Psychol. Res. 4 1 , 3 8 9 - - 4 0 1 (1980)
rch © by Springer-Verlag.1980
The Correction of Perceptual Assumption During the Period of Growth Experimenl~al Research in Transactional Psychology Liana Valente Torte University of Turin, Institute of Psychiatry and Institute of Human Sciences, Via Cherasco 15, 1-10126 Turin, ttaly
Summary. A small-scale, monocular distorted room (DR) was used in an experiment involving 159 subjects aged 6-14 yr and 17 adult subjects (18-45 yr). A static cue (two exercise-books) and a dynamic cue (exploration with a b a m b o o stick) were used b y these subjects to correct their mistaken assumption that the DR was normal (assumption NR). Two studies were carried out: one concerning perception of the DR, the other relating to perception of the static cue. 1) Correction of assumption NR took place by means of the dynamic cue only and was always partial - i.e., the real extent of the distortion was not appreciated. It occurred in 50% of children aged 6-12 yr. There was an increase in the frequency of correction in those from 13 yr onwards, but a figure of 100% was never reached, even in the adults. 2) Correction of mistaken assumptions concerning the size of the exercisebooks used as the static cue varied in both frequency and modality as a function of the appearance of logical thought. Some of the relationships between exploration (handling) and logical thought at the time of its formation are also examined. Introduction Transactionalism has undoubtedly constituted an important turning-point in the history o f studies on perception. The origins of transactional thought are usually traced back to 1896, the year in which Dewey's paper on the reflex arc was published. A t present, this term is primarily given a semantic link to a precise point of time (1950-1960), a place (Princeton), and a specific method: it was, in fact, in the light o f transactionalist interpretations that answers and explanations were found for many of the experiments that Ames conducted over a long period, and which he examined in depth with the cooperation of 'a small, informal group of ... scholars engaged in the study of the problems posed b y perception, which occupies such a central position in
0340--0727 /80/0041/0389/~ 02.60
390
L.V. Torre
human experience' (Cantril, 1961). Ittelson, Kilpatrick, and Wittreich were among those who worked with Ames at the University of Princeton. A characteristic feature of transactionalism is the concept of the formulation of a perceptual hypothesis or 'assumption.' Perceiving is the perception of functional probabilities and constructs or assumptions derived from the consequences and serving as directives for future action (Kilpatrick, 1961). These assumptions act as probabilities and are constructed, checked, and modified by action (Cantril, 1950; Mooney, 1950; Ames, 1951 ; lttelson, 1952; Kilpatrick, 1954; Visalberghi, 1958; Kilpatrick, 1961). The best-known 'apparatus' (device) for creating a situation designed for the specific process involved in the correction of perceptual assumptions is the Ames' Distorted R o o m (DR). The room in question is constructed in a highly irregular manner. It is, however, perceived as normal, since it is built in such a way as to offer the observer the same visual stimuli as a normal room, to which it has, therefore, what Ittelson and Kilpatrick (1951) call 'equivalent configuration.' At the nodal point of an eye placed at the chosen observation point, each part of the DR subtends the same visual angle that the corresponding part of a non-distorted room would subtend at the same point, with the result that the projection on the retina will be the same in both cases. The interesting feature is that, of the infinite possibilities of rooms equivalent with respect to configuration, the observer assumes one only, namely the one that is 'normal,' because the weighted mean of experience suggests that this is the most probable. This primary error can be called 'assumption NR.' If objects or persons are placed in a DR as static visual cues, the assumptions made by the observer with respect to their shape and size come into conflict with those concerning the normal shape of the room itself. The literature shows that this conflict is settled by the perceptual distortion of the objects or persons. These are perceived as having 'Altered Dimensions' with the result that the secondary mistaken 'assumption AD' is formulated. Studies have also been made of exceptions to this behaviour - i.e., conservation of perceptual constancy of the cues and simultaneous persistence of the mistaken assumption NR. Wittreich (1952; 1959) relates this pattern to the presence of social and emotional factors, while Klein, Schlesinger, and Meister (1951) ascribe it to a passive personality structure which 'minimizes' or 'irons out' conflicts. The rigidity of the assumption that the room is normal in DR experiments, to the point that perception of objects placed in it is distorted in most cases (loss of constancy o f shape or of dimensions only), is attributed by Hilgard to the fact that a 'room' offers a constant frame of reference in everyday experience. The perceptual constancy of the room is more firmly entrenched than that of objects and persons; these, indeed, are usually related to the room for the conservation of their own constancy. 'Distortion of the dimensions of objects and faces may then be supposed to depend on the reorganization of configurative material usually dominated by the law of constancy within the ambient framework; this maintains its habitual shape, by contrast with the real shape of the DR' (Canestrari, 1955). Correction of assumption NR in DR experiments occurs as the result of action (dynamic cues) - i.e., by exploration of the interior with a stick, throwing a ball, or shifting the static cues.
Correction of Perceptual Assumption in Children
391
The literature we have consulted suggests that this behaviour is found in normal adults only. Torre and Ravizza (1965) have observed absence of correction in alcoholics. They suggest that intellectual capacity may be an important element in the correction of assumption NR. At this point, it appeared reasonable to ask whether such correction does not take place, or has certain peculiar features, during certain stages of growth when intellectual efficiency has not yet reached the levels found in the normal adult. In addition, since the literature is apparently devoid of reports of individual differences in the modality of correction of assumption AD, this point was also investigated. We predicted that correction of mistaken assumptions NR and AD would vary with age in growing children, and perhaps in step with the transformation of intellectual structure shown by Piaget at 7-8 yr ('groupement,' marked by reversibility) and at 12-13 yr ('reticule,' marked by double reversibility, or reciprocity). The manner of correction may be a pointer to the presence or otherwise of logical thought. An assessment was also made of the moment when adult behaviour with regard to the two assumptions was attained. Method
Subjects Seventy-eight boys and 81 girls aged 4-14 yr, with an IQ ~ 85 (WISC scale) from each of the eight forms covering the compulsory education period (five elementary and three 'middle' school years) took part in the DR experiment. These subjects had a reasonybly uniform social and cultural background, since they were drawn from schools on the outskirts of an industrial city, whose inhabitants are mainly workers, clerks, and shopkeepers. The breakdown of the series by age is shown in Table 1. Subjects from each form were chosen by lot and the small number of 11-yr-olds was accidental. A small number of 14-yr-olds, on the other hand, was expected, since those of this age at the start of the school year are students who for some reason are one year behind. The arithmetic mean (~) and dispersion (s) of IQ across the different age groups showed that the different age groups possessed a uniform mean intelligence level. The s distribution within each group is uniform with respect to the mean, because the coefficient of variability (s/~ x 100) lies between 10.74 and 13.66, with the exception of the small group of 14-yr-olds, which displayed a greater uniformity by comparison with the preceding cases. As already stated, however, this group of subjects consists of children in a special situation, from the scholastic standpoint. The second group consisted of 12 female and 5 male volunteers aged 18-45 drawn from the same environment as the children with a normal work or study lifestyle: two household electrical appliance fitters (males, 18 and 25 yr); three clerks (2 female, 26 and 32 yr, one male 32 yr); four school janitors (three females, 39, 40, 45 yr; one male, 40 yr); one school bursar (female, 25 yr); one primary school teacher (female, 35 yr); four kindergarten teachers (females, 20, 26, 33, 40 yr); one university student in philosophy (male, 23 yr); one cook (female, 45 yr).
392
L.V. Torte
Table 1. Number of subjects of each age and in each school form Age
No. subjects
~ IQ
s IQ
(s/x') x 100
6
20 (I el.)
101
13.8
13.66
7
20 (18 II el.) (2 III el.)
93.3
10.6
11.36
19 (17 III el.) (2 IV el.)
104.2
13.8
13.24
9
22 (21 IV el.) (1 V el.)
101.5
13.1
12.91
10
23 (17 V el.) (1 IV el.) (5 I mid.)
96.8
10.4
10.74
11
7 (6 I mid.) (1 V el.)
99
11.2
11.31
12
22 (16 II mid.) (5 I mid.) (I III mid.)
104.7
14.1
13.47
20 (17 III mid.) (2 II mid.) (1 I mid.)
101
12.6
12.48
6 (4 III mid.) (2 II mid.)
102
9
8.82
13
14 18-45
17
Total
176
Materials
The small-scale (2 m 3) D R model built b y the University of T u r i n Psychiatric Clinic was used. Its floor is tilted d o w n w a r d s from right to left and its ceiling in the opposite direction, so that the left wall is b o t h higher t h a n the right and longer, since the back wall forms an acute angle with it and an obtuse angle with the right wall. There are two trapezoidal windows (with their larger side nearer the observer) in the back wall, and two rectangular windows (the larger further away from the observer) in the left wall. When seen through the peephole in the front door, the room, which is lit b y a lamp in the apparent centre of the ceiling, appears normal, i.e., rectangular. T h e static visual cue consisted o f two identical 15 x 20 cm exercise-books placed upright at the contiguous corners facing the observer. A sheet o f paper from an exercise-book was held b y the e x p e r i m e n t e r to assess the e x t e n t of mistaken a s s u m p t i o n AD with regard to their size. The d y n a m i c cue was a b a m b o o cane used b y each subject to explore the inside of the DR.
Correction of Perceptual Assumption in Children
393
Fig. 1. Distorted Room (open)
Procedure
A methodical pattern was followed to ensure a uniform collection of data. In the DR experimenL all subjects were faced with four situations, or in some cases with six. Sit. I: DR empty. The subje~ was asked to look through the peephole and say what he saw. If his answer did not clearly indicate an interpretation equivalent to 'a room,' he was specifically asked whether what he saw could be a room on a small scale. The peephole was then closed. Two exercise-books were inserted through the windows without the subject seeing them. They were placed in the corners of the wall parallel to that with the peephole. The hole was then opened for situation II. Sit. H: Static cues in the DR resting on the ends of the wall directly in front of the subject. The subject was asked what he saw. When he answered 'two different sized exercise books,' he was asked to specify which was the smaller and which the larger. To determine which cue had kept its perceptual constancy, the subject was asked to say from which book the sheet of paper held in the examiner's hand had been taken. Lastly, when the part dealing with the exercise-books was over, the subject was asked to look at the DR again and make any other comments he wished.
394
L.V. Torre
Fig. 2. Inside of Distorted Room, showing three static cues
Sit. III: DR with static cues, as in sit. II, peephole open, lid for insertion of the b a m b o o cane into the DR b y the subject also open. a) the subject was asked to 'explore' the room with the cane to check its size, starting on the right and taking care not to knock the exercise-books. This action (dynamic cue) was performed with the subject looking through the peephole. b) If the exploration ended with the subject still unaware of the distortion of the room, he was asked to repeat the operation (repeated dynamic cue). As soon as assumption NR was corrected, the subject was asked again about the sizes of the exercise-books to see whether his correction of the primary error automatically led to the correction of the secondary error. Sit. IV: The right wall of the room opened to display the error in assumption NR. A t this point, a general question was put to the subject: 'What do you think of that, now?' The answers received indicated self-criticism, assessments of the distortion of the room, and assessments of the real size of the exercise books. If assumption AD had still not been corrected, the subject then moved on to: Sit. V: DR as in sit. IV. The exercise-book to which the sheet of paper had been assigned b y the subject was left in the DR. The other exercise-book perceived as 'different' was placed in the subject's hand (handling I), and he was again asked to express an opinion on the size of the exercise-books. If assumption AD persisted, the subject passed on to sit. VI.
Correction of Perceptual Assumption in Children
395
Sit. VI: Both books placed in the subject's hand so that he could place them side by side and on top of each other (handling II). He was then asked for a final opinion on their size. Results
Assumption NR Formulation. Assumption NR, namely that the room was normal, occurred in all cases. Most subjects tended to look for something in the room when they first saw it, rather than to describe it. Silence was common, since the request 'What can you see?' appeared absurd. Some children said 'There's nothing there' or 'It's empty.' Features or details observed in the DR formed the bulk of the first observations. The spontaneous answer 'a room' was rare. An association with school experience was noted in the frequent interpretation of the artificial windows as 'blackboards.' Some children said there were too many windows, that the door was missing, or that the windows had no glass in them. A few saw the lamp. The chequered pattern of the floor was called a 'draughts-board' or 'a thing to play chess on'. On some occasions, attention was directed to the wooden boards of which the DR was made. Some answers defined the DR as a 'house,' indicating the usual assimilation of a house with a room or a closed place. Variations on this theme included 'dolls' house and 'caravan.' Interpretations in geometric terms were rare at all age levels. Most subjects expressed an opinion concerning the function of the interior, not its shape. The words used in describing the DR did not vary from one age group to another. All subjects agreed that they saw an ordinary room, i.e., mistaken assumption NR was formulated. Its correction presented interesting features with regard to both frequency and modality. Frequency o f the correction of this NR assumption varied with age. The main point to be noted is the relatively uniform mean frequency (about 51%) up to the age of 13 yr. The highest average up to this age (63%) was displayed by the 9-yr-olds; the lowest average (29%) was noted in the seven 11-yr-olds. This finding, however, is of little value because of the small number of children involved. There is a marked leap in frequency at the age of 13 yr, with values remaining stable a little over 80% thereafter: 85% at 13 yr, 83% at 14, and 82% in adults. These data and their pattern are shown in Table 2. The cases were placed in the following groups for statistical analysis: 6-7 yr (correction 19, no correction 21); 8-9-10 yr (correction 37. no correction 27); 11-12 yr (correction 12, no correction 17) ; 13-14 yr (correction 22, no correction 4) ; adults (correction 14, no correction 3). The X2 value obtained was 16.83. Comparison with the X2 tabulated by 4 degrees of freedom (13.327) would suggest that there is a less than 0.01% probability that the results are uniformly distributed in the different age groups; this is mainly due to the over-13 age groups, whose behaviour is very different from that of the other groups.
396
L.V. Torre
Table 2. Frequency and modality of correction of assumption NR
Age 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 18-45
In sit. II Correction from the static cue
In sir. Ilia Correction via the dynamic cue
In sit. IIIb Correction via repetition of dynamic cue
Total of corrections
Percentageof corrections (%)
6 5 8 9 9 1 7 9 2 12
4 4 3 5 3 1 3 8 (3)a 3 (1)a 2
10 9 11 14 12 2 10 17 5 14
50 45 58 64 52 29 45 85 83 82
a Correction with integration 'curved room' in brackets.
Removal from the analysis of the adults and children aged 13-14 years, in fact, gives uniformly distributed results. The X2 obtained in this case is 2.48. Comparison with the X2 tabulated for 2 degrees of freedom (5.001) suggests that the differences observed in the groups are casual, with a probability of error of 5%. A further comparison between the 6-12-yr age group and the group of 13-14-yr-olds and adults reveals statistically significant differences: X2 = 14.27 > 6.635, for one degree of freedom with a probability of 1%. Fluctuation in the mean correction frequencies did not appear to vary with the mean and s of the IQ. Modality of the correction did not vary with age. The results were uniform throughout the series (children and adults). All subjects who did so corrected by exploration (sit. III), i.e., using the dynamic cue. The static visual cues failed to serve the purpose of revealing the perspective deception. Mention may also be made of the surprise expressed by all subjects when the DR was opened and they were able to see it as it really was (sit. IV). This occurred irrespective of whether a subject had corrected assumption NR or not, suggesting that correction by means of a dynamic cue is 'relative,' to the extent that, while it serves to cancel the 'ordinary, regular room' impression, it does not lead to a real appreciation of the actual abnormal measurements. The soundness of this suggestion must be assessed by careful observation of the time when assumption NR is corrected. At this point, in fact, the real distances will be understood and correction of the secondary error will thus finalise that of the primary assumption. Many 8-yr-olds were unwilling to admit they had made such a mistake in assessing the shape of the DR when they saw it open. Some of-those who had discovered its distortion by exploration even refused to believe that the open room was the actual one they had seen, and thought that hidden levers had been used to alter its shape and the slant of its surfaces. It was clear that their exploration had not been enough to reveal its real proportions.
Correction of Perceptual Assumption in Children
397
One type of unusual partial correction of assumption NR described the DR as curved. This interpretation was put forward four times, and only by children over 13 who repeated the dynamic exploration. This perceptual assumption implies a construction with a regular structure, since the eight points of origin of the room could be used to postulate a regular rectangular prism. The lines joining these points, however, are regarded as curved, and the room is thus thought of as having curved walls. For these subjects, curvature of the walls served to explain the larger than expected surface noted on exploration. They clearly replaced the idea of a 'normal' room with that of a 'strange' room, which nevertheless had the orthogonal projection of an ordinary room.
Assumption AD Formulation of assumption AD, namely that the two exercise-books were different, did not vary much with age. The two identical exercise-books in the DR appeared to be of different sizes. One was, in fact, about twice as far away from the observer's eye as the other, but since the room was seen as 'normal' by all subjects, the two distances were regarded as the same, with the result that the exercise-books were thought to be really different in size. This then was what we have called assumption AD, itself a secondary outcome of mistaken assumption NR. Assumption AD was, however, not put forward by nine subjects, who described both exercise-books as being the same size by reference to the sheet of paper from the outset; as we have seen, this was not enough to lead them to correct assumption NR. As can be seen in Table 3, these nine subjects formed about 8% of the children under 12. Assumption AD was formulated by all subjects after this age. Moreover, it had two versions (Table 3): either (and more frequently at all age levels) the nearer book was overestimated (i.e., thought to be larger than the sheet of paper), or the more distant book was underestimated (i.e., thought to be smaller than the sheet of paper). In each case, the perceptual constancy of the other book was retained. Frequency of correction varied with age. Failure to correct assumption AD occurred only in children aged 6 and 7. Nine of the 40 children in these two age groups, in fact, insisted that the exercise-books were not the same, even after holding them and placing
Table 3. Formulation of assumption AD: frequency and modality
Age
Subjects number
Overestimation of the nearer book
Underestimation of more distant book
Total of formulations (%)
(%) 3 (15)
6 7 8 9 10
20 20 19 22 23
11 16 13 17 18
6 ;3 5 5 2
17 (85) 19 (95) 18 (95) 22 (100) 20 (78)
11
7
5
1
7 (86)
22 20 6 17
14 15 4 14
8 5 2 3
22 (100) 20 (100) 6 (100) 17 (100)
12 13 14 18-45
Total of nonformulafions
1 (5)
1 (5) 3 (22) 1 (14)
398
L.V. Torre
Table 4. Correction of assumption AD: modality and frequency Age
Subjects In sit. III In sit. IV number (simultaneous (on opencorrection of the DR) assumption NR)
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 18-45
7/20 19/20 18/19 22/22 20/23 6/7 22/22 20/20 6/6 17/17
In sit. V (handling I)
5 3 4 19 17 6 22 19 6 16
1 2 2
1 1
2 2 3 1
In sit. VI (handling II)
Total of corrections
7 9 10
12 15 18 22 20 6 22 20 6 17
Failure(s) to correct
one on t o p o f the o t h e r (Table 4). A f t e r the age o f 8 t h e correction t o o k place in all cases, at sit. IV. Modality of correction varied w i t h age. T h e findings are w o r t h y o f note. T w o modalities were observed: correction via logical t h o u g h t (sit. III, simultaneously with correction assumption N R or sit. IV on opening the room), and correction via handling (sit. V and sit. VI). Table 4 makes it clear t h a t correction simultaneously with correction o f assumption N R was accidental and i n f r e q u e n t in all age groups. A f t e r the age o f 10, all subjects corrected at sit. IV, whereas y o u n g e r subjects m a d e greater use o f tactile correction, itself never observed in the over-10s. The graph in Fig. 3 plots the f r e q u e n c y of the f o u r correction modalities versus age. F o r the sake o f simplicity, b o t h types of handling (sits. V and VI) and b o t h types o f correction via logical t h o u g h t (sit. III and IV) have been treated as one.
100
f s S -
s
•
Ill
•
I
g
6
?
8
9
10
11
lZ
13
14 A6£
Fig. 3. Frequency of the four correction modalities, for assumption AD versus age. - - Overall correction, - - correction via handling (sits. V and Vl)p -.-.- correction via logical operation (sits. III and IV)
Correction of Perceptual Assumption in Children
399
Discussion
The assumption by all subjects that the DR was normal is consistent with the literature. The fact that none of the many other possible configurations was chosen may fairly be ascribed to the privilege accorded to the 'good' Gestalt. Because in sit. I most subjects tended to look for something in the DR, it appears that the stability of the normal room concept may depend on the fact that it was not habitually questioned, and that it served as a background and as a frame of reference for the perception of other objects. The frequency with which assumption NR was corrected, however, was not in agreement with the literature findings. Our working hypothesis, namely that correction of assumption NR (Normal Room) is a function of age, was clearly substantiated. There was, indeed, a significant difference between the 50% of subjects under 13 who corrected their mistake and the 82-83% of all older subjects. Since, in Piaget's view, hypothetic-deductive thought takes shape at this age, it may be that the change in frequency is in function of this new intellectual activity. Stress may be laid on the fact that 18% of the adults failed to correct their mistake. No data for the interpretation of this finding are offered by the present research. Two possibilities may be advanced: 1) emotional factors impeding the construction of patterns that are in conflict with experience; 2) difficulties in spatial organisation. These hypotheses of course, require substantiation b y means of a specific investigation. As reported by other workers, correction was not achieved when the static cue was introduced, but necessitated resort to the information derived from the dynamic cue, i..e., the reorganisation of space through action, in relation to the self. It does not vary with age. Exploration also furnished information that led to the conclusion that the original assumption of a regular room was wrong, but not sufficiently to reveal the real nature of the distortion; hence this albeit partial correction. This can be assumed from three findings: 1) Too few subjects corrected assumption AD (books of different dimension) simultaneously with correction of assumption NR, indicating that when they corrected assumption NR they did not know the true distance of the corners - i.e., they were unaware of the real size of the DR. 2) None of our subjects was aware of the exact extent of the distortion until the DR was opened, and thus clearly 'spread out.' All subjects - whether or not they 'corrected' assumption NR b y means of exploration - expressed considerable surprise when the room was opened and they saw a 'twisting' they had not imagined. 3) The interpretation of the DR as 'a curved room' is a distinct example of partial correction. The 'curved' room interpretation is also of interest because it can be seen as an intermediate correction modality whereby the points 'persist' at regular intervals, whereas the walls that spring from them are seen as bent. It was always an outcome of a second exploration, and occurred only in subjects aged 13 and 14 at the moment when the increase in correction frequency appeared. We may also note that a few subjects, all under 12, did not form assumption AD. The reason for this unusual finding will be the subject of a separate study, as will the variation in maintenance of the perceptual constancy of the near, or more frequently, the more distant exercise-book.
400
L.V. Torre
Correction of assumption AD varied with age, both in frequency and modality. Two modalities were used: handling and logical thought. Handling, involving direct comparison between the two books, does not always lead to successful correction. It prevails over logic in children aged between 6 and 7, 20% of whom did not correct assumption AD. Handling became more frequent at 8 yr, suggesting that emergent 'groupement' of logical operations (Piaget, 1968) required the confirmation supplied by handling - itself abandoned later - before it could be accepted as valid. The presence of logical thought led at 8 )zr to 100% correction. Logical thought began to prevail from the age of 9, to become the only modality in older children and adults, when correction was achieved in 100% of cases. Logical thought correctly assesses real dimensions in relation to real distances by means of a logical operation governed by Emmert's law; this operation, as we have seen, rarely coincides with the correction of assumption NR, but it is performed when the DR is opened. To sum up, correction of assumption AD was clearly related both in frequency and modality to the structuration of logical operation. Conclusion In DR experiments, the primary error (assumption NR, that the room is regular) stems from the concept of a 'regular room' found in all subjects. This pattern is stable for three reasons: 1) because it offers a general pattern of reference for maintaining the perceptual constancy of many other objects; 2) doubt does not arise a) because the regularity of rooms is a constant datum in the world of experience, and b) it often provides a background; 3) the idea of the 'good' Gestalt is particularly fertile. An original feature of our findings is the hypothesis that the regularity, and hence the 'good' Gestalt, are derived from eight points spaced at regular intervals with distinct relationships between them. This stability makes it difficult to correct the mistake: the correction of assumption NR, attained via the dynamic cue, is (and this is a original new finding) always partial, and does not occur in all normal adult subjects. The frequency of correction in subjects from 6 to t2 yr is about 50%, and increases at 13 yr - perhaps because of the establishment of formal (hypothetic-deductive) thought at this age - to a value of about 80%, which is then stable in older subjects and adults. Our results, therefore, may be said to have helped in the more precise definition of the Ames' DR experiment, one that is very often referred to, but rarely performed. References Ames, A.: Visual perception and the rotating trapezoidal window. Psychol. Monogr. 65, 1 - 3 2 4 (1951) Cantril, H.: The 'why' of man's experience. New York: Macmillan 1950 Canestrari, R.: II funzionalismo nella percezione. Riv. Psicol. 49, 63--95 (1955) Dewey, J.: The reflex arc concept in psychology. Univ. Chicago Contrib. Philos. 1, 3 9 - 5 2 (1896)
Correction of Perceptual Assumption in Children
401
Ittelson, W.H.." The Ames demonstration in perception. Princeton: Univ. Press 1951 lttelson, W.H., Kilpatrick, F.P.: Experiments in perception. Sci. Am. 185, 50-55 (1951) Klein, G.S., Schlesinger, H.J., Meister, D.: The effect of personal values on perception: an experimental critique. Psychol. Rev. 58, 96-112 (1951) Kilpatrick, F.P.: Two processes in perceptual learning. J. Exp. Psychol. 47,362--370 (1954) Kilpatrick, F.P.: Explorations in transactional psychology. New York: N.Y. University Press 1961 Mooney Ross, L.: Teacher's (or student's) manual on the distorted room demonstration. Bureau of Educational Research. Columbus: Ohio State Univ. 1950 Piaget, J.- Le structuralisme. Paris: P.U.F. 1968 Torre, M., Ravizza, L.: Analisi funzionalistico-transazionale delle alterazioni percettive nell'alcoolismo. Ann. Freniat. Sci. Affini 78, 323--326 (1965) Visalberghi, A.: Esperienza e valutazione. Torino: Taylor 1958 Wittreich, W.J.: The Honey phenomenon- a case of selective perceptual distortion. J. Abnorm. Soc. Psychol. 4 7 , 7 0 5 - 7 1 2 (1952) Wittreich, W.J.: Visual perception and personality. Sci. Am. 200, 56-60 (1959) Received July 25/November 30, 1979