Operant conditioning of the visual smooth pursuit in young infants.

Smooth pursuit is a complex behaviour which is not considered as totally functional at birth. The lack of maturation of the visuo-motor systems is generally invoked to explain this phenomenon. However, if this oculomotor response is an operant behaviour, an alternate explanation may be found in the absence of previous confrontation with the environmental contingencies.

Illusory conjunctions and the cerebral hemispheres.

Two visual half-field experiments tested Moscovitch's (1979) proposition that cerebral asymmetry does not concern the earliest perceptual stages but only later processing. Subjects were briefly shown displays that included one (Experiment 1) or two (Experiment 2) types of forms differing in size and which, according to previous evidence, might lead to opposite laterality effects. Laterality effects were assessed for correct detections and for illusory conjunctions, both in terms of raw detection scores and in terms of perceptual discriminability (d' scores).

Sex differences in latencies of bilateral electrodermal responses.

The present study examined sex differences in the latencies of bilateral electrodermal responses to stimuli presented in monocular vision. The stimuli were spatial-emotional, verbal-emotional, spatial-neutral and verbal-neutral slides, presented for either 35 ms or 1 s. Subjects were 15 males and 15 females.

Methodological problems in bilateral electrodermal research.

Since the beginning of the 1970's, bilaterally recorded electrodermal activity (EDA) has generated a significant amount of research. It has been used in studies of hemispheric asymmetry, as well as in psychiatry as an indicator of left and right hemisphere activity. However an examination of the various studies which have utilized this technique does not show an overall consensus, and the results, as well as their interpretations, are often contradictory.

Asymmetry of electrodermal activity: a review.

Before the seventies, with a few exceptions, electrodermal activity had been studied only unilaterally, presuming symmetry. Only in the seventies do a growing number of authors take an interest in electrodermal asymmetry, due in part to the enthusiasm evoked by theories of hemispheric specialization. The purpose of this paper is to clarify and summarize the data - often contradictory - collected on this subject and to point out some remaining problems.