The multidimensional analysis of asymmetries in alphabetic confusion matrices: Evidence for global-to-local and local-to-global processing

This study examined the ability of an asymmetric multidimensional scaling program (DEDICOM) to reveal information about letter-perception processes. To demonstrate its potential, we applied it to the controversy concerning local-to-global versus global-to-local letter perception. These two theories lead to different predictions about stimulus confusion asymmetries. Since DEDICOM is capable of recovering the structure of asymmetric or directional patterns, it should reveal whether a stimulus-response confusion matrix contains patterns of asymmetry more consistent with one or the other perceptual theory. This was tested using two data sets. The first (from Lupker, 1979) revealed an additive hierarchy of asymmetry strongly consistent with global-tolocal processing, although unexpected additional structure and reliable anomalies indicated the need for a more refined theoretical account. The second (a full alphabetic confusion matrix combining data from Gilmore et al., 1979; Loomis, 1982; and Towasend, 1971) revealed five distinct patterns, each consisting of transformations attributable to the failure to detect specific local letter features. This solution strengthened support for local-to-global processing, in sharp contrast to the first analysis. Possible reasons for this divergence are discussed, including differences in the stimuli, exposure durations, and a hypothetical two-stage process of perception. Despite their differences, both solutions demonstrated how asymmetric scaling can reveal structure in asymmetries, which is relevant to perceptual theory and which would have been difficult to recover by other means.     

THE EFFECT OF MEANING FREQUENCY ON PROCESSING LEXICALLY AMBIGUOUS WORDS: Evidence From Eye Fixations

Abstract —Subjects read sentences containing lexically ambiguous words while their eye movements were monitored Biased ambiguous words (those that have one highly dominant sense) were used m sentences containing a prior context that instantiated their subordinate sense Control words were matched m frequency both to the dominant and to the subordinate meaning of the ambiguous word (high- and low-frequency controls) Subjects fixated longer on both the ambiguous word and the low-frequence control than on the high-frequency control When the target was ambiguous, however, the duration of posttarget fixations was longer and the likelihood of making a regression to the target was greater than when the target was an unambiguous control The results are discussed m relation to current models of lexical ambiguity resolution     

'An intimate loneliness': evaluating the impact of a child's death on parental self-identity and marital relationships

Marital relationships may degenerate following a son's or daughter's death. This paper explores ways in which problems of communication between grieving partners may be linked to the challenge which each is facing in reordering their parental self-narrative. The role which'talk'plays in constructing and maintaining self-identity, and the contributions which professional and volunteer support might make in facilitating marital conversation are examined. A brief note is also made of current research upon which this paper is based, commenting on the appropriateness of the narrative technique for collecting emotionally sensitive field-data.     

Healing rituals with families in exile *

This paper describes work with families who have been subjected to torture and atrocity and forced into political exile. Exile is described as a state of limbo which may be resolved by involving families in rituals which reconnect them to communal life. Therapeutic dilemmas when working with families affected by torture and atrocity are discussed. The culture of refugee families is a resource which can be used to enable them to integrate experiences of atrocity and adapt to life in exile. Therapeutic strategies are discussed through case histories.     

Part—whole information is useful in visual search for size × size but not orientation × orientation conjunctions

In visual search tasks, subjects look for a target among a variable number of distractor items. If the target is defined by a conjunction of two different features (e.g., color × orientation), efficient search is possible when parallel processing of information about color and about orientation is used to “guid” the deployment of attention to the target. Another type of conjunction search has targets defined by two instances of one type of feature (e.g., a conjunction of two colors). In this case, search is inefficient when the target is an item defined by parts of two different colors but much more efficient if the target can be described as a whole item of one color with a part of another color (Wolfe, Friedman-Hill, & Bilsky, 1994). In this paper, we show that the same distinction holds for size. “Part— whole” size × size conjunction searches are efficient; “part-part” searches are not (Experiments 1–3). In contrast, all orientation × orientation searches are inefficient (Experiments 4–6). This difference between preattentive processing of color and size, on the one hand, and orientation, on the other, may reflect structural relationships between features in real-world objects.     

Hemisphere functioning and motor imitation in autistic persons

Previous research has found that a high proportion of autistic individuals exhibit an atypical pattern of hemispheric specialization suggestive of impaired left hemisphere functioning: namely, right hemisphere dominance for both verbal and visual-spatial processing. Studies of brain-damaged persons have suggested that the left hemisphere is specialized for the use of nonverbal gesture. Since a major characteristic of autism is an impairment in the use of gesture, it was predicted that autistic persons would also show atypical hemispheric specialization for motor imitation. To test this hypothesis, hemispheric activation was measured using EEG recordings of alpha rhythm in autistic and matched normal control subjects during four motor imitation tasks. Autistic subjects showed significantly greater right hemisphere activation during the imitation tasks, than normal subjects. This pattern was particularly evident in younger autistic subjects and during oral, rather than manual, imitation tasks.     

Inverse cross-modality matching: A test of ratio judgment consistency for group and individual data

Direct and inverse cross-modality matches made by 20 subjects were assessed for ratio judgment consistency. Each subject matched apparent duration to loudness, and vice versa, in both a directly and an inversely proportional manner. All four tasks were repeated twice so that individual differences could be examined using interrepetition correlations. Group data exhibited the appropriate inverse relationship indicative of consistency, although the inverse matches were slightly curvilinear and resembled earlier studies with inverse attribute scales. Some individuals showed a high degree of consistency but many departed widely from inverse proportionality. Individual differences in exponents, which occurred for both types of tasks, were not removed by S. S. Stevens’ (1971) regression balance procedure. However, interrepetition correlations for the differences in the absolute values of the direct and inverse exponents of individuals were nonsignificant, suggesting that when subjects’ exponents differed for the two types of tasks they did so on a random basis. The latter finding implies that subjects would give inversely proportional matches were it not for random factors. The findings were discussed in relation to other types of ratio consistency.