Constancy and illusion of apparent direction of rotary motion in depth: Tests of a theory

An explanation of apparent direction of rotary motion in depth derived from a general theory of perceptual constancy and illusion is proposed with experimental data in its support. Apparent direction of movement is conceived of as exhibiting-perceptual constancy or illusion as a function of apparent direction of orientation m depth for plane objects and apparent relative depth for three-dimensional objects. Apparent reversals of movement direction represent either regular fluctuations between constancy and illusion of direction as a function of valid and invalid stimuli for orientation, or irregular and random fluctuations in their absence. In three preliminary experiments, the apparent movement direction of plane ellipses was investigated as a function of surface pattern information for orientation, and in Experiment I apparent reversals during 20-revolution trials were studied. In Experiment II, apparent movement direction of 3D elliptical V shapes as a function of surface pattern information for relative depth was investigated. In addition to supporting the explanation proposed, the data offer a resolution of a conflict between different theories of apparent reversal of motion in depth.     

Recognition vs recall of visually vs acoustically confusable letter matrices

In an attempt to separate auditory and visual components in short-term memory, five subjects were exposed to letter matrices composed of six visually confusable letters, six acoustically confusable letters, or a mixture of the two, under two response conditions: recognition and recall. A 50-msec stimulus presentation was followed by a variable dark interval of 1, 250, 1,000, or 3,000 msec. In the recall condition, the interval was followed by a buzzer which signaled the subject to recall, in any order, as many letters as possible. In the recognition condition, the variable interval was followed by a second letter matrix which was either identical to the first matrix or differed from is by one letter. Subjects responded either "same" or "different." The results support the notion that the auditory component plays a major role in recall, whereas the visual component dominates in recognition.     

Treatment of juvenile offenders: Study outcomes since 1980

Past reviews of the treatment of juvenile offenders have concluded that “nothing works.” More recently, some reviewers have concluded that treatment concepts are not necessarily ineffective, but, instead, research methodology and treatment integrity have been inadequate. The present review looks at the treatment of adjudicated juvenile offenders from a computer-data-based search of the literature published from 1980 to 1987. Research outcome and methodology are summarized and critiqued. The conclusions are that treatment outcomes were positive, but that serious methodological weaknesses still exist in the literature. Improvements still need to be made in sample sizes, use of appropriate and multiple measures of recidivism, random assignment and/or use of appropriate control groups, and long-term follow-up assessment.     

The effect of enactment upon sentence imitation in preschool children

Preschool children imitated two matched lists of sentences varying in length, in syntactic complexity, and in semantic complexity. Sentences on one list were acted out with toys prior to imitating them. For 3-year-olds, enactment increased retention of all sentential variables: number of words, number of frames, number of propositions, and syntax. For children younger than 3 years, enactment increased only the number of words retained, while for children older than 4 years, enactment had a minimal effect on all sentential variables. In a second experiment, prior enactment had long-term effects on the degree to which children's spontaneous stories about the toys resembled the previous sentences that they had been given to imitate. Long-term effects, however, did not extend to retention of syntax. Enactment appears to increase both young children's interest in a sentence imitation task and the amount of semantic encoding in which they engage. Its effect, however, is mediated by the degree of mastery of relevant linguistic rules.Some of these data were presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Detroit, April 1983. The authors would like to thank Lorraine Chiasson, Judith Codd, and Susan Saba for their assistance with the data analysis.     

Academic cheating as a function of defense mechanisms and object relations

This study examined relationships between academic cheating behaviors by using self-reports of past cheating behavior, providing a situational experiment with the opportunity to cheat, and evaluating defense mechanisms and object relations as measured by the Defense Mechanisms Inventory. Subjects included 75 female and 8 male university students ranging in age from 18 to 51 years (M=25.5, SD=6.9). Analysis showed variations in students' self-reported cheating history relative to their measured object relations status and type of defense mechanisms. Actual cheating in the experimental setting was not significantly related to any of these variables. Findings are discussed based on a critique of heterogeneity of the cheating construct.     

Mechanisms of mindfulness: emotion regulation following a focused breathing induction

The current study investigated whether a 15 min recorded focused breathing induction in a normal, primarily undergraduate population would decrease the intensity and negativity of emotional responses to affectively valenced picture slides and increase willingness to remain in contact with aversive picture slides. The effects of the focused breathing induction were compared with the effects of 15 min recorded inductions of unfocused attention and worrying. The focused breathing group maintained consistent, moderately positive responses to the neutral slides before and after the induction, whereas the unfocused attention and worry groups responded significantly more negatively to the neutral slides after the induction than before it. The focusing breathing group also reported lower negative affect and overall emotional volatility in response to the post-induction slides than the worry group, and greater willingness to view highly negative slides than the unfocused attention group. The lower-reported negative and overall affect in response to the final slide blocks, and greater willingness to view optional negative slides by the focused breathing group may be viewed as more adaptive responding to negative stimuli. The results are discussed as being consistent with emotional regulatory properties of mindfulness.     

Three steps to open science for qualitative research in psychology

Principles and applications of open science (also referred to as open research or open scholarship) in psychology have emerged in response to growing concerns about the replicability, transparency, reproducibility, and robustness of psychological research alongside global moves to open science in many fields. Our objective in this paper is to inform ways of collectively constructing open science practices and systems that are appropriate to, and get the best out of, the full range of qualitative and mixed-method approaches used in psychology. We achieve this by describing three areas of open research practice (contributorship, pre-registration, and open data) and explore how and why qualitative researchers might consider engaging with these in ways that are compatible with a qualitative research paradigm. We argue it is crucial that open research practices do not (even inadvertently) exclude qualitative research, and that qualitative researchers reflect on how we can meaningfully engage with open science in psychology.     

Pairings of a Circular Alley with Apomorphine Produce Conditioned Hyperactivity

During training trials, some rats were injected with apomorphine as the unconditioned stimulus immediately before (Group Forward) or 15 min before (Group Backward) exposure to the conditioned stimulus, a circular alley where locomotor activity was measured for 30 min. Rats in the control condition (Group Unpaired) were not injected until 15 min after their removal from the alley. When the rats were later tested in the circular alley without prior administration of the drug, both Groups Forward and Backward were more active than Group Unpaired and thus showed conditioned hyperactivity. During a final test in which all the rats were injected with apomorphine prior to placement in the circular alley, Groups Forward and Backward showed greater apomorphine-induced hyperactivity than Group Unpaired. Although Group Forward was more active than Group Backward during both tests, these differences were not significant. These findings provide further evidence for the modulation of drug effects by Pavlovian conditioning.