Depth separation and the Ponzo illusion

The Ponzo illusion refers to an apparent change in length of objectively equal parallel lines induced by enclosure within an acute angle. The present study investigated this illusory change in stimulus extent as a function of the relative depth positions of the parallel lines and the inducing angle. To permit facile and unconfounded manipulation of apparent depth, the stimuli comprising the Ponzo configuration were stereoscopic contours formed from dynamic random-element stereograms. The main results were: (1) apparent depth separation exerted a strong influence on illusion magnitude; (2) this influence was asymmetrical in that illusion magnitude decreased when the inducing angle appeared in depth behind the parallel lines and increased when the inducing angle appeared in depth in front of the lines. These data are consistent with a general theory of space perception that assumes that information about depth position is processed prior to information about stimulus characteristics.     

Introversion-extraversion: the Bell-Magendie law revisited

Evidence from several sources, including psychophysical, electrodermal and evoked potential measures, indicates that introverts display an enhanced response to sensory stimulation. There is also evidence, primarily from psychophysical studies, which suggests that extraverts may be disposed to emit short, strong bursts of motor activity which facilitate performance on tasks that involve gross motor activity but which impede performance on tasks which require refined motor control. The present paper develops an argument in which the differences between introverts and extraverts in the response to sensory stimulation and in the expression of motor activity may be referred to differences at the level of the sensory and motor nerve.     

Gender-role adoption and sex as academic and psychological risk factors

Five hundred and ten first-year junior high school students were administered a battery of psychological tests. On the basis of their scores from two gender-role adoption measures, three smaller groups were extracted within each biological sex: masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated individuals. Feminine students reported a greater amount of discomfort (vulnerability). A battery of tests administered toward the end of that school year revealed that females attained greater neuroticism and alienation scores than did their male peers. Possible explanations for this pubescent self-report of maladjustment are the more masculine orientation of the junior high school in comparison to the elementary school and the menarche.The authors wish to thank Ms. S. Chesterman, Regional Director of the Montreal Catholic School Commission, and Mr. K. Quinn, Principal of Sir Wilfred Laurier Junior High School, for granting us permission to disrupt school activities in order to test their students. We also wish to acknowledge the assistance of the following members of Sir Wilfred Laurier: Mr. O. Hruby, Vice-Principal; Sr. G. Larocque, Vice-Principal; Mr. S. Radeschi, key teacher; and members of the administrative and teaching staff.     

Evaluating competence of women and men: Effects of marital and parental status and occupational sex-typing

A sample of 160 female and male college students read a completed job application and a letter written by the applicant. The job was in either a feminine or a masculine field. The applicant was described as either female or male, single or married, and having one or no children. Subjects answered seven evaluative questions about the competence of the applicant and the merits of the letter. Women, especially single ones, who applied for a sex-typical job generally were evaluated most favorably. Men, especially single ones, and women who applied for sex-atypical jobs were evaluated least favorably.     

Mothers and fathers of young children: comparison of parenting styles

This study compared the developmental expectations and parenting behaviors of 52 mothers and fathers with children between the ages of 1 and 4 years, using the Parenting Inventory: Young Children. While both mothers and fathers were nurturing parents, mothers obtained significantly higher nurturing scores. Possible reasons for this difference were discussed. Developmental expectations and discipline strategies did not differ between mothers and fathers.     

Response-contingent stimulation as a treatment for developmental failure in infancy

An 8-month-old infant with a developmental quotient of $\text{1}\text{1}\text{2}$ months was given response-contingent stimulation using a pressure-sensitive pillow which turned an overhead mobile. The subject learned to control the mobile by kicking the pillow, and concurrently began smiling at both the mobile and her mother for the first time. After mastering three contingencies on arm, head, and leg movement, she displayed what appeared to be a Piagetian coordinated secondary circular reaction, in which one response provided 4 seconds of access to another contingency. Although the subject remains severely retarded, the results suggest that some forms of developmental delay may be treated at least in part as a failure to develop contingency awareness.     

Effects of household sex composition on the salience of one's gender in the spontaneous self-concept

It was hypothesized that being a boy or a girl becomes more salient in a child's self-concept to the extent the other sex numerically predominates in the child's household. This prediction was based upon an information-processing, distinctiveness postulate that a person contemplating a complex stimulus (such as the self) selectively notices and encodes its more distinctive, information-rich aspects. The spontaneous self-concept elicited by nondirective “Tell us about yourself” interviews of 560 school children were scored for spontaneous mention of one's gender. As predicted, boys spontaneously mentioned their maleness more often when they came from households where females were in the majority; girls mentioned their femaleness more often when from households with male majorities; boys mentioned their maleness more often when from father-absent than from father-present homes. Incidental findings are that gender is more salient in the negation self-concept (“Tell us what you are not”) than in the affirmation self-concept (“Tell us about yourself”) especially for girls and that gender becomes increasingly salient as the child grows older.     

Central sources of visual masking: Indexing structures supporting seeing at a single,brief glance

Summary When two briefly exposed, spatially overlapping visual fields are presented dichoptically, the identifiability of the first field is a J-shaped function of the interval separating their onsets. Three distinct sources of central masking are inferred from the selective influence of variables at different onset asynchronies. In integration through common synthesis, two fields presented at or near simultaneous onset yield one iconic representation. The distinctiveness of this source is inferred from the selective influence of eye dominance at and near simultaneous onset. At longer onset asynchronies, the selective influence of variables such as mask contrast and degree of contour overlap imply a second source of masking. This source was identified with the inhibition of sustained channels by transient channels reported elsewhere. Interchannel inhibition is proposed to affect the fidelity of the iconic representation, but here the imprecision is due to loss of form-relevant information on the first field. At yet longer onset asynchronies, where the fields are phenomenally separate, a third set of variables (e.g., words vs. nonwords and left vs. right visual fields) show their influence. These effects are taken as evidence of a replacement principle: the iconic representation of the second field directs attention from that of the first field. Here, first-field identifiability is constrained by time rather than by impoverished data.In a final series of experiments, central three-field interactions are demonstrated. A field, inserted into the temporal gap between two fields, is perceptually impaired even though it is separated from the first and third fields by intervals at which, individually, neither field is an effective mask. This second-field depression is accompanied by a first-field enhancement. The three sources of central masking are hard pressed to account for the three-field effects.     

A Peer Assertiveness-Training Program

The demand for assertiveness-training groups and the effective use of paraprofessionals in skills training were influential factors in the authors' decision to develop a peer assertiveness-training program. This program extends the availability of assertiveness training to students through the use of paraprofessionals as group leaders. This article describes a format for developing a peer assertiveness-training program and is based on the authors' experience conducting this program during the 1977–78 academic year at Pennsylvania State University.     

Conservation training in four-year-old children

In Experiment 1 two training procedures were used to teach four-year-olds to conserve. Verbal rule instruction consisted of providing verbal rules and demonstrations of the operations referred to by the rules. Feedback consisted of providing verbal feedback contingent upon the children's responses. One week after training on conservation of number and length the children were given a posttest which included tests of conservation of number, length, and mass. Children who were given verbal rule instruction conserved significantly more on the number and length posttest problems than children who were not. However, this learning did not transfer to the mass problems, possibly because mass is not naturally acquired until some time after conservation of number and length. The feedback training procedure had no effect on conservation performance. In Experiment 2, the verbal rule instruction procedure was used to train four-year-olds on conservation of length and mass. One week after training the children were tested on both conservation of number, which is typically acquired before length and mass, and conservation of weight, which is typically acquired after length and mass, as well as on conservation of length and mass. Children who were given training conserved more on all four types of problems than children in the control group.