Optimal recall in early and late adulthood

Mäntylä & Nilsson (1983) recently presented a striking empirical phenomenon demonstrating a practically perfect recall of verbal materials encountered at one single trial and without specific instructions to learn the items. The purpose of the study to be presented in this article was to investigate whether older adults are capable of performing at the same high level of recall as younger adults did in the Mäntylä & Nilsson study. Type of instructions and number of retrieval cues were included in the experimental design, in addition to the age factor. Although the results indicated a superior memory performance of younger adults as compared to older adults, the latter group of subjects demonstrated an extremely high level of recall as well. Both age groups showed quite similar recall patterns in the sense that no interaction effects between the age factor and the other independent variables were obtained. The data were discussed relative to qualitatively and quantitatively based explanations of age differences in memory.     

Gender differences in the development of depression

The present study attempted to examine possible gender differences in the vulnerability to depression, specifically with regard to eliciting factors, marital status, age of onset, season of hospitalization, and type of treatment. The records of all patients (67 women and 34 men), treated during 1991 for major depression, dysthymia, or depression NOS at a psychiatric hospital in Southeastern Sweden were examined, and placed in empirically derived categories regarding eliciting factors.
The results indicated significant gender differences with regard to eliciting factors, marital status, and age. The eliciting factor in female depression was most commonly "threat to social bonds" whereas in male depression it was "threat to self esteem" or "threat to self respect". Married women were more prone to depression than were married men, as were men living alone compared to women living alone. Women above 60 years of age were significantly more prone to depression than were men of this age group. The results were discussed from two theoretical perspectives: gender role theory and gender-specific developmental theory.     

Loneliness,exchange orientation,and reciprocity in friendships

Guided by equity theory, this study among 185 Dutch students explored the effects of exchange orientation and reciprocity in the relationship with the best friend upon loneliness. Reciprocity was in general more common in this relationship than feeling advantaged or deprived. The association between reciprocity and loneliness was as predicted on the basis of equity theory: Those feeling deprived as well as those feeling advantaged in the relationship with the best friend reported much more loneliness than those perceiving reciprocity in terms of giving and receiving help. The association between reciprocity and loneliness was especially pronounced among those high in overbenefitting exchange orientation, but not among those high in underbenefitting exchange orientation. However, more loneliness was found among those high in underbenefitting exchange orientation, independent of the degree of reciprocity in the relationship with the best friend. The effects of lack of reciprocity and exchange orientation upon loneliness remained the same when self-esteem was included as a covariate.     

On Memory and the Collaborative Construction and Deconstruction of Custody Case Arguments

In a simulation of lay judges’ deliberations, it is shown how the participants selectively misconstrued courtroom evidence, depending on their overall story frameworks. All participants had received a common set of background information (drawn from an authentic custody case). In addition, one person in each group had, unknowingly, received some unique pieces of information. The “lay judges” produced several spontaneous misrepresentations of the background material. Moreover, they would often accept and retell false “facts” (introduced by a participant with different background information), unless these “facts” were integrated into opposing account frameworks. Hence it is shown how misrepresentations are often coconstituted.     

Adolescent stress: Evaluation of the factor structure of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ‐N)

Moksnes, U. K., Byrne, D. G., Mazanov, J. & Espnes, G. A. (2010). Adolescent stress: Evaluation of the factor structure of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ‐N). Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 203–209. The present study reports an evaluation of the factor structure of the Norwegian version of the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ‐N) among 723 students. Principal components analysis (PCA) revealed nine internally consistent dimensions of adolescent stress. Scales constructed from this PCA correlated positively with measures of depression and anxiety and negatively with self‐esteem. Girls reported higher stress levels than boys in seven of the nine scales and age was also positively correlated with the scale scores of adolescent stress. The results revealed that the instrument has potential for measuring adolescent stress. The stability of the ASQ‐N needs to be tested repeatedly, across cohorts and over time, to establish the adequacy for use in Norwegian adolescent studies.     

Effects of cigarette smoking on verbal rote learning and physiological arousal

Abstract.— Verbal rote learning was studied on 12 moderate smokers. In one condition learning was interrupted twice by smoking a nicotine-containing cigarette (Virginia King, 2.1 mg nicotine) and in another condition by smoking a nicotine-free cigarette. Immediately after the first nicotine-containing cigarette there was a drop in the number of correct responses and learning was significantly less rapid under subsequent trials as compared with learning after the first nicotine-free cigarette. After the second cigarette the picture was reversed. Learning was significantly more improved in the nicotine condition than in the nicotine-free condition. Adrenalin excretion increased significantly during learning in both conditions, and heart rate increased significantly after the first nicotine-containing cigarette.