Visual Figural Aftereffects Research Articles

Personality and Drugs in Visual Figural Aftereffects

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Tactile and kinesthetic influences on visual figural aftereffects.

12 Ss were presented with a bent line I (inspection) figure followed by a straight line T (test) figure under four different conditions in order to produce a FAE of a bent line. In the visual condition S saw the I figure and then the T figure. In the tactile condition S held a curved bar and viewed the I figure simultaneously. The two kinesthetic conditions required S feel a straight or curved bar and view the I figure simultaneously. In both the kinesthetic and tactile curved-bar conditions Ss showed a strong tendency to perceive the visual T figure as curved. In the other conditions Ss perceived the T figure as bent (the usual effect produced by this combination of I and T figures). The results demonstrate the influence of kinesthetic and tactile stimulation on visual FAE.

Sex differences on tests of visual figural aftereffects

Three experiments were conducted to determine the nature of sex differences on tests of visual figural aftereffects (FAEs). In exp. 1, in which the method of adjustment was used, the FAE increased as a negatively accelerated function of inspection-time but no significant sex differences were exhibited. In exp. 2, in which a method of detection was employed, women reported significantly fewer occurrences of FAEs than men. Inspection-time, however, had no significant effect on the size of the FAE. In exp. 3 an adjustment technique was used and, once again, sex differences were not revealed. It was concluded that sex differences are dependent upon the method used to measure FAEs and that women exhibit smaller (or fewer) FAEs probably because they adopt a more conservative attitude in situations which have a high level of uncertainty.

Visual figural aftereffect in schizophrenic and nonschizophrenic patients.

Visual figural aftereffect in schizophrenic and nonschizophrenic patients.

Sex differences on a group test of figural aftereffects

This study assessed the validity of employing a rating scale on a group basis to measure visual figural aftereffects. Measures of presence and vividness of aftereffects were obtained from five patterns used to induce distortion. The results showed that there was a high incidence of reports of distortion in the expected direction and that men reported more figural aftereffects and rated each aftereffect as more vivid than women.

Visual figural after-effects and field dependence

Visual figural after-effects are shown to be related to measures of field dependence (as assessed by the Rod and Frame Test). Field independent Ss exhibited such after-effects while field dependent Ss failed to demonstrate these effects on a specific perceptual task. Since measures of field dependence have been previously found to relate to broader personality and behavior variables, the present evidence suggests then that such complex behavior variables might in turn be related to elemental cortical traces of a type involved in the generation of figurai after-effects.

BODILY ACTIVITY AND PERCEPTUAL ACTIVITY.

This report describes the results of 2 studies designed to test the hypothesis that there is an inverse relation between bodily and perceptual activity. In Study I 100 college students' bodily movements were recorded by kymograph while they were tested for the autokinetic illusion, reversible figure-ground, Necker cube reversals, and visual figural aftereffects. No significant correlations were found between bodily movement and perceptual scores. Study II involved only autokinetic illusion scores and induced bodily activity of 200 Ss. Significant linear correlations were found in the expected direction, i.e., bodily movement correlated positively with autokinetic latency in both males and females; bodily movement was negatively correlated with extent of autokinetic movement in females. Female Ss in both studies showed significantly greater autokinetic latency than males.

Counter Displacement in the Visual Figural After-effect

In this study an attempt is made to specify the conditions under which counter displacement (test contour displaced toward the inspection contour) will occur. Three experiments are described in which different lengths of inspection of the test-(T-) figure are given following short and long inspections of the inspection-(I-) figure. In Experiment I, after partial dissipation of the figural after-effect (FAE), a period of continuous inspection of the T-figure was employed. In Experiments II and III distributed inspection of the T-figure was given by increasing the number of measurements of the FAE. In all experiments counter displacement was evident. The results were consistent with an interpretation of counter displacement offered earlier by the authors.

VISUAL FIGURAL AFTEREFFECTS IN RETARDED ADULTS.

VISUAL FIGURAL AFTEREFFECTS IN RETARDED ADULTS.

Amount and Rate of Decay of Visual Figural After-Effect as Functions of Type of Inspection-Stimulus and Inspection-Time

Amount and Rate of Decay of Visual Figural After-Effect as Functions of Type of Inspection-Stimulus and Inspection-Time

Note on the Relationship between Figural Aftereffects and Intelligence in Diffusely Brain-Damaged Individuals

It has been reported that mentally deficient individuals or individuals with brain damage of long tand ding do not reveal visual figural aftereffects (V-FAE) to the same extent as normals (Spitz & Blackman, 1959; Spivack & Levine, 1 9 5 9 ) . Similar findings are reported for kinesthetic figural aftereffects (K-FAE) (Mark, 1955; Spitz & Lipman, in press). It has also been reported by Spivack and Levine (1959) that in a group of female brain-damaged Ss there was a significant positive relationship between V-FAE and intelligence as measured by a multiple-choice vocabulary test (Miner, 1957) . The purpose of the present communication is to report on the relationship between V-FAE and intelligence in a group of brain-damaged males. The procedure employed closely approximates that used earlier (Spivack & Levine, 1959) . Twenty-eight braindamaged males (age range, 14 to 3 9 ) were compared with 28 emotionally disturbed males (age range 13 to 19) and 20 normal males (ages 13 to 1 9 ) . A significant V-FAE was obtained only in the normal group. There was no significant correlation of age with V-FAE scores in any group. For each group, the vocabulary scores were compared for those showing a positive V-FAE and those not having a positive V-FAE. The only significant difference was found in the brain-damaged group, indicating that those brain-damaged individuals with a positive V-FAE had significant lower vocabulary test scores than those not having a positive V-FAE. The present finding with a group of m d e brain-damaged Ss is exactly the opposite of previously reported findings with female brain-damaged Ss. The different signs of the correlations bring to mind Barthol's (1958) results, indicating significant correlations between K-FAE and phi thresholds for both males and females. Here the signs of the correlations differed for each sex. The meaning and relationship, if any, of our findings and Barthol's, are obscure.

Experimentally Induced Shifts in Apparent Pitch

The influence of prolonged antecedent pure tone stimulation on the apparent pitch of an immediately subsequent tone is described as a phenomenon warranting future investigative effort. Past history of research on the effect is discussed, along with a suggested explanation in terms of satiation effect, similar to that postulated by Prof. Wolfgang Köhler for visual figural after-effects. Current research effort is described and recently completed work is discussed briefly.

Formulas for Measuring Recovery from Figural Aftereffects

There has recently been some confusion about the measurement of the persistence of kinesthetic and visual figural aftereffects. Wertheimer and Leventhal (1957) have correctly pointed out that if, for example, it takes a person with a large initial aftereffect (displacement) longer to dissipate the aftereffect than a person with a small initial afcereffect, this by itself tells us nothing about the relative rate of dissipation. That is, a person with a large initial aftereffect may, after 5 min. rest, still display a substantial residual aftereffect. A person with a very small initial aftereffect may, after 5 min. rest, display only a small residual afcereffect. W e could then say that the person with the large initial aftereffect showed greater total persistence of aftereffects, but this would still tell us nothing about his relative rate of dissipation. For investigators interested in brain processes, it is important to know the relative recovery rate of each of the hypothetical persons in the above example. This is particularly true if we attempt to correlate the size of the initial aftereffect with the speed of recovery after specified periods of rest. The first formula presented here, essentially a measure of the rate of recovery from displacement aftereffects, is the Recovery Ratio (R) as a function of time ( t ) between the last post-inspection measurement taken immediately after fixation on an Inspection Figure and the first measurement taken some period later. R , = ( P P i ) / ( C P i ) , where, C = Control Score. (The point of subjective judgment prior to presentation of the Inspection Figure. Usually obtained by taking an average of four judgments.) Pi = Post-inspection Score. (The point of subjective judgment immediately after the presentation of the Inspection Figure. Usually the average of four judgments.) P = Persistence Score. (The point of subjective judgment a prescribed length of time after Pi. Usually the average of four judgments.) N o matter whether the aftereffect is scored in terms of plus or minus, the Rt score will always be positive unless S continues in the direction of the displacement. That is, only if an S shows an even greater displacement on the persistence trial than on the post-inspection trial will his score be negative. The formula for Total Persistence (S) as a function of time (t, as in the above formula), on the other hand, may be stated simply as:

A comparison of mental retardates and normals on visual figural aftereffects and reversible figures.

A comparison of mental retardates and normals on visual figural aftereffects and reversible figures.

Visual Figural Aftereffect as a Function of Stimulation Interval and Decay Time

Several recent reviews (2, 5, 6) show that FAE (figural aftereffecc) increases as a function of fixacion or inspection time, and decays as a function of time following fixacion. I11 vision, a single continuous period of fixation generally produces maximal FAE within 60 sec. or less (5). [There is some evidence, at least with kinesthetic FAE, that a series of inspection periods interspersed with rests may yield larger amouncs of FAE than can be obtained with a single contin~~ous period ( 1, 7) .] Inspeccion times beyond 60 sec. or so generally do not produce further increases in magnitude of visual FAE, but it has been suggested (2) that longer inspection times, to 5 min. or more, may cause FAE to persisc longer over rest. More recently, Sagara and Oyama (5, Fig. 5) summarize several studies which tend to support this suggestion. Specifically, rate of decay of visual FAE over cime following a single concinuous fixation period may vary inversely as a funccion of fixation time, both for fixacion times shorter and longer than the point at which maximal FAE is developed. The presenc study attempted to test this possibility. METHOD Apparatz~s.--The inspection stimulus was a black outline circle with a gap at the 9 o'clock position and a fixation point to the left (S's view) of the gap. Each of the 10 test stimuli consisted of two gapped circles with a fixation point between. The circle to the right of the fixation point was an exact duplicate of the inspection circle. The gap in the left circle, which was at [lie 3 o'clock position, varied in size stepwise. Four of the circles had gaps smaller than, flue larger than, and one the same size as the gap in the inspection circle. All stimuli were drawn in India ink, photographed, reduced in size, and reproduced as glossy positive prints. The prints were dry mounted on heavy posterboard. In this form all circles were 5/4 in. in diameter and 1/32 in. in width of contour. The gap in the inspection circle was 8/128 in. wide (about 28 of arc). The gaps in the test circles varied in steps of l/l28 in. from 4/128 through 13/128. The fixation point, a dot 1/64 in. in diameter, was Vg in. to the left of the gap of both the inspection circle and the right-hand test circle, and the same distance to the right of the left-hand test circle. The over-all linear width of the test circles, measured from their outside edges, was 3/4 in., or about 2 of visual angle at the viewing distance used. The card bearing the inspection stimulus was mounted in the pre-exposure field of a Gerbtands tachistoscope. The 10 cards bearing the test stimuli could be presented one at a time in the exposure field. The luminance of both pre-exposure and exposure fields, measured through the eyepiece of the tachistoscope with MacBeth illurninometer, was 2.52 ml. Design.-There were three inspection times, 4 sec., min., and 5 min., and chree test periods ( times elapsed from end of inspection to beginning of testing), 0 (immediate rest), 1 dxy, and 7 days. An independent group of 40 Ss was tested in each of these nine conditions. In addition, a concrol group of 40 Ss