Effects of word frequency and age of acquisition on short-term memory span

The experiments reported examine the effects of two highly related variables, word frequency and age of acquisition, on short-term memory span. Short-term memory span and speech rate were measured for sets of words which independently manipulated frequency and age of acquisition. It was found that frequency had a considerable effect on short-term memory span, which was not mediated by speech rate differences—although frequency did affect speech rate in one experiment. For age of acquisition, this situation was reversed; there was a small but significant effect of age of acquisition on speech rate, but no effect on memory span. This occurred despite results confirming that the stimuli used in the experiments produce an effect of age of acquisition on word naming. The results are discussed in terms of a two-component view of performance on short-term memory tasks.     

Psychosocial Barriers to Cervical Cancer Screening: Concerns With Self-presentation and Social Evaluation1

The incidence of cervical cancer has decreased over 70% in the last several decades due in large part to the Papanicolaou (Pap) test. Despite the acknowledged efficacy of this test, however, many women do not receive cervical screening. The present study investigated the contributions of individual differences in concerns with self-presentation and social evaluation to the prediction of intentions and behavior involving cervical screening. Eighty-two Caucasian women completed measures of social anxiety, physique anxiety, public and private self-consciousness, fear of negative evaluation, and self-esteem, in addition to questions assessing their knowledge and behavior regarding cervical screening. Social anxiety significantly predicted intention to receive cervical screening for a medical reason, as well as the frequency with which the women actually received gynecological examinations. Physique anxiety accounted for a significant percentage of the variance in women's likelihood of receiving cervical screening within the next year. Interpersonal aspects of the gynecological exam, as well as implications of the findings for gynecological practice are discussed.     

Stability of visceral behavior in the awake rat during rest.

Brady and colleagues have championed the importance of careful delineation and control of a subject's behavioral state. In this paper we develop the concept of visceral behavior from a physiological perspective. Sprague-Dawley rats were instrumented to record arterial blood pressure, renal sympathetic nerve activity, and respiration. The rats were restrained in a conical cloth sock. Rats that were well adapted to the sock restraint showed a regular respiratory pattern and consistent pressure recordings; they rested quietly in the sock and moved only occasionally to adjust their position. Fourier analysis of blood pressure and nerve activity showed a concentration of power below 1 Hz. The coherence between the two signals was strong (0.83 +/- 0.03) at 0.42 Hz. Conversely, during their initial adjustment to the sock restraint, the rats tended to show large fluctuations in blood pressure associated with episodic apneic breathing; 1 animal displayed this pattern of visceral behavior throughout most of the experiment. Despite this instability in pressure, the rats' overt behavior was stable: They rested quietly in the sock with only occasional position shifts. Spectral analysis and coherence computations showed large shifts in the distribution of power and frequency range over which arterial pressure and sympathetic activity were tightly coupled. These data are consistent with the view that an animal's circulatory adjustments, as well as adjustments in other aspects of its physiological state, constitute an important aspect of behavior, and that this behavior can influence the interpretation of biobehavioral data.     

The Effects of Hindsight Bias and Causal Attribution on Human Response to Environmental Events1

This research examined the influence of hindsight bias and causal attribution on perceptions of a technological disaster. After reading a fictitious account of a toxic substance spill near a populated area, subjects were provided with information that disease rates had either increased or had remained stable (hindsight conditions), or were presented with no outcome information (control condition). Subjects were then asked to predict the likelihood of increases in disease rates and to make causal attributions regarding the target company and residents of the disaster community. When compared to subjects provided with either no outcome information or with information that disease rates remained stable (positive-outcome condition), subjects told that disease rates had increased (negative-outcome condition) showed elevated predictions regarding future disease rates, ascribed greater responsibility for the accident to the target company, and reported more anger toward the company and greater sympathy for the residents. Subjects receiving positive outcome information and no outcome information did not significantly differ on these measures. In addition, results from a path analysis supported the efficacy of attribution theory to account for the cognitive, affective, and behavioral consequences resulting from hindsight bias following a negative environmental event.     

The Reluctance to Expose Dangerous Lies1

Three studies examined a hypothesized inhibition against exposing a lie. In Experiment 1, 21 men and 27 women were placed in conditions in which their nonexposure of another's lie resulted either in the risk of an experimenter's data being contaminated (impersonal consequence), or in the risk of the subject contracting pinkeye (personal consequence). Each person was given the opportunity to expose the lie, first in a group setting, and later in a private setting. Eighty-three percent of the subjects in the impersonal condition and 77% of the subjects in the personal condition failed to expose the lie. Experiment 2 explored the phenomenon further by assessing whether subjects not in the presence of individuals other than the liar would be more likely to confront the lie. As in Experiment 1, it was found that most subjects did not reveal the lie, regardless of consequence condition of setting. In Experiment 3, it was anticipated that objective self-awareness would interact with consequence information to produce more exposing behavior in the personal-consequence condition, but not in the impersonal condition. Results generally confirmed the hypothesis; a significant interaction of Consequence x Self-Awareness Condition was found.     

Heterogeneity among specific phobia types in DSM-IV

Recently, it has been suggested that situational specific phobias (e.g., phobias of driving, flying, enclosed places) are more closely related to agorophobia than are other specific phobia types. The present study investigated this hypothesis by examining heterogeneity among the four main DSM-IV specific phobia types, particularly with respect to variables believed to be associated with agoraphobia. Using interviews and behavioral testing, 60 patients with specific phobias of animals, heights, blood/injections, or driving were compared with respect to etiology, age of onset, physiological response, predictability of panic attacks, and focus of apprehension. Fifteen patients suffering from panic disorder with agoraphobia served as a comparison group for some measures. Relative to the other specific phobias, driving phobias were most strongly associated with a later age of onset, similar to that of individuals with agoraphobia. Height phobias were also associated with a late age of onset as well as a more internal focus of apprehension, relative to other groups. Finally, individuals in the blood/injection phobia group reported a more internal focus of apprehension than those in other groups and were the only group to report a history of fainting in the phobic situation. Overall, the results did not support the hypothesis that situational phobias are a variant of agoraphobia. In fact, on several of the variables for which groups did differ, individuals with height phobias (a phobia from the natural environment type) showed a pattern most similar to individuals with agoraphobia. The implications of these results for the classification of specific phobias are discussed.