The representation of nonuniform motion: induced movement

Induced motion occurs when there is a misallocation of nonuniform motion. Theories of induced motion are reviewed with respect to the model for uniform motion recently proposed by Swanston, Wade, and Day. Theories based on single processes operating at one of the retinocentric, orbitocentric, egocentric, or geocentric levels are not able to account for all aspects of the phenomenon. It is therefore suggested that induced motion is a consequence of combining two different types of motion signals: one provides information by registering the motion with respect to the retina, orbit, and egocentre; the other provides information only on the relational motions between the pattern elements. Simple rules are given for defining a frame of reference for the relational motion process, which can result in a reallocation of the motion signals. It is proposed that the two signals in combination are weighted differentially, with the greater influence coming from the relational signals. Procedures for determining the weighting factors are described, and predictions from the model are examined.     

Configurational information in face perception

A new facial composites technique is demonstrated, in which photographs of the top and bottom halves of different familiar faces fuse to form unfamiliar faces when aligned with each other. The perception of a novel configuration in such composite stimuli is sufficiently convincing to interfere with identification of the constituent parts (experiment 1), but this effect disappears when stimuli are inverted (experiment 2). Difficulty in identifying the parts of upright composites is found even for stimuli made from parts of unfamiliar faces that have only ever been encountered as face fragments (experiment 3). An equivalent effect is found for composites made from internal and external facial features of well-known people (experiment 4). These findings demonstrate the importance of configurational information in face perception, and that configurations are only properly perceived in upright faces.     

Personality and antisocial behaviour: A long-term study

The relationship between the personality components of psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism, and levels of conduct disorder, delinquency and therapy responsiveness in children is investigated. A series of studies reporting short- and long-term results test Eysenck's (1970) argument that extraverts, because of their lower levels of conditionability, should feature more prominently in groups showing higher levels of conduct disorder or delinquency. The extension of that argument to include the role of psychoticism (Eysenck H.J. and Eysenck S.B.G., Psychoticism as a Dimension of Personality, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1976) is also subjected to experimental test. Two alternative conceptions of the part played by neuroticism, either that it acts as an amplifying device (high N) or as a filter against pressure to change (low N), are considered. The results support the importance of including personality factors in the study of antisocial behaviour in children.     

Individual differences and measures of aggression in laboratory studies

After inducing hostility toward a confederate by threatening subjects' self-esteem, subjects were then given the opportunity either to deliver shocks (Experiment 1) or to withhold rewards (Experiment 2) from their confederate. Physiological measures were taken prior to the hostility induction, shortly after the induction and, finally, after the opportunity to aggress. Measures of individual differences relating to aggressive behavior were also considered. While the experimental manipulation was the best predictor in the ‘withholding rewards’ condition, measures of dissipation-rumination tendencies and emotional vulnerability were the best predictors in the ‘shock administration’ condition. In both conditions, systolic blood pressure seemed to reflect differences in arousal as a function of the hostility induction procedure, while subjects in the withhold rewards procedure also showed a decrease in systolic pressure after having an opportunity to aggress toward the confederate. It was concluded that not only is the withholding of rewards a more ethically acceptable procedure than shock administration, but it is also more likely to reflect experimental rather than individual difference affects.     

Children's social problem-solving skills, behavioral adjustment, and interventions: A meta-analysis evaluating theory and practice

Meta-analyses were performed to examine reported relations between children's interpersonal cognitive problem-solving (ICPS) skills and adjustment, and to specify the effects of ICPS training. In general, the relation between ICPS and adjustment appears robust, and interventions yield clear increases in ICPS skills. Intervention effects on behavioral adjustment are somewhat more equivocal; meta-analytic results differ depending on whether behavioral ratings or observations are the dependent variables. Age of subject, source of publication, and expertise of investigator are boundary conditions for the meta-analysis regarding ICPS and adjustment; teacher/child dialogues on ICPS principles in real-life situations, expertise of investigator, source and quality of publication, and length of interventions mediate magnitude of certain intervention effects. Further research is needed where data were sparse, as in follow-up data and effects of intervention for various special populations.     

Brain potentials as indices of orthographic and phonological interaction during word matching

The interaction between orthographic and phonological codes in a same-different judgment task was studied by requiring subjects to decide if two visually presented words either looked alike or rhymed. Word pairs were selected from four different lists. Words rhymed and looked alike, rhymed but did not look alike, looked alike but did not rhyme, or neither looked alike nor rhymed. Reaction time and percent error increased whenever there was a conflict between the orthography and phonology of the words. The N200 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) indicated that subjects were capable of detecting phonological differences between words within 260 ms from the presentation of a word pair. The amplitude of the N200s also varied with the degree of mismatch between words. N200s were largest when both the orthography and phonology mismatched, of intermediate amplitude when either orthography or phonology mismatched, and smallest when both orthography and phonology matched. P300 latency was consistent with reaction time, increasing whenever there was a conflict between the two codes. Taken together, behavioral measures and the ERP data suggest that the extraction of the orthographic and phonological aspects of words occurs early in the information processing sequence.     

Remembering left-right orientation of pictures

In a study of recognition memory for pictures, we observed an asymmetry in classifying test items as "same" versus "different" in left-right orientation: Identical copies of previously viewed items were classified more accurately than left-right reversals of those items. Response bias could not explain this asymmetry, and, moreover, correct "same" and "different" classifications were independently manipulable: Whereas repetition of input pictures (one vs. two presentations) affected primarily correct "same" classifications, retention interval (3 hr vs. 1 week) affected primarily correct "different" classifications. In addition, repetition but not retention interval affected judgments that previously seen pictures (both identical and reversed) were "old". These and additional findings supported a dual-process hypothesis that links "same" classifications to high familiarity, and "different" classifications to conscious sampling of images of previously viewed pictures.     

The development of sex differences in young children's activities at home: The effect of the social context

Randomly scheduled spot observations of 83 zero to six-year-old American middle-class children were used to investigate factors affecting the development of sex differences in young children's activities in and near their home. Sex and age differences in children's typical play and nonplay activities and in the people with whom they did activities were examined. The results showed that there were fewer sex differences in children's activities, activity partners, and general social settings than expected. Girls spent more time engaged in housework and school-related activities than boys, while boys spent more time in social gross motor play with other children and in self-care activities than girls. Children spent a surprisingly large amount of their time with members of their immediate family — particularly their mother and one other sibling. Boys and girls did not differ, however, in the time they were in settings or doing activities with their father, with their mother, or with same-or mixed-sex child groups.This research was supported by an award to the author from the Wisconsin Alumnae Research Foundation at the University of Wisconsin — Madison. The author would also like to acknowledge the research and editorial assistance of Daniel J. Walsh. In addition, Aletha Huston, Beatrice B. Whiting, and Gary G. Price provided valuable advice on this and earlier versions of this paper.     

It's not who you are but who you're with: Self-Confidence in achievement settings

This study examined the effects of two social cues on women's and men's self-confidence: the sex and performance of another in an achievement setting. Before trying to solve 60 anagrams, women expected to perform more poorly than men. In addition, both sexes expected to perform more poorly when paired with a male confederate than when paired with a female confederate. The effect of the partner's sex showed up in anagram performance: people with a female partner solved more anagrams than people with a male partner. The effect of subject's sex on performance was unexpected: women solved more anagrams than men. After the task, sex differences in self-confidence disappeared; neither sex of subject nor sex of partner influenced self-confidence. The partner's performance, however, had a strong effect on everyone: people were less self-confident if they had worked with a high-scoring partner. The pattern of results suggests that sex-of-subject differences in self-confidence, while important, are less powerful than the effects wielded by the sex of others in achievement settings.