MODIFICATION OF FIGURE-GROUND PERCEPTION AS A FUNCTION OF AWARENESS OF DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS

REEXAMINED THE AUTISM AND FIGURE-GROUND PERCEPTION EXPERIMENT. IT WAS PROPOSED THAT THE EFFECT WAS DUE TO SS BECOMING AWARE OF THE DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS AND COOPERATING. 120 STUDENTS WERE FOUND TO BE CAPABLE OF PERCEIVING BOTH ASPECTS OF THE AMBIGUOUS FIGURES AT THE TACHISTOSCOPIC SPEED USED. THUS, S'S ACTUAL TASK WAS NOT PERCEPTION, BUT RESPONSE SELECTION. THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE IN BEHAVIOR BETWEEN SS WHO WERE SLIGHTLY SOPHISTICATED IN PSYCHOLOGY AND THOSE WHO WERE NAIVE. ONLY IN THE FORMER GROUP WAS A REPLICATION OBTAINED. A SUBGROUP OF SS, CLASSIFIED AS AWARE AND COOPERATING, ACCOUNTED FOR ALL THE EFFECT. MOST OF THESE WERE IN THE SOPHISTICATED GROUP. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1968 American Psychological Association.