Sex differences in cerebral laterality of language and visuospatial processing

Sex differences on language and visuospatial tasks are of great interest, with differences in hemispheric laterality hypothesized to exist between males and females. Some functional imaging studies examining sex differences have shown that males are more left lateralized on language tasks and females are more right lateralized on visuospatial tasks; however, findings are inconsistent. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study thirty participants, matched on task performance, during phonological and visuospatial tasks. For each task, region-of-interest analyses were used to test differences in cerebral laterality. Results indicate that lateralization differences exist, with males more left lateralized during the phonological task and showing greater bilateral activity during the visuospatial task, whereas females showed greater bilateral activity during the phonological task and were more right lateralized during the visuospatial task. Our data provide clear evidence for differences in laterality between males and females when processing language versus visuospatial information.     

Attributions of guilt and punishment as functions of physical attractiveness and smiling

The authors found an interaction between sex of participant and sex of defendant in the leniency bias toward a smiling defendant. Differences occurred for male participants when levying punishment for a smiling male defendant vs. a smiling female defendant and for a smiling male defendant vs. a nonsmiling male defendant, whereas differences did not occur for female participants. The authors found moderating effects of physical attractiveness and smiling between guilt and punishment. The only significant positive relationship between guilt and punishment occurred for the defendant whom participants rated low in physical attractiveness and who was not smiling. When guilty, the smiling and unattractive defendant received less punishment than did the smiling and attractive defendant. The authors discussed complex relationships between physical attractiveness, smiling, guilt, and punishment.     

Interhemispheric EEG coherence during sleep and wakefulness in left- and right-handed subjects

REM sleep is associated with the production of complex imagery sequences. Yet research is divided as to whether different brain regions are more or less coordinated in their functioning at this time. Some research suggests that there may occur a functional disconnection of the left and right cerebral hemispheres during REM sleep which is similar to the disconnection syndrome seen after corpus callosotomy. Other research suggests that an increase in interhemispheric coordination occurs. On the assumption that hemispheric coordination is reflected in the EEG coherence measure, we explored differences in interhemispheric coherence recorded in six left- and six right-handed normal subjects during periods of wakefulness, stage REM, stage 2, and stage 3/4 sleep. Strong evidence was found that mean EEG coherence values are larger during sleep than during waking and that they are approximately equal for the different stages of sleep. Frontal electrode placements demonstrated a slightly different pattern of coherence than central, parietal, or occipital placements. Furthermore, coherence values were larger for left-handed subjects over the occipital region during wakefulness, stage 2, and stage REM sleep, but not during stage 3/4 sleep. Coherence was not different for male and female subjects. These findings oppose the interpretation that a functional disconnection of hemispheres occurs during REM sleep and favor the interpretation that sleep in general is a state of heightened cortical coordination. Moreover, greater interhemispheric coherence over occipital brain regions in left-handed subjects suggests possible differences in the cognitive processes of these subjects during waking and dreaming states.     

Perceptions of school psychology services from a staff perspective

This investigation examined how staff in an elementary school district perceived their school psychologists and how these perceptions differed across components of service and staff groups. We developed a School Psychological Service Questionnaire and then analyzed responses from regular education teachers, special education teachers, principals, and school psychologists in an urban school district. Although the findings are numerous, most noteworthy are, first, that consumer groups in the district had different perceptions than school psychologists about how school psychologists allocate their time and how this time should be allocated in the future. Second, consumer perceptions of school psychologists' knowledge generally were favorable. Third, in terms of domains appropriate for involvement by school psychologists, a factor analysis of consumer ratings revealed three relatively clear dimensions of recommended service provision — special education activities, interpersonal or school-climate activities, and administrative responsibilities. Fourth, the helpfulness of school psychologists, as perceived by consumers, related positively to frequency of contact. Fifth, differences in perception of school psychological services were evident across staff groups. Finally, comparisons between master's level and doctoral level school psychologists suggested numerous differences in how the staff perceived these service providers.     

The Influence of Two Cognitive-Linguistic Variables on Incidental Word Learning in 5-Year-Olds

The relation between incidental word learning and two cognitive-linguistic variables—phonological memory and phonological awareness—is not fully understood. Thirty-five typically developing, 5-year-old, preschool children participated in a study examining the association between phonological memory, phonological awareness, and incidental word learning. Children were exposed to target words in a read-aloud story that accompanied a wordless picture book. Target word comprehension was assessed before and after two readings of the story. Phonological awareness predicted incidental word learning but phonological memory did not. The influence of phonological awareness and phonological memory on word learning may be dependent on the demands of the word learning task.     

Locus of Control and Attitudes Toward Work and Retirement

Fifty-three older workers (M = 57.2) enrolled in a preretirement training program were administered a battery of measures designed to further evaluate the role that locus of control plays in determining attitudes toward work and retirement. Results suggested that perceived control related to work commitment. The extent of the relationship between perceived control and attitudes toward retirement, however, was mediated by sex, level of education, and self-rated health. Consistent with previous research, perceived control related to measures of adjustment.     

Post-training intrahippocampal inhibition of class I histone deacetylases enhances long-term object-location memory

Long-term memory formation involves covalent modification of the histone proteins that package DNA. Reducing histone acetylation by mutating histone acetyltransferases impairs long-term memory, and enhancing histone acetylation by inhibiting histone deacetylases (HDACs) improves long-term memory. Previous studies using HDAC inhibitors to enhance long-term memory have focused on the fear-conditioning task using broad-spectrum HDAC inhibitors. We have found that post-training intrahippocampal administration of the broad-spectrum HDAC inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) or the class I HDAC-selective inhibitor MS275 enhances long-term object-location memory, supporting a role for class I HDACs in the enhancement of hippocampus-dependent memory induced by HDAC inhibition.     

Development of a metabolic equation for the NuStep recumbent stepper in older adults

The purpose of this study was to develop an accurate metabolic equation for estimating steady-state oxygen consumption (VO2) during submaximal NuStep exercise. Adults (N = 40; M age = 64.0 yr., SD = 6.5; M height = 170.1 cm, SD = 9.1; M weight = 85.7 kg, SD = 19.9) performed two randomized testing sessions. Each session consisted of six stages with combinations of four workloads (1, 3, 5, and 7) at 3 cadences (60, 80, and 100 steps/min.). Multiple regression analysis to predict steady-state VO2 from NuStep workload (W), NuStep steps/min., and subject body mass resulted in the following model (R2 = .73): Steady-state VO2 = 3.5 + 0.016 (W* steps/min.) + 0.092 (steps/min.) - 0.053 (weight). The standard error of the estimate and total error for the prediction of steady-state VO2 under all NuStep workload conditions were 2.3 mL/kg/min. and 2.4 mL/kg/ min., respectively. The standard error of the estimate and total error values are similar to those previously reported in the literature regarding the accuracy of metabolic equations for other exercise modalities. These findings support the use of the equation developed to predict steady-state VO2 for NuStep exercise in older adult clientele.     

Selective inhibition in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder off and on stimulant medication

Selective inhibition requires discrimination between auditory signals and is assessed using a modification of the stop-signal task. Selective inhibition was assessed in a group of 59 clinic-referred, DSM-IV-diagnosed children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and compared to that of a community sample of 59 children. Methylphenidate (MPH) effects on selective inhibition were assessed in a subset of the ADHD sample that participated in an acute, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial with 3 fixed doses of MPH. Children with ADHD performed more poorly than controls on the majority of selective stop-signal task parameters: they exhibited more anticipatory (invalid) responses, with less accurate and more variable responses on the response execution task, as well as a slower selective inhibition process. MPH improved speed of both inhibition and response execution processes; it also reduced variability of response execution and decreased nonselective inhibition. On the one hand, findings are consistent with purported inhibition deficit in ADHD, but on the other hand, suggest that neither the impairment itself, nor MPH effects, were restricted to inhibition.     

Validity of specific motor skills in predicting table-tennis performance in novice players

An experiment assessed whether novice table-tennis players' ball-balancing and bouncing skills could predict their performances after a semester of being coached. A pretest-posttest design was used to test this hypothesis with 82 male and 77 female physical education students who initially performed the skills and subsequently participated in a round-robin tournament. Moderate negative but significant (p<.01) Spearman rank-order correlation coefficients were obtained between some of the ball control skills scores and overall ranking in the table-tennis tournament.