DIAGNOSTIC EXPLOITATION OF VISUAL AFTEREFFECT MEASURES IN A MODERATELY DEPRESSIVE PATIENT GROUP

SMITH, G. J. W., FRIES, I., ANDERSSON, A. L. & RIED, J. Diagnostic exploitation of visual aftereffect measures in a moderately depressive patient group. Scand. J. Psychol. , 1971, 12, 68–79.–A group of 39 moderately depressive patients were tested before and after therapy with two serial aftereffect tests. One of them concerned size, intensity, and color of projected afterimages (AI), the other the duration of spiral aftereffects (SAE). AI and SAE data correlated highly with psychiatric ratings of depressive retardation, anxiety, and compulsion. These correlations formed the nucleus of three independent dimensions in a factorial space.     

Patterns of perceptual change in the ages 7 to 15 years: a cross-sectional study of the Rod-and-Frame Test and the spiral aftereffect technique

Abstract.— Studied cross-sectional changes in Rod-and-Frame Test (RFT) deviation scores and spiral aftereffect (SAE) duration scores in 124 boys and 124 girls aged 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 years. The gradual decrease in magnitude of RFT deviation with age reached its minimum at the age of 13. A sex difference, disappearing with age, was adequately described by a measure of performance change, boys counteracting to a higher extent than girls the frame influence as the RFT trials proceeded. An increase in SAE duration, found previously with 5-year-olds, appeared here with 111-year-olds but later in a series of ten trials rather than initially as with the younger children. Relations between RFT and SAE scores were mainly found with 7-year-olds, i.e. at an age when per-ceptual-figural regulations may still dominate the cognitive organization of some children. The SAE results are viewed within a multi-line developmental model characterizing cognitive growth as a dialectic process of progressive shifts between objectivized and self-centered modes of representation.     

Relationship between differentiation and integration of self and nonself: an investigation in terms of modes of perceptual adaptation

Differentiation and integration of self- and nonself-aspects of perception were investigated as features of the process of adapting to a spiral aftereffect (SAE) induced with massed trials. The cessation of the SAE at each trial was assumed to indicate that self-aspects of perception had been differentiated from nonself-aspects, changes in SAE duration over trials being considered to represent the integration of these aspects. Degree and stability of self-nonself-differentiation, reflected in the level and persistence of field-dependence measured on a serial version of the Rod and Frame Test, varied between individuals (N = 129). The results suggest that persistent field-independence requires both self- and nonself-aspects of perception to be adequately and continuously represented in an integrative process which is oriented towards stimulus-proximity, self-aspects of perception being successively replaced by nonself-aspects.     

视时距知觉适应后效的空间选择性

时距知觉适应后效是指长时间适应于某一特定时距会导致个体对后续时距产生知觉偏差。其中对视时距知觉适应后效空间选择性的探讨存在争议,有研究支持位置不变性,也有研究支持位置特异性。这类研究能有效揭示时距编码的认知神经机制,位置不变性可能意味着时距编码位于较高级的脑区,而位置特异性则可能意味着时距编码位于初级视觉皮层。未来还可以探究时距知觉适应后效的视觉坐标表征方式,开展多通道研究以及相应的神经基础研究。     

ADAPTIVE PATTERNS IN A SERIAL SPIRAL AFTER-EFFECT TEST AS RELATED TO A SYSTEM OF PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS

Utilizing a serial technique for measuring and scoring spiral aftereffect (SAE), four types of individual adaptive patterns defined by measures of regression and residual variability are isolated in a sample of 36 students from an introductory course in psychology. These patterns show distinct and plausible relationships with the Sjobring personality dimensions measured by a questionnaire. This indicates that a serial application of SAE may be a promising tool for further personality research.     

Attention affects the stereoscopic depth aftereffect

'Preattentive' vision is typically considered to include several low-level processes, including the perception of depth from binocular disparity and motion parallax. However, doubt was cast on this model when it was shown that a secondary attentional task can modulate the motion aftereffect (Chaudhuri, 1990 Nature 344 60-62). Here we investigate whether attention can also affect the depth aftereffect (Blakemore and Julesz, 1971 Science 171 286-288). Subjects adapted to stationary or moving random-dot patterns segmented into depth planes while attention was manipulated with a secondary task (character processing at parametrically varied rates). We found that the duration of the depth aftereffect can be affected by attentional manipulations, and both its duration and that of the motion aftereffect varied with the difficulty of the secondary task. The results are discussed in the context of dynamic feedback models of vision, and support the penetrability of low-level sensory processes by attentional mechanisms.     

Buildup and decay of a three-dimensional rotational aftereffect obtained with a three-dimensional figure

Gaps in past literature have raised questions regarding the kinds of stimuli that can lead to three-dimensional (3-D) rotation aftereffects. Further, the characteristics of the buildup and decay of such aftereffects are not clear. In the present experiments, rotation aftereffects were generated by projections of cube-like stimuli whose dynamic perspective motions gave rise to the perception of rotation in unambiguous directions; test stimuli consisted of similar cubes whose rotation directions were ambiguous. In experiment 1, the duration of the adaptation stimulus was varied and it was found that the 3-D rotation aftereffect develops with a time constant of approximately 26 s. In experiment 2, the duration between adaptation and testing was varied. It was found that the 3-D rotation aftereffect has a decay constant of about 9 s, similar to that observed with 2-D motion aftereffects. Experiment 3 showed that the rotation aftereffects were not simple depth aftereffects. To account for these aftereffects and related data, a modification of an existing neural-network model is suggested.     

Attentional modulation of the visual motion aftereffect has a central cognitive locus: evidence of interference by the postcategorical on the precategorical

An attentionally demanding task undertaken during adaptation to motion reduces the duration of the subsequent motion aftereffect (A. Chaudhuri, 1990). Previous studies have suggested that this effect is intramodal in character, reflecting the selective deployment of visual attention. The present study demonstrates that nonvisual tasks, performed concurrently with motion adaptation, can significantly reduce the duration of the ensuing aftereffect. Three experiments converge on the conclusionthat postcategorical processes can influence otherwise unrelated concurrent precategorical processes. The experiments also show that neither perceptual input nor motor output components of the attentional task are responsible for the subsequent reduction in motion of aftereffect. The results suggest a reappraisal of findings in this area and of the general distinction between perception and cognition.     

An aftereffect in judgment of auditory duration

Two experiments were designed to investigate the occurrence of atemporal aftereffect following auditory spatial stimulation. The task required Ss to compare by means of a motorresponse the duration of a test tone presented at a variable interval after stimulation with a standard tone. In both experiments the posttest duration was underestimated relative to the pretest duration, i.e., there was a temporal aftereffect(TAE). A control experiment which involved Ss making estimates of the duration of the test tones, without the presentation of interpolated standard tones, did not show this effect. The temporal aftereffect followed a function analogous to the “distance paradox” forspatial aftereffects.     

Simple and contingent aftereffects of perceived duration in vision and audition

After repeated presentations of a long inspection tone (800 or 1,000 msec), a test tone of intermediate duration (600 msec) appeared shorter than it would otherwise appear. A short inspection tone (200 or 400 msec) tended to increase the apparent length of the intermediate test tone. Thus, a negative aftereffect of perceived auditory duration occurred, and a similar aftereffect occurred in the visual modality. These aftereffects, each involving a single sensory dimension, aresimple aftereffects. The following procedures producedcontingent aftereffects of perceived duration. A pair of lights, the first short and the second long, was presented repeatedly during an inspection period. When a pair of test lights of intermediate duration was then presented, the first member of the pair appeared longer in relation to the second. A similar aftereffect occurred in the auditory modality. In these latter aftereffects, the perceived duration of a test light or tone is contingent—dependent—on its temporal order, first or second, within a pair of test stimuli. An experiment designed to test the possibility of cross-modal transfer of contingent aftereffects between audition and vision found no significant cross-modal aftereffects.     

The Spectrally Dependent Monotic Component in the Decreasing-Loudness Aftereffect: Implications for Dynamic Auditory Localization

Listeners exposed to a tone increasing in intensity report an aftereffect of decreasing loudness in a steady tone heard afterward. In the present study, the spectral dependence of the monotic decreasing-loudness aftereffect (adapting and testing 1 ear) was compared with (a) the spectral dependence of the interotic decreasing-loudness aftereffect (adapting 1 ear and testing the other ear) and (b) a non-adaptation control condition. The purpose was to test the hypothesis that the decreasing-loudness aftereffect may concern the sensory processing associated with dynamic localization. The hypothesis is based on two premises: (a) dynamic localization requires monaural sensory processing, and (b) sensory processing is reflected in spectral selectivity. Hence, the hypothesis would be supported if the monotic aftereffect were more spectrally dependent and stronger than the interotic aftereffect; A. H. Reinhardt-Rutland (1998) showed that the hypothesis is supported with regard to the related increasing-loudness aftereffect. Two listeners were exposed to a 1-kHz adapting stimulus. From responses of “growing softer” or “growing louder” to test stimuli changing in intensity, nulls were calculated; test carrier frequencies ranged from 0.5 kHz to 2 kHz. Confirming the hypothesis, the monotic aftereffect peaked at around the 1-kHz test carrier frequency. In contrast, the interotic aftereffect showed little evidence of spectrally dependent peaking. Except when test and adaptation carrier frequencies differed markedly, the interotic aftereffect was smaller than the monotic aftereffect.     

Perceptual asymmetries associated with changing-loudness aftereffects

Listening to decreasing sound level leads to an increasing-loudness aftereffect, whereas listening to increasing sound level leads to a decreasing-loudness aftereffect. Measuring the aftereffects by nulling them in short test stimuli reveals that increasing-loudness aftereffects are greater than decreasing-loudness aftereffects. However, this perceptual asymmetry may be due to another illusion--the growing-louder effect: In the absence of any adaptation, short steady stimuli are heard as growing louder. In an experiment in which the duration of test stimuli varied from 1.0 to 2.5 sec, the growing-louder effect did not occur in the longer test stimuli, but the asymmetry in changing-loudness aftereffects remained. The aftereffect asymmetry is therefore independent of the growing-louder effect. The aftereffect asymmetry is consistent with other psychophysical and physiological evidence that is believed to concern potential collision: An approaching sound-source elicits increasing sound level. In addition, the aftereffect asymmetry parallels a well-known asymmetry regarding aftereffects of visual motion, which is also attributed to potential collision.     

The spectrally dependent monotic component in the decreasing-loudness aftereffect: implications for dynamic auditory localization

Listeners exposed to a tone increasing in intensity report an aftereffect of decreasing loudness in a steady tone heard afterward. In the present study, the spectral dependence of the monotic decreasing-loudness aftereffect (adapting and testing 1 ear) was compared with (a) the spectral dependence of the interotic decreasing-loudness aftereffect (adapting 1 ear and testing the other ear) and (b) a non-adaptation control condition. The purpose was to test the hypothesis that the decreasing-loudness aftereffect may concern the sensory processing associated with dynamic localization. The hypothesis is based on two premises: (a) dynamic localization requires monaural sensory processing, and (b) sensory processing is reflected in spectral selectivity. Hence, the hypothesis would be supported if the monotic aftereffect were more spectrally dependent and stronger than the interotic aftereffect; A. H. Reinhardt-Rutland (1998) showed that the hypothesis is supported with regard to the related increasing-loudness aftereffect. Two listeners were exposed to a 1-kHz adapting stimulus. From responses of "growing softer" or "growing louder" to test stimuli changing in intensity, nulls were calculated; test carrier frequencies ranged from 0.5 kHz to 2 kHz. Confirming the hypothesis, the monotic aftereffect peaked at around the 1-kHz test carrier frequency. In contrast, the interotic aftereffect showed little evidence of spectrally dependent peaking. Except when test and adaptation carrier frequencies differed markedly, the interotic aftereffect was smaller than the monotic aftereffect.     

Induction and retention of kinesthetic aftereffects as a function of number and distribution of inspection trials

Measures of kinesthetic aftereffects were made for 240 Ss in 15 groups. Each group was tested with a combination of number of 30-sec. inspection periods (5, 10, or 15) and time between inspection periods (0, 10, 30, 60, or 90 sec). The number of inspection periods had a significant effect on size of aftereffect and on residual aftereffect 15 min later. The maximum aftereffect followed the 10 period inspection (5 min inspection). Distribution of inspection periods in time had no significant effect on these measures of aftereffect. In a second experiment, distribution of inspection periods in time had no effect on induced aftereffect or on residual aftereffect 24 h later. There was significant residual aftereffect after 24 h which was significantly related to amount of aftereffect originally induced.     

Interactions between simultaneous contrast and adaptation to gradual change of luminance

Following adaptation to a field of light which was modulated by a rising ramp so that it repetitively grows gradually brighter, a steady test field of light appears to be gradually growing dimmer. In this study, if a small grey spot of constant luminance was centered in the brightening field, it appeared to be growing gradually dimmer by simultaneous contrast. This apparent dimming led to a brightening aftereffect in the spot. It was shown that this spot aftereffect had two independent components: the apparent dimming of the adapting spot produced its own aftereffect (contrast produced an aftereffect) and also the dimming aftereffect in the surround field spatially induced an aftereffect into the spot during the test period (aftereffect produced simultaneous contrast). Thus simultaneous contrast can both precede and follow successive contrast in the visual system.     

Can we neurologise about spiral after effect duration?

Spiral After Effect (SAE) durations and measures of judgmental delay on an audio shift task were taken from 26 subjects. The importance of a general dispositional factor relative to specific neurological factors in determining SAE duration was investigated.A significant correlation was found between the two test measures (r = 0.79, P < 0.001). The validity of the SAE as a measure of ‘arousal modulation’ (Claridge, 1967; Blowers, 1979) is brought into question, and an alternative account of the reported duration of after-effect is given in terms of a general disposition for decision making under conditions of uncertainty, determined by social conditioning factors.     

Sociability/impulsivity and attenuated dopaminergic arousal: critical flicker/fusion frequency and procedural learning

Two experiments examined the interaction of sociability (Soc) and impulsivity (Imp) components of extraversion and reduced dopamine activity (by haloperidol) on critical flicker/fusion frequency change scores (ACFFT) and procedural learning. In double-blind designs, subjects received either haloperidol (5 mg) or placebo; Soc and Imp were randomly sampled. In Experiment 1, Drug × Imp, and Drug × Imp × Soc interactions were found on ΔCFFT; in Experiment 2, a drug × Soc interaction was found on procedural learning. In both experiments, introverts seemed over-aroused under placebo (putatively due to the medical context), more optimally aroused under haloperidol; for procedural learning, extraverts seemed more optimally aroused under placebo, less optimally aroused under haloperidol. These data indicate that both Soc and Imp mediate the effects of arousal; Drug × Imp effects my conceal joint effects of Soc × Imp; and that Soc shows more consistent effects than Imp. These data complement a previous study of Soc/Imp and caffeine-induced arousal (Corr, Pickering & Gray, 1995), and lend support to H. J. Eysenck's (1967) arousal model of Extraversion.     

Duration of the motion aftereffect as a function of retinal locus and visual field.

The duration of the aftereffect induced by viewing a rotating disc was recorded separately for the four hemiretinae of the left and right eyes using a new method of measurement. The results showed duration of aftereffect to differ between nasal and temporal hemiretinae of the right eye and between left and right cerebral hemispheres.     

Discontinuity of seen motion reduces the visual motion aftereffect

Would a motion-picture film of a rotating spiral induce a spiral aftereffect? This question was studied in two experiments in which Ss viewed an animated film of circles collapsing to a point. The rate of apparent motion of the collapsing circles and the discontinuity of motion—the length of jump between successively projected circles—were varied independently. A visual aftereffect like the spiral aftereffect was created. The aftereffect increased in strength and duration with the rate of motion, but at all rates of motion it declined as discontinuity of motion increased. The results are taken as evidence that motion aftereffects are caused by selective fatigue of small, directionally sensitive motion-receptive fields.