Gustatory responses during periods of controlled and ad lib cigarette smoking

Three psychophysical methods, differential sensitivity, perceived intensity, and degree of liking, were used to measure gustatory responses among nonsmokers and among smokers who were placed on 2-week schedules of increased and decreased cigarette consumption. Varying the smoking levels had little influence on the smokers’ sensitivity to the tastes of sucrose and sodium chloride. Throughout the experiments, nonsmokers were slightly more sensitive than smokers. Lower intensity ratings were ascribed to both compounds by smokers than by nonsmokers. Degree of liking of the test solutions was unrelated to smoking. A subsequent experiment showed that 45 nonsmokers were slightly, but not significantly, more sensitive than were 45 smokers to the tastes of sucrose, sodium chloride, citric acid, and quinine hydrochloride, with no differences in their sensitivity to the odor of 2-butanone and to the viscosity imparted by carrageenan gum. There was a slight inverse relationship between sensitivity and the number of cigarettes smoked per day. Smokers liked coffee significantly better and drank more cups per day than did nonsmokers. Few changes in body weight were observed, despite the smokers’ subjective assessment that their appetites and food intake were inversely related to the number of cigarettes smoked.     

Scaling of dot numerosity

Subjective impression of numerosity of dots randomly scattered in an area of 19.5 × 24.5 cm, 36≈1,010 in number (?), was scaled by four different methods with five subjects. The absolute identification showed that the number of dots is underestimated if ? > 10. Each of two scales based uponratio judgments is a power function of $ with the exponent of 0.87, and each of two scales based upondifference judgments is also a power function of ? when the origin of the scale is appropriately defined. The relationship between the four scales and comparison with scales in other sense modalities were discussed from the viewpoint of scaling methodology.     

Gender differences in object location memory in a real three-dimensional environment

In this preliminary study we investigate gender differences in object location memory. Our purpose is to extend the results about object location memory obtained in laboratory settings to a real 3-D environment and to further distinguish the specific components involved in this kind of memory by considering the strategies adopted to perform the task. To do this, we join the three-level model of spatial representations (landmark, route, and survey) proposed by Siegel and White (1975) with the three subcomponents of spatial memory (what, where, and what + where) identified by Postma and De Haan (1996). We adopted the object relocation task devised by Postma and De Haan (1996), adapted to a real environment. Seven common objects were placed on the floor of a cylindrical room. Sixty-four males and 64 females were asked to memorize the spatial layout. Next, the experimenter moved the objects to a different position along with seven new objects and the participants had to relocate the original objects to their initial positions. In line with Postma, Izendoorn, and De Haan (1998), we found no gender difference in object recognition, and in recalling absolute distance and categorical spatial relations; however males were better than females in recalling the distance between objects and the size of the layout. Overall, the data show a male advantage in some components of spatial cognition closely linked to the encoding of the metric structure of the spatial relationships at both route and survey level.     

INTER-LANGUAGE COMPARISON OF WORD-ASSOCIATION RESPONSES1

Comparaison des associations verbales dans différentes langues. — Le but du présent article est de comparer, en se basant sur une population polonaise, numé-riquement la plus nombreuse parmi les populations européennes étudiées, la communauté des associations verbales pour des groupes d'étudiants de différents pays, testés selon la méthode de Kent-Rosanoff. De la comparaison des resultats américains, français, allemands et polonais, il apparaît que près de la moitié des associations sont équivalentes sur la base des traductions. La thèse suivant laquelle les associations les plus fréquentes dans une langue donnée auront un contenu analogue aux réponses correspondantes dans une autre langue ne trouve pas de confirmation dans les résultats polonais. d'une comparaison plus détaillée des populations polonaise et americaine, il ressort que la communauté des associations les plus fréquentes est trés inférieure chez les sujets polonais et qu'un stimulus donné évoque davantage de réponses différentes. Les associations les plus fréquentes sont en général paradigmatiques par rapport aux stimuli. Dans les réponses polonaises, outre cette tendance paradigmatique, on observe une assez forte tendance syntagmatique. L'utilisation d'une consigne spéciale affaiblit cette tendance : les résultats polonais se rapprochent alors des résultats americains.     

The generality of word-association hierarchies: I. Production and recall of association responses

Ss responded to a stimuluslist in a free word association session (AS) and tried to recall their response to each stimulus in a recall session (RS). There was a significant positive correlation between commonality score (Co) in AS and number of correct reproductions in RS. All Ss tended to gain in Co, but LC (i.e., Ss of low Co in AS) more than HC (i.e., Ss of high Co in AS).     

Witnessed inclusion improves identification of Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles

Social exclusion threatens a person's need to belong and prompts them to behave in ways that often facilitate reaffiliation. For adults, direct exclusion increases attention to social information and facial cues, including an enhanced identification of Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles. Furthermore, inclusion can buffer or mitigate the effects of exclusion. This study investigated children's (N = 44) and adults’ (N = 52) sensitivity to perceptual changes in smiles following witnessed inclusion and exclusion and inclusion's mitigating and buffering effects on perceptual abilities. Contrary to our predictions, participants in our study demonstrated improved accuracy after witnessing inclusion, rather than exclusion, and showed no buffering or mitigating effects of inclusion. This contradiction with previous findings points to a further need to explore the effects of witnessed versus direct inclusion and exclusion, especially if witnessed inclusion and exclusion have the ability to impact perception and shape our behavior.     

Childhood Anxiety/Withdrawal, Adolescent Parent–Child Attachment and Later Risk of Depression and Anxiety Disorder

Previous research has shown that children with high levels of early anxiety/withdrawal are at increased risk of later anxiety and depression. It has also been found that positive parent–child attachment reduces the risk of these disorders. The aim of this paper was to examine the extent to which positive parent–child attachment acted to mitigate the risk of later internalising disorders amongst children with high levels of early anxiety/withdrawal using data from a 30 years longitudinal study of a New Zealand birth cohort. The findings of this study showed that: (a) increasing rates of early anxiety/withdrawal were associated with an increased risk of later anxiety and depression; (b) positive parent–child attachment in adolescence was associated with a decline in the risk of later anxiety and depression; and (c) these associations persisted even after controlling for confounding factors. The implications of these findings for the role of parent–child attachment in mitigating the adverse effects of early anxiety/withdrawal are discussed. It is concluded that positive parent–child attachment in adolescence may act as a compensatory factor which buffers the adverse effects of childhood anxiety/withdrawal on risks of developing later anxiety and depression.     

Late Preterm Birth: A Review of Medical and Neuropsychological Childhood Outcomes

Late preterm (LP) birth (34 0/7 - 36 6/7 weeks?? gestation) accounts for nearly three-fourths of all preterm births, making this population a sizeable public health concern. The immature fetal development associated with LP delivery increases the risk of mortality and short-term medical complications. Which combination of maternal, fetal, or neonatal risk factors may be most critical has only recently begun to be addressed, and whether LP birth??s disruptive impact on brain development will exert adverse effects on neuropsychological functioning in childhood and adolescence has been understudied. Early data have shown a graded response, with LP children often functioning better than very preterm children but worse than term children, and with subtle intellectual and neuropsychological deficits in LP children compared with healthy children born at term gestational age. Further characterization of the neuropsychological profile is required and would be best accomplished through prospective longitudinal studies. Moreover, since moderate and LP births result in disparate medical and psychological outcomes, the common methodology of combining these participants into a single research cohort to assess risk and outcome should be reconsidered. The rapidly growing LP outcomes literature reinforces a critical principle: fetal development occurs along a dynamic maturational continuum from conception to birth, with each successive gestational day likely to improve overall outcome.     

Assessment of Intelligence in the Preschool Period

Intelligence testing has a long and revered history in psychological measurement in childhood. Yet, the years between infancy and early childhood have been understudied with respect to emergent intellectual and cognitive functioning. Factor analytic models of intelligence that have demonstrated applicability when testing older children and adults often appear inadequate in the preschool period. As more is learned about brain development in typically developing children during these crucial years the distinctive relationships between neural system development and intellectual functioning are being revealed more completely. The aim of this paper was to provide a brief historical background as a foundation for discussion of intelligence testing, review what is known about the dynamic course of brain development during the preschool years, acknowledge limitations specific to intelligence testing in young children, and provide support for maintaining a comprehensive neuropsychological perspective that considers the wider range of variables that influence intellectual functioning in the preschool period.