bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sex Differences among Children on Embedded Tasks
Authors: Nebot Teresa Kirchner
Published: September 2011

100 8-yr.-old children (50 boys and 50 girls) were evaluated on the Children's Embedded Figures Test to determine whether there are differences in disembedding ability between boys and girls. Analysis indicated that the boys were superior to the girls on the test as a whole, but this superiority is the result of boys' greater ability to detect a triangular figure and not, on the contrary, their ability to detect the outline of a house.
Comparison of Orosensory Confusions of Hearing and Hearing-Impaired Adults
Authors: Lieberth Ann K.
Published: September 2011

The relation between orosensory perception and articulation in 38 normal hearing adults (mean age = 20.1 yr.) with no articulation problems and 63 hearing-impaired adults (mean age = 21.2 yr.) with articulation disorders was investigated. All adults were asked to identify as a visual-matching task the 20 National Institute of Dental Research orosensory forms with handles. Comparison of number and types of orosensory confusions of the participants showed no significant differences between the groups. Results could have been influenced by the test, the response sought, or the origin and nature of the articulation disorders of the hearing-impaired participants. Implications for further research are discussed.
Sentential Priming of Semantic Information in Good and Poor Young Readers and in Adults
Authors: Bosman Anny M. T. , De Groot Annette M. B.
Published: September 2011

Using Tabossi and Johnson-Laird's technique to test whether 8- to 10-yr.-old children with good and poor reading comprehension differ in use of context while they read, those with good reading comprehension in one study and adults in another showed an inhibitory effect for incongruent context, unaccompanied by a facilitative effect of congruent context. The poor comprehenders in Grade 2 showed a facilitative effect of congruent, context-dependent context.
Field Dependence: Experimenters' Expectancy, Sex Difference or No Difference?
Authors: Peplin Caroline Munoz , Larsen Janet D.
Published: September 2011

The possibility that sex differences found in previous research on field dependence may have been due partly to experimenters' expectancy was investigated. Three pairs of naive student-experimenters received different information about expected outcomes for males and females on the Rod and Frame Test and the Embedded Figures Test. There was no evidence of an experimenters' expectancy effect, but there was also no significant difference in the performance of men and women on these two tests of field dependence.
Bimanual Handedness in Adults Who Stutter
Authors: Vaughn Cheri-Lynn D. , Webster William G.
Published: September 2011

25 adult stutterers and 29 nonstutterers who were right-handed as defined by a positive Laterality Quotient on the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory were compared with respect to their pattern of hand use in performing seven common tasks that involve bimanual cooperation. Among the stutterers was a higher proportion of participants who showed anomalies in how they carried out the two tasks that required synchronous manipulation by the two hands. On two other tasks that required speeded performance, the groups were similar in dealing playing cards with the right or left hands, but the stutterers were slower than nonstutterers and did not show a right-hand advantage on a task requiring removal of a nut from a bolt. The results were interpreted as indicating difficulty by stutterers in carrying out synchronously different response elements of motoric tasks.
Locus of Control, Expectational Set, and Problem Solving
Authors: Wildstein Arlene B. , Thompson Dennis N.
Published: September 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether experimentally induced expectational sets of success or failure differentially affect the performance of internal and external scorers. Another purpose was to determine the relation between locus of control and verbal and figural measures of inductive reasoning. Subjects were 144 fifth graders who were administered the children's Nowicki-Strickland instrument. Analysis indicated that the external scorers' mean was significantly lower than that of internal scorers on a verbal problem-solving task. Experimenter's instructions did not differentially affect performance on the two types of tasks and did not differentially affect the two groups of scorers.
Neuropsychological Characteristics of Young Adult Chronic Psychiatric Patients: Preliminary Observations
Authors: Zacker Joseph , Pepper Bert , Kirshner Michael C.
Published: September 2011

Psychological evaluation included tests of brain-behavior functioning and academic level for 110 young adults (16 to 39 yr. of age), each a moderate to heavy user of mental health services. The composite patient manifested borderline, diffuse brain dysfunction with deficiencies in language, visuospatial, motor, concentration, and higher-order problem-solving skills, together with below normal performance on tests of intelligence, reading comprehension, arithmetic calculation, and spelling. Standard mental health services appear inadequate for habilitation or rehabilitation of many such people. The findings suggest that one reason for these patients' lack of response to conventional mental health treatments is that clinicians fail to identify patients' fundamental deficiencies and to incorporate this knowledge in planning treatments and evaluating progress. Suggestions for further studies are offered.
Physical Fitness, Body Image, and Locus of Control in College Freshman Men and Women
Authors: Adame Daniel D. , Johnson Thomas C. , Cole Steven P.
Published: September 2011

This study examined the relations among physical fitness, body image, and locus of control. The Hall Physical Fitness Test Profile, the Winstead and Cash Body Self-relations Questionnaire (BSRQ) and the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale were administered to 243 freshmen. Women were significantly more positive about their physical appearance than men. Men were more positive about their physical fitness than women. Men were more physically fit than women. Men and women scoring in the internal direction viewed the physical fitness domain of their body image positively. Unlike men, internally oriented women had more positive perceptions of the health aspect of their body image. Physically fit men and women had positive attitudes toward the physical fitness component of their body image. Physically fit men differed from physically fit women in that men were more internal and held more positive attitudes toward the physical health dimension of their body images.
High and Low Imagers and Their Scores on Creativity
Authors: Campos Alfredo , Pérez María José
Published: September 2011

We studied the relation between vividness of imagery and four aspects of creativity, fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. We studied too the difference in creativity of high and low imagers. We obtained for 122 children (69 boys and 53 girls) significant, but low correlations, between imagery vividness and creativity for girls (fluency = .30, flexibility = .32, originality = .24, elaboration = .33) and in the total group (fluency = .24, flexibility = .23, originality = .14, elaboration = .21), but not for boys (fluency = .13, flexibility = .09, originality = .02, elaboration = .11). Differences between high ( n = 35) and low ( n = 45) imagers in creativity were significant.
Effect of Starting Position on Reproduction of Movement: Further Evidence of Interference between Location and Distance Information
Authors: Imanaka Kuniyasu
Published: September 2011

Two experiments done with a short-term memory paradigm examined the influence of shifts in the starting position on the reproduction of kinesthetic location (Exp. 1) and on distance cues (Exp. 2). We assessed possible causes of the systematic pattern of undershooting and overshooting as related to the shift in the starting position. In each experiment, two groups of 10 students were given 25 trials, and each had criterion and reproduction tasks involving linear-positioning movements with a 10-sec. retention interval. Each experiment had two independent variables, the group of subjects and the shift in the starting position. The two groups differed in the possible sources of information, the distance moved (Exp. 1) or the end-location (Exp. 2), which were assumed to cause undershooting and overshooting during reproduction. Analysis showed that the information about the distance moved may produce undershooting and overshooting in reproduction of the end-location (Exp. 1). Also, the information about the end-location may produce undershooting and overshooting in reproduction of the distance moved (Exp. 2). The findings were further evidence of interference between location and distance cues in motor short-term memory.
Mother-Blaming among College Students
Authors: Der-Karabetian Aghop , Preciado Michelle
Published: September 2011

The purpose of this study was to examine the tendency for mother-blaming among college students to determine if such a bias existed outside the clinical profession. The subjects were 49 men and 50 women at a small private university, who were asked to attribute responsibility for 45 behavioral and personal-psychological problems to one of the following targets: Father, Individual, Mother, and Society. Analysis showed Individual receiving most attributions, followed by Society, Mother, and Father, in that order. Relatively more problems are blamed on Mother than on Father, with a tendency to blame mothers for emotional problems such as dependency and shyness and fathers for behavioral-physiological problems such as child abuse and alcoholism. Intercorrelations of the number of attributions made to different targets clearly suggest that there are parent-blamers, society-blamers, and individual-blamers. Implications of blame attribution for mental health are acknowledged.
Judgments of Sentence Grammatically with Differentiation and Enrichment Strategies
Authors: Nagata Hiroshi
Published: September 2011

30 students rated the relative grammaticality of isolated sentences twice, with sentences presented repeatedly between the two judgments. Subjects were asked to adopt either a differentiation or an enrichment strategy during a repetition phase. The former strategy involved differentiation by structurally analyzing the sentences, while the latter involved enrichment by supplying situational contexts for the sentences. Analysis showed an interaction between a strategy adopted and the time of judgments such that the subjects instructed to adopt a differentiation strategy tended to use a more stringent criterion on judgments after than before repetition, whereas the subjects asked to adopt an enrichment strategy showed a slight tendency to use a more lenient criterion. These findings indicated that these two types of mental processes are involved in part in the change in criterion for judgments of grammaticality as shown in previous studies.
Reaction Time and Movement Time after Active and Passive Smoking
Authors: Beh Helen C.
Published: September 2011

Reaction time and movement time were studied following active and passive smoking in two groups of 20 women. All subjects were tested under a clean air and smokey air condition and the results showed that, while there was no difference between groups for either measure in the clean air condition, the active smokers had faster reaction time and movement time in the smokey air condition. Smokey air had no significant effect on the responses of the passive smoking group.
Intelligibility Rating of L2 Speech Pre- and Postintervention
Authors: Perlmutter Marilyn
Published: September 2011

As a result of a recent law passed in Ohio, a program was designed to improve the oral intelligibility of International Teaching Assistants at Bowling Green State University. To evaluate the efficacy of the training, naive undergraduate students were asked to evaluate the pre- and postrecorded speech samples of the international students, both in terms of intelligibility of the sample and the identification of the topic of the monologue. Analysis showed a significant improvement in the intelligibility ratings between pre- and posttraining samples. Further, the average number of correct subject matter identifications was shown to increase, while the average number of incorrect judgments decreased significantly from pre- to posttraining evaluations.
Effects of Auditory Masking on Lingual Vibrotactile Magnitude-Estimation Scaling Responses of Young Children
Authors: Petrosino Linda , Fucci Donald , Ellis Lee , Harris Daniel
Published: September 2011

Studies of lingual vibrotactile magnitude-estimation scaling have focused primarily on the responses of normal young adults. Little is known about the scaling responses of young children to suprathreshold vibratory stimulation because of the complexities of the experimental procedure. Binaural auditory masking is one aspect of the procedure that has recently been studied in adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of binaural auditory masking on lingual vibrotactile magnitude-estimation responses of young children. Four children whose mean age was 4.6 yr. completed magnitude-estimation scaling tasks for eight lingual vibrotactile suprathreshold intensity levels (6, 10, 16, 20, 26, 30, 36, 40 dB SL) under masking and no masking conditions. Results suggest possible effects of auditory masking on the lingual vibrotactile magnitude-estimation scaling responses of these young children that have not been found for such responses of adults.
Consciousness and Abilities of Dream Characters Observed during Lucid Dreaming
Authors: Tholey Paul
Published: September 2011

A description of several phenomenological experiments is given. These were done to investigate of which cognitive accomplishments dream characters are capable in lucid dreams. Nine male experienced lucid dreamers participated as subjects. They were directed to set different tasks to dream characters they met while lucid dreaming. Dream characters were asked to draw or write, to name unknown words, to find rhyme words, to make verses, and to solve arithmetic problems. Part of the dream characters actually agreed to perform the tasks and were successful, although the arithmetic accomplishments were poor. From the phenomenological findings, nothing contradicts the assumption that dream characters have consciousness in a specific sense. Herefrom the conclusion was drawn, that in lucid dream therapy communication with dream characters should be handled as if they were rational beings. Finally, several possibilities of assessing the question, whether dream characters possess consciousness, can be examined with the aid of psychophysiological experiments.
Insulin, Exercise, and Dietary Effects upon Behavioral Thermoregulation in Albino Rats
Authors: Vitulli William F. , Tyler Kimberly E. , Hartzog Nancy , Quinn Joseph M.
Published: September 2011

The objectives of this exploratory research were to assess the effects of insulin preparations (Humulin-regular and NPH) on operant behavior reinforced by schedules of microwave radiation in a cold environment and to measure changes in this thermoregulatory behavior as a function of exercise and food deprivation. Eight albino rats were conditioned to regulate their thermal environment with 6-sec. exposures of microwave (MW) radiation (SAR = 0.34 Watts/kg/(mW/cm2) under FR-1 and FR-10 schedules. Regular-insulin and NPH-insulin sessions were administered alternately with saline-control sessions for 8-hr. durations. Exercise in an activity wheel and 48 hr. of food deprivation (diet) were additional independent variables used to alter thermoregulation. Three randomized-block analysis of variance designs with repeated measures showed that insulin preparations resulted in a suppression of operant responding for heat, yet food deprivation increased rates of microwave responding. These data are interpreted in terms of functional relationships between ambient temperature changes, core body temperature, blood glucose fluctuations, and operant behavior.
Effects of Irrationality on a Trail Making Performance Task
Authors: Kombos N. A. , Fournet G. P. , Estes R. E.
Published: September 2011

45 rational and 45 irrational thinkers as defined by Ellis's (1962) theory and assessed by their scores on the Irrational Belief Test were compared on a series of Trail Making tasks. Both groups were assigned to one of three conditions which involved presentation of irrational, neutral, and rational self-referent statements. Superior performance displayed by the rational group provided support for the rational-emotive theory position that irrational beliefs (ideas) generalize their adverse effect to actual performance situations. Except for the first trial the data did not support the expectation that types of self-statements differentially influence efficiency of performance.
Spatial Learning of Visual ‘Nonsense Figures’ during Experimental Ethanol Intoxication
Authors: Cohen Michael J. , Schandler Steven L. , McArthur David L.
Published: September 2011

The interaction of alcohol and visuospatial learning was evaluated during two experimental sessions. During one session, participants were experimentally intoxicated to obtain a blood alcohol concentration of at least 0.10%. During another session, a nonalcohol placebo was administered. The learning task consisted of a paired-associate paradigm requiring participants to learn the distinct spatial positions of 6 visually presented “nonsense shapes.” The visuospatial learning of participants in the placebo condition was generally superior to their learning while intoxicated. However, intercorrelations of performance measures indicated that the relation between alcohol ingestion and performance differences across conditions was not linear.
Study Strategies for Learning Spelling: Correlations with Achievement and Developmental Changes
Authors: Ormrod Jeanne Ellis , Jenkins Lynn
Published: September 2011

Students at three grade levels (Grades 3/4, Grades 7/8, and undergraduates) were pretested to identify 10 words each student could not spell. The students were then asked to “think aloud” as they studied the words; their utterances were tape-recorded and later transcribed. Immediately after the study session, students were given a posttest over the 10 studied words. Analyses of the study session protocols indicated that: (1) The amount of study time was not positively correlated with posttest spelling scores. (2) The two most commonly used study strategies, word pronunciation and letter rehearsal, accounted for the majority of the think-aloud utterances but were not positively correlated with posttest scores. (3) Overpronunciation, in which words were overenunciated or mispronounced in a way that more closely matched the word's spelling than normal pronunciation, was correlated .51 with posttest scores for the undergraduates, the only group who used this strategy with any frequency. (4) While overpronunciation (an effective strategy) was more frequently observed for older students, letter rehearsal (an ineffective strategy) was observed more often for younger students. Implications for spelling theory and educational practice are discussed.
Validation of a School Readiness Battery for a Referred Sample of Israeli Elementary School Students
Authors: Ben-Yochanan Avraham , Katz Yaacov
Published: September 2011

A School Readiness Test Battery, comprising the Information and Similarities subtests of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence, selected elements of the Gesell Reading Readiness Test, and the Minkowich Test of Arithmetic Readiness was used to screen a sample of referred candidates for entry into first grade of an Israeli elementary school. The candidates were retested at the end of first grade on a battery of tests of reading and arithmetic skills and achievement. An analysis of intercorrelations among readiness and achievement as well as multiple linear regression analysis indicated that, when a minibattery of the Gesell and Minkowich readiness tests was administered to a referred sample of 77 kindergarten children, superior prediction of school readiness at first grade was obtained.
Foot Lateralization and Psychomotor Control in Four-Year-Olds
Authors: Gabbard Carl
Published: September 2011

The assumption that young children who have established a preferred and consistent use of lateral limb control may have an advantage in motor skill competence over individuals who do not exhibit established dominant behaviors, was the focus of this investigation. The research identified the lateral foot preferences of 153 4-yr.-olds and compared preference groups (right, nonestablished, left) with motor skill competence. Analysis indicated no statistically significant differences on the eight motor tasks among the three groups, however, right-footed children outperformed the subjects with nonestablished foot preference on six of the eight tasks. This speculation is in the direction predicted by previous researchers and demands further inquiry.
Comparison of Reading and Listening-Reading Techniques for Administration of Sat Reading Comprehension Subtest: Justification for the Bypass Approach
Authors: Weinberg Warren A. , McLean Anne , Snider Robert L. , Rintelmann Jeanne W. , Brumback Roger A.
Published: September 2011

The Advanced Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) Reading Comprehension subtest was administered to a group of 36 Caucasian learning disabled children (6 girls and 30 boys) in Grades 7 through 9 who were classified by the clinical Lexical Paradigm as either good readers or poor readers. Using the standardized (silent reading) method of administration, these learning disabled children all scored below the normative (50th percentile) level of performance and the poor readers scored substantially lower than good readers. When the child was allowed to listen and read silently, however, while the test material was read aloud, both poor readers and good readers showed significantly improved performance. This improvement which allowed the average of the poor readers to approach the normative level and the good readers to exceed it, supports the argument that a “bypass approach” to education of poor readers which includes listening-reading tasks might greatly enhance their learning and performance in school-related reading tasks.
Can Response Force Be Shaped by Reinforcement?
Authors: Eisenberger Robert
Published: September 2011

Frick in 1986, writing in this journal, suggested that experiments purporting to demonstrate the shaping of response force by reinforcement lacked critical controls. He argued instead that such procedures create a mental schema concerning the response topography which influences force indirectly. Although Frick's methodological criticisms are well taken, there is additional evidence suggesting that response force can be strengthened by reinforcement and that such learning generalizes across behaviors.
Interaction of Spatial Perception, Vestibular Function, and Exercise in Young School Age Boys with Learning Disabilities
Authors: Byl Nancy N. , Byl Frederick M. , Rosenthal Joseph H.
Published: September 2011

Form rotation, figure directionality, and figure-ground discrimination were evaluated before and after 10 days of vestibular or aerobic exercises for 30 boys (7 to 12 yr.) who showed problems in learning, reading, and inattention. Eight subjects had normal vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) responses as determined by caloric and rotational testing. They were assigned to a vestibular program (Control Group I). The 22 subjects with abnormal VOR test responses were randomly assigned to either aerobic exercises (Experimental Group II) or a vestibular program (Experimental Group III). Spatial perceptual test scores varied widely, with the majority performing below age-expected norms but no significant differences on vestibular status appeared. Postexercise, only subjects completing the vestibular program made significant gains: Experimental Group III (abnormal VOR) made significant gains in accuracy and normal test responses compared to the other groups, and Control Group I made significantly greater gains in speed of spatial perceptual processing. For boys with problems in learning, reading, inattention, and vestibular function, a vestibular exercise program complementing a traditional or special educational program may enhance the spatial perceptual skills needed for reading.
Mixed-Handedness and Achievement Test Scores of Grade School Children
Authors: Sarma P. S. B.
Published: September 2011

Normal Curve Equivalent Scores on subtests of the California Achievement Test for mixed-handed children, 52 boys and 58 girls from Grades 3 and 4, who are right- and left-handed writers, indicate no differences by handedness in girls, but among the mixed-handed fourth grade boys, those who wrote right-handed scored lower on Study Skills than the boys who wrote left-handed.
Relations of Eye Color to Scores on Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency—Short Form
Authors: Beer John , Fleming Paula
Published: September 2011

The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency—Short Form (8 subtests and 15 motor skill activities) was administered individually to 28 students. Multivariate analysis of variance showed no association with differences in eye color. There were two significant sex differences on univariate F tests; boys scored better at standing broad jump than girls, while girls scored better at standing on one leg and drawing a straight line than boys.
Correlation of Two Competence Assessment Methods in a Geriatric Population
Authors: Searight H. Russell , Dunn Edwin J. , Grisso J. Thomas , Margolis Ronald B. , Gibbons Judith L.
Published: September 2011

A 10-subscale version of the Community Competence Scale, a structured interview, and the Scale of Competency in Independent Living Skills, a rating scale completed by a relative, were administered to 40 geriatric patients with suspected dementia. While the two assessments of competence appear to examine a common global domain, individual correlations between subscales of the two measures were only moderate. The findings provide limited support for the construct of competence.
Effects of Noise on a Simple Visual Attentional Task
Authors: Britton Linda A. , Delay Eugene R.
Published: September 2011

15 male and 15 female subjects scanned an array of lights during one of three types of white-noise conditions (continuous, 1-Hz pulse rate, and 10-Hz pulse rate) at 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90 dB. Detection of light stimuli increased under the lower intensities and decreased under the higher intensities in the continuous and the 1-Hz pulse-rate conditions, but decreased as intensity increased in 10-Hz pulse-rate noise. Detection of peripheral stimuli was greatest during continuous noise and lowest during 10-Hz pulse-rate noise. These data are interpreted in terms of changes in attentional focus which result from altered levels of arousal.
Early Feeding Practices and Subsequent Childrearing Attitudes of French-Canadian Women
Authors: de Man Anton
Published: September 2011

95 French-Canadian women took part in a study of the relationships between early feeding practices (bottle-feeding, breast-feeding) and subsequent childrearing attitudes (control, hostility/rejection). Possible effects of maternal age, sex of child, and socioeconomic status were considered. Maternal control was negatively related to socioeconomic status and duration of breast-feeding, whereas maternal hostility/rejection was negatively associated with length of breast-feeding.
Children's Snow Sleds: Age Appropriateness and Safety
Authors: Ridenour Marcella V.
Published: September 2011

The guidelines for age-labeling children's toys are summarized. Publications relating to the safe use of snow sleds by children are reviewed. The patent history of sled runners and steering is described. 140 children between the ages of 6 and 12 yr. old participated in the assessment of four different styles of snow sleds, using a downhill course which required a very small directional change. Sled style influenced the children's steering success. A traditional sled with a wooden platform and flexible metal runners provided the best steering for all age groups between 6 and 12 yr. old. Recommendations for parents, park managers, and manufacturers regarding the safety of children's sleds are provided.
Preclausal Patterns in Language Acquisition: A Study of Spanish-Speaking Children in Chile
Authors: Carson David K. , Silva Omer
Published: September 2011

Language utterances were recorded in three groups of 1- to 3-yr.-old day care children in Valdivia, Chile. An analysis of the preclausal patterns of language development according to the model outlined by Hubbell (1988) indicated that 4 of 12 major utterances—experiencer-state, action-object, agent-action, and negation-X—accounted for 68% of the total number of utterances recorded. The results suggest that preclausal patterns in language development of Spanish-speaking children are similar to and yet different in some respects from those of children who acquire English as their first language.
Influence of Phenomenal Time on Perceived Space
Authors: Russo G. , Dellantonio A.
Published: September 2011

It is known from work by Helson and King that the apparent spatial distance between stimuli presented in succession depends on the time interval between those stimuli (“tau effect”). It is also known that the apparent time (i.e., the interval of time perceived between stimuli presented in succession) depends on the spatial distance between the stimuli defining the time interval (called “kappa effect” by Cohen, Hansel, and Sylvester). For the “kappa effect,” apparent time between lights and stimuli on the skin of the forearm undergoes modification depending on the apparent spatial distance, as presented in Suto's work beginning in the early 1940s. The present work is complementary to Suto's. Its purpose is to test whether apparent spatial distance depends on the objective or subjective (apparent, phenomenal) time interval. To achieve this, our crucial (third) experiment was preceded by two exploratory experiments: the first to verify the illusion in which a subdivided interval appears longer than an empty interval of the same length (Oppel-Kundt temporal illusion); the second to verify the presence of the “tau effect” with simultaneous tactual and auditory stimuli for time intervals between 1500 and 2500 msec. In the third experiment subjects received successive tactual stimuli defining two spatial distance and two time intervals. They also received auditory stimuli that produced the Oppel-Kundt illusion by making the time intervals phenomenally different. The results fill a small experimental gap by showing it is subjective (phenomenal) and not objective (physical) time that influences perceived spatial distances.
The Aging War Veteran and Alcohol Abuse: An Emerging Relationship?
Authors: Parette Howard P. , Farrow Bobby J. , Farrow Jonelle M. , Hazelwood Michael
Published: September 2011

Research reported in the 1980s suggests combat experience in World War II is strongly related to consumption of alcohol by aging veterans. Whether posttraumatic stress disorder is implicated needs study.
Psychology of Computer Use: VIII. Utilizing a Nonparametric Item Response Model to Develop Unidimensional Scales: Mokscal
Authors: Tenvergert Elisabeth , Kingma Johannes , Taerum Terry
Published: September 2011

MOKSCAL is a program for the Mokken (1971) scale analysis based on a nonparametric item response model that makes no assumptions about the functional form of the item trace lines. The only constraint the Mokken model puts on the trace lines is the assumption of double monotony; that is, the item trace lines must be nondecreasing and the lines are not allowed to cross. MOKSCAL provides three procedures of scaling: a search procedure, an evaluation of the whole set of items, and an extension of an existing scale. All procedures provide a coefficient of scalability for all items that meet the criteria of the Mokken model and an item coefficient of scalability of every item. A test of robustness of the found scale can be performed to analyze whether the scale is invariant across different subgroups or samples. This robustness test may serve as a goodness-of-fit test for the established scale. The program is written in FORTRAN 77 and is suitable for both mainframe and microcomputers.
Left-Handedness and Life Expectancy
Authors: London Wayne P.
Published: September 2011

Halpern and Coren recently described an association between left-handedness and a lower life expectancy. This finding is not unexpected because left-handedness has been linked to three leading causes of death in our society—alcoholism, smoking, and breast cancer—as well as to several neurological and immune disorders.
A Possibly Interesting Intercorrelation Matrix to Accompany a Varimax Solution
Authors: Kaiser Henry F.
Published: September 2011

The intercorrelation matrix of Horn's general factor score approximation procedure applied to varimax factors is suggested as of possible interest for factor-analytic interpretation.
Gender Effects in Pain Perception
Authors: Lander J. , Fowler-Kerry S. , Hargreaves A.
Published: September 2011

Studies have shown that women report more pain than men when pain is induced in the laboratory. As sex differences in perceived pain have not been established with clinical or endogenous pain, research was undertaken to compare reported pain of males and females arising from one of three sources. Two groups of adults and one group of children were studied. Analyses indicated no sex differences in reported clinical or endogenous pain for children or adults.
Factors Influencing a Person to Become More Physically Active
Authors: Haynes Traci , McNamara J. Regis
Published: September 2011

In the first phase of the study, 170 introductory psychology students were administered six questionnaires dealing with various beliefs and attributions about general lifestyle patterns and their consequences. Physical activity was generally perceived in a positive way and there were sex differences in the way in which such activities were practiced and the extent to which they provided deflection of stress. In Phase 2, 65 inactive individuals from Phase 1 were exposed to an information-feedback manipulation which was not effective in promoting interest in obtaining reading material on exercise or in encouraging initiation of activity.
Personality and Performance: An Examination of Type A and B Constructs
Authors: Kirschner C. , Albright G. L. , Andreassi J. L.
Published: September 2011

This study was designed to ascertain the effects of Type A behavior, as measured by Vickers' scale on performance and self-estimation of performance in completing two tasks simultaneously. The relations between Type A behavior and specific personality components that appear related to Type A as defined by Friedman and Rosenman (1974) were also examined. 100 male undergraduate subjects, divided into groups of 8 to 15 subjects each, completed Vickers' Type A Questionnaire, Berger's Expressed Acceptance of Self Scale, Stein Self-description Questionnaire, and a Self-estimate of Performance Questionnaire. In a second session, each subject was randomly assigned to three tasks involving visual checking, auditory arithmetic, or both tasks simultaneously. Type A persons' performance was significantly poorer than Type B subjects' on simultaneous arithmetic problem solving. In addition, Type A persons who believed they would perform more poorly actually did so compared to Type B subjects when solving arithmetic items in the simultaneous task condition. These results are contrary to expectations that Type A persons will perform better and estimate performance as higher when compared to Type B subjects in completing multiple tasks. Further analyses also indicated that Type A subjects were significantly higher than Type B in self-acceptance (self-esteem), need for achievement, dominance, counteraction, and need for order. They were lower in need to play and blamavoidance.
A Basic Program for the Construction of Controlled-Lag Item-Repetition Sequences
Authors: Coney Jeffrey
Published: September 2011

A controlled-lag procedure is a particularly powerful and efficient means of investigating the effects of item repetition as a function of time or material intervening between the repetitions. For example, subjects may be presented with a continuous sequence of items and required to indicate whether each item is new (first presentation) or old (second presentation). The lag between the first and second presentations can be manipulated as a variable in the design. The major disadvantage of this approach is the difficulty of constructing appropriate sequences. A BASIC program is described which automatically constructs sequences of any length given experimental design specifications entered by the user.
Levels of Processing and the Retention of Word Meanings
Authors: Flannagan Dorothy A. , Blick Kenneth A.
Published: September 2011

The effect of three encoding techniques, rote, semantic, and self-reference, on short-term and long-term retention levels of the meanings of unfamiliar vocabulary words was examined. 72 college students participated in the experiment, with 24 students in each encoding group Ail participants viewed 20 target words and their definitions for 30 sec. Rote subjects were instructed to write just the word and its definition, semantic subjects were told to use the word in a sentence, and self-reference subjects wrote how the word might or might not describe themselves. After a 5-min. distractor task, subjects were tested on the recall of the definitions of those words. A retest was administered after 1 wk. As hypothesized, self-reference processing produced significantly higher retention than semantic processing, and semantic processing produced higher retention than rote processing. Encoding by self-reference was the most successful strategy for processing the meanings of unfamiliar nouns and adjectives.
Effect of Test Expectancy on Preferred Study Strategy Use and Test Performance
Authors: Feldt Ronald C. , Ray Michelle
Published: September 2011

Among undergraduates in a carefully controlled design, 9 students who took notes studied longer than groups of 30 and 17 who did not. No differences were observed on test scores, retention interval, comprehension scores, or reading rate. Whether students expected multiple-choice or free-recall testing, strategies were similar, suggesting study oriented to rote learning.
Apparel Shopping Behavior of Elderly Men and Women
Authors: Chowdhary Usha
Published: September 2011

70 interested elderly (65 yr. and over) men and women participated in an investigation of older consumers' apparel-shopping behavior and satisfactions and dissatisfactions with available clothing and facilities. Analysis showed that the participants considered shopping ease, wide variety, and label/brand as some of the important factors while shopping for clothes. The respondents were satisfied with good selection, closeness of the mall, and reasonable sales. However, their dissatisfactions ranged from service to fit and size, youthful styles, and abundance of imported clothing. In-store displays, mail order catalogs, and window shopping were the most commonly used sources of apparel information. Several implications of the findings were discussed and suggestions for further research were made.
Analysis of Errors on the Trail Making Test
Authors: Klusman Lawrence E. , Cripe Lloyd I. , Dodrill Carl B.
Published: September 2011

This study was designed to determine whether the number and/or types of errors on the Trail Making Test differentiated head-injured and normal control subjects. Errors on Part B were categorized into two types of shifting errors (from number to letter and from letter to number) and two types of sequencing errors (number and letter). Subjects consisted of 133 head-injured patients and 145 normal controls. Analysis showed that the frequency of errors on Parts A and B did not differ significantly between the two groups nor did the percentage of subjects making errors. Total shifting and sequencing errors also did not differentiate between the two groups. Although head-injured subjects were more likely than controls to err in shifting from letters to numbers, this finding was of no apparent clinical usefulness. The discriminative value of time scores was confirmed.
History of International Psychology in the Unmaking: Abstracting Nonenglish Periodical Literature in the Usa
Authors: Brožek Josef , Siegler Sharon L.
Published: September 2011

Policy of the American Psychological Association, announced in September 1987, calls for the elimination of nonEnglish material from Psychological Abstracts beginning in 1988, but with continuing coverage in the two electronic formats, PsychINFO and PsychLIT. APA's electronic information media indicate that nonEnglish material published from 1983 to 1986 accounted for 12 6% of the total number of the abstracts. For material published in 1987 (and processed for the most part in 1988) the percentage dropped dramatically to 1.4%. It remained at this level (1.6%) during the next period available for analysis at this time.
Preexposure of a Redundant Stimulus in a Different Context Attenuates Blocking
Authors: Rickert Edward J. , Register Angela
Published: September 2011

Using an extension of the blocking paradigm, the question of whether operations that reduce the associability of a stimulus (preexposure, redundancy) exert their effects independently of the context in which they are experienced was examined. Prior to conditioning two of the four groups received 20 presentations (4/day for 5 days) of a visual stimulus prior to its use as a redundant element in the blocking paradigm. Preexposure occurred in the same context as the training situation for one of the groups; the other group experienced the stimulus in an altered auditory, visual and olfactory environment. The other groups served as controls: one received the blocking regimen; the other served as an overshadowing control. An altered context during preexposure enhanced the associability of the redundant cue evidenced by an attenuation of blocking. This finding suggests that one indirect effect of context is the specification of a conditional relationship between stimulus and response such that operations which alter the associability of a stimulus are dependent upon the context in which they occur.
Geophysical Variables and Behavior: LVIII. Autonomic Activity, Hemolysis, and Biological Psychokinesis: Possible Relationships with Geomagnetic Field Activity
Authors: Braud William G. , Dennis Stephen P.
Published: September 2011

Several recent reports have indicated significant relations between extrasensory perception (ESP) experiences and performances and the Earth's geomagnetic field (GMF) activity. ESP experiences are reported more frequently, and accuracy of laboratory ESP is more accurate, on days of relatively quiet GMF activity. On the other hand, there are indications that a complementary paranormal process, psychokinesis, may be enhanced by high GMF activity. We conducted retrospective analyses of possible relations between GMF activity and (a) electrodermal activity (as an index of sympathetic autonomic activity), (b) rate of hemolysis of human red blood cells in vitro, (c) attempted distant mental (i.e., psychokinetic) influence of electrodermal activity, and (d) attempted distant mental (psychokinetic) influence of rate of hemolysis. For each of these four measures, high activity was associated with high GMF values, while low activity was associated with low GMF values. The relations were statistically significant for three of the four analyses and showed a consistent trend in the fourth.
Age/Sex/Experience: Possible Explanations of Differences in Anticipation of Coincidence
Authors: Kuhlman Jolynn S. , Beitel Patricia A.
Published: September 2011

Differences in anticipation of coincidence on the Bassin Timer were evaluated by age, sex, and previous open-sport experience for 42 4- to 9-yr.-old children. Analysis indicated that most boys had competitive sport experiences approximately two years before most girls, that improved consistency in anticipation of coincidence occurred in direct relation, with predictable delay, to the initial competitive experience in open-sport tasks, and that within the age groups from 4- to 9-yr. experience in sports seemed a more critical factor than sex for explaining differences in consistency in anticipation of coincidence.
Effect of Adaptation to the Task on Solving the Group Embedded Figures Test
Authors: Kirchner Teresa , Forns Maria , Amador Juan Antonio
Published: September 2011

The often shown fact that the third series of the Group Embedded Figures Test has systematically been better solved than the second has led to the supposition of a possible favorable training effect for this type of task. In this study we changed the order of administering the series and observed that, generally, this supposition is upheld by scores from two groups of 65 college women whose median age was 21 yr.
Left-Arm Dominance in Active Positioning
Authors: Kurian George , Sharma N. K. , Santhakumari K.
Published: September 2011

The relative accuracy of the left and the right arms in active positioning was studied in a group of 24 male right-handed undergraduates. The task required active positioning of the left and right arms at each of the four angular positions (30°, 45°, 60°, and 75°). The left arm was more accurate in active positioning than the right arm. There was a progressive increase in error for both arms as the arms flexed more in reducing the angle at the joint. Results are discussed in light of suggestions concerning the superiority of the right hemisphere in the processing of kinesthetic and proprioceptive information.
A Neo-Piagetian Interpretation of the Mobility-Fixity Dimension
Authors: Niaz Mansoor
Published: September 2011

Drawing on recent data published in several sources a simple interpretation of findings on the dimension, mobility-fixity, is presented.
Use of Peripheral Vision in the Decision to Brake
Authors: Bardy Benoît G. , Laurent Michel
Published: September 2011

The aim of this study was to determine whether the speed information collected at the peripheral retina is used to assess the time-to-collision ( TC) with a target. For this purpose, 12 male volunteers were asked to perform a braking task consisting of running up to an obstacle under three experimental conditions: normal vision, central vision (13°), and central vision + 4° restricted peripheral information, presented 50–54° off center. Analyses show that the greater peripheral information available, the later braking occurred. The idea is put forward that the method used by the subjects to obtain TC may have consisted of combining the running speed with the braking distance ( TC = BD/S). This partly challenges the ecological optics hypothesis (Lee, 1980) that TC is obtained entirely on the basis of the target expansion rate on the retina.