The Personality of Select Theological Students

When 72 male students in a southern theological institution were compared by the manner in which they intended to fulfill their religious vocation (i.e., as missionaries, pastors, or religious education workers), a homogeneity of personality behavior was observed on each of 16 factors. The total sample, however, was reported to be substantially and significantly different from the general population on four factors. No significant difference was reported among the three groups in their need for social approval as measured by the Marlowe-Crowne SDS.     

Some physical determinants of viewing time under three instructional sets

One-hundred fifty human Ss viewed 32 patterns under neutral (N), pleasingness (P), or interestingness (l) instructional sets. An analysis of variance indicated that patterns with larger areas were viewed longer than patterns with smaller areas under all conditions; however, this effect was more pronounced under the P and I conditions than under the N condition. Patterns containing 9-sided shapes were viewed longer than those containing 3-sided shapes under the N and I conditions, while the reverse was true for the P condition.     

Oculomotor adaptation to wedge prisms with no part of the body seen

When S looks at a visual target through prisms, adaptive shifts in reaching behavior occur even though he sees no part of his body through the prisms. These shifts are caused by a change in the judgment of the direction of gaze (oculomotor change), which in turn is caused by two secondary prismatic effects: (a) asymmetry of the visual display and (b) apparent rotation about a vertical axis of a panel or wall facing S. The “asymmetry” factor contributes 22% of the total oculomotor change, and the “rotation” effect contributes the remaining 78%. Oculomotor change is not facilitated by eye-movement activity. The adaptive oculomotor change induces a non-adaptive proprioception change about one-tenth as large as the oculomotor change. These findings are capable of accounting for the previously unexplained results reported by Wooster in 1923, and also for the current controversy about the role of reafferent stimulation in sensorymotor adaptation.     

The role of stimulation in the delay of onset of crying in the newborn infant

Crying is said to result from stimulus need. An experiment was done in which infants were stimulated during quiet periods to see if this would postpone the onset of crying. The results were positive. An alternative explanation in terms of internal temperature control is considered.     

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.     

Specificity of a cutaneous receptor

Absolute vibrotactile thresholds are determined on the human tongue and compared to corresponding data obtained on the hand. The mucosa of the tongue is devoid of Pacinian corpuscles but the hand is richly with these nerve endings. Summation of energy is characteristic of responses recorded from tissue containing Pacinian corpuscles and absent where the corpuscle is specifically sensitive to mechanical vibration.