Structural alterations of an ambiguous musical figure: the scale illusion revisited.

The scale illusion (Deutsch, 1975) shows the importance of frequency range in the perceptual organization of a sequence of notes. This paper includes three experiments on the scale illusion. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that if the structure of the pattern of notes used in the original scale illusion study is altered slightly, by adding or subtracting a pair of notes from the ends of the sequence, there is a significant decrease in the rate of frequency-based responses, suggesting a weaker illusion. Experiment 3 investigated two features of the note patterns that may have led to this change. Specifically, it asked whether the decrease in the strength of the illusion is due to (1) the nature of the notes at the extremes of the frequency range and/or (2) the nature of the notes at the crossing point of the two scales. While both sources were found to affect the strength of the scale illusion, the former had a greater influence.     

Weekends and holidays and acting-out behavior of developmentally delayed women: a reply to Dr. Mark Flynn.

A previous report on the effect of the day of the full moon on the acting-out behavior of 20 developmentally delayed, institutionalized women showed that on the day of the full moon there were significantly more misbehaviors than on any other day during the lunar period. The records were re-evaluated to assess the frequency of acting-out behaviors on weekends and holidays as contrasted with the balance of the month. This re-evaluation indicated there was no significant difference between the weekends and holidays and the balance of the month (t = 1.14). The results were taken as support of the previous findings that on the day of the full moon there were significantly more misbehaviors than on any other day of the lunar period.     

Extracting thresholds from noisy psychophysical data.

Psychophysical studies with infants or with patients often are unable to use pilot data, training, or large numbers of trials. To evaluate threshold estimates under these conditions, computer simulations of experiments with small numbers of trials were performed by using psychometric functions based on a model of two types of noise: stimulus-related noise (affecting slope) and extraneous noise (affecting upper asymptote). Threshold estimates were biased and imprecise when extraneous noise was high, as were the estimates of extraneous noise. Strategies were developed for rejecting data sets as too noisy for unbiased and precise threshold estimation; these strategies were most successful when extraneous noise was low for most of the data sets. An analysis of 1,026 data sets from visual function tests of infants and toddlers showed that extraneous noise is often considerable, that experimental paradigms can be developed that minimize extraneous noise, and that data analysis that does not consider the effects of extraneous noise may underestimate test-retest reliability and overestimate interocular differences.     

The word-superiority effect does not require a T-scope.

Six experiments examined the possibility of obtaining a word-superiority effect (WSE) without the use of brief stimulus exposures or a poststimulus mask. In each experiment, subjects were presented a stimulus string and two alternative strings that differed by a single letter (Reicher, 1969). The alternatives and stimulus remained in view until subjects responded, and subjects were under no pressure to respond quickly. In Experiments 1-3, the stimuli were presented in very small type so that they were difficult to see. Subjects were significantly more accurate with words than with nonwords, letters embedded among digits, or letters embedded among number signs (#s). In Experiments 4 and 5, the stimuli were embedded in a simultaneously present pattern mask. Subjects were significantly more accurate with words than with single letters by themselves. In the final experiment, the stimuli were presented in a mask with specific spatial frequency characteristics, and performance was significantly better with words than with nonwords. The WSE is a more general phenomenon than previously supposed; it is not limited to a tachistoscopic exposure.     

A novel contact-lens system to assess visual hemispheric asymmetries.

A soft contact-lens system for achieving unilateral visual stimulation in a free vision format is described. Initial testing with light transmittance and visual perimetry indicated that the lenses created artificial visual-field deficits. The efficacy of the lenses as a technique for lateralizing visual input was evaluated by examining within-subject differences in performance on two visuospatial tasks. Speed and accuracy of performance were greater with visual input directed to the right hemisphere. These data support the lens design as a useful alternative to tachistoscopic procedures and previous lens systems.     

Using subtests of the Brain Age Quotient to screen for cognitive deficits among substance abusers.

The subtests of the Brain Age Quotient, a brief neuropsychological battery, were used to screen for cognitive impairment in a sample of 112 substance abusers. Each of the subtests was scored, using newly developed T scores corrected for age, education, and gender, for which a mean battery score of T less than 40 indicates general cognitive impairment. The chance-corrected agreement in finding cognitive dysfunction between this battery and the Average Impairment Rating T score from the Halstead-Reitan battery was adequate, kappa = .81. This result suggests that, for discerning global cognitive impairment, this relatively brief neurodiagnostic screening device may be an attractive alternative to the more time-consuming Halstead-Reitan battery.     

Rubbing your stomach while tapping your fingers: interference between motor planning and semantic judgments.

Previous research (Klatzky et al., 1989) shows that the time required to make sensible/nonsensible judgments about an action-object phrase (e.g., "rub your stomach") is reliably faster when the phrase is preceded by a cure representing a specific prototypical hand shape (vs. a neutral cue). The current experiments investigated the effects of preparing for an alternate task (finger tapping vs. syllable vocalization) on facilitatory priming of sensibility judgments. Preparation for finger tapping reduced the magnitude of the priming effect more than preparation for vocalization, suggesting that resources accessed during semantic processing of action-object phrases are also used during manual response preparation. The results support the existence of a system representing manual actions that is limited in the number of activities that can be represented at one time and that is not so general that it represents manual and vocal tract movements.     

A short-term longitudinal study of the early development of self-regulation

A short-term longitudinal study was conducted to determine whether self-regulation at 4 years could be predicted from child and maternal measures obtained when the children were age 24 months. The subjects were 69 children and their mothers drawn from the general community. Criterion behaviors assessed at 4 years were those suggestive of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Of the 24-month child measures, maternal ratings of the child's impulsivity and attention span, plus an objective measure of delay ability, were the most effective predictors. Maternal negativity, as assessed in mother-child interaction, predicted the criterion behaviors, even after the child's behavior as an elicitor of maternal behavior was controlled. Maternal child-rearing attitudes on the dimensions of warmth and aggravation were also effective predictors, even after controlling for the child's emotionality as a possible determinant of maternal attitudes. It is argued that the results with the maternal attitude measures provide support for the hypothesis that maternal behavior is a contributor to the development of self-regulation.This research was supported by a State of Ohio Academic Challenge Grant to the Bowling Green State University Clinical Psychology Program, and by a Basic Grant awarded to the first author by the Bowling Green State University Faculty Research Committee. The authors are grateful to Eric Dubow, Douglas Ullman, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and criticisms on previous versions of this article.     

Behavioral response of altricial and precocial rodent fetuses to acute umbilical cord compression.

Norway rat fetuses (Rattus norvegicus) exhibit a stereotypic behavioral response when the umbilical cord is experimentally compressed with a vascular clamp. In this study, the development of the fetal behavioral response to cord compression was compared in altricial and precocial rodents, which differ markedly in neural and motor maturity at the time of birth. Both altricial and precocial species showed some form of behavioral response to umbilical cord compression. Fetuses of two altricial species, Norway rats and Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus), expressed hyperactivity in response to cord compression throughout the last third of gestation. In contrast, precocial cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) and spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus) did not respond to cord compression until relatively late in gestation. Thus, altricial and precocial species do not express the cord compression response during comparable periods of neural development: precocial species are much more mature at the earliest expression of this behavior than altricial species. These findings are consistent with the interpretation that the cord compression response is a behavioral adaptation that can promote survival of the fetus in utero.     

Nifedipine blocks retention of a visual discrimination task in chicks.

Reports that the dihydropyridine Ca2+ channel antagonists may facilitate memory led to the present study of the behavioral effects of nifedipine. Ninety-two 4-day-old male chicks received 0, 100 nM, 100 microM, or 10 mM nifedipine. Drugs were administered in volumes of 2 microliters into the fourth cerebral ventricle 5 min before training on a visual discrimination task. Nifedipine did not produce any detectable changes in behavior during acquisition trials. Retention, however, was impaired 24 h after training in the 100 nM and 100 microM nifedipine-treated chicks, which made significantly more errors than controls. Nifedipine did not affect the amount of time required to complete the task. No effects on body weight gain were detected, suggesting that the memory impairment was not due to a change in feeding behavior. These data are discussed in terms of the role of calcium-dependent processes in memory.