On the detection of stepwise changes in a constant signal level

A stepwise change in the frequency of a continuous pure tone is taken as an element signal. The detectability of a single step is compared with the detectability of a pattern composed of two such steps in order to determine the ways in which the steps interact and how these interactions depend upon the time interval between the steps. It is shown that two positive steps separated by D msec interact by summation (d’ for two steps being greater than d’ for a single step) and that this summation is 100% even when D=100 msec. The extent of summation decreases as D is increased beyond 100 msec, leveling off at about 40% when D is near 1,000 msec. A positive step followed by a negative step (an increment) presents a more complex picture. When D=0 msec, the pattern is the null signal, and, of course, the two steps subtract completely. As D is increased, the extent of subtraction decreases, becoming zero when D is about 400 msec. Increasing D beyond 400 msec results in summation, reaching about 40% when D=2,000 msec. For D less than about 1,000 msec, the sign of the second step in a two-step signal is important: two steps of like sign summate, and two steps of unlike sign subtract. However, when the two steps are separated by about 2,000 msec, the sign of the second step is irrelevant: summation occurs, and the extent, about 40%, is the same for two steps of like sign and two steps of unlike sign. A brief theoretical discussion stresses the extant need for an information-processing theory of signal detection.     

Near-death experiences and the pursuit of the ideal society

Up to one half of near-death experiencers report a social and physical realm beyond death. I describe the features of this afterlife society and compare them with previous ideas about the ideal society. I argue that the society so often mentioned by near-death experiencers is a unique type of utopian society. As stories from utopia, near-death experiences (NDEs) serve as inspirational narratives that help us re-evaluate the social world and our place in it. They also help integrate sometimes contradictory paradigms from religion, politics, and science. In this way, NDE narratives may be seen as the latest chapter in a long search for better social ideas about living harmoniously with each other.     

Glimpses of utopia near death? a rejoinder

Five scholars have offered comments, suggestions, and criticisms of my paper Near-Death Experiences and Pursuit of the Ideal Society. In this rejoinder, I reply to those comments and elaborate on aspects of my earlier paper. I discuss issues of methodology, epistemology, validity, logic, and other social considerations with respect to the plausibility of viewing some near-death imagery as utopian. I conclude with some reflections on the social character and study of the near-death experience.     

Characteristics of the indirect McCollough effect.

Induction of contingent color aftereffects with a single chromatic grid sometimes results in an illusory color on a grid different from the one presented during induction. Such illusory color, contingently elicited by a noninduced grid, has been termed the indirect McCollough effect (indirect ME). We show that the indirect ME occurs only when the color complementary to the grid color is present during induction (either physically present or as a color afterimage), and that the indirect ME is seen only on gratings that are orthogonal to the induction orientation. These findings are in accord with the account of the indirect ME proposed by Humphrey, Dodwell, and Emerson (1989). We also show that characteristics of the indirect ME (seen following one-grid induction), both on induced and orthogonal orientations, are similar to those observed with the direct ME (seen following the usual two-grid induction procedure). Both procedures result in contingent aftereffects that display substantial retention and that do not display interocular transfer.     

Perceptual comparisons through the mind’s eye

Memory & Cognition - Four experiments tested a theory of memory and cognition which assumes that verbal and nonverbal information are processed in functionally distinct LTM systems. Subjects...     

The relationship between judgments of successiveness

The purpose of the present set of experiments was to determine the nature of the relationship between judgments of successiveness and judgments of order. The relationship was examined in terms of models which assume that the perception of successiveness is sufficient for the perception of correct temporal order. It was demonstrated that successiveness and order judgments cannot be jointly explained by perceptual latency models which assume that both judgments are based on the same internal event. This is the case regardless of the form of the perceptual latency distribution, and for either a threshold or a nonthreshold decision process. On the other hand, performance on a successiveness discrimination task, an order discrimination task, and a task requiring both a successiveness and an order judgment on each trial is consistent with the predictions of the attention-switching model.     

The associative learning of the deaf: The effects of word imagery and signability

In two experiments, deaf and hearing subjects learned paired associate lists in which rated visual imagery and signability (a measure of the ease with which a word can be represented as a gestural sign) were orthogonally varied. Visual presentation of three alternating study-recall trials resulted in significant positive effects of imagery for both deaf and hearing subjects, whereas signability facilitated recall only for deaf subjects. Examination of the relation between item attributes and reported learning strategy indicated that both deaf and hearing subjects used imaginal mediators more frequently for high-imagery than low-imagery pairs. A gestural sign strategy was reported almost exclusively by deaf subjects, particularly for high-signability pairs. These results suggest that an examination of the effects of sign language variables will contribute to an understanding of the qualitative differences in the associative learning of the deaf and hearing.     

Doing no more harm than good

Given all the consequences of an act and the value of each of them, how can we find their value ‘on the whole’? In ‘Utilitarianisms: Simple and General’, Inquiry 13, 394–449, J. Howard Sobel offers two alternative suggestions. Here one of Sobel's suggestions is attacked and the other given new support. Where the number of consequences is finite, it is argued, their value is the sum of their basic intrinsic values: the basic intrinsic value of a state of affairs is the value it has on its own account, and not in virtue of other states of affairs it entails.     

Insensitivity to children: Responses of undergraduates to children in problem situations

A study focused on insensitivity of adults to children was presented and discussed. The responses of 100 male and 100 female college undergraduates to hypothetical parent-child problem situations indicated a general lack of communication concerning the child's and their own feelings. However, when the problems involved adult needs being aroused and thwarted, theSs responses were both more insensitive and destructive than when the confrontation centered around only the child's aroused needs. In the latter case theSs did focus their communications more on the child's feelings and how he or she could express them. The results have implications for understanding effective adult behavior and reciprocal adult-child influences on the development of child-behavior dysfunctions.The research reported in this paper was supported in part by Grant MH 16444 from the U.S. Public Health Service, National Institute of Mental Health.The help of Lawrence Messe, Joel Aronoff, Luch Ferguson, and Albert Rabin is very gratefully acknowledged. We also wish to acknowledge the help of Kathy Barrie, Lew Borman, Deletha Crum, and Eli Karimi, who served as coders.