Abstract
Thirty-four pairs of 9- to 11-year-old MZ twins (13 male, 21 female) who were discordant on the magnitude of their susceptibility to the Ponzo illusion were studied for their differences on WISC subtests. The purpose of the study was to test Pollack’s hypothesis that children more susceptible to the illusion would perform better on tasks involving numerical sequencing and analogical reasoning. The hypothesis was confirmed for females in that the female twins who had higher magnitudes of the illusion had significantly higher scores on digit span and similarities than did their co-twins. Male twins showed no differences.
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Supported in part by PHS Research Grant HD 03217 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and in part by the Courier-Journal and Louisville Times Foundation (Ronald S. Wilson, principal investigator). E. Harpring, M. Moseson, and J. Parker assisted in the data collection for this study.
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Matheny, A.P. Cognitive factors associated with the Ponzo illusion: A study using the co-twin method. Psychon Sci 29, 91–93 (1972). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336579
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336579