Gender differences in acute and chronic stress in Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats

While females are considered more susceptible to depressive behavior, this assertion is not strongly supported by the experimental literature. Since stress contributes to depressive behavior, male and female Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats were exposed to either one session (acute stress) or 5 sessions (chronic stress) of restraint plus cold in order to study depressive behavior in male and female rats. After their respective treatment exposure, rats were tested in the open field test (OFT) and for retention of a passive-avoidance (P-A) task. One stress session resulted in significant immobility in the OFT for males, whereas 5 sessions were required to produce similar immobility in female rats. Acute stress interfered with the retention of the P-A response for males, while both acute and chronic stress produced poor P-A responses in female rats. Food consumption decresed, progressively, as a function of stress sessions, in female rats, whereas feeding in males returned to control levels after five stress days. Both acute and chronic stress exacerbated the stress ulcer response in male rats, but not in female rats. Chronic, but not acute, stress resulted in an increase in serotonin transporter mRNA levels in the dorsal raphe nucleus of both male and, female rats. The general consensus from these data suggested that female rats were more vulnerable to chronic stress and consequently supported the notion that females may be more susceptible to stress induced behavioral depression.     

Comparability of the WISC and WISC-R with bright elementary school students

The 50 subjects had met initial screening criteria for eligibility in a special program for the intellectually gifted. These 50, enrolled in grades 3 through 5 in Broward County, Florida, public schools, were next given the WISC and WISC-R, in a counterbalanced order: half were administered the WISC first; the other half was administered the WISC-R first. The test-retest interval was approximately 9 months. Higher mean IQ scores were obtained by the total group on the WISC as compared to WISC-R. However, the results showed that when the WISC-R was administered first, subsequent student WISC performance was significantly higher on all scales. No significant performance increase was obtained on the WISC-R when the WISC was administered initially. The results indicated that the WISC-R had a facilitative effect on the WISC, and that this effect did not appear when the order of administration was WISC-WISC-R. Quite conceivably, several differences in the instructions for administration of the WISC and the WISC-R enhanced the practice effect of initial WISC-R experience as opposed to initial WISC experience.     

Heightened sensitivity to facial expressions of emotion in borderline personality disorder

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) have been hypothesized to exhibit significant problems associated with emotional sensitivity. The current study examined emotional sensitivity (i.e., low threshold for recognition of emotional stimuli) in BPD by comparing 20 individuals with BPD and 20 normal controls on their accuracy in identifying emotional expressions. Results demonstrated that, as facial expressions morphed from neutral to maximum intensity, participants with BPD correctly identified facial affect at an earlier stage than did healthy controls. Participants with BPD were more sensitive than healthy controls in identifying emotional expressions in general, regardless of valence. These findings could not be explained by participants with BPD responding faster with more errors. Overall, results appear to support the contention that heightened emotional sensitivity may be a core feature of BPD.     

A first examination of the relationships between primed subconscious goals, assigned conscious goals, and task performance

The authors conducted 2 studies of subconscious goal motivation. First, the authors ran a pilot study to establish the effects of priming of subconscious goals on a performance task frequently used in goal setting research. Second, the authors conducted the main study in which the authors examined the effects of both priming of subconscious goals and assigned conscious goals on the same performance task. The authors found significant main effects of both manipulations and a significant interaction between subconscious and conscious goals. The effects of conscious difficult and do-best goals were enhanced by subconscious goals, although conscious easy goals were not affected. All effects from the main study still held after 1 day.     

Responding to the emotions of others: dissociating forms of empathy through the study of typical and psychiatric populations

Empathy is a lay term that is becoming increasingly viewed as a unitary function within the field of cognitive neuroscience. In this paper, a selective review of the empathy literature is provided. It is argued from this literature that empathy is not a unitary system but rather a loose collection of partially dissociable neurocognitive systems. In particular, three main divisions can be made: cognitive empathy (or Theory of Mind), motor empathy, and emotional empathy. The two main psychiatric disorders associated with empathic dysfunction are considered: autism and psychopathy. It is argued that individuals with autism show difficulties with cognitive and motor empathy but less clear difficulties with respect to emotional empathy. In contrast, individuals with psychopathy show clear difficulties with a specific form of emotional empathy but no indications of impairment with cognitive and motor empathy.     

Mental rotation and temporal contingencies.

A task that requires subjects to determine whether two forms of the same shape, but in different orientations, are mirror images or identical except for orientation is called a handedness recognition task. Subjects' reaction times (RT) on this task are consistently related to the angular disparity (termed alpha) between the two presented forms. This pattern of data has been interpreted to indicate that subjects solve the task by imagining that one of the forms rotates into the orientation of the other (termed mental rotation). The speed with which one imagines one of the forms rotating has been widely considered a fixed capability of the individual, and thus immune to the effect of contingencies. We present an experiment that assesses the effects of temporal contingencies in a handedness recognition task on the slope of the function RT = f(alpha). The data indicate that the slope of this function can come under the control of temporal contingencies.     

Behaviour therapy for obesity: The role of clinicians in the reduction of overweight

Behaviour therapists are often required to help those who are unhealthily overweight to reduce. Unfortunately, these interventions are often ineffective in the long-term. Many clients never achieve reduced weight. Often, those who do reduce weight are unsuccessful in keeping the weight off. A review of the relevant literature suggests that most therapeutic approaches do not enable people to change their lifestyles in the ways likely to be necessary for permanent reduction of weight to a healthy level. Clinical support for weight reduction would be more effective if it were more culturally realistic and therapeutically sensitive in empowering clients to make informed choices for themselves among sustainable habits of eating and exercise that contribute to negative energy balance. Approaches which encourage client self-efficacy and self-assertion are likely to be more effective in facilitating lasting change.     

Relationship of age and sex-role conflict for professional women in human services

This study provides external validation of the Sex-role Conflict Scale. The relationship between age and sex-role conflict among women with educational interests was investigated. 128 female students in education were assessed on the conflict they experienced in various settings. The mean sex-role conflict scores, although hypothesized to be significantly different, were not among women ages 25 yr. and below, ages 26 to 39 yr., and ages 40 yr. and over. Also investigated was the relationship between age and sex-role conflict in dual-career respondents. Of the 29 respondents who met the criterion for classification, mean sex-role conflict scores were not significantly different for the three age groups. The nonlinear relationship between sex-role conflict and age does not have support for professional women who work in fields other than business.     

The “Arnold Schwarzenegger Effect”: Is strength of the “victim” related to misinterpretations of harm intrusions?

The present study used an in vivo paradigm to examine whether the victim's vulnerability in a harm-related intrusion affects beliefs about the importance of thoughts (i.e., Thought Action Fusion; TAF). Sixty-six undergraduate students at a large university were randomly assigned to imagine either a vulnerable (e.g., elderly man) or able-bodied individual (e.g., strong youthful male) they know getting into a car accident and provided in vivo ratings of anxiety, guilt, likelihood, moral wrongness, and urges to neutralize. Results indicated that thinking of car accident involving a vulnerable, compared to an able-bodied person, provoked more distress (anxiety and guilt), stronger feelings of moral wrongness, greater urges to cancel the effects of thinking such thoughts, and higher estimates of the likelihood that the collision would occur. The findings of our study broadly support Rachman's (1998) assertion that more significance and importance is attached to negative thoughts about vulnerable or helpless people. Current findings are discussed in terms of the cognitive-behavioral model of obsessions and clinical implications are addressed.