Time perception during a two-week confinement: Influence of age,sex, IQ,and time of day

Thirty men, women, and children were confined to an experimental chamber (simulated fallout shelter) for 304.6 hours with no mechanical means of determining passage of time. Extrinsic cues (e.g., night and day) to time of day were absent or unknown. Indicidual estimates of the time of day were made twice daily to determine the relative influence of age, sex, IQ, time of day and days of confinement upon time perception. Estimate deviations in minutes from true time were evaluated by mixed analyses of variance and trend tests. Results revealed significant time of day, age, and days effects. Sex, and IQ effects were not significant.     

Caffeine reduces time-of-day effects on memory performance in older adults

For most older adults, memory performance depends on the time of day, with performance being optimal early in the morning and declining during the late afternoon hours. In the present study, we asked whether this decline could be ameliorated by a simple stimulant, caffeine. Adults over the age of 65 who considered themselves "morning types" were tested twice over an interval of 5 to 11 days, once in the morning and once in the late afternoon. Participants ingested either coffee with caffeine or decaffeinated coffee at both sessions. Participants who ingested decaffeinated coffee showed a significant decline in memory performance from morning to afternoon. In contrast, those who ingested caffeine showed no decline in performance from morning to afternoon. The results suggest that time-of-day effects may be mediated by nonspecific changes in level of arousal.     

Sex and age differences on the Raven's matrices

This study examined the effects of sex and age on scores on a matrices test among university and college students aged 17 to 51 yr. Sex differences in mean scores were nonsignificant. The general decline with age was linear and negative, significantly so for women (n = 132), not for men (n = 74). Significant decrements occurred from the age of 26 yr. upwards for women only. The findings suggest that loss of intellectual capacity on the Raven's Matrices can be attributed to age.     

Declines in non-digital social interaction among Americans, 2003–2017

It is unclear whether Americans spent less time on non-digital social interaction in the 2010s than in the 2000s. In the nationally representative American Time Use Survey administered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (n = 191,558), U.S. residents 15 years of age and older spent 10 to 11 fewer minutes a day in non-digital social interaction during leisure time in 2017 compared to 2003, which translates to 67 fewer hours a year. The decline was primarily driven by adolescents and young adults ages from15 to 25, who spent between 21 and 23 fewer minutes per day on non-digital social interaction in 2017 compared to 2003, or 140 fewer hours a year. Thus, American adolescents and young adults spent less time on non-digital social interaction in the 2010s, with a less pronounced decline among those ages 26 and over.     

Cognitive decline in old age: separating retest effects from the effects of growing older

Repeated administration of cognitive tests improves test performance, making it difficult for researchers to gauge the true extent of age-related cognitive decline. The authors examined this issue using data from the Rush Religious Orders Study and linear mixed-effects models. At annual intervals for up to 8 years, more than 800 older Catholic clergy members completed the same set of 19 cognitive tests from which previously established composite measures of cognitive domains were derived. Retest effects on some measures were substantial and continued to accumulate even after 8 annual test readministrations, but effects on other measures were minimal. Across cognitive measures, retest effects were not related to age, sex, or education. Individual differences in retest effects were substantial but not consistent across cognitive measures. The results suggest that retest-based improvement in cognitive test performance can be substantial and persistent.     

Comparison of Korean and European women professional golfers' training time and perceptions of ideal training time

The purpose of this study was to compare Korean and European female professional golfer's reported practice hours and their different understandings about golf training. 55 Korean and 21 European female professional golfers were asked questions about average actual practice days per week, average actual practice hours per day, ideal practice days per week, and ideal practice hours per day. All the women participated in the Korean Female Masters Golf Tournament at the Korean Cyprus Golf course from 6-8 November in 2009. Korean female professional golfers reported practicing more hours, but both the Korean and European golfers reported actually practicing more hours than their ideal practice hours.     

Effects of Abacus training on the intelligence of Sudanese children

The effects of Abacus training in mental computation on intelligence assessed with the standard progressive matrices (SPM) was investigated in a sample of 3185 children aged between 7 and 11 years in Sudan. The sample was divided into two groups matched for scores on the SPM, sex, age and urbanization. The experimental group was given an intensive Abacus program training for two hours per week for 34 weeks. The control group did not receive any training. Following the end of the training the control and the experimental groups were retested with the SPM. Controlling for practice effects, the experimental group gained a statistically significant 7.11 IQ points attributable to the training. The experimental group also performed significantly faster following training. The results suggest that the introduction of a greater emphasis on problem solving skills in Sudanese schools may be expected to increase general intelligence.     

The effects of infant simulators on early adolescents

The researchers examined the effects of infant simulators (computerized dolls designed to simulate normal infants) on 236 eighth-grade students. As part of their health and sex education curriculum, students had to provide care--24 hours a day, over several days--to dolls that cried when they "were hungry," "needed a diaper change," or "needed attention." The dolls enabled teachers to evaluate the care given by students. Students kept daily charts and journals, and wrote essays about their experiences. One to two years later, the students were surveyed, along with 461 comparison students who did not have the infant simulator experience. The findings indicated that the doll experience had a significant impact on the students, especially the females. It helped them to learn about the challenges of infant care, and to think of the implications before engaging in sexual intercourse. The comparison group felt less knowledgeable about what it takes to care for an infant, and judged infant care as less time consuming, difficult, and expensive than did those who had the infant simulator experience.     

Latent growth curve analyses of accelerating decline in cognitive abilities in late adulthood

Latent growth models were applied to data from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging to discover if the rate of change in cognitive performance increased from middle age to later adulthood. The sample included 590 participants aged 44 to 88 years at first measurement. Data were gathered at 2 follow-up occasions at intervals of 3 years. Cognitive ability was assessed through 11 tests that tapped crystallized, fluid, memory, and spatial abilities and perceptual speed. Results indicated stability for measures of crystallized ability, linear age changes for many cognitive abilities, and a significant acceleration in linear decline after age 65 for measures with a large speed component. Gender differences were found only in mean level, not in rate of decline.     

Exploring the relationship between compressed work hours satisfaction and absenteeism in front-line service work

There has been an upsurge of interest in compressed workweek schedules because of the opportunities they provide for enhanced organizational efficiency and more balanced work and life roles for employees. This study tested a moderated mediation model of the effects of compressed work hours satisfaction on absenteeism with the purpose of exploring both the mediation effects of emotional exhaustion and physical health and the moderating effects of sex on this relationship. It utilized data drawn from a sample of 236 contact-centre service workers linked to absenteeism data collected for a period of 12 months following the survey. Results indicated that compressed work hours satisfaction was associated with lower absenteeism and that this relationship was mediated sequentially through emotional exhaustion and physical health. Although the indirect effect of compressed work hours satisfaction on absenteeism through emotional exhaustion and physical health was not significantly different between women and men, the relationship between compressed work hours satisfaction and physical health was positive for women but not for men. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Sexually dimorphic effect of an acute smoking manipulation on skin resistance but not on heart-rate during a cognitive verbal task

In a two-day, two-session experiment where smokers male and female college-student subjects worked on a cognitive verbal task during either the first or second day, and on a cognitive spatial task on the second or first day, smoking was manipulated as an acute independent variable by requiring 10+ hours of pre-experimental abstention, and providing a cigarette during the 15-minute rest period between the two sessions. Non-smoker female and male subjects underwent the same experiment, and hence served as controls for the effects of this acute-smoking manipulation. Overall adaptation (decreased arousal) to the experiment was manifested in a significant increase in skin resistance level (SRL) in all subjects, but when this adaptation effect was statistically controlled, there was a significant smokers by sex interaction during the verbal task only, such that SRL was increased by the cigarette in males, but decreased in females. In contrast, the same analysis indicated only a marked increase in heart-rate (HR) due to smoking, which was unaffected either by sex or by whether the task was the verbal or the (easier) spatial one. We interpret the SRL results as reflecting a sex difference in the direction of transient psychological arousal, and discuss it in relation to evidence in the literature based on self reports, and to evidence (based on HR in this study and on blood pressure in other studies) on physiological (cardiovascular) arousal.     

Longitudinal Effects of Different Types of Practice on the Development of Chess Expertise

A view holds that expertise level depends on practice alone and that certain types of practice are important or unimportant. Supporting evidence largely comes from studies using a correlational retrospective recall paradigm, usually with small samples. Initially, these studies were partially replicated with 533 international chess players. Log number of games played was the strongest predictor of latest performance rating. Then, effects of study hours, having had coaching and the number of games played were examined longitudinally to control for key variables confounded in the retrospective recall paradigm. Groups with a nearly 5–1 median difference in weekly study hours, roughly equated on time in the domain and the number of games played, were observed over 7 years. More study hours had negligible impact. Coaching had some effect over time, and the number of games had a strong effect even when participants were equated on time in the domain. Previous studies show that a factor other than the number of games is important in developing chess expertise. Study is a weak factor at best and could not be that important factor. Chess expertise apparently does not depend on practice (study and the number of games) alone. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Collegiate year of eligibility, sex, and sports achievement motivation

The relations among year of eligibility, sex, and achievement motivation were investigated with 88 athletes representing three levels of collegiate eligibility (Year 1, Year 2/3, and Year 4) by sex. Participants were given Achievement Motivation subscales for Sporting Environments (approach-success practice, approach-success competition, failure-avoidance practice, failure-avoidance competition). A 3 x 2 analysis of variance showed significant main effects for year of eligibility and sex, and an interaction for age x sex for the failure-avoidance competition scores. Mean approach-success and failure-avoidance practice scores were not significantly different. Fear of failure may be less for male athletes in Year 4 of eligibility.     

大学新生主观社会地位与抑郁的变化轨迹:一项多元潜变量增长模型分析

采用整群取样的方法在全国按东部、中部和西部共抽取了7所高校的1983名新生,进行了历时四个月的四次追踪测试。使用潜变量增长模型建模,分别考察了新生主观社会地位和抑郁的变化轨迹,并就两者间的变化关系进行了分析。结果发现新生入学后四个月内：（1）主观社会地位呈阶段化线性增长,其起始水平和第一阶段的增长速度存在显著个体间差异;（2）抑郁呈二次方增长,其起始水平和增长速度存在显著个体间差异;（3）入学后主观社会地位的下滑速度能有效预测新生抑郁水平的上升速度。研究基于情绪压制理论,对主观社会地位与抑郁间的变化关系进行了分析。     

Hostile attribution bias's role in perceived stress among college freshman students: A latent growth modelling approach

This study's objective was to examine the growth trajectories of freshman students' perceived stress and whether hostile attribution bias predicts the pattern of perceived stress change using latent growth analyses. A longitudinal dataset with fourth measurement points was gathered from a total of 1109 college students enrolled at a university in Guizhou Province in the first 3 months after college freshmen enrollment. The freshman students' levels of perceived stress tend to show a piecewise linear decline during the transition period, which manifests as a faster decline in the first stage (within the first month) than in the second stage (after the first month). Moreover, hostile attribution bias not only positively predicted the initial level of perceived stress but also positively predicted the slope of perceived stress in the first and second stages. In addition, there was a significant sex difference in the initial level of perceived stress where the initial level of perceived stress was higher in females than in males, but there was no significant sex difference in the rate of perceived stress decline. These results highlight the longitudinal relationship between hostile attribution bias and perceived stress and have implications for improving freshmen' college adaptation.     

Sexually dimorphic effect of an acute smoking manipulation on skin resistance but not on heart-rate during a cognitive verbal task.

In a two-day, two-session experiment where smokers male and female college-student subjects worked on a cognitive verbal task during either the first or second day, and on a cognitive spatial task on the second or first day, smoking was manipulated as an acute independent variable by requiring 10+ hours of pre-experimental abstention, and providing a cigarette during the 15-minute rest period between the two sessions. Non-smoker female and male subjects underwent the same experiment, and hence served as controls for the effects of this acute-smoking manipulation. Overall adaptation (decreased arousal) to the experiment was manifested in a significant increase in skin resistance level (SRL) in all subjects, but when this adaptation effect was statistically controlled, there was a significant smokers by sex interaction during the verbal task only, such that SRL was increased by the cigarette in males, but decreased in females. In contrast, the same analysis indicated only a marked increase in heart-rate (HR) due to smoking, which was unaffected either by sex or by whether the task was the verbal or the (easier) spatial one. We interpret the SRL results as reflecting a sex difference in the direction of transient psychological arousal, and discuss it in relation to evidence in the literature based on self reports, and to evidence (based on HR in this study and on blood pressure in other studies) on physiological (cardiovascular) arousal. Key Words: Electrodermal activity, heart-rate, psychological vs. physiological, verbal and spatial cognitive tasks.     

The Sex Difference in Rotary Pursuit Performance

This study examined the hypothesis that male dominance in the acquisition and performance of rotary pursuit skill reflects a lower male proclivity for the generation and accumulation of reactive inhibition rather than some innately superior ability to profit from practice. On this hypothesis, the magnitude of male dominance should decline as the length of the intertrial interval increases. The experimental sample consisted of 120 Caucasian subjects (60 of each sex) who were given sixty 30-sec trials on rotary pursuit with intertrial intervals ranging from 0 to 40 sec. The principal finding was that the magnitude of the sex difference depended significantly upon the length of the intertrial interval, as hypothesized. When the interval was 10 sec or longer, performance levels of the sexes were essentially equal. The sex variance was reduced to insignificance even on the first trial when allowance was made for the inhibitory effect of practice. Thus, male dominance in rotary pursuit skill appears to be a procedural effect mediated by an inhibitory mechanism rather than a consequence of differential endowments of learning ability.     

The sex difference in rotary pursuit performance: aptitude or inhibition?

This study examined the hypothesis that male dominance in the acquisition and performance of rotary pursuit skill reflects a lower male proclivity for the generation and accumulation of reactive inhibition rather than some innately superior ability to profit from practice. On this hypothesis, the magnitude of male dominance should decline as the length of the intertrial interval increases. The experimental sample consisted of 120 Caucasian subjects (60 of each sex) who were given sixty 30-sec trials on rotary pursuit with intertrial intervals ranging from 0 to 40 sec. The principal finding was that the magnitude of the sex difference depended significantly upon the length of the intertrial interval, as hypothesized. When the interval was 10 sec or longer, performance levels of the sexes were essentially equal. The sex variance was reduced to insignificance even on the first trial when allowance was made for the inhibitory effect of practice. Thus, male dominance in rotary pursuit skill appears to be a procedural effect mediated by and inhibitory mechanism rather than a consequence of differential endowments of learning ability.     

JOB ATTRIBUTE PREFERENCES AND WORK COMMITMENT OF MEN AND WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES

The extent of assumed sex differences in preferences for work attributes is explored utilizing data from five representative national samples. The results indicated only minimal differences in preferred job attributes between males and females. Both sexes identified meaningfulness of the work as the most important job attribute, and rank ordered the other four attributes studied in the following sequence: promotion, income, security, and hours. Factors such as education, occupational prestige, age and one's commitment to continue working were more important than sex of the respondent as predictors of job attribute preferences. However, these status variables did not affect the relationship of sex and job attribute preferences. Furthermore, these factors had approximately the same relative predictive value for both males and females. Nevertheless, these statistically significant predictors explained a small proportion of the variance in job attribute preferences. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

The bias in regression-based indices of premorbid IQ

Formulas for premorbid intelligence estimates are typically derived by linear regression and are therefore biased in individual cases because of regression to the mean. It is shown that it is inappropriate to compare such IQ estimates with current IQ scores to determine whether a decline from premorbid levels has occurred. This widespread practice grossly overestimates the probability of an IQ decline in the below-average range and grossly underestimates it in the above-average range, with serious implications for clinical practice. The authors present a formula for computing unbiased estimates of IQ decline as well as a test of the null hypothesis of no decline. Corresponding tables for several combinations of test indices and estimation methods are included for practical reference.