. Pattern complexity had no effect on empty cell localization at 0-msec ISI, suggesting dependence on high-capacity visible persistence, but there was a large simple pattern advantage at long ISIs, suggesting dependence on figural grouping in VSTM. Experiment 3 demonstrated that participants typically remember the empty cells of the first array, and not the dots, for comparison with Array 2.     

Parsing surrounding space into regions

Surrounding space is not inherently organized, but we tend to treat it as though it consisted of regions (e.g., front, back, right, and left). The current studies show that these conceptual regions have characteristics that reflect our typical interactions with space. Three experiments examined the relative sizes and resolutions of front, back, left, and right around oneself. Front, argued to be the most important horizontal region, was found to be (a) largest, (b) recalled with the greatest precision, and (c) described with the greatest degree of detail. Our findings suggest that some of the characteristics of the category model proposed by Huttenlocher, Hedges, and Duncan (1991) regarding memory for pictured circular displays may be generalized to space around oneself. More broadly, our results support and extend thespatial framework analysis of representation of surrounding space (Franklin & Tversky, 1990).     

Variables for designing cube folding tasks influencing sixth-graders' performance

This study investigated whether the three variables of task form, squares carried, and figural complexity, for designing cube folding tasks, affect sixth graders' cube folding performance. Two task forms were used to develop two versions of “cube folding test.” Each version was designed based on two levels of squares carried and three levels of figural complexity, and contained 18 multiple-choice items. The sample included 107 boys and 92 girls with an average age of 12.04 years who were randomly assigned to complete one of the two versions. A linear mixed model was carried out with three factors: task forms, squares carried, and figural complexity, in which squares carried and figural complexity were “within-subjects” factors, and task form was the “between-subjects” factor. The results showed the interaction effect of squares carried and task form, and the main effect of figural complexity, which differentiated the difficulty in cube folding tasks.     

Figural properties are prioritized for search under conditions of uncertainty: Setting boundary conditions on claims that figures automatically attract attention

Nelson and Palmer (2007) concluded that figures/figural properties automatically attract attention, after they found that participants were faster to detect/discriminate targets appearing where a portion of a familiar object was suggested in an otherwise ambiguous display. We investigated whether these effects are truly automatic and whether they generalize to another figural property—convexity. We found that Nelson and Palmer’s results do generalize to convexity, but only when participants are uncertain regarding when and where the target will appear. Dependence on uncertainty regarding target location/timing was also observed for familiarity. Thus, although we could replicate and extend Nelson and Palmer’s results, our experiments showed that figures do not automatically draw attention. In addition, our research went beyond Nelson and Palmer’s, in that we were able to separate figural properties from perceived figures. Because figural properties are regularities that predict where objects lie in the visual field, our results join other evidence that regularities in the environment can attract attention. More generally, our results are consistent with Bayesian theories in which priors are given more weight under conditions of uncertainty.     

Temporal organization of pattern structure

Two pattern reproduction experiments examined the relations among the figural goodness of a pattern, the organization of two parts within the pattern, and the interpart interval (ISI), which ranged from 40 to 200 msec. If the parts contained connected line segments, performance was slightly better (3%-5% gain in accuracy) at a 40-msec ISI than at a 200-msec ISI. If the parts contained unconnected line segments, reproduction accuracy of the first part declined sharply between 40 and 200 msec. These results were interpreted by assuming that the parts were perceived as a single whole pattern at a 40-msec ISI but as two separate patterns at a 200-msec ISI. One surprising finding, the lack of an interaction between figural goodness and ISI, was explained in terms of a response bias in favor of figural good patterns. A secondary manipulation revealed that a part was more accurately reproduced in a good figure context than in a poor figure context but was most accurately reproduced when it appeared alone.     

Rethinking perceptual organization: The role of uniform connectedness

A principle of perceptual organization, calleduniform connectedness (UC), is described, and a theoretical approach to perceptual organization is proposed in which this principle plays a fundamental role. The principle of UC states that closed regions of homogeneous properties—such as lightness, chromatic color, texture, and so forth—tend to be perceived initially as single units. We demonstrate its effects and show that they occur even when opposed by powerful grouping principles such as proximity and similarity. We argue that UC cannot be reduced to such grouping principles, because it is not a form of grouping at all. We then propose a theoretical framework within which UC accounts for the initial (orentry level) organization of the visual field into primitive units. Classical principles of grouping operate after UC, creating superordinate units consisting of two or more basic-level units. Parsing processes also operate after UC, dividing basic-level units into subordinate parts. UC in the retinal image is proposed to be a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for unit formation, since connected elements on the retina that are perceived to lie in separate depth planes fail to be perceived as units. This fact, together with other evidence that the Gestalt principles of grouping are based onperceived (rather than retinal) relations, suggests that the organization of visual stimulation into UC objects is ultimately achieved within a relatively late, postconstancy representation of environmental surfaces. The implications of this possibility are discussed in light of present theories of visual perception.     

The representation of nonstructural information in visual memory: Evidence from image combination

Two experiments investigated the differential representation of the figure and ground of a picture in visual short-term and long-term memory. It is known (Hitch, Brandimonte, & Walker, 1995) that subjects find it more difficult to combine mental images of two separately presented pictures in order to identify a novel form when the two pictures are incongruent in color (i.e., when a black-on-white line drawing has to be combined with a white-on-black drawing). In the present experiments, thefigures were depicted in solid form to allow color congruity to be varied independently for figure and ground. Results showed a clear impairment in image combination when the to-be-combined figures were incongruent in color (black-on-gray and white-on-gray) but not when theirgrounds were incongruently colored (gray-on-black and gray-on-white). In this way, image combination was seen to be supported by a representation of the object depicted in the picture rather than by a literal representation of the picture itself (i.e., a pictorial code). In line with previous findings, the same representation was seen to support image combination based on short-term memory (Experiment 1) and long-term memory (Experiment 2), provided that in the latter case verbal recoding was precluded. When verbal recoding was allowed, image combination based on long-term memory was insensitive to color congruity, implying the involvement of a more abstract structural representation.     

A random support model of the calibration of subjective probabilities

A stochastic model of the calibration of subjective probabilities based on support theory (Rottenstreich and Tversky, 1997, Tversky and Koehler, 1994) is presented. This model extends support theory—a general representation of probability judgment—to the domain of calibration, the analysis of the correspondence between subjective and objective probability. The random support model can account for the common finding of overconfidence, and also predicts the form of the relationship between overconfidence and item difficulty (the “hard–easy effect”). The parameters of the model have natural psychological interpretations, such as discriminability between correct and incorrect hypotheses, and extremity of judgment. The random support model can be distinguished from other stochastic models of calibration by: (a) using fewer parameters, (b) eliminating the use of variable cutoffs by mapping underlying support directly into judged probability, (c) allowing validation of model parameters with independent assessments of support, and (d) applying to a wide variety of tasks by framing probability judgment in the integrative context of support theory.     

Problem representation: The effects of spatial arrays

Two studies examined how characteristics of spatial arrays contribute to efficient problem representation. Thirty-two adults were presented with information about family relationships in one of two arrays: a hierarchy or a matrix. Their answers to two different sets of questions were timed. The matrix format was superior to the hierarchy for one set of questions only; no differences between the arrays emerged for the other set. The data were interpreted in terms of how the family relationships were mapped onto the arrays; the mapping differences between the arrays affected the number of mental steps needed to solve some questions, but not others. In a second experiment (N=32), the same problem information was remapped onto the arrays, with the mapping relations reversed. As predicted, the pattern of response times exactly reflected the change in mapping. It is proposed that, for spatial arrays, efficiency of problem representation is best understood in terms of the number of mental steps in the problem solution.     

Discrimination of auditory temporal patterns

Two same-different discrimination experiments were performed for click patterns having a total duration of about 4 sec and interclick intervals ofn × 250 msec, withn a random integer. In Experiment 1, the influence of the physical click group structure on discrimination performance was investigated. In Experiment 2, the effect of the strength of an induced internal clock on discrimination performance was measured. Performance was poor if the group structure of clicks was maintained during a change in click pattern and also if the induced infernal clack strength was low. The performance of about 70% of the subjects improved significantly if either a change in click grouping structure occurred or a strong internal clock could be induced. These results cannot be accounted for with simple models based an single-interval duration discrimination or between-pattern correlation statistics.     

The contributions of goal characteristics and causal attributions to emotional experience in youth sport participants

Objectives. To examine the role of causal attributions, goal importance, and goal discrepancy as predictors of discrete emotions in youth sport settings. More specifically, causal attributions and goal characteristics were examined in an actual performance test and a natural competitive setting. Both direct effects and moderator models were tested.Method. Two studies were conducted. In the first study, 130 adolescent soccer players completed the Leger fitness test, as well as measures of goal importance and objective goal discrepancy, and the CDSII to assess causal dimensions PANAS-X to assess emotions. In the second study, 174 adolescent swimmers and track and field athletes participated in sport-specific competitions. Participants completed the same battery of questionnaires as in the first study with the exception that a measure of subjective goal discrepancy replaced objective goal discrepancy.Results. Results showed general consistency across studies. Both causal dimensions and goal characteristics (importance and discrepancy) showed direct effects in the prediction of emotion. However, there was no support for theoretical links between causal dimensions and specific emotions. Little support was found for a moderator model examining the interactions among and between goal characteristics and causal dimensions. In addition, subjective performance discrepancy was a much stronger predictor of emotion in the second study compared with objective performance discrepancy in the first study.Conclusions. Although causal attributions and goal characteristics are important predictors of emotion, there was little support for the theoretical model proposing an interaction among these variables in the experience of emotion for youth sport participants.     

Figural factors and the development of pictorial inferences

The role of figural characteristics in the development of pictorial inferences was examined. Two versions of 10 three-picture story sequences were presented to kindergarten and third-grade children. One version maximized while the other minimized figural similarity among pictures. After viewing the sequences, the children were asked to discriminate old study pictures and inferentially consistent new pictures from distractors. While the kindergarteners identified significantly fewer inference pictures than the third graders in all conditions, there was less difference between the grades in the figurally similar conditions. Overall, the kindergarteners identified the fewest inference pictures in the presence of distractors that figurally matched the study pictures. These results indicate that although the pictorial inferences drawn by kindergarteners are heavily influenced by figural representations, such figural dependency cannot account for all of the observed developmental differences.     

Characteristics of ADHD Related to Executive Function: Differential Predictions for Creativity-Related Traits

Although the relationship between creativity and ADHD is uncertain, recent studies examining how dimensionally assessed characteristics of ADHD relate to creativity and divergent thinking in adults suggest an occasional positive, linear relationship between the constructs. However, the executive functions proposed to underlie characteristics of ADHD have not been examined in relation to creativity. This study was conducted to determine how different characteristics of ADHD related to executive functioning (as assessed by the Brown ADD Scales) predict different components of figural divergent thinking, intellectual risk-taking, and creative self-efficacy. Undergraduate engineering students (N = 60) completed the Brown ADD Scales, a figural divergent thinking task, and self-report measures of intellectual risk-taking and creative self-efficacy. A series of multivariate regression models demonstrated that several components of divergent thinking (i.e., fluency, originality, and resistance to closure) were predicted by different characteristics of ADHD. Although fluency was predicted by affect only and originality was predicted by activation only, resistance to closure was predicted by activation, effort, and attention. Additionally, intellectual risk-taking was predicted by memory, effort, and activation, whereas creative self-efficacy was predicted by effort. The implications of these results relating to the relationship between ADHD and creativity, as well as for engineering undergraduate education are discussed.     

Detection of metric structure in auditory figural patterns

This series of experiments dealt with discrimination between two temporal patterns differing only by the insertion of an additional silent gap. In Experiment 1, patterns varied in metric and figural structure. Metric structure is described as the sense of temporal regularity that may occur between subjectively accented tones. Figural structure is described as the grouping of temporally adjacent tones separated by silences. Standard patterns were either strongly or weakly metric; comparison patterns differed from the standards by the insertion of a silence that disrupted either the metric structure alone or both the metric and the figural structures. Experiment 1 provided support for the roles of both metric and figural structures and provided support for the clock-induction model of Povel and Essens (1985) as an account of metric processing. In Experiments 2-4, discrimination of patterns with differing metric structures but identical figural structures was examined more closely. Rate of presentation of the patterns was varied. Multiple regression indicated that, independent of rate variations, discrimination improved as the absolute (not relative) duration of the silent gap increased. We argue that an additional timing mechanism, independent of pattern structure, is operative in temporal pattern discrimination. All the results were replicated across levels of music training of the listeners.