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Biomedical subjects

G A Winer

Publications and source records attributed to G A Winer.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Are children more accurate than adults? Spontaneous use of metaphor by children and adults.

This study examined an observation in which children outscored adults on a series of test questions, which included unusual items such as, "Do you see with your ears?" We assumed that the adults were treating the questions metaphorically because the literally correct answer was so obvious, an assumption consistent with Grice's theory. In Study 1, we tested this assumption by manipulating pretest and test items so as to suggest, or not suggest, a metaphorical or factual response. In Study 2, we used a similar manipulation involving the order of questions of various sorts and we more directly tested the Gricean hypothesis by giving college students a reason to treat the question literally. The results replicated the previous finding in which college students' scores were lower than those of children, and the condition effects suggested that the college students' performance was due to their responding metaphorically.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The persistence of a misconception about vision after educational interventions.

Children and adults, like many ancient philosophers, believe that seeing involves emissions from the eye. Several experiments tested the strength of these "extramission" beliefs to determine whether they, like other scientific misconceptions, are resistant to educational experiences. Traditional college-level education had little impact. Presenting a simplified lesson, stressing visual input, and a lesson directly counteracting the vision misconception had an impact, but for older participants the effect was evident only on short-term tests. Despite some gain due to learning, overall the results demonstrated the robustness of extramission beliefs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Conditions affecting beliefs about visual perception among children and adults.

Children and adults were tested on their beliefs about whether visual processes involved intromissions (visual input) or extramissions (visual output) across a variety of situations. The idea that extramissions are part of the process of vision was first expressed by ancient philosophers, including Plato, Euclid, and Ptolemy and has been shown to be evident in children and in some adults. The present research showed that when questions about vision referred to luminous as opposed to non-luminous objects, under certain conditions there was some increase in intromission beliefs, but almost no corresponding decline in extramission beliefs, and no evidence of transfer of intromission responses to questions referring to nonluminous objects. A separate study showed that college students, but not children, increased their extramission responses to questions providing a positive emotional context. The results are inconsistent with the idea that simple experiences increase or reinforce a coherent theory of vision. The results also have implications for understanding the nature of beliefs about scientific processes and for education.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Images, words, and questions: variables that influence beliefs about vision in children and adults.

In three studies we used animated computer graphics to examine beliefs among children and adults that vision involved input to the eyes (the intromission theory) or emissions from the eye (the extramission theory). Results supported previous findings which showed a decrease in extramission and an increase in intromission responses across age. The findings also indicated that there were more extramission interpretations when subjects were tested with graphic images, and more intromission interpretations when the questioning was purely verbal. However, the magnitude of the effect was highly dependent upon question format. The differences between graphic and verbal question presentations (A) are consistent with our theory on the origins of extramission beliefs, (B) suggest that beliefs can vary as a function of form of symbolization, and (C) are contrary to long-standing beliefs of educators and psychologists that emphasize the importance of concrete, pictorial representation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Developmental changes in understanding an illusion based on perceptual adaptation: effects of feedback.

Children and adults were exposed to an illusion created by perceptual adaptation, in which they perceived two identical bottles, held simultaneously in a different hand, as being different in weight. Prior research has shown that young children treat the perceived difference as real rather than illusory. In an initial study, feedback designed to signal the illusory nature of the weight difference led many third graders to acquire an erroneous rule. Older children and adults more often gave a correct response, although there was no clear evidence that they understood the illusion. In Study 2, confronting children with the discrepancy between the preillusion phase of the testing and the subsequent experience of an illusion helped them to infer an understanding of the illusion when the discrepancy was large. The results have implications for the development of the understanding of perceptual processes, the appearance-reality distinction, and the child's theory of mind.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Developmental trends in the understanding of perceptual adaptation.

In the first of three studies, kindergartners, third graders, and sixth graders were questioned to determine whether they comprehend five types of perceptual adaptation or contrast effects. The results indicated little consistency among kindergartners, but there were strong improvements by the third-grade level, and at the sixth-grade level almost all of the children were showing perfect performance, demonstrating comprehension of the five forms of perceptual adaptation. In the second and third studies, children and adults were placed in a situation in which adaptation to temperature and weight could occur, and they were asked to predict subsequent perceptions. Correct performance in these studies generally occurred at later ages than in Study 1 with even college students showing incorrect performance in some cases. However, the age trends shifted quite markedly depending upon the nature and structure of the task. The results were consistent with a theory stressing the relation of early formed schemas in the form of memory traces of experiences to later appearing and more abstract schemas. The results show the importance of studying older children when considering developing theories of mind.

Adaptation, Ocular↗
PubMed1988

An analysis of experimenter effects on responses to a sex questionnaire.

To test whether responses to sex questionnaires vary as a function of the milieu in which the questionnaires are administered, university and college students were presented with an explicit sex questionnaire by a psychologist or by a member of the clergy. In the first study conducted at a nondenominational university, students generally responded similarly when tested by a psychologist, a rabbi, or a priest. There was some evidence suggesting that a greater number of students tested by members of the clergy, rather than by the psychologist, omitted responses to sensitive questions. In a second study conducted at a Catholic college, responses generally were similar when comparing a priest and a psychologist as testers. On one sensitive item, however, there was evidence of an experimenter effect in the predicted direction. Under testing situations common to a number of studies, responses to sex questionnaires seem relatively unaffected by experimenter effects.

Clergy↗
PubMed1982

A review and analysis of children's fearful behavior in dental settings.

This paper is a review of the empirical literature dealing with the fearful responses of normal children to dental experiences. The first part of the paper reviews 4 major ways of measuring children's fearful behavior, namely, through behavioral rating scales, self-report measures, projective techniques, and physiological measures. The next section of the paper, dealing with incidence of dental fear and age changes, makes the point that disruptive dental behaviors are seen in relatively few children, with marked diminutions in anxiety occurring in the preschool years. Correlates of dental anxiety and experimental studies of dental fear are reviewed in the final portions of the paper.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Children's preference for body or external object on a task requiring transposition and discrimination of right-left relations.

First graders were tested on trials requiring the discrimination and transposition of right-left relations, with stimuli similar to (dolls) or different from (toy planes) the body. On an initial series of training and practice trials children were allowed to respond to body and external objects as referents providing right-left cues. A later series of test trials was then used to determine the referent the child actually preferred. Results of the test trials indicated that 24 children tested with the dolls preferred the body as referent, while 24 children tested with planes preferred the external referent. The results were interpreted as suggesting two alternative systems through which children develop an understanding of right-left relations and possibly other concepts as well.

Body Image↗