Nonsense Shapes Research Articles

Spatial Learning of Visual ‘Nonsense Figures’ during Experimental Ethanol Intoxication

The interaction of alcohol and visuospatial learning was evaluated during two experimental sessions. During one session, participants were experimentally intoxicated to obtain a blood alcohol concentration of at least 0.10%. During another session, a nonalcohol placebo was administered. The learning task consisted of a paired-associate paradigm requiring participants to learn the distinct spatial positions of 6 visually presented "nonsense shapes." The visuospatial learning of participants in the placebo condition was generally superior to their learning while intoxicated. However, intercorrelations of performance measures indicated that the relation between alcohol ingestion and performance differences across conditions was not linear.

Visual memory processes in high-functioning individuals with autism.

High-functioning autistic individuals were compared with age-matched normal control subjects on a visual recognition memory task. In order to evaluate the effects of "meaning" and "delay" on the visual memory of autistic individuals, meaningful (pictures) and meaningless (nonsense shapes) stimuli were presented visually in no delay and 1-minute delay intervals to both groups. It was concluded that autistic subjects perform particularly poorly on meaningless material, but they are able to utilize meaning to aid their visual memory. Contrary to expectations, 1-minute delay intervals did not differentially affect the visual memory performance of autistic individuals compared to control subjects. The results do not support the idea of a simple parallel between autism and mediotemporal lobe amnesias. The visual memory performance of the autistic subjects was discussed in the light of the possibility of a subtle involvement of the mediotemporal brain structures and inflexible cognitive strategies poorly suited to encode novel information.

Visuospatial learning in elementary school children with and without a family history of alcoholism.

Chronic alcohol abuse has been consistently associated with cognitive deficits in right-hemisphere-mediated visuospatial operations. Recent evidence indicates that visuospatial deficits may be present in alcoholics prior to the onset of chronic heavy drinking, but it remains unclear whether such deficits are present prior to any alcohol exposure in persons at risk of developing alcoholism. The purpose of this study was to investigate visuospatial information processing in young children with and without a family history of alcoholism. Male and female elementary school children (N = 36), ranging in age from 6 to 11 years, served as participants. Of these children, 18 were from families in which one or both biologic parents had a history of alcoholism. The remaining 18 children had no family history of alcoholism or alcohol-related problems. During a single experimental session, each child received a visuospatial paired-associate learning task, requiring the learning of the spatial positions of five low semantic content "nonsense shapes." The learning performance of the children with a family history of alcoholism was significantly poorer than the performance displayed by the children with no family history of alcoholism. The family history positive children required significantly more trials to learning criterion, gave fewer correct responses and committed more errors. Further, an analysis of response-type frequency relative to the learning trials and analysis of response intercorrelations indicated that the pattern of learning displayed by the children with a family history of alcoholism was similar to that displayed by detoxified alcoholics during a similar learning task.

Dichhaptic recognition of textures in normal adults

Dichhaptic procedures usually use nonsense shapes or letters as stimuli. The present study was designed to investigate hand asymmetry in a texture recognition task, in male right-handed adults. An overall left hand (right hemisphere) advantage was observed. However, when examining the order-of-report effect, the asymmetry appeared for the first report only. These results are discussed in terms of inter-hemispheric cooperation that can emerge for the second report.

Writing, drawing and praxis in aphasia

This study describes the results of a battery of writing, praxis and drawing tasks in 40 left hemisphere damaged aphasic patients. The battery included tests of: Writing letters and words to dictation; copying letters, words and nonsense shapes; letter and word repetition; oral spelling; imitation of finger position and limb gestures to imitation and command. In 22 patients, testing could be done in left and right hand. The principal findings were as follows: 1. Limb apraxia is generally more severe in the right than left hand, especially in anterior aphasies. 2. Left-sided apraxia is slightly worse in patients with right hemiplegia than in non-hemiplegic patients. 3. Writing to dictation is comparable in left and right hands in non-hemiplegics. 4. In non-hemiplegics, drawing nonsense shapes is superior with the right hand. 5. In non-hemiplegics, word copy is slightly better with the left hand. 6. No correlation was found between left hand praxis, left hand words to dictation or left hand word copy. These results are discussed in relation to theories on manual asymmetries of praxis and writing in aphasia.

Factors of hemifield differences in form discrimination

The influence of some process-limiting variables on hemifield differences for nonsense shapes in a “same-different” classification task was examined. “Different” responses, but not “same,” did show systematic effects. Weakly discriminable and unfamiliar shapes which were presented successively yielded a significant left-hemifield advantage, while highly discriminable and more familiar shapes presented simultaneously yielded a nonsignificant right-hemifield advantage. Discriminability, considered independently of the other variables, had effects in opposite directions: low discriminability tended to favor more the right than the left hemifield in each experiment, but the right hemifield more than the left when the comparison was made between experiments. The results are discussed in terms of the spatial-frequency model ( Sergent, 1982b, 1983) and the analyticholistic distinction.

Identifying objects by touch: an "expert system".

How good are we at recognizing objects by touch? Intuition may suggest that the haptic system is a poor recognition device, and previous research with nonsense shapes and tangible-graphics displays supports this opinion. We argue that the recognition capabilities of touch are best assessed with three-dimensional, familiar objects. The present study provides a baseline measure of recognition under those circumstances, and it indicates that haptic object recognition can be both rapid and accurate.

Effects of verbal labeling on visual recall with reading disabled subgroups.

Effects of learning names for random nonsense shapes prior to a probe-type serial-recall task were investigated in disabled readers. 33 10-yr.-old, right-handed boys were subjects in a 3 (reading groups) X 2 (training conditions) X 6 (serial positions) repeated-measures, split-plot level analysis of covariance design. No differences among reading groups on recall strength or primary recall were found, suggesting similar verbal skills. Deficiencies in verbal mediation did not appear to account for the reading disability of these subgroups.

Hemispheric Specialization for the Processing of Tactual Stimuli in Congenitally Deaf and Hearing Children

A group of congenitally deaf and a group of normal hearing children were given two dichhaptically presented tests of hemispheric specialization.Left hemisphere specialization for language was assessed by a letter sequences task and right hemisphere specialization for spatial stimuli was measured by the nonsense shapes test of Witelson (1974). The results showed a significant right tactual field superiority for the processing of tactually presented letter sequences. There were no significant differences between the tactual fields for the processing of tactually presented nonsense shapes. The pattern of lateralization demonstrated on the letter sequences task was consistent across both groups. However, groups differed significantly on the overall performance of the verbal task, with deaf subjects demonstrating lower accuracy scores compared to hearing subjects.Age and I. Q. factors produced significant differences between sub-groups on the nonsense shapes task.

Sex Differences in Decision and Movement Time

It has been shown (Landauer, Armstrong, & Digwood, 1980) that, while there are no sex differences in visual choice reaction time, women perform faster on the decision part of the task, while men perform faster on its motor aspects. Some specialized equipment has recently been developed by Dr. G. Schuhfried Instruments of Modling, Austria. While their ERM-apparatus is primarily meant for psychopharmacological and other applied uses, the equipment divides visual reaction time into a decision component. The subject is instructed to keep the index finger of his preferred hand on a rest button. A semi-circular array of eight sensor-touch buttons are placed some 100 mm from the rest button. T h e subject is asked to respond as quickly as possible by moving his finger from the rest button and to touch the button which corresponds with the stimulus shown on a panel in the center of the appararus. The time which elapses from the presentation of the stimulus till the subject lifts his finger from the rest button is the decision time, the movement time is the time between lifting the finger from the rest position until the correct button is touched; reaction time is the sum of both values. A microprocessor controls the type of symbol presented (not only letters and numerals can be presentedn but also nonsense shapes), difficulty level of programs, repetitions, delays, etc. However, in the experiment reported, the numerals 1 to 8 were used and subjects received two blocks of 12 presentations in which six d~gi t s were shown in random order at random intervals. The first block was used for practice and the results were disregarded, while the data of the second block were used to evaluate sex differences. The equipment provides a printout of the mean decision time and mean reaction time; from this the mean movement time can be calculated. Other results provided include number of missed stimuli, wrong responses, and false alarms. A sample of 12 men and 12 women who were students or staff members of the Psychology Department was used; the subjects' mean age was 30.3 yr. (range 19 to 47 yr.) . The mean decision time for men was 810 msec. ( S D = 135) and 708 msec. ( S D = 142) for women. The difference was statistically significant: wonlen responded faster than Inen ( t = 2.19, p < .05). As far as mean movement time is concerned, men took 239 mesc. ( S D = 113) while women took 310 msec. ( S D = 8 2 ) . Again, this difference was significant ( tr , = 2.28, P < .05) . There was no significant difference in the total mean reaction times. The results confirm that women are faster in makine. a decision in a visual choice-reaction time task. This may well indicate that women have greater cognitive abilities.

The Hemispheric Specialization for Linguistic and Non-Linguistic Tactile Stimuli in Third Grade Children

Thirty third-grade children were given two dichaptically presented tests of hemispheric specialization.Specialization for linguistic stimuli was measured by a letters task and specialization for spatial stimulus was measured by a nonsense shapes task. The results showed a significant right hemisphere processing advantage for tactually presented spatial stimuli. There was no significant processing advantage for either hemisphere with tactually presented linguistic stimuli. The right hemisphere specialization for tactually presented spatial stimuli was present for both boys and girls. Thus there was no evidence of sexual bimorphism in the neurological organization of third grade children for spatial processing.

Memory scanning of shapes, colors, and compounds: A comparison of retarded and nonretarded adults

Three experiments were performed to assess memory scanning of shapes, colors, and shape-color compounds by retarded and nonretarded people. Attributes comprising compounds provided either redundant or nonredundant information. Large retarded-nonretarded differences in reaction time were obtained. In contrast to previous reports of slow scanning of digits and nonsense shapes by retarded people, scan rates for shapes and colors did not differ between groups. Retarded subjects were not characterized by a deficient scan rate. Although compound stimuli required twice as many attributes in their repersentation as did simple stimuli, they were not scanned more slowly, indicating that per item scan rate is not determined by the number of attributes required to define each item. Both groups were able to exploit redundant relevant information to achieve faster processing than in simple conditions. Decision rules for rejecting compound stimuli comprised one, two, or more binary tests. Groups did not differ in speed of performing elementary binary test(s).

Laterality for Stereognostic Accuracy of Children for Words, Shapes, and Bigrams: A Sex Difference for Bigrams

Children identified nonsense shapes by touch better with their left hand and words better with their right hand. Bigrams were processed by boys as shapes and by girls as words, which suggests a sexual dimorphism of brain functioning for bigrams. A relative specialization of the hemisphere for stereognostic processing is also suggested, since the accuracy of identification by both hands was greater than chance for all three types of stimuli.

Spatial compatibility in tactile-visual discrimination

An earlier study found accuracy to be greater and response latency (RL) shorter when the response was made with the same hand as felt the relevant one of two simultaneously- presented nonsense shapes. The present experiment investigated whether this was due to uni- hemispheric input and motor control or to spatial compatibility between feeling and responding hands. Responding with the hand on the Same Side as the hand which felt the relevant stimulus—even if they were different hands—yielded shorter RL and greater accuracy which were not significantly improved by the additional use of the Same Hand.

Visual Discrimination in Good and Poor Readers

Two studies are described in which match-to-sample tasks were presented to elementary school children. These tasks were of approximately equal difficulty with respect to visual discriminatory ability but differed in terms of their approximation to written and spoken English. It was found that poor readers made comparatively more errors than good readers when the items to be matched closely approximated English; however, when the items were nonsense shapes, which did not therefore have verbal labels that could be readily associated with them, good readers did not make fewer errors than poor readers. Our results do not support the hypothesis that visual discrimination abilities are a causative factor in reading retardation: When items to be visually matched or discriminated are letters or words, differences that are found between good and poor readers are almost certainly caused by differences in cognitive/linguistic strategies rather than by differences in visual discrimination abilities.

Interference with Processing in Paired-Associates Learning

In three experiments, subjects learned paired-associate lists composed of both verbal and nonverbal items. In Experiment I, the verbal items were consonant trigrams paired with nouns and the nonverbal items were nonsense shapes paired with numbers. The presence of the verbal pairs interfered with learning the shape-number pairs, but similarity among the consonant trigrams had no effect. In Experiment II, the verbal pairs were word triads paired with adjectives. Various lists contained identical words in several triads. The presence of shape-number pairs did not interfere with learning except when there was a simple position rule for selecting a discriminative element from the triad. In Experiment III, the nonverbal pairs consisted of sets of three typewriter symbols paired with numbers. Lists with various patterns of identical symbols did not differentially affect learning of verbal pairs, nor did differently structured verbal pairs differentially affect the learning of symbolnumber pairs.

Hemisphere Differences in the Recognition of Nonsense Shapes Cerebral Dominance or Strategy Effects?

A tachistoscopic visual half-field task involving delayed recognition of nonsense shapes did not prove to rely disproportionately on either cerebral hemisphere. However, subjects at either extreme of the laterality distribution were more accurate at recognition overall, relative to subjects displaying indeterminate laterality. These results are discussed in terms of subjects' preferred processing strategies and it is concluded that until we possess a detailed knowledge of task requirements and of subjects' strategies, the results of laterality studies will remain ambiguous.

Short‐term serial tactual recall: Effects of grouping on tactually probed recall of Braille letters and nonsense shapes by blind children

The study tested the hypothesis that grouping has adverse effects on the recall of tactual shapes but facilitates the recall of tactual letters on the assumption that this depends on different processes. A further question was the relation of grouping to letter recall span (set-size). Tactually probed recall of tactually presented serial nonsense and letter shapes by blind children was tested under grouped and ungrouped conditions. Results showed a highly significant interaction between list type and grouping, and a (smaller) higher order interaction between set size list type and grouping, in the predicted directions. Grouping had adverse effects on nonsense shape recall. Letter recall was better and was facilitated by grouping, except by subjects with poor letter recall spans who were also slow at letter naming. Mental and chronological age were associated with higher scores, but unlike set size, did not relate differentially to letter grouping. It was argued that the form of coding is a factor in determining the nature of processing and in recall efficiency.

Hemispheric Specialization for Linguistic and Nonlinguistic Tactual Perception in a Congenitally Deaf Population

Two groups of congenitally deaf and two groups of hearing right-handed subjects identified pairs of nonsense shapes and letters after simultaneous bilateral tactual exploration. In response to shapes, left and right hand pointing to multiple choice arrays were compared. Three response modes, writing and left and right and fingerspelling, were compared for letters. A tendency for right tactual field superiority for shapes was observed in all groups. Groups initially exposed to letters showed significant right field superiority across response modes for shapes. No left-right asymmetries were observed for letters. Differences due to deafness were not observed.

Children's attention to stimulus components with variation in relative salience of components and degree of stimulus integration

A total of 400 children at ages 5, 9, and 12 years were given a component selection task with stimuli differing in color and shape. Relative salience of these two stimulus components was manipulated across subjects in two ways: the standard shapes and colors from previous studies were compared with standard shapes in fluorescent colors, and the latter materials were compared with nonsense shapes in fluorescent colors. While fluorescence of color had little effect, the replacement of standard shapes with nonsense figures caused attention to be redirected from shape to color as the primary cue for learning. This effect was more pronounced at age 9 than at age 5. Apparently there is a greater tendency for older than for younger children to withdraw attention from a normally dominant component such as shape, when it is advantageous to adopt another feature such as color as the primary functional cue. An additional variable was integration of components (color within shape vs color as background for shape). Integration produced generally greater attention to color but did not affect the general pattern of salience effects.