Male-female response profile differences on the WAIS-R in clients suffering from borderline personality disorders.

One hundred nineteen clients diagnosed with borderline personality disorders participated in a correlational study using standard intelligence and achievement measures. We expected to confirm the presence of an organic subtype that might help clinicians who work with this group of clients (average IQ = 79.3). We found gender differences that tended to support previous research on male-female differences. In general, the data supported the presence of an organic subtype. Analyses of arrest history and additional differential diagnoses showed this category of client relatively free of dependency concerns but manifesting signs of an anxiety disorder.

The hierarchical factor structure of the WAIS-R for alcoholic adults.

A Wherry (1984) hierarchical factor solution was obtained on the WAIS-R subtest intercorrelations for 108 alcoholic adults. An ability arrangement consistent with Vernon's (1950) structure-of-intellect paradigm was found. This ability hierarchy consisted of a strong general intelligence (g) factor defined by all 11 subtests, which accounted for 49% of the variance. The primary level of the ability hierarchy consisted of spatial-perceptual-mechanical (k:m), Freedom from Distractibility (FD), and Verbal Comprehension (VC) factors. Those respective factors accounted for 86%, 4%, and 3% of the total subtest variance.

A comparison of borderline and mild mental retardates assessed on the memory for designs and the WAIS-R.

A matched group (N = 114) between high errors and no error conditions on the MFD was examined in a population of borderline and mild mental retardates. Matched variables were sex, Full Scale IQ, and age. The MFD, PIAT, and the WAIS-R were administered to all subjects. Results on achievement tests showed that the mild mental retardation subjects with high errors on the MFD had lower achievement scores on the PIAT compared to the non-error group. The non-error group performed at a higher level on the Picture Arrangement, Vocabulary, Math, and Reading Comprehension. Borderline retardation subjects showed no significant differences between error and non-error groups on the PIAT and WAIS-R. These conclusions indicate that the MFD is a more sensitive indicator of intelligence differences than of organicity differences.

The principle of additivity and its relation to clinical decision making.

Clients (N = 178) with varying degrees of organic indicators were administered a psychological battery including the Memory for Designs Test (MFD; Graham & Kendall, 1960) to assess the extent to which joint presence of organic indicators affected the sensitivity of the MFD in identifying organicity. Joint presence failed to add to the discriminability of the MFD, although individual instruments such as the PIAT (Arithmetic) and WAIS-R (PIQ less than VIQ) clearly discriminated across the MFD.

Differential effects on verbal-performance achievement levels on the WAIS-R as a function of progressive error rate on the Memory for Designs Test (MFD).

One hundred seventy-eight subjects participated in a study to measure the degree of selective subtest decline on the WAIS-R as a function of increased error rate on the Memory-for-Designs Test. The data show that there is an initial, significant decline in the verbal knowledge component of the verbal scale as error rate on the MFD progresses. Performance factors are only significantly related to error rate on the MFD when the latter are maximized.

Interposition and size constancy: a developmental study.

27 children (mean age 6.7 yr.) and 84 adults (mean age 26.3 yr.) were asked to judge the sizes of human figures in photographs. Half the cards contained interpositional depth cues while the other half did not. Both groups of subjects showed better size constancy with interposition present than without it.

A developmental study of the relationship between handedness and eyedness as applied to disappearing visual targets.

This study investigated differences between adult and children's perception of a disappearing, lateralized stimulus. In 20 trials, 23 first graders and 22 college students viewed a luminous target of parallel lines subtending a visual angle of 11 degrees 30' and reported whether a stimulus disappeared on either side of fixation or all at once. Both groups, regardless of handedness and eye dominance, had stronger right-field stability, therefore more left-field fragmentation.

Effects of laterality and visual angle on time judgments: a phenomenological investigation of time durations.

20 students from an undergraduate class participated in an experiment designed to study the effects of laterality and visual angle on time judgments. Using a standard two-field tachistoscope , subjects were exposed to two experimental conditions, (1) stimulus cards with a single red or blue dot in the center and several dots clustered on both sides near the center and equidistant from it (visual angle of .6 degrees) and (2) stimulus cards with a single red or blue dot in the center and several dots clustered on both sides away from the center on the edge of the card (visual angle of 2.6 degrees). Five cards containing a single red or blue dot were used to control for response bias. The subjects were asked to indicate whether they saw dots in the left, right, or both fields, and whether they perceived a time duration between fields. No difference in time duration existed, however, as all cards were exposed to both fields for equal durations. The predictions that the judged duration of dot patterns would be more accurate favoring the left visual-field and more accurate where the distance between the point of fixation and stimulus was larger were supported.

Effects of age and angle size on decrement in the Müller-Lyer illusion as related to adaptation effects.

Adaptation rates for the inspection of angled lines and their relationships to the Müller-Lyer illusion decrements were studied using three groups of subjects, children, adolescents, and adults. All subjects were required to inspect the angled lines alone of the Müller-Lyer illusion and then to inspect the full illusion. These two conditions were balanced using an ABBA design. The length of time to report changes due to inspection was recorded. An analysis of variance indicated significance only among the three age groups, with the children showing rapid adaptation rates and the adolescents showing comparatively slow rates of adaptation.

Visual field accuracy and eye movement direction: a child's eye view.

Post-exposural eye movements were studied in 32 adults and 24 7-yr.-old children. Stimuli were binary figures exposed tachistoscopically in both visual fields simultaneously. The data showed significant correlations between direction of eye movement and locus of recognition for both children and adults. No significant differences were found in frequencies of eye movements of children and adults. The data are interpreted in terms of the facilitative effects of post-exposural eye movements upon perception for both groups.