bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The impact of ideology on organization theory
Authors: ALVESSON MATS
Published: May 2008

The article examines the relationship between the need for ideology and legitimation in society and organizations, and the forms of research and texts in organizational behavior theory. It is proposed that the political relevance of this theory makes it impossible to view it as “pure” science. The ideological features of organization theory must be considered as unavoidable parts of the theory as social and behavioral science. Special emphasis must be placed on the elements that produce unnecessary biased discriptions of actual conditions in favor of the prevalent social order and dominating interests. In the article, some societal trends are pointed to that bring about an increased need for ideological legitimation of prevalent conditions. A number of organizational texts are interpreted from a ideology‐critical position and ideological themes in organization theory are thereby illuminated and exemplified.
The effect of stimulus preexposure upon the context effect in taste‐aversion learning in noradrenaline‐depleted rats
Authors: ARCHER TREVOR , JÄRBE TORBJÖRN U. C. , MOHAMMED ABDUL K. , PRIEDITE GONA
Published: May 2008

The present investigation was designed to study the effect of preexposure to a saccharin plus noisy bottle stimulus compound, or to each element by itself, upon the extinction‐dependent “context effects” (due to the presencelabsence of the noisy bottle contextual cue) in taste‐aversion learning, following noradrenaline (NA) depletion via a single systemic DSP4 injection. Since contextual manipulations have provided a reliable means of studying selective attentional processes the current theorising on the role of noradrenaline can be effectively accommodated. It was found that, under the No Preexposure and Noisy Bottle Preexposure conditions, the “context effect” during the saccharin preference tests, after reinstatement of the noisy bottles for all groups, was totally absent for the NA‐depleted rats; in the Saccharin plus Noisy Bottle Preexposure condition the “context effect” was partially blocked for the NA depleted rats and in the Saccharin Preexposure condition it was at least as strong as in the control condition, These findings may be interpreted as supporting our conclusions, concerning NA‐depleted rats derived from several different investigations, i.e. that following NA loss rats fail to attend sufficiently to contextual cues in taste‐neophobia and taste‐aversion situations. Thus, the attentional deficit may be described as an inability to attend to all aspects of the taste stimulus plus exteroceptive context stimulus compound. Although the selective attentional hypothesis of noradrenaline function requires a good deal of alteration, it remains the most parsimonious account that can be described at present.
Recursive messages in quantitative communication
Authors: GUNDERSEN JAN H. R. , STÖYLEN ASBJÖRN
Published: May 2008

The article concerns quantitative messages as opposed to “classifying” messages described in traditional communication theory. Recursive statements are an important part of quantitative messages. The structure and function of recursive statements are analysed. The mathematical principle of recursion is briefly outlined and the article offers a general method of analysing quantitative communication in terms of simple computer simulation. The relationship between recursive and paradoxical communication is pointed out. Finally, the possible application of recursive messages in therapy is discussed.
The incongruent color‐words paradigm and language lateralization: An EEG‐study
Authors: HUGDAHL KENNETH , FRANZON MIKAEL
Published: May 2008

The present study utilizes an incongruent color‐words paradigm, where color‐words are briefly flashed either to the left or to the right of the center of futation. The hypothesis is that a greater conflict between the word and the color the word is written in will occur in the left hemisphere than in the right hemisphere, if the task of the subject is to report only the color. In previous studies, however, only behavioral measures, like vocal reaction time and error frequency, have been used to assess asymmetry. In the presented experiment we have added analysis of the 8–13 Hz EEG alpha difference between the hemispheres, predicting greater alpha reduction to the color‐words in the left hemisphere, but not to the control stimuli. Twenty intact, male, dextrals participated. Results supported the prediction, witha 8.3% reduction of alpha activity in the left hemisphere to the color words, compared to a 1.9% reduction in the right hemisphere. No difference was found to the control stimuli.
Processing differences in the right and left visual half‐field
Authors: LARSEN STEEN , AHRENSBERG ROSE‐MARIE , CARLSEN OVE , MEJDING JAN
Published: May 2008

Strings each containing 3 single digits were displayed tachistoscopically in the right and left visual half‐field to 59 normal children, 8 to 14 years old. A distinction between 4 types of responses was made. Correct responses most frequently occurred to items in the left half‐field, no half‐field advantages was found for reversed responses, and wrong‐order responses most frequently occurred to items in the right half‐field. These results are explained by suggesting a more analog mode of processing in the left visual half‐field and a more conceptual mode of processing in the right half‐field. The degree of asymmetry was found to be age‐related.
Adult visual choice‐reaction time, age, sex and preparedness: A test of Welford's problem in a large population sample
Authors: LAHTELA KARI , NIEMI PEKKA , KUUSELA VESA
Published: May 2008

The relationship between age, sex and visual three‐choice reaction time was investigated with a representative sample of adult subjects who participated in a large health survey in Finland (the Mini‐Finland Survey). Subjects' age varied from 30 to 79 years. Reaction time increased reliably with increasing age. Men were faster than women across all age levels. The shortest of the irregularly presented inter‐stimulus intervals (ISI) slowed down the performance of elderly subjects in particular. This suggests that they had more difficulty than younger subjects in getting prepared for an uncertain event. They also committed most errors at the longest ISI. This was interpreted as a result of their relative inability to maintain the optimum level of preparation. On the whole, men displayed a higher error rate than women, which suggests that the observed male superiority is at least in part due to response strategies. The importance for aging research of sampling the subjects and task types is briefly discussed.
Restructuring revised: A theoretical note on Ohlsson's mechanism of restructuring
Authors: KEANE MARK
Published: May 2008

A critique of Ohlsson's (1984) ‘mechanism of restructuring’ is forwarded through an elaboration of the way in which information is organized in memory and the resultant types of retrieval possible. A basic form of organization of information is outlined and two examples briefly considered to illustrate the implications of these proposals.
Open field activity after learning and stress in mice
Authors: KVIST BÉATRICE
Published: May 2008

Open field activity after maze Iearning light‐sound stress and attacking stress was studied in mice. The results from the present experiments indicated that these procedures affected the open field activity in various ways. Maze learning caused an increase in activity compared to the control group, whereas attacking stress decreased and light‐sound stress did not affect activity. The results were discussed in terms of different coping strategies.
Learning strategies in two Danish children's language development
Authors: PLUNKElT KIM
Published: May 2008

A longitudinal investigation of two Danish children's linguistic and cognitive development during their second year is described. A summary of their Mean Length of Utterances (MLU), Vocabulary Scores and performance on the Uzgiris‐Hunt infancy assessment scales is presented. The results reveal a pattern of individual differences that can be accommodated within a framework that identifies the use of analytic and holistic strategies as complementary approaches to the process of language learning. The consequences of this theoretical framework for the interpretation of MLU and Vocabulary Scores are discussed.
Attractiveness of decision alternatives characterized by numerical and non‐numerical information
Authors: SVENSON OLA , KARLSSON GUNNAR
Published: May 2008

Subjects judged the attractiveness of student apartments characterized by the attributes of size, standard and travelling time to the university. The information describing the apartments was given either in numerical (e.g., 21 m2) or verbal form (e.g., small). In the first experiment the verbal descriptions were scaled numerically to ensure comparability of the numerical and verbal presentations. In the second experiment, the subjects gave attractiveness judgments of these alternatives described in all different combinations of numerically and verbally presented attributes. In the third experiment, ananlyses of numerical judgments and think aloud protocols were used. The most important attribute was travelling time to the university. In general, numerical representation of the most important attribute tended to have somewhat greater impact on attractiveness judgements than verbal descriptions. This average tendency reflected a substantial difference for poor alternatives and a small or nonexisting effect for the most attractive apartments in the set of decision alternatives. This result was related to findings of different decision processes for choices among positive and negative decision alternatives.
Relationships between child‐rearing practices and primary school children's functional adjustment in the People's Republic of China
Authors: EKBLAD SOLVIG
Published: May 2008

The aim of this study was to examine Chinese mothers' child‐rearing practices with boys and girls and to relate these to teachers' ratings of children's functional adjustment in school. The sample consisted of 290 4th grade primary school children (mean age 10.3) in Beuing, the People's Republic of China. Results indicated that the questionnaires—developed in a Western culturc—gave quite meaningful information when used with the Chinese subjects. The findings were well in line with the impressions of Westerns observers that the Chinese child‐rearing is restrictive. The Chinese children, especially girls, seemed to have few adjustment problems. The correlations between mothers' child‐rearing practices and teachers' ratings of children's functional adjustment showed few significant relationships. The sex differences in children's functional adjustment were interpreted to reflect genetic variations in basic predispositions in boys and girls, which had been subtly enlarged by more or less clear, sex‐linked differences in environmental conditions.
Agency and Communion in mothers related to paranatal adaptation, fathers' personality and the marriage
Authors: LIPPE ANNA LOUISE VON DER , TORGERSEN SVENN
Published: May 2008

The relationship between Agency (self‐assertion and independence) and Communion (nurturance and expressivity) and paranatal adjustment was studied in 32 primi‐parious women. It was predicted that Agentic women would be ambivalent about the maternal role during pregnancy, but would adjust to the role subsequently. Communal women were anticipated to be unambivalent and adjust without problems to the role. Agency and Communion scores were constructed from the women's self‐descriptions and their mothers' descriptions of them on a 56 item adjective Q‐sort. Attitudes to the maternal role were assessed by a projective technique and paranatal adjustment by the Goldberg Health Questionnaire at 4 points: shortly before pregnancy, after the 1st trimester of pregnancy and 6 weeks and 12 months after delivery. The predictions were confirmed. Contextual relationships were sought by studying husbands and the marriage. The matching of personality characteristics in the couples were found to create interpersonal climates similar to those the wives had experienced with their mothers. The husbands emphasized satisfactions in those areas of the marital relationship where their Agentic or Communal wives had their primary social competence, factors which may also have contributed to the adaptation of the wives as mothers.
Frequency specific chromatic adaptation in the human visual system
Authors: MAHMUD S. H.
Published: May 2008

Subjects were exposed to a vertical chromatic grating alternating with horizontal chromatic grating of the identical frequency. They were then tested with a series of test gratings of varied spatial frequencies to examine whether the responses were effected by the spatial frequency of the adaptation pattern in relation to the test pattern. It was found that maximum response occurred when adaptation and test gratings had the same spatial frequency, the effect was asymmetric and finally that enhancements were found at octaves. Thus the experiment further demonstrated that neural elements specific to spatial frequency exist in the human visual system.
Stillbirth, neonatal death and Sudden Infant Death (SIDS): parental reactions
Authors: DYREGROV ATLE , MATTHIESEN STIG BERGE
Published: May 2008

The differences between parental grief reactions following different types of infant losses were investigated. A total of 117 parents (55 couples) from three groups of parents (stillbirth, neonatal death and Sudden Infant Death), 53% women and 47% men, answered a survey on different grief reactions one to four years following the death. Included in the survey were psychometric measures relating to anxiety, depression, impact of event, bodily discomfort, and general wellbeing. The results demonstrated that the three groups differed in their experience of various grief reactions. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) parents reported significantly more anxiety and intrusive thoughts than the other two groups in the early post‐loss period, as well as significantly more anger, restlessness, and sleep disturbances than the neonatal group. The SIDS parents also scored significantly higher on some of the measures (experience of recovery, IES intrusion) relating to how they felt at the time of study. While the death being sudden did not show any correlation with the parents experience of recovery or the psychometric measures, the length of time the child had lived showed a strong relationship to these measures. It is emphasized that counselling to parents must be based on increased knowledge about parental reactions, tailored to the individual family's needs.
Quantifying aggression: Effects of identity of stimulus
Authors: SANTOS CLARA MARIA MELO DOS , HOLANDA VALERIA MAGDA LUNA DE , VIKAN ARNE
Published: May 2008

A test for children's insight into relations between behaviour and aggressive emotion showed that kindergarten children showed an increase in ratings of emotion corresponding to an increase in aggressive behaviour (positive relation), and that an increase in ratings of emotions corresponding to a decrease in aggression‐related behaviour (negative relation) was shown by seven‐ and nine‐year‐old children. Cognition of relations between aggressive emotion and behaviour seemed to be developed earlier than cognition of relations between intention and behaviour as observed in a previous study. Results from the test also indicated that the magnitude of emotion ratings differed in identity (same stimulus person) and non‐identity (differed stimulus persons) stimulus conditions.
Rating scale vs. pair comparison in moral judgment: A replication of the study by von Wright & Niemelä (1966) with a different method
Authors: HELKAMA KLAUS , SEPPÄNEN HILKKA
Published: May 2008

The eight moral story‐cartoons used by von Wright & Niemelä (1966) were given to 20 four to six‐year old nursery school children who rated them on a six‐point scale. The resulting order of mean ratings was identical with the order of scale values constructed from the pair‐comparisons of the 10‐year‐old group in the original study and closer to the order of 13‐year‐olds than to that of the seven‐year‐olds.
Intrinsic interest and the novelty‐familiarity interaction
Authors: TEIGEN KARL HALVOR
Published: May 2008

According to the interaction hypothesis of interest, the inherent interestingness of a communication or a situation will be maximal when novel and familiar elements are simultaneously present. This is illustrated in three experimental demonstrations, where students were to indicate their interest (a) in book titles (more and less well‐known authors best and least known works); (b) in reports by foreign journalists about everyday life in Norway (familiar topic) and in Honduras (less familiar); and (c) in meeting tourists of different nationalities at more and less familiar geographical locations. The results show that the preference function for novelty will be ascending or descending dependent upon the familiarity or unfamiliarity of other aspects of the situation. Thus, Norwegian subjects were not very curious about unfamiliar British authors least known works, whereas they would very much like to read what journalists from unfamiliar countries write about Norway. Also, they preferred meeting tourists from unfamiliar countries, as long as the meeting took place in a familiar city. In a foreign city, the order of preference was reversed.
Marble burying and spontaneous motor activity in mice: interactions over days and the effect of diazepam
Authors: ARCHER TREVOR , FREDRIKSSON ANDERS , LEWANDER TOMMY , SÖDERBERG ULF
Published: May 2008

Spontaneous motor activity of mice was studied in the presence or absence of 24 coloured glass marbles with and without treatment with different doses of the anxiolytic compound, diazepam. The three parameters of motor activity, locomotion, rearing and total activity, were measured in automated test cages. All the groups exposed to the marbles exhibited considerable and comparable marble burying, but there was an important interaction between marble burying and locomotor activity over test days. The “marbles” group performed fewer locomotion counts than the “no marbles” group on Day 1 but more counts on Day 3. The “marbles” group performed more rearing and less total activity than the “no marbles” group generally and this relationship was not altered over test days. Diazepam caused a dose‐dependent decrease of both marble burying and the three parameters of motor activity but did not cause further increases in motor activity in the groups exposed to the marbles. These results are discussed with regard to the effects of “coping” behaviours on measures of motor activity. In conclusion, the present motor activity‐marble burying test appears to be a suitable animal model for testing potential anxiolytic compounds.
Initial memory deficits and subsequent recovery in two cases of head trauma
Authors: CHRISTIANSON SVEN‐ÅKE , NILSSON LARS‐GÖRAN , SILFVENIUS HERBERT
Published: May 2008

This study describes initial and one‐year follow‐up findings on verbal memory testing of two patients who sustained moderate head injuries. The two main purposes were (a) to capture the specific patterns of memory disorders shown by these two head‐trauma patients, and (b) to explore the nature of the recovery of these disorders. Several episodic memory tests and semantic memory tests were employed as well as questions about autobiographical events having occurred prior to and after the trauma, and about various aspects of the accident itself causing the trauma. The main conclusions to be drawn from the study are that the memory disorders demonstrated are based on difficulties in memory organization, and that the two patients differ in the nature of the recovery of the deficits.
Anxiety and vulnerability in parents following the death of an infant
Authors: DYREGROV ATLE , MATTHIESEN STIG BERGE
Published: May 2008

Empirical data on the subjectively reported anxiety reactions of 117 parents who lost an infant at birth or daring the first year of life are presented. From a retrospective survey conducted 1 to 4 years after the death it was evident that parents experienced a great deal of anxiety following the death of their child. Parents who experienced a sudden death in the home reported the strongest anxiety, but other parents who lost their child in hospital at birth or thereafter also experienced strong anxiety. The anxiety for surviving children and later‐born children was extensive. In all areas mothers experienced more anxiety than fathers. More intense and longer grief in one's partner, the perceived lack of support from others, being older, and being a female were significantly correlated with anxiety. The results are interpreted as a confirmation that parents who lose their children experience a fundamental change in their beliefs about their family's future security. Better training of health personnel is required to secure an adequate follow up of families that lose a child.
Personal, national and global image of the future in adulthood
Authors: BLINNIKKA LEENA‐MARIA
Published: May 2008

The personal, national and global image of the future was investigated by four different methods. The study group consisted of 69 women and 79 men aged 16 to 79. The most frequent content areas were at the personal level the family, at the national level general situation of the country and at the global level world peace. The image of the future was closely linked with the method used. Matters broader in scope than the subject's private life were spontaneously very rarely thought of, but when asked to, the subjects were able to make statements as to the future of their country and the world.
Emotional and autonomic responses to visual traumatic stimuli
Authors: CHRISTIANSON SVEN‐ÅKE
Published: May 2008

A fine‐grain analysis of autonomic responses are presented with the purpose of extending the conclusions from a previously published paper (Christianson & Nilsson, 1984) on emotional and memorial responses to traumatic visual stimuli. Control subjects were presented with a series of 18 slides of neutral faces, whereas the experimental subjects were presented with six slides of horrible facial injuries in positions 7–12, interspersed between six slides of neutral faces in the beginning, and six slides of neutral faces at the end of the series. The time course of heart rate (HR) and skin conductance (SC) during stimulus presentation was recorded. These data showed an initial pattern of increase in SC, but not in HR. This pattern was subsequently replaced by a combined increase in both SC and HR. The results are discrepant to previous work and are interpreted as effects of not informing the subjects about the gruesome slides to be presented.
Examination stress, personality and self‐reported physical symptoms
Authors: VASSEND OLAV
Published: May 2008

Thirty‐nine undergraduate students were investigated to determine the effects of examination stress on self‐reported physical symptoms and sensations. Testing was undertaken six weeks prior to a final examination (phase I), immediately after the written part of the examination was over (phase II), and 12–14 days afterwards, but before an oral examination (phase III). The results showed that examination stress was associated with an increase in state anxiety and self‐reported physical symptoms with the exception of heart‐complaints which showed a gradual decline over the three experimental phases. In phase III, all symptom measures showed a reduction below baseline levels and below the control group's levels. Correlation analyses revealed that symptom scores were associated with variables reflecting psychological vulnerability (e.g. Recent stress and Neuroticism) and dysphoric affect, especially anxiety. The results are discussed in light of theories of attribution, attentional focusing and phychophysiological activation.
The influence of verbal and imagery strategies on processing figurative language
Authors: HELSTRUP TORE
Published: May 2008

Four experiments on metaphor functions were designed to test a functionally orientated problem‐solving approach, where act, content, and experience are treated as three aspects of cognition. Two experiments showed imagery strategies to be superior to verbal strategies as regards comprehension and production of metaphors. However, the results of the two other experiments showed no differences between imagery and verbal strategies.

Metaphor performance was uncorrelated with performance on general intelligence tests. The intercorrelations between different metaphor tasks were also generally low. The highest positive correlation was found with a measure of imagery control under imagery processing conditions. Aptness ratings of metaphors were unrelated to level of metaphor memory. However, comprehension of metaphors was observed to correlate positively with metaphor memory.

The results show that attitude factors are important for comprehension and production of metaphors, and that alternative memorization strategies may work equally well. In order to explain the observations a multi‐level coding model was suggested.
Mental models and problem solving: Three challenges to a theory of restructuring and insight
Authors: MONTGOMERY HENRY
Published: May 2008

The Gestalt psychologists' view of restructuring and the associated phenomenon of insight is discussed and related to findings in modern cognitive psychology. In line with Ohlsson (1984b) it is assumed that search in semantic memory is an indispensable part of restructuring. However, in contrast to Ohlsson's (1984b) information processing theory of restructuring and insight the present paper focuses on the role of mental models. It is asserted that the Gestalt approach to problem solving is compatible with the idea that a mental model is manipulated. The paper discusses three assumptions of restructuring and insight, all of which are related to mental models: (a) restructuring involves manipulating a mental model; (b) the experience of insight is based on “seeing” something in a mental model; (c) restructuring aims at realizing structural balance in a mental model. To assess the validity of these three assumptions is seen as a challenge to future research on human problem solving.
Recognition failure of recallable words: free and cued recall compared
Authors: SANDBERG KARL
Published: May 2008

The experiment reported was conducted with the purpose of studying whether the phenomenon of recognition failure of recallable words would hold for a paradigm which involves a free recall test rather than a cued recall test used in previous research. The 3×2 design used comprised two between‐subjects factors: the subjects were instructed that a recognition test, a cued recall test, or a free recall test would follow the study trial, but the actual test sequence given was recognition followed by cued recall, or recognition followed by free recall. The results demonstrate that cases of recognition failure of recallable words do occur in all six conditions, but the amount of recognition failure for the recognition‐free recall test sequence was less than that predicted from the Tulving & Wiseman (1975) function. In line with previous research the data for the recognition‐cued recall test sequence showed the amount of recognition failure that was predicted by this function.
Depressive retardation and subliminally manipulated aggressive involvement
Authors: SMITH GUDMUND J. W. , CARLSSON INGEGERD
Published: May 2008

A group of 43 adult psychiatric in‐patients with a preliminary diagnosis of depression were tested with the Meta‐Contrast Technique to determine degree of depressive retardation. They were also given an Identification Test where subliminal tagging was used to direct identification with an aggressor or a victim depicted on a tachistoscopically exposed stimulus. The higher the degree of depressive retardation the more reluctant the subjects were to get involved in the aggressor‐victim theme. A Creative Functioning Test also attested to the empty, dehumanized experiential world of the most retarded subjects.
Immobility‐related hippocampal theta activity in rats during reaction to novelty
Authors: MYHRER TROND , de GROOT DIDIMA M. G.
Published: May 2008

Two types of theta activity are seen in the hippocampal formation of the rat. Type 1 theta which has a high overall frequency is related to movements, whereas Type 2 theta of lower frequency is related to immobility. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether Type 2 theta may occur in rats encountering novelty. To shed light on this issue rats were tested in a novelty test in which smell made up the novel aspect. Upon encountering a cheese spot on the novel object the rats displayed relatively high‐frequency theta activity while all legs were immobile, and low level of EMG activity was seen in the nuchal muscle. It was not possible to test whether the “novelty theta” was sensitive to atropine, since administration of atropine sulphate abolished the rats' preference for novelty. The results are discussed in terms of Type 2 theta reflecting sensory processing.
The Holte Sleeping Technique: An experimental study
Authors: HOLTE ARNE
Published: May 2008

The Holte Sleeping Technique is an alternative to medication to facilitate sleep onset in situations of normal stress. The technique is based on a combination of conditioning within the theory of learning, simulation of natural bodily processes, and manipulation of naturally available sleep‐releasing stimuli. The author describes the technique and reports an experimental testing of its efficacy.

Fifty‐six female subjects were selected according to criteria based on questionnaires and sleep logs. The subjects were randomly assigned to a treatment group, a placebo group, and a no‐treatment group. A pre‐test‐post‐test design was used. The author questions the generalizability of findings from modern electronic sleep laboratories to the bedrooms of everyday life. In order to optimize the combination of normal stress, objective criteria and generalizability, sleep onset was measured by behavioural criteria based on the “fog‐horn procedure” developed by the author. At post‐test 67% of the treatment group fell asleep, while only 17% of the placebo group and 25% of the no‐treatment group fell asleep. The differences were significant. It is concluded that the Holte Sleeping Technique is highly effective. In a discussion of placebo trials the author argues that traditional medical trials do not take into consideration the differentiating psychological attribution effects occurring by giving the same experimental instruction under different experimental conditions. As a consequence the active treatment is given better conditions than the placebo in traditional clinical trials.
The effect of social influence on cognitive development and school performance
Authors: HARTMANN ELLEN , ERI TURID JOHANNE , SKINSTAD ANNE HELENE
Published: May 2008

Three months before school entrance a sample of 29 children and their mothers was tested for degree of decentred child educability and degree of decentred maternal teaching. Mother and child were tested in two different situations, thus preventing interdependency between the measures of mother and child. Four months after school entrance, teacher judgements of school performance were obtained. A strong correspondence between degree of decentred child educability and degree of decentred maternal teaching was demonstrated. Degree of decentred maternal teaching and degree of decentred child educability were found to be good predictors of school performance, accounting for respectively 45 and 33% of the variance in school performance. In contrast a test of school readiness only accounted for 2% of the variance. A test of intelligence given after the teacher judgement accounted for 31% of the variance. The fact that the mother seems to be a better predictor of her child's school performance than the child himself, supports the assumption that parents, particularly mothers, are important mediators between the child and the outer world.
Psychometric features related to the acute phase and final outcome of anorexia nervosa
Authors: GUNDERSEN JAN II. R.
Published: May 2008

The MMPI responses of a poor and good final outcome group from a follow‐up study of anorexia nervosa were compared with responses of a group of anorexic patients in the acute phase. The poor outcome group produced elevated scores in the psychopathological range except on scales 4, 5 and 9. No elevations occurred in the good outcome group and the MMPI thus discriminated significantly between different kinds of final outcome of anorexia nervosa. The profile of the patients in the acute phase at time of testing was not significantly different from the poor outcome group profile. In order to improve the predictive validity of the MMPI related to anorexia nervosa, the paper points to possible directions for further research.
A review of the effects of noise on human performance
Authors: SMITH ANDREW
Published: May 2008

The present review is concerned with the effects of noise, especially moderate intensity noise on performance. The review covers recent empirical results and theoretical approaches, and examines the importance of the nature of the noise, individual differences in response to noise, and other factors which modify the effects of noise. A central theme of the review is that it is essential to consider the nature of the task being performed in noise, and a profile of strategies of performance in noise is presented. Finally, recommendations are made about the direction and methodology of future research.
Dark‐adaptation mechanisms of the long‐wave foveal cones
Authors: STABELL ULF , STABELL BJØRN
Published: May 2008

The ordinary long‐term rod and cone dark‐adaptation curves have generally been assumed to follow a single exponential rate of recovery. However, in two previous papers on rod dark‐adaptation (Stabell et al., 1986a, b), the recovery curve was found to consist of three different sections. The results of the present paper show the same type of recovery function with three different sections for the long‐term dark‐adaptation curve of the long‐wave cone system. During the major, middle section log cone threshold, like log rod threshold, is linearly related to the logarithm of the concentration of bleached photopigment. Presupposing that the bleached cone photopigment acts as a ligand, the change in threshold level obtained during the middle section of the dark‐adaptation curve is well described by the change in activity rate of an allosteric, positively cooperative enzyme built as a dimer.
A new objectively scored version of the Defence Mechanism Test
Authors: COOPER COLIN , KLINE PAUL
Published: May 2008

Kragh's Defence Mechanism Test has proved its worth in a number of applied settings but has hitherto required skilled time‐consuming interpretation. Two studies are reported which validate an “objectively scored” version of the test developed using G‐analysis. In the first, it was found that this version of the test could successfully predict the performance of trainee pilots. The second study examined the construct validity of this version of the test. It was found that the predictive factor from Study I re‐emerged within a sample of students, where it correlated positively with scores on a test of perceptual defence and the Shrewdness (N) scale of the 16PF, and negatively with two of the identification scales of the Defence Mechanism Test. This factor was tentatively identified as one of general defensiveness. It is concluded that this form of the test deserves consideration when selecting individuals for stressful occupations.
Voluntary response selection in free association
Authors: MEIRAN NACHSHON
Published: May 2008

Reaction time (RT) in free association (FA) is assumed to consist of three components: stimulus word encoding, response selection, and response generation. The RT of word naming contains the first and third components only. If response selection is a serial voluntary search it can be manipulated by rewarding response speeding. This would lead the subject to terminate the search sooner. Thus, greater speeding will be achieved for delayed responses, for which search was long, than for undelayed ones. This differential speeding effect was observed in Experriment 1 (N=17), in which the task was FA. Speeding effect was not differential in Experiment 2, in which the subjects (N=16) were given a word naming task. Both of these experiments employed a between‐subjects design. Their results were replicated in Experiment 3 (N=13), which employed a within‐subject design. The results, taken together, suggest that differential speeding is specific to response selection, in accordance with Flekkoy's (1973a, 1981) voluntary selection model. However, they are inconsistent with the traditional associonistic models.
Parent–child gender interaction in the relation between retrospective self‐reports on parental love and current self‐esteem
Authors: FORSMAN LENNART
Published: May 2008

A retrospective questionnaire study investigated the relation between current self‐esteem in adult men (n=34) and women (n=99) and self‐reported experience of parental “unconditional positive regard” during childhood. For both men and women the perception of the father's unconditional regard was significantly related to self‐esteem. For women only a weak relation was found between the reported experience of maternal regard and self‐esteem in adulthood; a comparison of younger and older women showed that this relation was weaker for younger women. The results were interpreted in terms of a greater ambivalence in women towards the mother, possibly as a result of women's more complex separation and identification processes; the difference between younger and older women could indicate that this ambivalence decreases over the years. The implications of this interpretation for the validity of retrospective accounts is discussed, suggesting that the validity could increase over the years.
School adjustment, school performance and peer relations among first‐graders in a Swedish suburban area1
Authors: RYDELL ANN‐MARGRET
Published: May 2008

A study of 95 first‐graders in one school management area used teacher ratings of problems and sociometric ratings to assess school adjustment and peer relations; 14% of the children had difficulties in reading/writing, motor skill, concentration and psychosocial function. Behavioural problems did not generally coincide with poor scholastic performance, but a small group (6.3%) exhibited problems in both reading/writing, concentration, gross and fine motor skill and psychosocial functions. Sociometric results showed only moderate agreement with teacher ratings. Extremely popular boys had no teacher‐rated problems, but children with teacher‐rated problems did not to any high degree tend to be isolated. Poor gross motor skill did distinguish isolated boys from others, a relationship that was not evident among the girls. The need to study the validity of teacher ratings as well as the prognostic value of school adjustment in first grade was stressed.
Familial similarity in Type A behaviour and physiological measurements as related to sex
Authors: LUNDBERG ULF , RASCH BIRGITTA , WESTERMARK OLOF
Published: May 2008

Thirty‐one families with pre‐school children were examined with regard to Type A behaviour and cardiovascular and neuroendocrine measurements. Type A scores (MYTH) of the children from the ages of three to six were positively correlated with independent Type A measurements (Jenkins Activity Survey, Bortner Type A scale) of the parents (significant for fathers but not for mothers). The children's resting systolic blood pressures were significantly correlated with maternal and paternal values, while no significant familial aggregation was found for diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, catecholamine or cortisol excretion. The children's systolic and diastolic blood pressures and adrenaline excretion were significantly correlated between ages three and six. The results are consistent with the assumption that genetic as well as environmental factors contribute to the development of Type A behaviour. No significant association was found between Type A scores and physiological measurements during routine activities in the children or the adults.
Normal values for Type A behaviour patterns in Danish men and women and in potential high‐risk groups
Authors: STERNDORFF BENT , SMITH DONALD F.
Published: May 2008

The Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) was administered to a normal population of randomly selected Danish adults, to patients consulting a cardiologist, and to physicians in order to compare those groups in terms of their coronary‐prone (Type A) behaviour patterns. The standard procedure of rating the JAS was used in order to obtain scores for each of the four subscales: Type A (time urgency and ambitiousness), Factor S (speed and impatience) Factor H (hard‐driving and competitive) and Factor J (job involvement). Gender differences were observed in the normal population for each of the four subscale scores, and age‐related differences were obtained for Factor J. Elevated scores for Factor S were obtained by physicians and by people in the population who had a cardiovascular disorder. Physicians had also elevated scores for Factor J, whereas their Factor H scores tended to be reduced. No reliable differences in JAS subscale scores were observed between four groups of heart patients (i.e. angina pectoris, arterial hypertension, atrial fibrillation and atherosclerosis), although there was a tendency for Factor J to be elevated in atherosclerosis. The findings provide normal values for JAS scores in Danish men and women, and suggest that some facets of coronary‐prone behaviour may be enhanced in Danish high‐risk groups.
Psychometric properties of the Danish MCMI‐I translation
Authors: MORTENSEN ERIK LYKKE , SIMONSEN ERIK
Published: May 2008

A translation of the MCMI‐I has been in use in Denmark for some years. An untested assumption in the interpretation of the pattern of test results is that the psychometric characteristics of the Danish and American versions are similar. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the questionnaire by using traditional psychometric analysis techniques on the results of a sample consisting of 423 patients and 179 normal controls. Coefficient alpha was calculated for the 20 clinical subscales of the test and the Danish results were strikingly similar to the original coefficients reported by Millon. Furthermore, factor analysis of the subscales showed a factor structure very similar to American findings, and it is concluded that the psychometric properties of the Danish MCMI are not significantly different from the original.
Sender repertoires of pure and blended facial expressions of emotion
Authors: NUMMENMAA TAPIO
Published: May 2008

Six actors attempted to communicate by facial expression seven assumedly basic emotions (pleasure, surprise, fear, hate, sorrow, disgust and interest), and all pairwise blends, e.g., fear+sorrow. One hundred and eighty‐two subjects (divided into groups as to the six actors) judged pictures of these emotions by three methods: (1) mapping, placing the pictures on coordinate systems with denotated axes, (2) identification and (3) sorting similar emotions into the same pile, followed by multidimensional scaling and cluster analyses. Recognition of the emotions was fairly good, though not equally good for all emotions and their blends; also the actors’ ability to express emotions varied. Emotions of opposite hedonic tone did not blend well. Interest seemed to lend poignancy to the basic emotion with which it was blended rather than to constitute an emotion in itself. Expressions seemed to be more easily identified if the actor did not try to feel the emotion too deeply.
Cross‐cultural comparison of personality: Norway and England
Authors: EYSENCK SYBIL B. G. , TAMBS KRISTIAN
Published: May 2008

Three hundred and seventy‐seven male and 425 female Norwegian subjects completed the translated Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ). Factor comparisons all exceeded 0.97, so that the factors of Psychoticism (P), Extraversion (E), Neuroticism (N) and Social Desirability or Lie Scale (L) can be considered to be identical with those found in England. Sex differences were the usual, i.e. males scored higher that females on P and E but lower on N and L. Cross‐cultural comparisons found no statistical differences between the personality scores of the two countries, except on Neuroticism, with both Norwegian sexes scoring significantly lower than their English counterparts. A slight tendency for Norwegian males to score lower on Social Desirability was detected.
A commentary on Rönnberg's distinction between perception and cognition
Authors: GÄRLING TOMMY
Published: May 2008

In a commentary on a note by Rönnberg (Rönnberg, J. On the distinction between perception and cognition. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 1990, 31, 154–156), it is argued that one of Rönnberg's criteria for theoretically distinguishing perception from cognition, that of different biological purposes, is invalid. Congruent with a broad definition of perception and cognition which most researchers agree upon, Rönnberg's two other criteria essentially state that how internally represented information is processed distinguishes between perception and cognition. However, the more strict criterion of whether explicit retrieval of information from memory is necessary is too dependent on a particular, rather limited theoretical framework. A third, less theory‐dependent criterion of whether the information available in the stimulus is sufficient to account for comprehension may be useful in research which investigates hypotheses about similarities between perception and cognition.
Mode distinctions in knowing: The view from perception. Comments on Rönnberg (1990)
Authors: RUNESON SVERKER
Published: May 2008

Information available for perception has been shown to be specific, to have validity extending over time, and to be meaningful. Thus, cognition cannot be distinguished as that which exclusively provides adaptive coherence of action and reliance on constraints. Transitions between perception and memory/cognition, as two qualitatively distinct modes of knowing, must instead be expected to occur for purposes of ensuring optimal utilization of information relative to its temporal validity and usefulness.
Lateralization of defence mechanisms related to creative functioning
Authors: CARLSSON INGEGERD
Published: May 2008

Eighty‐four undergraduate students were randomly divided into left and right visual half‐field groups. They were tested in either visual half‐field with a percept‐genetic test of anxiety and defence mechanisms (the MCT). The subjects also took a test of creative functioning (the CFT) and degree of lateralization in the MCT was related to level of creativity in the CFT. Subjects low in creativity were significantly lateralized on measures typical for the right visual half‐field group (isolation and repression) and tended to differ on a left visual half‐field measure (regressive strategies). For high creative subjects no differences were found between the visual half‐field groups. Also, high creative persons more often responded with non‐hemisphere‐specific defences than low creative ones. The results were interpreted as due to differing levels of transmission of information between the two hemispheres of the brain.