Angular induction is modulated by the orientation of the test segment but not its length

Angular induction is the basic process by which the orientation of line segments can affect the perceived orientation of other segments as well as their alignment. In this laboratory, we have found that the effect on alignment follows approximately linear rules, with the inducing segment having its greatest influence when its orientation is near to that of the segment being judged. Other laboratories, however, have reported peak effects when the relative angle between the two is at 45°, and with the inducing segment being aligned with one of the cardinal axes of the observer. It has been said that the length of the test segment being judged is a critical factor, but the first experiment of the present study shows a similar linear decline of induction strength irrespective of test segment length. The second experiment indicates that the orientation of the test segment relative to the observer modulates the induction to determine the location of peak effects. A two-factor linear model predicts the observed pattern of results.     

The Ranschburg effect: The role of guessing strategies

The Ranschburg effect refers to the finding of impaired serial recall of items repeated on a list. One account attributes this effect to the use of a strategy where subjects avoid using as guesses stimuli that they had recalled elsewhere on the list. Support for this interpretation is reported here. The Ranschburg effect is eliminated when subjects are instructed to avoid guessing. Also, the Ranschburg effect is found in partial report only when subjects are told that the crucial item occurred elsewhere on the list.     

Understanding Party Identification: A Social Identity Approach

Social identity theory holds that individuals derive their self-concept from knowledge of their membership in a group (or groups) and that they place value and emotional significance on that group membership, with resulting perceptual and attitudinal biases. Individuals favor the in-group to which they belong which they define against a relevant out-group. In this study, a partisan social identity scale was used to reinterpret perceptual features of partisanship through the lens of social identity theory. The social identity of political independents was also examined in an effort to explain the anomalous behavior and identity of partisan leaners. Social identity theory provided a viable alternative framework for understanding the common bipolarity of perceptions regarding the two major U.S. political parties. In addition, an independent social identification may, in part, explain the identity of partisan leaners.     

Current status of MMPI-2 research: a methodologic overview

MMPI-2 research since 1990 has been reviewed to assess whether Butcher and Tellegen's (1978) concerns and suggestions about MMPI research were being followed. Guidelines are provided for when the MMPI-2 is appropriate to administer, how to describe the sample used, assessing validity of the profile, what scores to analyze, and how to report the results. Suggestions also are presented for research within several current areas of debate in the MMPI-2: codetype comparability between the MMPI and MMPI-2, incremental validity of new or existing scales, obvious and subtle subscales, emphasis on item content, development of new scales, and correcting profiles for specific medical and physical conditions.     

Transfer between vision and haptics: Memory for 2-D patterns and 3-D objects

Explicit memory tests such as recognition typically access semantic, modality-independent representations, while perceptual implicit memory tests typically access presemantic, modality-specific representations. By demonstrating comparable cross- and within-modal priming using vision and haptics with verbal materials (Easton, Srinivas, & Greene, 1997), we recently questioned whether the representations underlying perceptual implicit tests were modality specific. Unlike vision and audition, with vision and haptics verbal information can be presented in geometric terms to both modalities. The present experiments extend this line of research by assessing implicit and explicit memory within and between vision and haptics in the nonverbal domain, using both 2-D patterns and 3-D objects. Implicit test results revealed robust cross-modal priming for both 2-D patterns and 3-D objects, indicating that vision and haptics shared abstract representations of object shape and structure. Explicit test results for 3-D objects revealed modality specificity, indicating that the recognition system keeps track of the modality through which an object is experienced.     

Simulating naturalistic demands for speeded judgment

Responses to speeded judgment (e.g., “shoot/don’t shoot”) situations in naturalistic environments are influenced by many variables and psychological processes. We describe a custom-built simulator with head- and eye-tracking capabilities for basic and applied research on speeded decision making. The system allows the user to project life-sized, time-coded, videotaped, or computer-animated scenarios on a screen to collect reaction-time, shot-accuracy, and eye-movement data. An initial experiment is also reported to demonstrate the utility of the system for studying factors that affect speeded judgment under naturalistic situations.     

An analysis of random and systematic changes with practice

Six motor tests and six nonverbal tests were administered four times to the same subjects. Subjective reports of the subjects are discussed, changes in mean scores and in variability and score correlations from trial to trial are surveyed, and factor analyses of results on the first and fourth trials are presented and compared. Implications of the findings with respect to correction for attenuation are pointed out.Thanks are due to Mr. Searles and his staff at the Henry Ford Trade School, who gave both suggestions and aid in completing this work; to Dr. L. L. Thurstone, who gave suggestions for certain aspects of the analysis; and to L. R. Tucker and Robert Blakey, who made the final factorial analyses and suggested various conclusions.     

Angular induction as a function of contact and target orientation

The Poggendorff effect is seen as misalignment of two obliques, or misprojection of one, when the obliques are placed outside a set of parallel lines. To understand better the mechanisms behind this effect, the orientation of the lines which are normally parallel was systematically manipulated. The results indicate that projection bias is affected by the orientation of either line, is at a minimum where the line is orthogonal to the oblique, and is maximal at small angles. This is in line with classic theories which attribute the illusion to misperception of angular size. However, such explanations presuppose that in order to be effective the induction line must be proximal to the oblique so that an angle can be formed. Results are reported which show that the angle formed by the oblique and a line placed at a distance from the oblique, serving as the target of the projection, follows an angular rule of effectiveness similar to what is seen when the line is placed directly in contact with the oblique. The underlying process is described as 'angular induction'.