Family system functioning: behavior in the laboratory and the family treatment setting

The Family System Functioning (FSF) scale is a new instrument for measuring dimensions of the intrafamilial environment thought to be important in recovery from major psychiatric illness. Modest statistical correlations were obtained when FSF ratings of laboratory-based family interactions were compared with researcher-guided therapist ratings of FSF based upon the family's behavior in family therapy sessions during the subsequent month. The data from these two settings provide support for the validity of some of the scales. Because of the modest size of the correlations, however, behavior in the laboratory setting may not always be an accurate indicator of how the family will behave in the early weeks of family therapy.     

A maturation effect in response inhibition in the rat

The finding that there are maturational differences between the ability to learn and to perform a task requiring young Wistar rats to inhibit a response was examined. Using an operant task, different from that employed in the previous studies, it was established that the finding was not task specific. The relative contribution of different periods in the early training stage to later savings in learning was also examined. It was confirmed that there is an early performance deficit by weanling rats on tasks requiring them to inhibit a previously learned response in the presence of a discriminative cue. Rats given early training on the task during this period of performance deficit nevertheless showed significant savings in later learning of the task, indicating that they had learned as much in that stage as they would have if given the same training at an age when performance is at the adult level. It was revealed that despite age-related differences in performance it was not so much the age at which early training took place as the amount of training given that affected later savings. The results are discussed in light of evidence of similar differences between the learning and performance of discrimination tasks exhibited by young children.     

Modulation of male mouse genital sniff, attack, and mount behaviors by urogenital substances from estrous females

The modulation of attacks, genital sniffs, and mounts in male SJL/J mice by ovarian-dependent urogenital substances in the urine voided by estrous females was examined. Urogenital substances were applied onto the external urogenital areas of ovariectomized mice. When compared with urine voided by estrous females, which stimulated genital sniffing, mounting, and reduced aggression, bladder urine was ineffective. Genital sniffing and mounting was stimulated by estradiol-17 beta, vaginal fluids, and preputial extract. Aggression was reduced by estradiol-17 beta, urethral catheterized urine, and vaginal fluids. Preputialectomy reduced, but did not eliminate, urinary stimulation of genital sniffing and mounting. Preputial extract stimulated aggression. Urogenital substances from ovariectomized females were ineffective in reducing attacks and stimulating genital sniffs and mounts. It was concluded that the ovarian-dependent chemosignals in the urine voided by estrous females are contributed by the urethra, vagina, and preputial gland, perhaps in part through the excretion of unconjugated estrogens.     

Frontal cortex grafts have opposite effects at different postoperative recovery times

We studied the effect of different postoperative times on the behavioral recovery following brain implants. Adult male rats received cortical tissue grafts 2 weeks after aspiration of the medial frontal cortex. Either 2 (Immediate Group) or 28 (Delay Group) days after grafting, the performance of these rats on a behavioral battery, comprising the Morris water maze task, forepaw use, and grooming, was compared to that of rats with similar lesions and postoperative recovery times but no grafts. Rats tested immediately after receiving implants performed better on the spatial navigation task than rats with similar lesions but no grafts. This improvement, however, was less than that shown by rats with lesions but no grafts permitted to recover for 28 days before testing. In contrast, in the Delay Group, rats with grafts were more greatly impaired than were their operated controls. Neither lesions nor grafts affected grooming although the Immediate Group with grafts were significantly more impaired in using their forepaws during feeding than were any of the other groups. These results lead us to conclude that differing postoperative recovery times and task requirements may account for some of the inconsistent results of the influence of brain grafts on behavioral recovery reported in the literature. We also conclude that cortical tissue implants can have two effects with different time courses and opposite net behavioral effects.     

Exercise as a buffer of life stress: a prospective study of adolescent health

The hypothesis that physical exercise provides benefits to individuals under periods of life stress has rarely been subject to empirical verification. This article presents the results of a longitudinal study of stress and well-being in adolescence in which the ability of exercise to buffer stress-induced deteriorations in physical health was examined. In accordance with predictions, prospective analyses revealed that the negative impact of stressful life events on health declined as exercise levels increased. These findings suggest that exercise may be a valuable resource for combating life stress. Discussion centers on possible mediating mechanisms and on the practical implications of the results.     

Typical delay determines waiting time on periodic-food schedules: Static and dynamic tests

Pigeons and other animals soon learn to wait (pause) after food delivery on periodic-food schedules before resuming the food-rewarded response. Under most conditions the steady-state duration of the average waiting time, t, is a linear function of the typical interfood interval. We describe three experiments designed to explore the limits of this process. In all experiments, t was associated with one key color and the subsequent food delay, T, with another. In the first experiment, we compared the relation between t (waiting time) and T (food delay) under two conditions: when T was held constant, and when T was an inverse function of t. The pigeons could maximize the rate of food delivery under the first condition by setting t to a consistently short value; optimal behavior under the second condition required a linear relation with unit slope between t and T. Despite this difference in optimal policy, the pigeons in both cases showed the same linear relation, with slope less than one, between t and T. This result was confirmed in a second parametric experiment that added a third condition, in which T + t was held constant. Linear waiting appears to be an obligatory rule for pigeons. In a third experiment we arranged for a multiplicative relation between t and T (positive feedback), and produced either very short or very long waiting times as predicted by a quasi-dynamic model in which waiting time is strongly determined by the just-preceding food delay.     

Religion,Type A behavior,and health

In a study of air traffic controllers, religious differences are found in the way Type A behavior is associated with several health status indicators. Associations between the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) and physical illness incidence, health-promotive behavior, diastolic and systolic blood pressure, subjective distress and impulse control problems, and alcohol consumption are examined by religious attendance, religious affiliation, and change in affiliation. Findings confirm that Type A does not vary significantly by religion. However, there are several significant findings between Type A and various health indicators. Type A is associated with illness incidence, overall and more strongly in several religion, subgroups. Type A and alcohol consumption are related positively in Protestants and converts, and negatively in churchgoing Catholics. Type A is related to impulse control problems in churchgoing Protestants and to subjective distress in churchgoing Catholics. Finally, in individuals with weak or no religious ties, Type A is associated with lower blood pressure. This last finding suggests that in some people (for example, the irreligious or unchurched), the coronary-prone behavior pattern may have cardiovascular effects which are salutary in at least one respect.The authors wish to thank Dr. Kyriakos S. Markides and Laura A. Ray for their assistance with this study. Address requests for reprints to Dr. Levin at the Institute of Gerontology, 300 North Ingalls, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.