Sex-role orientation and fear of success: Clarifying an unclear relationship

Inconsistencies in research concerning the relationship between fear of success (FOS) and sex-role orientation may be due to the use of sex-role inventories considering masculinity and femininity as endpoints of a bipolar continuum. The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1974), which treats masculinity and femininity as separate dimensions, was administered to 218 female undergraduates in addition to measures of FOS, achievement motivation, and performance. It was predicted that women who were androgynous (high feminine and high masculine) would evidence less FOS than women who were high masculine or high feminine. It was also predicted that women who embraced masculine characteristics (androgynous or sex-reversed) would be higher in both achievement motivation and performance than low masculine women. Both predictions were confirmed. Sex-reversed women were highest in FOS.This research was conducted with the support of a David Ross Grant from the Purdue Research Foundation to Dr. Kay Deaux and the author. Thanks are extended to William A. Fisher, Dr. Kay Deaux, and Dr. Elizabeth Farris for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article. All correspondence should be addressed to Brenda Major, Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo, 4230 Ridge Lea Road, Buffalo, New York 14226.     

Followers' unclear demands during the COVID-19 pandemic can undermine leaders' well-being: A moderated mediation model from an entrapment perspective

Although effective leaders are important for reducing employee stress during the COVID-19, limited studies have examined how follower behaviors can influence leader stress and well-being during the COVID-19. This study draws on defeat-entrapment theory to examine how followers' unclear demands during the COVID-19 consequently impact leaders' psychological states and well-being. We conducted a three-wave time-lagged investigation with a sample of 281 leaders in the United Kingdom and found that followers' unclear demands could generate feelings of entrapment in leaders, leading to decreased levels of well-being outcomes in leaders. Importantly, we found that leaders who have higher levels of leadership responsibility during the COVID-19 are likely to feel trapped by followers' unclear demands. They are also likely to face higher levels of feelings of entrapment and impaired well-being compared with leaders who have lower levels of leadership responsibility. We discuss the implications for theories and practices, as well as directions for future research.     

Motivated but not engaged: The implicit achievement motive requires difficult or unclear task difficulty conditions to exert an impact on effort

Integrating the achievement motive literature and motivational intensity theory, we expected the implicit achievement motive (nAch) to directly determine effort mobilization when task difficulty is unclear. However, nAch should interact with task difficulty in determining effort mobilization when task difficulty is clear. Participants worked on an easy versus difficult memory task (Study 1) or a clear versus unclear arithmetic task (Study 2). We used the Picture-Story-Exercise to assess nAch and pre-ejection period (PEP) to operationalize effort. As predicted, PEP reactivity was strong in the difficult-high-nAch condition and in the unclear-high-nAch condition but low in the other three conditions. Supporting motivational intensity theory, our results showed that nAch requires difficult or unclear task conditions to exert a noticeable impact on effort.     

Description of an ambulatory neuropsychiatric patient population in the Gondar region, Northwest Ethiopia: epidemiologic and clinical aspects

The paper deals with the morbidity profile of 1240 patients in the neuropsychiatric outpatient department of the Gondar College of Medical Sciences in the course of eleven months in the years 1985-1986, and proceeds to compare in with a previous analysis, that of Bach and Bachmann (1987). Although the morbidity profile tallies remarkably well with that in Central Europe, the extensive practice of consulting traditional healers disguises the exact situation. Constantly shifting regional peculiarities has a great influence on the morbidity of individual clinical pictures. Epidemiological and clinical aspects are discussed in the context of the relevant African literature.     

MASTER/SLAVE: Interprocessor communications between PDP-8s

This paper describes an inexpensive, powerful, and easily learned interprocessor communication system for PDP-8 computers. When executed, the master machine exercises control over the slave using commands similar to DEC’s OS/8 copy program, FOTP.     

Time-sharing SKED and OS/8: A new version

A new time-sharing SKED program has been developed to simultaneously conduct up to 12 behavioral experiments while the OS/8 operating system is used in the “background.” The new system provides improved control over the SKED program while allowing the experimenter to develop new programs or analyze data during the experimental session. A minimum of 16K of memory and an OS/8 device is required to use this system.     

A programming system for doing asynchronous I/O on an 8K PDP-12

A programming system is described for the PDP-12 computer system. The system handles input-output requests from user-written routines.     

SKED systems: Paper tape,Tennecomp, and OS/8

The SKED system has been developed at different levels of complexity and power for differing hardware configurations. The simplest of these, and the least expensive, is the paper-tape SKED system. Some of the drawbacks associated with the use of paper tape are absent in the Tennecomp magnetic tape cartridge system. Users with mass storage capabilities can make use of the OS/8 operating system (copyright DEC) to speed up all aspects of the SKED system (especially editing, compilation, and loading of programs), and take advantage of a file-oriented system structure for data storage and analysis.     

Relationships between digit ratio 2D:4D and self-reported aggression and risk taking in an online study

2D:4D, the length ratio of the second to the fourth digit, is a putative measure of prenatal testosterone, which may have effects on aggression and risk taking. Participants in a German online study (>1000 females, >1200 males) submitted their self-measured digit lengths and self-report measures on verbal and physical aggression and risk taking. For males, left-hand 2D:4D and verbal aggression correlated significantly (r = −.10, after correction for age and reduced reliability in self-measured 2D:4D), with other relationships being similar but non-significant. For females, no relationships between aggression and 2D:4D were found. Risk taking and right-hand 2D:4D correlated significantly in women (r = −.10, after correction for age and reduced reliability in self-measured 2D:4D); similar, but statistically non-significant, relationships were found in men. The result corroborates an emerging view that 2D:4D is negatively related to aggression in males and that 2D:4D is negatively related to risk taking. This tentatively points to effects of prenatal testosterone on these characteristics.     

Effects of an 8-week meditation program on the implicit and explicit attitudes toward religious/spiritual self-representations

Explicit self-representations often conflict with implicit and intuitive self-representations, with such discrepancies being seen as a source of psychological tension. Most of previous research on the psychological effects of mindfulness-meditation has assessed people’s self-attitudes at an explicit level, leaving unknown whether mindfulness-meditation promotes changes on implicit self-representations. Here, we assessed the changes in implicit and explicit self-related religious/spiritual (RS) representations in healthy participants following an 8-week mindfulness-oriented meditation (MOM) program. Before and after meditation, participants were administered implicit (implicit association test) and explicit (self-reported questionnaires) RS measures. Relative to control condition, MOM led to increases of implicit RS in individuals whit low pre-existing implicit RS and to more widespread increases in explicit RS. On the assumption that MOM practice may enhance the clarity of one’s transcendental thoughts and feelings, we argued that MOM allows people to transform their intuitive feelings of implicit RS as well as their explicit RS attitudes.     

Biography as an Art Form: The Story of Helen Flanders Dunbar,M.D., Ph.D., B.D., and Med. Sci. D

Helen Flanders Dunbar (1902–1959) was a physician, medieval and Renaissance scholar, theologian, and founder of the American Psychosomatic Society and its journal Psychosomatic Medicine. Her contributions are not currently well known but deserve recognition from all those involved or interested in the dialogue between medicine and spirituality. This essay explores Dunbar’s personal history and professional achievements. It focuses particular attention on a feminist perspective regarding her life and work. It will conclude with a discussion of how biography, as an art form, transforms both author and audience. This essay was originally presented as the Second Annual J.R. Williams Memorial Lecture on Spirituality and Medicine at the Tulane School of Medicine in fall 2013.     

Graduate student marriages: an organizational/interactional view

This article describes an organizational/interactional model for understanding and working with graduate student marriages. The model first distinguishes symmetrical (student/student) from asymmetrical (student/working spouse) marriages. Then, the major focus is on asymmetrical marriages and the disengagement process that is typical among these couples. Asymmetrical organization, especially within today's ethos of equal roles and equal responsibilities, presents graduate student couples with several dilemmas: (a) it promotes hierarchical confusion, (b) it makes for a problematic marital quid pro quo, and (c) it fosters contextual gaps between the two partners. When these inherent difficulties are misconstrued and mishandled, dysfunctional sequences lead the couple into progressive disengagement. Even as dissatisfaction in the marriage increases, graduate student couples have a tendency to postpone and suspend negotiations. Over time, there is an intensification of the couple's unhappiness but, at the same time, the relationship remains structurally unchanged. The building tension in the marriage typically culminates in a crisis when a milestone in the student's course of work precipitates a major disorganization of the system. Clinical implications of the model are outlined with recommendations for focused interventions.     

Relationships matter in personality development: evidence from an 8-year longitudinal study across young adulthood

Personality-relationship transactions were investigated in a general population sample of young German adults with three assessments over 8 years. Four general findings were obtained. First, personality development was characterized by substantive individual differences in change. Second, bivariate latent growth models indicated that individual differences in personality change were substantially associated with change in peer and family relationships. Third, forming a partner relationship for the first time moderated the maturation of personality. This finding was replicated over two subsequent time intervals with independent subgroups. Fourth, higher neuroticism and higher sociability predicted which of the singles began a partner relationship during the next 8 years. The results confirm that individual differences in personality development predict and result from life transitions and relationship experiences.     

Visuospatial function in the beagle dog: an early marker of cognitive decline in a model of human aging and dementia

Visuospatial learning and memory impairments are an early marker for age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. Similar to humans, aged dogs show visuospatial learning and memory deficits (). One hundred and nine beagle dogs ranging between 0.25 and 11.99 years were tested on a visuospatial delayed non-matching to position (DNMP) task to better characterize the progression of visuospatial deficits in the dog. Age predicted 48.2% of the variability in learning the DNMP, with dogs ranging from 1 to 11.99 years generally making more errors with increasing age. By contrast, puppies (<1 year) likely were showing developmental deficits, possibly due to an immature prefrontal cortex. Mild visuospatial deficits were detected by 6 years, which precedes the typical onset of amyloid-beta (Abeta) accumulation in the dog brain by two years, and can serve as an early marker for cognitive decline in the dog. These findings suggest that (1) age-related changes in visuospatial function in the dog models that seen in humans, further validating the dog as a model for human aging and dementia; and (2) other mechanisms, such as oxidative stress, soluble Abeta oligomers or cholinergic deficits, are likely contributing to the early impairment.     

Effects of instruction and practice on ball catching skill: single-subject study of an 8-year-old.

An eight-year-old boy learned to make one-handed catches by involvement in three 30-min. periods of instruction and practice consisting of modelling, videotape-based performance feedback, and variable practice interspersed with videotaped assessments on seven consecutive days. An adult-like catching action (both hands) emerged in the second session and was used exclusively thereafter. Catching success at the second and third assessments improved from 40% (preferred hand) and 30% (non-preferred) to over 90% (both hands) on the final assessment. Following the intervention, success and the catching action were similar to those of skillful ten-year-old subjects observed in a previous study.     

Glucocorticoid-induced impairment of long-term memory retrieval in rats: an interaction with dopamine D2 receptors

This study investigated glucocorticoid-dopaminergic interactions in modulating retrieval of long-term memory in an inhibitory avoidance task. Young adult male rats were trained in one trial inhibitory avoidance task (0.5 mA, 3 s footshock). On the retention test given 48 h after training, the latency to re-enter the dark compartment of the apparatus was recorded. Systemically administered corticosterone (1 or 3 mg/kg) given to rats 30 min before retention testing impaired their memory retrieval, but the lower dose was more effective than the higher one. Administration of the dopamine (DA) D2 receptor antagonist sulpiride (6 or 20 mg/kg) 30 min before corticosterone attenuated the impairing effects of corticosterone (1 mg/kg) on memory retrieval. Administration of the DA D1 receptor antagonist SCH23390 (25 or 50 microg/kg) had no effect on corticosterone-induced impairment of memory retrieval. Further, applied doses of sulpiride or SCH23390 alone were ineffective in modulating memory retrieval. These findings provide evidence for the existence of an interaction between glucocorticoids and DA D2 receptor on memory retrieval process.     

Neural correlates of belief- and desire-reasoning in 7- and 8-year-old children: an event-related potential study

Theory of mind requires belief‐ and desire‐understanding. Event‐related brain potential (ERP) research on belief‐ and desire‐reasoning in adults found mid‐frontal activations for both desires and beliefs, and selective right‐posterior activations only for beliefs. Developmentally, children understand desires before beliefs; thus, a critical question concerns whether neural specialization for belief‐reasoning exists in childhood or develops later. Neural activity was recorded as 7‐ and 8‐year‐olds (N = 18) performed the same diverse‐desires, diverse‐beliefs, and physical control tasks used in a previous adult ERP study. Like adults, mid‐frontal scalp activations were found for belief‐ and desire‐reasoning. Moreover, analyses using correct trials alone yielded selective right‐posterior activations for belief‐reasoning. Results suggest developmental links between increasingly accurate understanding of complex mental states and neural specialization supporting this understanding.