Two experiments evaluated the importance of temporal integration for the perception and discrimination of solid object shape. In Experiment 1, observers anorthoscopically viewed moving or stationary cast shadows of naturally shaped solid objects (bell peppers, Capsicum annuum) through narrow (4-mm wide) slits. At any given moment, observers could only see a very small portion of the overall object shape (generally less than 10%). The results showed that the observers' discrimination performance for the moving cast shadows was much higher than that obtained for the stationary shadows, demonstrating the ability to temporally integrate the piecemeal momentary information about shape that was available through the narrow apertures. In a second experiment, estimates of the strength of the observers' impressions of solid shapes rotating in depth were obtained as well as discrimination accuracies; perceptions of the original moving condition were compared with a new condition where the frames of the apparent motion sequences depicting solid objects in continuous motion (behind the slits) were randomly scrambled. The observers perceived the anorthoscopic displays as depicting solid objects rotating in depth, but only in the continuous motion condition. Interestingly, the discrimination performance in the scrambled condition remained relatively high-observers were still able to integrate information across the multiple scrambled frames in order to produce discrimination performance that was significantly higher than that obtained in the stationary shadow condition. This study was the first to thoroughly evaluate whether and to what extent human observers can effectively discriminate and perceive solid object shape anorthoscopically.

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Background: Research shows that unresolved childhood trauma can lead to an abundance of health disparities and increase the risk for problematic substance use in adulthood, particularly problematic cannabis use. Individuals who have experienced four or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) double their risk of problematic substance use, but research has shown that protective factors, such as social support, can buffer against this cumulative risk. Although past research has found that social support can buffer against problematic alcohol use, there is a need to understand how social support relates to ACEs and problematic cannabis use. The present study aims to identify if perceived social support moderates the association between ACEs and cannabis use. In addition to overall perceived social support, various domains of perceived social support (friends, family, and significant other support) were examined to determine whether these domains differentially impacted the association between ACEs and cannabis use. Methods: Data were collected using a university online subject pool (n = 382) from a college student sample from a mid-southern university (75% Caucasian, 78% female). The participants completed a battery of measures assessing perceived social support (i.e., the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support; MSPSS), childhood trauma (i.e., the Adverse Childhood Experiences Scale; ACEs), and the number of days of cannabis use in the past month (i.e., the Drug Use Questionnaire). Results: Moderation analyses were used to analyze if overall perceived social support and the various domains of MSPSS (family, friend, and significant other) moderated the relation between ACES and cannabis use. Findings revealed that perceived support from a significant other significantly moderated the association between ACEs and cannabis use (b = .17, p = .04) such that the relation between ACEs and cannabis use was stronger when there was higher perceived support from a significant other. Overall social support and support from friends and family members did not moderate this association. Discussion: Overall, these findings contradict the previous literature in that more support from a significant other did not buffer the association between ACEs and cannabis use. Rather, the relation between ACEs and cannabis use was strongest at higher levels of significant other support. This suggests that perceived social support may play a unique role alternative to buffering the relationship between ACEs and cannabis use. Future work is needed to examine factors such as level of cannabis use within a trauma survivor’s social network or significant other accommodation of symptoms, which may enhance perceptions of support but also encourage cannabis use.

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