Preferential looking: A sudden shift in visual fixation pattern at 32 months of age

Observations of eye movements of young children in a modified preferential looking task suggest a change in the visual looking pattern taking place during a very brief time between 32 and 33 months of age. In the younger children, a grating stimulus elicited eye movements towards the target followed by a few seconds of focused attention; in the older children a visual avoidance behavior was observed where subjects looked consistently in the opposite direction of the target. An analysis of video recordings suggests that this avoidance pattern was a composite of a very brief initial target-directed eyemovement which was quickly arrested, and followed by eye movements in the opposite direction, initiating a search of the visual scene.     

Temporal brightness and darkness enhancement; further evidence for asymmetry

Abstract.— Previous studies by the authors on brightness and darkness enhancement during flicker indicate a sizeable and consistent difference in magnitude between the two effects, as defined in terms of log matching luminance. To explore whether this difference is an artifact of the logluminance representation of the perceptual effects, a psychophysical scaling experiment was performed and results from present and former flicker experiments were replotted in terms of subjective units. When the depth of luminance modulation of the flicker stimulus exceeded 50%, the difference in magnitude of temporal brightness and darkness enhancement was somewhat smaller expressed in subjective units compared to a log-luminance representation. On the whole, however, the two plots gave essentially similar results. The results are discussed with reference to the neurophysiological theory of the B- and D-systems.     

The perception of flicker: Theoretical note on the relation between brightness and darkness enhancement

A reexamination of experiments on the brightness and darkness enhancement of flickering lights suggests that the mechanism responsible for the asymmetry of the effects (darkness enhancement being a stronger effect than brightness enhancement) is independent and central to the mechanism responsible for the frequency-dependent brightness and darkness variations.     

Psychometric properties of the Type D scale (DS14) in Norwegian cardiac patients

Bergvik, S., Sørlie, T., Wynn, R. & Sexton, H. (2010). Psychometric properties of the Type D scale (DS14) in Norwegian cardiac patients. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. The combination of negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI) – the Type D Personality – is associated with poor outcomes in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. A Norwegian translation of the standard instrument measuring Type D (DS14) was tested on 432 CAD patients receiving coronary revascularization treatment. Factor analysis produced two factors with high inter‐item reliability, indicating that the Norwegian DS14 has acceptable psychometric properties. Eighteen percent were classified as Type D, lower than has been reported elsewhere. Type D was associated with anxiety, depression, and passive coping. NA correlated positively with depression, anxiety, and passive coping. SI correlated positively with depression and anxiety, and negatively with active coping. The prevalence of Type D was higher among women, and negatively correlated with time since treatment. The variation in Type D prevalence among studies needs further elucidation as does the predictive power of continuous scoring of the Type D trait.