Slope of regard as a distance cue

It is proposed that some distance cues are learned when a perceptual parameter that varies with observation distance is regularly associated with objects whose distances are perceived because another distance cue operates. If that is the way distance cues can come into existence, it may be possible to identify a parameter that varies with distance but is not a known distance cue and to show that it functions as one. The slope of regard with which an object on the ground is viewed is such a potential distance cue. Its angle varies approximately with the reciprocal of distance. An experiment was done that showed that this slope angle functions as a distance cue. Subjects who looked through a device that altered slope angles gave estimates of the dimensions of an object on the ground. Perceived sizes, which vary inversely with distance, were found to be altered in accordance with the altered slope angle.     

One hundred years of experimental psychology: An American perspective

Summary At the 1979 annual meeting of the American Psychological Association a special series of twenty-two symposia and lectures was devoted to the theme of A Century of Psychology as Science: Retrospections and Assessments. The speakers in this series, including many major psychologists, were charged with giving historical overviews and critical evaluations of various aspects of the first century of experimental psychology. This article, written by one of the organizers of this centennial program, presents an analysis of and commentary on the views expressed by these speakers.I would like to thank Professor Sigmund Koch with whom I served as co-organizer of the centennial program and with whom I am now co-editing a selection of the centennial papers. Since this article is based upon oral presentations and to-this-date unpublished papers, I have chosen not to give direct quotations. Nor have I made direct references to the individual paper titles in the text. These can all be found in the reference section where, for economy's sake, I have given only authors and titles. The repeated acknowledgment that each of the papers was presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, New York City, September 1–5, 1979, seems unnecessary.     

Adaptation in stereoscopic depth constancy

Stereovision is a complex process because perceived depth intervals depend not only on retinal disparity, but also on cues for distance. Because disparity decreases in proportion to the square of the object distance, a compensation process called constancy of stereoscopic depth makes the necessary correction in the perception of depth by taking object distance into account. This compensation process was altered by adaptation. Subjects were exposed to artificial conditions where disparity decreased in proportion to distance instead of distance squared. Alterations in depth perception amounting to 20% were obtained.     

Women’s Understanding and Attitudes towards Down Syndrome and Other Genetic Conditions in the Context of Prenatal Screening

In order to explore the impact of potential new technologies in the area of prenatal screening, we conducted a baseline study using qualitative interviews to explore women’s attitudes and knowledge regarding current and future prenatal screening technology and methods. Three cohorts were interviewed, including healthy women without children, healthy women with healthy children, and healthy women with children who have de novo genetic disorders. This study aimed to assess the baseline understanding and attitudes of women in Western Australia. Women from each cohort demonstrated adequate knowledge of the differences between screening and diagnostic tests, but were mostly unaware of the conditions for which screening is currently available except Down syndrome. Women who had children with de novo genetic conditions were generally aware of more genetic conditions than women with or without healthy children. Most women recognised the genetic basis for the conditions mentioned. Two thirds of women understood that Down syndrome is a chromosomal condition; just one third recognised that the phenotype is variable. Most women expressed a positive attitude towards Down syndrome. Social acceptance of children with Down syndrome was commonly mentioned as a concern. While the majority of women with children supported screening for Down syndrome, they emphasised that it must be an autonomous choice. General knowledge of genetic conditions illustrated that women are exposed to diverse conditions from lived experience as well as the media.     

A longitudinal analysis of the relationship between self-compassion and the psychological effects of perceived stress

ABSTRACT

Self-compassion is consistently associated with psychological well-being, but most research has examined their relationship at only a single point in time. This study employed a longitudinal design to investigate the relationship between baseline self-compassion, perceived stress, and psychological outcomes in college students (n = 462) when the outcomes were measured both concurrently with perceived stress and after a lag of six months. Self-compassion moderated the effects of perceived stress such that stress was less strongly related to depression, anxiety, and negative affect among participants who scored high rather than low in self-compassion. Self-compassion also moderated the effects of perceived stress on depression and anxiety prospectively after six months. Self-compassion predicted positive affect but moderated the effects of perceived stress on positive affect in only one analysis. This study suggests that high self-compassion provides emotional benefits over time, partly by weakening the link between stress and negative outcomes.     

The function of self-esteem in terror management theory and sociometer theory: comment on Pyszczynski et al. (2004)

By applying different standards of evidence to sociometer theory than to terror management theory (TMT), T. Pyszczynski, J. Greenberg, S. Solomon, J. Arndt, and J. Schimel's (2004) review offers an imbalanced appraisal of the theories' merits. Many of Pyszczynski et al.'s (2004) criticisms of sociometer theory apply equally to TMT. and others are based on misconstruals of the theory or misunderstandings regarding how people respond when rejected. Furthermore, much of their review is only indirectly relevant to TMT's position on the function of self-esteem, and the review fails to acknowledge logical and empirical challenges to TMT. A more balanced review suggests that each theory trumps the other in certain respects, both have difficulty explaining all of the evidence regarding self-esteem, and the propositions of each theory can be roughly translated into the concepts of the other. For these reasons, declaring a theoretical winner at this time is premature.     

Temporal Induction of Missing Birdsong Segments in European Starlings

Four European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) discriminated a 300-ms segment of starling song from a 300-ms segment of budgerigar song in three contexts in a two-choice key-peck operant discrimination task. In the starling-song context, on each trial, one of the song segments was presented in the context of starling song; in the budgerigar-song context, the segments were presented in the context of budgerigar song. In the no-song context, the song segments were presented outside of a song context. On occasional unreinforced probe trials, the song segments were replaced by either white noise or silence. On noise trials in the two song contexts, but not on silent trials in the song contexts or noise trials in the no-song context, the starlings were significantly more likely to respond to the key associated with the starling song segment than to the key associated with the budgerigar song segment. This effect was especially pronounced in the starling-song context. The results indicate that noise induces perceptual restoration of missing birdsong segments in songbirds.