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The relationships between specific aspects of peripheral ocular defects and perceptual deficits were investigated in a cerebral palsied population. The groups included 60 spastics, 60 athetoids and a control group of 60 non-neurologically impaired subjects. Subjects were equally grouped in age ranges of 7 to 9, 10 to 12, 13 to 15, 16 to 18 and 19 to 21. Sexes were equally represented. The visual system evaluation included measures of refractive error, amblyopia, binocular fusion, muscle balance, rotational abnormalities, visual acuity, visual fields, examination of the cornea and lens for opacification, and checking of the optic nerve, retinal vessels and macula for disease. The sensory and perceptual tests included somatosensory measures, stereognosis, depth perception, limb localization, cross-modality pattern discrimination and concept formation. An estimate of intelligence was obtained by administering the non verbal Full Range Picture Vocabulary Test. Our findings suggest that cerebral palsied children and young adults vary greatly in the nature and extent of their visual system defects and that those who are identified as spastics show qualitatively and quantitatively more defects than the athetoids. The pattern of significant correlations between visual and perceptual deficits differs for the spastic and athetoid groups, perhaps reflecting the presumed differences in loci of central nervous system damage. The correlations between performance on limb localization and specific visual defects are consistent with Luria's postulation of sensory analyzers, in this instance, the visual kinesthetic analyzer.

Visual and auditory masking tests and perceptual-motor tests were administered to 39 brain-injured, non-defective children, aged 6 to 12, and to a comparison group of intact children of the same age. The masking tests in both modalities followed a rough continuum of meaningfulness (and therefore of presumed level of distraction) of the mask. Analysis was done of inter-modal and intra-modal scores, within and between the experimental and comparison groups. Results showed that the brain-injured group had less differentiated functioning in the auditory modality, as compared with the intact group and with its own visual functioning. Results are interpreted in terms of differences between audition and vision. The susceptibility of auditory functioning to attentional disorders is also discussed.

Summary To investigate the relationships between chronological age and scores on 10 variables from the Holtzman Inkblot Technique, 586 normal Ss comprising five criterion age-groups ranging from 5.2 to 19.5 years were tested. Each group had an equal number of males and females. Following a statistical correction for number of rejections, a sex-by-age analysis of variance revealed no significant sex differences or sex-by-age interactions. However, significant age-group differences were found for all 10 variables, six of them resulting in steadily increasing means across the five groups. These age trends are consistent with the sequence of perceptual change outlined by developmental theory, and are interpreted as indicating a developmental shift in the dominance of perceptual functions.

As part of a larger study concerned with the perceptual and cognitive correlates of delinquent behavior (3), differential ability on a test requiring perceptual completion was investigated. The specsc instrument employed was a version of the Street Gestalt Completion Test (4) in which familiar objects are represented by only partially complete drawings. Several considerations recommended the selection of this procedure. First, however, we would like to outline the rationale underlying the initial decision to study this form of behavior in delinquents. Why did we seek to discover a perceptual function which would dserentiate the delinquent boy from his "more socialized" peers? Speaking very generally, we suggest that the class of delinquent behavior which is loosely designated "psychopathic" (e.g., impulsive, unpremeditated, repetitive) has its origin in part in a retardation of perceptualcognitive de~elopment.~ Our aim, then, was to obtain measures of a relatively broad range of perceptual functions which we might expect to show developmental change, particularly within the age range during which delinquent behavior emerges. Specifically with reference to the Street Gestalt task, we fmd that Thurstone (5) reports that it earns signihcant loadings on two perceptual factors (A and F) which, roughly, can be regarded as "closure" and "speed of perception," respectively. Also, there is some evidence to suggest that performance on this task is age-linked. Thurstone himself reports a positive correlation between age and Street accuracy score in his young adult sample. Verville and Cameron (6), using another version of the Street, find a young adult group to be strikingly superior to an older group in their ability to "complete" and identify the pictures. Livson, in an unpublished study, notes that our own version of the Street shows that the performance of pre-school children is significantly inferior to that of an adolescent sample and, furthermore, that there is an improvement with age even within his three to five year age range. Finally, indirect evidence is furnished by Street's own report (4) in which he observes that performance

Reading, as we know it, involves identifiable sensory-motor behaviors and, perhaps, some not as yet isolated. After studying several tests which required distinguishing between pairs of similar and different items, ineluding geometic configurations, words, and nonsense syllables, Gates (1922) found no general visual perception factor to be associated with reading. Rather, he observed word identification, digit identification, and identification of geometric figures to be relatively independent of one another. Later Gates (1926) studied form of perception (i.e., discrimination between pairs and identifying a specific element). He interpreted the low intercorrelations to mean that efficiency in perception is determined by the material perceived rather than by the form of the response. S~ster Mary of the Visitation (1929), after improving some of the flaws in tile Gates studies, adduced evidence supporting both the differentiation of perceptual abilities and the hypothesis of integrated perceptual functions. Langsam (1941), moreover, found a relationship between a primary visual perceptual function and reading skill. Therefore, while it is not certain whether the perceptual factor is a general one or whether there are several specific perceptual attributes, skill in perception has been linked with reading behavior. Since slow achievement in reading is a common phenomenon, a reasonable question is whether achievement can be altered by perceptual training? Melcer and Brown (1945) gave tachistoseopie exercises to a group of 45 Mexican children enrolled in an elementary school in Texas. Exercises were given three times weekly for seven months. A control group of 75 American pupils similar in mental status was also studied. The trained group, it was found, improved in word identification skills. Renshaw (1945), who is responsible for much of the recent research on perceptual retraining, indicated that in the visual perception of a form, the gestalt and not merely a succession of discrete and disjoined parts must be seen. After extensive analyses of her data, however, Goins (1958) failed to obtain any significant change in reading ability when groups received tachistoscopic perceptual training. She observed on the picture-squares subtest that children with low scores approached each

The results of exploratory investigations suggested that disruptive psychological effects similar to those observed in experiments of longer duration could be produced when subjects were isloated for short periods in low sensory input environments if a high degree of uncertainty was produced by sharply limiting the information available to them about the nature or duration of the experiment. Body- and field-oriented subjects were then tested for 2 hr in a low sensory input experiment. The experimental “environment” was expected to highlight perceptual mode differences determined by Rod and Frame and Draw-A-Person Tests. Subjects who were field-oriented showed in contrast to body-oriented subjects: (1) most intense psychological discomfort; (2) higher incidence of visual and auditory imagery; (3) more evidence of disorganization of thought; and (4) greater discomfort with body sensations. In addition, the field-oriented subjects revealed: (1) less of an ability to discriminate somato-sensory cues which was most pronounced after the 2-hour experiment; and (2) EEG and skin resistance evidence of higher level of alerting during the experiment although both groups started at the same level of activity. Body- and field-oriented subjects were then tested in an identical experimental design except that subjects were given either a sedative, stimulant or placebo capsule immediately prior to their being isolated. The response patterns of both groups with a placebo was similar to that observed in the previous experiment. However, the response of the subjects to the sedative and to the stimulant was different in that the field subjects showed a decrease in central nervous system activation and a more relaxed psychological state as the experiment progressed and body subjects showed alerting to the stimulant and mixed response to densative. Hence, altering the internal state (psychological or physiological) of the two subjects changed their response patterns to the experimental environment. In another study the responses of subjects given LSD during a 2-hr low sensory input experiment were compared to responses of subjects given a placebo. The effects which were noted in the LSD subjects were very similar to the responses of field subjects in the previous study. It was thought that the effects produced by the drug on perceptual functions caused them to perceive and react similarly to field subjects. Possible neurol ormonal and neurophysiological differences in addition to perceptual mode and personality differences in body- and field-oriented subjects are discussed. The possible application of the experimental results to clinical diagnostic and therapeutic problems and the possible application to selection and training problems in aerospace research are reviewed.

Parrish, Lundy, and Leibowitz (1968, 1969) reported that hypnotic regression to ages nine and five reinstates perceptual functions (as measured by the Ponzo and Poggendorff illusions) which are actually present during childhood. Two studies are presented which failed to cross-validate the results of Parrish et al. The failures to confirm the earlier results may be due to the fact that adults and nine year old children, and also nine year old children and five year old children, show a very large overlap in their actual (normative) scores on both the Ponzo and Poggendorff illusions.

The cognitive and perceptual performance of 61 parkinsonians was studied as a function of unilateral basal ganglia surgery, specifically, chemothalamectomy and cryothalamectomy. Preoperative comparisons of non-neurological and parkinsonian Ss revealed no significant differences ( p > .05). Three conclusions were warranted. (a) Cryothalamectomy does not adversely affect cognitive functions in the immediate post-operative period with the exception of greater impairment after right cryothalamectomy than after no surgery on some tasks of visual spatial performance not requiring overt verbal responses ( p < .02). (b) Chemothalamectomy does not adversely affect cognition except for greater post-operative impairment on overt verbal performance after left chemothalamectomy than after left cryothalamectomy ( p < .001). (c) Preoperative to long range comparisons revealed no differences between Ss undergoing surgery or no surgery ( p > .05). Significantly shorter periods of time elapsed between successive testing in the case of cryothalamectomy with implications for effectiveness of treatment ( p < .001, < .01). The role of subcortical structures in perceptual processes and in the elaboration of verbal behaviors was discussed.

Paradoxical behavioral alterations may occur during L-dopa therapy in parkinsonian patients, particularly those of the geriatric age group. For example, there have been many reports of alleviation of depression with L-dopa, but induction of depression has also been observed. With respect to cognition and perception, there have been many reports of disorientation and paranoid ideation from the toxic effects of L-dopa, but increased alertness and improved intelligence have also been observed. The basic alteration appears to be a non-modality specific increase in physiological and behavioral activation. This, in turn, may lead to opposite kinds of specific (e.g., directional) changes in emotional, cognitive and perceptual functions, depending in part upon the baseline status of the patient. A concept designated as directed-activation is proposed as a partial hypothesis.

Cross‐language studies have shown that voice onset time (VOT) is a sufficient acoustic cue to separate initial stop consonants into phonemic categories. The present study is an attempt to investigate further the efficacy of VOT as a linguistic cue by examining the perception and production of stop consonants in three groups of subjects: unilingual Quebec French, unilingual Quebec English, and bilingual French‐English speakers. Perception was studied through a labeling procedure using synthetically produced stop+vowel syllables. Production was assessed through spectrographic measurements of VOT in word‐initial stops. The six stop consonants of each language were investigated. The two groups of unilingual subjects had different perceptual functions and the bilinguals' responses were in an intermediate position. The production data indicate that VOT can separate between the English phonemic categories of /p,t,k/ and /b,d,g/, but this measure was not adequate for the Quebec French stop categories. In addition...

Recent studies of sensory deprivation have shown that reduced stimulus-variability may appreciably modify sensory and cognitive efficiency. The McGill experiments demonstrated that exposing human Ss for several days to an environment, which minimized stimulus-change and restricted visual functions to the perception of diffuse light, resulted in progressive intellectual deterioration, hallucinations, and a variety of visual disturbances.1 Similarly, studies of visual monitoring have shown that impairments in attention increase with the length of the period of vigilance.2 Hebb has suggested that these disturbances in sensory efficiency result from the lack of stimulation of the nonspecific arousal system of the brain stem.3 According to his formulation, reduced exteroceptive stimulation may lead to a lowering of the generalized drive which presumably energizes the normal, perceptual functions. On the other hand, contrary results were obtained by Vernon and Hoffman who reported that periods of relatively complete sensory deprivation (up to 48 hrs., in a lightproof, soundproof, floating room) resulted in improvements in learning ability which correlated directly with the length of deprivation.4 Butler obtained similar results. He found an increase in the responsiveness of monkeys to visual incentives after periods of visual deprivation varying from 2-8 hrs. He ascribed his findings to the activation of a visual exploratory drive that increased with the duration of deprivation.5 The divergent results obtained in this area may be due to variations in the conditions of deprivation, or to differences in the measures of behavioral efficiency employed, or to both. In the present study, a comparison is made of the effects of two different conditions of sensory deprivation upon perceptual functioning in vision. Vernon and Hoffman's findings suggest that increments in visual efficiency would result from relatively complete visual deprivation.6 The visual exploratory drive, invoked by Butler, could account for the increments in visual functioning.7

Granger (1953) and Eysenck (1950) proposed the view that even tests of simple perceptual functions should prove valuable in assessing the pertinent variables underlying the development of a science of personality. Although Allport (1937) took exception to this view, Eysenck, Granger, and Brengelman (1957) compiled considerable experimental evidence in which both simple and complex perceptual tasks differentiated the normal, the neurotic, and the psychotic from each other. The data are valid for groups and are not predictive of individual cases at the present time. Perceptual tests offer objective laboratory data to augment or supplement the armamentarium of the clinician who must rely largely on ordinal scale measurements. Conditionability and Personality Conditionability as a criterion of personality function has been examined experimentally and observed clinically with positive results. Travis (1924) was able to show that the auditory threshold fluctuated in a systematic manner

This study is concerned with the way in which color-names vary with wavelength at each of two levels of luminance. Instructions restrict responses to the basic names ususally considered as applying to the spectrum -red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet-a six-category system for which Graham has provided a set of hypothetical curves.1 One and the same set of determinations provides the basic color-name for a given wavelength (RA), the judgment-time for this response (Rj), and, after the response in terms of the restricted set of categories, a qualifying response (RB). The qualifying response is given after the exposure is terminated; it is optional and unrestricted, intended to permit 'better description' of the chromatic flux than is possible with the six categories. Although little studied by psychologists, color-naming has been examined by anthropologists, such as Rivers2 and, more recently, Ray,3 in comparative linguistics,4 and in studies of communication.5 None of these studies has, however, revealed anything about the relation of the basic color-names to wavelength, data that are needed to provide a standard reference in the study of visual perception. In addition to establishing these color-naming functions, it will be of considerable interest to examine the relation of such variables as judgment-time and frequency of other names to the basic functions and, specifically, whether a relationship can be demonstrated between judgment-time and the use of qualifying terms. On the basis of existing data from other perceptual functions, these two measures may be expected to show a positive relationship, rising