Eye color as an indicator of behavior: revisiting Worthy and Scott

Phenotypic eye color has been suggested as an indicator of genetic predisposition toward certain behaviors both in humans and in animals. Previous research has yielded mixed results. Phototaxic and ethological behaviors were examined in 14 different strains of Drosophila melanogaster. No significant correlation between phenotypic eye coloration and behavior was found, although significant genotypical behavioral differences were noted even among subjects with similar eye colors. An analysis of cellular defects associated with eye color in D. melanogaster pointed to significant behavioral differences among cell-defect groups, indicating that the cell defect which causes eye color, rather than eye color itself, may serve as a crude indicator of behavior.     

Childhood sexual behavior as an indicator of sexual abuse: professionals' criteria and biases

Some sexual behaviors are related to child sexual abuse experiences, but none unequivocally. Therefore, professionals might use non-empirical-based criteria and be biased when detecting and reporting victims. To check this hypothesis, we presented 974 Spanish and Latin American professionals from different fields (Psychology, Education, Health, Social Services, Justice, and Police Force) with hypothetical situations of child sexual behavior (varying the sex, age and behavior) by using an experimental vignette method based on Factorial Survey. Participants were asked to indicate whether such behaviors are a sign of abuse and whether they would report them. We also measured demographic, academic, professional and attitude factors. According to the analysis, professionals' suspicion of abuse is more affected by personal factors, whereas their reporting intention depends more on situational factors. The main criterion adopted is the type of sexual behavior, with professionals being more likely to suspect and report in response to aggressive sexual behavior and precocious sexual knowledge. Professionals' attitudes to sexuality seem to generate biases, as those who are erotophobic are more likely to suspect abuse. None of the sexual behaviors was seen as evidence of abuse.     

Problems with thiocyanate as an index of smoking status: a critical review with suggestions for improving the usefulness of biochemical measures in smoking cessation research

The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the literature on SCN in order to illustrate the methodological issues involved in using biochemical indices of behavior. We discuss issues related to the sensitivity, specificity, predictive value, and reportedly long half-life of SCN. We also briefly discuss how these issues relate to other biochemical indices of smoking. We conclude with suggestions for improving the measurement of smoking status.     

Pain as a motivator of smoking: effects of pain induction on smoking urge and behavior

Tobacco smoking has been associated with the development and exacerbation of chronically painful conditions. Conversely, there is reason to believe that smokers may be motivated to use tobacco as a means of coping with their pain. To date, no controlled, experimental studies have tested for a causal relationship between pain and smoking motivation. The primary aim of the current study was to test the hypothesis that laboratory-induced cold pressor pain would enhance smoking motivation, as measured by self-reported urge to smoke and observation of immediate smoking behavior. Smokers (N=132) were randomly assigned to either pain or no pain conditions. Results indicated that situational pain increased urge ratings and produced shorter latencies to smoke. The relationship between pain and increased urge to smoke was partially mediated by pain-induced negative affect. The relationship between pain and shorter latency to smoke was fully mediated by pain-induced urge to smoke. This study provides the 1st experimental evidence that situational pain can be a potent motivator of smoking.     

Vocal affect expression as an indicator of affective response

This research is designed to validate the measurement of vocal affect expression as an accurate indicator of affective responses. Subjects who support legalized abortion read aloud either proattitudinal or counterattitudinal statements. Their recorded voices were digitized, standardized against their own baseline vocal parameters, and analyzed for differences in mean and range of fundamental frequency between the pro-attitudinal and counterattitudinal conditions. Subjects with strong initial attitudes exhibited the expected pattern of negative affect while reading counterattitudinal material. However, subjects with initial attitudes moderate in strength exhibited an unexpected pattern of negative affect when reading pro-attitudinal information. Written measures of the affective and evaluative components of attitudes toward: abortion and; a measure of mood were employed to validate the voice measure.     

The squeal as an indicator of aggression in mice

Fighting behavior of paired male mice was observed while automatic recording equipment counted the squeals. A strong positive relationship was found between the squeals and other measures of fighting. The results are discussed in terms of the validity of squeals as a measure of aggression and the usefulness of the squeal measure and the advantages it provides, i.e., the possibility of continuous monitoring of fighting behavior, elimination of O effects, less handling of Ss, and use of a “home cage” type of environment.     

The P600 as an indicator of syntactic ambiguity

In a study using event-related brain potentials, we show that the current characterization of the P600 component as an indicator of revision processes (reanalysis and repair) in sentence comprehension must be extended to include the recognition of syntactic ambiguity. By comparing the processing of ambiguous and unambiguous sentence constituents in German, we show that the P600 is elicited when our language processing system has syntactic alternatives at a certain item given in the input string. That the P600 is sensitive to syntactic ambiguity adds crucial evidence to current debates in psycholinguistic modelling, as the results clearly favour parallel models of syntactic processing which assume that ambiguity is recognized and costly.     

Politicians' estimated height as an indicator of their popularity

Previous research has found that an electoral candidates' eight is correlated with their image. Many studies have found that height is a great asset for a candidate as height correlates with electoral outcome. In this research the previously obtained results were partially confirmed—in the first study the supporters of a given candidate estimated him as taller than his opponents (confirmed by six out of 10 candidates). The second study, conducted during the presidential elections in Poland, showed that electorate‐perceived height of candidates for the Presidency changed after the first phase of elections (confirmed by three from six main candidates). These changes in electoral‐perceived height depended more upon their electoral support than attitudes toward them. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Skin conductance as an indicator of anticipated concealed knowledge

The present study investigated the effects of anticipation on skin conductance while participants were answering a set of questions which included one of concealed knowledge. Two experiments were conducted. In Exp. 1, 26 participants completed one experimental session. Each participant was asked to choose one two-digit number from 10 to 99 and was presented 19 other randomly generated two-digit numbers. The list of numbers was then presented to the participant on a computer screen, with a 60-sec. interval occurring every two questions. The participant-selected number was defined as the target question which was randomly placed within the 4th to 17th item of 20 questions stated as follows: "Is your selected number?" The participant was asked to answer "No" to all questions. The skin-conductance response to each question was measured. In Exp. 2, the experimental procedure was the same as that in Exp. 1 except each participant first answered 10 nontarget questions, then answered a target question with the participant's selected number, and then answered another 10 nontarget questions. There were a total of 21 questions. Analysis indicated participants in both experiments generated the highest mean skin conductance while answering the target questions, followed by lower amplitudes to questions prior to and after the target question. The skin-conductance response pattern can be used to identify the psychological process of anticipation of concealed information.     

Peer group influence as a factor in smoking behavior of adolescents

Adolescents, as the fastest growing group of smokers, have been a focus and concern of health educators and researchers. Adolescent smoking is of particular interest because initiation and early habits are known to have important implications for lifetime smoking or cessation. Despite the well-known centrality of the peer group in adolescent behavior, smoking cessation programs have been largely directed toward individuals rather than groups, with emphasis on encouraging the individual to say "no." In this paper, smoking behavior and peer group patterns among a sample of 1,689 Grade 8 students from southern Ontario were analyzed to ascertain possible patterns of indirect influence by friends and acquaintances. Gender differences also were assessed. It was found that peer groups are crucially important in the initiation of smoking among young adolescents, particularly females. The patterns of indirect peer influence on girls is such that girls are less likely to stop smoking once they have begun than are boys.     

The pupillary response as an indicator of arousal and cognition

Psychological research on the pupillary response since 1960 has focused on an arousal interpretation and a cognitive interpretation. Experiment 1 was an attempt to manipulate some arousal factors while controlling the cognitive demands of the task. Pupil size was cinematographically recorded while subjects who had different degrees of reported fear of snakes listened to passages describing imagined interactions with a snake in different proximities. There was also a set of control passages that made no mention of snakes but were otherwise semantically and syntactically identical to the aversive passages. The pupillary response showed no influence of the arousal manipulations, but rating and behavioral data indicated that the arousal variables had been effective. The cognitive demands of the task were clearly indicated by the pupillary response. In Experiment 2 two types of tasks were used: one that employed both arousal (incentive) and cognitive factors and another that had an arousal manipulation (threat of shock) but no explicit cognitive demands. The pupil response was recorded as well as heart rate, skin conductance, and EMG. The pupillary response showed an effect of the arousal manipulations only when cognitive demands were minimal. The results of both experiments are consistent with the view that cognitive demands take priority over arousal factors in affecting the pupillary response. Heart rate did show arousal effects that were not preempted by cognitive demands.     

Occupational physical activity as an indicator of health and fitness

Recent government guidelines suggest that simply increasing physical activity, regardless of mode, leads to improved health profiles. This study examined the relationship between amount of work-related physical activity of United States Forest Service (USFS) workers and 12 indicators of health and fitness. Subjects were 110 USFS workers recruited from 8 separate USFS ranger stations in the Pacific Northwest. The associations between work-related physical activity and indicators of health and fitness indicated the 63 workers who were physically active on the job displayed better overall health and fitness patterns as evidenced by higher aerobic capacity, lower body fat, and greater muscular flexibility than their 47 inactive peers.