Induced visual movement as nonveridical resolution of displacement ambiguity

Following the proposals made by Kinchla, it is argued that induced movement is a nonveridical resolution of stimulus ambiguity. The ambiguity derives from an identity between displacement of one element relative to another and displacement of the second relative to the first in a featureless field at velocities below the threshold for subject-relative movement. In such conditions, which element actually moves is perceptually unresolvable and veridical judgments therefore accord with chance. When a stationary field is introduced, perception is veridical, but when the field moves with the moving element, perception is nonveridical, i.e., induced movement of the stationary element and induced stationariness of the moving element occurs. The results from three experiments supported this interpretation and showed also that movement velocities above the subject-relative threshold contribute to the resolution of ambiguity.     

Stimulus-governance and the hyperkinetic syndrome

The hypothesis that hyperkinetic children are stimulusgoverned was tested. In a sample of 39 nonmedicated hyperkinetic boys 26 were found to be stimulus-governed. In a control sample of 20 nonmedicated boys 6 were found to be stimulus-governed. An association was found between the hyperkinetic syndrome and stimulusgovernance. The hypothesis is raised that response to methylphenidate is related to stimulusgovernance. Several issues raised by the research are discussed.This research was supported in part by a grant from Bloemendaal Psychiatric Hospital, The Hague, The Netherlands. The authors wish to thank Mr. E. M. Ockhorst, for constructing the KFA-testing equipment, and Mr. R. Reyneart, for helping with the computer analysis. An earlier draft of the paper was presented at the European Conference of Neuropsychology, sponsored by the International Neuropsychology Society, at Oxford University, England.     

The poggendorff illusion with subjective contours

Gregory (1972) has claimed that the Poggendorff misalignment effect occurs when the collinear obliques are separated by subjective rather than real contours. He used two figures to demonstrate this variant of the illusion. Two experiments to test the claim are reported. The first showed that apparent misalignment in one of the two original figures is no greater than that with two obliques alone (the oblique line effect), but misalignment in the other is greater than with two oblique lines and than with a control without subjective contours. The second experiment showed that apparent misalignment in the second figure was less than in two control figures without subjective contours. Since this reduced effect was probably due to the nature of the intersection between the oblique and a semi-circular element, the role of subjective contours remains unsettled.     

The effect of edge orientation and movement direction on the apparent misalignment of collinear bars

Four experiments on apparent misalignment of oblique collinear bars are reported. The data from the first three experiments showed that the misalignment was slight but significant when no direction other than that of the bars themselves was delineated and about double when the vertical was delineated by movements of the adjustable bar. When the vertical was delineated by both these movements and the ends of the bars (or by vertical parallel lines), the misalignment was more than six times greater. Conversely, it was reduced when the bar ends delineated the vertical and bar movements delineated the direction at right angles to the bars. The data from a fourth experiment showed that the inner pair of edges were closely involved in apparent misalignment and that the outer ends were not. The relationship between the misalignment effect with bars and the Poggendorif figure (oblique lines separated by parallels), the delineation of direction by edges and movement, and the implications of these data for an explanation are discussed.     

The multiple vigilance test

The multiple vigilance test is a 30-min signal detection task designed to assess performance. Sixty target and 180 nontarget stimuli are presented with random interstimulus intervals ranging from 4 to 11 sec. Subjects respond by pressing the spacebar (or microswitch in an alternate version of the program) when they see the masking pattern transformed into the target. This vigilance test is used in conjunction with measures of physiological sleepiness (Multiple Sleep Latency Test) and subjective sleepiness (Stanford Sleepiness Scale). This behavioral information concerning manifest sleepiness provides a more complete picture of a subject’s state of alertness. The assessment of vigilance during long, monotonous, nonstimulating tasks is clinically important in patients with disorders of sleep and arousal.     

Religious Ethics and the Spirit of Undomesticated Dissent

The field of religious ethics contributes to practices of resistance and hope in broader society. In advancing my claim that religious ethics contributes to practices of resistance and hope today, I first tell a story about the changing demographics in the field of religious ethics and why this demographic shift is important. I next focus on womanist religious scholarship as an exemplary discourse in religious ethics and how it has contributed to practices of resistance and hope in the academy and within contemporary society. While a few scholars in JRE over the last 50 years have cited and engaged womanist ethicists like Katie Cannon and Emilie Townes, I want to offer a more explicit argument on how the womanist idea has contributed to practices of resistance and hope. I maintain that womanist religious scholarship embodies the practice of undomesticated dissent and that such dissent might be understood as a contribution to larger humanistic inquiry within the academy. Finally, I briefly consider an objection to my argument through engaging Stanley Fish's claim that the purposes and ends of institutions of higher education should not be oriented toward activism.     

Assessing the predictive validity of emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence has become a fashionable topic in the popular press, and has been heralded as an effective predictor of successful performance. However, little empirical evidence has borne out these claims. The present study was conducted in order to determine the relationship of emotional intelligence, cognitive ability, and personality with academic achievement. Emotional intelligence was assessed using the EQ-i (total EQ-i score and five EQ-i composite factor scores). Both cognitive ability and personality (in terms of extraversion and self control) were significantly associated with academic achievement. None of the EQ-i factor scores, nor the total EQ-i score, was significantly related to academic achievement.