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Deviant responses to ambiguous visual stimulus patterns

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Abstract

A corollary postulate of the Deviation Hypothesis states that particular stimulus content is not important for eliciting deviant responses which can, in turn, be used to assess behavior quantitatively. Since unstructured, ambiguous stimuli had not been employed specifically to produce deviant responses, a light-flash test consisting of 60 light-flashes of .01 second duration was constructed to test this hypothesis. The light-flash test and the Perceptual Reaction Test were administered to 50 white female attendants and 50 white female patients. The results of this investigation indicate that ambiguous visual stimuli can quite definitely be used to produce deviant responses. These deviant responses are sufficiently frequent that a valid distinction can be made between normal and schizophrenic subjects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Louisiana State University, USA

    Herman H. Lindeman & Henry E. Adams

Authors
  1. Herman H. Lindeman
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  2. Henry E. Adams
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Lindeman, H.H., Adams, H.E. Deviant responses to ambiguous visual stimulus patterns. Psychol Rec 13, 73–77 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393504

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393504

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