Evans Mandes

A comparison of borderline and mild mental retardates assessed on the memory for designs and the WAIS-R.

A matched group (N = 114) between high errors and no error conditions on the MFD was examined in a population of borderline and mild mental retardates. Matched variables were sex, Full Scale IQ, and age. The MFD, PIAT, and the WAIS-R were administered to all subjects. Results on achievement tests showed that the mild mental retardation subjects with high errors on the MFD had lower achievement scores on the PIAT compared to the non-error group. The non-error group performed at a higher level on the Picture Arrangement, Vocabulary, Math, and Reading Comprehension. Borderline retardation subjects showed no significant differences between error and non-error groups on the PIAT and WAIS-R. These conclusions indicate that the MFD is a more sensitive indicator of intelligence differences than of organicity differences.

Male-Female Response Profile Differences on the WAIS-R in Clients Suffering from Borderline Personality Disorders

One hundred nineteen clients diagnosed with borderline personality disorders participated in a correlational study using standard intelligence and achievement measures. We expected to confirm the presence of an organic subtype that might help clinicians who work with this group of clients (average IQ = 79.3). We found gender differences that tended to support previous research on male-female differences. In general, the data supported the presence of an organic subtype. Analyses of arrest history and additional differential diagnoses showed this category of client relatively free of dependency concerns but manifesting signs of an anxiety disorder.

The hierarchical factor structure of the WAIS-R for alcoholic adults.

A Wherry (1984) hierarchical factor solution was obtained on the WAIS-R subtest intercorrelations for 108 alcoholic adults. An ability arrangement consistent with Vernons (1950) structure-of-intellect paradigm was found. This ability hierarchy consisted of a strong general intelligence (g) factor defined by all 11 subtests, which accounted for 49% of the variance. The primary level of the ability hierarchy consisted of spatial-perceptual-mechanical (k:m), Freedom from Distractibility (FD), and Verbal Comprehension (VC) factors. Those respective factors accounted for 86%, 4%, and 3% of the total subtest variance.

The Principle of Additivity and Its Relation to Clinical Decision Making

Clients (N = 178) with varying degrees of organic indicators were administered a psychological battery including the Memory for Designs Test (MFD; Graham & Kendall, 1960) to assess the extent to which joint presence of organic indicators affected the sensitivity of the MFD in identifying organicity. Joint presence failed to add to the discriminability of the MFD, although individual instruments such as the PIAT (Arithmetic) and WAIS-R (PIQ less than VIQ) clearly discriminated across the MFD.

Differential effects on verbal-performance achievement levels on the WAIS-R as a function of progressive error rate on the Memory for Designs Test (MFD)

One hundred seventy-eight subjects participated in a study to measure the degree of selective subtest decline on the WAIS-R as a function of increased error rate on the Memory-for-Designs Test. The data show that there is an initial, significant decline in the verbal knowledge component of the verbal scale as error rate on the MFD progresses. Performance factors are only significantly related to error rate on the MFD when the latter are maximized.

INTERPOSITION AND SIZE CONSTANCY: A DEVELOPMENTAL STUDY

27 children (mean age 6.7 yr.) and 84 adults (mean age 26.3 yr.) were asked to judge the sizes of human figures in photographs. Half the cards contained interpositional depth cues while the other half did not. Both groups of subjects showed better size constancy with interposition present than without it.

MULLER-LYER ILLUSION DECREMENT AS RELATED TO ADAPTATION PRECEDING NEGATIVE AFTEREFFECT:CORRELATIONAL ANALYSIS

56 adult Ss participated in an experiment to test the hypothesis that the Müller-Lyer illusion decrement is related to adaptation effects involved in the perception of angled lines. A Pearson significant (p < .01) correlation of .89 between the time it took to perceive an increment of the angle in angled lines and the time it took to perceive a decrement in the Müller-Lyer illusion was interpreted as supporting a greater emphasis on the use of adaptation effects as explanatory concepts for the Müller-Lyer figure.

EFFECTS OF LATERALITY AND VISUAL ANGLE ON TIME JUDGMENTS: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF TIME DURATIONS

20 students from an undergraduate class participated in an experiment designed to study the effects of laterality and visual angle on time judgments. Using a standard two-field tachistoscope, subjects were exposed to two experimental conditions, (1) stimulus cards with a single red or blue dot in the center and several dots clustered on both sides near the center and equidistant from it (visual angle of .6°) and (2) stimulus cards with a single red or blue dot in the center and several dots clustered on both sides away from the center on the edge of the card (visual angle of 2.6°). Five cards containing a single red or blue dot were used to control for response bias. The subjects were asked to indicate whether they saw dots in the left, right, or both fields, and whether they perceived a time duration between fields. No difference in time duration exisited, however, as all cards were exposed to both fields for equal durations. The predictions that the judged duration of dot patterns would be more accurate favoring the left visual-field and more accurate where the distance between the point of fixation and stimulus was larger were supported.

APPLICATION OF HARMONIC ANALYSIS TO RESIDUAL BRIGHTNESS FLICKER

Harmonic analysis has in recent years contributed significantly to the understanding of flicker fusion phenomena, including the areas of heterochromatic flicker where critical flicker frequency is viewed as a function of pulse-to-cycle fraction. In this context, modifications of selected values of variables in previous harmonic analytic functions for describing changes in heterochromatic critical flicker frequency were considered. These modifications allow the luminance aspect of heterochromatic flicker to be viewed in clear relation to conventional luminance flicker rather than in terms of the chromatic aspects of the heterochromatic flicker situation.