Independence of sampling of motion parallax and binocular disparity in discrimination of depth1

Abstract: The sampling strategy of the visual system in binocular disparity and motion parallax to discriminate depth was investigated. Human observers were asked to discriminate between the depths of two surfaces defined by both cues. Gaussian noise was added to the depths represented by each cue, and the correlation in noise was manipulated. Human performance was compared with two types of likelihood models. The first was based on independent sampling, in which data from the two cues were gathered from independent sets of points in the display. The second was based on paired sampling, in which data from these cues were gathered from the same set of points. The former model yielded a better fit with human performance. This suggests that the visual system is more likely to adopt independent sampling.     

A Survey of Counselor Educators' Ethical Concerns

This survey examined counselor educators' ethical concerns. Responding to a series of vignettes, respondents considered unethical those behaviors that are self-serving (e.g., dating a client or a student and not fulfilling work responsibilities) while perceiving ethical those practices that raise the question of dual relationship. Respondents were also in favor of allowing students with serious mental health problems to become counselors as long as their problems are under control. A significant gender difference was observed in their response to one vignette. The majority of respondents expressed satisfaction with the current ethical standards of the American Counseling Association, although slightly over half indicated that ethical standards specifically applicable to counselor education would be helpful.     

Effects of verbal working memory and cumulative linguistic knowledge on reading comprehension1

Abstract: In the present study, the effects of verbal working memory (VWM) and cumulative linguistic knowledge (CLK) on reading comprehension were investigated using an individual difference approach. We examined whether VWM and CLK are distinct verbal factors and whether each has independent influences on reading comprehension. VWM was tested using the Japanese Reading Span Test (RST). CLK was assessed using information, vocabulary, and similarity subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale‐Revised (WAIS‐R), as well as with the Hyakurakan kanji reading test. The differences between VWM and CLK were examined using correlation analyses between reading comprehension scores, and digit forward and backward span scores. The results showed that VWM and CLK were independent of each other, and that VWM and CLK independently contributed to reading comprehension. The obtained correlations also showed that CLK was independent of any type of short‐term memory, and that the VWM measured using the RST had little correlation with digit span.