The research compared the effect of three play procedures upon the frequency and duration of object manipulation by six autistic children (four to six years old). The interaction procedure, in which the experimenter imitated both the material and the method of play chosen by the autistic child, resulted in greater frequency and duration of object…

Examined infants' categorization using object manipulation tasks that involved objects that were models of animals, vehicles, or furniture. Objects were normal, had anomalous moving parts (such as a dog with wheels), or had different textures. Found that 14- to 22-month olds attended to the parts and structural configuration of objects, but not to…

Performance-based measures of hand preference have been developed as an objective method of examining handedness. Previous research using this method by Bryden, Roy, and Mamolo (2003) showed that both skill demands and the position of the object in working space affect preferential hand reaching. Specifically, preferred hand reaches predominated…

Introduction: This study examined the validity of tensiometry as an objective method of assessing the improvements in the quality of knots and technical performance due to practice on suturing and knot-tying skills. Methods: We evaluated the quality of 1,830 knots produced by undergraduate medical students before training (pre-test), after…

Two styles of test interpretation (TI), delivered and interactive, were manipulated in a 1-session counseling interview. The favorability of the interpretations (i.e., positive only and mixed) was also manipulated. After completing a well-known personality test, 46 participants completed the TI session. Participants' thoughts and perceptions of…

The visual and motor responses to novel and familiar stimuli were measured in twelve 6-month-old infants, using new measures of integration and concordance. Results indicate that the infants' responses to the stimuli were both integrated and concordant. (Author/JMB)

Grip force control relies on accurate internal models of the dynamics of our motor system and the external objects we manipulate. Internal models are not fixed entities, but rather are trained and updated by sensory experience. Sensory feedback signals relevant object properties and mechanical events, e.g. at the skin-object interface, to modify…

There is little experimental evidence that any non-human species is capable of purposefully attempting to manipulate the psychological states of others deceptively (e.g., manipulating what another sees). We show here that chimpanzees, one of humans' two closest primate relatives, sometimes attempt to actively conceal things from others.…

The authors investigated the mechanical basis of length perception through dynamic touch using specially designed rods in which the various moments of mass distribution (mass, static moment, and rotational inertia) were varied independently. In a series of 4 experiments, exploration style and rod orientation were manipulated such that the relative…

How does an observer decide that a particular object viewed at one time is actually the "same" object as one viewed at a different time? We explored this question using an experimental task in which an observer views two objects as they simultaneously approach an occluder, disappear behind the occluder, and re-emerge from behind the occluder,…

This concise pamphlet describes methods of determining hand dominance in children. The pamphlet states that the child should be observed in certain procedures without being told that he or she is being tested. Among the test procedures suggested are activities with a hand puppet, hammering nails, and throwing a ball. The pamphlet offers directions…

This study investigated the prediction that playful activity would increase the number of alternate uses that children would be able to give for objects which are not involved in that activity. Subjects were 36 white, middle-class preschoolers. (Author/SDH)

Experiments presented indicate that perseverative error in year-old infants cannot simply be a memory problem. Possible explanations are examined. (Author/ED)

A set of boxes with incongruous animal pictures and a set of plastic Bristle Blocks were presented to 20 preschool children and 20 college students to investigate or play with as they wished. The time spent in investigative exploration and play was recorded over three 10-minute sessions on separate days. (Author/JMB)

Infants aged 3, 5, and 7 months were shown solid objects and comparable intangible images of objects both within and beyond possible arm's reach. The infants' emotional reactions and reaching behavior in the presence of the image stimuli were found to be very similar to their responses to the solid objects. (Author/JMB)