Effects of auditory masking by white noise on variability of fundamental frequency during highly similar productions of spontaneous speech

Six adults (3 men, 3 women) produced highly similar spontaneous speech utterances during quiet and 90-dB SPL white noise. Although subjects' fundamental frequency (fo) was significantly increased when speaking in noise, their fo variability (coefficients of variation) throughout the utterance was not affected by the auditory disruption. This indicated that their ability to vary fo for linguistic stressing was preserved under short-term disturbed auditory feedback. These findings further supported the hypothesis that fo is under open-loop regulation.     

Grasp force control in older adults

Diminished tactile sensibility and impaired hand dexterity have been reported for elderly individuals. Reports that younger adults with severely impaired tactile sensibility use excessive grasp force during routine grasp and manipulation tasks raise the possibility that elderly persons likewise produce large grasp forces that may contribute to impaired dexterity. Impaired pseudomotor functioning also occurs in elderly subjects and may yield a slipperier skin surface that enhances the possibility for excessive grasp force. The present study measured grasp force in 10 elderly and 9 young adult individuals, during grasp and vertical lift of a small object, using a precision (pinch) grip of the thumb and index finger. The slipperiness of the object's gripped surfaces was unexpectedly varied. Skin slipperiness was estimated by also measuring the grasp force at which the object slipped from grasp. The older subjects employed grasp forces that were, on average, twice as large as those of the young subjects, with some producing forces many times greater than the young subjects' average grip force. Grip forces also were significantly more variable across trials in older subjects. This increased variability was not caused simply by the elderly subjects' increased grip force. A portion of the increased force was due to increased skin slipperiness. The grip force that the elderly subjects produced in excess of the slip force (the "margin of safety" against object slippage) was larger than would have been predicted from their skin slipperiness, however. It is suggested that, in part, the excessive grasp forces represent a strategic response to tactile sensibility impairment. Twopoint discrimination limina in the older subjects averaged about four times greater than in the younger subjects. Increased grasp forces in elderly persons may result from other factors, such as increased variability in grip force production. The contributions of excessive grasp forces to impaired dexterity in older persons still need to be addressed experimentally.     

What the voice reveals: within- and between-category stereotyping on the basis of voice

The authors report research that attempts to shift the traditional focus of visual cues to auditory cues as a basis for stereotyping. Moreover, their approach examines whether gender-signaling vocal cues lead not only to between-category but also to within-category gender stereotyping. Study 1 showed that both men and women vary within category in how feminine their voices sound and that perceptions of vocal femininity are highly consensual. Furthermore, the measured acoustic characteristics that differed between gender were also related to perceptions of within-gender femininity. Subsequent studies demonstrated that variability in vocal femininity affects gender stereotyping when the targets are all of the same gender (Study 2) and when the targets are of different genders (Study 3). In the latter case, evidence of both category-based and feature-based stereotyping was found. Mediation analyses showed that the relationship between acoustics and stereotyping was in part due to femininity.     

Lie scales and the elderly

The results of 11 community-wide studies in which a short form of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale was administered are summarized. In seven Australian studies significant correlations (ranging from 0.20 to 0.42) were found between the scale and age. In one study having mostly male respondents, however, no significant correlation was found. This led to the data from a ninth study being dissected into males and females. A significant correlation was then found for females only. Two further studies from West Germany and India gave results similar to the Australian findings. The results were interpreted to mean that older women seek to compensate for ‘Loss of looks’ by promoting themselves as having other virtues. These highly meaningful findings from use of a social desirability scale among the elderly tend to rebut attacks on the validity of such scales among the elderly.     

Aging, body image, and body shape

Participants were 25 older men (M age = 72 years, SD = 10 years) and 27 older women (M age = 71 years, SD = 8 years) who examined multiple line-drawing figures of babies, children, young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults. Participants picked a number on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (very thin) to 9 (very obese) in response to questions including "Which is the most attractive?" and "Which figure would you most like to look like?" They also completed questionnaires about their body image and body shape. In response to the age-specific line drawings (e.g., those depicting older men and older women), older women endorsed thinner figures (e.g., picked smaller numbers) than did men. Likewise, older women reported thinking more about their body shape and appearance than did men and perceived their body image as "a little too big" in comparison with the older men who perceived their body image as "just the right size." However, a breakdown of normal and overweight women in this sample revealed that for some overweight elderly women, obesity could become a satisfactory way of life. Much as with college-aged women, the endorsement of a thinner body image by many of the older adult female participants appeared to persist into late adulthood and suggests that research into body image issues with older adults is relevant and necessary.     

Intraindividual Variability of Neuromotor Function Predicts Falls Risk in Older Adults and those with Type 2 Diabetes

This study was designed to examine the effect of increasing age and type 2 diabetes on the average responses and inter- and intraindividual variability of falls risk, reaction time, strength, and walking speed for healthy older adults and older persons with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Seventy-five older individuals (controls) and 75 persons with T2DM aged between 50 and 79 years participated in the study. Assessments of falls risk, reaction time (RT), knee extension strength, and walking speed were conducted. The results revealed that advancing age for both control and T2DM groups was reflected by a progressive increase in falls risk, decreased leg strength and a decline (i.e., slowing) of reactions and gait speed. Conversely, the level of intraindividual variability for the RT, strength and gait measures increased with increasing age for both groups, with T2DM persons tending to be more variable compared to the healthy controls of similar age. In contrast to the intraindividual changes, measures of interindividual variability revealed few differences between the healthy elderly and T2DM individuals. Taken together, the findings support the proposition that intraindividual variability of neuromotor measures may be useful as a biomarker for the early detection of decline in physiological function due to age or disease.     

幼儿面子谎行为与面子意识研究

本文研究了幼儿的面子谎行为和面子意识。被试为幼儿园大班幼儿60名(平均年龄5．72岁),中班60名(平均年龄4．74岁),小班40名(平均年龄3．75岁),面子谎行为通过幼儿评画行为测得,而面子意识则通过评价说面子谎故事获得。实验结果表明：大班、中班幼儿明显具有面子谎行为,但两年龄组的幼儿面子谎行为的发生率没有显著差异,小班幼儿没有面子谎行为;幼儿面子意识基本上不存在。说明幼儿面子谎行为的发展远远先于面子意识的形成。     

The mark of adaptive memory in healthy and cognitively impaired older adults and elderly

The survival processing paradigm has recently drawn attention to the functional aspects of memory functioning. The survival effect, characterized by better memory performance when information is processed in a survival context, as compared with a variety of controls, is now well established in healthy populations. The main goal of this study was to test this paradigm in a group of cognitively impaired older adults and elderly; their data were compared to the data obtained in a group of healthy older adults and elderly. Seventeen cognitively impaired and 17 healthy participants performed a typical survival task using a blocked within‐subject design procedure and free recall as the memory test. The healthy older adults and elderly performed better on this memory task as well as on other tests included in a neuropsychological evaluation protocol. Importantly, both groups benefited from survival processing. These results provide further support for the power of survival processing, extending this phenomenon to cognitively impaired aging participants. The data also suggest that the survival effect is not simply a form of deep processing. Potential applied considerations are presented.     

Assessment of Work–Family Conflict Among Women of the Sandwich Generation

The term sandwich generation refers to the middle-aged generation who are responsible for caring elderly parents and dependent children. This situation is worse in case of working women who have job obligations along with family responsibilities. Therefore, this study is aimed to investigate level of the four-dimensional work–family conflict among working women of the sandwich generation. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 90 Malaysian working women using self-reported data. Multiple-stage simple random sampling was used to recruit women from public service departments of Malaysia. Self-administrated questionnaires were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. One-third of our respondents (33.3%) are members of sandwich generation who simultaneously provide care to elderly parents and children. However, 66.7% of women in this study are caregivers for either elderly parent or their children. The results of t-test showed that level of time-based FIW was significantly (t?=?? 2.02, p?<?0.05) higher in sandwich generation members (Mean?=?12.33, SD?=?1.95) compared to women caring for either parent or children (Mean?=?11.25, SD?=?2.58). The results of Multiple linear regression indicated that membership in sandwich generation significantly predict (b?=?0.26, p?<?0.05) FIWt after controlling for the effect of socio-demographic variables. Our findings showed that women who simultaneously take care of both elderly parent and children significantly experience higher level of time-based Family Interference into Work (FIWt). In contrast, membership in sandwich generation was not related to higher level of time-based Work Interference into Family (WIFt).     

Motion perception in the ageing visual system: minimum motion, motion coherence, and speed discrimination thresholds

We aimed to address two issues: first, to describe how the perception of motion differs in elderly observers as compared to younger ones; and, second, to see if these changes in motion perception could be accounted for by the known changes in the ability of elderly observers to detect patterns (as indexed via contrast sensitivity). The lower threshold of motion, motion coherence, and speed discrimination were measured, alongside contrast sensitivity, in a group of thirty-two older (mean age 61.5 years) and thirty-two younger (mean age 23.2 years) subjects. The older observers showed losses in their ability to detect slow motions as indexed via the lower threshold of motion for random-dot patterns and for gratings of a range of spatial frequencies. They also were impaired on a test of motion coherence, but only for stimuli of a slow to medium speed, whereas faster speeds showed no decline with age. Finally, at all speeds tested the older observers required greater differences in speed in order to discriminate between patterns moving at different speeds. The pattern of losses on motion perception tasks was not predicted by the deficits of the older groups, such as loss of detection thresholds for high spatial and/or temporal frequencies. It is concluded that these hypotheses do not provide an adequate account of the data, and therefore that the losses occurring with age are complex and probably are a result of the loss of several types of cell.     

Speech-motor equivalence in aging subjects'

The peak amplitude of EMG activity was measured from the orbicularis oris superior (OOS), orbicularis oris inferior (OOI), and masseter muscles for three normal, geriatric women (range 70 to 75 yr.) and compared with prior data for a group of normal, 4- and 8-yr.-old children and young adults (range 21 to 29 yr.). The elderly groups' variability across the three muscles paralleled that of the 4-yr.-olds, suggesting that speech-motor equivalence returns to an earlier level of operation in aging speakers. Also, the elderly subjects evidenced reduced levels of average peak EMG activity as compared to those of the other groups. This finding was interpreted as reflecting a loss of general muscle function, a possible concomitant of facial muscle atrophy that accompanies advanced age.     

Recognition accuracy and reaction time of vocal expressions of emotion by African-American and Euro-American college women

This study examined the relationship of racial group membership and vocal expressions of emotion. Recognition accuracy and reaction time were examined using the Diagnostic Assessment of Nonverbal Accuracy 2 Receptive Paralanguage subtests with 18 young Euro-American and African-American women. Participants listened to Euro-American children and adults speaking a neutral sentence, and identified the emotion as happy, sad, angry, or fearful. Analysis identified a significant effect for race on reaction time. Euro-American participants had faster mean RT than the African-American women for the recognition of vocal expression of emotion portrayed by Euro-Americans. However, no significant differences were found in mean accurate identification between the two groups. The finding of a significant difference in recognition RT but not in accuracy between the stimuli spoken by an adult and a child was unexpected. Both racial groups had faster mean RT in response to vocal expression of emotion by children.     

Acoustic variability and individual distinctiveness in the vocal repertoire of red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus)

Acoustic variability and individual distinctiveness of vocal signals are expected to vary with both their communicative function and the need for individual recognition during social interactions. So far, few attempts have been made to comparatively study these features across the different call types within a species' vocal repertoire. We collected recordings of the six most common call types from 14 red-capped mangabeys (Cercocebus torquatus) to assess intra- and interindividual acoustic variability, using a range of temporal and frequency parameters. Acoustic variability was highest in contact and threat calls, intermediate in food calls, and lowest in loud and alarm calls. Individual distinctiveness was high in contact, threat, loud and alarm calls, and low in food calls. In sum, calls mediating intragroup social interactions were structurally most variable and individually most distinctive, highlighting the key role that social factors must have played in the evolution of the vocal repertoire in this species. We discuss these findings in light of existing hypotheses of acoustic variability in primate vocal behavior.     

Age, variability, and speed: between-subjects diversity

Two independent data sets were selected to examine the interrelations among reaction time (RT), between-subject variability or diversity (SD), and age. In both data sets, a strong correlation between RT and SD was obtained. This strong correlation was not affected when age was controlled in a partial correlation analysis. On the other hand, a weaker but significant correlation was obtained between age and SD. This correlation was eliminated when RT was controlled in a partial correlation analysis. Our analyses of the two data sets also indicated that the relation between RT and SD is identical for both young and elderly groups. Thus, the greater diversity often observed in performances of older groups is a direct consequence of slowing, rather than an independent effect of advancing age.     

Assessment of anxiety in older adults: a community-based survey and comparison with younger adults

The reliability and validity of existing anxiety self-report scales in elderly adults has not been adequately established, and the phenomenology of anxiety in older adults is largely unknown. In the present study, three anxiety scales and measures of depression and somatization were used to compare symptoms between older (n = 84, mean age = 75.3) and younger (n = 48, mean age = 40.3) community-dwelling adults. Results showed that the anxiety scales demonstrated good internal consistency in both age groups, although the reliabilities of the Fear Questionnaire subscales ranged from poor to good. Convergent and divergent validity were found to be variable in the older group, but this may reflect differences in anxiety as it occurs in older persons rather than psychometric problems. Anxiety symptoms did not vary with age, and levels of anxiety also remained constant. However, gender differences were found only within the older age group, with women reporting more anxiety than men. Findings are discussed with respect to current conceptualizations of anxiety in older people, as well as implications for future research.     

Changes in Event-Based Prospective Memory Across Adulthood

Conflicting results in the literature raise the possibility of a nonmonotonic relationship between adult age and event-based prospective memory performance. In this study, young (n = 45; mean age = 20), middle-aged (n = 56; mean age = 59), and elderly (n = 59; mean age = 76) volunteers were shown slides of famous people. The background task was to name each face while the prospective memory task was to mark the trial number if the person was wearing glasses. Although the stimuli were selected to favor the older participants, the proportion of prospective memory responses to target events declined monotonically with increasing age (.77, .62, and .26, for the young, middle-aged, and elderly, respectively). Analysis of the prospective memory data in terms of hazard functions for the first failure and the first success also revealed some significant age deficits. The elderly group reported thinking less about the prospective memory component than the young and middle-aged groups. Also, the elderly group was less likely to blame the demands of the background task for their prospective memory failures than the young and middle-aged groups. However, age differences in prospective memory performance remained significant after controlling (in separate analyses) for past experience (hazard functions), memory for the task instructions, self-rated thoughts, and reasons for failure. The results are discussed in relation to work on goal neglect, and possible explanations for the conflicting results in the literature are presented.     

Interactive effect of long-term mental stress and cardiac stress reactivity on carotid intima-media thickness: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study

The present study examined the interaction between vital exhaustion and cardiac reactivity and recovery on preclinical atherosclerosis assessed by carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in young men and women. We measured heart rate (HR), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and pre-ejection period (PEP) in response to mental arithmetic and speech tasks. Vital exhaustion and carotid IMT were also measured. Significant associations were observed for men aged 28-37 years, but not for men aged 22-25 years, nor for women in these age groups. It was shown that, among highly exhausted men in the older age group, lower HR reactivity was related to greater IMT. Our results also imply that, among non-exhausted men in this age group, slow HR and RSA recovery after acute stress predicted higher IMT. These results suggest that long-term stress as assessed by vital exhaustion is a risk only if it has resulted in ineffective cardiac stress reactivity. Autonomic imbalance resulting from chronic stress may be the common mechanism linking vital exhaustion and cardiac responsiveness to an increased risk of atherosclerosis.     

Transferability of a role-oriented interest Inventory from men to women in church-related occupations

This study considers the feasibility of using the Inventory of Religious Activities of Interests and the extensive data for men associated therewith in the counseling of women who may be interested in entering occupations related to the Protestant Church. Mean scores on the ten scales of the Inventory for men and women in nine categories of church-related occupations and for the total sex groups were compared in respect to similarity of shape of mean score profile and in respect to the level of mean scores. In addition, the ability of the Inventory to differentiate among groups (11 for women; 10 for men) for the sexes separately was considered. The results suggest that while men and women as total groups appear to differ in their interests as measured by the IRAI, the data for men and women in the respective specialties are sufficiently similar in respect to profile shape and mean score level to justify the use of the Inventory and the normative data for men in the counseling of women. The results suggest the Inventory differentiates among subgroups of men more effectively than it does among subgroups of women. But there are data to suggest that this difference may be more apparent than real.     

Vocal group signatures in the goitred gazelle Gazella subgutturosa

The potential for vocal modification in mammals has recently been of great interest. This study focuses on the potential for vocal matching in juvenile and adolescent goitred gazelles Gazella subgutturosa that were group housed as part of an animal management programme. Two groups of animals (16 and 19 unrelated individuals, respectively) were recorded at two different ages, juvenile and adolescent, regarding 20–25 calls per individual per age; each group was evaluated in a separate year. Vocal similarity of group members compared to non-members was prominent in both ages, but higher in juveniles. Individual identity was prominent in both ages and higher in adolescents. The more prominent vocal indicators of group membership in juveniles could be related to their higher social dependence compared to adolescents. The more individualized calls of adolescents could be a mechanistic consequence of more stable growth at older age. Our results suggest vocal plasticity of goitred gazelles under social influences. These data add to recent evidence about domestic goat kids Capra hircus, suggesting that vocalizations of species that are not capable of imitation are more flexible than previously thought.     

What setting limits may mean: a feminist critique of Daniel Callahan's Setting Limits

In Setting Limits, Daniel Callahan advances the provocative thesis that age be a limiting factor in decisions to allocate certain kinds of health services to the elderly. However, when one looks at available data, one discovers that there are many more elderly women than there are elderly men, and these older women are poorer, more apt to live alone, and less likely to have informal social and personal supports than their male counterparts. Older women, therefore, will make the heaviest demand on health care resources. If age were to become a limiting factor, as Dr. Callahan sug-gests it should, the limits that will be set are limits that will affect women more dras” tically than they affect men. This review essay examines the implications of Callahan's thesis for elderly women.