Men are more accurate than women in aiming at targets in both near space and extrapersonal space

Men excel at motor tasks requiring aiming accuracy whereas women excel at different tasks requiring fine motor skill. However, these tasks are confounded with proximity to the body, as fine motor tasks are performed proximally and aiming tasks are directed at distal targets. As such, it is not known whether the male advantage on tasks requiring aiming accuracy is because men have better aim or is better in the proximal domain in which the task is usually presented. 18 men (M age = 20.6 yr., SD = 3.0) and 20 women (M age = 18.7 yr., SD = 0.9) performed 2 tasks of extrapersonal aiming accuracy (>2 m away), 2 tasks of aiming accuracy performed in near space (< 1 m from them), and a task of fine motor skill. Men outperformed women on both the extrapersonal aiming tasks, and women outperformed men on the task of fine motor skill. However, a male advantage was observed for one of the aiming tasks performed in near space, suggesting that the male advantage for aiming accuracy does not result from proximity.     

Young children's natural learning environments: contrasting approaches to early childhood intervention indicate differential learning opportunities

1,000 parents of infants and toddlers enrolled in early childhood intervention programs were surveyed about the number of learning opportunities provided their preschool children using different approaches to early intervention. Findings showed that more learning opportunities were reported when participation in everyday activity settings was conceptualized as a type of intervention rather than as settings for professionals to conduct their interventions.     

Is problem solving dependent on language?

There has been a long-standing debate in the fields of philosophy and cognitive science surrounding the relationship of language to cognition, but the exact nature of this relationship is still unclear (Sokolov, 1968/1972). In the current study, we explored the role of language in one aspect of cognition, namely problem solving, by administering the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) to stroke patients with varying degrees of language impairment (Experiment 1) and to normal participants under conditions of articulatory suppression (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, there was a significant correlation between performance on the WCST and language measures such as comprehension and naming. Demonstrating the specificity of this result, we also found a significant relationship between language performance and another test of problem solving, the Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices, but no relationship between language and a test of visuospatial functioning. In Experiment 2, normal participants were significantly impaired on the WCST under conditions of articulatory suppression, relative to a baseline condition. Together, these findings suggest that language plays a role in complex problem solving, possibly through covert language processes.     

A longitudinal investigation of anxiety sensitivity in adolescence

This investigation sought to expand existing knowledge of anxiety sensitivity in a sample of high school students (N = 2,365) assessed over 4 years. The stability of anxiety sensitivity levels across assessment periods was examined, and cluster analyses were used to identify different developmental pathways in levels of anxiety sensitivity. Groups of adolescents with stable low, stable high, and escalating anxiety sensitivity levels were identified. Adolescents with stable high or escalating anxiety sensitivity were significantly more likely to report experiencing a panic attack than individuals with stable low anxiety sensitivity. Results also indicated that Asian and Hispanic adolescents tended to report higher anxiety sensitivity but that their anxiety sensitivity was less strongly associated with panic than that of Caucasian adolescents.     

Corrections for range restriction in structured interview ethnic group differences: the values may be larger than researchers thought

Previous studies of standardized ethnic group differences in the employment interview have shown differences to be relatively small. Unfortunately, many researchers conducting interview studies have not considered the issue of range restriction in research design. This omission is likely to lead to underestimates of standardized ethnic group differences (d) when the interview is considered as an initial screening device or used in combination with other initial screening devices. The authors found that 2 forms of a behavioral interview were associated with standardized ethnic group differences of .36 and .56 when corrected for range restriction. These differences are substantially larger than previously thought and demonstrate the importance of considering a variety of study design characteristics in obtaining the appropriate parameter estimates.     

The currency of procurement cost

As the number of instrtumental responses required to procure access to food is increased, animals decrease the frequency of initiating meals and increase meal size, conserving total intake while limiting the increase in the overall cost of feeding. In two studies, one using wheel turns and one using bar presses as the instrumental response, we asked whether freely feeding laboratory rats measure cost according to the energy or the time they expend. In each study we varied both the price (i.e., number of wheel turns or bar presses) and the force required to make a response (i.e., torque on the wheel or weight of the bar). Price affected both procurement time (from the first to the last procurement response) and procurement work, whereas torque and bar weight affected work without altering time in most cases. Meal patterns were altered by all manipulations of price, but changes in torque and bar weight had little effect on meal patterns, except in the conditions in which they altered procurement time. These results suggest that time is a critical currency of procurement cost in rats.     

The effects of aging and dorsal hippocampal lesions: performance on spatial and nonspatial comparable versions of the water maze

Aged intact and young hippocampal-lesioned rats show similar deficits on the spatial water maze. However, this does not necessitate that the source of these deficits in the aged animals is due to hippocampal damage. These water maze deficits may arise from other aging factors such as changes in thermoregulation, muscle fatigue, swim ability, and response to stress. Consequently, it is imperative to examine the performance of aged rats on a comparable nonhippocampal version of this task. Past attempts to develop a hippocampus-independent version of the water maze were confounded because these tasks were easier (i.e., the rats spent much less time swimming in the water) than the spatial versions of the task. The current study examined performance on a hippocampus-independent task comparable in difficulty to the spatial water one. Middle-aged (16-m) and old (25-m) male F344 rats were given sham or dorsal hippocampus lesions and tested on both a spatial and a nonspatial water maze. The middle-aged rats with hippocampal lesions were impaired on the spatial task but not on the nonspatial task. Conversely, aged animals showed a similar impairment on both types of water maze tasks. Additionally, hippocampal lesions exacerbated the age-related impairment on both tasks. These findings indicate that caution must be used when interpreting the results of water maze tasks for aged animals.     

The Primary and Secondary Factors That Promote Destructive Personalities

The ability of behavioral scientists to assist society deal competently with destructive behavior relies upon a recognition of its causes. Despite the pervasiveness of violence in American society, the roots of destructiveness are still poorly understood. Five primary and five secondary factors found in the developmental histories of people who have become involved in serious destruction are identified and discussed. The confluence of these factors in the steps toward destructive acts are traced.