Determinants of subjective contour: Bourdon illusions and "unbending" effects

Wenderoth and O'Connor (1987b) reported that, although matches to the straight edge of two triangles placed apex to apex revealed an apparent bending in the direction of the chevron formed by the hypotenuse pair (the Bourdon effect), no perceptual unbending of the bent chevron occurred. Using subjective contour figures, Walker and Shank (1988b) found large and approximately equal bending and unbending effects, consistent with two theories that they proposed. In Experiment 1, using adjustable chevron matching and subjective contours, we found that Bourdon effects, equivalent in magnitude to those reported by Walker and Shank, were 4-5 times larger than unbending effects. In Experiment 2, we used a variation of Walker and Shank's measurement technique, in which subjects selected a matching angle from a graded series. We obtained Bourdon effects similar to those in Experiment 1, but much larger unbending effects. Nevertheless, Bourdon effects were significantly larger than unbending effects in one set of data; and in another, Bourdon test means were larger than unbending test means. In both data sets, there was a large and significant pretest bending effect, which enhanced the magnitude of unbending test minus pretest scores. These results were consistent with our theory but not the theories of Walker and Shank. The variance of unbending test matches, 3-4 times that of Bourdon test matches, reflected the task difficulty. We propose that subjective obtuse angle contraction that exceeds real obtuse angle contraction explains the fact that unbending effects are larger in subjective than in real contours.     

Determinants of subjective contour: Bourdon illusions and “unbending” effects

Wenderoth and O’Connor (1987b) reported that, although matches to the straight edge of two triangles placed apex to apex revealed an apparent bending in the direction of the chevron formed by the hypotenuse pair (the Bourdon effect), no perceptual unbending of the bent chevron occurred. Using subjective contour figures, Walker and Shank (1988b) found large and approximately equal bending and unbending effects, consistent with two theories that they proposed. In Experiment 1, using adjustable chevron matching and subjective contours, we found that Bourdon effects, equivalent in magnitude to those reported by Walker and Shank, were 4–5 times larger than unbending effects. In Experiment 2, we used a variation of Walker and Shank’s measurement technique, in which subjects selected a matching angle from a graded series. We obtained Bourdon effects similar to those in Experiment 1, but much larger unbending effects. Nevertheless, Bourdon effects were significantly larger than unbending effects in one set of data; and in another, Bourdon test means were larger than unbending test means. In both data sets, there was a large and significant pretest bending effect, which enhanced the magnitude of unbending test minus pretest scores. These results were consistent with our theory but not the theories of Walker and Shank. The variance of unbending test matches, 3–4 times that of Bourdon test matches, reflected the task difficulty. We propose that subjective obtuse angle contraction that exceeds real obtuse angle contraction explains the fact that unbending effects are larger in subjective than in real contours.     

Visual orientation illusions: global mechanisms involved in hierarchical effects and frames of reference

Five experiments were conducted in order to determine which of two hypotheses, initially proposed by Rock (1990), accounts for interactions between oriented elements in a visual scene. We also explored the suggestion that two hypothetical processes--namely, frame of reference and hierarchical organization--describe phenomena arising from distinct mechanisms (Spinelli, Antonucci, Daini, Martelli, & Zoccolotti, 1999). Double inducing stimulus versions of one-dimensional and two-dimensional tilt illusions, the rod-and-frame illusion, and combinations of these were used. Our data suggest that both hypotheses can predict orientation interactions in conditions in which only one mechanism--namely, the global visual mechanism of symmetry axes extraction (Wenderoth & Beh, 1977)--is activated. Which hypothesis is appropriate to predict the perceived orientation depends on some physical features of the objects.     

Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS)

Guided by the idea that alexithymia and other psychopathological phenomena are connected with decreased sensitivity to internal emotional states, Lane and Schwartz (1987) presented a cognitive-developmental theory describing different “Levels of Emotional Awareness”. In 1990, Lane et al. developed a performance measure to identify different states of sensivity to internal emotional states, the “Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale” (LEAS). Subjects are asked to describe anticipated own feelings and those of another person in 20 scenes in a short written answer. We present the results of a study using the German version of the LEAS, the 20-item-version of the Toronto Alexithymia-Scale (TAS 20) and the state-version of the State-Anxiety-Inventory (STAI) on 338 Students of medicine of the Cologne university. The study is discussed with regard to a similar study conducted in the USA (Lane et al. 1996). Theoretical background and psychometric charateristics of the LEAS are related to actual trends in research on alexithymia.     

Masculinity, femininity, and multiple regression: comment on Zeldow, Daugherty, and Clark's "Masculinity, Femininity, and Psychosocial Adjustment in Medical Students: A 2-Year Follow-Up"

Inappropriate applications and interpretations of multiple regression analyses by Zeldow and his associated (Zeldow, Clark, & Daugherty, 1985; Zeldow, Daugherty, & Clark, 1987) are discussed as are several general interpretive and statistical issues. To perform and interpret multiple regressions, several characteristics of this statistical approach must be taken into account. Of critical importance is the order in which variables are entered, the choice of regression approaches, the direction of an effect upon entering the model, and the manner in which the interpretation of interaction effects varies as a function of the presence or absence of main effects. Because Zeldow et al. (1985, 1987) did not consider these factors, their regression analyses were not run as stated and are difficult to interpret. Five hypothetical outcomes in androgyny research and an example involving actual data are presented.     

Masculinity,Femininity, and Multiple Regression: Comment on Zeldow,Daugherty, and Clark's "Masculinity,Femininity, and Psychosocial Adjustment in Medical Students: A 2-Year Follow-Up"

Inappropriate applications and interpretations of multiple regression analyses by Zeldow and his associates (Zeldow, Clark, & Daugherty, 1985; Zeldow, Daugherty, & Clark, 1987) are discussed as are several general interpretive and statistical issue. To perform and interpret multiple regressors, several characteristics of this statistical approach must be taken into account. Of critical importance is the order in which variables are entered, the choice of regression approaches, the direction of an effect upon entering the model, and the manner in which the interpretation of interaction effects varies as a function of the presence or absence of main effects. Because Zeldow et al. (1985, 1987) did not consider these factors, their regression analyses were not run as stated and are difficult to interpret. Five hypothetical outcomes in androgyny research and an example involving actual data are presented.     

More things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in the initial letter acuity hypothesis

Schwartz, Montagner, and Kirsner (1987 Brain and Language, 31, 301-307) claim that length X visual hemifield interactions for recognition of horizontal words reflect acuity differences for the initial letters of short and long words rather than different methods of lexical access for words presented in the LVF and in the RVF. They argue that Young and Ellis did not satisfactorily eliminate this possibility because they (Young & Ellis, 1985, Brain and Language, 24, 326-358, Experiment 3) allowed the use of sophisticated guessing strategies. We demonstrate that the presentation conditions of the Schwartz et al. (1987) experiment are different from those of our (Young & Ellis, 1985) experiments in potentially important ways, and that the acuity gradient explanation proposed by Schwartz et al. to account for word length X visual hemifield interactions is inadequate in terms of both the existing literature and a reanalysis of data from our own (Young & Ellis, 1985) Experiments 1 and 3.     

The effects of exposure duration and surrounding frames on direct and indirect tilt aftereffects and illusions

Direct and indirect tilt illusions (TIs) have been shown to have different mechanisms, because spatial parameters that affect the one do not affect the other, and vice versa. The indirect TI, for example, is reduced markedly by a surrounding vertical square frame, a manipulandum that has no effect on the direct TI (Wenderoth & Johnstone, 1988a). In six experiments, we show that both direct and indirect TIs are enhanced in magnitude with short (10-60 msec) exposures; that tilt aftereffects (TAEs) induced with short test exposures are entirely comparable in magnitude; that a surrounding square frame reduces indirect TAEs but not direct TAEs, just as occurs with the TI; and that when the surrounding frame is present during adaptation only, test only, and both or neither, the greatest indirect TAE reduction occurs when the frame is present during the test. These results are consistent with the view (Wenderoth & Johnstone, 1987, 1988a, 1988b) that indirect TIs and TAEs may not reflect temporary neural modification based on V1 lateral inhibitory processes but rather the operation of more global, possibly extrastriate, orientation-constancy mechanisms.     

A Reconsideration of the Structure of the Emotion Lexicon

This study replicated a pile sort task involving 135 emotion terms originally presented by Shaver, Schwartz, Kirson, and O'Connor (1987) with a slight change in procedures, from an unconstrained single-sort task to a constrained successive-sort task, made necessary by methodological problems during their data analysis. Subjects (86 male and female undergraduates) were asked to assign names to their piles during the successive stages of sorting. This change produced a hierarchical cluster analysis solution supporting interpretations other than the prototype structure found by Shaver et al. Decision criteria reported by subjects during sorting were described and revealed dimensions reported by previous investigators, suggesting that this is a viable method of determining dimensions important in distinguishing emotion terms. Nancy Alvarado is now at the Center for Human Information Processing     

Word repetitions in sentence recognition

When some items on a list are strengthened by extra study time or repetitions, recognition of other, unrelated, list items is not harmed (Ratcliff, Clark, & Shiffrin, 1990). Shiffrin, Ratcliff, and Clark (1990) accounted for this list-strength finding with a model assuming that different items are stored separately in memory, but that repetitions are accumulated together into a single stronger memory trace. Repeating words in the context of different sentences might cause separate storage of the repetitions of a given word, because either word or sentence traces are stored separately. Separate storage would, in effect, convert a list-strength manipulation into a list-length manipulation and thereby induce a positive list-strength effect. In Experiment 1, this result was produced for single-word recognition and for two types of sentence recognition. In Experiment 2, both words and sentences were repeated together, which should have caused repetitions to be stored in a single, stronger, trace. As expected, the list-strength effect was eliminated. A sentence trace model was fit to the data, supporting the account of Shiffrin et al. (1990) and supporting an account of word and sentence recognition in which activation is summed for representations of all list items. The results from the two studies are inconsistent with most current models of memory (as shown by the theoretical analyses of Shiffrin et al., 1990) and pose an additional challenge for theory.     

儿童内疚情绪对其亲社会行为的影响

为考察儿童内疚情绪对其亲社会行为的影响,本研究采用现场实验的方法探讨了小学5年级学生内疚情绪与其亲社会行为的关系。结果显示：（1）内疚情绪能促进儿童亲社会行为水平的提高,难过情绪不能促进儿童亲社会行为水平的提高;（2）当儿童将注意力集中于自己对团体造成的不良影响,产生内疚情绪,但如果其将注意力集中于自己的不良结果时,则产生难过情绪。结论：儿童的消极情绪是否能促进其亲社会行为水平的提高,取决于其将注意力集中于自己还是他人。     

Processing of lexical ambiguities: a comment on Milberg, Blumstein, and Dworetzky (1987)

In a study by Milberg, Blumstein, and Dworetzky (1987), normal control subjects and Wernicke's and Broca's aphasics performed a lexical decision task on the third element of auditorily presented triplets of words with either a word or a nonword as target. In three of the four types of word triplets, the first and the third words were related to one or both meanings of the second word, which was semantically ambiguous. The fourth type of word triplet consisted of three unrelated, unambiguous words, functioning as baseline. Milberg et al. (1987) claim that the results for their control subjects are similar to those reported by Schvaneveldt, Meyer, and Becker's original study (1976) with the same prime types, and so interpret these as evidence for a selective lexical access of the different meanings of ambiguous words. It is argued here that Milberg et al. only partially replicate the Schvaneveldt et al. results. Moreover, the results of Milberg et al. are not fully in line with the selective access hypothesis adopted. Replication of the Milberg et al. (1987) study with Dutch materials, using both a design without and a design with repetition of the same target words for the same subjects led to the original pattern as reported by Schvaneveldt et al. (1976). In the design with four separate presentations of the same target word, a strong repetition effect was found. It is therefore argued that the discrepancy between the Milberg et al. results on the one hand, and the Schvaneveldt et al. results on the other, might be due to the absence of a control for repetition effects in the within-subject design used by Milberg et al. It is concluded that this makes the results for both normal and aphasic subjects in the latter study difficult to interpret in terms of a selective access model for normal processing.     

Dream dialogue and retrogression: neurolinguistic origins of Freud's "replay hypothesis."

At the phenomenological level, Sigmund Freud in the Traumdeutung presents dream speeches that are ubiquitous, and syntactically and pragmatically usually well-formed (despite occasional lexical anomalies), while at the generative level Freud maintains that these are playbacks, devoid of linguistic creativity, and as such do not violate the theoretically "primary-process," nondiscursive nature of the dreamwork. Neither anecdotal data nor recent systematic experimental evidence lend the "replay hypothesis" convincing support, however. This hypothesis may (like many other aspects of his dream theory) have its particular antecedents in the theoretical constraints of Freud's protopsychoanalytic "Project for a Scientific Psychology." In fact, the hypothesis can be reconciled with the neurological mechanisms of the "Project," though it cannot be specifically derived from them. Freud utilized the concept of functional retrogression from his still earlier, prepsychoanalytic work On Aphasia, thus effecting the best compromise he could between the constraints of his overall dream theory derived from the "Project" and his own observations on the phenomenology of dream speech.     

Assessing the belief bias effect with ROCs: reply to Dube, Rotello, and Heit (2010)

Dube, Rotello, and Heit (2010) argued (a) that the so-called receiver operating characteristic is nonlinear for data on belief bias in syllogistic reasoning; (b) that their data are inconsistent with Klauer, Musch, and Naumer's (see record 2000-02818-008) model of belief bias; (c) that their data are inconsistent with any of the existing accounts of belief bias and only consistent with a theory provided by signal detection theory; and (d) that in fact, belief bias is a response bias effect. In this reply, we present reanalyses of Dube et al.'s data and of old data suggesting (a) that the receiver operating characteristic is linear for binary "valid" versus "invalid" responses, as employed by the bulk of research in this field; (b) that Klauer et al.'s model describes the old data significantly better than does Dube et al.'s model and that it describes Dube et al.'s data somewhat better than does Dube et al.'s model; (c) that Dube et al.'s data are consistent with the account of belief bias by misinterpreted necessity, whereas Dube et al.'s signal detection model does not fit their data; and (d) that belief bias is more than a response bias effect.     

Attention, temporal predictability, and the time course of context effects in naming performance

Models of attention and context effects in naming performance should be able to account for the time course of color-word Stroop interference revealed by manipulations of the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between color and word. Prominent models of Stroop task performance ( [Cohen et al., 1990], [Cohen and Huston, 1994] and [Phaf et al., 1990]) fail to account for the fact that response time (RT) and Stroop interference peak at zero SOA and diminish with word preexposure. The models may be saved by assuming that the time course of interference is determined by a strategic orienting of attention to color onsets when SOA is predictable. To test this temporal predictability hypothesis, SOA was blocked or randomly mixed in Experiment 1. In addition, the time interval between color onsets was randomly variable in Experiment 2. Although RTs were affected, none of the randomization manipulations influenced the typical shape of the time course of Stroop effects. These findings provide evidence against the temporal predictability hypothesis and thereby against prominent models of the Stroop task.     

Local and global visual mechanisms underlying individual differences in the rod-and-frame illusion

The role of local and global visual mechanisms in individual differences in the rod-and-frame (RF) effect was investigated. Field-dependent and field-independent observers, selected on the basis of Witkin and Asch’s (1948) classical procedure, were submitted to the small RF test (Coren & Hoy, 1986). Four frame tilts and two gap sizes were used. As expected, direct effects (i.e., rod settings in the direction of frame tilt) were observed at small degrees of frame tilt, while indirect effects (i.e., rod settings in the direction opposite that of frame tilt) were observed at larger frame tilts. Fielddependent observers showed larger direct effects in the case of the small gap. Indirect effects were comparable in both field-dependent and field-independent subjects, regardless of gap size. Following the model proposed by Wenderoth and Johnstone (1987), these findings indicate that low-level visual mechanisms, responsible for local orientation interactions, have a different gain in fielddependent and field-independent individuals. In contrast, global visual mechanisms, presumably acting     

State vs trait anxiety: A case study in confirmatory factor analysis

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger et al., 1970) originally divided anxiety into two factors: state anxiety, reflecting how an individual currently feels, and trait anxiety, reflecting how an individual generally feels. Recently, however, Spielberger revised his position to separate the presence and absence of anxiety symptoms within state and trait factors, yielding a hypothetical correlated 4-factor structure (Spielberger et al., 1980). Endler and Magnusson (1965) and Endler et al. (1976) have challenged the state vs trait distinction based upon their own factor analytical results. Since both sets of investigations used exploratory approaches, which do not postulate a particular factor structure, these studies do not provide an explicit test of the state vs trait distinction. A confirmatory factor analytic approach was used in the present study to evaluate Spielberger's 4-factor hypothesis. The subjects were large samples of male air force trainees and high school students for whom STAI data were available. The results of these confirmatory analyses indicated that the factors identified in exploratory analysis by Spielberger and his colleagues accounted for the data quite well.     

Self Priming: A Short term Benefit of Repetition

Burton, Bruce, and Johnston (1990) developed an interactive activation and competition (IAC) model of person recognition that gives a parsimonious account of semantic and repetition priming effects with seen faces and names. This model predicts that a familiarity decision to a person's name should be facilitated if the name is immediately preceded by the same person's face (or vice versa); Burton et al. (1990) called this effect 'self priming'. In three experiments, we explored properties of self priming predicted from Burton et al.'s (1990) IAC model. When each stimulus is seen on only one trial, the Burton et al. (1990) model predicts that within-domain self priming (e.g. name prime-name target) should produce more facilitation than cross-domain self priming (e.g. face prime-name target). This prediction was investigated in Experiments 1 and 2; results were consistent with it. Two further predictions from the Burton et al. (1990) model are that the amounts of withinand cross-domain self priming should not differ when subjects are primed to recognize the targets by prior encounters during the experiment, and that self priming should produce more facilitation than semantic priming. Results of Experiment 3 were again consistent with both predictions. We conclude that the Burton et al. (1990) IAC model stands the test of further rigorous examination.     

On the utility of looking in the “wrong” direction1

In his reply to Lamiell, Foss, and Cavenee (1980), Shweder (1980) fails to address an important question: Did the behavior report task used by Lamiell et al. meet his requirements for a “diffieult memory condition,” or did it not? In light of the nature of the illusory correlation hypothesis and Lamiell et al.'s findings, it is explained that for any of three possible answers to this question (yes, no, or maybe) the integrity of the illusory correlation hypothesis in its present form is compromised. It is also explained that further research on the hypothesis is likely to be pointless, because Lamiell et al.'s findings suggest that it is not salvageable in any form. Finally, it is explained that the incompatibility between lay persons' usage of personality concepts and the study of individual differences does not lead inextricably to the conclusion that the former have no legitimate role to play in a science of personality.     

Additivity of abrupt onset effects supports nonspatial distraction, not the capture of spatial attention

In a recent article, Schreij, Owens, and Theeuwes (2008) reported that abruptly onsetting distractors produce costs in performance even when spatial-cuing effects confirm the presence of a top-down set for color. The authors argued that these results show that abruptly onsetting new objects capture attention independent of a top-down set and, thus, provide conclusive evidence against the theory that attentional capture is contingent on top-down attentional control settings (Folk, Remington, & Johnston, 1992). In the following article, we argue that, contrary to the conclusion drawn by Schreij et al., their own data (1) disconfirm the claim that their abrupt onsets captured spatial attention and (2) are consistent with nonspatial interference accounts of singleton-distractor effects. In support of the nonspatial account, we show that in a paradigm similar to Schreij et al.’s, distractors that do not capture attention can nonetheless influence responses to a target. We conclude that the results of Schreij et al. do not represent a challenge to contingent capture theory.