Is Speech Arrest during Wada Testing a Valid Method for Determining Hemispheric Representation of Language?

Background and objective: The intracarotid amobarbital procedure, or Wada test, is the method of choice to determine hemispheric representation of language, and is routinely used in the presurgical evaluation for intractable epilepsy. Some investigators perform comprehensive language assessments, but others base language lateralization solely on speech arrest. This study sought to determine whether speech arrest alone during Wada testing provides valid data regarding language lateralization. Methods: The subjects (previously reported) were 21 patients evaluated for intractable epilepsy, who underwent language lateralization by Wada testing and functional MRI (FMRI). For each patient, language representation was determined by calculating: (1) a Wada laterality index based exclusively on speech arrest; (2) a Wada laterality index based on comprehensive language assessment; and (3) an FMRI laterality quotient. Correlation coefficients and categorical classifications were analyzed. Results: There was no significant correlation between the Wada laterality quotient derived from duration of speech arrest and either the comprehensive Wada language laterality score (r= .35,p= .12) or FMRI language laterality score (r= .32,p= .16). Categorical classification as left, right or bilateral language also showed marked discordance between speech arrest and the other two methods. Conclusion: Duration of speech arrest during Wada testing is not a valid measure of language dominance.     

Conceptualizing and Measuring a Power/Interaction Model of Interpersonal Influence1

In response to new theoretical conceptualizations (Raven, 1992, 1993), an instrument was developed to measure 11 bases of power, the original 6 French and Raven (1959; Raven, 1965) bases of power, with 3 of these further differentiated: reward (personal, impersonal), coercion (personal. impersonal), legitimate (position, reciprocity, equity, dependence), expert, referent, and information. In Study 1, 317 American student respondents rated the likelihood that each of these power bases contributed to a supervisor successfully influencing a subordinate in a series of hypothetical situations. The internal consistency of the items which made up the 11 power bases proved adequate. Factor analysis found 7 factors and 2 categories of bases: harsh and soft. In Study 2, which used 101 Israeli health workers, the earlier findings were generally supported. In addition, job satisfaction was found to be positively related to the attribution of soft bases to the supervisor.     

FEMALE PARTNERS OF BISEXUAL MEN What They Don't Know Might Hurt Them

Individual interviews with 350 behaviorally bisexual men aged 18–30 revealed that 71% of their female sexual partners and 59% of their steady female sexual partners in the past 6 months had not been aware of their homosexual activity. Rates of nondisclosure were higher for African-American than White men. Compared to nondisclosers, men who disclosed to all their female partners were less self-homophobic and perceived their friends, families, and neighbors as more accepting of their homosexual behavior. Compared to men who had disclosed, the nondisclosers had more female partners and used condoms less consistently with women.     

Inhibition in ADHD,aggressive, and anxious children: A biologically based model of child psychopathology

In this study the stop signal task was employed to investigate inhibitory control in 15 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 18 aggressive and 20 anxious children, and a group of 17 normal controls. The psychopathological groups were recruited from special educational services. Parent, teacher, and child questionnaires were used to select children with pervasive disorders. Controls attended regular classes and scored low on all questionnaires. Based on Quay's model of child psychopathology (Quay, 1988, 1993), we hypothesized a deficit in inhibitory control in children with externalizing disorders, whereas anxious children were predicted to be overinhibited. The ADHD group and the aggressive group showed poor inhibitory control and a slower inhibitory process. No evidence of overinhibition was found in anxious children.     

A transactional analysis of biobehavioral systems

The system of behavior [B] consists of those transactional interrelationships between organism [O] and environment [E] that govern their commerce. The biological significance of such [O]-[E] interrelationships, their truing through learning, as well as those systems involved in the subordinate and superordinate regulation of behavior, are clear when life, itself, is seen as an emergent property of the [O]-[E] complex. In addition, a systems view of these hierarchically organized complexities suggests that they adaptively self-stabilize and self-organize, over time, as they participate in [L], the organism-environment complex. Such a transactional analysis of biobehavioral systems resonates well with the most basic axioms of Pavlov’s paradigm.     

Fourier analysis of movement patterns in pigeons

Fourier analysis describes the amount of variation in a time series by partitioning it into sinusoids of different amplitudes and wavelengths and quantifying the extent to which these waves are synchronized. The importance of a given wave is represented by its contribution to the explained variance of the time series. To illustrate its potential application to the study of movement, Fourier analysis was used to quantify the movement patterns of 2 pigeons on a variable-interval (VI) and a variable-time (VT) schedule of reinforcement. For comparison, the movements of 2 pigeons that did not receive reinforcement were similarly analyzed. Characteristic frequencies were higher during VI than during VT, and relatively low during nonreinforcement. We concluded that Fourier analysis can be used to represent movement patterns compactly, study their periodicity, stereotypy, and resonance, and assist in computer simulations and models of movement.     

Sex-role orientation,intimacy of topic,and target person differences in self-disclosure among women

Sex Roles - The focus of the present study was self-disclosure patterns of young women in three types of close relationships: same-sex friend, opposite-sex friend, and romantic partner. The...