Biomedical subjects

P G Salmon

Publications and source records attributed to P G Salmon.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1983

Demographic correlates and factor structure of the Family Environment Scale.

Since traditional psychological assessment instruments focus mainly on the characteristics of individuals, techniques for systematically measuring social environments may help to increase assessment validity. One of the best developed environmental measures is the Family Environment Scale (FES), a 90-item inventory with 10 subscales that assess interpersonal relationships, personal development goals, and organizational structure. A study was conducted in which FES subscale scores of 204 families were factor analyzed and correlated with family demographic characteristics. The obtained factor structure showed two major factors similar to "control" and "acceptance-rejection" dimensions found in previous research. Number of children in a family was related positively to control and negatively to acceptance. Family socioeconomic status was correlated positively with the degree of participation in cultural and recreational activities. The results are seen as supporting the use of the FES as part of multimethod assessments of family environment and indicating the need for FES norms to be adjusted for relevant demographic characteristics.

Adult↗

PubMed1983

Torque, lateral preference, and cognitive ability in primary-grade children.

It has been suggested that torque, the tendency to draw circles in the clockwise direction, is related to left-handedness and is a marker for psychopathology. Results of recent studies conflict with this hypothesis but are weakened by imprecise definition and unreliable assessment of torque. Measures of torque, lateral preference, and cognitive ability were administered to 181 children in kindergarten and first grade. As reported previously, rate of torque decreased with age and was greater among males. Children with complete clockwise or counter-clockwise circling at both assessments differed in pattern but not in overall level of cognitive ability. No differences were found in strength, direction, or concordance of hand and foot preference. Results of this and other studies are seen as inconsistent with proposals that torque is symptomatic of psychopathology.

Art↗

PubMed1978

An assessment of a property analyzer model in predicting adaptation patterns of simple and complex figures.

Selective adaptation patterns of simple contours and geometrical illusions under monocular stimulation were studied with five subjects. A strict property analyzer model predicted that adaptation patterns would mirror figural contours of both types of forms. The results supported this hypothesis: the geometrical illusions generated adaptation patterns reflecting their physical stimulus properties rather than the illusory percept resulting from contextual juxtaposition. The results are discussed with respect to a model of feature extraction which assumes that property analyzers possess a sensitivity bandwidth.

Form Perception↗

PubMed1977

Specific and general contour adaptation effects found using a selective adaptation paradigm.

There is evidence for discrete property analyzers in mammalian visual systems. Research has indicated that prolonged stimulation of such units reduces their sensitivity to subsequent stimulation. Psychophysical studies have employed this effect, terned selective adaptation, to study feature extractors in the human visual system. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of density and deviation in the adaptation figure on the recognition thresholds of simple and complex text figures. A selective adaptation paradigm was employed. A strict property analyzer model suggests that increases in density, deviation, or complexity should lead to an increased recognition time for the test figures. This was not confirmed. The complexity of the test figure had no effect on its recognition time. Both increased density and deviation did have an effect on the recognition times of the test figures. The results thus suggest that contour adaptation involves at least two processes: a general, probably peripheral effect due to the fatigue of visual receptor units and a more specific effect generated by the similarity between test figure and adaptation contours, independent of the site of stimulation.

Adaptation, Ocular↗