The role of inspiration in the helping professions.

This qualitative research study examined the ways that helping professionals experience inspiration, as defined as divine guidance or influence, in their therapeutic work. It also explored their beliefs about how helping professionals can seek inspiration in their work. Open-ended survey questions from 333 respondents from a diverse range of religious and professional backgrounds were qualitatively analyzed. The themes extracted give insight into the ways that these helping professionals have experienced inspiration in their work and about how helping professionals can facilitate a spiritual space in the therapeutic context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Creative health and the principle of Habeas Mentem.

"In the coming years, in order to keep our experts from imposing their own ideas and values on the not-so-expert, we may need to weave into all codes of professional conduct the principle of habeas mentem"—the right of a man to his own mind. "It seems to me a practical necessity for psychology to take definite steps to ensure that technical knowledge about human beings is made widely available to human beings." Four trends "… likely to affect the way life is lived in 1975… " are specified; the changing role of professions and the increasing concern with behavioral health are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Color vision research and trichromatic theory: A historical review.

"After more than a century of scientific research in color vision the trichromatic theory continues to face theoretical contradictions and unexplained facts. Trichromatic theories everywhere should rigorously examine the theory's basic assumptions, provide much more experimental data on the basic visual functions, and honestly ask themselves the question: should the theory be subject to drastic revision or should it be replaced by some other theory?" (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The 1955 and 1957 research conferences: The identification of creative scientific talent.

2 conferences, one in August 1955 and the other in August 1957, on "The Identification of Creative Scientific Talent" were supported financially by the National Science Foundation. Titles of research reports and authors are presented. Reports of special committees at each conference are summarized. "A multiplicity of hypotheses and problems needing research… emerged throughout both conferences. It is hoped that concurrent attacks on problems of creativity will be undertaken by researchers in industry, government, universities, and school systems." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Creative self-efficacy development and creative performance over time.

Building from an established framework of self-efficacy development, this study provides a longitudinal examination of the development of creative self-efficacy in an ongoing work context. Results show that increases in employee creative role identity and perceived creative expectation from supervisors over a 6-month time period were associated with enhanced sense of employee capacity for creative work. Contrary to what was expected, employees who experienced increased requirements for creativity in their jobs actually reported a decreased sense of efficaciousness for creative work. Results show that increases in creative self-efficacy corresponded with increases in creative performance as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The nature and nurture of creative talent.

"Creativity… is a process extended in time and characterized by originality, adaptiveness, and realization." Except for mathematicians "where there is a low positive correlation between intelligence and the level of creativeness, we have found within our creative samples essentially zero relationship between the two variables." A research study of the characteristics and background of creative architects is extensively discussed. Implications of the nature of creative talent for the nurturing of it in school and college through the processes of education are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thinking graphically: Connecting vision and cognition during graph comprehension.

Task analytic theories of graph comprehension account for the perceptual and conceptual processes required to extract specific information from graphs. Comparatively, the processes underlying information integration have received less attention. We propose a new framework for information integration that highlights visual integration and cognitive integration. During visual integration, pattern recognition processes are used to form visual clusters of information; these visual clusters are then used to reason about the graph during cognitive integration. In 3 experiments, the processes required to extract specific information and to integrate information were examined by collecting verbal protocol and eye movement data. Results supported the task analytic theories for specific information extraction and the processes of visual and cognitive integration for integrative questions. Further, the integrative processes scaled up as graph complexity increased, highlighting the importance of these processes for integration in more complex graphs. Finally, based on this framework, design principles to improve both visual and cognitive integration are described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Creative thinking as a predictor of creative problem solving in architectural design students.

The findings demonstrated that creative thinking, operationally defined as the cognitive ability to generate a large number of original ideas/solutions predicted creative thinking in solving problems in architecture. Research participants were 111 students of architectural design. A strong correlation was found between the predictor and criterion measures, r = .45, p r = .51, p r = .31, p     

Cross-modal illusory conjunctions between vision and touch.

Cross-modal illusory conjunctions (ICs) happen when, under conditions of divided attention, felt textures are reported as being seen or vice versa. Experiments provided evidence for these errors, demonstrated that ICs are more frequent if tactile and visual stimuli are in the same hemispace, and showed that ICs still occur under forced-choice conditions but do not occur when attention to the felt texture is increased. Cross-modal ICs were also found in a patient with parietal damage even with relatively long presentations of visual stimuli. The data are consistent with there being cross-modal integration of sensory information, with the modality of origin sometimes being misattributed when attention is constrained. The empirical conclusions from the experiments are supported by formal models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The downside of being talented.

Comments on D. Lubinski and C. P. Benbow's (see record 2000-13324-013) discussion of individual differences and optimal development of exceptional talent, and E. Winner's (see record 2000-13324-015) discussion of giftedness. The articles, which have direct implications for the development of talent in children and adults, left J. A. Plucker and J. J. Levy with one serious concern: Practitioners could easily infer that being talented is an overwhelmingly positive experience with little downside. Research suggests otherwise. Plucker and Levy strongly advocate for improvements in the way psychologists and educators develop talent or--more generally--build on individuals' strengths, but any serious discussion of talent development should address strategies that help to mediate the negative consequences of excellence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Grouping and emergent features in vision: Toward a theory of basic Gestalts.

Gestalt phenomena are often so powerful that mere demonstrations can confirm their existence, but Gestalts have proven hard to define and measure. Here we outline a theory of basic Gestalts (TBG) that defines Gestalts as emergent features (EFs). The logic relies on discovering wholes that are more discriminable than are the parts from which they are built. These wholes contain EFs that can act as basic features in human vision. As context is added to a visual stimulus, a hierarchy of EFs appears. Starting with a single dot and adding a second yields the first two potential EFs: the proximity (distance) and orientation (angle) between the two dots. A third dot introduces two more potential EFs: symmetry and linearity; a fourth dot produces surroundedness. This hierarchy may extend to collinearity, parallelism, closure, and more. We use the magnitude of Configural Superiority Effects to measure the salience of EFs on a common scale, potentially letting us compare the strengths of various grouping principles. TBG appears promising, with our initial experiments establishing and quantifying at least three basic EFs in human vision. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Korean concepts of giftedness and the self-perceived characteristics of students selected for gifted programs.

Fostering creativity among gifted students has become forefront as an important element in Korea’s future economic prosperity. Since the passage of a gifted education act in 2002, all K-12 schools have been developing gifted programs. The first of two studies examines Koreans’ concept of giftedness based on the implicit theory. Three hundred twenty-eight Koreans including scientists, parents, teachers, and college students described their concept of giftedness, which includes intelligence, task commitment, creativity, interpersonal relationship, moral sense, and artistic talent. The second study explores self-reported characteristics of Korean students identified as gifted and whether identification criteria for giftedness miss creative students by emphasizing IQ and achievement scores. One thousand one hundred fifty-four students (469 gifted in sciences, 285 gifted in humanities, and 400 regular students) answered a questionnaire developed from the first study. The results indicate that students identified as gifted tend to have higher intelligence and task commitment than regular students, but tend not to differ from regular students in creativity when compared to Renzulli’s three rings concept of giftedness—above average ability, task commitment, and creativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of peripheral vision in the directional control of rapid aiming movements.

This study addresses the question of whether peripheral vision is involved in the control of hand trajectory direction during an aiming task performed at high speed. Ten adult subjects were required to aim at targets in various positions by making a punching movement with their hand. The experimental conditions were varied so that different parts of hand trajectory could be seen in the peripheral field. Two movement times were applied:     

The adaptation dynamics of chronic functional impairment: What we can learn from older adults with vision loss.

This study used vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration to learn about adaptation processes related to chronic functional impairment, focusing on Horowitz and Reinhardt's (1998) concept of Adaptation to Age-related Vision Loss (AVL) as the outcome. We hypothesized that impacts of visual acuity on AVL are mediated by perceived functional vision losses and functional abilities, and tested for “adaptive” weakening of this impact with ongoing loss. Longitudinal data covering a one-year interval from samples with age-related macular degeneration gathered in New York (N = 361) and Heidelberg (Germany, N = 90) were used. We analyzed the hypothesized causal structure by modeling latent change scores, and checked if those with low, medium, and high levels of vision loss at baseline differ in the relations between one-year change scores. Results confirmed that impacts of vision loss on AVL are mediated by decline in functional ability. However, under the most severe levels of vision loss at baseline, functional decline showed only a minor impact on AVL change not explained by a lack of further decline in vision. Findings confirm the effectiveness of adaptation in terms of reduced reactivity to functional losses across increasing level of chronic impairment. Thus, adaptation, weakening the impact of chronic functional impairment on psychological outcomes over time with disease progression, deserves consideration in the study of psychological consequences of chronic physical health conditions in old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal attributions and child oppositional behavior: A longitudinal study of boys with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The authors examined changes over a 1-year period in mothers' attributions for child behavior and child oppositional behavior among 53 mothers and nonproblem sons and 44 mothers and sons with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Boys averaged 8 years of age (SD = 11 months) at Time 1. Families were primarily of European Canadian cultural background and most were middle to upper middle class. Initial levels of child oppositionality did not predict changes in mothers' attributions over time. However, initial levels of mothers' attributions of oppositional child behavior to internal, stable, and global causes positively predicted child oppositional behavior, controlling for ADHD versus nonproblem status and the child's initial level of oppositional behavior. Although initial levels of overreactive and nonresponsive parenting also positively predicted child oppositional behavior, the contribution of mothers' attributions remained significant even with parenting variables controlled. Results suggest that mothers' attributions of child oppositional behavior to internal, stable, and global causes may contribute to maintenance of child problems over time and that these parenting cognitions have importance as intervention targets. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于机器视觉的铸坯表面缺陷检测系统的研制

钢板作为钢铁工业的主要产品形式之一,已成为汽车、机械制造、化工、航空、航天和造船等工业不可缺少的原材料,其表面质量的优劣将直接影响最终产品的性能和质量。针对目前国内钢板表面缺陷检测方法比较落后、检测效果较差的情况,提出铸坯表面缺陷检测系统的设计与实现方案。系统以计算机视觉理论为检测原理,在现有技术基础上,借助模式识别理论,以模块化为设计思想,通过大量的实验和图像算法仿真,以现有的图像处理理论为基础,设计适合铸坯表面缺陷检测的算法。     

Raising questions about raising IQs: Review of Intelligence and giftedness: The contributions of heredity and early environment.

Reviews the book, Intelligence and giftedness: The contributions of heredity and early environment by Miles D. Storfer (see record 1990-97741-000). For at least the past 70 years our IQ scores apparently have risen by the equivalent of approximately 1/5 to 1/4 of a point per year. If we accept the idea of what Flynn (1987) himself refers to as "Massive IQ gains" (and the supporting evidence that Flynn has amassed appears solid) our next step should clearly be an attempt to identify the factors responsible for these gains. Have our educational systems improved dramatically? What about our nutrition and general levels of health? Have home environments and parent-child interactions undergone radical changes? Besides environmental factors, is it possible that some sorts of hereditary mechanisms might be implicated? In Intelligence and giftedness: The contributions of heredity and early environment, Storfer addresses these and related issues. The result of his extensive review of the literature in areas as diverse as behavioural genetics, infant intelligence tests, white-black IQ differences, educational enrichment programs, and neurophysiology is a 500-plus-page book which is sometimes informative, often disappointing, and, in the end, too speculative to live up to its promotional claim of advancing "one of the most exciting and controversial evolutionary theories since Darwin". Parts of this book are good. Storfer is to be commended for the wide range of material that he surveys, and his attempts to integrate this diverse material have generally been successful. Another positive feature is the inclusion of numerous notes at the end of all but one chapter, plus one appendix, which provide additional information and/or technical details for readers interested in learning more about specific studies or issues mentioned briefly in the text. Unfortunately, Storfer does not seem to appreciate the varying quality of the research studies that he reviews, and some of the conclusions that he draws are highly speculative. Intelligence and giftedness was an ambitious project that would have benefitted considerably from a more cautious interpretation of the results and the implications of the research that it surveys. The issues that this book addresses and the questions that it raises are undoubtedly important and deserving of study. For the most part, however, the answers will have to be found elsewhere. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于机器视觉和SVM的AOD炉终点预测方法

针对AOD炉冶炼中低碳铬铁合金工艺过程终点判别依靠人工看火操作的难题,提出了利用机器视觉技术模拟传统人工看火过程进行终点判别的方法。利用灰度级提取AOD炉口火焰特征,采用支持向量机（SVM）算法实现图像特征的训练和测试,对比了3种核函数的测试精度。实验结果表明,采用机器视觉技术提取火焰图像特征并与支持向量机结合的方法能够有效识别冶炼终点,并具有较好的识别精度。     

Emotional scenes in peripheral vision: Selective orienting and gist processing, but not content identification.

Emotional-neutral pairs of visual scenes were presented peripherally (with their inner edges 5.2° away from fixation) as primes for 150 to 900 ms, followed by a centrally presented recognition probe scene, which was either identical in specific content to one of the primes or related in general content and affective valence. Results indicated that (a) if no foveal fixations on the primes were allowed, the false alarm rate for emotional probes was increased; (b) hit rate and sensitivity (A') were higher for emotional than for neutral probes only when a fixation was possible on only one prime; and (c) emotional scenes were more likely to attract the first fixation than neutral scenes. It is concluded that the specific content of emotional or neutral scenes is not processed in peripheral vision. Nevertheless, a coarse impression of emotional scenes may be extracted, which then leads to selective attentional orienting or--in the absence of overt attention--causes false alarms for related probes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The causal effects of emotion on couples' cognition and behavior.

The authors conducted 2 translational studies that assessed the causal effects of emotion on maladaptive cognitions and behaviors in couples. Specifically, the authors examined whether negative emotions increased and positive emotions decreased partner attributions and demand-withdraw behaviors. Study 1 (N=164) used video clips to assess the effects of emotion on individuals' attributions. Study 2 (N=47 couples) was a therapy analogue study intended to assess whether emotion generated from couples' conversations would influence subsequent attributions and behaviors. Results indicate that participants in the negative emotion conditions tended to attribute more blame to their partners and were more likely to engage in demand-withdraw patterns and other negative behaviors than were those in the positive emotion conditions. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)