-This study examines the interactions that occur between dotted line segments as a function of their separation and orientation using a dotted target detection paradigm. The results of the experiment indicate that it is the separation between interacting pairs of lines rather than shifts in retinal locus that account for the observed decline in detectability as the separation increases. However...

(1) Diagrams constitutes a basic type in the classification of the different representational forms based on relations of similarity (i.e. iconic signs). According to C. S. Peirce, there are three basic types of iconic signs: pictures, diagrams and metaphors. Peirce asserted that "all necessary reasoning is diagrammatic" and that "necessary reasoning makes its conclusions evident" by a construc...

Previous studies of preference for and harmony of color combinations have produced confusing results. For example, some claim that harmony increases with hue similarity, whereas others claim that it decreases. We argue that such confusions are resolved by distinguishing among three types of judgments about color pairs: (1) preference for the pair as a whole, (2) harmony of the pair as a whole, ...

Two experiments assessed infant sensitivity to figural coherence in point-light displays moving as if attached to the major joints of a walking person. Experiment 1 tested whether 3- and 5-month-old infants could discriminate between upright and inverted versions of the walker in both moving and static displays. Using an infant-control habituation paradigm, it was found that both ages discrimin...

Two studies examined the relationships between self-rated and objectively measured creative ability and ease of perceiving alternative interpretations of the ambiguous Duck-Rabbit figure. The studies found empirical support for what has previously been a largely analogical connection between figural reversal and creativity, using both self-rated trait creativity and objectively scored creative ...

The present study provides normative data from a sample of 257 healthy children and 608 adults on a modified version of the Five-Point Test (5PT). The 5PT is a structured and standardized test measuring figural fluency functions. Interrater reliability, test-retest-reliability and construct validity of this measure were analyzed. The sensitivity of the task for cognitive disturbances of patient...

How the visual system comes to bind diverse image regions into whole objects is not well understood. We recently had a unique opportunity to investigate this issue when we met three congenitally blind individuals in India. After providing them treatment, we studied the early stages of their visual skills. We found that prominent figural cues of grouping, such as good continuation and junction s...

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is increasingly recognized not only in children but also in adults. Neuropsychological tests are important tools to quantify the attentional and/or cognitive deficits of patients compared to controls. The present meta-analysis integrates 24 empirical studies reporting results of at least one of 50 standard neuropsychological tests comparing adult ...

A paradigm for the determination of time-accuracy functions (TAFs) for individual participants is introduced for two pairs of tasks differing in cognitive complexity, that is, word scanning vs cued recognition and figural scanning vs figural reasoning. TAFs can be used to test dissociations of cognitive processes beyond scale-related ambiguities of ordinal interactions. The approach is applied ...