Sexual risk as an outcome of social oppression: data from a probability sample of Latino gay men in three U.S. cities

Based on data from a probability sample of 912 Latino gay men in 3 U.S. cities, a multivariate model of sexual risk was tested, including experiences of homophobia, racism, and poverty as predictors. Participants reported multiple instances of verbal and physical abuse, rude mistreatment, and discrimination on account of their sexual orientation and their race or ethnicity. Many reported experiences of poverty, such as inability to pay for basic necessities of food or shelter. Men who reported more instances of social discrimination and financial hardship were more psychologically distressed and more likely to participate in "difficult" sexual situations, as predicted. Participation in difficult sexual situations mediates the effects of social oppression and psychological distress on sexual risk behavior.     

Repetition priming effects from attended vs. ignored single words in a semantic categorization task

The present research examines priming effects from a centrally presented single-prime word to which participants were instructed to either attend or ignore. The prime word was followed by a single central target word to which participants made a semantic categorization (animate vs. inanimate) task. The main variables manipulated across experiments were attentional instructions (attend vs. ignore the prime word), presentation duration of the prime word (20, 50, 80 or 100 ms), prime-target stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA; 300 vs. 800 ms), and temporal presentation of instructions (before vs. after the prime word). The results showed (a) a consistent interaction between attentional instructions and repetition priming and (b) a qualitatively different ignored priming pattern as a function of prime duration: reduced positive priming (relative to the attend instruction) for prime exposures of 80 and 100 ms, and reliable negative priming for the shorter prime exposures of 20 and 50 ms. In addition (c), the differential priming pattern for attend and ignore trials was observed at a prime-target SOA of 800 ms (but not at a shorter 300-ms SOA) and only when instructions were presented before the prime word. Methodological and theoretical implications of the present findings for the extant negative priming literature are discussed.     

Processing of temporal information: Evidence from eye movements

In two experiments, we recorded eye movements to study how readers monitor temporal order information contained in narrative texts. Participants read short texts containing critical temporal information in the sixth sentence, which could be either consistent or inconsistent with temporal order information given in the second sentence. In Experiment 1, inconsistent sentences yielded more regressions to the second sentence and longer refixations of it. In Experiment 2, this pattern of eye movements was shown only by readers who noticed the inconsistency and were able to report it. Theoretical and methodological implications of the results for research on text comprehension are discussed.     

Visuomotor adaptation in normal aging

Visuomotor adaptation to a gradual or sudden screen cursor rotation was investigated in healthy young and elderly subjects. Both age groups were equally divided into two subgroups; one subgroup was exposed to 11.25° step increments of visual feedback rotation, every 45 trials (up to a total of 90°), whereas a second subgroup was subjected to 90° rotation from the onset of exposure. Participants performed discrete, horizontal hand movements to virtual targets in four randomized directions. Targets appeared on a computer screen in front of them, and a board prevented vision of the hand at all times. Differential effects of aging on visuomotor adaptation were found, depending on the time course of the visual distortion. In both age groups, early exposure to the sudden visual feedback distortion resulted in typical spiral-like trajectories, which became straighter by late exposure. However, the final adaptation level was reduced in the aged group, although the aftereffects were similar. When subjects were exposed to the gradual distortion, no statistically significant differences in measures of adaptation with advancing age were found. In this case, both age groups appeared to adapt equally. However, after removal of the distortion, elderly subjects showed reduced aftereffects as compared with the young group. These findings suggest differential effects of aging on adaptation to gradual versus sudden visual feedback distortions, and may help to explain the conflicting results obtained in previous visuomotor adaptation studies.     

Influence of prime-target relationship on semantic priming effects from words in a lexical-decision task

The present research examines the influence of prime-target relationship (associative and categorical versus categorical only) on priming effects from attended and ignored parafoveal words. Participants performed a lexical-decision task on a single central target, which was preceded by two parafoveal prime words, one of which (the attended prime) was spatially precued. The results showed reliable positive and negative priming effects from attended and ignored words, respectively. However, this priming pattern was observed only for the "associative and categorical", but not for the "categorical only" relationship condition. These results suggest that the lack of semantic priming effects from words in some prior studies may be attributed to the kind of material used (i.e. weakly-associated word pairs).     

Distractor interference in selective reaching: dissociating distance and grouping effects

In the present experiment, the authors sought to differentiate between a distance and a grouping explanation for the symmetric versus asymmetric patterns of distractor interference in selective reaching. Participants (N = 16) pointed to a green target that appeared either with or without a red distractor. Target-distractor separation was manipulated within an array of 5 closely grouped stimulus boxes, and distractor interference (difference in performance between trials with and trials without a distractor) was measured in reaction time, movement time, percentage errors, and movement endpoints. Small distances (5 mm) between target and distractor yielded a symmetric pattern of interference, whereas large distances (20 mm) yielded an asymmetric pattern, with more interference from near than from far distractors. Those findings support the distance account of distractor interference and refute the grouping account.     

Discrimination and Puerto Rican children's and adolescents' mental health

Two studies of Puerto Rican youths' development on the U.S. mainland examined the consequences of perceived racial/ethnic discrimination on mental health. In Study I, children were found to have a low likelihood of perceiving discrimination, whereas in Study 2, nearly half of the adolescent sample reported perceiving racial/ethnic discrimination. Although both groups scored high on multiple indicators of mental health, perceiving discrimination and worrying about discrimination were negatively associated with some dimensions of self-esteem and positively associated with depression and stress. Adolescents were aware of negative stereotypes about Puerto Ricans, and nearly half of them related discriminatory instances. Results suggest that both perceiving discrimination and anxiety regarding discrimination can serve as risk factors for the mental health of this population.     

Illness representation of arterial hypertension in a sample of health professionals and the general public

This work studies the illness representation of high blood pressure in a sample of primary health care professionals and the general public in order to identify possible differences. The examination of illness representation was carried out using a Spanish adaptation of Turk et al.'s ( 1986 ) Implicit Model of Illness Questionnaire. This questionnaire assesses nine components: identity, cause, incapacity, cure, personal responsibility, controllability, changeability and chance. The results showed statistically significant differences between the general public and doctors in all the components except controllability. Results also show that nurses' responses are closer to those of the general public in the social and psychological aspects, but not in the technical knowledge of hypertension.     

Psychoanalysis: the transformation of the subject by the spoken word

Psychoanalysis recruits the power of the spoken word to modify the subject's relationship with his or her own unconscious psychic processes. It helps the analysand to reclaim for his or her words the psychic integrity that was lost or never achieved due to the power of defensive dissociation and repression. The psychoanalytic dialogue and the working through mediated by it lead to the elaboration of self-narratives and interpretive understandings, which contribute to the transformation of the subject's self-experience. Such transformation is conditioned by earlier integration of experiences of satisfaction in the context of bodily dialogues and speech with primary objects.