Sex differences in the duration of visual attention

Normal adult males and females looked at a series of photographs containing either a single adult male or female. Ss viewed each picture for as long as they wished. Assuming that measures of the duration of attention would reflect Ss attraction for the opposite sex, it was hypothesized that Ss would spend relatively more time viewing photographs of the opposite sex. The results failed to support the hypothesis. Although males did not differentially attend to the stimuli, females looked significantly longer at the females than they did at the males. The results were interpreted in terms of the “overt sexual content” of the stimuli and socially conditioned attentiveness and inattentiveness.     

Clinical application of conditioning and other behavioral techniques: Conceptual and professional considerations

It is only recently that conditioning and allied techniques have been applied on any large scale outside the laboratory. With the emergence of these procedures into the clinical world, in particular, a new class of problems present themselves. It is no longer sufficient to focus upon narrowly technical or theoretical problems; philosophies, social and practical issues must be taken into consideration and the new techniques evaluated conceptually and practically in direct comparison with their psychodynamic alternatives. Selected issues are presented and discussed.     

The effect of repetition on the perception of single letters

Single letters were presented for from one to five flashes, with S required to report what he saw after each flash. The clarity of the letter increased sharply with repetition. Since the letters were no larger than one-third of a degree in size, clarity could not have been increased by S making different fixations from flash to flash and combining them into a total percept. Nor was S guessing, since this could be ruled out by other indicators. Thus, it was concluded that repetition of the stimulus can have a direct effect on the clarity of a S’s percept of that stimulus.