The corneal reflection technique and the visual preference method: sources of error.

Corneal reflection techniques for eye fixation position measurement have been used in recent years to assess such variables of visual behavior as duration of looking and the area(s) of the stimulus fixated. These techniques are especially useful when measuring visual regard in infants and young children as head restraints are not required. In an earlier article the present authors demonstrated, empirically, that the common assumption that the center of the pupil represents the line of sight is untenable. The present article considers the causes of the errors present in these techniques: it can be shown that theoretical calculations of these sources of error, calculations based both on the anatomy of the eye, and on the optics involved, produce good agreement with their empirically derived magnitudes.     

Cognitive tuning and receptivity to novel information

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that cognitive tuning would cause receivers to be more receptive to novel than to familiar information, compared to transmitters. The information receptivity of transmitters and receivers was contrasted against a control group. The influence of the source and audience, possible limits on the influence of the tuning set, was also explored. Finally, amount of variance controlled by cognitive tuning, personality variables and information utility were examined.While the results strongly support the prediction that transmitters prefer familiar information, receivers and control group subjects did not significantly differ in preferences for novel information. The anticipated expertise of source or audience had no influence on information receptivity. Among the three sets of variables used, the greatest amount of variance was explained by information utility, followed by cognitive tuning and personality measures, though all three variables controlled a significant amount of variance.     

Nontransitive measurable utility

A new theory of preferences under risk is presented that does not use the transitivity and independence axioms of the von Neumann-Morgenstern linear utility theory. Utilities in the new theory are unique up to a similarity transformation (ratio scale measurement). They key to this generalization of the traditional linear theory lies in its representation of binary preferences by a bivariate rather than univariate real valued function. Linear theory obtains a linear function u on a set P of probability measures for which u(p) > u(q) if and only if p is preferred to q. The new theory obtains a skew-symmetric bilinear function φ on P × P for which φ(p, q) > 0 if and only if p is preferred to q. Continuity, dominance, and symmetry axioms are shown to be necessary and sufficient for the new representation.     

Reactions to objective self-awareness

In order to determine reactions to objective self-awareness, 96 female undergraduates received either positive or negative feedback on a “creativity” task prior to being given an opportunity to write a response to a visual cue. Half of the subjects were made objectively self-aware, via a mirror, during the visual cue task; half were not. In addition, half of the subjects were led to believe that the visual cue task was highly related to creativity, while half learned that the task was low in relevance. A “longer the response, the better” standard of correctness was established for all subjects. As predicted, the results indicated that when made objectively self-aware, subjects who received negative feedback wrote more in response to the visual cue than did those who received positive feedback, a difference which was not obtained for the subjectively self-aware subjects. The task relevance manipulation also produced a significant main effect. A similar pattern of results was obtained on a measure of the time spent on the task. The implications of the results for objective self-awareness theory are considered.     

A path analysis model of psychosexuality in young women

Path analysis is employed to delineate the relationships among sexual behavior variables, including orgasm consistency, masturbation frequency, cognitive sexual arousal, and satisfaction with sexual responsivity. The analysis provides insights into the processes by which the variables are related to one another and generates specific hypotheses for future questionnaire and experimental research. The results are used to develop a psychosexual model for women, which holds that a masturbation/orgasm sequence may be a prerequisite for an understanding of cognitive elements leading to arousal and their physiological concomitants. Once this platform has been established, a single-partner-oriented sexual adjustment is possible, but a frequent exchange of partners at this time may prove detrimental to sexual satisfaction. Later on in life, intercourse frequency may diminish, and moderate sexual dissatisfaction may develop. The implications of this model for further research are explored. Replication and extension of this study with additional measures and older populations of women is recommended.