The purposes of the study were to (1) determine the correlation of visual-motor performance (as measured by a visual-motor integration test and writing assessment) with achievement scores in reading skills and spelling, and (2) to examine the possible effectiveness of using paper-pencil motor training as a means of aiding the development of perceptual-motor, handwriting, and reading skills.At the beginning of the school year, 76 first grade children in four classes in one school were given the following tests: the-Beery and Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, Metropolitan Achievement Tests, Primer Level, "Part 1: Listening for Sounds," and "Part 2: Reading" (items 1-28), and a handwriting test. Near the end of the academic year, in May, the copying children were given the same tests with the addition of five items on the Reading subtest, and a spelling test taken from the vocabulary of the Ginn series, Reading 360 Performance scores were used for within-group correlations of the variables and for comparisons of class achievement.Two of the classes received no special instruction in visual-motor perception. One experimental class was instructed with the Frostig Developmental Program in, Visual Perception, Pictures and Patterns, which uses geometric forms or drawings of objects for practice in perception, while the other experimental class utilized a program specifically designed for this study which employs alphabet and word-forms presented with the same worksheet format.Analysis of the data indicated that the observed within-group correlation of pretest scores of visual-motor integration and writing was significant at .40 (above .23 necessary to be statistically significant from zero). Visual-motor performance correlated significantly with listening for sounds (.28), but not with reading (.14). Correlations of pretest writing and reading skills were significant, .57 with listening for sounds, and .48 with reading as measured by the Metropolitan tests.In contrast with pretest results, the within-group correlations of posttest scores for the variables showed a very low correlation of VMI with writing (.12), and a lower correlation of writing with reading skills (.28 for both Metropolitan subtests). Correlation of VMI and reading skills showed a minimal significant correlation of .23 with reading, and .31 with sounds which was higher than the relationship noted in pretest score correlations.Correlation of pretest scores with posttest results was suggested for possible predictive use. The correlation of pretest writing with posttest listening for sounds (.42), with reading (.58) and spelling (.58) indicated that this comparison might be worthy of consideration for further investigation.To determine the effectiveness of visual-motor training a comparison was made of the four treatment groups using the pretest and posttest scores of performance on the visual-motor, writing, listening for sounds, and reading tests. In order to establish that the pretest scores of the classes were not significantly different and that the classes were equivalent, a multivariate and univariate analysis of variance with treatment for sex differences was made. The results indicated that the four treatment groups were not significantly different on the variables tested except for one measure of writing which was therefore not included in. the posttest analysis.The null hypothesis that there is no statistically significant difference between the vectors of mean posttest scores of children receiving perceptual-motor training and those who did not was not rejected, (F4 68 = .5193; p (.72). It was also concluded that there was no statistically significant difference between the performances of the two experimental groups, (F4,68 = .6408, p < .63); there was no statistically significant difference in the scores of performance of the two comparison groups, (F4 68 = .88, p < .4779).Although development of visual-motor perception may be important as a componentof growth and learning, the results of this study do not show significant correlation with reading achievement in first grade. Significant differences were not disclosed in two different approaches to perceptual motor development, one employing geometric forms, and the other alphabet letter symbols.

Thesis (M.S.)--Wisconsin State University (La Crosse), 1967. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [74]-75).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1975. / Title from title page screen, viewed Nov. 11, 2004. Dissertation Committee: Frances E. Anderson (chair), Richard A. Salome, Macon Williams, Gary Ramseyer, Max Rennels. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-85) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-99).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1975. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 184-201).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1987. / Vita. Bibliography: leaves 71-80.

The two point threshold was studied extensively by the psychophysical experimenters of the last century. More recent formulations in signal detection theory have suggested that the statements of these workers about absolute thresholds should be viewed with caution. This study investigates the two point threshold in the light of these formulations, and has two main aims :- (1) To state and deal with the problem of relating a limitation in perceptual ability, such as that which is represented by the two point threshold, to the receptor organisation of the body. (2) To demonstrate a practice effect on the two point threshold, and to consider this in the light of (1) above. To fulfil these two aims, a model of the neural mechanisms underlying the discrimination of two points applied to the skin is proposed, and this is able to accommodate what is known of the two point threshold. Although the model is simple it explicitly accounts for size transfer and the practice effect, and provides some clues as to the type of neural mechanism capable of producing them. The practice effect is demonstrated experimentally, and the results are then referred to the model proposed. The physiology of an organism sets the limits for its behaviour. 'The first aim is thus an important one, in that it considers a specific case of this general problem. And secondly, the practice effect on the two point threshold is typical of a number of fairly simple "learning" phenomena, which are part of the psychologists' study of learning.

Tese (doutorado)-Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Psicologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Psicologia Clínica e Cultura. / Submitted by Patrícia Nunes da Silva (patricia@bce.unb.br) on 2011-05-26T19:09:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_ClaudiaMendesFeres.pdf: 1338858 bytes, checksum: df836dcad699069e54ee721ff15f39d7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Patrícia Nunes da Silva(patricia@bce.unb.br) on 2011-05-26T19:10:07Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_ClaudiaMendesFeres.pdf: 1338858 bytes, checksum: df836dcad699069e54ee721ff15f39d7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2011-05-26T19:10:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2009_ClaudiaMendesFeres.pdf: 1338858 bytes, checksum: df836dcad699069e54ee721ff15f39d7 (MD5) / Este trabalho dedica-se à constituição de eu dentro do arcabouço freudiano, estudada a partir do prisma da melancolia. Apoiados na declaração de Freud (1917[1915]/2006) acerca dos efeitos da sombra do objeto sobre o eu, possuímos como objetivo a investigação das possibilidades de esta ser tomada como uma das vertentes constitutivas do eu. Partirmos da ideia de que o estado de desamparo, articulado às inscrições do sexual, é o ponto de origem de um psiquismo. É apontada e trabalhada a importância da formação de uma imagem narcísica. Utilizando-se a melancolia a partir da célebre metáfora do cristal partido (Freud, 1933[1932]/1980), apontamos o movimento de contra-luto, peleja em que o eu se rebela contra o trabalho de luto. Ao tentar apagar a perda, o eu, identificado à sombra do objeto, escorrega para outra perda, anterior e mais estrutural. Desponta um flanco que indica que houve uma perda: o eu-sombra. Tal fragmento carrega um resto sombrio não elaborável. Além da cisão do eu entre imagem narcísica e eu-sombra, acrescentar-se-ão o desmanche da mescla pulsional e o masoquismo erógeno: a pulsão de morte toma esse fragmento do eu como sua morada, atuando a partir dele. Amparados num conto literário, Negrinha, de Monteiro Lobato (1923), ressaltamos nossas articulações, diferenciando-nos dos demais autores não só pelo uso que fazemos da melancolia quanto pelo significado dado à articulação entre sombra/objeto/eu. Por fim, concluímos que, dentro do eu, há uma vertente que denuncia o valor ilusório da imagem narcísica. Se dominada pela pulsão de morte (seja via defusão pulsional, seja pelo masoquismo erógeno), ela é capaz de destituir a tão amada imagem. O eu-sombra, portanto, coloca-se silenciosamente à espreita, aguardando, quando tomado pela pulsão de morte, a possibilidade de espalhar-se por toda a imagem narcísica. ______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT / This work takes in consideration the ego into the Freudian language studied from the melancholy. It has the objective to investigate throw the object’s shadow over the ego (Freud, 1917[1915]/2006), the possibilities of the shadow as one of the ways that constitutes the ego. The work starts from the idea that the abandonment articulated with the sexual inscriptions is the main point to the psychological origin. It is shown and worked the importance of the narcissistic image. Using the melancholy as a broken cristal (Freud, 1933[1932]/1980), it shows its position against the mourning movement, procedure in which the ego revolts itself against the mourning work. When the ego tries to erase the loss it is identified by the object’s shadow, so the ego slips way in another older and more structured loss. Then, a flank comes indicating that there was a loss: the ego-shadow. Such fragment brings along the rest dark side – the non-elaborated one. There is a cut from the ego with the narcissistic image and the ego-shadow, what will increase the mix of the instincts and the masochism. The death instinct takes this fragment of the ego as its home, working from it on. The part of this work is based on the book Negrinha from Monteiro Lobato (1923). This part will emphasize ours differences from the other authors: the place of the melancholy and of the shadow. Finally we conclude that inside the ego there is a way which reviews the illusionary value of the narcissistic image. If taken from the death instinct, it is able to destroy the loved image. So, the ego-shadow puts itself in a silent view just waiting to be taken by the death instinct, the possibility to spread itself throw the narcissistic image.

M.Ed. (Curriculum Studies) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Object experts quickly and accurately discriminate objects within their domain of expertise. Although expert recognition has been extensively studied both at the behavioral- and neural-levels in both real-world and laboratory trained experts, we know little about the visual features and perceptual strategies that the expert learns to use in order to make fast and accurate recognition judgments. Thus, the aim of this work was to identify the visual features (e.g., color, form, motion) and perceptual strategies (e.g., fixation pattern) that real-world experts employ to recognize objects from their domain of expertise. Experiments 1 to 3 used psychophysical methods to test the role of color, form (spatial frequencies), and motion, respectively, in expert object recognition. Experiment 1 showed that although both experts and novices relied on color to recognize birds at the family level, analysis of the response time distribution revealed that color facilitated expert performance in the fastest and slowest trials whereas color only helped the novices in the slower trials. Experiment 2 showed that both experts and novices were more accurate when bird images contained the internal information represented by a middle range of SFs, described by a quadratic function. However, the experts, but not the novices, showed a similar quadratic relationship between response times and SF range. Experiment 3 showed that, contrary to our prediction, both groups were equally sensitivity to global bird motion. Experiment 4, which tested the perceptual stategies of expert recognition in a gaze-contingent eye-tracking paradigm, showed that only in the fastest trials did experts use a wider range of vision. Experiment 5, which examined the neural representations of categories within the expert domain, suggested that the mechanisms that represents within-categories of faces also represented within-categories from the domain of expertise, but not the novice domain. Collectively, these studies suggest that expertise influence visual discrimination mechanisms such that they become more sensitive to the visual dimensions upon which the expert domains are discriminated. / Graduate / 2018-12-12