Leukocyte migration inhibition test in multiple sclerosis - results of a migration technic according to Clausen using brain specific antigens

The leukocyte migration inhibitory factor (LIF) was examined in 57 test persons--27 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 30 normals--with the indirect and the direct leucocyte migration inhibition test in agarose (LMIAT). The stimulation of lymphocytes was carried out by the application of myelin basic protein (BP) and a membrane-associated antigen of normal brain (NTA). The mean value of controls +/- 2 s and the migration index less than or equal to 0,80 were used for limiting. In the indirect technique could be established significant group effects (NTA- and BP-values of MS cases compared to the controls) after 10 hours of incubation. The direct method showed in MS patients a significant lowered migration-index on an average after stimulation with the NTA; controls gave negative findings (except two cases). The valence of the test system and prospective modifications for further results were indicated.     

Loss of vision during the retinal stabilization of letters

Upper- and lower-case letters of the alphabet were stabilized until loss of vision occurred. Loss of straight-line visibility was the most frequently reported perceptual event. Occasionally, features of letters separated spatially before their loss of visibility. In both instances, loss of visibility often resulted in the perception of a less complex letter. Confidence ratings for each loss of letter visibility indicated that participants were quite certain about perceived fragmentations. In a control experiment, participants were asked to guess how letters would fragment during stabilization. Again, loss of line visibility was the most frequently reported event. However, spatial separation of features was rarely predicted and complex letters were not predicted to fragment into simpler letter forms. Furthermore, the confidence in predicted fragmentation was quite low. These results are consistent with the view that losses of visibility during retinal stabilization constitute a distinct perceptual experience. Fragmentations appear to be determined by the availability of less complex letter forms and by the loss of subletter information, consisting of letter features and information specifying spatial configurations.     

Measuring activism regarding the nuclear arms race

A 14-item questionnaire measure of activism regarding the nuclear arms race is described. Scale development analyses were conducted on 227 subjects, and internal consistency reliabilities ranged from .56 to .91 for scales assessing four aspects of activism on this issue. High correlations were obtained between these brief scales and corresponding measures derived from a 50-item long form. Responses of five subject groups were also compared: workers in defense industries, participants in a Republican party meeting, graduate students in psychology, religious teachers, and peace activists. Applications of this measure for study of the behavioral component of responses to the nuclear arms race are discussed.     

Development of movement schema in young children

To examine the development of movement schema in young school-age children, i.e., whether principles which govern fine eye-hand coordination skill learning as suggested by Schmidt's schema theory apply to the learning of gross motor skills Exp. 1 involved 48 right-handed first-grade children. On a modification of the Fitts Reciprocal Tapping task children moved a stylus (held in the hand or attached to a special shoe worn on the foot) between two metal targets separated by different distances. Children were randomly assigned to one of eight groups: two control or no-practice groups and six experimental or transfer groups. A one-way analysis of variance followed by appropriate Scheffé post hoc tests indicated that movements of the lower limbs were not organized into a movement schema, but a pattern of schema of movement for the upper limbs developed. That no movement schema developed for lower limb movements suggests development of movement schema is intricately linked to both the existing as well as the potential for developing precise movement in those limbs. Exp. 2 involved 40 first-grade children who were randomly assigned to perform a gross-motor agility task under one of three conditions: direct practice on the criterion task, constant practice on a modification of the criterion task, or variable practice on several different modifications of the criterion task. A groups X trials analysis of variance with appropriate post hoc tests indicated that there were no significant differences among direct, constant, or variable practice groups. Data suggest that the amount of practice may be as important as the type of practice in developing movement schema involved in gross motor skills in young children.     

The effect of factivity on lexical retrieval and postlexical processes during eye fixations in reading

Subjects were required to read short passages of text while their eye movements were monitored. Each experimental passage contained a critical factive or nonfactive verb that was followed by a false complement. In half of the trials, subjects' reading was unimpaired; in the remainder of the trial, a central visual pattern mask, which moved in synchrony with the eyes, was applied. The results showed that (1) factive and nonfactive verbs did not receive different amounts of fixation time during the reading text. However, (2) false complements that followed nonfactive verbs. On the basis of this, it is concluded that individual word characteristics, such as factivity, are encoded automatically while sentence interpretation requires effort to be completed.     

Determinants of infant visual fixation: evidence for a two-process theory

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the dynamics of the human infant's (4 months old) visual fixation. The general finding that, over a series of trials, infants fixate longer to a complex than to a simple stimulus was replicated. The function relating fixation time to trials was shown to be nonmonotonic when the stimulus was complex (fixation time increased between Trials 1 and 2 and then decreased), but was monotonic when the stimulus was simple (it decreased systematically over trials). Additional experiments indicated that (a) the nonmonotonic function associated with the complex stimulus was eliminated when the interval separating Trials 1 and 2 was increased from 10 to 20 or 30 s (Experiment 2), and (b) the difference in fixation time between the complex and the simple stimulus was eliminated by controlling their effects in a within-subjects design (Experiment 3). These data challenge the prevailing cognitive-schema theories as a complete account of the dynamics of the infant's visual fixation. A two-process theory that accounts for these data was proposed.