Pitch motion with random chord sequences

Perception of global pitch motion was studied through psychoacoustic experiments with random chord sequences. Chords contained either six or eight (fixed) tone elements, being sinusoidal, sawtooth-like, or Shepard tones, which were either on or off according to a probability controlled by the experimenter. Sequences of 2, 4, 5, or 8 chords were used. Identification by subjects of the perceived direction of overall pitch motion (up or down) was found to be well accounted for by a model in which the ultimate pitch motion percept is given by a sum of contributions from selected element transitions--that is, transitions between adjoining tone elements in successive time frames only. In its simplest form, this dipole contribution model has only one free parameter, the perceptual noise for an element transition, which was estimated for various acoustic tone representations and chord arrangements. Results of two experiments, which were carried out independently in two different laboratories, are reported.     

Human optokinetic nystagmus: competition between stationary and moving displays

We reported earlier that occlusion of the central retina and stationary edges have highly interactive effects on the gain of optokinetic nystagmus (OKN; Murasugi, Howard, & Ohmi, 1986). In this study, we explored this effect in more detail. A central occluding band of variable height, flanked by vertical bars, was superimposed onto an array of dots moving at 30 degrees per second. The height of the occluding band required to abolish OKN increased with the separation of the vertical bars. For bars 3.5 degrees apart, OKN was abolished in most subjects when a band only 6' high ran between them. For bars 75 degrees apart, a band at least 20 degrees in height was required to abolish the response. The effects of the stationary figure depended to some extent on the subject's attention, but only at intermediate values of bar separation. Both low- and high-level mechanisms are proposed to account for the results.     

Internal consistency reliability of the fractionated and whole University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test

The internal consistency reliability (ICR) of the 40-item University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) and its 10-, 20-, and 30-item fractions was explored, as well as the relationships between the fractions and the entire 40-item test. Pearson correlation coefficients (rs) were computed among all independent combinations and permutations of the four 10-item UPSIT booklets using data from 774 subjects. The median r values of the 10- and 20-item combinations were used to establish the ICRs of the 10- and 20-item tests. The ICRs of the 30- and 40-item tests were estimated using the Spearman-Brown formula and the median rs of the 20-item combinations. Additional ICR estimates of the 40-item UPSIT were obtained from nonsymmetrical fractions using the Horst formula. The ICRs for the UPSIT and its 10-, 20-, and 30-item fractions were 0.922, 0.752, 0.855 and 0.898, respectively. No major sex differences emerged. Estimates of correlations between (1) single booklets and two-booklet combinations and (2) the 40-item UPSIT using Guilford's (1953) correction for nonindependence ranged from 0.812 to 0.871. Overall, these results indicate that (1) the UPSIT and its 10-, 20-, and 30-item fragments have very high ICRs and (2) individual UPSIT booklets or their combinations can be used to assess smell function in a reliable manner where extreme time constraints are present (e.g., in surveys and in brief neuropsychological test batteries).     

Obstacle perception by congenitally blind children

The ability to perceive objects from a distance and navigate without vision depends principally on auditory information. Two experiments were conducted in order to assess this ability in congenitally blind children aged 4 to 12 years who had negligible amounts of visual experience or formal mobility training. In Experiment 1, children walked along a sidewalk toward a target location to get some candy. A box was placed along the path on some trials, and the children were instructed to avoid the box if it was present. The children spent more time in the region just in front of the box than in the region just behind it, indicating that they perceived the box and acted so as to navigate around it. In Experiment 2, children attempted to discriminate whether a nearby disk was on their left or on their right. The children performed at above-chance levels, again indicating distal perception of objects. The results of both experiments suggest that blind children with little or no visual experience or formal training utilize nonvisual information, presumably auditory, to perceive objects. The specific nature of this auditory information requires further investigation, but these findings imply that the underlying perceptual ability does not require experience in spatial vision or deliberate training and intervention.     

Rate of processing and judgment of response speed: comparing the effects of alcohol and practice

Both alcohol and practice affect choice reaction time. The present study was conducted to investigate the possibility that impairment from alcohol and improvement with practice could be attributed to changes in the efficiency of control mechanisms (Rabbitt, 1979a), some of which depend upon the ability to judge response speed accurately. Twenty subjects participated in a four-choice reaction time experiment in which they received no alcohol (NA) in Session 1 and either no alcohol (10 subjects) or 0.8 ml alcohol (A) per kilogram of body weight (10 subjects) in Session 2. The task was to respond as fast and as accurately as possible to each stimulus. In addition, subjects were required to press a fifth key after any response that they considered to be both fast and accurate. Subjects had no difficulty in performing this task: (1) there was a significant difference of 122 msec between the mean response time for correct responses indicated as fast and that for correct responses not indicated as fast, and (2) subjects indicated 1 in 4 correct responses but only 1 in 64 errors. Alcohol increased all response times by approximately 40 msec. In contrast, practice decreased response times less for correct responses not indicated as fast than for correct responses indicated as fast. The ability to distinguish between fast and slow responses was thus unaffected by alcohol, but was improved by practice. Responses indicated as "fast" were significantly faster than errors, and appeared to occur without warning (unlike errors, which tended to end a sequence of increasingly fast correct responses). The results suggest that alcohol and practice influence choice reaction time in qualitatively different ways: Alcohol impairs overall response speed but has no effect on the ability to judge response speed, whereas practice improves both.     

Initial experiences with cognitive therapy of schizophrenic patients

Based on earlier experiences of various groups of authors, we developed and modified a programme of cognitive therapy for schizophrenic patients. The aim of the application of the therapeutic programme to subacute patients was to decrease subjectively perceptible basic disorders and to improve the functions of performance. The present results and experiences with 4 groups consisting of a total of 31 patients encourage us to continue applying cognitive procedures of therapy. Problems of the ascertainment of measuring values and fundamental questions of therapeutic efficacy are discussed.     

The psychoanalytic narrative. On the problem of objectivity

The author seeks to develop a narrative conceptualization of psychoanalytic treatment. Its nucleus is the causal explanation of life history and illness. She criticizes the hermeneutic approach to interpretation that is chiefly concerned with the constitution of life history as meaningful with no consideration given at times to objective truth.     

HIV infection: trauma and coping with trauma

The initial results of a German-Swedish research project demonstrate the at times active-resistant and at times passive-resigned approaches of AIDS patients toward their illness.     

'Commitment-adequate' personality diagnosis using the Seitz (revised) Personality Questionnaire for Prisoners within the scope of forensic-psychologic-psychiatric expert assessment

In this contribution, the necessity and expediency, but also the limits of the application of psychodiagnostic methods within the scope of forensic-psychological-psychiatric expertises are discussed. A survey is given on results of statistical analysis, revision and validation gained with a personality questionnaire relevant to prison situation (PFI acc. Seitz, 1983).