Sex differences in visuospatial ability: Do performance factors play such an important role?

This study was designed to analyze some performance factors as a possible source of sex-related bias in psychometric tests of visuospatial aptitude. Goldstein, Haldane, and Mitchell (1990) explored the effect of two response styles—slowness of performance and reluctance to guess—by using a 3-D mental rotation test (the task showing the largest cognitive sex difference) and found that time limits and raw scores contributed substantially to the male advantage. We applied two tests in thespeed-power continuum to a representative sample of 621 males and 821 females in their last year of high school in a 2 × 2 (gender × time) full factorial design. Reluctance to guess was similar for males and females. Males obtained more correct responses on both tests, and for both time conditions, than did females. These results are not only statistically significant but also are of substantial practical consequence.     

Rorschach Comprehensive System data for a sample of 357 Portuguese children at five ages

Eighteen examiners, well trained in the Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2003), administered the Rorschach to 357 Portuguese children, in the first through fifth grades, attending schools located in Lisbon and the surrounding neighborhood. Coding was done by 5 of the examiners, each one having more than 5 years of experience with the CS. For this study, coding was reviewed by the authors. Five records were randomly selected from each age group to assess intercoder reliability. Janson and Olsson's (2004) iota was used to assess reliability of the main variable categories. Results are high, with iota ranging from 0.87 to 0.98 across the coding categories. CS variables are presented and key data were chosen and reviewed. A discussion of some data and their comparison with corresponding American data are made, permitting some interesting developmental and cross-cultural questions to be addressed.     

Relations between mechanisms of CNS arousal and mechanisms of stress

In the centennial year of the birth of Hans Selye, this review compares his classical concepts of stress with a modern approach to mechanisms of CNS arousal. Relations between the two concepts are described. Neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and functional genomic mechanisms underlying CNS arousal are briefly reviewed. Controls over stress responses and arousal are compared to particular concepts of control system engineering. Understanding these two systems is of crucial importance because their dysregulation is associated with large numbers of disease states.     

Cognitive and coping mechanisms in the interplay between intimate partner violence and depression

This study examined the association between intimate partner violence, maladaptive cognitive schemas, coping, and depression in a sample of 298 battered women. The results indicated that maladaptive cognitive schemas were associated with less use of primary and secondary engagement coping, and higher use of disengagement coping. In particular, cognitive schemas reflecting disconnection and rejection accounted for the association between psychological abuse and percentage of disengagement coping. In addition, disengagement coping partially mediated between cognitive schemas and depressive symptoms. Finally, the role of cognitive schemas as personal constraints that affect the choice of coping and the implications for interventions with victims are discussed.     

Human biological and nonbiological point-light movements: Creation and validation of the dataset

Human action perception is so powerful that people can identify movement efficiently in the absence of pictorial information, such as in point-light displays. Interest is growing in this type of stimulus for research in neuroscience. This interest stems from the advantage of separating the component of pure human action kinematics from other pictorial information, such as facial expression and muscle contraction. Although several groups have previously developed datasets of human point-light actions, due to the lack of datasets composed of daily actions with short durations, we developed 20 biological and 40 control (scrambled) point-light movements by using the technique of recording people wearing reflector patches. The videos are about 1 s long. Subsequently, we performed a judgment task in which 100 participants (50 male and 50 female) evaluated each video according to three categories: human action resemblance, performed action, and gender of actor. We present the mean scores of each evaluation for each video, and further propose a selection of the most suitable videos to be used as human point-light action displays and scrambled point-light displays for control. Finally, we discuss our findings on the gender attributions of the point-light displays.