PMF: a stereo correspondence algorithm using a disparity gradient limit

The advantages of solving the stereo correspondence problem by imposing a limit on the magnitude of allowable disparity gradients are examined. It is shown how the imposition of such a limit can provide a suitable balance between the twin requirements of disambiguating power and the ability to deal with a wide range of surfaces. Next, the design of a very simple stereo algorithm called PMF is described. In conjunction with certain other constraints used in many other stereo algorithms, PMF employs a limit on allowable disparity gradients of 1, a value that coincides with that reported for human stereoscopic vision. The excellent performance of PMF is illustrated on a series of natural and artificial stereograms. Finally, the differences between the theoretical justification for the use of disparity gradients for solving the stereo correspondence problems presented in the paper and others that exist in the stereo algorithm literature are discussed.     

Georg Simmel and social psyhology

Georg Simmel (1858–1918), now best known as a sociologist, made a number of significant contributions to social psychology (especially in the field of small-group interaction) which have been recognized in recent decades. The study of hitherto often neglected material suggests that Simmel's early interest in psychology was maintained in much of his sociological work. The present study seeks to outline Simmel's interest in psychology within this wider context.     

Surfaces with steep variations in depth pose difficulties for orientationally tuned disparity filters

Surfaces possessing steep variations in depth present severe difficulties for orientationally tuned filter models of stereopsis. These difficulties are discussed in connection with a random-dot stereogram depicting a surface with steep horizontal corrugations. As expected on theoretical grounds, we find that a vertical +/- 45 degrees orientationally filtered version of this stereogram cannot be fused. Moreover, it is demonstrated that a horizontal +/- 45 degrees filtered version can be fused only with difficulty and its stereo percept is poor compared to that of the unfiltered original. It is concluded that orientated filters seem ill-designed to mediate the extraction of disparity cues, at least in the cases under consideration.     

Book reviews

SILVERSTEIN, A. (Ed.). Human Communication: Theoretical Explorations. Chichester, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1975. £ 7.00.

NEWTON, G. and Riesen, A. H. (Eds.). Advances in Psychobiology. Vol. 2. New York: john Wiley & Sons. 1974. Pp 330. £ 12.00

FELDMAN,C. F. et at. The Development of Adaptive Intelligence. San Francisco: Jossey Boss. 1974. Pp. 142 £ 8.75

YARROW, L. J.,Rubinstein, J. L. and Pedersen, F. A. Infant and Environment. New York: Halstead Press. 1974. Pp255. £ 8.65

FREEDMAN, D. G. Human Infancy: an Evolutionary Perpective. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1974. Pp. 212. £ 7.00

FOSS, B. (Ed.0. New Perspectives in Child Development. Harmondsworth: Penguin Education. 1974. Pp. 265. £ 1.00

LEWIS, M. and Rosenblum, L. (Eds.). The Origins of Behaviour,vol. 2, The Origins of fear. New York: John Wiley and Sons. 1975. £ 9.70

PIAGET, J. and Inhelder, B. The Origin of the Idea of Chance in Children. London: Routledge & kegan Paul. 1975. Pp. 249. £ 5.25

INHELDER, B. Sinclair,H. and Bovet, M. Learning and the Development of Cognition. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1974. Pp308. £ 4.95.

PEILL, E. J. Invention and Discovery of Reality. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. 1975. Pp. 203. £ 6.50

ALCOCK, J. Animal Behaviour: An evolutionary approach. Sunderland, Mass.: sinauer Associaters. 1975. Pp547. £ 6.60

GREGORY, R. L. Concepts and Mechanisms of Perception. duckworth & Co. Ltd. 1974. Ppxi+669. £ 18.00

MANIS, M. An Introduction to Cognitive Psychology. Belmont: Broks/Cole. 1971. Pp. vii+318. £ 4.75

KOGAN, A. B. (Ed.). Current Problems in Neurocybernetics. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons 1975. Pp. 147. £ 8.35     

Using Profile Analysis via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS) to identify core profiles from the WMS-III

Profile Analysis via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS) is a procedure for extracting latent core profiles in a multitest data set. The PAMS procedure offers several advantages compared with other profile analysis procedures. Most notably, PAMS estimates individual profile weights that reflect the degree to which an individual's observed profile approximates the shape and scatter of latent core profiles. The PAMS procedure was applied to index scores of nonreplicated participants from the standardization sample (N = 1,033) for the Wechsler Memory Scale--Third Edition (D. Tulsky, J. Zhu, & M. F. Ledbetter, 2002). PAMS extracted discrepant visual memory and auditory memory versus working memory core profiles for the complete 16- to 89-year-old sample and discrepant working memory and auditory memory versus working memory core profiles for the 75- to 89-year-old cohort. Implications for use of PAMS in future research are discussed.     

Book reviews

Ribsbn, A. H. The Developmental Neurqpsychology of Sensory Deprivation. London: Academic Press. 1975. Pp. xiii and 303. £7.90. ISBN 012 588550 4.

Kennedy, A. and Wilkes, A. Studies in Long Term Memory. London: Wiley, 1975. Pp. xiii + 358. £10,00. ISBN 0471 46905 X.

Osherson,D. N. Logical Abilities in Children. Vols. I, Ii and III. Ptomoac, Md: Erlbaum 1974, 1974, 1975. Pp. 162, 272. £5.45, £5.45, £9.20.

Kaufman L., Sight and Mind: an Introduction to Visual Perception. Oxford University Press. 197s. Pp. ix + 580. £8.75.

McCormick,E. J. Human Factors in Engineering and Design. Fourth edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976. Pp. xi + 491. £13.70.

Chapman, T. and Foot, H. (Eds). Humour and Laughter: Theory, Research and Applicatim. London: Wiley. 1976. Pp. 348. £9.50 ISBN 0471 14612 9.

Estes,W. K. (Ed.). Handbook of Learning and Cognitive Processes. Vol. I. Introduction to Concepts and Issues. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum Associates. 1975. £9.20. ISBN 0470 24585 9.

Markel, J. D. and Gray, Jr., A. H. Linear Prediction of Speech. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. 1976. Pp. 288. $30.00.     

Psychodynamic assessment of changes in children with autism under psychoanalytic treatment

In this article the authors report insights into autism developed through their extensive experience of psychoanalytic therapy with children with autism. The fi rst stages of body psychic development are seriously disrupted by this pathology, resulting in primitive anxieties of falling and of being liquefi ed. These anxieties are connected to the fragile development of body ego and of its related spatiotemporal organisation. The changes in children observed by the authors during the therapeutic process lead them to offer a psychodynamic assessment tool, which revolves principally around the development of body ego. After the initial state of 'severe autism', the authors describe three stages: the stage of 'recovery of the skin' (Bick); the established 'symbiotic phase', subdivided into 'vertical then horizontal splitting of the body ego'; and fi nally the stage of 'individuation'. First, the authors describe the principal psychoanalytic approaches to autism and refl ect on the links possible with nonpsychoanalytic work.