Relative area and relative luminance combine to anchor surface lightness values.

The anchoring of lightness perception was tested in simple visual fields composed of only two regions by placing observes inside opaque acrylic hemispheres. Both side-by-side and center/surround configurations were tested. The results, which undermine Gilchrist and Bonato's (1995) recent claim that surrounds tend to appear white, indicate that anchoring involves both relative luminance and relative area. As long as the area of the darker region is equal to or smaller than the area of the lighter region, relative area plays no role in anchoring. Only relative luminance controls anchoring: The lighter region appears white, and the darker region is perceived relative to that value. When the area of the darker region becomes greater than that of the lighter region, relative area begins to play a role. As the darker region becomes larger and relative area shifts from the lighter region to the darker region, the appearance of the darker region moves toward white and the appearance of lighter region moves toward luminosity. This hitherto unrecognized rule is consistent with almost all of the many previous reports of area effects in lightness and brightness. This in turn suggests that a wide range of earlier work on area effects in brightness induction, lightness contrast, lightness assimilation, and luminosity perception can be understood in terms of a few simple rules of anchoring.     

生物反馈放松训练和表象训练在飞行训练中的应用研究

本研究试用生物反馈放松训练和表象训练相结合方法,减轻飞行学员的精神紧张及有关的生理反应、２６名２０—２２岁的男性飞行学员,实验、对照组各１３名、实验组学员每次飞行后进行一次肌电生物反馈放松训练和起落航线表象训练,共１６次;对照组学员参加日常飞行训练不加任何干预。实验前后实验组及对照组学员进行黑红数字测试,记录其测试前后的血压、心率;第一次升空及单飞考核飞行后也记录他们的血压和心率。结果表明,实验组学员的单飞考核成绩优于对照组;实验织学员单飞考核后的收缩压及第二次黑红数字测试后的收缩压比实验前显著降低;而对照组的前述生理指标无变化。生物反馈放松训练和表象训练能有效地减轻飞行中的紧张情绪及其生理反应,适于在飞行部队应用。     

Self-directed attention, awareness of bodily states, and suggestibility.

Two studies tested the hypothesis that self-directed attention would cause increased awareness of internal states and would thus reduce suggestibility effects. Experiment 1 applied this reasoning to the experience of an emotion. Males viewed moderately arousing slides of female nudes after being led to expect the slides to be either highly arousing or nonarousing. As predicted, ratings of the slides corresponded less with these experimentally-manipulated anticipations when self-focus was heightened by the presence of a mirror than when it was not. Experiment 2 examined a different internal experience: the perception of taste. Some subjects were led to expect a strong flavor as part of a test series, and other subjects were led to expect a weak flavor. Subjects high in private self-consciousness were less affected by this expectancy manipulation and more accurate in reporting their actual internal state than were subjects low in private self-consciousness. Discussion centers on the theoretical implications of the findings.     

Psychological Adaptation of Chinese Sojourners in Canada

Psychological adaptation during acculturation was studied among 68 Chinese sojourners (students and visiting scholars from China and Hong Kong), 28 Chinese immigrant and Chinese-Canadian students, 30 Chinese students and scholars in China, and 33 non-Chinese Canadian students. Each participant completed questionnaires pertaining to various aspects of their lives and personalities, including: health beliefs and behaviours; problems and ways of coping; social contact and acculturation attitudes; psychological and physical health; and subjective adaptation. The Chinese sojourners reported lower English fluency, lower ease of making friendships, more adaptation and communication problems, and lower subjective adaptation than non-Chinese Canadian, or Chinese-Canadian students. The Chinese sojourners experienced less desired and actual contact, more contact incongruity, more separation and less assimilation than Chinese-Canadian students. The Chinese sojourners reacted to their problems with less wishful thinking and self-blame, and more tension reduction, and the seeking of informational support than non-Chinese Canadian students. There were significant differences between groups in health concept and health causation, and believed and utilized health ways. Health causation, and believed and utilised health ways were the most important factors influencing the Chinese sojourners' health status. The Chinese sojourners experienced more problems, but tended to use fewer health ways after-arrival than pre-departure. The Chinese also experienced poorer health, especially poorer psychological health after-arrival than pre-departure. The longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of the Chinese sojourners' Cawte scores supported the U-curve hypothesis.     

Manual discrimination of force using active finger motion.

In these experiments, two plates were grasped between the thumb and forefinger and squeezed together along a linear track. An electromechanical system presented a constant resistance force during the squeeze up to a predetermined location on the track, whereupon the force effectively went to infinity (simulating a wall) or to zero (simulating a cliff). The task of the subject was to discriminate between two alternative levels of the constant resistance force (a reference level and a reference-plus-increment level). Results of these experiments indicate a just noticeable difference of roughly 7% of the reference force using a one-interval paradigm with trial-by-trial feedback over the ranges 2.5 less than or equal to F0 less than or equal to 10.0 newtons, 5 less than or equal to D less than or equal to 30 mm, 45 less than or equal to S less than or equal to 125 mm, and 25 less than or equal to V less than or equal to 160 mm/sec, where F0 is the reference force, D is the distance squeezed, S is the initial fingerspan, and V is the mean velocity of the squeeze. These results, based on tests with 5 subjects, are consistent with a wide range of previous results, some of which are associated with other body surfaces and muscle systems and many of which were obtained with different psychophysical methods.     

Homeostatic theory of drug tolerance: a general model of physiological adaptation

At the heart of homeostatic theory is the idea that explicit or implicit behavioral demands placed on physiological systems are required for the biological detection of homeostatic disturbances. The detection of drug-induced disturbances is required to drive the development of all systemic tolerance, both associative and nonassociative (i.e., both forms of tolerance are behaviorally contingent). A wide range of findings ranging from morphine-induced analgesia to ethanol-induced hyposexuality shows that contingent tolerance is pervasive and may be universal. The theory also stipulates that behavioral demands placed on the target system will govern the loss of both associative and nonassociative tolerance (physiological). The present formulation integrates contingent, associative, and nonassociative tolerance and drug-opposite withdrawal reactions within a unified theory.