Letter versus dot stimuli as tools for “splitting the normal brain with reaction time”

Filbey and Gazzaniga (1969) found simple dot-present or -absent reports averaged 35 ms slower for the left than for the right visual field. Other data suggests that verbal processing efficiency differences between the cerebral hemispheres, rather than transcallosal transfer time alone, must be tapped to obtain half-field differences as large as 35 ms. Three experiments were conducted. The first failed to show any half-field differences in vocal RT for dot detection; the second replicated previous reports of significant right field superiority of vocal RT to letter stimuli for right handers, and also showed a substantially smaller half-field difference for left handers; the third experiment, utilizing the fixation control procedure of the second experiment, again failed to show half-field differences for the dot detection paradigm. Differences between the Filbey and Gazzaniga and present results probably reflect important procedural differences. We conclude that transcallosal transfer time for simple dot information is much smaller than assumed by Filbey and Gazzaniga and that the letter report-time task taps hemispheric asymmetries of verbal processing efficiency.     

Individuum,Gesellschaft Und Staat

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Word association responses in normal adult subjects

A word association test was administered to a group of 316 undergraduate students. Word stimuli were balanced according to frequency of occurrence in written English language usage (frequent, infrequent), word length (short, long), abstraction level (low, medium, high), and grammatical class (noun, verb, adjective). Responses were analyzed according to a syntactic classification system. The factorial nature of the word list used enhances its value as a research tool.The authors wish to thank Professor Louis J. Gerstman, Department of Psychology, City College of CUNY, New York, for his assistance in preparing the statistical data in this study.     

Projective drawings and children who stutter

Five young stutterers (aged 5–10 yr) and a matched group of five nonstuttering children completed five projective drawings and a scale for assessing communication attitudes of children at the beginning and at the end of a 3-mo treatment period. While the attitude scale failed to indicate differences between stuttering and nonstuttering children, performances on selected drawings did distinguish between experimental and control subjects. In addition, significant changes were observed in selected drawings over the treatment period for the young stutterers.     

An Apple II-based slide-projector laboratory

We describe the software and hardware of a laboratory running under UCSD Pascal on an Apple II computer. The system includes: two random-access projectors and two standard projectors, all equipped with tachistoscopic shutters; two filter wheels; a voice key; a tone generator; and eight response boxes. The laboratory can be used for any experiment in which visual stimuli are to be presented and in which precise display times, reaction times, and luminances are required. It is particularly well suited to picture-perception and picture-memory experiments.     

Juvenile deliquency in an Austrian sample of foster-children without a father substitute: review of the literature and some findings

‘SOS-Kinderdorf’ is a worldwide organization who offer new homes to children abandoned by their parents. Children live in family-like groups, headed by a ‘mother’, imitating natural family life as closely as possible. They lack ‘father’, however, which has been a frequent point of criticism with regard to empirical results on father absence. Some of these results are discussed and reviewed critically. Criminological studies have ascribed forms of juvenile delinquency to the childhood absence of a male model. It could be shown, however, that such results vary considerably depending mainly on the reason for father absence. It is doubted, therefore that generalizations may be made for SOS-Kinderdorf's type of one-parent family. Empirical results about juvenile delinquency in a sample of 163 male and female 14- to 18-yr-old former members of SOS-Kinderdorf families are reported, ‘observed’ over a 4-yr period and compared with data on juvenile delinquency for the same area and period of time. The former children from SOS-Kinderdorf are significantly less frequently delinquent than the controls as long as they stay in the institution but they show the reverse pattern after leaving.     

Existential perspective in the thought of Carl Jung

It is argued that there is a significant existential perspective in the thought of Carl Jung. Similarities and differences with some of the views of Jean Paul Sartre are explored as a way of developing this perspective and to show how a philosophy of a man might be developed drawing from both sources. Jung is shown to be in disagreement with Sartre in defending an idea of a determinate human nature, describing the self in a developmental way, and in not claiming that human freedom is absolute or unconditioned. Nevertheless, the Jungian concept of individuation is similar to Sartre's ideal of authenticity, in that both focus on the goal of achieving meaningful existence through development of inner resources, creative exercise of freedom, and overcoming self-deception.     

Models of consultation: Preferences of educational professionals at five stages of service

Three professional education groups (elementary school principals, special education teachers, and second-grade teachers from two school systems) were asked to rate their preference for four models of consultation as offered by school psychologists at each of five stages of the consultation process. Results indicate that there were no differences among the three professional education groups in their ratings of the models. However, there was a significant difference in the ratings given to each model, with the collaboration model receiving the highest rating. A model by stage interaction also was noted, a finding which suggests that consultation preference should not be considered a unidimensional concept. The implications of these results for the training and practice of school psychologists in the consultation role are discussed.     

Differential acquisition rates for different types of information from pictures

In three picture-recognition experiments, we investigated the characteristics of “specific feature” and “holistic” information hypothesized to be extracted from pictures. In each experiment, exposure time was varied at study. The recognition test was two-alternative forced-choice in which the target/distractor relationship was manipulated in such a way that responding on the basis of one type of information or the other was required. The results indicated that following one fixation on a picture at the time of initial study, performance based on holistic information was superior to performance based on specific feature information, whereas the reverse was true following sufficient study time for multiple fixations. These results support a view of pictorial information acquisition which postulates that most holistic information extracted from a picture is extracted during the first eye fixation on the picture, whereas subsequent fixations have the primary purpose of seeking out specific, informative features.     

The Effects of Cooperation and Competition on Ingroup-Outgroup Bias1

A matrix game format was employed in a 2 × 2 design to study the effects of within group cooperation and competition under conditions of success and failure on subjects' subsequent treatment of own group and outgroup persons. Subjects in two-person groups either succeeded or failed at a cooperative or competitive game and then awarded points (worth money) to themselves, their partner, and two other people. A review of the relevant literature suggested that ingroup-outgroup bias would be greater after successful competition than after unsuccessful competition. The results supported this hypothesis. It was also found that subjects in the Cooperation-Failure condition displayed greater ingroup-outgroup bias than subjects in the Cooperation-Success condition. A qualification of the previous research supporting a positive relationship between group cohesiveness and ingroup-outgroup bias was suggested on the basis of the results.