Hostility disturbs learning

Many studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between hostility and coronary artery disease; however, the pathogenic mechanisms by which hostility causes coronary artery disease have not been identified. Several studies have shown that hostility is associated with increased cardiovascular reactivity to mental stress. Sloan and colleagues used mental arithmetic and the Stroop Color-Word Task as psychological stressors and suggested that hostility is associated with diminished cardiac vagal control. It is supposed that the diminished cardiac vagal control results in uncontrollability of increased heart rate under stressful conditions so performance on mental stress tasks is poor. However, performance was not analyzed on the Stroop Color-Word Task. If hostility influences the autonomic nervous system, the performance of this mental stress task may also differ according to extent of hostility. In the present study, whether hostility disturbed performance of a mental stress task and the practice on it was examined. Subjects completed the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale and were divided into three groups (High, Middle, and Low) by their total scores and three subscales (Cynicism, Hostile Affect, and Aggressive Responding). They also completed the Stroop Color-Word Task. Analysis showed practice by High and Middle scoring groups on Aggressive Responding had a significantly smaller effect than that by Low scoring groups. The pathogenic mechanisms by which hostility may underlie coronary artery disease were discussed.     

Experiential response and intention to purchase in the cocreative consumption of music: The Nine Inch Nails experiment

Customers allowed to cocreate products are more willing to purchase them eventually because of not only their utilitarian but also their hedonic and experiential value. Experiential responses seem especially relevant in the cocreative consumption of cultural and intangible goods, such as music. To examine how such intangible aspects of cocreation can influence a consumer's intention to purchase, we let two groups of participants rate their experience consuming music in either a traditional or cocreative way, in an experimental situation inspired by the work of American rock band Nine Inch Nails. Participants in the traditional group had to passively watch a series of music videos; participants in the cocreative group were tasked to produce a video montage using the same material. In the traditional group, purchase intention was predicted by music quality, mediated by willingness to reexperience; in the cocreative group, however, purchase intention was only predicted by the consumers' experiential response, with no mediation of either music quality or willingness to reexperience. Additionally, the overall experiential response to music was lower in the cocreative group than in the traditional group, leading to lower intention to purchase. These results suggest that cocreated value for intangible goods is predicted at least as much by the consumers' experiential response as by their evaluation of product quality. It also suggests that there is nothing systematically positive in having consumers participate in the coproduction of intangible goods and that research is needed to identify the factors predicting the perceived quality of a cocreative experience. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differential Effect of Two Mental Stress Tasks on Arterial Stiffness

Acute mental stress is believed to induce transient arterial dysfunction, but relatively few data are available. We therefore examined the effect of mental stress tasks that could induce differential hemodynamic responses on arterial dysfunction. Forty‐eight participants conducted either a mental arithmetic (MA) task or a mirror‐tracing (MT) task. Cardiovascular indices and arterial stiffness were measured before, during, and after these tasks. Analysis revealed that increases in arterial stiffness during the task and during recovery were more pronounced for the MA than for the MT, and that evoked hemodynamic response was more myocardial for MA than for MT. These results clearly show that MA and MT tasks that induce differential hemodynamic responses have a differential effect on arterial stiffness. This finding sheds light on the underlying mechanism that may account for the relationship between cardiovascular reactivity and cardiovascular disease.     

Enhanced recovery of NK cell activity in mice under restraint stress by the administration of a biological response modifier derived from the mycelia of the basidiomycete Tricholoma matsutake

Some types of stressor act on the immune system via the network comprising the endocrine-immune-nervous systems, and are reportedly responsible for the onset of diseases as well as giving impetus to their advance. It is important for the maintenance and promotion of health to cope with stress-induced changes in immunocompetence. Therefore, we studied the effects of administration of a novel biological response modifier (CM6271) derived from the mycelia of the basidiomycete Tricholoma matsutake on the NK cell activity in mice under restraint stress, in order to evaluate its potential to modulate immune responsiveness in stress-loaded individuals. (1) When C57BL/6 mice were restrained in 50-ml tubes for more than 6 h, splenic NK cell activity decreased significantly, but recovered gradually after the mice were released. The extent of the reduction of activity and the degree of recovery depended on the duration of the restraint. (2) The oral administration of CM6271 caused a significant acceleration of the recovery of the activity. This effect was dependent on the timing of administration and the dose given. (3) The administration of CM6271 had no clear effect on the blood levels of ACTH, corticosterone or lipid peroxide levels in the liver. These findings suggest that CM6271 promotes recovery from the decrease in NK cell activity induced by restraint stress.     

Relationship of IQ to suicide and homicide rate: an international perspective

IQs were correlated with the z score of suicide rate minus z score of homicide rate using nine regions of the world--established market economies, formerly socialized Europe, India, China, other Asian nations, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Middle East Crescent, and the USA. Correlations were .85 and .83 with crude rates and age-adjusted rates, respectively. The homicide findings are consistent with previous research in individual countries showing that less intelligent persons commit homicide more often. However, the present findings of a positive correlation between IQ and suicide rates are the opposite of what has been found in the more definitive studies within countries. Explanations for the apparent paradox and for the findings more generally were offered.     

Stress and coping in the elderly

Changing demographics indicate a significant increase in the number of surviving elderly, a decrease in the number of children in each family, and an increase in the number of surviving generations. Four guidelines are offered for minimizing the stress and maximizing the coping strategies of the elderly and their families: a) aging must be viewed as a life-span developmental experience, b) aging is a biopsychosocial phenomenon, c) supportive others can occupy critical positive or negative roles in the adaptation process, and d) the elderly and their families must develop proactive, anticipatory strategies for coping with the exigencies of age. These guidelines are offered to help the elderly face the challenge of aging successfully.     

Infants recognize identity in a dynamic facial animation that simultaneously changes its identity and expression

Recognition of facial identity and facial expression have been reported to be correlated. Previous studies using static facial photographs reported that identity recognition was not interfered by task-irrelevant change of facial expression but that expression recognition was interfered by task-irrelevant change of facial identity. In this study, we created dynamic morphing animations that simultaneously changes facial identity and expression to investigate the interaction between identity and expression recognition. We tested 7 –8-month-old infants who were around the age at which the recognition of facial expression develops. Using the familiarization–novelty preference procedure, we examined whether infants could learn identity and facial expression from morphing animation. We found that infants learned identity but not expression from the morphing animation. Our results demonstrate that the interaction between identity and expression occurs differently in infancy than in adults when both the dimension of facial identity and the expression vary simultaneously.     

The brain basis of the phonological deficit in dyslexia is independent of IQ

Although the role of IQ in developmental dyslexia remains ambiguous, the dominant clinical and research approaches rely on a definition of dyslexia that requires reading skill to be significantly below the level expected given an individual's IQ. In the study reported here, we used functional MRI (fMRI) to examine whether differences in brain activation during phonological processing that are characteristic of dyslexia were similar or dissimilar in children with poor reading ability who had high IQ scores (discrepant readers) and in children with poor reading ability who had low IQ scores (nondiscrepant readers). In two independent samples including a total of 131 children, using univariate and multivariate pattern analyses, we found that discrepant and nondiscrepant poor readers exhibited similar patterns of reduced activation in brain areas such as left parietotemporal and occipitotemporal regions. These results converge with behavioral evidence indicating that, regardless of IQ, poor readers have similar kinds of reading difficulties in relation to phonological processing.     

Psychometric Properties of the Revised Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS-R) in Chinese Adolescents

The Revised Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS-R) was developed to assess Internet addiction in Chinese populations, but its psychometric properties in adolescents have not been examined. This study aimed to evaluate the factor structure and psychometric properties of CIAS-R in Hong Kong Chinese adolescents. 860 Grade 7 to 13 students (38 % boys) completed the CIAS-R, the Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) in a survey. The prevalence of Internet addiction as assessed by CIAS-R was 18 %. High internal consistency and inter-item correlations were reported for the CIAS-R. Results from the confirmatory factor analysis suggested a four-factor structure of Compulsive Use and Withdrawal, Tolerance, Interpersonal and Health-related Problems, and Time Management Problems. Moreover, results of hierarchical multiple regression supported the incremental validity of the CIAS-R to predict mental health outcomes beyond the effects of demographic differences and self-reported time spent online. The CIAS is a reliable and valid measure of internet addiction problems in Hong Kong adolescents. Future study is warranted to validate the cutoffs of the CIAS-R for identification of adolescents with Internet use problems who may have mental health needs.