Behavioral assessment of pain detection and tolerance in monkeys

Cebus albifrons monkeys received electrical stimulation of the hindlimbs over a wide range of intensities. On trials signalled by a blue light, the animals were permitted to escape shock by pressing a disc, or shock was terminated after 8 sec (free escape). Escape force (disc pressure) was found to increase as stimulation intensity increased well beyond escape threshold, while shock duration curves reached plateau at the mid-range of intensities. The shock duration curves generated by free escape responses should be comparable to pain detection functions obtained by similar operations in humans, and the curves were stable over months of testing, as is generally found in pain-detection studies. On trials signalled by a red light, the animals received intense tail shock immediately after escape responses (punished escape), or, if they endured leg shock for 8 sec without escaping, then they could avoid tail shock with a panel press. The shock duration curves generated by punished escape responses should be comparable to pain tolerance functions as defined for human subjects, and the escape thresholds were considerably higher on red-light trials. As in human studies, the tolerance curves were not stable over repeated testing sessions, and some feature of the paradigm forced a progression toward extremely high levels of tolerance.     

A design comparing free- and forced-trial alternation in the rat at two interchoice intervals

A design is derived which equates the normally differing chance levels of alternation in the free- and forced-trial paradigms. Using 37 rats, this design was used to compare alternation levels in the two paradigms at two interchoice intervals. Forced-trial alternation was found to be significantly higher and longer lasting than free-trial alternation. It is suggested that the methodology presented here be considered by future researchers dealing with the two paradigms.     

In pursuit of fluency

It is suggested that fluent speech is a behavior that is relatively easy for the clinician to obtain from the majority of stuttering clients. Specific moments of stuttering, on the other hand, are often much more difficult to elicit. The rationale for this opinion and some therapeutic implications are discussed. Two areas of future research are advocated: (1) investigation of the conditions that appear to aid the clinician in eliciting moments of stuttering and (2) exploration into a phenomena that appears to be a basic component of the moment of stuttering-“loss of control.”     

Hand asymmetries in interresponse intervals during rapid repetitive finger tapping

Interresponse intervals (IRIs) were recorded as 8 right-handed male subjects tapped a key separately with the index finger of each hand as fast as possible for twenty 10-s runs. Frequency distributions of the IRIs produced by each hand showed that the shorter mean IRI that is usually reported for preferred-hand tapping is a result of a systematic production of shorter IRIs by the preferred hand. It is not secondary to inflation of the mean IRI of the non-preferred hand by the sporadic occurrence of long IRIs.     

Morale and its Components: A Cross-National Comparison1

Two U.S. Army armored cavalry squadrons (N= 660), one in Europe (USAREUR), stationed on the East German border, and one in the continental U.S. (CONUS), were administered an English version of a questionnaire widely used in the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to assess morale, cohesion and soldier perception of unit readiness for combat. Analysis of inter-item correlations, including factor analyses, revealed a generally similar structure of morale in the U.S. units and a comparable IDF sample stationed along the Lebanon border (N= 1270). All three data sets were organized around a group factor, a leadership factor, and two individual factors, one personal and one professional. National differences were apparent with regard to the relationship between morale and perceived contribution to national security, confidence in weapons, and confidence in senior commanders. In several other respects the USAREUR unit resembled the IDF sample far more than it resembled its sister unit in the U.S. As a whole the data are consistent with the view that morale has relatively similar determinants across armies, but that both national characteristics and situational characteristics (e.g., proximity to a potential foe and/ or battlefield) play a role in the relative importance of these determinants.     

Word association and the acquisition of reading

Two studies relating reading ability to word association responses were carried out. The first involved early readers and matched control children from pre-first-grade classes. There were 29 early readers and 29 nonreading controls matched for age, sex, and IQ. The early readers were found to give significantly more paradigmatic, or same-form-class, responses than the controls. The second study related reading ability, mental age, and word association responses in developmentally delayed teen-agers and young adults, and pre-first-grade children who varied in reading ability. With partial correlation reading ability was found to be related to paradigmatic responding, while mental age was not significantly related. These results indicate that reading acquisition may change word association responses in children through a reorganizing process in the lexicon.The authors would like to thank the Halifax and Dartmouth School Boards for their cooperation. We would also like to thank Paul Cable of Special Education, and the principals and teachers: Beth Conrad, Karen Duerdan, Elaine Fram, Peter Montgomery, Wayne Serebrin, and Bill Schipilow. Their help was greatly appreciated. An earlier version of study 1 was presented at the American Psychological Association meeting in Los Angeles, August 1981.     

Hand preference for writing and associations with selected demographic and behavioral variables in 255,100 subjects: the BBC internet study

In an Internet study unrelated to handedness, 134,317 female and 120,783 male participants answered a graded question as to which hand they preferred for writing. This allowed determination of hand preference patterns across 7 ethnic groups. Sex differences in left-handedness were found in 4 ethnic groups, favoring males, while no significant sex differences were found in three of the groups. Prevalence of left-handedness in the largest of the ethnic groups (self-labelled as "White") was comparable to contemporary hand preference data for this group [Gilbert, A. N., & Wysocki, C. J. (1992). Hand preference and age in the United states. Neuropsychologia, 30, 601-608] but the prevalence of left-handedness in individuals >70 years of age was considerably higher in the present study. Individuals who indicated "either" hand for writing preference had significantly lower spatial performance (mental rotation task) and significantly higher prevalence of hyperactivity, dyslexia, asthma than individuals who had clear left or right hand preferences, in support of Crow et al. [Crow, T., Crow, L., Done, D., & Leask, S. (1998). Relative hand skill predicts academic ability: global deficits at the point of hemispheric indecision. Neuropsychologia, 36, 1275-1282]. Similarly, an association of writing hand preference and non-heterosexual orientation was clearest for individuals with "either" writing hand responses. We conclude that contradictions in the literature as to whether or not these variables are linked to handedness stem largely from different definitions of hand preference. Due to a lack of statistical power in most studies in the literature, the "either" hand writing preference group that yielded the most salient results in this study is not normally available for analysis.     

Social Psychological Correlates of Teachers' Language Attitudes1

In this paper, we examine social psychological correlates of teachers' linguistic diversity attitudes. We surveyed 191 regular-classroom teachers in 3 states (Arizona, Utah, and Virginia) to determine the relative effects of psychological insecurity, political ideology, cognitive sophistication, and educational level on language attitudes. Region of the country was included as a contextual variable. We tested the effects of education and cognitive sophistication on tolerance of language minority groups. Psychological insecurity measures and political conservatism were associated with negative language attitudes. Cognitive sophistication but not education was related to positive language attitudes. Teachers from Arizona had more positive language attitudes than did their counterparts in Utah and Virginia. We discuss the implications of our research for inservice and teacher-education programs directed toward constructive attitude change around language diversity issues.