Visual feature integration in learning disabled children

This study examined the ability of 7 learning disabled children to detect and integrate visual features in a complex display. While the learning disabled children performed more poorly over-all than 6 control children, differences between the two groups were most pronounced when subjects were required to conjoin or integrate visual features to make a decision about the presence of a target item. This finding is discussed with reference to automatic and attention-demanding components of visual perception.     

A visual representation and the control of manual aiming movements

Three experiments were conducted to determine if a representation of the movement environment is functional in the organization and control of limb movements, when direct visual contact with the environment is prevented. In Experiment 1, a visual rearrangement procedure was employed to show that a representation of the environment that provides inaccurate information about the spatial location of a target can disrupt manual target aiming. In Experiment 2, we demonstrated that spatial information about the position of a target can be destroyed by a visual pattern mask, supporting our claim that the representation is visual. A target-cuing procedure was used in Experiment 3 to show that representation of target position can be useful for premovement organization in a target-aiming task. Together our findings suggest that a short-lived visual representation of the movement environment may serve a useful role in the organization and control of limb movements.     

The Influence of Skill and Intermittent Vision on Dynamic Balance

Two experiments are reported in which expert and novice gymnasts were required to walk across a balance beam as quickly as possible in various vision conditions. In Experiment 1, experts walked faster than novices in all vision conditions, showing the greatest superiority when vision was completely eliminated. Novices were more dependent on vision and were able to maintain their performance as long as a visual sample was available every 250 ms (i.e: 4-Hz samples).The results of Experiment 2 indicate that differences between expert and novice performers in the no-vision condition were not related to the use of a short-term visual representation of the movement environment. Our movement time findings are problematic for specificity of learning models of skill acquisition. As well, film data collected in Experiment 2 were not consistent with models that propose a transition from closed-loop to open-loop control.     

Jewish bioethics and medical genetics

Man has been aware of the science of genetics, i.e, how living things transport heritable traits to their offspring, since biblical times. However, knowledge regarding genetic disorders has increased greatly in recent years. Advances have been made with respect to both the methodology of genetic diagnosis and the treatment of genetic diseases. Both Jewish and secular ethicists, in general, approve of new genetic diagnostic techniques and genetic therapy if the risk/benefit ratio is favorable for humankind. However, all medical ethicists are still struggling with the ethical question: “To what extent should we tamper with the process of natural selection?”     

Problem-Solving Appraisal,Health Complaints,and Health-Related Expectancies

The authors examined the relation of problem-solving appraisal to health complaints and health-related expectancies among 321 undergraduates. Results indicated that self-appraised effective problem solvers reported fewer current physical symptoms during the 3 weeks prior to assessment and fewer health problems on the day of assessment than did ineffective problem solvers. Self-appraised effective problem solvers also had greater internal and lower chance expectancies for health outcomes than did ineffective problem solvers. Ineffective self-appraised problem solvers reported more negative health perceptions 3 months later during the week of final examinations. Personal control over emotional experiences when engaging in problem solving was significantly predictive of health perceptions. Results are integrated with theoretical models of problem solving and behavioral health. Implications for counseling are discussed.     

Repeatedly Thinking about a Non-event: Source Misattributions among Preschoolers

In this paper we review the factors alleged to be responsible for the creation of inaccurate reports among preschool-aged children, focusing on so-called "source misattribution errors." We present the first round of results from an ongoing program of research that suggests that source misattributions could be a powerful mechanism underlying children′s false beliefs about having experienced fictitious events. Preliminary findings from this program of research indicate that all children of all ages are equally susceptible to making source misattributions. Data from a follow-up wave of data indicate that very young children may be disproportionately vulnerable to these kinds of errors when the procedure is changed slightly to create mental images more easily. This vulnerability leads younger preschoolers, on occasion, to claim that they actually experienced events that they only thought about. These preliminary findings are discussed in the context of the ongoing debate over the veracity and durability of delayed reports of early memories, repressed memories, dissociative states, and the validity risks posed by therapeutic techniques that entail repeated visually guided imagery inductions.     

Trait Influences on Stress Appraisal and Coping: An Evaluation of Alternative Frameworks

According to contemporary trait models, personality variables influence the relation of certain social-cognitive processes to coping and adjustment. Specifically, neuroticism may effect a greater perception of threat in a given stressor and thus effect a greater propensity for emotion-focused coping efforts. Similarly, higher levels of conscientiousness may be related to a greater use of problem-focused coping. We tested these presumed effects of personality traits on the association between stress appraisals and coping among 141 undergraduates. Resulting models indicated that certain personality characteristics are related to appraisal and coping activities, but these relations do not fully explain the association between stress appraisal and coping.     

Automated 3-D tracking of video-captured movement using the example of an aquatic mollusk

We describe a computer program that tracks the three-dimensional coordinates of a snail (moving within a tank) from images captured by a single video camera. The tank and a mirror placed at 45° to one side are viewed to provide direct and reflected images of a pond snail,Lymnaea stagnalis, moving around the tank. The output of the camera is captured with an IBM-compatible PC using a frame-grabbing VideoBlaster board. The main features of our Windows program is the frame-by-frame analysis of the captured video, enhancement of contrast, location of dark “snails,” discrimination by size, trigonometric determination of thex, y, z coordinates, and the final export of data in a spreadsheet-ready format. After the user has outlined the position of the tank on the screen and set the discrimination thresholds, no further user activity is required. This makes the analysis of slowly moving mollusks much less operator intensive and less tedious. The method is applicable to other faster moving organisms (e.g., fish) because the analysis is performed on captured video sequences.