Components of displacement adaptation in acquisition and decay as a function of hand and hall exposure

Tests of proprioceptive shift (PS), visual shift (VS), and negative aftereffect (NA) were made during 25-min exposure to 20-D displacement and during a subsequent 30-min dark decay period in two separate experiments. Different groups of subjects explored hallways or viewed their active hand during exposure. VS was greatest in hall exposure, while PS was greatest in hand exposure. Larger VS occurred in the second experiment, where test procedures were modified to minimize a tendency to center the target within the momentary or remembered field of view. Substantial and possibly complete VS decay occurred when the initial level of adaptation was high, but although PS decay was substantial, it was not complete. In all conditions, the sum of VS and PS numerically exceeded the NA, and this difference tended to be largest and significant in the hall exposure. Implications of this effect for the two-component additivity hypothesis are discussed.     

Psychophysical scales of apparent heaviness and the size-weight illusion

The apparent heaviness of a set of 40 cylindrical objects was scaled by the method of magnitude estimation. The objects varied in weight, volume. and density. There were three main conclusions: (1) For any constant volume, heaviness grows as a power function of weight; the larger the volume. the larger the exponent of the power function. The family of such power functions converge at a common point in the vicinity of the heaviest weight that can be lifted. (2) For any constant density (i:e., weight proportional to volume), heaviness does not grow as a power function of weight. (3) For any constant weight, heaviness decreases approximately as a logarithmic function of volume; the constants of the log function depend systematically on the weight of the object. The outcome furnishes a broad quantitative picture of apparent heaviness and of the size-weight illusion (Charpentier’s illusion).     

JAPANESE AND AMERICAN PERSONAL VALUES SOME CROSS-CULTURAL FINDINGS

Comparaison d'échantillons appariés d'étudiants japonais et américains (niveau lycée et collège universitaire) relativement aux six valeurs que mesure L'inventaire Survey of Personal Values. On a d'abord testé la comparabilité des “valeurs” dans la langue originale de L'inventaire et dans la traduction japonaise: L'analyse factorielle des items traduits et les corrélations calculées entre L'inventaire en japonais et un choix d'échelles japonaises de personnalité donnent des garanties à cet égard. Chez les étudiants japonais des deux sexes et des deux niveaux scolaires, on trouve des moyennes plus faibles pour ce qui est de L'orientation pratique de L'esprit, la réussite et la variété, et des moyennes plus élevées pour L'ordre et L'orientation vers un but. Ainsi, les Japonais accordent moins d'importance aux considérations matérialistes (réussite individuelle, changement ou diversité) mais ils donnent plus de valeur à un mode de vie organisé et routinier et au fait de chercher systématiquement à réaliser des buts bien définis. Les résul-tats de la présente recherche recoupant des recherches antérieures, font apparaître une grande ressemblance entre les deux pays, dans la structure de la personnalité.     

Assessing the effects of factors that might underlie the differential perception of acquaintance and stranger rape

There is evidence to suggest that in an acquaintance rape the victim is perceived less favorably and there is more leniency toward the perpetrator than in a stranger rape. The purpose of the present study was to assess the perceptual effects of factors that might underlie this differential perception. Victim-perpetrator attraction and ambiguity in victim's desire for intercourse were varied since both are often perceived to occur at a much higher frequency in acquaintance rape than stranger rape. The design of the study was a 3 (victim-perpetrator attraction — minimal, moderate, maximal) × 2 (ambiguity in desire for intercourse — ambiguous, relatively unambiguous) × 2 (gender of subject — male, female) factorial. The results indicated that ambiguity had a significant effect on perceptions. More specifically, perception tended to be less favorable toward the victim and more lenient toward the defendant when there was ambiguity in the victim's desire for intercourse. Additionally, when compared to females, males' perception tended to be less favorable toward the victim and more lenient toward the perpetrator. There were no other significant main effects or interactions. The implications of these findings for the differential perception of acquaintance and stranger rape are discussed.     

Success estimations and performance in children as influenced by age,gender, and task

This study examined the effects of a manipulated sex association cue on the estimation of success as well as actual performance on a novel motor task. Boys and girls in the third and seventh grade (N=80) were randomly assigned by gender and grade to either a football-related or a dance-related group. The task was a simple reaction time test that was presented with instructions to indicate a sex association. Findings indicated that performance expectancies obtained prior to engaging in a novel motor task can be affected by the way a task is presented.     

DOMINANCE AND INEQUALITY IN X-RATED VIDEOCASSETTES

Feminists have been concerned about the debasement of women in sexually explicit material. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of domination and sexual inequality in x-rated videocassettes through a content analysis of 45 widely available x-rated videocassettes. The sample was randomly drawn from a list of 121 adult movie titles widely available in family videocassette rental stores in southern California. Over half of the explicitly sexual scenes were coded as predominantly concerned with domination or exploitation. Most of the domination and exploitation was directed by men toward women. Specific indicators of domination and sexual inequality, including physical violence, occurred frequently. The growth of the videocassette rental industry and the popularity of x-rated films, coupled with the messages these films convey, is a cause for concern.     

School Counselor and School Psychologist: Partners in Minority Family Outreach

This article is adapted from a presentation at the 1987 Convention of the American Association for Counseling and Development, New Orleans, LA.     

Preserved learning of novel information in amnesia: Evidence for multiple memory systems

Four of five patients with marked global amnesia, and others with new learning impairments, showed normal processing facilitation for novel stimuli (nonwords) and/or for familiar stimuli (words) on a word/nonword (lexical) decision task. The data are interpreted as a reflection of the learning capabilities of in-line neural processing stages with multiple, distinct, informational codes. These in-line learning processes are separate from the recognition/recall memory impaired by amygdalohippocampal/dosomedial thalamic damage, but probably supplement such memory in some tasks in normal individuals. Preserved learning of novel information seems incompatible with explanations of spared learning in amnesia that are based on the episodic/semantic or memory/habit distinctions, but is consistent with the procedural/declarative hypothesis.     

Measuring violence on television

Television violence has been measured in numerous studies. However the amounts reported vary considerably depending on the definitions provided of violence and the sampling periods adopted. Studies that have followed the methodology of Gerbner are more easily compared and point to rates of around 5-6 violents acts per hour on prime time television in most countries. The rate of violence on British television is considerably lower than this and evidence points to a recent decline. However, traditional content analyses are limited and provide little understanding of television as a narrative art.