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This study examined the development of sensitivity to specific patterns of movement that reveal interpersonal events. Preschoolers and adults viewed an animated film created by Heider and Simmel (1944), and then answered a set of probe questions about traits, emotions, and relationships that characterized the geometric figures in the film. Five-year-olds and adults gained similiar impressions of the film, and their attributions were similar to those that have emerged in openended descriptions of the film produced by adults in other experiments. The responses of 4-year-olds diverged from this pattern, as did, to a greater extent, the responses of 3-year-olds. The results were interpreted as supporting the view that sensitivity to patterns of motion that reveal interpersonal events emerges gradually during the late preschool years.A venerable approach to the study of attribution has been to elicit judgments of people and their behavior based on verbal descriptions. However, other research has explored the nonverbal basis of attribution. For example, Heider and Simmel (1944) demonstrated in a classic study that attributions pertaining to social or interpersonal events may be grounded in patterns of movement. Heider and Simmel created an animated film in which a large triangle, a small triangle, and a circle move at various speeds along different trajectories near a rectangular box. When adults describe this film, they virtually never speak in purely geometric terms, but instead describe a series of social or interpersonal events. Moreover, adults' descriptions typically converge on a common theme. PeopleThis work was carried out as part of the second author's Master's thesis, under the supervision of the third author. Portions of these data were presented at

Previous research indicates that formerly depressed individuals engage in high levels of thought suppression that can mask depressive cognitions. However, suppression may also ironically foster a vigilance for unwanted thoughts that promotes uncertainty about ambiguous information and distorts memory. The present study tested this possibility. Formerly dysphoric, currently dysphoric, and never-dysphoric participants listened to a series of statements describing life events that were positive, negative, or ambiguous. In a subsequent recognition phase, participants reviewed a series of statements and rated each for the likelihood that it had been presented earlier. The recognition list included positive and negative disambiguated versions of the original items. Compared to the never-dysphoric group, formerly dysphoric individuals were more likely to endorse negative disambiguations. As predicted, this bias was associated with higher levels of thought suppression and greater uncertainty about the meaning of ambiguous situations, suggesting an ongoing conflict between positive and negative thoughts.

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