Beneficial and adverse effects of pets

The beneficial and adverse effects of pets on people with special mental and physical conditions merit inclusion in psychological evaluations and treatments.     

Geometric and perceptual effects of the location of the observer vantage point for linear-perspective images

New geometric analyses are presented of three impressive examples of the effects of location of the vantage point on virtual 3-D spaces conveyed by linear-perspective images. In the 'egocentric-road' effect, the perceived direction of the depicted road is always pointed towards the observer, for any position of the vantage point. It is shown that perspective images of real-observer-aimed roads are characterised by a specific, simple pattern of projected side lines. Given that pattern, the position of the observer, and certain assumptions and perspective arguments, the perceived direction of the virtual road towards the observer can be predicted. In the 'skewed balcony' and the 'collapsing ceiling' effects, the position of the vantage point affects the impression of alignment of the virtual architecture conveyed by large-scale illusionistic paintings and the real architecture surrounding them. It is shown that the dislocation of the vantage point away from the viewing position prescribed by the perspective construction induces a mismatch between the painted vanishing point of elements in the picture and the real vanishing point of corresponding elements of the actual architecture. This mismatch of vanishing points provides visual information that the elements of the two architectures are not mutually parallel.     

Perceptions of body image among Japanese and Croatian children of preschool age

This study examined the differences in current and ideal body size among 108 Japanese and 129 Croatian preschool children (M=4.9 yr.). Boys and girls in both samples showed similarities by selecting the figure representing their current body size. Significant sex differences were found in selection of an ideal figure in the Japanese sample but not in the Croatian group. Japanese girls showed greater preference for a thinner figure than boys. In selection of an ideal body size significant cultural differences were found only for boys: Japanese boys preferred thinner figures. Results relating to body discrepancy (Current minus Ideal figures) indicated that there were fewer satisfied Japanese girls than Croatian girls whereas for the boys, a significantly larger number of Japanese than Croatian boys wished to be heavier.     

Stress applied during primary immunization affects the secondary humoral immune response in the rat: involvement of opioid peptides

The effect of unpredictable, inescapable and uncontrollable electric tail shocks (ES) on the humoral immune response to bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated in the rat. Contributions of the procedures that accompany shock delivery, such as witnessing the ES procedure (stress witnessing, SW) and exposure to the apparatus for shock delivery (apparatus control, AC) to the changes in specific immunity induced by ES were also tested. All procedures were applied during primary and/or secondary immunization. It was demonstrated that exposure to ES during primary immunization with BSA significantly suppressed specific anti-BSA antibody production after secondary and tertiary immunization with the same antigen. Exposure to the SW procedure during primary immunization with BSA enhanced the specific antibody level after secondary immunization, while exposure to the apparatus alone did not influence the development of either the primary or secondary humoral immune response to BSA. Both ES-induced suppression and SW-induced potentiation of the humoral immune response were partially inhibited by prior treatment with the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone. Additionally, treatments with the opioid peptides methionine- and leucine-enkephalin decreased anti-BSA antibody level, mimicking to some extent the effects of ES. It is suggested that ES and endogenous opioid peptides had long-term effects on humoral immunity through mechanisms involving immunologic memory.     

Age differences in personality across the adult life span: parallels in five cultures

Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in the United States have shown consistent changes between college age and middle adulthood. There appear to be declines in 3 of the 5 major factors of personality--Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness--and increases in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. To examine cross-cultural generalizability of these findings, translations of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory were administered to samples in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, and South Korea (N = 7,363). Similar patterns of age differences were seen in each country, for both men and women. Common trends were also seen for the more specific traits that define the major factors. Because these nations differ substantially in culture and recent history, results suggest the hypothesis that these are universal maturational changes in adult personality.     

On the Possibility of Naturalistic and of Pure Epistemology

This paper deals with two opposite metaphilosophical doctrines concerning the nature of philosophy. More specifically, it is a study of the naturalistic view that philosophical, hence also epistemological, knowledge cannot be distinguished from empirical knowledge, and of the antinaturalistic view that philosophical, hence also epistemological, knowledge, is pure, that is, independent of empirical knowledge and particularly of the special sciences. The conditions of the possibility of naturalistic and of pure epistemology are studied in terms of phenomenological philosophy. It is concluded that pure epistemology is possible under relatively strong conditions but that the version of naturalistic epistemology which denies the pure basis leads to contradiction. That, however, does not shake the possibility of cognitive science. Following Husserl, we may argue that studies of human cognition are possible on the condition that a first basis is assumed which is not naturalized.     

Balancing the ledger: An application of Nagy's theories to the study of continuity and change among generations

This study uses an interpretive interview method to examine the micro-processes of generational continuity and change among a group of social activists. Boszormenyi-Nagy's theory of responsibility between generations, alternative models outside the family, and choice are used to explain the instances of change. Implications for research and practice are addressed.