A new Visual Aesthetic Sensitivity Test—IV. Cross-cultural comparisons between a Chinese sample from Singapore and an English sample

The Visual Aesthetic Sensitivity Test was applied to 1097 Chinese Ss in Singapore, and to 784 English students and children, in order to study the possible influence of cultural factors. Little in the way of differences was observed, the Chinese sample actually scoring slightly better than the European sample on a test designed in the European tradition. Difficulty levels of the items were similar for the representatives of the two cultures.     

Olfactory Comfort: Smelling a Partner's Clothing During Periods of Separation1

We demonstrate for the first time that most women, and some men, deliberately smell their partners' clothing when they are apart. We asked undergraduate men and women who were, or who had ever been, in a committed heterosexual relationship if they had ever slept with an article of a partner's clothing or deliberately smelled a partner's clothing during periods of separation. Both men and women reported that smelling an absent partner's clothing made them feel happy, comfortable, and secure. We suggest that olfactory comfort is a significant component of attachment and is likely to involve family members other than partners.     

Pursuit Rotor Reminiscence in Schizophrenics and Normals

Normal and schizophrenic Ss (N=24 each) did pursuit rotor tracking and reminiscence was the score of interest; rest pauses of 2, 12, and 30 min., and 1, 6, and 24 hr. were interpolated in counterbalanced order after 5 min. of practice. It was predicted, on the basis of previous work, that schizophrenics would show greater reminiscence after the longer rest pauses, normals after the shorter rest pauses. The expected cross-over effect was found, but at a non-significant level only. There were no order effects. A discussion is given of the relation of these results to the interpretation of schizophrenia in terms of ‘‘arousal.”