Salivary testosterone and self-report aggressive and pro-social personality characteristics in men and women

Measures of salivary testosterone and the personality dimensions of aggression and pro-social behavior were obtained in 306 (155 male and 151 female) university students. Each participant provided two samples of saliva and completed ten self-report personality scales from multiple inventories. A factor analysis of the personality scales produced two factors, an aggression factor and a pro-social behavior factor. Men averaged five times the amount of salivary testosterone as women (99 pg/ml vs. 18.5 pg/ml) and rated themselves as more aggressive and less nurturant. Within each sex, testosterone was positively correlated with aggression and negatively correlated with pro-social personality. Structural equation modelling analyses suggested that a direct effect model best described the relationship between salivary testosterone and the latent personality dimensions of aggression and pro-social behavior. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Hypertonic central nervous system complications from the viewpoint of the pathologist

Based on 2130 autopsies with a hypertension it is reported on the hypertensive CNS-lesions. The frequency of encephalomalacia was 12%. By 9.7% was founded brain haemorrhages. The relapse rate of haemorrhages was about 5%. The encephalomalacia existed by way of secondary finding in 24.7%, and the haemorrhage in 2.2%. The investigations showed an important arteriosclerosis by 39.8% in haemorrhages and by 51.6% in brain infarct. It was remarkable by the hypertensive brain haemorrhages a dominant right hemisphere.     

Visual control of step length during running over irregular terrain

Running over uneven ground requires visually regulating step length to secure proper footing. To examine how this is achieved, we studied subjects running on a treadmill on a series of irregularly spaced targets. The movements of their lower limbs and coccyx relative to the targets were monitored opto-electronically by a Selspot system. The results indicated that step length was adjusted to strike the targets primarily by varying the vertical component of impulse applied to the ground during the stance phase. In contrast, horizontal impulse was not varied significantly, and changing the reach forward of the foot on landing contributed little to variation in step length. Changing the vertical impulse simply altered the step time proportionately. Thus the data are consistent with a time-based model in which vertical impulse is modulated by the optic variable delta tau (Lee, 1976) specifying the time gap that has to be bridged by the runner between two targets.     

Results of neurophysiologic studies in ophthalmic migraine

The influence in 8 of our patients with ophthalmic migraine of photic driving with sine-like flashing lights on EEG background activity was checked and the visually evoked potentials following the application of diffused simple light stimuli were analyzed using the recovery cycle technique. The results indicate a slightly increased tonic activity of the structures of the mesencephalic formatio reticularis, such as may be produced by slight functional disturbances. Some vegetative secondary symptoms of migraine attacks and some of the changes in EEG observed in patients with ophthalmic migraine are explicable by such an abnormality.     

Attitudes toward posthumous organ donation and commitment to donate

The medical need for human organs suitable for use as transplants far exceed the supply, and is growing. More favorable attitudes about organ donation would increase people's willingness to sign posthumous donation pledges. But effective educational programs require information about the public's present views. Verbal attitude scales were constructed and administered to 110 adults, resulting in reliable measurement of two independent dimensions, prodonation and antidonation (r = .003). Cluster analysis of the instrument revealed that the positive dimension involves belief in the humanitarian benefits of organ donation and feelings of pride experienced by the donor. The negative dimension reflects fears of body mutilation and of receiving inadequate medical treatment when one's life is at risk. Pro and anti scores in combination predicted willingness to sign a donor card. A 2 X 2 analysis of variance (High-Low Positive X High-Low Negative) revealed significant main effects for both positive and negative attitude. Also, a significant interaction effect was obtained. Those subjects who had both strong positive attitudes and weak negative attitudes were especially willing to sign donor cards. Suggestions for designing educational campaigns to promote organ donation are offered.     

Multidimensional scaling reveals two dimensions of thermal pain

The Individual Differences Scaling (INDSCAL) model of multidimensional scaling was used to explore the dimensions of thermal pain. The observers made 66 similarity judgments to all pairs of 12 different thermal stimulus intensities ranging from zero to noxious. Analysis of the data revealed a two-dimensional group stimulus space. The major dimension ordered the stimuli with respect to their intensity. This quantitative, strength-of-sensation dimension may be interpreted as indicating how weak or strong a stimulus feels, apart from any secondary qualities of warmth or pain. The second dimension was related to the qualitative aspects of the stimuli. This bipolar dimension contained two attributes: a pain attribute ranging from just detectable warmth to painful, and a warm-hot attribute running from just detectable warmth to hot. This study demonstrates the utility of the INDSCAL approach to the understanding of pain and offers a new technique for answering the age-old question concerning the number and qualities of the dimensions underlying the pain experience.     

Jamaican Family Structure: The Paradox of Normalcy

The relationship between basic research, theory, and clinical work with families is conceptualized during a discussion of Jamaican family structure and the application of change theory to a clinical case of depression in a Jamaican woman. It was found that three types of family structure are prevalent in Jamaica. The European ideal of a patriarchal-patrifocal structure creates problems for working-class Jamaicans. General system theory provides support for a different model. Change theory is applied to resolve the paradox created by the European model.     

Idiothetic inquiry and the toil of Sisyphus

In response to the article by Lamiell and Trierweiler (this issue), we examine the stated epistemological origins of idiothetic proposals for theory and research in personality We argue that the justification for those proposals as advanced by Lamiell and his colleagues is wholely insufficient in view of prior research on the consistency of behavior This assertion together with our identification of problems in scaling personality and personality consistencies lead us to conclude that the pursuit of the idiothetic method is both unwarranted and ineffectual     

The representation of nonuniform motion: induced movement

Induced motion occurs when there is a misallocation of nonuniform motion. Theories of induced motion are reviewed with respect to the model for uniform motion recently proposed by Swanston, Wade, and Day. Theories based on single processes operating at one of the retinocentric, orbitocentric, egocentric, or geocentric levels are not able to account for all aspects of the phenomenon. It is therefore suggested that induced motion is a consequence of combining two different types of motion signals: one provides information by registering the motion with respect to the retina, orbit, and egocentre; the other provides information only on the relational motions between the pattern elements. Simple rules are given for defining a frame of reference for the relational motion process, which can result in a reallocation of the motion signals. It is proposed that the two signals in combination are weighted differentially, with the greater influence coming from the relational signals. Procedures for determining the weighting factors are described, and predictions from the model are examined.