Slant perception and binocular brightness differences: Some aftereffects of viewing apparent and objective surface slants

Placing a neutral-density filter in front of one eye produces two kinds of distortion in the perceived slant of a binocularly viewed rotating disk: (1) the top or the bottom of a disk rotating in a frontoparallel plane appears displaced toward or away from the observer, depending on the direction of rotation and whether the left or right eye is filtered; and (2) the left or right side of such disk—rotating or stationary—appears closer, depending on whether the left or right eye is filtered. The Pulfrich phenomenon accounts for the first variety of apparent slant, and the Venetian blind effect accounts for the second. Viewing the apparent slant of the rotating disk produces an aftereffect of slant in the third dimension which is greater than the aftereffect of viewing an objective slant of the same direction and magnitude.     

ALICE: A system for manipulating and analyzing multidimensional data

The computer program ALICE solves the two major problems of data manipulation and analysis. First, ALICE allows the user to treat data from an experiment in the form they are generated. Second, mathematical calculations and statistical analyses are included as an intrinsic part of the multidimensional approach to data handling. ALICE accepts raw data in the form and order they were collected; reorganizes, partitions, or selects any subset of them (including a single entry), and arithmetically combines, transforms, or evaluates any formula involving them. Furthermore, learning to use ALICE is simple, even for those who are naive to both computers and data analysis.     

Operant conditioning of large magnitude, 12-hour duration,heart rate elevations in the baboon

Two baboons were prepared with arterial and venous catheters and their heart rate and blood pressure were monitored continuously thereafter. Following a 2 to 3 week interval during which baseline cardiovascular levels were determined, the animals were exposed to daily 12 hr conditioning sessions (alternating with 12-hr “rest” or “Conditioning Off’ sessions) during which food reward and shockavoidance were programmed as contingent consequences of pre-specified increases in heart rate. Initially, the criterion heart rate was set at 10–15 bpm above the animal’s pre-experimental resting baseline level, with progressive increases programmed to occur at a rate approximating 7 bpm per week over a period of 8–10 weeks. Within this 2–3 month interval, heart rate doubled, reaching levels maintained above 160 bpm for more than 95 per cent of each daily 12-hour “Conditioning On” period. Propranolol selectively eliminated the conditioned heart rate increase but not the blood pressure elevation, indicating the contribution of sympathetic nervous activity to these operantly conditioned cardiovascular changes.     

A simple IC pulse-pair stimulator

The present paper describes a simple and relatively inexpensive brain stimulator circuit for generating trains of conditioning (C) and test (T) pulse pairs for refractory period and excitability cycle analyses. G and T outputs are constant-current monophasic cathodal pulses of adjustable frequency, duration, amplitude, and delay. C and T pulses can be controlled manually or through logic programming and can be fed out the same or separate channels. The stimulator can be operated on either ac or dc supplies and, when battery operated, features a high degree of stimulus isolation.     

The program for academic survival skills (pass): Effects on student behavior and achievement

The effects of the Program for Academic Survival Skills (PASS), a group behavior management program, on behavioral observation data and standardized achievement test measures were investigated. Fifty-four of the 96 selected low-achieving, low-survival-skill students of normal IQ were assigned to an experimental condition in which their teachers used PASS. The remaining 42 were assigned to a control condition. Results indicated PASS produced significant gains in survival skills during its operation and one week following program termination in both reading and mathematics periods across grades 1–3. Findings for achievement indicated a significant gain for first-grade experimentals only in reading, with a similar but nonsignificant gain for first-grade mathematics.     

Orientation-contingent tactual size aftereffects

A new contingent aftereffect of apparent size can be produced in the following way. A rectangular inspection block is oriented with its long dimension horizontal (or vertical). During an inspection (induction) period of 2 min, the subject alternately grasps the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the inspection block between the thumb and forefinger of a single hand, changing from one dimension to the other every 2 sec. After the inspection period, the hori zontal dimension of a square test block feels shorter (or longer) than the vertical dimension. Inspection blocks having larger ratios of width to height produce larger aftereffects. The aftereffect persists over delays of as much as 16 min between inspection and test.     

Visual capture in visual illusions

Visual capture is the resolution of visual-tactual conflicts in favor of vision. In each previous demonstration of this phenomenon, a distorted optic array, or some mechanical analog for a distorted optic array, has produced a conflict between erroneous visual information and presumably veridical tactual information. The present experiments demonstrate visual capture in the Müller-Lyer and Ponzo illusions in the absence of any distortions of the optic array.     

Functional illness and family functioning: a comparison of healthy and somaticizing adolescents

This study examined the usefulness of the Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Functioning for discriminating between families of healthy adolescents and families of adolescents with functional somatic complaints. The findings did not support the expected curvilinear relationship between symptomatology and the FACES II family dimensions of cohesion and adaptability. Questions are raised regarding the degree of correspondence between the constructs of enmeshment and rigidity as assessed clinically and as measured by the Circumplex Model.