Using several modalities to perceive one temporal pattern

In two experiments, subjects identified temporal patterns. The patterns consisted of eight dichotomous (left-right) elements, e.g. LLRRLRLR, continuously repeated until the subject was able to identify the pattern. In Experiment 1, one pattern was presented either separately in the auditory, tactual, or visual modalities or one pattern was presented simultaneously in two modalities (compatible presentation). In Experiment 2, one pattern was simultaneously presented in two modalities, but the pattern was presented in one modality and the complement of the pattern (the complement of LLRRLRLR is RRLLRLRL) was presented in the second modality. Therefore, opposite spatial elements appeared in each modality (incompatible presentation).

The results indicated that the rate of pattern identification was the same for compatible and incompatible presentation. These methods produce better performance than individual modality presentation at fast presentation rates (2 elements/sec. and faster) although individual modality presentation was better at slower rates. This suggests that when a pattern is presented in two modalities, the pattern in each modality is integrated, not the particular spatial elements in each modality. Furthermore, the rate of pattern identification using individual modalities did not predict the difficulty using pairs of modalities. These results demonstrate the Gestalt nature of pattern perception; the pattern is perceptually salient and the performance of pairs of modalities depends on the inherent properties of the individual modalities.     

Increased Stability of Self-Concept in Students Served by a College Counseling Center

Subjects were 18 undergraduates who were clients of a college counseling service and 25 controls matched for age, IQ, and honesty of self-report. Hypotheses tested were: (a) that at the beginning of treatment experimental clients (group E) would show more variability of self-concept on a test-retest questionnaire (with a week intervening between testing) than would controls (group C); and (b) that eight weeks after the second testing group E would show significantly increased stability on test-retest with an alternate form questionnaire while group C would not show similar changes. Both hypotheses were confirmed beyond the .05 level of confidence. Increased stability of self-concept should follow psychotherapy because of increased self-understanding and abandonment of unrealistic self-referrent ideas. Results were interpreted as supporting Rogers' concept of essential changes in psychotherapy and offering a promising method for assessing effects of therapy. Suggestions for further research are made.     

An apparatus for the study of motivation and learning in children

An apparatus is described for use in learning ana motivation research with children. A dual track with cars permits singular or paired presentation of stimuli, presents different types of reinforcing events, counts the occurrence of these events, and automatically prints out latencies and correct or incorrect responses. Although designed primarily for studying the motivational properties of stimulus events, the apparatus is suitable for use in simple and complex learning studies.     

Ego psychology of depression with implications for treatment

Summary Concepts suggested by autonomous ego theory and a phenomenological approach to emotions make it possible to think again about depression and its treatment in order better to explain clinical observations.Depression appears to be a secondary emotion, not primary, made up of the following ingredients: 1) one or more primary emotions—anxiety, anger, guilt, and grief particularly, as well as self-pity, loneliness, alienation, apathy, and despair—precipitated in 2) an ego inadequate in channeling emotions constructively, 3) the associated phenomenological tendencies inherent within the emotions, and 4) the sense of helplessness that ensues. Thus the treatment required would consist of a systematic, somewhat detached, cognitive approach to the problems the emotions are indicating, and what should be done to resolve them. These problems include those precipitated by the workings of the emotions as things-in-themselves. The treatment is oriented toward enhancing the patient's understanding of the disorder and his coping ability to the end that the patient is not weakened even as he is relieved.Director of Community Services of the Cleveland State Hospital, has been a frequent contributor to journals of psychiatry and pastoral care. He was recently president of the Cleveland branch of the Academy.     

The psychological representation of speech sounds

If one listens to a meaningless syllable that is repeated over and over, he will hear it undergo a variety of changes. These changes are extremely systematic in character and can be described phonetically in terms of reorganizations of the phones constituting the syllable and changes in a restricted set of distinctive features. When a new syllable is presented to a subject after he has listened to a particular syllable that was repeated, he will misreport the new (test) syllable. His misperception of the test syllable is related to the changes occurring in the representation of the original repeated syllable just prior to the presentation of the test syllable.     

Clustering by aphasics in free recall

Aphasic performance was compared to normal and left hemiplegic controls in the use of clustering to aid recall of a list of words in a multitrial free recall experiment. Use of clustering correlated with increased recall scores. Left hemiplegic performance was superior to aphasic and inferior to normal suggesting that the presence of brain damage decreased clustering but that this decrease was greater in the presence of aphasia. A second experiment examined the possibility of remediating aphasic clustering behavior by providing cues as a training device. Cues, which aided normals, did not benefit the majority of aphasics. Results are interpreted in terms of their relationship to cognitive functioning.