Effects of peripheral circular contours on dynamic spatial orientation

The rod-and-frame effect (RFE) was investigated with the use of a frame that oscillated about an axis at its center at five different frequencies, ranging from .013 to .213 Hz. The resultant RFE shifted continuously with the roll motion of the frame, and it was significantly larger at the lowest frequency (.013 Hz) than under comparable static conditions. The dynamic RFE was lowest at the higher oscillation frequencies. Oscillatory roll vection--apparent self-motion--was reported by 3 of the 9 subjects when the frame was oscillating at its highest frequency (.213 Hz). The subjects yielded large increases in the RFE during the sessions with reports of vection. Surrounding the kinetic frame with a circular contour eliminated all reports of vection and significantly interacted with frequency to reduce the RFE--but only at low frequencies. The reduction amounted to 21.2% averaged over all 9 subjects at the three lowest frequencies. A surrounding contour, therefore, suppressed low-frequency kinetic visual orientation information that might otherwise have produced larger changes in apparent self-orientation and perceived vertical. Vection-sensitive subjects differed from nonvection subjects by exhibiting (1) a high-frequency fall-off in real-motion gain, (2) a high-frequency enhancement in illusory-motion gain, and (3) only a small and nonsignificant increase in illusory-movement phase lag with increases in frequency.     

Initial experiences with cognitive therapy of schizophrenic patients

Based on earlier experiences of various groups of authors, we developed and modified a programme of cognitive therapy for schizophrenic patients. The aim of the application of the therapeutic programme to subacute patients was to decrease subjectively perceptible basic disorders and to improve the functions of performance. The present results and experiences with 4 groups consisting of a total of 31 patients encourage us to continue applying cognitive procedures of therapy. Problems of the ascertainment of measuring values and fundamental questions of therapeutic efficacy are discussed.     

Normal cerebrospinal fluid findings in spinal tumors--an analysis of 503 cases

Till now almost nothing has been published about normal liquor findings in spinal cord tumours. Out of 503 cases there were normal findings of total proteins and cells in 30 cases (6 per cent). A connection with the severity of the compression-syndrome was not evident. Nevertheless liquor examinations are important in diseases of the medulla spinalis. This is especially useful in the differential diagnostical demarcation of inflammable spinal cord diseases, accompanying reactions or bleedings into the spinal channel.     

Association between paired subtests of auditory sequential memory administered to preschool children

Auditory sequential memory subtests of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence and the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities were administered individually to 20 normal preschool children. Poor performance on the McCarthy words/sentences subtest suggests retention difficulties associated with isolated words in the absence of linguistic context. Correlations of only moderate strength and large unexplained variance indicate poor predictability between subtests despite similarities in content and procedural details.     

Throwing action from full-cue and motion-only video-models of an arm movement sequence

The purpose of this study was to determine whether videotaped demonstrations of an action which displayed only the motion pattern of a model's limb as compared with one which showed both form and motion provide sufficient information for modelling a given pattern of movement. Video-demonstrations of an arm-movement sequence which ended with a throwing action were shown to adult subjects whose task was to model precisely what they saw. Each demonstration lasted 6 sec. and was shown 6 times. It portrayed the arm of a model, who held a small ball, performing a sequence of movements (flexion and extension of the elbow) which ended in the ball being thrown about 2.5 m with a 'darts-style' action. Three types of demonstration were presented: one showed the whole arm in dark clothing against a light-coloured background, another showed the arm as the relative motion of patches of light situated at the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints, and the third showed the arm as the relative motion of the upper and lower segments of the arm represented by strips of light-reflectant material. These were the stimuli for the between-groups experimental conditions. Goniometry techniques were used to compare the performance of subjects relative to the model. Analysis showed that the order of the preparatory sequence was correctly produced after 4 trials under all conditions. Range of arm movement in projecting the ball closely approximated that of the model after 4 trials in all conditions. The time taken for the arm to project the ball remained constant across trials under all conditions and was always slower than the demonstrated cadence.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Threshold tracking for assessment of long-term adaptation and sensitization in pain perception

To assess temporal variations in the perception of "phasic" heat pain stimuli a psychophysical tracking procedure was developed that enables repeated assessment of the pain threshold at short intervals. This "double-tracking" procedure produces two tracking curves simultaneously, one that approaches the pain threshold gradually from above, the other from below. The threshold for phasic heat pain was measured in 80 tracking trials with stimuli at temperatures near the pain threshold. Concurrently, the threshold for "tonic" heat pain was determined after every 20 tracking trials with a stimulus adjustment procedure. Eleven healthy subjects (age: 26.4 yr. +/- 6.0) participated in 2 sessions each. Phasic stimulation near the pain threshold did not produce any trends in either of the two threshold measures. Hence there was no long-term adaptation or sensitization. However, there were random variations (random walks) in the tracking curves, which we interpret as resulting from a stochastic relationship between stimulus and sensation. In agreement with other reports, discrimination seemed to be better at painful than at nonpainful temperatures.     

Creating new memories that are quickly accessed and confidently held

In two experiments involving a total of 542 subjects, a series of slides depicting a burglary was shown. After the initial event, subjects were exposed to one or more narratives about the event that contained some misinformation or neutral information about four critical details. Finally, subjects were tested on their memories of what they saw, and their reaction times and confidence levels were measured. When subjects took a standard test in which the misinformation item was a possible response option, they responded very quickly and confidently when making this incorrect choice. Misled subjects responded as quickly and confidently to these "unreal" memories as they did to their genuine memories. It does not seem, then, that the misinformation effect arises from a large proportion of subjects who must resolve a conflict between two memories when they are tested, a conflict that would be expected to take time. When subjects took a modified test in which the misinformation item was not a possible response, misled subjects were as accurate as were controls, but they responded more slowly, regardless of whether they ultimately chose the right or wrong option. These findings indicate that misinformation does introduce some form of interference not detected by a simple test of accuracy.     

Linguistic encoding in short-term memory as a function of stimulus type

In this study, we investigated bases for encoding linguistic stimuli in short-term memory. Past research has provided evidence for both phonological (sound-based) and cherological (sign-based) encoding, the former typically found with hearing subjects and the latter with deaf users of sign language. In the present experiment, encoding capabilities were delineated from encoding preferences, using 58 subjects comprising six groups differing in hearing ability and linguistic experience. Phonologically related, cherologically related, and control lists were presented orally, manually, or through both modalities simultaneously. Recall performance indicated that individuals encode flexibly, the code actually used being biased by incoming stimulus characteristics. Subjects with both sign and speech experience recalled simultaneous presentations better than ones presented orally or manually alone, which reveals the occurrence of enhanced encoding as a function of linguistic experience. Total linguistic experience appeared to determine recall accuracy following different types of encoding, rather than determining the encoding basis used.