Amplitude and phase in the Müller-Lyer illusion

It has previously been claimed that the Müller-Lyer illusion is the result of low-pass spatial filtering. One way to understand this would be that the distribution of amplitudes is what generates this illusion. This possibility was investigated by computing the 2-D Fourier transforms of the two Müller-Lyer stimuli and extracting their phase and amplitude spectra. These spectra were combined to create hybrid spectra having the phase of one Müller-Lyer figure and the amplitudes of the other. Images were then created by computing the inverse Fourier transform of the hybrid spectra. Except in cases where the analysis was performed patchwise on very small patches, the figures generated with the phase spectrum of the stimuli having outward-pointing fins appear the longer. This was also the case when stimuli were generated with flat amplitude spectra. Because they show that the Müller-Lyer illusion does not depend on any particular distribution of amplitudes, these demonstrations do not support the theory that the Müller-Lyer illusion is the result of low-frequency filtering.     

Ebbinghaus's contribution to the measurement of retention: savings during relearning

The focus here is on Ebbinghaus's sole measure of retention: savings during relearning. The article is divided into four sections: (a) the historical perspective surrounding Ebbinghaus's use of savings and relearning (including a fundamental difference between Ebbinghaus's conception of memory and that of his contemporaries such as William James), (b) potential problems with savings as a measure of retention, (c) recent findings based on savings and relearning, and (d) applications of savings and relearning.     

On the relations between Heinrich Scholz and Jan Łukasiewicz

The aim of the present study is (1) to show, on the basis of a number of unpublished documents, how Heinrich Scholz supported his Warsaw colleague Jan ?ukasiewicz, the Polish logician, during World War II, and (2) to discuss the efforts he made in order to enable Jan ?ukasiewicz and his wife Regina to move from Warsaw to Münster under life-threatening circumstances. In the first section, we explain how Scholz provided financial help to ?ukasiewicz, and we also adduce evidence of the risks incurred by German scholars who offered assistance to their Polish colleagues. In the second section, we discuss the dramatic circumstances surrounding the ?ukasiewiczes' move to Münster in the summer of 1944.     

Geometrical illusions in solid objects under ordinary viewing conditions

The Müller-Lyer and Ponzo illusions were obtained under free binocular viewing of three-dimensional objects, and the function relating magnitude of illusion to fin angle, characteristic of converging-line versions of the Müller-Lyer pattern, was closely paralleled by volumetric (three-cone), line-free objects (but not with an erect, planar “walk-through” construction and moving observers). Illusions cannot be dismissed as artifacts of static, impoverished viewing, therefore, but must be explained within any general theory of perception. Perspective explanations have difficulties with such three-dimensional manifestations, and seem completely inapplicable to our further finding that approximately the same amount of illusion occurred in objects and patterns with no oblique lines or edges. Confusion or averaging theories, not themselves tested here, remain unthreatened by these data.     

Geometrical illusions in solid objects under ordinary viewing conditions.

The Müller-Lyer and Ponzo illusions were obtained under free binocular viewing of three-dimensional objects, and the function relating magnitude of illusion to fin angle, characteristic of converging-line versions of the Müller-Lyer pattern, was closely paralleled by volumetric (three-cone), line-free objects (but not with an erect, planar "walk-through" construction and moving observers). Illusions cannot be dismissed as artifacts of static, impoverished viewing, therefore, but must be explained within any general theory of perception. Perspective explanations have difficulties with such three-dimensional manifestations, and seem completely inapplicable to our further finding that approximately the same amount of illusion occurred in objects and patterns with no oblique lines or edges. Confusion or averaging theories, not themselves tested here, remain unthreatened by these data.     

The historical roots of the theories of local signs and labelled lines

The theories of labelled lines and local signs are commonly invoked to explain numerous perceptual phenomena. These theories postulate that perceptual systems use information about which nerve cells or which information channels are activated by the stimulus. The origins of this idea in nineteenth century German psychophysics are traced. From Descartes's idea of a dualistic mind, Kant's idea of a mental ability to conceive space, Da Vinci's ideas of pictorial 'signs', and Müller's idea of 'specific nerve energies' to explain perceptual qualities, Steinbuch, Lotze, and others derived the conclusion that neural-level signs exist that signal stimulus location to the mind. Helmholtz, Hering, and others soon suggested variations on this basic idea. By the time of James the theory had changed yet again. It was revived elsewhere in the 1920s and again in the 1970s, although used implicitly by many workers in between and since. Against a modern metaphysical background, however, a distinction between labels (hardware) and signs (symbols) is the minimum step needed towards an appropriate and comprehensive explanation of perceptual behaviour and experience.     

Poggendorff and Müller-Lyer illusions: common effects

Previous investigations have shown that the magnitude of the Müller-Lyer illusion is a function of the linear and angular dimensions of the figure. If the Müller-Lyer and Poggendorff illusions share a common basis, then the magnitude of the Poggendorff illusion should similarly be a function of the analogous configural dimensions. A study is reported in which changes were made in the dimensions of the Poggendorff figure that are analogous to the dimensions of the Müller-Lyer figure: the length of the parallel components (analogous to the wings of the Müller-Lyer figure); the length of the intertransversal extent (analogous to Müller-Lyer shaft length); and the angle formed between the parallel components and the intertransversal extent (analogous to the angle of wing attachment in the Müller-Lyer figure). The relationship between the magnitude of the illusion and the dimensions of the Poggendorff figure was found to be generally in line with previous findings relating to the Müller-Lyer illusion. Adaptation-level theory and the positive-context model accommodate the major findings of the present study.     

幼儿记忆回涨实验研究

以哈尔滨师范大学幼儿园全体幼儿为对象（未经筛选）,采用录音机播放识记材料的方法,对幼儿记忆回涨现象进行了研究。结果发现：幼儿确实存在着不同于艾宾洁斯遗忘曲线的记忆回涨现象,而且年龄不同记忆回涨高峰时间亦不相同;复习与回涨高峰的关系实验结果发现,幼儿记忆回涨高峰期间复习效果最好。     

The effect of the Müller-Lyer illusion on map reading.

One important reason for studying visual illusions is that they can influence real-world perception as people interact with human-made displays. Three experiments examined how the Müller-Lyer illusion affects distance judgments and decision-making in the complex graphical context of a map by having subjects estimate the lengths of road segment lines framed by inward-going or outward-going wings in actual maps, in control displays that had the map context removed, and in simulated maps. The experiments showed that (1) outward-going wings led to higher distance estimates than did inward-going wings to the same extent both with and without the map context, (2) decisions based on distances determined from maps were affected by Müller-Lyer elements in the maps, and (3) map readers' measurement behavior influenced the effect of the Müller-Lyer elements in maps. The discussion focuses on how certain display manipulations and task manipulations affect the Müller-Lyer illusion. In addition, the discussion addresses the instances in which using a map might be affected by misestimation due to Müller-Lyer elements.     

Münsterberg's nightmare: psychology and history in fin-de-siècle Germany and America

This article demonstrates that Hugo Münsterberg's presidential address "Psychology and History," delivered to the American Psychological Association in 1898, should be understood in the German context of the 1890s. It constituted a response to a central feature of fin-de-siècle culture in Europe, the revolt against positivism. To be more precise, Münsterberg reacted against a new intellectual trend that was arising in Germany in the middle 1890s: the call for a historically oriented social psychology put forward by Wilhelm Dilthey-who was explicitly attacking Münsterberg's physiological conception of psychology-and new cultural historians like Karl Lamprecht and others who seemed to be putting Dilthey's program into practice.     

The effect of the Müller-Lyer illusion on map reading

One important reason for studying visual illusions is that they can influence real-world perception as people interact with human-made displays. Three experiments examined how the Müller-Lyer illusion affects distance judgments and decision-making in the complex graphical context of a map by having subjects estimate the lengths of road segment lines framed by inward-going or outward-going wings in actual maps, in control displays that had the map context removed, and in simulated maps. The experiments showed that (1) outward-going wings led to higher distance estimates than did inward-going wings to the same extent both with and without the map context, (2) decisions based on distances determined from maps were affected by Müller-Lyer elements in the maps, and (3) map readers’ measurement behavior influenced the effect of the Müller-Lyer elements in maps. The discussion focuses on how certain display manipulations and task manipulations affect the Müller-Lyer illusion. In addition, the discussion addresses the instances in which using a map might be affected by misestimation due to Müller-Lyer elements.     

The assimilation theory applied to a modification of the Müller-Lyer illusion

The assimilation theory of illusions, which utilizes the principle that large magnitudes in a series are underestimated and small magnitudes are overestimated, was applied to a modification of the Müller-Lyer illusion. A close link was shown to exist between the Müller-Lyer illusion, a modification of the Müller-Lyer illusion, and the Sander parallelogram. In addition, a new illusory target was predicted.     

Judging Another's Spirituality: Comment on Sundararajan and Kim's (2014) Claim that Müntzer was a False Mystic

Sundararajan and Kim (2014) claimed that Thomas Müntzer was a false mystic based on criteria that they believed characterize authentic mystics, such as preferring transcendence over immanence. They selected Müntzer as a false mystic, compared to so-called authentic mystics, due to his not, at least in their evaluation, meeting their criteria, as well as based on their historical interpretation of his life. Their rejection of Müntzer's authenticity as a mystic is challenged by contradictory historical evidence and concerns about the validity of the criteria they used to classify mystics as either false or authentic. It is not claimed that Müntzer is either authentic or false as a mystic, but only that classifying him as false is unconvincing, based on available evidence.     

Theory-Containment in Controversies: Neurath and Müller on Newton,Goethe, and Underdetermination

Olaf Müller’s book (More Light) develops a new case for underdetermination (prismatic equivalence), and, as he is focusing on theories of a ‘limited domain’, this assumes the containability of the theories. First, the paper argues that Müller’s theory of darkness is fundamentally Newtonian, but for Newton’s optical theory the type of theoretical structure Müller adopts is problematic. Second, the paper discusses seventeenth-century challenges to Newton (by Huygens and Lucas), changes in the proof-structure of Newton’s optical theory, and how these affect Müller’s reconstruction. Müller’s book provides empirically equivalent theories, yet the historical theories were not empirically equivalent, and the same experiments were used to extract different bodies of evidence to rebut the opponent. Third, Goethe’s multi-layered critique of Newton’s experimental proof is investigated, including his developmental account of prismatic colours, the role of experimental series in rejecting Newton’s observations, and his incorporation of the ‘limited domain’ of prismatic colours in a broader framework. Two key elements of Goethe’s method, polarity and strengthening are discussed in contrast to Müller, who only utilises polarity in his account. Finally Neurath’s attempts to come to grips with the optical controversies and the prism-experiments with ‘blurred edges’ are recalled. Müller also discusses in detail some of these experiments and heavily draws on Quine. Neurath developed Duhem’s and Poincaré’s conventionalist insights and had good reasons to be pessimistic about theory-containment. Their differences provide some additions to the history of the Duhem–Quine thesis.     

Cross language learning disabilities and verbal versus spatial memory

The research reported in this talk involves comparisons of verbal and spatial memory tasks across groups of children (and adults) with different types of learning difficulties. The research focuses on children with literacy acquisition problems and investigates whether such problems are related to specific areas of deficit. In the first piece of research, children with dyslexia (literacy learning problems) and dyspraxia (motor deficits) were contrasted on measures of memory (for example, tasks that required the retention of sequences of verbal material or spatial movements) and additional measures of literacy (reading and spelling), phonological (awareness of sounds within words) and motor (fine and gross motor tasks) functioning. The data were consistent with a dissociation between tasks/groups such that dyslexics showed weak phonological processing but intact visuo-spatial processing, whereas children with dyspraxia showed weaknesses on task involving visuo-spatial information, but average levels of performance on tasks that required phonological processing. Similar results were identified amongst adult groups, consistent with a deviant level of functioning rather than a developmental delay. A second line of research contrasted children with or without literacy problems across language backgrounds (English, Arabic, Chinese and bilingual children). Consistent with the dyslexia data, children with poor English literacy skills showed weaknesses in verbal/phonological memory tasks but not in visuo-spatial memory. However, for Chinese-language children, visuo-spatial memory differed between good and poor literacy learners, but there was little evidence for verbal memory differences. In contrast, the Arabic and bilingual children showed differences in both verbal and visuo-spatial areas, although the evidence was consistent with enhanced visual/spatial skills amongst the good literacy groups, rather than poor literacy children showing weaknesses in those tasks. These data suggest that the influence of memory skills on learning may vary with the language of instruction. A final line of enquiry considers whether teaching strategies to children with learning difficulties may overcome some of the identified memory deficits and lead to better levels of learning. English language children with learning difficulties were taught visual and verbal strategies to support retention of materials in short-term memory tasks. In the majority of cases, learning was improved when it focused on visuo-spatial strategies but not when verbal strategies were used. These data support the relationship between learning difficulties and different aspects of short-term memory that may lead to poor levels of learning. It also presents evidence that memory (particularly those related to visuo-spatial) processes are influenced by the context within which learning is taking place, both in terms of the language of instruction and the strategies used to support learning. For some children with educational difficulties based around language-related deficits, visuo-spatial strategies may support acquisition.     

Differential constraints on the working memory and reading abilities of individuals with learning difficulties and typically developing children

This study examined the factors that constrain the working memory span performance and reading ability of individuals with generalized learning difficulties. In the study, 50 individuals with learning difficulties (LD) and 50 typically developing children (TD) matched for reading age completed two working memory span tasks. Participants also completed independent measures of the processing and storage operations involved in each working memory span task and Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices. The results showed that despite an equivalent level of working memory span, the relative importance of the constraints on working memory differed between the groups. In addition, working memory span was not closely related to word recognition or sentence comprehension performance in the LD group. These results suggest that the working memory span performance of LD and TD individuals may reflect different working memory limitations and that individuals with generalized learning difficulties may approach cognitive tasks in a qualitatively different way from that of typically developing individuals.     

Generalization through the recurrent interaction of episodic memories: a model of the hippocampal system

In this article, we present a perspective on the role of the hippocampal system in generalization, instantiated in a computational model called REMERGE (recurrency and episodic memory results in generalization). We expose a fundamental, but neglected, tension between prevailing computational theories that emphasize the function of the hippocampus in pattern separation (Marr, 1971; McClelland, McNaughton, & O'Reilly, 1995), and empirical support for its role in generalization and flexible relational memory (Cohen & Eichenbaum, 1993; Eichenbaum, 1999). Our account provides a means by which to resolve this conflict, by demonstrating that the basic representational scheme envisioned by complementary learning systems theory (McClelland et al., 1995), which relies upon orthogonalized codes in the hippocampus, is compatible with efficient generalization-as long as there is recurrence rather than unidirectional flow within the hippocampal circuit or, more widely, between the hippocampus and neocortex. We propose that recurrent similarity computation, a process that facilitates the discovery of higher-order relationships between a set of related experiences, expands the scope of classical exemplar-based models of memory (e.g., Nosofsky, 1984) and allows the hippocampus to support generalization through interactions that unfold within a dynamically created memory space.     

Dissociation of binding and learning processes

A single encounter of a stimulus together with a response can result in a short-lived association between the stimulus and the response [sometimes called an event file, see Hommel, Müsseler, Aschersleben, & Prinz, (2001) Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24, 910–926]. The repetition of stimulus–response pairings typically results in longer lasting learning effects indicating stimulus–response associations (e.g., Logan & Etherton, (1994) Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 20, 1022–1050]. An important question is whether or not what has been described as stimulus–response binding in action control research is actually identical with an early stage of incidental learning (e.g., binding might be seen as single-trial learning). Here, we present evidence that short-lived binding effects can be distinguished from learning of longer lasting stimulus–response associations. In two experiments, participants always responded to centrally presented target letters that were flanked by response irrelevant distractor letters. Experiment 1 varied whether distractors flanked targets on the horizontal or vertical axis. Binding effects were larger for a horizontal than for a vertical distractor-target configuration, while stimulus configuration did not influence incidental learning of longer lasting stimulus–response associations. In Experiment 2, the duration of the interval between response n – 1 and presentation of display n (500 ms vs. 2000 ms) had opposing influences on binding and learning effects. Both experiments indicate that modulating factors influence stimulus–response binding and incidental learning effects in different ways. We conclude that distinct underlying processes should be assumed for binding and incidental learning effects.

     

The human Müller-Lyer illusion in goalkeeping

We examined whether a goalkeeper can influence a penalty-taker's actions by assuming postures that mimic Müller-Lyer configurations. The results of two studies indicate that (i) goalkeeper posture affects the perception of the goalkeeper's height in a manner consistent with the Müller-Lyer illusion; (ii) this influences penalty-taking accuracy; and (iii) a posture which resembles a wing-out Müller-Lyer configuration results in wider and lower throws.     

Length illusions in conventional and single-wing Müller-Lyer stimuli

Warren and Bashford (1977) reported that eliminating one of the wing components from the conventional (i.e., two-wing) Müller-Lyer figures had no appreciable effect on the magnitude of the acute-angle (contraction) illusion but substantially reduced the magnitude of the obtuse-angle (expansion) illusion. In addition, they found that whereas the contractionary effects of the acute-angle components tended to be confined to the region of the shaft adjacent to the angles, the expansionary effects of the obtuse-angle components were more uniformly distributed across the shaft. Since these findings challenge many theories of the Müller-Lyer illusion, the purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate further Warren and Bashford's work with four experiments. Experiments 1 and 2 assessed length illusion magnitudes by requiring subjects to adjust either the length of a plain comparison line to match the length of the Müller-Lyer test figures (Experiment 1) or the length of comparison Müller-Lyer figures to match the length of plain test lines (Experiment 2). Experiments 3 and 4 used a bisection task to assess whether the illusory effects of the angle components are confined mainly to regions of the shaft adjacent to the angles. Consistent with most theories of the Müller-Lyer illusion, eliminating one of the wing components reduced both forms of the Müller-Lyer length illusion to a similar extent. In addition, the acute- and obtuse-angle forms yielded similar patterns of bisection errors, with substantial errors for regions of the shaft adjacent to the angles and negligible errors for regions of the shaft distant from the angles.