Stability and change in types of behavioral disturbance of children and adolescents

Changes with aging and stability of dimensions of behavioral disturbance were determined for 732 children and adolescents who constituted the sample reassessed after 5 years of an original cross-sectional sample of Manhattan youth 6 to 18 years old. On three of the six types of disturbance strongly related to the total impairment judgments of psychiatrists, specifically those tapping domains of aggression, greater or constant levels of pathology were noted over time. Cross-sectional versus longitudinal analyses on the same types of disturbance had discrepant results half the time. Stability coefficients for five of the six types of disturbance were greater than .55. Stability curves by age cohorts investigated whether a type of disturbance appeared transitory at certain age periods but more crystallized at other ages. Its prognostic significance would vary accordingly. Implications for intervention-treatment and for studies comparing the predictive value of different classes of behavior, e.g., neurotic versus antisocial, are discussed.This investigation was supported by U. S. Public Health Service Project Grants MH-11545 and MH-18260 of the National Institute of Mental Health, Center for Epidemiological Studies. Support for the principal investigator was given by Career Scientist Grants I-338 and I-640 of the Health Research Council of the City of New York. The principal investigator is currently supported through Research Scientist Award K5-MH-20868 of the National Institute of Mental Health.This research was presented in part at the Eastern Psychological Association Meetings, April 3–5, 1975, New York City.     

Visual recognition memory in reflective and impulsive children

Twenty-nine reflective and 29 impulsive fifth-grade boys were tested in a forced-choice visual recognition memory task. In three of the experimental conditions (1FD, 2FD, 4FD) the number of visual feature differences between the correct and incorrect test stimuli was 1, 2, or 4, and correct response could not be based on the name of the stimulus; in the fourth condition (DO) the correct and incorrect test stimuli had different names. As predicted, performance on DO and 4FD was equivalent and was superior to that on 1FD and 2FD. Although reflective Ss made more correct responses than impulsive Ss in all four conditions, only the performance difference in Condition 1FD was significant. Mean correct response latencies mirrored the correct response data. These results were consistent with the Selfridge-Neisser feature-testing model of recognition memory, and it was argued that the primary underlying basis for the dimension of reflection-impulsivity was that reflective Ss tend to engage in a more detailed visual feature analysis of stimulus arrays. Strong inferential evidence was provided that visual feature analysis independent of verbal labeling was responsible for successful recognition performance in these Ss.     

Masculinity-femininity of self-concept: Its effect on the achievement behavior of women

The achievement behavior of women was examined in relation to their masculinity-femininity of self-concept and the mediating effects of the situation. The masculinity-femininity of self-concept of 58 female subjects was determined through the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (J. Spence, R. Helmreich, and J. Stapp, The Personal Attributes Questionnaire: A Measure of Sex Role Stereotypes and Masculinity-Femininity, Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 1974, 4, 43–44). These subjects then competed in either a mixed-sex or same-sex group. Each subject was led to believe she was a high-ability performer in relation to the group members she competed against. While feminine women did not display poorer performance when competing against lower ability males than lower ability females, they did feel more ambivalence than the others about performing successfully in a competitive situation.The author gratefully acknowledges the contributions and support of Dr. M. L. Dietz, Dr. W. Libby, Dr. L. M. Jackson, and Dr. F. Schneider.     

The CLIPR remote laboratory microprocessor system: Development and applications

The introduction of microprocessor technology into the centralized experiment automation facilities of CLIPR separates data processing functions and real-time functions. Three examples of real-time intelligent terminals are described. The implementation process, principles, and examples for using microprocessor technology in this way is described in some detail.     

The Making of an Interdisciplinary Partnership: The Case of the Chicago Food System Collaborative

Interdisciplinary partnerships foster innovation to address pressing social problems. This paper describes an interdisciplinary partnership called the Chicago Food System Collaborative (CFSC) composed of a team of partners from four academic institutions and three community-based organizations representing a total of eight disciplines that included: community development and community organizing, community psychology, geography, nursing, nutrition, public health, sociology, and urban planning and policy. Partners came together to address the issue of access to healthy foods and nutrition in a working class African American neighborhood. We analyze and discuss the core principles that guided the partnership and its impact across three dimensions: understanding through interdisciplinary action research, building capacity, and facilitating innovations in practices and policies. Despite the challenges of interdisciplinary partnerships, the potential benefits and impact of such efforts reflect their value as a comprehensive approach to addressing complex social problems.     

When the heat is on: romantic partner responses influence distress in socially anxious women

This study provided a preliminary test of whether socially anxious women and their partners would show more negative social support behavior, especially among those with low relationship satisfaction, and whether this would increase the distress of the socially anxious women. Women with (n=22) and without (n=23) heightened social anxiety were observed interacting with their partners under a social-evaluative threat and support behaviors were coded. Unexpectedly, no differences were found between socially and non-socially anxious women and their partners. Although relationship satisfaction influenced this process, it was the more satisfied women who showed more negative behavior. Additionally, the more positive behaviors the partner exhibited, the greater was the distress reported by socially anxious women, particularly among women whose partners reported high relationship satisfaction. Implications for how these findings might expand theories on interpersonal processes in social anxiety are discussed.     

Attitudinal ambivalence, rumination, and forgiveness of partner transgressions in marriage

Although positive and negative attitudes toward a transgressor are related to increased and decreased forgiveness, respectively, prior research has failed to investigate forgiveness among those who feel both positively and negatively toward a transgressor. Therefore, the authors examined such ambivalence and its relationship to forgiveness. It was hypothesized that spouses with ambivalent attitudes toward their partner will be less forgiving of a partner transgression because such an event is likely to prime the negative component of their ambivalence. Because ruminating about a transgression also has the potential to prime the negative component of one's ambivalence, an interaction between rumination and ambivalence was predicted. Data from 87 married couples showed that greater attitudinal ambivalence toward the partner was associated with decreased forgiveness only when husbands and wives thought about the transgression frequently; ambivalence was not related to forgiveness in the absence of rumination. The implications of these findings for understanding forgiveness in marriage and for increasing forgiveness among married couples are discussed.     

The effects of the dopamine D1 receptor antagonist SCH23390 on memory reconsolidation following reminder-activated retrieval in day-old chicks

This series of experiments examined the involvement of the dopamine D1 receptor antagonist, SCH23390, on memory reconsolidation following reminder-activated retrieval. Day-old male New HampshirexWhite Leghorn chicks were trained on a single trial passive avoidance task. A dose of 0.5 mg/kg of SCH23390 was administered subcutaneously 5 min before reminder trials, which were presented at 30, 60, and 90 min following training. Memory deficits were observed when reminder trials were presented at 30 and 60 min following training, but not when a reminder was presented at 90 min. No effect on memory retention was observed when reminder trials were not presented, suggesting that reconsolidation mechanisms were both contingent on the presentation of the reminder and independent of the consolidation process. Following a reminder presented at 60 min post-training, deficits in memory retention emerged between 45 and 60 min. The deficit was prolonged, lasting for up until 48 h after reminder presentation. The results indicate an important role for the D1 receptor in reconsolidation processes.     

Imitation recognition in a captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

This study investigated the ability of a captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) to recognise when he is being imitated. In the experimental condition of test 1a, an experimenter imitated the postures and behaviours of the chimpanzee as they were being displayed. In three control conditions the same experimenter exhibited (1) actions that were contingent on, but different from, the actions of the chimpanzee, (2) actions that were not contingent on, and different from, the actions of the chimpanzee, or (3) no action at all. The chimpanzee showed more "testing" sequences (i.e., systematically varying his actions while oriented to the imitating experimenter) and more repetitive behaviour when he was being imitated, than when he was not. This finding was replicated 4 months later in test 1b. When the experimenter repeated the same actions she displayed in the experimental condition of test 1a back to the chimpanzee in test 2, these actions now did not elicit those same testing sequences or repetitive behaviours. However, a live imitation condition did. Together these results provide the first evidence of imitation recognition in a nonhuman animal.     

The Association Between Female College Students' Reports of Depression and Their Perceptions of Parental Attitudes Regarding Gender

This study related female college students' ( n = 377) reports of symptomatology to their reports of parental attitudes suggesting limitations inherent in being female. Young women completed a scale measuring their perceptions that their fathers would have been prouder of them if they were male, and a scale measuring their distress over the limitations experienced by their mothers. Respondents who scored high on either scale exhibited much higher prevalence than other respondents of self-reported depression accompanied by anxiety, somatic symptoms including headaches, insomnia, dyspnea, fatigue, disordered eating, and poor body image/preference for thinness (labeled anxious somatic depression ). Compared to men ( n = 191), women exhibited much higher prevalence of anxious somatic depression, but not higher prevalence of depression unaccompanied by the other symptoms.