A gestalt approach to theatrical design seems to provide some ready and stable explanations for a number of issues in the scenic arts. Gestalt serves as the theoretical base for a number of experiments in psychology whose findings appear to delineate the principles of art to be used in scene design. The fundamental notion of gestalt theory…

This study explores the reason why very young infants are unable to respond differentially to faces and the cause for developmental changes in infant face perception by age 3 months. Linear systems analysis (LSA) and the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) were used to estimate the facial pattern information available to 1- and 3-month-old…

Preferential looking behavior to stimuli varying in temporal frequency was examined in 11 prematurely born, Black and Hispanic infants when they were between 37 and 39 weeks of postconceptional age. Infants were tested one hour after they had fed on two successive days. Infants were unswaddled during testing on the first day, and swaddled during…

THIS STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT ASSOCIATIVELY RELATED NOUNS EMBEDDED IN CONNECTED DISCOURSE--AT LEAST IN THE CASE OF ITEMS THAT APPEAR IN THE SAME OR IN CONTIGUOUS SENTENCES--ARE STORED MORE EFFICIENTLY THAN ASSOCIATIVELY UNRELATED NOUNS. A 2X2 FACTORIAL DESIGN WAS EMPLOYED (WITH 20 SS IN EACH GROUP) IN WHICH SS WERE ASKED TO…

THIS PAPER DEALS WITH SOME PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF RHETORICAL FORM AND STRUCTURE. THE SUGGESTION IS MADE THAT THE FIRST CONSIDERATION IS A DEFINITION OF THE ENTITY--THE EFFECTIVE STIMULUS--TO WHICH THE S (SUBJECT) RESPONDS. THIS MEANS A SPECIFICATION OF FUNCTIONAL CONTEXT, IN WHICH THE S VIEWS A GIVEN LANGUAGE PERFORMANCE. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL…

THREE FIFTH-GRADE CLASSES OF ECONOMICALLY DEPRIVED NEGRO CHILDREN, EQUATED ON INTELLIGENCE AND READING ACHIEVEMENT, PARTICIPATED IN A STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF VARYING AMOUNTS AND TYPES OF RACIAL CUEING ON AFFECTIVE SETS TOWARD THE PROTAGONIST AND ANTAGONIST IN A CLOZE TYPE READING SELECTION. ALL THREE CLASSES READ THE SELECTION, BUT CLASS A WAS…

THE CONCERN OF THIS STUDY WAS THE EFFECT OF SENTENCES OF VARYING STRUCTURAL COMPLEXITY ON PRIMARY GRADE CHILDREN'S ORAL READING, SILENT READING, AND LISTENING COMPREHENSION. THE AUTHOR PREPARED 36 ONE-SENTENCE "STORIES" WHICH VARIED IN STRUCTURAL COMPLEXITY AS ASSESSED BY THE DEPTH HYPOTHESIS OF STRUCTURAL DEPTH (YNGVE, 1960), SECTOR…

Described is the use of a general purpose hybrid computer in controlling and monitoring certain experiments on human subjects. In these investigations, researchers produce various sensory stimuli and measure participants' responses as voltage produced at a scalp node. The computer system discussed facilitates implementation of these experiments as…

The extent to which free play versus sequenced questioning conditions facilitates preschoolers' associative fluency was investigated in this study. Twenty-four children (12 boys and 12 girls, with a mean age of 50.7 months) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: free play, sequenced questioning, and control. In the sequenced…

Acquaintance rape has been found to occur with disturbing frequency in an adolescents' social world. Unlike stranger rape, acquaintance rape, particularly dating rape, takes place in the context of normal social activity. In 1978, 432 adolescents, ages 14-18, were interviewed in the Los Angeles area: half male, and half female, and one-third drawn…

This study explored three aspects of the 2-month-old's perception of multisyllabic utterances. Questions addressed were: (1) Do infants perceive phonetic contrasts occurring either in the initial (Bada-Gada) or medial (Daba-Daga) positions of multisyllabic utterances; (2) Are infants more likely to perceive these contrasts in stressed as opposed…

THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHILDREN'S HUMOR RESPONSE AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT. BY USING CHILDREN OF DIFFERENT GRADE LEVELS AS SUBJECTS, IT WAS ASSUMED THAT THE STUDY WOULD INCLUDE SEVERAL LEVELS OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT. TWENTY-FIVE CARTOONS WERE SHOWN TO 64 TEST CHILDREN. THE TEST CHILDREN WERE CHOSEN FROM GRADES TWO,…

The nature and significance of the conditioning of fetal and neonatal response systems for later learning was not clearly understood. Therefore, subjects chosen for this research project were people who had been trained in experiential recall. During recall the subjects spontaneously reported what appeared to be auditory components of a complex…

After briefly discussing the causes and meaning of laughter, the phenomenon of the comic, the value of humor, and the difference between cruelty and "mellow" humor, the article examines the role of humor in the language class. It concludes that humor, meeting the highest standards, both textual and pictorial, provides a valuable motivational…

Two 4-year-old children were shown the use of an apparatus whereby they could obtain toys and candy by making certain responses. The apparatus was a matching-to-sample device on which were arranged five response buttons in a circle and one in the middle. Each response button had a display window for the stimulus. Four of the five windows on the…