Visual perspective in the context of autobiographical memory research refers to the point of view from which an individual constructs a visual image of a past event. While the number of studies focusing on this phenomenological aspect of retrieval has increased in the last decade, a basic understanding of the meaning of perspective and its fundamental characteristics has not been fully established. The current studies attempt to further this understanding. The first series of studies examine the role of memory age in perspective using continuous scales to measure self-reported perspective. These studies show memories change in a linear fashion, from first- to third-person perspective, as memories become more remote. Furthermore, individuals report more than one perspective during a single retrieval episode, females report more third-person perspective than do males, and individual differences in perspective use were observed. These individual differences were not accounted for by personality differences, such as levels of public self-consciousness. A second series of studies asked participants to describe the location of their visual perspective, rather than using continuous scales. These studies show visual perspective location varies greatly and consistently across space and for different events. For example, memories of giving a presentation were more likely to be visualized from in front of the individual, whereas memories of running from a threat were visualized from behind the individual. Although perspective location varies across events and space, location did not affect other phenomenological aspects of retrieval, such as memory vividness, belief in the accuracy of one's memory, or the degree of reliving experienced, nor did location map onto the ideal location for watching an event unfold or for watching one's self complete a task. Together these studies further characterize visual perspective during retrieval, suggesting it is more complex than a simple, dichotomous distinction between first- and third-person perspective. Additionally, they highlight the importance of understanding the phenomenological experience of perspective in order to appreciate its significance in other domains. / Dissertation

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1933. / "Reprint from the Journal of applied psychology, vol. XVII, no. 4." Bibliography: p. 405-406.

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The opening of the Estates General in 1789 came at a time of momentous national crisis. France’s separate Three Estates were summoned to meet and collectively decide about how best to remedy France’s many ills. However, the initial collegial spirit between the privileged First and Second Estates and the assertive Third Estate quickly evaporated. Antipathy towards certain nobles, particularly those perceived as corrupt and debauched, quickly crystalized in 1789 into hostile attacks on the entire Second Estate, who were all labeled dangerous “aristocrats”. The rapid disempowerment of one of Europe’s strongest élites is difficult to interpret without discussing the important role of widely produced anti-noble caricatures that targeted France’s nobility. Anti-noble caricatures, ranging from the malicious to the comical, were an essential component in the rapid sidelining and demonization of the nobility. From approximately 1789-1793 anti-noble caricatures constantly degraded and demonized their targets, in unrelenting and accessible imagery, marking them out as traitorous enemies. Caricatures not only helped convince the public that nobles were not only inhuman, but so dangerous in fact, that persecution and violence became options in order to purge France of its alleged aristocratic fifth columnists. / Graduate

Chopin's twenty-seven études are both unique and standard within the genre of advanced piano literature. Having been composed as the instrument itself was standardized and on the heels of the didactic studies of the classical period, Chopin's études are widely heralded as exemplary pedagogical material for their uniform quality and comprehensiveness. Nevertheless, despite the vast number of resources devoted to the topic of how one might approach the études and the innumerable endorsements which tout their incomparable worth, relatively cursory mention is made of their musical value. From a physiological perspective, what makes Chopin's études exceptional amongst vast pedagogical repertory, and how does their musical value impact what pianists learn from their study?From a modern perspective, a musical image is both the model and the yardstick for the measure of technical achievement as one compares performance with his or her musical image. The Chopin études are therefore unique in two ways. First, a pianist's musical image of each of the Chopin études initiates an individual process of motor learning. The musical images, and therefore the goals and the processes, are inherently different from the vast majority of purely didactic studies and exercises. Secondly, the genius of Chopin permeates the overall conception of the études as he intuitively employed the human ability to develop motor skills in natural ways which continue to be understood and supported by ongoing research.This paper explores the Chopin études from a largely physiological and psychological perspective such that modern studies of mental imagery, skill acquisition, and human motor abilities converge and highlight what is readily available in the music itself.

A considerable amount of research exists on the subjective perception of three-dimensional structure from texture gradients. The present set of experiments extends these tests of phenomenal perception by examining the underlying processes used in interpreting slant-from-texture. The first two experiments show that measures of subjective perception predict speeded performance in a visual search task, and that the mediating representation relies on an assumption of projective size (i.e., discriminating the size of the target is difficult when the short target is far or the long target is near). The third experiment shows that sensitivity to apparent depth in the texture display is present even in rapid and parallel search conditions where early vision is known to operate. The fourth experiment assesses the relative contribution of two dominant dimensions of the texture gradient -- "perspective" (i.e., a radial pattern) and "compression" (i.e., a foreshortened pattern). Both dimensions are detected by early vision as signals for apparent depth. The fmal experiment examines how early vision codes these two dimensions. Sternberg's (1969) Additive Factors Method (AFM) is used to assess separability of encoding, and Blalock's path analysis (1962, 1985) is used to examine the order of encoding. AFM shows that perspective and compression have independent influences on search performance in the most rapid search conditions, but that their interaction increases as search slows. The path analysis shows further that when both texture dimensions are available, perspective exerts a more immediate and perhaps even an exclusive influence on performance. These findings support the view that perspective and compression are coded separately at the earliest stages of visual processing and share a common code only later in visual processing.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two imaginal methods on a short-term memory task. A previously unresearched technique, Personalistic (P) mental imagery was combined with Interactive (I) imagery to form Personal-Interactive (P-I) mental imagery. Subjects in the P-I group were instructed to visualize themselves personally involved in an interactive scene of three given nouns. The effects of this group were compared to the effects of I imagery on a short-term memory task requiring free recall of 22 noun triads. A t test analysis found no significant difference between the I and P-I groups on total number of words correctly recalled and total number of failures to generate an image. It was concluded that the added dimension of P to I imagery did not produce greater recall than I imagery independently. It was recommended that P mental imagery be tested independently on a recall task of one word or item as opposed to two or more.

No description available.