Perceptual and Motor Skills

Young men and women were compared on the speeded repetition of speech (ns = 20 and 18, respectively) and manual movements (ns = 37 and 38). The repetition of a single speech or manual movement was used as a measure of baseline speed, against which to compare a sequence of movements. Males tended to be faster at repeating a single movement, but using baseline speed as a covariate resulted in a female advantage for the repetition of a sequence of movements. It was concluded that men have a basic motor-speed advantage, but that women may be faster at programming a sequence of speech or manual movements. The results are discussed with respect to sexual variation in the neural organization of motor programming systems.

In a sample of 132 healthy subjects, alexithymia scores were negatively associated with scores on internality.

Changes in the Ebbinghaus illusion across age groups have been studied with 80 children (ns = 20) from 4 to 8 yr. old. The distortion, whose magnitude increases across age groups, depends on active cognitive comparative processes. In fact, if some cues make the geometrically identical inducing elements semantically different from the central one, the illusion decreases as older children develop conceptual categories. Across ages 4 to 8 years not only the magnitude of the illusion changes but also the interfering role of the taxonomic organization.

To examine perceptions of the desirable purpose of athletics by men and women 162 college men, 84 of whom participated in intercollegiate athletics, and 190 college women, 81 of whom participated in intercollegiate athletics, were administered the Purpose of Sport Questionnaire. Applying a two-way multivariate analysis of variance to their mean responses gender was significant. Post hoc analysis indicated that men believed enhanced competitiveness, social status, and high-status career opportunities to be more important purposes of sport participation than did women. Participants in intercollegiate athletics had significantly higher perceptions of enhanced competitiveness, social status, and high-status career opportunities as more important purposes of sport participation than nonparticipants. However, nonparticipants in intercollegiate athletics believed that acquisition of attributes that make one a good citizen and enhancement of self-esteem were more important purposes of sport participation.

It has been shown earlier that the perceived location of static sound-sources can be displaced (a) during visual motion and (b) following auditory motion. Here we combine these phenomena. The subject adapted to the horizontal visual motion of a surrounding drum, then (with the lights off) localized static sound-sources by setting the direction of a pointer. Adapting motion was clockwise or counterclockwise: the difference between each subject's settings following the opposite directions of adaptation showed small but consistent auditory displacements opposite to the adapting directions. This visual-auditory aftereffect, which is consistent with sensorineural data, challenges a general, if implicit, belief that aftereffects do not cross modalities.

This study examined the relationship between scores on the Harris-Lingoes MMPI-2 subscales for Depression and the categories of Exner's Rorschach Depression Index (DEPI) for 53 clients of a counselling agency. Scores on the subscale Mental Dullness related to the Depression Index as a whole and to the category Blends < 4. The subscale Subjective Depression also related to the category Blends < 4.

A putter with a cylindrically shaped clubhead was tested and scores of 107 students (80 men and 27 women) in six college golf classes compared with those made with a putter having a conventional blade clubhead. A nine-hole Bermuda grass putting green, with holes ranging in distance from 4 to 25 ft., was used. An analysis of variance of mean total putting scores showed that there was no significant difference in putting scores with the two styles of putters on short, medium, or long putts, or on over-all scores.

In this study a morphologic and anthropometric characterisation of Dutch korfball players (N = 36) is performed. Data, compared with those of other sports populations, showed that (1) korfball athletes are smaller and lighter than basketball and volleyball players but heavier and taller than other team-sport players; (2) korfball players have less relative body fat, more lean body mass, more limb fat, and less or similar trunk fat than the other athletes. (3) Male korfball players presented a somatotype (1.9–4.4–3.4) similar to endurance athletes and an endomorphic value lower than or similar to the other athletes. (4) The only apparent similarity between female korfball somatotype (3.2–4.0–2.8) and other athletes' somatotypes is the dominance of mesomorphy.

A statistical experiment was designed to check whether the pairwise comparisons method, introduced by Thurstone in 1927, can really improve the accuracy of estimation of stimuli. This method was compared with direct rating. The experiment was designed and implemented to minimize statistical bias. Randomly generated bars were used since everyone is an expert on estimating lengths. The statistical analysis favoured the pairwise comparisons method The obtained results are decisive; more than a 300% improvement in accuracy was gained with at least 10 level of confidence.

Recent reviews have indicated that women assault male partners as frequently as men assault women. This study explored college students' awareness and acceptance of this finding 371 subjects responding to a survey (91 men, 280 women) indicated that, while 138 were aware of the finding, 242 regardless of gender accepted the finding that men are frequent victims of women's assaults in intimate relationships.

The relationships between profession and handedness were studied in approximately equal numbers of accountants, architects, dentists, lawyers, librarians, mathematicians, orthodontists, orthopedic surgeons, and psychiatrists (ns = 133+36; N = 1196). Handedness was estimated using laterality scores derived from the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory and self-reported global handedness preference scores. Architects and lawyers had the most lefthanded average laterality scores. Orthopedic surgeons, mathematicians, and librarians had the most righthanded average laterality scores. Psychiatrists and lawyers had the most ambilateral laterality scores, mathematicians and librarians the least. These findings are discussed in relation to theories of handedness and cerebral localization of visuospatial and language function.

A description of the hardware and software used to create movement patterns that differ spatially and temporally is explained. These tasks are presented to participants using a virtual pattern generator.

Infantile nephropathy cystinosis is a genetic metabolic disorder in which the amino acid cystine accumulates in various organs, including the kidney, cornea, thyroid, and brain. Despite normal intellect, individuals with cystinosis may have specific impairments in the processing of visual information. To examine further the specific types of deficits in visual processing found in individuals with cystinosis, we administered the Developmental Test of Visual-motor Integration to 26 children with cystinosis (4 to 16 yr. old) and 26 matched controls. The cystinosis group achieved a significantly lower standard score, raw score, and mean ceiling than did the control group. Qualitative analyses showed that in the cystinosis group, size within errors and rotation errors were more prevalent than in the control group. Correlational analyses showed that with advancing age, the cystinosis subjects tended to fall further behind their chronological age. Our data, together with the findings of previous studies, suggest that the visuospatial difficulties in children with cystinosis may be due to inadequate perception or processing of visually presented information. Furthermore, the increasing discrepancy with age may reflect a progressive cognitive impairment, possibly as a result of cystine accumulation in the brain over time.

138 preschool children created faces with manipulable facial components to represent expressed emotions. Proportions selecting appropriate components varied with emotions so the task was perhaps more cognitively demanding than Ekman and Friesen's facial recognition task.

This study assessed whether feedback would improve performance on a horizontal vertical illusion task and whether such improvement would transfer to different forms of the illusion. Subjects shortened the extended vertical line of small, medium, and large inverted-T figures to be equal in length to the horizontal line before and after being shown a correctly adjusted medium-sized figure (visual feedback). Next, they were tested on three alternate forms of the illusion; a production task (drawing 1-in. lines in the horizontal and vertical planes), an adjustment task using L figures, and a task requiring them to choose which of several sailboat drawings had mast height equal to hull length. Prior to feedback, vertical lines were adjusted shorter than the horizontal lines on each size inverted-T figure. After feedback on the medium-size figure, experimental subjects were more accurate than the controls on each size inverted-T figure. The results suggest that transfer of illusion decrement was also obtained for the boat-selection and, to a lesser extent, the L-figure adjustment tasks but not to the line-production task. These findings are consistent with the notion that improvement after feedback is not due to structural changes in visual processing or to simple feedback-induced compensation in performance but involves some strategic or cognitive change in judging line length.

Previously we pointed out similarities between patterns of delayed incorporations of daytime stimuli into dreams and delayed memory processes in rats. In commenting upon this article, Roll argued that this reductionistic leap is unwarranted. We contend that it would be remiss not to make note of this potential connection, especially in view of recent major contributions of animal research to the understanding of REM sleep and dreams. We also suggest that the disruption-avoidance-adaptation model constitutes a preferable psychological explanation for the dream-lag effect than Roll's psychoanalytic model of repression and repetition compulsion.

An exact solution to an occupancy problem is presented. Relationships among this occupancy problem, the committee problem, and Cochran's Q test are detailed. The exact solution of this occupancy problem may be more appropriate than Cochran's Q test when the number of subjects is small and the number of treatments is large.

Creative perception scores of 107 Malaysians on Something About Myself were compared with those of 912 American, 87 Indian, and 227 Hungarian students while creative perception scores of Malaysians on What Kind Of Person Are You? were compared with those of 671 Americans. Malaysians scored higher than other groups on Something About Myself while the Americans scored higher than the Malaysians on What Kind Of Person Are You? Cultural influences on performance may be inferred although markedly uneven group sizes restrict interpretation.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of order of report, identification method, redundant color coding, and stimulus location under dual-task conditions on multidimensional stimulus-identification performance. Analysis showed that order of report and identification method did affect speed and accuracy of identification. Subjects reacted faster and more accurately if this order of reporting stimulus-dimension values was appropriate. Physical identification was also faster and more accurate than identification of meaning, but there was no effect for redundant color coding, stimulus location, and difficulty of the dual task on identification. The implications of the results for design of visual displays were discussed.

Semantic judgment tasks, based on antecedent pronouns and on word order, were presented to 16 aphasic adult subjects. Responses on the elicited imitation task were better than on comprehension tasks, a finding which parallels the language-acquisition behavior of children. Addition of features to a basic judgment of animate vs inanimate did not affect subjects' performance.

The right shift (RS) theory of a gene for left-cerebral dominance which increases the probability of right-handedness is outlined, together with two proposed alternatives, the 1985a genetic theory of McManus and the 1993 developmental instability theory of Yeo and Gangestad. Similarities and differences among the three theories are reviewed. Both of the genetic theories can predict the distribution of handedness in families and in twins more efficiently than the developmental instability theory, and the RS theory better than the McManus theory.

Skinner, Perlini, Fric, Werstine, and Calk (1985) reported the initial failure of the group application of Upper's (1974) and Molloy's (1983) self-treatment procedures for overcoming writer's block. Weekly one-hour administration of these group protocols has continued to be ineffective over a 10-yr. follow-up period. Researchers will investigate whether this lack of success reflects the limitations of group therapy in absentia, necessitated by the (a) second author's relocation to another university, and (b) apparent inability of the other original participants to respond to posthumous treatment.

An accurate exercise prescription for ratings of perceived exertion has previously depended on data from a maximal graded exercise test during which RPE was measured. In many clinical settings RPE is not measured; in many fitness settings maximal testing is not feasible. A new method using treadmill speed or power output of a cycle ergometer at an RPE of 13 from a submaximal test which can be used in these situations is described. We evaluated the accuracy of this method at 50%, 60%, 70%, and 85% VO₂max. A total of 160 target RPEs were developed using traditional procedures and the new method. No significant differences between RPEs obtained with the two techniques were found. The mean difference was less than one unit of RPE. It appears that the new method is valid for intensities of 50% to 85% VO₂max and that data from either the cycle ergometer or the treadmill can be used to prepare exercise prescriptions.

Trail-making tests such as Oswald and Roth's 1987 Zahlen-Verbindungs-Test offer sensitive and reliable indicators of cognitive efficiency that are also simple, inexpensive, and quick to administer. A disadvantage is that there exist only a limited number of test forms so the scope for repeated administration and systematic investigation is restricted. The basic reason is that the principled generation of such pathways remains an unsolved analytical problem. In this note we propose an heuristic stratagem for the generation of alternative test forms for the Zahlen-Verbindungs-Test.

Previous research has yielded an inconclusive picture of the effects of music on motor performance. Using a 3-factor within-subjects design [mellow/(4:4 time), frenetic/(2:8 time), and white noise music conditions], each of 19 schizophrenic inpatient volunteers performed a Purdue Pegboard and Finger Oscillation (Tapping) Test following 1-min. presentations of 3 types of music. Pegboard performance was higher after frenetic music but unaffected by mellow music; there was no effect on tapping.

Both visual and verbal impairments have been reported in two independent streams of research into the etiology of dyslexia or reading-disability. To address the question of the presence of either abnormality in reading-disabled children, visuospatial and phonological ability were assessed and contrasted in 39 Normal and 26 Reading-disabled children. To assess whether these deficits are unique to dyslexia, scores were also compared to those of a group of 12 Poor Readers (“garden-variety” backward readers with low IQs). The Benton Judgement of Line Orientation Test was used for its simplicity and clinical reliability: Reading-disabled subjects performed significantly worse than Normal readers (but similar to Poor Readers). Reading-disabled subjects performed worse for lines in the left-hemifield compared to Normal subjects and also had a greater tendency to scan the task in reverse order (left-to-right) from the usual right-to-left scanning pattern observed in the Normal group when performing this test. When both verbal and visuospatial variables were combined in a multiple regression analysis, 71% of reading variance could be accounted for. These results suggest that Reading-disabled children not only have poor phonological awareness, but they also show visuospatial deficits. However, poor performance on both these tasks was also observed in the group of Poor Readers, suggesting that these deficits are not unique to children with specific reading disability. The results lend further evidence to the hypothesis that reading disability cannot solely be attributed to left-hemisphere dysfunction resulting in phonological impairment. There are other behavioral deficits, possibly caused by a common mechanism, some of which, like visuospatial ability, can be measured by simple behavioral tests such as the Judgement of Line Orientation Test.

Sleep onset latency was substantially reduced in an experiment for 9 adults when short acoustic stimuli were given in synchrony with the heartbeat compared to a control condition in which the same stimuli were given asynchronously. By the same stimulation technique sleep quality was ameliorated in a group of 10 patients with primary insomnia.

Two groups of young psychiatric- inpatients were used to compare performance on the Test of Nonverbal Reasoning and the Developmental Test of Visual-motor Integration. The older group of 230 had a mean age of 15.7 yr. and produced a product-moment correlation of .64 for the two tests. The younger group of 81 had a mean age of 11.3 yr; scores correlated .53. On the TONI, the performance of the adolescent girls was superior to that of the boys. On the Test of Visual-motor Integration, the younger girls appeared to outscore the boys, but an analysis of variance of sex differences with age as covariate fell short of significance. Results were explained in terms of subjects' differing school experience in their development of vasomotor and visual-reasoning skills. Caution was advised in the application of age-based test norms to special populations.

Perceptual defense as a phenomenon was proposed by McGinnies in 1949. His findings were, in main, replicated by York, et al. in 1984 and extended by Perroncel, et al. in 1990. The present purpose was to assess whether four independent variables, one related to emotional arousal (GSR) and three, related to connotative word meaning (Evaluative, Potency, and Activity scores from Semantic Differential words used in the Perroncel, et al. study), could predict the perceptual defense phenomenon. The multiple correlation coefficient (R) was .19; however, the percent variance accounted for by the four independent variables was 3%. Clearly, further research is necessary to specify what factors predict the perceptual defense effect.

This study examined the effect of expectations on 116 students' satisfaction with a university facility. Lowered expectations and subjects' awareness of remodeling plans for the interior of a facility were analyzed in relation to over-all satisfaction with the facility and separate interior aspects. The main hypothesis, that lowered expectations would decrease satisfaction with the facility, was not supported. Expectations as operationalized here had no effect on either over-all satisfaction or on satisfaction with individual aspects.

To assess concordance between the Hartmann Boundary Questionnaire and the Eysenck Personality Inventory, 35 subjects, all musicians, completed both measures. A significant correlation of .50 was found. Thus, the construct of boundaries as an aspect of personality is further validated.

The present study examined the reliability and validity of the 15-item Breskin Rigidity Scale. Two samples of UK adults (n = 216; n = 277) completed the rigidity scale alongside the Wilson-Patterson Attitude Inventory and the trait measure of the Sandler-Hazari Obsessionality Inventory. Satisfactory reliability coefficients were obtained for the rigidity scale in both samples. A principal components analysis of the 15-item rigidity scale showed that 13 items loaded on the first component and 2 on a second component. These items were removed and the reliability and validity estimates were recalculated. Comparisons were drawn between the original and amended versions. The amended 13-item scale shows an improved reliability and higher association with other measures of rigidity and rigid character.

This study examined the effect of ear canal occlusion and masking noise on four parameters of voice: (1) average fundamental frequency, (2) intensity in decibel (dB), (3) maximum fundamental frequency observed in a given sample (max), and (4) minimum fundamental frequency observed in a given sample (min). 12 normal hearing undergraduates produced the vowel /i/ ten times under conditions of unoccluded ear canal, ear canal occluded with a sound attenuating earplug, or masking noise. Other than a small (.73 dB) decrease in intensity, analysis showed no significant changes under the occluded condition; however, the masking condition showed statistically significant increases in the fundamental frequency, the intensity, and the maximum and minimum frequency as well as an increased range of frequencies.

60 male Nigerian prison inmates (30 with convicted status and 30 awaiting trial) and 210 male noninmates were administered the Tennessee Self-concept Scale to test the hypotheses that (1) inmates with convicted status would obtain higher self-concept scores than those with “awaiting trial” status, and (2) the self-concept scores of prison inmates generally would be lower than those of noninmates. The two hypotheses were strongly supported for this sample. It was concluded that self-concept scores were not only related to delinquency but also to custodial status.

In 1970 Kuhn argued that science does not progress through a process of accretion. It is typified, rather, by the successive emergence of different paradigms which during their reign dictate the direction of normal science's puzzle-solving activity. Normal science inevitably exposes an anomaly which violates expectations predicted by the reigning paradigm. The “crisis” evoking anomaly may induce a destructive/constructive paradigm change. Transformations from one paradigm to another constitute a scientific revolution and dictate the growth and maturation of a field. This paper suggests the recent finding, that stutterers experience enhancement of fluency while speaking under delayed auditory feedback at a fast articulatory rate, be viewed as an anomaly. By challenging the notion that a slowed speech rate is necessary for amelioration of stuttering, the anomalous finding may be perceived as a crisis in the study of stuttering.

The purpose of this study was to examine the success of practice by lower- and higher-skilled girls in Grades 7 and 8 in response to different tasks (extension, refinement, and application) throughout an 11– day instructional and practice period for volleyball. More highly skilled girls were more successful than those lower in skill for all skills (forearm pass, set, serve) and tasks. Girls had nearly equal success in practice for different tasks.

A procedure is described for depicting the quantitative relationships among the coefficients of correlation (r), determination (r²), nondetermination (1 − r²) and alienation ( 1 - r 2 ) and the predictive index ( 1 - 1 - r 2 ).

This study investigated the effects of sport classification and gender on anticipation of coincidence. 102 undergraduate male and female students from open skills, closed skills, and nonathletic groups were tested on the Bassin Anticipation Timer. The dependent measures of absolute error, constant error, and variable error were analyzed in a 2 (gender) × 3 (sport classification) × 4 (speeds) design. Men had lower absolute and constant error scores than women. Open skills athletes were less variable in their responses while male open skills athletes were more accurate and less variable at the faster speeds. Performance on the Bassin Anticipation Timer may not be representative of athletic skills.

The present study involved the development of a measure of career self-efficacy. The measure is short, easy to use, and has high internal consistency and test-retest reliability as well as good congruent and discriminant validity.

This study analyzes the association of personality traits, psychopathological factors, and school achievement. High School Personality Questionnaire, Clinical Analysis Questionnaire, and academic marks of 224 high school students (90 boys and 134 girls) are used. It can be stated that the predictive ability of measures of personality traits and clinical dimensions is very weak for both boys and girls. The Clinical Analysis Questionnaire does not seem to be useful in the prediction of school achievement.

A review of recent survey data indicates that the Rorschach test is used moderately often by forensic practitioners. Several guidelines may improve testimony on the test.

The ability to discriminate grip force was investigated in 30 preschool children aged 5 to 6 years in an experiment controlling for motivation and muscle fatigue. The subjects were required to maintain a relatively high force during the discrimination with forces of the standard stimulus being 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 kgf. Comparison stimuli changed at an interval of 0.1 kgf. Discrimination was measured in terms of the lower threshold, upper threshold, and interval of uncertainty. Since the statistical analyses indicated that there were no significant gender differences, data for boys and girls were combined. Although the upper and lower thresholds and the interval of uncertainty increased with the force required by the standard stimuli, Weber fractions did not remain constant when the stimulus intensity changed, unlike the findings in previous studies for adults.

Hemispheric asymmetry in 14 left- and 14 right-handed persons shown tachistoscopically presented emotional stimuli to left and right visual fields was examined using a forced-choice, reaction-time paradigm in which subjects were asked to identify positive and negative faces. Neutral faces were included within the two-alternative forced-choice paradigm. Reaction time and response-bias measures were recorded. Analysis indicated differential lateralization for left-handed and right-handed subjects with respect to neutral affective stimuli. While right-handed subjects' perceptions of neutral stimuli remained consistent across visual fields, left-handed ones identified neutral stimuli as more positive (happy) when presented to the left visual field and negative (angry) when presented to the right visual field. Implications for differential lateralization patterns among left- and right-handed adults are discussed.

A simplified, 3-category method for scoring the Kaufman Hand Movements test was devised to replace a previously used, more complex 21-category scoring method. The concurrent validity and diagnostic sensitivity of the rescored test as a measure of limb apraxia were investigated in a reanalysis of the test protocols of 23 aphasic adults. Using the Limb Apraxia Test as the criterion measure, a Pearson r of .71 and predictive validity of 100% were obtained. These results encourage further investigation of the Kaufman Hand Movements test as an efficient measure of limb apraxia.

10 stutterers and 10 nonstutterers' abilities to perceive accurately prosodic information (stress, contrast, and emotion), linguistic stimuli staggered in time and nonspeech stimuli (tone bursts) were examined. Analysis indicated significant differences between the two groups on the Staggered Spondaic Word Test and the stress subtest of the Sentence Disambiguation Task. In addition, 7 of the 10 stuttering subjects performed more poorly on the three measures than nonstuttering subjects.

The present study investigated the effects of a treatment, including diet, exercise, and psychoeducational groups, on the severity of the psychopathology of obese subjects. The 120 subjects (60 male and 60 female), aged 20 to 50 years, were hospitalised for about two months. The mean Body Mass Index (BMI) at the start was 40.9 (SD = 5.3) and at the end 34.3 (SD = 5.5). The MMPI and clinical interview were administered to the subjects. The aims of the study were to see if there was change between the beginning and the end of treatment and to individuate groups of subjects homogeneous for the severity of the psychopathology at the start of treatment and to relate the severity to changes, whether worsening or improving, at the end of treatment. A multivariate analysis of variance showed significant change in scores on the psychological variables after treatment. Cluster analysis divided the patients into three groups with different severity of psychopathology. There were significant decreases on Hypochondriasis, Depression, and Social Introversion. Scores of the subjects with the most severe psychopathological traits changed most.

Handwriting speed of 172 children ages 7 to 14 years was faster using modern cursive handwriting than performance reported earlier using a combination of print and cursive.

Separate bodies of research suggest that performance in spatial reasoning covaries with gender and with gender role. Typically studies employ a spatial task whose variance is then used to account for differences in scores between gender groups or variance in a measure of gender role. A methodological issue in such research is that the tasks used to represent spatial reasoning may be differentially available or differentially appealing as a function of gender. Also, authors tend to analyze data in terms of either gender or gender role but rarely both. A collection of personality assessments administered to 204 college students each contained a completed Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) and a drawing of a human figure. Within MMPI-2 are three measures of gender role. Drawing talent is unquestionably spatial and has the advantage of being equally available and encouraged among the two genders. Male gender predicted drawing skill. Within both genders, self-perceived masculinity in gender role also predicted higher scores on the drawing skill. Outcomes are seen as compatible with Geschwind and Galaburda's 1987 formulation regarding the behavioral manifestations of fetal androgenization.

For 20 subjects the “distance” between midpoint pair options and predicted midpoints for rectilinear and circumplex models is reported using 24 Light-foot photographs. Data were more compatible with the rectilinear model so respondents were probably not using polar coordinates in representing facial expressions internally.

In an interdisciplinary research project carried out by a violinist and a psychophysiologist which is based on a videotape of a performance by the violinist, David Oistrakh, we draw attention to certain postural attitudes and movements which appear in sequences of his rendition of the Brandenburg Concerto N. 4 by Bach and the Concerto for Violin in D Major by Mozart. These postural attitudes and movements occur with a certain regularity and are particular to each piece of music. For example, in the Brandenburg Concerto, one can observe rhythmic oscillations of the musician's whole body, with a shifting of the weight (alternanza di appoggio) from the left to the right foot. The performer's movements were compared with corresponding points of the musical score. Within this analytical framework, we hypothesize that these movements have not only a mechanical postural role but an expressive aesthetic one.

Gender differences were observed on a respiratory-resistance detection task. Men (n = 35) exhibited significantly lower thresholds for air flow resistance than women (n = 45).

A nonasymptotic inference procedure for Cochran's Q test for the equality of matched proportions is described. An algorithm and FORTRAN 77 program are provided to compute Cochran's Q test statistic and the associated nonasymptotic probability value. The nonasymptotic method provides improvement over the usual asymptotic chi-squared analysis procedure whenever the effective number of subjects is small or the number of successes is small.

In the present research we hypothesized that some particular areas or points of the body play a role in the modulation of muscular (tonic and phasic) activity. In particular, we hypothesized that subjects utilize some bodily points as constant perceptual afferences in organizing the motoric responses of the whole body. The bodily points (called perceptual focal points) could have the same role as the bow of a boat for the sailor in orienting the spatial position of the boat and its movement. We have observed the presence of these perceptual focal points in 85% of a group of undergraduate students of psychology, 21 women and 19 men, during a real and an imagined movement of the whole body. Results indicated also that, if subjects were told to modify their habitual focal points, important modifications in subjective feelings of instability, pleasure, and tension appeared.

When compared to men (n = 46) and women under 30 years of age (n = 30) or women over 60 (n = 68), men over 60 years of age (n = 41) showed an extreme reluctance to answer questions about their perceptions of other men who nurture children. Women under 30 were comparatively willing to share their views.

This study investigated the relationship between physical activity during leisure time and perceived stress among working adults (N = 32,229). Data were gathered on physical activity, perceived stress, current health status, age, gender, life changes, ongoing problems, number of techniques used for stress reduction, and number of personality traits related to Type A behavior. To control for confounding variables Mantel-Haenszel summary risk estimates were used. Employees who expended more than 3.0 Kcal/kg⁻¹ · day⁻¹ in physical activity during leisure time were 0.78 and 0.62 times less likely to have moderate and high perceived stress, respectively. Working adults participating in moderate amounts of these activities have about half the rate of perceived stress as nonparticipants.

Consistent with previous research, 110 spectators' rated team identification of a successful team was not different from the mean of 139 fans' rating in 1992 of an unsuccessful team.

The distinction between people and places has been a recurring theme in environmental research, but explicit studies of this distinction are rare. This paper reports variance components analyses on random samples of both respondents and stimuli to address the question of the respective effect sizes for people and places on the criterion of preferences for environmental scenes. Independently replicated findings from scenes in two different cities suggest that people and places respectively account for about 10% and 40% of the population preference variance. Implications for multicultural design and research are discussed.

This study was conducted to assess the probability of success with which middle-school-age soccer players could correctly localize lower leg pain to sites of common overuse injuries, using a graphic self-report instrument. Subjects included 98 middle-school soccer players, ages 12 to 15 years. Players' self-reports of leg pain were compared with the results of a blind physical examination. Players reporting pain of more than two weeks' duration successfully localized a statistically significant number of their sites of pain using the graphic form, providing evidence of concurrent validity. Further development is needed before the measure can be used in surveillance of overuse injuries in youth sports.

Students often express their anticipated learning difficulties when they enter a course. Keeping a record of such statements raised questions as to whether their perceptions were realized in practice. 1677 students taking an undergraduate electronics course were asked to describe their anticipated difficulties in writing. Many of these were anticipations of difficulties outside the learning syllabus, rooted in domestic, financial, and personality problems. Accordingly, a learning barrier was defined as any factor which hinders a person's intentions or goals. The students ranked the most frequent responses of the group in order of anticipated difficulty. Their performance in electronics was measured by a test of previous knowledge given at the beginning of the course and by examination scores at the end. Some anticipated learning difficulties were associated with real learning difficulties in practice. Lack of practical experience and unfamiliarity with the vocabulary of electronics were indicated as disadvantages for some students at the start of the course. Using research findings, the presentation sequence of some concepts was changed to smooth out barriers which presented steep profiles to the students. Equalizing studies were recommended to bring individuals up to a baseline from which they could effectively learn.

Kaufman's warning against using the WISC–III to retest children previously administered the WISC–R is not supported by this review of 16 studies of referred children retested after a minimum of 9 months.