Effects of eye movements on the recognition and localization of dichotic stimuli

Three experiments examined the effect of gaze shifts on overall performance and ear differences in dichotic listening. In the first two experiments, lights were switched on and off so as to induce rightward, leftward, or upward gaze during dichotic stimulation. The dichotic material consisted of musical passages in Experiment 1 and two kinds of verbal material in Experiment 2. Vertical eye movements enhanced the accuracy of identification of music but not verbal material. The lateral direction of eye movements affected subjects' ability to localize targets in Experiment 1: localization was more accurate in the direction toward which subjects were looking. In the third experiment it was found that optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) influenced the asymmetry of performance on a dichotic consonant-vowel (CV) test. The right-ear advantage was greatest when the OKN drum rotated from left to right and least when it rotated from right to left. The effect was due to corresponding variation in left-ear scores. Possible mechanisms through which shifts of gaze affect auditory identification and localization are proposed.     

Stuttering and anxiety: The difference between stutterers and nonstutterers in verbal apprehension and physiologic arousal during the anticipation of speech and non-speech tasks

To test if stressful anticipation of speech situations is a factor in eliciting stuttering behavior, the difference between 24 stutterers and 24 nonstutterers in verbal apprehension and physiologic activity was studied before and during speech tasks (reading and conversation), and nonspeech tasks (motor and intelligence task).Results indicate that the difference between stutterers and nonstutterers mainly were restricted to anxiety ratings assessed after each task. Heart rate, vasomotor responses, and electrodermal activity recorded before and during speech tasks were higher compared with the physiologic activity before and during nonspeech tasks but, unexpectedly, this was also the case for nonstutterers. It is concluded that stuttering is not elicited by anxiety.     

The effect of semantic plausibility on sentence comprehension in aphasia

Tested were 50 aphasic patients (16 Broca's, 15 Wernicke's, 10 global, and 9 amnesic), 13 nonaphasic brain damaged patients, and 13 normal adults to evaluate the effect of semantic plausibility on sentence comprehension in active affirmative declarative sentences with a sentence-picture matching task. A plate of two pictures was provided for each stimulus sentence, and the subject was required to choose the picture corresponding to the sentence presented auditorily. Two types of sentences in terms of plausibility were prepared, i.e., probable sentences (P) describing common events in our daily life and improbable sentences (I) describing rare events. There were four kinds of combinations of a picture with the other to make a correct/(distractor) set, i.e., P/(P), P/(I), I/(P), and I/(I) constructions. The results indicated that probable sentences were more comprehensible than improbable sentences, and that the effect of semantic plausibility did not differ among aphasic types.     

Multiple component agraphia in a patient with atypical cerebral dominance: an error analysis

A 52-year-old man with atypical cerebral dominance (left-handed for writing but mixed handedness for other tasks) suffered an extensive right hemisphere stroke, resulting in a combination of deficits that has not been previously reported. There were profound visual constructive and visual perceptual disturbances and a spatial agraphia, which were consistent with a nondominant hemisphere lesion. There was also a severe apraxic agraphia, which is typically associated with a dominant hemisphere lesion, but no other signs of dominant hemisphere dysfunction such as linguistic disturbance or limb-motor apraxia were present. This case serves to highlight the functional and anatomical relationship between handwriting and other forms of praxis; the various sources of error in letter formation; the need to be specific in labeling and describing agraphias ; and the role of a detailed analysis of writing errors in delineating the neuropsychological processes involved in handwriting.     

Prognostic factors and classification issues in the treatment of secondary orgasmic dysfunction

The present study examined patient and problem characteristics as well as therapy process factors associated with success and failure in sex therapy for secondary orgasmic dysfunction. Ss were 23 married couples selected for emotional and marital stability; all wives were suffering from secondary orgasmic dysfunction. Sexual functioning and satisfaction were evaluated before and after 15 sessions of therapy. Ss also engaged in daily self-monitoring throughout the therapy program. Two criteria of therapeutic success were used: the couples' global sexual harmony and the females' frequency of orgasmic response in couple sexual activity. Higher pre-treatment masturbation rates by the female, as well as better awareness of her partner's sexual tastes and preferences, were related to poor therapeutic outcome. Greater pre-treatment enjoyment of non-genital caressing by the female as well as higher incidence of interpersonal orgasmic response in the past were associated with therapeutic success. The theoretical and research implications of the present findings are discussed.     

Impulsivity and speed and errors in a reaction time task: a contribution to the construct validity of the concept of impulsivity

Acting on the spur of the moment without considering the effects is one of the core attributes of the extraversion-impulsivity concept. Performance in a choice-reaction time task may reflect this tendency. Reaction time and number of errors were studied in a group of 55 boys (15–17 years). Extraversion-impulsivity, anxiety proneness and some other personality characteristics were measured by inventory scales. As hypothesized more impulsive subjects had shorter reaction times and made more errors than less impulsive. This relationship was rather stable over a period of one month. Subjects with higher scores in the Psychoticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire tended to make more errors. A considerable amount (36%) of the variance in the number of errors variable could be predicted from the three personality variables Impulsiveness, Muscular Tension and Psychoticism.     

Manual performance asymmetries and motor control processes: Subject-generated changes in response parameters

Performance asymmetries between the hands have recently been explained in terms of differences in the nature of motor control processes between the hands. If performance asymmetries between the hands on a serial tapping task are due to differences in motor control processes, the degree of asymmetry should be sensitive to changes in the manipulated response parameter, speed of tapping. The results strongly supported this prediction. The differences in control processes observed here seem to be explained by the feedback model proposed by Flowers. Alternate models to that of Flowers (1975) are, however, presented.     

Stimulus intrusion on fixed-interval responding in the rat: The effects of electric shock intensity,temporal location,and response contingency

After a scalloped lever-press response pattern had developed under a fixed-interval food reinforcement schedule, a 15-sec electric shock was intruded for different groups of rats in the first, second, third, or fourth quarter of each inter-reinforcement interval. Shock intensity was systematically increased for individual rats over 70 sessions, from 0.05 to 1.6 mA. Additional between-groups comparisons involved response-dependent versus clock-dependent fixed-interval schedules, and response-dependent versus response-independent electric shock intrusion. Response rates within each fixed interval prior to, during, and following electric shock intrusion showed regular and reproducible increases and decreases under systematic application of the experimental variables. These results provide further evidence that the functions of a stimulus are determined in part by the parameters of intensity, response contingency, and temporal location with respect to reinforcement.