Some effects of later-occurring information on the perception of stop consonant and semivowel

In three experiments, we determined how perception of the syllable-initial distinction between the stop consonant [b] and the semivowel [w], when cued by duration of formant transitions, is affected by parts of the sound pattern that occur later in time. For the first experiment, we constructed four series of syllables, similar in that each had initial formant transitions ranging from one short enough for [ba] to one long enough for [wa], hut different in overall syllable duration. The consequence in perception was that, as syllable duration increased, the [b-w] boundary moved toward transitions of longer duration. Then, in the second experiment, we increased the duration of the sound by adding a second syllable, [da], (thus creating [bada-wada]), and observed that lengthening the second syllable also shifted the perceived [b-w] boundary in the first syllable toward transitions of longer duration; however, this effect was small by comparison with that produced when the first syllable was lengthened equivalently. In the third experiment, we found that altering the structure of the syllable had an effect that is not to be accounted for by the concomitant change in syllable duration: lengthening the syllable by adding syllable-final transitions appropriate for the stop consonant [d] (thus creating [bad-wad]) caused the perceived [b-w] boundary to shift toward transitions of shorter duration, an effect precisely opposite to that produced when the syllable was lengthened to the same extent by adding steady-state vowel. We suggest that, in all these cases, the later-occurring information specifies rate of articulation and that the effect on the earlier-occurring cue reflects an appropriate perceptual normalization.     

Pilot Study Investigating the Role of Therapy Dogs in Facilitating Social Interaction among Children with Autism

Ten children with autism, aged 7–10, attended 14 individual sessions of social interaction therapy. A group-comparison design was adopted. Comparing two interventions, matching and random assignment were used to form the experimental group (Animal-Assisted Play Therapy with a therapy dog) and the comparison group (an identical play therapy procedure using a doll as the dog surrogate). The within-group results using nonparametric tests showed that verbal social behavior increased significantly in the experimental group. Although the magnitude of this increase was not significantly larger than that in the comparison group, the preliminary findings suggested that the therapy dog had a positive impact on language output. The results are discussed in terms of the role that a therapy dog can fulfill as a “Speech Elicitor” for children with autism.     

Internal-external control of reinforcement and embedded-figures performance

Male and female Ss were tested in an extended series of 68 embedded figures. Rate of decrease in discovery time was related to Ss’ attitudes about locus of control of reinforcing outcomes. Results confirmed those of an earlier study, showing that practice dissipated sex-related performance differences observable in early trials.     

Binocular fusion and contour suppression

Data from three separate investigations are presented to support the conclusion that suppression of visual contours occurs during binocular fusion of identical figures. These data are discussed in relation to examples of confirming and disconfirming results of other investigators.     

What Are Some Promising Developments in Psychotherapy with “Psychosis”? Introduction and Preview

A review indicates that there are some promising new developments in the aims and goals, and in the actual working methods, of doing psychotherapy with clients or patients considered as psychotic. Some of these new developments are rooted in the significant developments of the 1950s and 1960s, and some are recent developments in their own right. Capsule previews are provided of the subsequent papers of the special series.     

On the precision of a euclidean structure

This paper is concerned with the development of a measure of the precision of a multidimensional euclidean structure. The measure is a precision index for each point in the structure, assuming that all the other points are precisely located. The measure is defined and two numerical methods are presented for its calculation. A small Monte Carlo study of the measure's behavior is performed and findings discussed.The authors are indebted to Bert F. Green, Jr., Ronald Helms, Andrea Sedlak, and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of this paper.