The McGurk effect in infants

In the McGurk effect, perceptual identification of auditory speech syllables is influenced by simultaneous presentation of discrepant visible speech syllables. This effect has been found in subjects of different ages and with various native language backgrounds. But no McGurk tests have been conducted with prelinguistic infants. In the present series of experiments, 5-month-old English-exposed infants were tested for the McGurk effect. Infants were first gaze-habituated to an audiovisual /va/. Two different dishabituation stimuli were then presented: audio /ba/-visual /va/ (perceived by adults as /va/), and audio /da/-visual /va/ (perceived by adults as /da/). The infants showed generalization from the audiovisual /va/ to the audio /ba/-visual /va/ stimulus but not to the audio /da/-visual /va/ stimulus. Follow-up experiments revealed that these generalization differences were not due to a general preference for the audio /da/-visual /va/ stimulus or to the auditory similarity of /ba/ to /va/ relative to /da/. These results suggest that the infants were visually influenced in the same way as Englishspeaking adults are visually influenced.     

Asymmetries and errors in perception of depth from disparity suggest a multicomponent model of disparity processing

In three experiments, asymmetries between the processing of crossed and uncrossed disparities were investigated. The target was a luminance-defined circle concentric to a fixation mark, viewed stereoscopically on a computer monitor for 105 msec. Fifteen disparities were presented according to the method of constant stimuli. Observers indicated the apparent direction of target depth relative to fixation. All experiments measured both the accuracy and latency of this response. Experiment 1 showed fewer errors and shorter reaction times for identifying crossed disparities. Experiments 2 and 3 replicated Experiment 1 and also showed that observers may often perceive a target in the direction opposite that prescribed by the disparity information. We propose that the asymmetries and reversals result from differences in computation of sign, not of magnitude. This notion is consistent with a scheme of continuous disparity tuning and accounts for such asymmetries and errors without positing disparity pooling mechanisms.     

Unimanual Performance as a Measure of Laterality

The study of unimanual performance as a measure of laterality has ranged from simple concepts such as tests of handedness to highly complex conceptualizations interrelating anthropologic, cultural, genetic, and neurological aspects, including difference between unimanual performance in brain injured versus normal samples. This paper traces measures of unimanual performance through behavioral correlates of natural and unnatural sinistrality as related to cerebral organization, and concludes that unimanual performance represents a robust phenomenon with implications for understanding of neuropsychological correlates of behavior.     

A NOTE ON TRANSFER OF STIMULUS CONTROL IN THE DELAYED-CUE PROCEDURE: FACILITATION BY AN OVERT DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSE

This case study describes initially unsuccessful attempts to use the delayed-cue procedure to teach conditional discriminations to an individual with moderate mental retardation. The task was matching printed-word comparison stimuli to dictated-name sample stimuli. In three experiments, the subject typically waited for the delayed cue unless differential responses to the dictated samples (repeating the sample names) were required. Hence, the study provides an example of a way to make the delayed-cue method more effective. The stimulus control bases for the results are discussed.     

An evaluation of differential prediction of WIAT achievement scores from WISC-III FSIQ across ethnic and gender groups

This study examines differential prediction of WIAT achievement scores based on WISC-III FSIQ in white as compared with African American and Hispanic children, and in females as compared with males. A procedure which allows simultaneous comparisons of slopes and intercepts across groups is employed. The results are consistent with previous research findings in supporting the general absence of bias in predicting achievement from IQ.     

(My) spirituality in medical education

During these times of the situated, contingent text, it is not unusual for an author to disclose her biases and other sources of potential partiality as a researcher or theorist. That is, an author often discloses her race, class origins, or sexual orientation at the onset, announcing particularities that enable readers to adjust their reading to the subjectivities inherent to knowledge production. One glaring omission to these announcements, especially in medicine, has to do with the spiritual domain. This essay, written as a personal narrative, provides one example of how one's spirituality is connected to what and how one chooses to teach, even in the medical academy. Acknowledging those beliefs and considering how our spirituality (along with our other subjectivities that are known to us) may influence our work is an important process in developing a more reflective practice.     

The importance of stories in the act of caring

This article focuses on the essential role and function of story in the care of young children with emotional and behavioral disorders in an institutional setting. Highlighted in this article is the importance of story in the therapeutic relationship, its educational implications, and in theological reflection. A narrative approach of care becomes a way of healing both heart and mind, and is ultimately an act of love.     

The content of mother stereotypes

Although there is considerable empirical support for the existence of social stereotypes about different types of mothers, the content of those stereotypes is less clear. The purpose of this study was to identify the content of stereotypes related to different types of mothers. Stereotyped attributes of married mothers, stepmothers, divorced mothers, and never married mothers were generated by several samples and combined into one list. A subsequent sample was asked to indicate the percentage of each type of mother possessing each characteristic. The content of mother stereotypes was examined, and the results discussed in light of effects on social interactions, the self-image of women, and future attempts to assess family-related stereotypes.     

Training Soviet immigrant therapists in the field of group psychotherapy

Between 1970 and 1990 about one-half million Jews immigrated to Israel, most of them from the former Soviet Union, including many mental health therapists who had trained and worked in the Soviet Union. This article addresses the special characteristics of this population, in general, and of the mental health therapists, in particular. It relates these characteristics to training for group psychotherapy. Key issues include their unique experience of the inner world as a source of danger, the specific defensive modes connected with this experience, their perception of authority as an agent of ideology, and their representation of the group as a persecutory entity and as a vehicle of indoctrination.