IQ in childhood and the metabolic syndrome in middle age: Extended follow-up of the 1946 British Birth Cohort Study

IQ in early adulthood has been inversely associated with risk of the metabolic syndrome in midlife. We tested this association in the British 1946 birth cohort, which assessed IQ at age eight years and ascertained the metabolic syndrome at age 53 years based on modified (non-fasting blood) ATPIII criteria. Childhood IQ was inversely associated with risk of the metabolic syndrome, but this association was almost entirely mediated by educational attainment and achieved occupational social class. This may be consistent with a pattern where childhood IQ is strongly associated with outcomes that reflect neurological disorder, such as the degenerative dementias, but less so with common chronic physical diseases of ageing.     

Recruitment modeling applied to longitudinal studies of group differences in intelligence

In longitudinal studies data is collected in a series of waves. Each wave after the first suffers from attrition. Therefore it can be difficult to discriminate between changes in sample parameters due to a longitudinal process (e.g. ageing) and changes due to attrition. The problem is particularly vexing if one of the purposes is to compare differences between two or more groups over time, because there may be differential attrition across groups. We refer to this as a recruitment problem, because the sample studied in any wave after the first can be thought of as having been recruited from a preceding wave. We present a mathematical model of the recruitment process. We then apply it to two large longitudinal studies, the British Cohort Survey 1970 and the National Child Development Study (1958), to demonstrate how we can identify effects expected from recruitment alone. As an illustration we show that differential recruitment would predict increasing differences between estimates of men's and women's intelligence as the studied sample ages.     

Post-September 11th Perspectives on Religion, Spirituality, and Philosophy in the Personal and Professional Lives of Selected REBT Cognoscenti

The purpose of this article was for selected Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) cognoscenti to examine the impact of the events of September 11th, 2001, on their beliefs about religion, spirituality, and their personal philosophy—including the role of evil in the universe and the implications of these issues on their use of REBT. The degree of consistency of the author’s views with classical REBT theory and philosophy was examined. The authors are current or former members of the Albert Ellis Institute’s International Training Standards and Policy Review Committee, of which Albert Ellis, REBT’s founder, is also a member. Reprinted from Journal of Counseling & Development, Fall 2004, Volume 82. ACA. Reprinted with permission. No further reproduction authorized without written permission from the American Counseling Association. We regret to inform readers that Stephen G. Weinrach died in April 2004. Stephen G. Weinrach expressed gratitude to Jacqueline Mirabile, Laura Hutelmyer, and Phylis Wright of Villanova University’s Falvey Memorial Library for valuable research assistance. Jesse Clancy and Bethany Coover provided deeply appreciated and important editorial support.     

CHANGES IN THE FACIAL PROMINENCE OF WOMEN AND MEN OVER THE LAST DECADE

Two studies measured the facial prominence of women and men in popular images over the last decade. The first study used 1,200 photo-graphs from Time and Newsweek for the years 1970 and 1980. The results indicate that overall, men have received greater facial prominence than women, and facial prominence has increased over the decade. Only for Newsweek did women show a significantly greater increase in facial prominence than men. The second study used 640 photographs from Good Housekeeping and Ms. for the years 1974 and 1984. The results show that overall, men have received greater facial prominence than women, and facial prominence has risen over the decade, although not by much. In Ms. , women but not men gained; in Good Housekeeping , women gained slightly, but not as much as men. The results are consistent with earlier reports of an asymmetry in representation of men's and women's faces and suggest that this asymmetry is slowly diminishing.     

Stressed and word-final syllables in infant-directed speech

Comparisons between infant-directed and adult-directed speech were conducted to determine whether word-final syllables are highlighted in infant-directed speech. Samples of adult-directed and infant-directed speech were collected from 8 mothers of 6-month-old and 8 mothers of 9- month-old infants. Mothers were asked to label seven objects both to an experimenter and to their infant. Duration, pitch, and amplitude were measured for whole words and for each of the target word syllables. As in prior research, the infant-directed targets were higher pitched and longer than adult-directed targets. The results also extend beyond previous results in showing that lengthening of final syllables in infant-directed speech is particularly exaggerated. Results of analyses comparing word-final versus nonfinal unstressed syllables in utterance-medial position in infant-directed speech showed that lengthening of unstressed word-final syllables occurs even in utterance-internal positions. These results could suggest a mechanism for proposals that word-final syllables are perceptually salient to young children.     

A further comparison of oblique factor transformation methods

Four prominent oblique transformation techniques—promax, the Harris-Kaiser procedure, biquartimin, and direct oblimin—are examined and compared. Additionally, two newly-developed procedures, falling into the category designated as Case III by Harris and Kaiser [1964], are presented and included in the comparisons. The techniques are compared in light of their freedom from bias in the interfactor correlations, and their ability to yield clear simple structures, over many data sets—some constructed and some real—varying widely in terms of number of variables and factors, factorial complexity, and clarity of the hyperplanes. Results are discussed, and implications for practice are noted.     

ON OUTLINING THE SHAPE OF DEPICTION

In this paper, I discuss the account of depiction proposed by Robert Hopkins in his book Picture, Image and Experience. I first briefly summarise Hopkins's account, according to which we experience depictions as resembling their objects in respect of outline shape. I then ask whether Hopkins's account can perform the explanatory tasks required of an adequate account of depiction. I argue that there are at least two reasons for which Hopkins's account of depiction is inadequate. Firstly, the notion of outline shape, as Hopkins presents it, is inconsistent. Moreover, I argue that, while a consistent construal of outline shape is possible, Hopkins's account becomes indistinguishable from previous accounts of depiction under any such construal. Second, I argue that, however it is construed, the notion of outline shape is unable to explain one of the central features which Hopkins himself insists any successful account of depiction must explain.     

Behavioral and genetic characterization of habituation using Caenorhabditis elegans

This review surveys the literature that investigates the behavioral characterization and cellular and molecular mechanisms of habituation using the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. In 1990, C. elegans was first observed to show habituation to a non-localized mechanical tap. The parameters that govern this behavioral plasticity in C. elegans were subsequently characterized, which lead to the important hypothesis that habituation is mediated by multiple mechanisms. Many tools are available to C. elegans researchers that allow for relatively easy genetic manipulation. This has lead to a number of recent genetic studies that have begun to identify key genes and molecules that play a role in the mechanisms of habituation. Some of these genes include a vesicular glutamate transporter, a glutamate receptor subunit, a dopamine receptor and downstream intracellular signaling molecules, such as G proteins and kinases. Some of these genes only affect certain parameters of habituation, but not others supporting the hypothesis that multiple mechanisms mediate habituation. The field of research has also led to the dissection of different phases of memory (short-term vs. long-term memory for habituation), which are triggered by different training paradigms. The differences in mechanism between these various forms of memory are also beginning to be revealed.     

Intelligence in childhood and risk of psychological distress in adulthood: The 1958 National Child Development Survey and the 1970 British Cohort Study

Lower cognitive ability is a risk factor for some forms of severe psychiatric disorder, but it is unclear whether it influences risk of psychological distress due to anxiety or the milder forms of depression. The participants in the present study were members of two British birth national birth cohorts, the 1958 National Child Development Survey (n = 6369) and the 1970 British Cohort Study (n = 6074). We examined the association between general cognitive ability (intelligence) measured at age 10 (1970 cohort) and 11 years (1958 cohort) and high levels of psychological distress at age 30 (1970 cohort) or 33 years (1958 cohort), defined as a score of 7 or more on the Malaise Inventory. In both cohorts, participants with higher intelligence in childhood had a reduced risk of psychological distress. In sex-adjusted analyses, a standard deviation (15 points) increase in IQ score was associated with a 39% reduction in psychological distress in the 1958 cohort and a 23% reduction in the 1970 cohort [odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) were 0.61 (0.56, 0.68) and 0.77 (0.72, 0.83), respectively]. These associations were only slightly attenuated by further adjustment for potential confounding factors in childhood, including birth weight, parental social class, material circumstances, parental death, separation or divorce, and behaviour problems, and for potential mediating factors in adulthood, educational attainment and current social class. Intelligence in childhood is a risk factor for psychological distress due to anxiety and the milder forms of depression in young adults. Understanding the mechanisms underlying this association may help inform methods of prevention.