Loudness functions under inhibition

In both vision and hearing, a masking or inhibiting stimulus increases the slope (exponent) of the power function that relates sensation to stimulus. The power transformation applies only to the inhibited part of the function where the signal is fainter than the masking noise. Where the signal equals the noise, the function shows a discontinuous knee. Experiments were undertaken to see whether the loudness of a tone of 1000 Hz in a white noise would follow a model based on a constant signal-to-noise ratio at two locations, at the effective threshold and at the knee where the inhibited function meets the uninhibited function. The data accord with the slopes (exponents) generated by the model. The same model gives a fairly good account of the recruitment functions for ears suffering from cochlear involvement (e.g., Méniere’s disease). Regardless of degree of hearing loss, loudness recruitment reaches normal when the tone (1000 Hz) is about 30 dB above the affected threshold.     

Some observations and measurements of the Pulfrich phenomenon

The Pulfrich pendulum was evaluated as a potential screening device for the detection of anomalies of binocular vision. For this purpose, a booth was set up at the Kentucky State Fair (1964) and the general public invited to observe the pendulum and record their responses with the equipment provided. The obtained results indicate that a dichotomy can be achieved between those who have binocular vision and those who do not. However, gradations of binocular vision from poor to good cannot be achieved with the pendulum as presently understood. Contrary to explanatory theory the characteristic shape of the seen pendulum path was asymmetrical following the rule that the path was displaced away from the observer on the side of the filtered eye.     

The effects of variation of intertrial interval on exploration of elevatd and enclosed mazes

The interval between exploratory trials was varied in experiments using simple elevated or enclosed mazes. Activity on the second trial was depressed for short intertrial intervals but had recovered after about 10 min.; the degree of recovery was different in the two types of maze. A second decrease in second trial activity was found with inter-trial intervals of more than 20 min., but a further experiment suggested this was due to the effects of delay itself, rather than to previous experience of the environment.     

The use of extreme groups to test for the presence of a relationship

Experimenters in psychology frequently investigate the relationship between two variables by selecting extreme groups on the first measure and comparing their mean scores on the second. This paper considers the efficacy of this procedure from the criterion of the power of the statistical tests. Optimal cutting points for the extreme groups are defined, and the power of the difference approach is compared to that of significance tests for the productmoment correlation coefficient.     

The relative intelligibility threshold for one's own name compared with other names

Two recent experiments (Moray, 1959; Oswald, Taylor and Treisman, 1960) have shown that in dichotic listening, and in sleep one's own name seems to be responded to selectively. We have shown for 10 subjects, each listening binaurally to the same recording of a list of their names repeated at random 10 times, and masked by noise, that the subject's own name had a significantly lower threshold than other names. The effect we found was not significantly different from the one found by Oswald et al. during sleep and by Moray for the dichotic situation.

These three experiments taken together suggest that the same pattern-analysing mechanism is involved in normal listening, dichotic listening to the rejected message, and in discrimination during sleep.     

Shorter articles and notes two more visual theorems

The basis of the widely held opinion that the spectral sensitivities of the mechanisms determining trichromacy must be linearly related to the spectral mixture functions is examined, and a proof from simple assumptions is stated.

It is proved also that, on the van der Velden hypothesis of independent sensitive units, a spatial or temporal summation law of the form AIⁿ = c implies a frequency-of-seeing curve of the form Q = I—e^-KIn (Q = probability of detecting a stimulus of size A and intensity I; n, c and K are constants).