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M T Simpson

Publications and source records attributed to M T Simpson.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Figure reversals and creativity: a research note.

In a series of studies, Bergum and Bergum (1979a, 1979b) noted a positive relationship between college students' self-perceptions of creativity and their passive rates of ambiguous figure reversal. While these authors suggest that a relationship may also exist between figure-reversal rate and creativity, as assessed by external measures, their research does not support this claim. Indeed, other research has not substantiated a relationship between rate of figure reversal and objective tests of creativity (Bloomberg, 1971; Bergum & Flamm, 1975). It may also be the case that students' perceptions of their own creative ability differ markedly from externally-derived measures of such ability. As part of a larger study relating figure-reversal rate, creativity, and handedness, the present authors attempted to replicate and extend the work of Bergum and Bergum through the use of professors' judgments of students' creativity. The subjects were 48 senior students of architecture (40 males, 8 females). Each student initially read a description of six factors commonly associated with creativity in the psychological literature and then rated himself in creative ability in comparison to his classmates. In accordance with Bergum and Bergum (1979a, 1979b), the students passively viewed (and recorded) figure reversals of six ambiguous figures. The six figures were presented for 60 sec. each, with 10-sec. intervals, in two random orders. Students' creative ability was also determined from rankings by two architecture professors who were familiar with the students' work. To guide their rankings, the professors used the same description of creativity as was given to the students.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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Blood platelet aggregation and personality traits.

Changes in blood platelet aggregation may precipitate episodes of arterial occlusive diseases. Little is known, however, regarding the influence of psychological traits, emotional states and other behavioral stressors on platelet aggregation phenomena. This study examined 46 healthy college men at rest and after submaximal treadmill exercise. Associations were found between the duration of platelet aggregation and a number of scores from the California Psychological Inventory and self-administered anxiety scales. The more socially adequate, poised and dominant persons--those with more mature ego development and less overt anxiety--had platelets with more prolonged aggregation reactions to the in vitro introduction of noradrenalin. Irreversible aggregation of platelets occurred more regularly to lower in vitro concentrations of noradrenalin in platelet samples drawn from subjects who were less anxious and tended to be more rigidly defensive. It is premature to attempt to derive clinical implications from this exploratory work, but some implications for the design of future research are discussed.

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