bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Perception of Current and Ideal Body Size in Preschool Age Children
Authors: Ambrosi-Randi Neala
Published: August 2011

25 girls and 25 boys between the ages of 5 and 7 years indicated their current and desired body size on Collins' figures. The children's weight and height were measured, and the Body Mass Index was calculated. 52% of girls and 44% of boys expressed a wish to become thinner in relation to perception of their own body. Significant sex differences were found in selection of the ideal figure: girls showed greater preferences for a thinner figure than boys. There was a significant correlation between perception of current figure and Body Mass Index for boys but not for girls.
Delayed Left Ear Accuracy during Childhood and Early Adolescence as Indicated by Roberts' Dichotic Word Listening Test
Authors: Moulden J. A. , Persinger M. A.
Published: August 2011

A total of 200 girls and boys between the ages of 6 years and 15 years were administered Roberts' Dichotic Word Listening Test. A statistically significant relatively abrupt and maintained increase in left ear accuracy was noted after 9 years of age (eta = .55). Except for a mild improvement after 6 to 7 years of age, comparable changes were not observed for the right ear. The magnitude of the effect was not significantly diminished even after covariance for verbal fluency and semantic categorization. These results are compatible with the observations that myelination of the cerebral commissures and electroencephalographic phase relations of the right hemisphere achieve near-adult characteristics after 9 years of age. Boys displayed less accuracy for dichotic word listening, particularly for the left ear, compared to the girls (eta = .20).
Old and New Scales for the Assessment of Body Image
Authors: Stunkard Albert
Published: August 2011

Two new carefully constructed figure rating scales showed no greater validity than did the first such scale to be developed, as determined by the correlation between scale scores and body mass index and body weight.
Ability to Coordinate Exertion of Force by the Dominant Hand: Comparisons among University Students and 65- to 78-Year-Old Men and Women
Authors: Nagasawa Yoshinori , Demura Shinichi , Yamaji Shunsuke , Kobayashi Hidetsugu , Matsuzawa Jinzaburo
Published: August 2011

The purposes of this study were to examine the characteristics of ability to coordinate exertion of force in 60 healthy older people (30 men, 30 women) from the viewpoint of sex differences and to compare their performance with those of 60 healthy university students (30 men, 30 women). The test of ability to coordinate exertion of force was conducted by having the subject fit the exertion value of grip strength to a changing demand value appearing on the display of a personal computer (using a bar chart-description form). The changes in the demand value were tracked. The variable estimating ability to coordinate exertion of force was the total sum of the differences between demand and the produced grip strength induced by time lapses. The ability to coordinate exertion of force in the older subjects was inferior to that of the younger subjects, and large individual differences were observed. Unlike the younger subjects, the means of the ability to coordinate exertion of force of the older subjects significantly decreased between trials. The ability to coordinate exertion of force of the older women was significantly inferior to that of the older men, but the means of the measurements among three trials shows a similar tendency to decrease in both sexes.
Discrimination of Tone Durations across the Menstrual Cycle
Authors: Farjampour Parto , Hellström Åke
Published: August 2011

Discrimination of tone duration was studied as a function of menstrual cycle phase. In three phases of their menstrual cycle, 12 women compared the durations of 64 pairs of tones. They discriminated the tone durations least well in the premenstrual phase and tended to speed up their responding over sessions. In contrast, a control group of 12 men tended to improve their performance over sessions while response time remained constant.
College Students' Performance on Associated, Corresponding Tasks for Horizontality
Authors: Lord Thomas , Ferrero Jessica , Warner Lynn , Williams Christie
Published: August 2011

500 college biology students were asked to predict the axisymmetry (horizontal-vertical position) of the water surface and a swimming goldfish in a masked, sealed container. Subjects were shown the fish submerged in the semifilled container before it was slipped into a terry cloth stocking. The researcher then asked subjects to predict the position of the fish and the water surface as the sealed container was rotated to different angles. Many college students did not understand that liquids and submerged organisms remain invariantly horizontal regardless of the rotation of the container.
Sex Differences and Action Scaling in Overhead Reaching
Authors: Pepping Gert-Jan , Li François-Xavier
Published: August 2011

Specifications of affordances is independent of the anthropometric scale of the perceiver. It is therefore predicted that sex differences disappear when perceptual performance is scaled relative to the relevant physical properties of the system formed by performer and environment in a particular action. 24 women and 30 men were compared for their ability to perceive the boundaries for overhead reaching for a ball suspended above them. Perceived and actual maximum action boundaries were measured in two height conditions, with and without wearing 15-cm high blocks under their feet. On average the men reached higher than the women; however, when perceived maximum reachable height was expressed as a ratio of actual maximum reachable height, the difference between the groups disappeared. The participants showed an identical fit between environment and performer in both height conditions. The results indicate that the specification of affordances for overhead reaching is independent of the height and the sex of the performer.
Measurement of Nonverbal Receptive Abilities in Medical Students
Authors: Giannini A. James , Giannini Jocelyn D. , Bowman Rachel K.
Published: August 2011

Physicians have been reported to have difficulty in communicating with their patients. An element of this communication gap is proposed be related to the educational curriculum and the selection process of medical schools, in particular, with the emphasis on scientific methodology reducing exposure to humanistic values. This hypothesis was tested by measuring nonverbal receptive abilities in two groups. 30 medical students were compared with 30 college students who were not science majors but were age-, sex- and race-matched. The nonscience majors were better at perceiving nonverbal cues than medical students. Male nonscience majors had higher scores than male medical students while similar results were seen when female nonscience majors were compared with female medical students. Finally, medical students planning to practice as primary care specialists had higher scores than those interested in specialties which do not involve direct or prolonged patient care.
Use of Popular Dream Literature
Authors: Schredl Michael
Published: August 2011

The present study investigated ratings of popular books on dream interpretation. Books were rated as helpful, especially those including explicit guidelines for working on dreams.
Preliminary Test of Effects of Cognitive Ability, Experience, and Teaching Methods on Verbal Analogy Test Scores
Authors: Rosenberg Daniel , Willson-Quayle Angela , Pasnak Robert
Published: August 2011

The methods from which one can choose when preparing for the GRE Verbal Analogies include books, software, audiotapes, and formal classroom instruction. What teaching method will work best for a given individual? To begin the search for an answer, Gray's test of reasoning ability was given to 28 undergraduates who also answered a questionnaire detailing their experience with analogies. They were randomly assigned to teaching conditions ranging from self-directed workbook study to intensive interactive assistance. No teaching method was superior overall, but interactions showed that (1) students who scored worst on the pretest improved the most, (2) those higher in cognitive functioning and experience performed better after intensive interactive assistance, and (3) those lower in both cognitive functioning and experience did significantly better with self-paced workbooks This preliminary work suggests that it may be profitable to assess the prior experience and reasoning of potential students and adopt the methods for teaching formal operational thought found empirically to be most suitable.
Suicide and Occupation in Hong Kong
Authors: Yan Yuk Yee
Published: August 2011

Suicide rates were highest among Service workers and the lowest in Agriculture workers and fisherfolk in Hong Kong.
Stutterers' Vocal Reaction Times to Unilaterally Presented High and Low Frequency Verbs
Authors: Rami Manish K. , Shine Richard E. , Rastatter Michael P.
Published: August 2011

The current study investigated vocal reaction times of 11 stuttering participants to verbs with high and low frequencies of occurrence when these verbs were unilaterally visually presented. No significant main effects or interactions between stimuli and visual-half field were found. Reaction times were 16 msec. faster after right visual-field presentations and the Pearson correlation coefficient between visual fields .71 ( p=.02). These results were interpreted as suggesting that the left hemisphere was dominant for processing the current lexical items, findings which parallel those for normal speakers.
Re-Evaluating Rudolf Laban's Choreutics
Authors: Longstaff Jeffrey Scott
Published: August 2011

The choreutic conception of kinesthetic-motor space originally proposed by Rudolf Laban is given psychological validation through comparisons with similar conceptual models in spatial cognition and motor control research. Highly differentiated systems of reference are distinguished. Spatial paths are mentally represented as a series of locations linked into polygonal trajectories. Map-like images of the ‘kinesphere’ are structured with polyhedral networks. A fundamental practice consists of transforming spatial information with various operations (rotation, reflection, sizing, etc.). Loci are linked into spatial ‘scales' which provide symmetrical solutions to geometric puzzles such as the traveling salesman problem and those devised by Hamilton (Icosian game) and Euler (Koenigsberg bridge problem). In the body these are considered to be prototypes for spatial paths used during adjustments of dynamic equilibrium. The choreutic conception of polyhedral body space is especially similar to the trajectory formation model. The choreutic principal of topological forms deflecting across various kinespheric nets is analogous to N. Bernstein's description of the “net of the motor field … as oscillating like a cobweb in the wind.” These commonalities indicate that further critical reviews of “choreutic laws” might be valuable in suggesting conceptual models and analytical tools for movement study in cognitive science.
Bisection of Shapes and Lines: Analysis of the Visual and Motor Aspects of Pseudoneglect
Authors: Macdonald-Nethercott Eoin M. , Kinnear Paul R. , Venneri Annalena
Published: August 2011

This study examined the visual and motor components of pseudoneglect as expressed on horizontal bisection tasks. Ten participants were tested on bisection of lines and elliptical shapes and judgement of pretransected lines. Results showed the same magnitude of leftward error on all three tasks, in contrast to previous findings for patients with visuospatial neglect who are known to bisect ellipses and circles much more accurately than lines. Participants' mean line bisection error was significantly further to the left than the mean subjective midpoint found on the judgement task. The findings contradict the claim that the visual component of pseudoneglect is caused by the same mechanism that causes visuospatial neglect but support the hypothesis that the motor component of pseudoneglect is similar to directional hypometria.
Recognition of Emotional Facial Expressions in Depressed Children and Adolescents
Authors: Lenti C. , Giacobbe A. , Pegna C.
Published: August 2011

Of the neurobiological models of children's and adolescents' depression, the neuropsychological one is considered here. Experimental and clinical evidence has allowed us to identify a lateralization of emotional functions from the very beginning of development, and a right-hemisphere dominance for emotions is by now well-known. Many studies have also correlated depression with a right hemisphere dysfunction in patients of different ages. The aim of our study was to analyze recognition of different facial emotions by a group of depressed children and adolescents. Patients affected by Major Depressive Disorder recognized less fear in six fundamental emotions than a group of healthy controls, and Dysthymic subjects recognized less anger. The group of patients' failure to recognize negative-aroused facial expressions could indicate a subtle right hemisphere dysfunction in depressed children and adolescents.
The Dominant Ear
Authors: Reiß Michael , Reiß Gilfe
Published: August 2011

Presented are some aspects of the dominant ear or earedness which are also important for other lateralities. Earedness refers not only to a sensory but also to a motor phenomenon.
Comparison of Water- and Land-Based Exercise in the Reduction of State Anxiety among Older Adults
Authors: Watanabe Eiji , Okada Akiyoshi , Takeshima Nobuo , Inomata Kimihiro
Published: August 2011

This study examined the effect of an acute exercise program of different exercise conditions on state anxiety among older adults. 73 healthy subjects were recruited and randomly assigned to either water exercise group ( n = 36) or land exercise group ( n = 37). State anxiety was assessed before exercise and following exercise. Subjects in the water exercise performed a 70-min. exercise program consisting of a 10-min. warm-up, a 20-min. brisk walking, a 20-min. rhythmic dancing, a 10-min. resistance training, and a 10-min. cool down exercise. The land exercise program contained a 10-min. warm-up and a 30-min. combined endurance and resistance exercise, followed by a 10-min. cool down exercise. Analysis showed that both exercise groups scored significantly ( p<.001) lower on anxiety after exercise, but there was no significant interaction for group by trial for scores on state anxiety. The data indicate that elderly persons who participate in these types of exercise report lower state anxiety.
The Terpstra-Jonckheere Test for Ordered Alternatives: Randomized Probability Values
Authors: Mielke Paul W. , Berry Kenneth J.
Published: August 2011

An algorithm and FORTRAN program are presented for the Terpstra-Jonckheere test statistic and associated probability value based on a randomization routine.
Middle-School Students of United Arab Emirates: Effects of Heterogeneous Small Group Work on Attitudes toward Mathematics
Authors: Alkhateeb Haitham M. , Jumaa Mustafa
Published: August 2011

This study compared the effects of two instructional strategies, small heterogeneous cooperative learning experience versus lecture and discussion, on students' attitudes toward mathematics. 54 boys and 57 girls in Grade 8 of four middle-school mathematics classes participated. Two classes (57 students) were taught using a cooperative learning method and the other two classes (54 students) were taught using traditional lecture and discussion. Differences between attitudes of boys and girls were also investigated and discussed in the light of Arabic culture. The results suggested that cooperative learning might be a valuable method with which to teach mathematics concepts to boys.
Discriminating the Sex of Faces by 6- and 8-Mo.-Old Infants
Authors: Yamaguchi Masami K.
Published: August 2011

The goal of this study was to ascertain at what age infants could discriminate male and female faces using only the internal features of the face. The habituation-dishabituation technique was used to estimate infants' discrimination between male and female faces. Analysis showed that 8-mo.-old infants discriminated female and male faces, whereas 6-mo.-old infants did not, but showed an asymmetry in discrimination. 6-mo.-old infants who were habituated to the female face fixated consistently longer on the novel male face in test trials, so sex discrimination was complete but not observed after habituation to male faces. Data are discussed in relation to the role of experience in face discrimination.
Use of Color and Responses to Computer-Based Surveys
Authors: Godar Susan Hayes
Published: August 2011

Mean answers by 217 students to an affective questionnaire, the Mach IV survey, did not vary with the use of different background and font colors when the survey was presented online in a computer lab. They indicated, however, that background color may be associated with rate and within-condition variability of response.
Changes in Coordination during the First 8 Months of Independent Walking
Authors: Marques-Bruna Pascual , Grimshaw Paul
Published: August 2011

This study assessed the development of coordination during the first 8 months of independent walking and identified potential hypotheses that may be tested by further research. The walking gait of a normal child was recorded on video at the onset of independent walking, and thereafter at monthly intervals over a period of 8 months. Video images were digitized and 3-dimensional coordinates obtained. The coefficient of variation was used to measure variability in the movement. Other variables studied included range of movement, relationships between angles, angular velocities, timing relationships, proportional distance and temporal phasing. By adopting a dynamical systems perspective, this study identified variables that challenged the stability of the locomotor system. Coordinative structures were observed to shift from one state to another from age 18 months; such mutations included decreased range of motion, hip-knee angle relationship that resemble mature walking, relative time of peak angular velocity, and stability of angle-angular velocity phasing.
Item Difficulty Analysis of the Tactual Performance Test Trials
Authors: Charter Richard A.
Published: August 2011

A study of item difficulty was performed on data from the Tactual Performance Test trials (preferred, nonpreferred, and both hands) on three groups (normal, alcoholic, and heterogeneous). The total sample size was 314. The three-way split-plot analysis of variance yielded three significant two-way interactions, i.e., group by trial, group by block, and trial by block, thereby making the interpretation complex. One finding is that the blocks at the top of the board are more difficult than the blocks at the bottom of the board.
Preliminary Data from the Hungarian Toddler Behavior Rating Scale: Caregivers' and Mothers' Ratings and Anxiety
Authors: Nagy Emese , Kovács Erzsébet F.
Published: August 2011

The main focus was to examine maternal anxiety of 21 mothers as related to caregivers' and mothers' ratings of toddlers' behavioral difficulties. A new behavioral rating scale for toddlers was constructed. The results presented are preliminary. Caretakers rated toddlers of mothers with high anxiety to be more problematic, while the mothers rated their toddlers' behaviors as less problematic. Results indicate a possible interaction between maternal anxiety and toddlers' behavior.
Time Series Analysis in Dream Research
Authors: Schredl Michael
Published: August 2011

The present study investigated the linear as well as nonlinear relationships between selected dream content scales and dream length. The results indicated that biases due to control solely for the linear components are almost negligible.
Effects of Race and Sex on Acoustic Features of Voice Analysis
Authors: Xue Steve An , Fucci Donald
Published: August 2011

This study sought to provide preliminary normative data for the vocal productions of 44 Euro-American and 40 African-American elderly speakers and to test the hypotheses that (1) Euro-American elderly speakers do not have significantly different acoustic parameters of voice from African-American elderly speakers, and (2) elderly male speakers (both Euro-American and African-American) do not have significantly different acoustic parameters of voice from elderly female speakers (both Euro-American and African-American). Voice samples from groups of 44 Euro-American (21 men and 23 women) and 40 African-American (20 men and 20 women) elderly speakers (ages 70 to 80 years) from northeastern Arkansas were compared on measures of 15 selected multidimensional voice profile (KAY Elemetrics) acoustic parameters. Analysis show that Euro-American elderly speakers did not differ significantly from African-American elderly speakers on the measurements of all the selected acoustic parameters of voice, and elderly male speakers as a group differed from elderly female speakers on the measurements of absolute jitter, soft phonation index, and standard deviation of the fundamental frequency as well as fundamental frequency in Hz. The findings suggest it may not be necessary to establish separate acoustic norms of voice for Euro-American and African-American elderly speakers. However, some acoustic parameters of voice are highly sex-dependent, and different norms may be needed for male and female speakers regardless of their racial origins.
Interfacing Computerized Biomechanical Analysis in Monitoring the Motor Development of Children
Authors: Jackson Shelia L. , Healey John
Published: August 2011

This research investigated the effectiveness of using kinematic analysis to monitor the motor development of children on three fundamental movement patterns. 12 children with specific motor delays were filmed before and after participation in the 2-hr. per week, 7-wk. program. The film was analyzed (60 frames per second) using a 2-dimensional analysis system. There were no significant differences when a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test was applied to the galloping and skipping center of gravity and linear velocities of the ball data. Timing of the peak linear velocities of the upper body showed subjects increasingly exhibited the more advanced, sequential pattern and no longer exhibited the less advanced simultaneous pattern after the program. It was concluded the changes in timing were evidence of improvements in coordination.
Comparison of Eye-Movement Patterns in Schizophrenic and Normal Adults during Examination of Facial Affect Displays
Authors: Shimizu Takashi , Shimizu Akira , Yamashita Koh , Iwase Masao , Kajimoto Osami , Kawasaki Tatsuhito
Published: August 2011

Patients with schizophrenia are known to have deficits in facial affect recognition. Subjects were 25 schizophrenic patients and 25 normal subjects who were shown pairs of slides of laughing faces and asked to compare the intensity of laughter in the two slides. Eye movements were recorded using an infrared scleral reflection technique. Normal subjects efficiently compared the same facial features in the two slides, examining the eyes and mouth, important areas for recognizing laughter, for a longer time than other regions of the face. Schizophrenic patients spent less time examining the eyes and mouth and often examined other regions of the face or areas other than the face. Similar results were obtained for the number of fixation points. That schizophrenic patients may have employed an inefficient strategy with few effective eye movements in facial comparison and recognition may help to explain the deficits in facial recognition observed in schizophrenic patients.
Relationship between Attentional Orientation and Associative Learning
Authors: Declerck Carolyn , De Brabander Bert
Published: August 2011

This study presents experimental evidence for a relationship between attentional orientation and associative learning. Learning to establish contingencies between warning signals and subsequent task stimuli is a phenomenon which we know from previous studies to be more associated with the left hemisphere. We investigated how hemispheric priming, i.e., activating one hemisphere by directing attention towards the contralateral hemispace, affected both the rate and the extent of associative and nonassociative learning. When attention was directed towards the right while perceiving a discrimination task stimulus, the rate of learning through contingency formation was increased since the relative activation of the left hemisphere was increased. Such a relationship was not found for relative activation of the right hemisphere following leftward orientation of attention.
Visual Search for Single and Combined Features by Children and Adults: Possible Developmental Inferences
Authors: Casco Clara , Gidiuli Ornella , Grieco Alba
Published: August 2011

Visual search time was measured in four groups of children 4 to 10 years of age and in young adults, as a function of display size for both target-present and target-absent conditions. The slopes of regression lines in a simple search (search for \ within /) were compared with those obtained in within-dimension conjunction target searches, within either homogeneous (search for ⊥ within ⊺s) or heterogeneous distractors (search for ↑ within ⋎s and ⋏s). Analysis indicated that simple search was always preattentive (slopes near 0) after 5 years of age and serial (with positive slopes) before this age. Searching within heterogeneous distractors apparently involved element-by-element scrutiny and focal attention in all groups whereas searching within homogeneous distractors required distributed attention, perhaps based on parallel grouping of distractors in adults, though distractors were focally attended to by children.
Examination of Force-Production Properties during Static Explosive Grip Based on Force-Time Curve Parameters
Authors: Demura Shinichi , Nagasawa Yoshinori , Yamaji Shunsuke , Minami Masaki , Kita Ichiro
Published: August 2011

The present study attempts to clarify the properties of force-time curves in the force-development phase during static explosive grip exertion and to determine force-time parameters in relation to static explosive strength. 80 healthy young males (age 17.8±2.5 yr.) exerted maximal isometric force as fast and forcefully as possible. In total, 21 variables, e.g., time to fixed level, integrated area, average force, integrated area to fixed time, force at the maximal rate of force development, and maximal rate of force development, were selected as force-time parameters. Good reliability was obtained for average force in force levels above 90% of maximal strength (.64–.93), integrated area to a fixed time of 1.0–2.0 sec. (.86–.93), force at the maximal rate of force development (.67), and maximal rate of force development (.73). In addition, these values correlated closely with maximal grip strength ( r = .65–93). Further, significant differences in maximal grip strength, average force in force levels above 90% of maximal strength, integrated area to fixed time, and force at the maximal rate of force development were found among three groups categorized by average force in force levels of maximal strength. These results suggested that individual differences were present in the force-time curve patterns during the force-development phase of static explosive grip exertion and that the average force in force levels of maximal strength might be a valuable tool for evaluating static explosive strength.
At What Age Do Children Learn to Discriminate between Act and Actor?
Authors: Björkqvist Kaj , Österman Karin
Published: August 2011

Children's ability to make moral judgements about an act on the basis of aspects of the act rather than on liking and preconceived ideas about the actor was investigated. 85 children of 4 age groups (preschool, Grades 1, 2, and 3, age range 5–9 years) participated. Act/Actor discrimination was investigated with a test consisting of 8 cartoons. In 4, a rabbit was behaving aggressively against a wolf; the other 4 portrayed identical acts with the wolf as aggressor and the rabbit as victim. Participants made moral evaluations of each cartoon IQ was measured with Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices, and the general level of moral development was measured in accord with Piaget's (1932) criteria. Age, IQ, and general moral development correlated with discriminative ability for Act and Actor. In Piagetian terms, children at the heteronomous level were not capable of such discrimination, while children at the autonomous level (above 7 years of age) in general were.
Psychosocial Factors, Workload, and Human Error in a Simulated Pharmacy Dispensing Task
Authors: Grasha Anthony F. , Schell Kraig
Published: August 2011

Participants filled 42 orders on a task designed to simulate components of filling prescriptions. Task factors included objective workload of 70- versus 80-min. to complete the task and perceptions of workload dimensions using the NASA Task Load Index. The proportion and pattern of data-entry, counting, and product-selection errors were compatible with those found in pharmacy field-sites. Significant other relationship stress, field-dependence, and an 80-min. workpace predicted data-entry errors. Mistakes in product selection were associated with low GPA, high social stress, the NASA Task Load Index dimension of less concern with performing well, and a 70-min. workpace. Relationship of data to corresponding information in the pharmacy literarure and to assumptions of a cognitive-systems performance model was discussed.
Memorization of Young People under Loud Pink Noise of Short Duration
Authors: Skarlatos Dimitris , Georgiou Apostolis
Published: August 2011

Exposure of students to loud pink noise of short duration in schools with high background noise showed that memorization of the students under loud pink noise is correlated with noise level. For levels up to 91.5 dB(A) the performance of 275 students improved, but for louder noise performance was reduced.
Patterns of Adaptation and Directions of Aggression
Authors: Rubino I. Alex , Mascis Maria Cristina , Ciani Nicola
Published: August 2011

A group of 85 nonclinical women volunteers were given the Serial Color-Word Test and the Personality Deviance Scale to verify whether different patterns of adaptation to the Stroop task correspond to significant differences in directing aggression. It was predicted that subjects with the Dissociative pattern, i.e., high values of nonlinear changes in reading times, would score lower on Intropunitiveness than subjects with the Cumulative pattern, i.e., high values of linear changes in reading times. The hypothesis was confirmed ( p = .005). No other significant intergroup difference was found, aside from a slightly higher mean score of Extrapunitiveness in the Cumulative group, compared with that for the Stabilized one ( p = .04).
Neuropsychological Assessment of Battered Women: A Pilot Study
Authors: Deering Christine , Templer Donald I , Keller Jacqueline , Canfield Merle
Published: August 2011

Mean performance of 19 battered women was significantly lower than that of 9 control women on the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery, the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised, and the Quick Neurological Screening Test. 58% of the battered women scored in the impaired range on the Halstead-Reitan Impairment Index; and 53% scored in the impaired range on the Quick Neurological Screening Test. More definitive research was recommended.
The Poggendorff Illusion: Effect of Distance between the Parallel Lines
Authors: Jones-Buxton Rebecca A. , Wall Harriet M.
Published: August 2011

43 subjects observed Poggendorff figures with transverse line segments at a constant distance while the parallels were positioned closer or farther apart. At closer distances, no illusion occurred; at farther distances, the illusion diminished. The illusion no longer occurred when the parallels were located beyond the outside end of the transverse lines. Since illusions occurred only when the parallels physically touched the transverse line, this research emphasizes the importance of the intersection of figural elements in the production of the Poggendorff illusion.
Tactual Performance Test Trials: Psychometric Properties of the Blocks-Per-Minute Scores
Authors: Charter Richard A. , Lopez Michael N. , Oh Sindy , Lazar Michael D.
Published: August 2011

Internal consistency reliabilities were calculated for the Tactual Performance Test blocks-per-minute scores for the Preferred Hand ( n = 298), Nonpreferred Hand ( n = 302), and Both Hands ( n = 314) trials, and Total Time. Reliabilities are reported for the total sample and three groups of normal, alcoholic, and undiagnosed patients sent for assessment. The reliabilities ranged from .6102 to .9232. Only three of the discriminate indexes were poor.
Detection of Facial Expressions of Emotions in Depression
Authors: Suslow Thomas , Junghanns Klaus , Arolt Volker
Published: August 2011

Research on perceptual and attentional processes in depression has shown that depressed as opposed to nondepressed individuals do not exhibit a positive perceptual bias in multistimulus representations. In the present study a face-in-the-crowd task was applied to examine the relationship between depression and spatial detection of facial expression of positive and negative emotions. A face-in-the-crowd task was administered to 30 subjects (15 clinically stabilized depressed inpatients and 15 normal subjects) using displays of schematic faces. Depressed subjects showed no performance differences in the detection of negative faces and no differences in decision latency for the control condition (all neutral faces) compared to normal subjects. Depressed subjects, however, were significantly slower in responding to positive faces than normal subjects. Our data suggest that depressive mood is associated with a reduced spatial attention to positive facial expression and not with an abnormal spatial processing of negative facial expression. An implication is that lowered vigilance for facial expressions of joy and happiness may affect adversely interpersonal relationships in depressed subjects.
Stimulus Properties, Attentional Limitations, and Young Children's Face Recognition
Authors: Lundy Brenda L. , Jackson Jay W. , Haaf Robert A.
Published: August 2011

The present research explored 3-, 7-, and 10-yr -old children's face recognition in a “paraphernalia-to-fool” paradigm in which angular size of the stimuli was manipulated. It was proposed that, given the attentional limitations of the two youngest age groups, facial information and irrelevant paraphernalia would be perceived as an undifferentiated whole in stimuli of small visual angles, resulting in decreased recognition. However, increasing angular size should enable the 7-yr.-olds to differentiate the two types of stimulus information more easily. Therefore, it was hypothesized that the influence of paraphernalia on 7-yr.-olds' performance would be moderated by the spatial size of the stimulus. The effect of angular size was also expected to interact with age group. As predicted, 10-yr.-olds were unaffected by the size manipulation, 7-yr olds performance was moderated by angular size, and, although 3-yr.-olds' recognition improved with large stimuli, the increase was not significant. Results are discussed in relation to the influence of stimulus properties and age-related attentional limitations.
Lateral Dominance of Legs in Maximal Muscle Power, Muscular Endurance, and Grading Ability
Authors: Demura Shinichi , Goshi Fumio , Yamaji Shunsuke , Nagasawa Yoshinori
Published: August 2011

The purpose of this study was to examine lateral dominance in maximal muscle power, muscular endurance, and grading ability, using isokinetic muscular strength in knee extension and flexion. The subjects were 50 healthy male students whose ages ranged from 19 to 23 years ( M height: 173.6 ±6.2 cm, M weight: 67.2 ± 6.8 kg). Their dominant legs for power exertion and for functional use were based on questionnaire items selected from those used in previous studies. The angular velocities of extension and flexion for exerting maximal muscle power were 60, 180, and 300 · sec.−1. A continuous exertion 30 times at an angular velocity of 180 · sec.−1 was used as the load for muscular endurance. For grading ability, 25%, 50%, and 75% of the maximal muscle strength at angular velocities of 60 and 180 · sec.−1 were the required values, and the difference between these values and the exerted muscular strength was evaluated. The dominant leg and nondominant leg were compared for both power exertion and functional use. There was no lateral dominance in maxima] muscle power and muscular endurance. In muscular endurance, especially, some subjects showed one leg superior in power exertion and some superior in functional use. Lateral dominance was noted across maximal muscle power and muscular endurance in grading ability. The dominant leg tended to be better than the nondominant leg in functional use. However, lateral dominance was not remarkable for flexing motion and in exertion for a short time.
Effects of Retention Intervals on the Magnitude of Optokinetic Rotation-Induced Taste Aversions
Authors: Hu Senqi , Player Kathryn A.
Published: August 2011

This study investigated the effects of different retention intervals on the magnitude of optokinetic rotation-induced conditioned taste aversions in humans. Two experiments were conducted. In Exp. 1, 20 subjects were divided into two groups, a CS-UCS group in which drinking soybean milk was paired with optokinetic rotation-induced gastric illness and a CS-Only group in which drinking soybean milk was not paired with optokinetic rotation. Analysis indicated that two days after pairing soybean milk drinking with optokinetic rotation, the subjects in the CS-UCS group had significantly reduced palatability ratings of soybean milk and lower consumption of soybean milk than those in the CS-Only group. In Exp. 2, 40 subjects were divided into four CS-UCS groups with 1-day, 3-day, 5-day, and 10-day retention intervals between the session of pairing soybean milk with optokinetic rotation and the session of retasting soybean milk. Analysis yielded no significant differences among four groups on palatability of soybean milk and consumption of soybean milk in the retasting session. It is concluded that optokinetic rotation is an effective unconditioned stimulus for conditioned taste aversions formation and that the aversion has a retention period of at least 10 days.
Directional Tendencies of Hebrew, Japanese, and English Readers
Authors: Nachson Israel , Hatta Takeshi
Published: August 2011

Consistent left-right and right-left reading habits are associated with corresponding directional tendencies in the reproduction of horizontally displayed visual stimuli. Inconsistent reading habits should therefore be associated with inconsistent directional tendencies. This hypothesis was tested on Japanese readers whose reading habits were inconsistent by asking them to reproduce four series of 12-item horizontal stimulus arrays. The hypothesis was partially supported by the data which showed that, like Hebrew readers who also have inconsistent reading habits, the directional tendencies shown by the 68 Japanese readers were significantly weaker on some tasks that those shown by the 16 English readers whose left-right reading habits were consistent. The data were interpreted as showing that acquired reading habits may affect directionality in perception of visual stimuli.
Nature of Perceptual Encoding of Hand Positions According to Subjects' Perceptuomotor Expertise
Authors: Boulinguez Philippe , Toussaint Lucette , Abed-Meraim Bruno , Collignon François
Published: August 2011

We investigated whether the nature of the perceptual information encoded for the memorization of successive hand positions varied according to subjects' perceptuomotor expertise. The experimental task used perceptual conflicts, induced by prisms, between visual and proprioceptive afferences during the encoding of various static hand positions. Control subjects were compared with skilled fencers, whose expertise was derived from the optimization, required and developed with practice, of the perceptuomotor processes involved in movement control. The analysis of spatial errors observed in a remembered target location test indicated that control subjects were dependent on the use of static visual information for the encoding of hand positions, whereas skilled fencers were not. Results are discussed in the light of the role of expertise in sensory integration and perceptual dominance.
Susceptibility to Motion Sickness Induced by Optokinetic Rotation and Self-Rotation by Walking around a Vertical Pole
Authors: Hu Senqi , Luo And Yue-Jia
Published: August 2011

31 subjects viewed an optokinetic rotating drum for 12 min. in one session and self-rotated by walking quickly around a vertical pole with eyes closed while alternately flexing and extending the neck in another session. The self-rotation session contained 6 trials (3 clockwise and 3 counterclockwise rotations). Each trial contained 20 cycles of self-rotations. Self-reported ratings of nausea and symptoms of motion sickness were obtained for each session. The subjects developed symptoms of nausea, sweating, dizziness, headache, drowsiness, and changes in salivation in both drum rotation and self-rotation sessions. However, the subjects reported higher ratings of nausea in the session of optokinetic rotation than in the session of self-rotation around a vertical pole. These results indicated that both optokinetic rotation and self-rotation with eyes closed while alternately flexing and extending the neck are effective means of inducing nausea and motion sickness.
Body Image and Self-Esteem in Adolescent Ballet Dancers
Authors: Bettle Norman , Bettle Oliver , Neumärker Ursula , Neumärker Klaus-Jürgen
Published: August 2011

Body-image disturbances and low self-esteem have been implicated in the pathogenesis of eating disorders. This study investigated self-perception of body and personality among adolescent ballet dancers in a cross-sectional survey. Two questionnaires assessing “my body right now” and “my personality right now,” using semantic differentials were completed by 90 ballet school students and 156 controls. Adolescent female dancers (ages 13 to 17 years) scored higher than age-matched controls and 11- to 12-yr.-old peers on Undesirability and Sensitivity for personality and Unattractiveness for body. For both subscales of personality, differences were also found between male and female dancers; female ballet students scored higher. Within the control group a difference could be found only for Sensitivity on which girls scored higher than boys. Male dancers did not differ from controls except for a lower score on the Body mass measure. Adolescent female dancers showed a distinct answering profile for 7 of 16 semantic differentials in each questionnaire implicating less favorable body image and self-esteem. Interventions focused particularly on enhancing self-esteem may be useful in the prevention of psychopathology in adolescent ballet dancers.
Suicide Notes of Chinese Youth
Authors: He Zhao Xiong , Yang Bijou , Lester David
Published: August 2011

Examination of 17 suicide notes from youthful Chinese suicides indicated the common appearance of anger, self-criticism, and interpersonal friction as precipitant.
Risk for Occupational Injury of Handicapped Workers in Taiwan
Authors: Chi Chia-Fen , Chen Chin-Lung , Lin Tzu-Yu
Published: August 2011

The current study investigated occupational risk of handicapped workers relative to nonhandicapped workers and used the standardized mortality ratio as an index that handicapped workers were at elevated risk for occupational injury. A total of 6,327 records of disabling occupational injuries beyond first aid treatment from January to December, 1999 were collected and analyzed. The ratio of the standardized mortality ratio of the handicapped vs nonhandicapped workers indicated that occupational injury risk of handicapped workers must be seriously examined for the reasons for this unexpectedly high occupational risk.
The Style of Processing Scale: Normative and Reliability Data
Authors: Ong Yean Wei , Milech Dan
Published: August 2011

Three student samples ( n s = 624, 653, and 566) yielded normative data for the Style of Processing scale. Analysis of subsamples found acceptable internal reliability (overall r = .78) and good test-retest reliability (overall r = .81, 6-mo. interval). The scale appears to have satisfactory reliability for assessing verbal-visual cognitive style, but further work is needed to test the scale's validity.
Intrusive Effects of Implicitly Processed Information on Explicit Memory
Authors: Sentz Dustin F. , Kirkhart Matthew W. , LoPresto Charles , Sobelman Steven
Published: August 2011

This study described the interference of implicitly processed information on the memory for explicitly processed information. Participants studied a list of words either auditorily or visually under instructions to remember the words (explicit study). They were then visually presented another word list under instructions which facilitate implicit but not explicit processing. Following a distractor task, memory for the explicit study list was tested with either a visual or auditory recognition task that included new words, words from the explicit study list, and words implicitly processed. Analysis indicated participants both failed to recognize words from the explicit study list and falsely recognized words that were implicitly processed as originating from the explicit study list. However, this effect only occurred when the testing modality was visual, thereby matching the modality for the implicitly processed information, regardless of the modality of the explicit study list. This “modality effect” for explicit memory was interpreted as poor source memory for implicitly processed information and in light of the procedures used, as well as illustrating an example of “remembering causing forgetting.”
Ratings of Issues in Presidential Debates of 2000 by Students
Authors: McIntosh Everton G.
Published: August 2011

To assess potential voters' opinions on a variety of issues relevant to the presidential election of 2000, 45 undergraduates completed a questionnaire prior to viewing the third presidential debate between candidates Bush and Gore. Descriptive statistics indicated that, for this sample, economic issues emerged as most important and familiar while Middle-East issues were the least important and least familiar.
Influence of Physical Exercise on Perceptual Response in Aerobically Trained Subjects
Authors: Godefroy D. , Rousseu C. , Vercruyssen F. , Crémieux J. , Brisswalter J.
Published: August 2011

A significant effect of fatigue induced by a physical exercise leading to exhaustion was observed for 6 male triathletes using some specific analysis of the critical flicker fusion test.
Object-Related Knowledge and the Production of Gestures with Imagined Objects by Preschool Children
Authors: Mizuguchi Takashi , Sugai Kuniaki
Published: August 2011

Previous research suggests that the gestural representation of preschool age children has a symbolic quality in the absence of real objects. It has shown a developmental progression from use of concrete body parts to more abstract imaginary-object gestural representations during the preschool years. The present study examined whether object-related knowledge is involved in the production of imaginary-object gestures. 35 children (12 3-, 11 4-, and 12 5-yr.-olds) performed gestural tasks in which they were asked to pretend to use common objects, e.g., “pretend to brush your teeth with a toothbrush.” In addition, they were asked to describe the relationship between the performed gesture and object when they were pretending. Analysis indicated that, when an imaginary-object gesture was performed, it was through an evoked prior knowledge of the function and context of the use of objects. This may suggest that object-related knowledge is a key factor involved in developmental changes from body part to imaginary-object gestures and that it is involved in freeing preschool children from object substitution, which is prescribed by perceptual support.