Image generation in picture recognition.

Three experiments with 62 Ss examined generation of information from visual memory, using a reaction time (RT) procedure that required Ss to decide whether 3 test pictures were identical with previously presented ones or whether they were mirror-image reversals. When presentation of a test picture was preceded by presentation of its name, RTs were much shorter than in conditions without such identity cues, both for relatively small sets of pictures and for larger sets presented under incidental learning conditions. Advance presentation of identity information also produced faster "different" than "same" responses, the reverse of the outcome in noncued tests. RTs were not reduced by advanced information about only the conceptual category of the to-be-tested item, suggesting that RT facilitation produced by advance presentation of the name of the category instance reflected more than a simple reduction of uncertainty. The preparation and image generation processes described by M. I. Posner (1973) and L. A. Cooper and R. N. Shepard (1973) for visually simple items can apparently be extended to less familiar and more complex visual material. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual behavior in pigeons: Categories, subcategories, and pseudocategories.

In 3 experiments with a total of 16 Ss, we explored how pigeons learn to classify diverse pictures of cats, flowers, cars, and chairs and later how they accurately categorize brand-new pictures from these classes. Using a 4-key forced-choice procedure, Ss in Exp 1 discriminated individual examples within each of the categories from one another (subcategory training); nevertheless, errors were disproportionately conceptual in nature, with Ss more likely to confuse examples within a given category than between different categories. Ss in Exp 2 trained to classify pictures into human language categories (category training) learned far faster and more completely than Ss trained to sort the same pictures into totally arbitrary groupings (pseudocategory training). Finally, in Exp 3, category-trained and subcategory-trained Ss were tested on normally oriented pictures, on left–right reversals, and on top–bottom reversals. Subcategory-trained Ss responded less accurately on both kinds of reversed pictures and less accurately on top–bottom than on left–right reversals; category-trained Ss were less affected by both types of picture reversals, only top–bottom reversals decrementing their performance. Results suggest that many words in our language denote clusters of related visual stimuli, which pigeons also see as highly similar. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neural correlates of cross-modal recognition memory by 8-month-old human infants.

Examined the neural correlates of cross-modal recognition memory in 8-mo-old infants by using ERPs. Testing began by having all Ss feel (but not see) an object for 60 sec. Test trials then followed. Infants in Condition 1 received 15 presentations of a picture of the familiar object, followed by alternating pictures of that object and a novel object. Infants in Condition 2 received 15 presentations of a picture of the novel object, followed by the same test sequence as infants in Condition 1. Infants in Condition 3 were presented with 2 test trials during which looking times were recorded to pictures of the familiar and novel objects; they then received the same test sequence as infants in Conditions 1 and 2. Infants in Condition 4 were presented only with the same test sequence as infants in Conditions 1, 2, and 3. Only in Conditions 1 and 4 was a late positive slow wave invoked by the novel object (indicative of recognition memory), although infants in Condition 3 did show a significant looking preference for the novel object. These results are contrasted with previous studies examining the neural correlates of visual recognition memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual observing by rhesus monkeys: influence of potentially threatening stimuli

7 rhesus monkeys were afforded the opportunity to observe a series of projected color slides of other monkeys exhibiting five content categories of social-communicative behavior (submission, intense threat, mild threat, grooming, and neutral behavior) combined with two levels of familiarity (familiar vs unfamiliar) with reference to the animals depicted in the slides. Mean duration of observing was significantly influenced by the social-communicative content categories, while mean frequency of observing was significantly affected by the familiarity dimension. The data were discussed in terms of the threat potential or fear-arousing capacity of social stimuli in relation to visual obsrving.     

Anxiety level and the "doubtful" judgment in a psychophysical experiment.

This study investigated the effect of anxiety upon the use of the "doubtful" category in a psychophysical experiment. Ss were required to judge length of lines, using the method of constant stimulus differences, with 3 categories of judgment. A total of 195 judgments were required of each S. It was hypothesized that "anxious" Ss, with high scores on Welsh's "A" Scales, would give significantly more "doubtful" judgments than "non-anxious" Ss with low scores on the same instrument. This hypothesis was fully confirmed. Further analysis also showed that the "non-anxious" group did not differ from the "anxious" group in terms of greater judgmental sensitivity. It was concluded that anxiety apparently can be measured psychophysically. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rapid acquisition of a novelty versus familiarity concept by pigeons (Columba livia).

Pigeons performed a successive discrimination task in which responding to novel slides was rewarded, and responding to familiar slides, seen once previously, was not rewarded. In Experiment 1, naive Ss initially responded more rapidly to familiar slides, but all Ss learned to respond more rapidly to novel slides within a few sessions. In Experiment 2, Ss transferred immediately to novel trial sequences. Experiment 3 showed that both increased retention intervals and interpolated slide presentations impaired recognition. Experiment 4 showed that Ss treated duplicate slides as familiar and confirmed that Ss were using a "novelty versus familiarity" concept. The authors conclude that such a concept is readily available to pigeons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Categorization in 1- to 2-yr-olds.

Showed 150 children (12, 18, and 24 mo old) successive members of one category followed by the simultaneous presentation of a new member of that category and a member of a novel category. Toy objects from each of 6 categories—M's (M-shaped blocks), O's (O-shaped blocks), men, animals, food, and furniture—were presented. Ss habituated to presentations of M's, O's, and men. They also showed greater attention to the novel category stimulus during the choice trial for each category. There were no age differences. Findings suggest that 1- to 2-yr-olds recognize some conventional categories. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stimulus repetition and encoding facilitation: Locus of the effect.

20 undergraduates were familiarized on patterns representing certain transformations of a prototype prior to a choice RT test to old (same) and new (different) patterns. Analysis of criteria for making same–different judgments indicated that Ss' remembrance was characterized by a knowledge structure based on the prototype and its transformations, rather than a list of the patterns to which Ss had been exposed. Same responses made to patterns highly congruent with the knowledge structure were found to be faster than different responses made to less congruent patterns. In contrast, speed of same responses to familiarized stimuli and different responses to novel stimuli did not differ. Findings suggest that encoding facilitation due to stimulus repetition is based on the information acquired from the familiarized stimuli rather than on the familiarized stimuli themselves. (French abstract) (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Concept learning at different levels of abstraction by pigeons, monkeys, and people.

Pigeon, monkey, and human subjects were trained on three two-choice picture discrimination problems that varied in level of abstraction. At the most concrete level, subjects were rewarded for choosing pictures of a single species of bird, the common kingfisher, and nonrewarded for choosing pictures of other birds. At an intermediate level of abstraction, subjects were required to discriminate bird pictures as a general category from pictures of nonbird animals. As the most abstract problem, animal pictures in general were S+ items, and nonanimal pictures were S– items. Tests with novel probe pairs of pictures in Experiment 1 indicated that human subjects rapidly mastered all three concepts. Pigeons and monkeys performed well on the concrete kingfisher problem but not on the more abstract birds and animals problems. Although this initial experiment suggested that concept learning in pigeons and monkeys might be limited to concrete categories, further training with more exemplars in Experiment 3 revealed accurate identification of animal pictures in contrast to nonanimal pictures. On the other hand, both pigeons and monkeys showed an inability to discriminate novel bird pictures from pictures of other classes of animals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Face–name interference.

Investigated interference effects between the processing of simultaneously presented photographs of faces of familiar people and printed names of familiar people in 5 experiments each with 12 adult Ss. Results show that printed names interfered with identifying faces, whereas faces did not interfere with saying printed names. In contrast, faces interfered more with name categorization than names interfered with face categorization. It is suggested that despite a priori reasons as to why faces might be thought to possess functional properties different from those of other visual objects, the observed effects are comparable to those found in object–word interference studies, with photographs of faces behaving like pictures of objects and printed people's names behaving like printed names of objects. In face naming tasks, the presence of related names produced more interference than did the presence of unrelated names. This effect was examined in greater detail in Exp III, where it was found that the effect arose when the face and the name belonged to people of similar appearance. An effect of common category membership was not found in Exp III. Exp V, however, showed that names of people highly associated with the person whose face was presented also produced more interference than did names of unrelated people. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of young infants' reaching behavior to stimulus distance and solidity.

The reaching behavior of 12 infants in the presence of solid objects and pictures of objects placed within and beyond possible contact distance was videotaped in 3 sessions at 15, 19, and 24 wks of age. From 15 wks onward the Ss adjusted their reaching behavior to changes in the physical distance of stimuli. However, infants who attempted to manipulate the solid objects tended to reach for pictured objects in the same way. The different amounts of visual attention Ss paid to objects and pictures indicated that they could visually discriminate between the flat and solid stimuli, but it seemed this capacity for depth perception could be obscured by the rather compulsive tendency of young infants to manipulate patterned surfaces situated within reach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fear and autonomic arousal.

32 female undergraduates were classified as having high fear (HF) or low fear (LF) of spiders. After reduction of orienting responses to pictures of neutral animals, experimental Ss were shown pictures of a spider, and control Ss were shown pictures of a snake. Using the response to the last neutral stimulus as a base line, HF experimental Ss when 1st shown a spider yielded greater GSRs than other groups. This increase in GSR responding for HF experimental Ss was, for 2 more trials, maintained relative to control Ss. HF experimental Ss also yielded GSRs of greater duration than all other groups when 1st shown the spider stimulus. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Right hemisphere superiority in visual orientation matching.

"Same" or "different" judgments were made by 22 right-handed college students in 2 orientation matching tasks. In 1 task pairs of lines were presented 4. left or right of fixation. Reaction times for both "same" and "different" judgments were faster if stimulus pairs were presented to the left visual field, indicating superiority of the right hemisphere for handling spatial information. In the other task the orientation of a standard line, held in memory, was compared with the orientation of a single test line projected to the left or right of fixation. Results were in the same direction as before, although the right hemisphere superiority was significant only for the "different" responses. Data do not support the idea that "same" and "different" judgments need be differentially lateralized. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of semantic priming on visual encoding of pictures.

We investigated the effects of semantic priming on initial encoding of briefly presented pictures of objects and scenes. Pictures in 4 experiments were presented for varying durations and were followed immediately by a mask. In Exps 1 and 2, pictures of simple objects were either preceded or not preceded by the object's category name (e.g., dog). In Exp 1 we measured immediate object identification; in Exp 2 we measured delayed old/new recognition in which targets and distractors were from the same categories. In Exp 3 naturalistic scenes were either preceded or not preceded by the scene's category name (e.g., supermarket). We measured delayed recognition in which targets and distractors were described by the same category names. In Exps 1–3, performance was better for primed than for unprimed pictures. Exp 4 was similar to Exp 2 in that we measured delayed recognition for simple objects. As in Exps 1–3, a prime that preceded the object improved subsequent memory performance for the object. However, a prime that followed the object did not affect subsequent performance. Together, these results imply that priming leads to more efficient information acquisition. We offer a picture-processing model that accounts for these results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extreme response tendency as a function of emotional adjustment and stimulus ambiguity.

Explored relationships between the tendency to check extreme categories on the semantic differential, emotional adjustment, and ambiguity of stimuli to be rated. 115 undergraduates were administered the Welsh A and R scales of the MMPI and asked to rate 9 stimuli on 21 semantic differential scales. Stimuli were chosen to reflect 3 levels of ambiguity (verbal concepts, TAT pictures, and Rorschach inkblots). 3 groups of 10 Ss each were formed representing high and low combinations of the A and R scales. Results suggest that anxiety (high A, low R) is related to extreme response tendencies and repression (low A, high R) is related to use of the neutral category. "Adjusted" Ss (low A, low R) tend to make more use of the intermediate categories. The relative tendency of high-A Ss to make extreme responses was most pronounced when stimuli were most ambiguous. Discussion focused on the relationships between scale-checking behavior, "psychopathology," and meaningfulness of material to be rated. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of novelty and familiarity on illness-induced aversions to food and place cues in coyotes (Canis latrans).

Two experiments investigated the effects of novelty and familiarity on illness-induced aversions to taste and place cues in 10 coyotes. Ss were made ill on familiar food laced with Li?CO? in a novel place and then received preference tests. In Exp I, Ss avoided the previously poisoned familiar food in the novel treatment place but readily ate the same familiar food in a familiar safe place. Exp II replicated the results of Exp I, and it was found that Ss would eat a different familiar food in the novel treatment place. A model for averting animals from places where they are not wanted is presented. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Picture memory in monkeys.

Three squirrel monkeys were shown lists of 3 items drawn from a pool of 150 slides containing colored pictures of natural objects and scenes. A delayed matching technique was used to probe recognition memory for each serial position on different trials. Four experiments on the effects of picture-exposure time and off time were conducted. In agreement with human picture memory experiments, accuracy improved as exposure duration increased from 0.3 to 6 sec. In contrast to research on humans, off time after picture exposure did not improve accuracy relative to a condition with no off time. Further, a comparison of different off-time conditions showed no difference between off times spent in darkness and off times filled either with filler pictures or white light. This finding differs from the well-known observation that illumination interpolated between sample and comparison stimuli interferes with delayed matching. ( French abstract) (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)