Perceptual and Motor Skills

The performance of 9 adult aphasics on a visual tracking program was investigated. The results indicated (1) significant increases in visual tracking rate over an 8-wk. training period, (2) significant increases in performance on tests of silent reading rate and over-all reading ability, and (3) no direct relationships between increases in visual tracking rate and silent reading rate or over-all reading ability. The significant gains observed in perceptual speed and accuracy, silent reading rate, and over-all reading ability indicated that the visual tracking program (Gaeke & Smith, 1962) may contribute significantly to the remediation of reading deficits in aphasia.

Of 300 kindergarten children in a suburban school system, 62 were identified as possible learning problems on the basis of teachers' ratings and comprehensive test batteries. In considering the different scales in terms of their ability to predict first grade achievement for these children, the best predictors were (a) teachers' ratings, (b) the various number pretests (e.g., Digit Span, Arithmetic), (c) the reading readiness rating derived from the Metropolitan Readiness Tests, and (d) knowledge of letter names. Although many of the tests showed poor predictive value for ‘high risk’ children, this is in no way a comment on their usefulness as diagnostic or clinical instruments for other purposes.

The direction of lateral eye-movements upon inward direction of attention was related to reaction to persuasion. A predominance of left eye-movements was associated with more extreme reaction in either a pro or con direction, while right eye-movements were associated with more moderate reaction. Findings were discussed in terms of functional asymmetry of the brain.

Children (33 boys and 34 girls, 3.6 to 5.4 yr.) categorized as impulsive or reflective information processors matched colored geometric patterns on either the color or form dimension. Reflective children discriminated between the forms more than did impulsives, although all were able, when prodded, to make such discriminations. Analysis of form responses suggested that Ss' tendency to discriminate is a critical variable in predicting form responses and that cognitive tempo reflects underlying differences in such tendencies.

Male rats were given brain stimulation before, during, and after copulation. Stimulation before mating improved performance while stimulation after mating improved the initiation of the next mating sequence. Stimulation during mating interfered with sexual behavior. It was concluded that stimulation during a mating sequence disrupts copulation, without being aversive, while stimulation outside of the sequence can improve mating in rats.

A structured self-anchoring scale for measuring perceptions of teaching effectiveness was constructed by providing Ss with checklists consisting of effective or ineffective teacher behaviors. The scale was administered twice to 170 elementary and secondary teachers. The scale as a whole was relatively reliable and practical. With minor modifications, the scale may be used in research to assess perceptions of teaching effectiveness.

3 groups of naive adults were tested on their pronunciations of a foreign sound after one received no phonetic pretraining, another practiced the sound in the initial position, and the third learned it in the final. A significant positive transference effect indicated that practicing an unknown sound in the initial position facilitates its pronunciation in the final position.

Three studies concerning the validity of the Remote Associates Test (RAT) are described. All are based on the serendipitous finding that, when is are dichotomized at their median RAT score, within the high RAT group the RAT correlates with other tests in a manner which would be expected for a test of creativity whereas it generally does not do so across its total range. Study I reports this finding for several measures of access to primitive modes of thought. An analogous finding concerning anxiety emerged from Study II. In Study III it was found that the RAT does not correlate with intelligence in the upper half of its distribution. It is concluded that the RAT may be a valid measure of creativity only in its upper ranges.

Monosyllabic, meaningful syllables of 2 types were perceived by 11 normal adults under a temporal distortion in which the syllable was switched suddenly between right and left ears while being heard. CCV-type syllables were better heard than VCC-type syllables. These results are construed as support for the notion that CCV-syllables are the more ‘natural’ unit of syllable decoding-encoding.

Two studies comparing the sensorimotor function and cognitive styles of normal boys, juvenile delinquents, and boys with learning disabilities are reported. The two clinical groups performed significantly poorer on the Lincoln-Oseretsky Test of Motor Development than normal boys and had particular difficulties on items of the test requiring rhythmical repetition. In a second study, the sequencing skills of normal boys and matched delinquents were compared. Delinquent boys did consistently more poorly on tasks of sensorimotor and symbolic sequencing than normals; tests of spatial ability did not discriminate the groups. Results are discussed in terms of implications for the functional analysis of behavior disturbances.

Human equilibrium was measured during exposure to continuous and intermittent 1000-Hz tones presented both asymmetrically (one ear) and symmetrically (both ears). Intermittency combined with asymmetry produced greater decrements in equilibrium than either variable alone. The results are interpreted as a possible demonstration of acoustic stimulation of the vestibular system.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether gross differences between two groups of Ss on e' ratings of CVCs would affect trials to criterion of the serial learning of CVCs composed of high and low m' values. Means and variances of the two groups of Ss did not differ significantly. Differences in rates of learning of high and low m' CVCs are attributed to the linguistic properties of the stimuli. It is hypothesized that the linguistic properties of our three categories result in sequences of processes of verbal learning.

The method of verbal estimation was used to study the Kappa effect with unfilled, light-flash-bounded intervals of .5 to 22 sec. duration. Ss viewed dual flashes of one light and single flashes of paired lights set at 4-, 8-, 16-, and 32-in. horizontal separations. Group studies of 56 college students yielded evidence for larger estimations with greater light separation. A significant sex difference was found, female Ss giving longer estimations than males. 4 Ss were studied for 16 daily sessions to observe individual patterns and progressive changes in estimates.

2 experiments are reported in which the effects of intra- and intermodal information acquisition and memory for shape are studied. Exp. I examined the relative performance of children (8 yr.) across 4 groups involving different modality combinations. Results were compared with earlier findings for an adult sample, and the pattern of relative retention across groups was similar for children and adults. Intramodal visual retention was best, whereas intramodal haptic and both types of intermodal retention proved similarly effective. Using simpler shapes, Exp. 11 compared four similar groups with a sample of 5-yr.-olds. The pattern of results was largely similar to that obtained for older samples. As a whole, findings did not support the view of superior retention under intramodal acquisition and retention.

A study was conducted in which performance on a non-verbal problem-solving task was correlated with the Otis Quick-scoring Mental Ability Test and the Raven Progressive Matrices Test. The problem-solving task, called “code-lock,” required Ss to determine the correct sequence in which to push 5 buttons in order to turn on a light. Measures of how quickly S responded and how many errors were made on each problem were taken from 45 college student volunteers. Results indicated substantial correlations (.50 to .60) between time measures on the code-lock task and the Otis but very limited relationships between the Raven and each code-lock measure.

Spontaneous movement responses of Negro and white lower-class and white middle-class 4-yr.-olds were recorded on video tape under several controlled conditions. Tapes were coded for total movement and for gross movement response. Negro children emitted a significantly greater number of movement responses and a greater variety of movement response than did both white groups.

Thresholds for detection of the presence of sudden changes in atmospheric pressure, such as might occur in the operation of cabin pressurization systems of transport aircraft, were found to approximate 0.040 psi both for increases and decreases; thresholds for detection of direction of change were higher, but not significantly so.

Four Ss with histories of reported spontaneous ESP occurrence participated in 8 sessions per S. Each session consisted of 3 trials in which the contents (art prints) of sealed envelopes were assessed by clairvoyant means. One trial took place while S was in his ordinary waking state, one while S was in a self-induced altered conscious state, and one while S was in an altered state induced by sensory-bombardment techniques. Written transcripts of each S‘s statements were given to 3 outside evaluators who ranked each transcript against the 4 possible art prints in the target pool randomly selected for that session. Using median ranks of 1 and 2 as “hits” and ranks of 3 and 4 as “misses,” the 4 Ss were awarded a total of 58 “hits” and 38 “misses” (CR = 2.04, p = .041, two-tailed). S-judgings produced a total of 61 “hits” and 35 “misses” (CR = 2.65, p = .008, two-tailed).

To assess the validity of the Shape-O Ball Test, a perceptual-motor task, 38 kindergarten Ss were administered both the Shape-O Ball Test and the Frostig. A composite teacher rating (academic achievement) was collected for each S. Results indicated that the Shape-O Ball Test (1) correlates highly with the Frostig total score and significantly with all 5 subtests, and (2) is a good predictor of the academic rating.

The perception of other persons, concepts, and drugs was measured in 54 male drug addicts by means of a 17-item Semantic Differential Test incorporating the three main factors: Evaluation, Potency, Activity. Major findings were that: (a) Ss denied the reality of their situation by showing stronger identification with “straight” persons than with addicts; (b) the major effect of taking “your favorite drug” (in most, but not all, cases heroin) was to make the self more relaxed and calm, and other persons and the world in general less threatening; (c) marihuana is extremely highly regarded apparently because it produces all the desired effects but none of the drawbacks of other drugs; (d) Ss can indeed perceive the criminality of an act but not to the extent other groups do.

Balogh and Zimmermann (1971) used an inappropriate adjustment of retention scores of naive and sophisticated monkeys. When a less erroneous adjustment is made in the retention scores, no group differences emerge.

The present investigation studied the structure of the liberalism-conservatism system of social attitudes and constructed a scale to measure the domain. Items were prepared that expressed ideas relating to such basic social considerations as the nature of man, the nature of social order, and the need for tradition or social change. The scale was constructed using a methodology which combined a Likert procedure with a series of item-discrimination procedures using known-affiliation groups as external criteria. The scale was also subjected to a series of factor analyses employing data generated by three independent samples. Two forms of the instrument are presented along with evidence bearing on reliability and validity. Consideration is given to the stability of the instrument's factor structure over samples of varying composition.

A proliferation of measures currently are used in studies dealing with Witkin's field-independence construct; many of these bear little resemblance to Witkin's original operationalizations. To examine the relationships among several of the most frequently used measures (RFT, various EFTs, Kohs Blocks, Draw-a-Person), 122 rs were obtained from 40 studies in which two or more of the measures in question had been employed. It was observed that, while the measures do share some variance, the amount is generally quite low. What any one test measures is not reflected to a great extent by any other. Thus, the indiscriminate use of tests which “resemble” Witkin's original measures is unwarranted and conceptually dangerous. Future studies should preferably be based on a combined use of the RFT and either Witkin's original EFT or Jackson's shortened version thereof.

Machover's figure-drawing test was administered to two groups of college students (n = 295) to determine the influence of recent experience on test performance. Ss taking an introductory anthropology course drew significantly more “novel” figures than did Ss enrolled in introductory psychology. The nature of the figures drawn by the anthropology group suggested that they were largely a function of exposure to course content, e.g., cavemen, Indians, etc., in a variety of “primitive” settings. It was concluded that recent experience should be considered before inferences of “pathology” are derived from performance on Machover's test.

Results indicate that the Gestalten used in Kinget's drawing-completion test are perceived differently and that differences can be defined verbally. Several avenues for further research emerge from these findings.

10 protein-malnourished monkeys and 8 dietary controls were run in a preference experiment designed to look at the differences in the way the 2 groups accepted foods containing various amounts of protein. Each monkey was given choices among diets containing 2%, 3.5%, or 25% protein, and non-food objects. The protein-malnourished monkeys showed a marked preference for the high-protein food; the adequately nourished monkeys chose all foods at the same ratio. The results indicated that a rapid learning process was involved in the formation of a preference for high-protein foods. The colors of the 2% and the 25% diets were then reversed, and the protein-malnourished monkeys showed a temporary disruption in their preference behavior, but they soon established a stable preference for the high-protein food. The experimental results are consistent with the hypothesis that protein-malnourished rhesus monkeys have a specific hunger for protein.

14 of 21 boys from 6 to 13 yr. of age with a medical diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy obtained impaired scores on the Bender-Gestalt test indicative of mild to severe visual-motor disability. The Bender-Gestalt scores were associated with WISC Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQ scores at the .01 level.

16 rats were randomly assigned to each of 3 experimental conditions: 6 forced-activity Ss, 5 voluntary-activity Ss, and 5 restricted Ss. Rats in the forced-activity group were placed individually into a training apparatus in which they had to run on a moving belt 15 min. per day for 24 days. Voluntary activity occurred in a stationary training apparatus where Ss were allowed to run and explore freely. Restricted Ss were confined to cages. Forced Ss made significantly fewer errors in a water maze than the voluntarily active Ss who made fewer errors than the restricted ones. There was also a significant difference in the latency between the groups, with the same ranking.

Teachers made similarity judgments of student descriptions which varied on the dimensions of classroom behavior, academic aptitude, and parental relationship. The multidimensional configuration derived from a computer analysis of the similarities bore a close correspondence to the configuration obtained in a previous study which employed different methods of data collection and analysis.

Measurements of sociability and emotional adjustment were determined for 100 undergraduate college students by the Heron Two-part Personality Inventory. Three measurements of personal space preference—maximum, optimum and minimum distance for comfortable standing conversation—were obtained for each S between the hours of 8:30–9:30 A.M. and 2:30–3:30 P.M. Contrary to earlier studies, in this sample there was no relationship between the degree of sociability and preference for personal space. However, the amount of personal space preferred in the morning was significantly greater than the amount preferred in the afternoon for all Ss. Low sociability Ss did demonstrate a significantly greater variability in the amount of personal space preferred than did high sociability Ss in 4 of the 6 trials.

The WISC was given to 173 normal children, ages 5 to 13 yr. on 3 consecutive occasions at yearly intervals. Only the Full-scale IQ data were presented in this paper. Of the 18 between-year comparisons of mean Full-scale IQ, only 1 was significantly higher. Of the 9 between 2-year comparisons, only 2 were significantly higher. Correlation analysis showed a perfect relationship between magnitude of correlations and lapsed time as well as a distinctive trend regarding the increase of magnitude of correlation with increasing age. No sex differences in the patterning of IQ changes were noted (only 1 of the 54 comparisons was significant). There was no consistent pattern of change in IQ scores of the low-IQ subgroup compared with the high-IQ subgroup. Three factors are discussed as being important in longitudinal studies, namely, maturation, sex and individual differences in IQs of Ss.

The Poggendorf illusion was measured in groups of normal and mentally retarded children (ns = 15) of the same chronological age and adults. Differences existed between the two groups of children but none between the normal children and adults.

If immature visual afterimages (AIs) are characterized by their lack of isolation from outside reality, they ought to be more sensitive to change in the projection surface than mature AIs. This proposition was tested in a group of 36 Ss confronted with two kinds of line patterns superimposed on the projection screen. AIs with immature stigmata (size-constancy, positive color, etc.) in an initial control series showed more deviations caused by these patterns than normally adult AIs. Even AIs with a loose or flexible structure in the control series tended to change; such AIs are not necessarily immature but rather reflect subjective contents overflowing the field of experience. In a second experiment, using 35 Ss, more complicated patterns were employed. All AIs here were more resistant to distortions.

The experiment varied the time available for retrieval decisions in recognition memory. The results indicated that, although the discrimination of old from new items in a recognition test was independent of the time available for decision responses, additional processing time significantly reduced the number of false-positive identifications for low-frequency words but not for common words.

Adaptation to visual distortion, simulated with a computer-generated display, was studied under conditions of (a) S falsely believing a real prism to be present and the nature of the distortion produced by the prism explained to him, and (b) S not given an optical rationale for the distortion but merely told about the nature of the distortion. The computer technique allowed measurements of visual adaptation, arm adaptation, and of motor learning in a manual guidance task. In (a) visual adaptation was different from zero but no difference between (a) and (b) was found. On one measure, arm adaptation was significantly different from zero in both conditions. On the same measure, arm adaptation in (b) was greater than that in (a). In (a) a positive correlation was found between motor learning and visual adaptation. For (a) and (b) combined there was a negative correlation between one measure of motor learning and one measure of arm adaptation.

36 Grade 2 and 3 students were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups receiving single-problem training, multiple-problem training, or no training with intervening, pretest, and posttest exposure to selected plates of the Columbia Mental Maturity Scale. It was hypothesized that type of problem-solving training would influence subsequent ability to solve a novel problem-solving task with multiple training resulting in the greatest positive transfer. An analysis of variance applied to the number of successful choices indicated that the effects of groups and Group × Sex were significant. Further, orthogonal comparisons indicated that the combined mean for the groups receiving single- and multiple-problem training was significantly larger than the mean score for the control group and that the mean of the group receiving multiple-problem training differed significantly from the mean of the group receiving single-problem training.

The reports of 3 Ss observing the binocular rivalry of 3.9° light contours were examined to determine whether or not patterns of rivalry changes were random. Sequential dependencies were identified in the transitions from one to another of 4 categories of rivalry perception reported by Ss.

This study measured onset and offset reaction time (RT) to test stimuli presented in a surround and no-surround condition in the fovea. The differences between onset and offset RT in the surround condition were not significant. However, the differences between onset and offset RT for the no-surround case and the differences between surround and no-surround RTs were significant. RTs were faster with a surround present. A significant luminance by onset-offset interaction for the surround condition was also present.

Free-form sentences, produced by Ss in response to eight-sided polygons, were tabulated in Associative, Orientative, Area, Jaggedness, Part, and “Blank” categories. Intercorrelations with feature measures of polygons and latency and primacy (ease of learning) from previous experiments indicated several significant relationships, e.g., forms with a high frequency of Area and Jaggedness responses had consistently lower discrimination latency.

A choice-reaction-time experiment is reported in which Ss named visually displayed numerals. Choice conditions were varied by presenting 6 different sets of stimuli containing either 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32 stimulus alternatives. Reaction time was a function of the number of stimulus alternatives. Response latency, measured from onset of S's voice, increased as the number of stimulus alternatives increased.

Ss divided a pool of resources among human characteristics in order to describe their ideals. The total resources were varied so that some Ss did not have enough, and others had too many to describe their ideals properly. All resources had to be expended but only a fixed maximum amount could be allocated to any single characteristic. The results provide insight into the way Ss maintain the relative importance of properties with different resource levels. The findings also indicate an optimal quantity of resources necessary to allow expression of an ideal preference ordering. Possible applications of these results include areas of psychology in which Ss indicate the relative importance of some group of interrelated items.

In verification of an earlier study with a single S, the results of the present multi-S experiment indicated for tachistoscopic recognition of letters that the well-known superior performance of the right visual field over that of the left visual field consistently reduced across trials and eventually disappeared. The recently presented Shine combined analysis of variance permitted analysis of S-sources of variation. These sources reflected principally differential level of skill and differential hemispheric dominance across Ss.

90 children, Grades 1 to 5, performed an anticipatory tracking task under 3 conditions: supplemental visual cues, stimulus pattern preview, and control; they then drew the pattern of the tracking stimulus. Analyses showed anticipation in masked tracking and correct pattern drawing to be age-related and means of task solution heavily dependent upon experimental condition.

The relationship between children's perception of human movement on inkblots (the M response) and two aspects of their inhibitory behavior was investigated. Differences in the fantasy correlates of children's and adult M perception were discussed, as was the possibility that different psychological processes mediate inhibitory behavior at different ages.

Koutstaal and Smith's (1972) linguistic theory for the differential rates of learning of alphabetic CVCs was tested on the paired-associate learning of phonemic CCVCs. These were selected from Greenberg and Jenkins' (1964) lists to represent 0, 1, 2, or 3 violations of phonological rules. A monotonic function was predicted and obtained for the paired-associate learning of the phonemic CCVCs of the four categories.

4 multidimensional scaling analyses based on similarity ratings among 30 operational statements of college-level psychology teaching activities (stimuli) using samples of psychology students and teachers from the USA and Germany as raters resulted in 7 teaching factors common in varying degrees to both cultures and one in each culture with no counterpart in the other. The paired German-American factors ordered from most to least agreement in accordance with the proportion of their highly loaded stimuli held in common by corresponding factors across cultures were: Teacher (Lecturing) Dynamism, Dynamik des Vortragens; Classroom Administration, Durchsetzung der Ordnung; Information Dissemination, Ausgabe von Informationen; Knowledge Dissemination, Verarbeitung von Wissen; Advisory Guidance, Studentische Beratung; Environmental Regulation, Regulierung von Randbedingungen; Teacher-Student Feedback, Lehrer-Student Rueckmeldung; Control of Student Behavior, Verwendung von audiovisuellen Hilfsmitteln. Analyses of the degree of student-teacher agreement of factors within cultures resulted in a greater degree of within culture agreement than the degree of cross-cultural agreement shown among the 8 teaching factors. The clarity of the current results may be interpreted as indicating that the method employed possesses potential for establishing the degree of perceptual generality and meaningfulness of teaching performance criteria.

To determine whether high intensity broadband noise has an adverse effect on human performance when special conditions related to type of task, length of testing, and intensity of noise exposure are met, 3 groups of 20 Ss each were tested on a serial search task. The first group was presented continuous broadband noise, the second received intermittent noise, and the third served as a control group. Performance was measured for 36 min. continuously on a practice day and 4 test days. Both noise groups produced approximately the same results. Both groups found significantly fewer numbers on the task than the control group on the last two days of testing. The effect was quite orderly; the smallest difference between groups occurred on the 1st testing day, and the largest occurred on the last day of testing. On these days the effect was constant throughout the 36 min. of testing. The results support the contention that when certain conditions of testing are met, a reliable effect of noise on performance can be demonstrated.

Decision times, consistency measures, and their relationships were used to study stimulus-stimulus and subject-stimulus distance for two types of responses—single stimulus and paired comparisons, and two types of tasks—preference and judged complexity. Two assumptions based on Coombs' (1964) theory of data—that decision time is inversely related to distance and that both stimulus and ideal points have variability—led to the following predictions: (1) stimulus ordering from paired comparison judgments will be predictable from the ordering of decision times in single stimulus judgments; (2) more intransitive triads will occur in paired comparison preference judgments than paired comparison complexity judgments; and (3) complexity judgments will exhibit greater concordance than preference judgments. All three predictions were supported by data. Of three latency transformations investigated, standardized reciprocal times showed the highest correlation with difference in ranks in the paired comparison task.

A bibliography of 235 published references to work with the Holtzman Inkblot Technique, calendar years 1956–1970, is presented.

A battery of perceptual, visual-motor and intellectual tests was administered to 71 boys and 71 girls as preschoolers. This was the entire enrollment for Grade 1 in a suburban elementary school. Chronological ages at the time of testing ranged from 5.5 to 6.5 yr. The intention was to provide a psychometric description of preschool children who subsequently might have difficulty in acquiring reading skills, with a view to early intervention by means of corrective techniques and appropriate programs. Several variables correlated significantly with reading skills as determined by a standardized reading test at the end of the first year. Reading retardation did not appear to be related to any specific single variable. The Stanford-Binet mental age, a more global measure, seemed most efficient as a predictor of future academic progress. Success in the first year is inversely correlated with the number of developmental deficiencies identified by testing.

Rats were tested in an alley to determine the effect of reward sequence on the extinction and spontaneous recovery of latency and time. Daily, half of the Ss received a small reward on Trial 1 and a large reward on Trial 2 (SL), while the other half received the opposite sequence of rewards (LS). Resistance to extinction and spontaneous recovery were greater when a large reward fallowed a small reward than when a small reward followed a large reward. The results were discussed in terms of Capaldi's (1967) sequential learning hypothesis.

Ascending vibrotactile lingual thresholds were obtained for 110 Ss at 200 and 400 Hz. Mean thresholds and standard deviations were reported in microns. Although frequency differences were observed, comparatively small standard deviations reflected little inter-subject variability. Possible clinical applications were discussed.

The relationship between the frequency of the periodic characteristics of individual behaviour and Spearman's (1927) concept of oscillation is discussed in terms of Eysenck's concept of neuroricism. It is shown that the harmonic frequency derived from an individual's scores on a perceptual-motor task is related to his scores on the Eysenck Personality Inventory. This is considered grounds for reconsidering a concept of behavioural oscillation as a reliable personality dimension.