A unified approach to the perception of motion,stereo, and static-flow patterns

This paper presents a unified approach for studying the perception of motion, stereopsis, and static-flow (Glass) patterns. The objective is to address the same issues across these “modalities.” To this end, a new class of stimuli and procedures were developed, the key feature of which is the incorporation of a forced-choice competition paradigm into the random-dot stimuli paradigm that has traditionally been used in these modalities. The two competing percepts that are pitted against each other are opposite directions for motion, near/far depth planes for stereopsis, and orthogonal global patterns for Glass patterns. The differences in qualitative predictions for competing hypotheses are generally well pronounced, and the results provide clear evidence for deciding between alternative hypotheses. This approach has been used to confirm that covariance is the preferred metric for eliciting global correlations in all the modalities and to investigate the nature of front-end processes in each modality. It has the potential for neurophysiological studies for both single-cell and neuronal ensemble recording.     

The influence of high-risk pregnancies and social support systems on maternal perceptions of the infant

This study examines the effects of high-risk pregnancies on the maternal perception of the full-term healthy infant, as well as the influence of social support systems on these effects. Thirty mothers after high-risk pregnancy and 30 mothers after low-risk pregnancy were interviewed when their infants were 3 months old. Their perceptions of own and average baby were evaluated as well as the amount and availability of and their satisfaction with social support. The obtained results confirm the hypothesis that mothers after high-risk pregnancies tend to perceive their infant as significantly more difficult than mothers after low-risk pregnancies. A main finding of this study is that high-risk pregnancy mothers perceive an average baby in a much more positive way. Social support was not found to affect significantly the maternal negative perception of the infant after a high-risk pregnancy. These findings are discussed in the context of the continuity of the process of maternal affiliation to the infant before and after delivery.     

Empirische S?tze und logische Konstanten

Ohne Zusammenfassung