Acute aerobic exercise and information processing: energizing motor processes during a choice reaction time task

The immediate and short-term after effects of a bout of aerobic exercise on young adults’ information processing were investigated. Seventeen participants performed an auditory two-choice reaction time (RT) task before, during, and after 40 min of ergometer cycling. In a separate session, the same sequence of testing was completed while seated on an ergometer without pedalling. Results indicate that exercise (1) improves the speed of reactions by energizing motor outputs; (2) interacts with the arousing effect of a loud auditory signal suggesting a direct link between arousal and activation; (3) gradually reduces RT and peaks between 15 and 20 min; (4) effects on RT disappear very quickly after exercise cessation; and (5) effects on motor processes cannot be explained by increases in body temperature caused by exercise. Taken together, these results support a selective influence of acute aerobic exercise on motor adjustment stage.     

From Vygotsky to Vygotskian psychology: introduction to the history of the Kharkov School

Around the end of the 1920s, Vygotsky introduced his integrative framework for psycho-logical research to the Soviet Union. This framework was not abandoned and forgotten until its rediscovery in Russia and America in the 1950s, as some claim. In fact, even after his untimely death in 1934, Vygotsky remained the spiritual leader of a group of his for-mer students and collaborators, who became known as the Kharkov School. This paper reconstructs the early intellectual history of Vygotskian psychology, as it emerged, around the time of Vygotsky's death, in the research program of the Kharkov School.     

A longitudinal twin study of the genetic and environmental etiology of maternal hostile-reactive behavior during infancy and toddlerhood

Children's negative characteristics are thought to be a factor in evoking hostile parenting responses. This can result in genotype/environment correlations (rGE) in which children's heritable traits influence the parenting they experience. We did genetic analyses on 292 mothers' self-reported hostile-reactive behaviors toward each of their twins at 5, 18 and 30 months. Finding heritability for a parenting behavior analyzed as a child phenotype is evidence of rGE correlation. The heritability of maternal behavior was modest (29% at 5 months, 0% at 18 months, and 25% at 30 months) and longitudinal analyses indicated that genetic factors at 5 and 30 months were uncorrelated. Common environment factors, probably reflecting characteristics of the mothers, were the main source of variance at the three ages and were highly correlated through time. We concluded that children's heritable characteristics evoked maternal negative response at specific times, but were not responsible for the stability of maternal hostility from infancy to toddlerhood.     

Aging and strategic retrieval in a cued-recall test: the role of executive functions and fluid intelligence

Cued-recall in episodic memory was investigated in relation to low and high cognitive support at retrieval, executive function level and fluid intelligence level in 81 healthy adults divided first into two age groups (young and elderly adults). The first analyses showed that age-related differences were greater when a low cognitive support was provided to recall the words. An individual index of loss of performance when the number of cues was decreased was then calculated. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that the executive functions measure (perseverative errors on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test) was a better candidate than the fluid intelligence measure (Cattell's culture fair test) to account for the age-related variance of the size of performance loss. These findings suggest that age differences in implementing strategic retrieval may be mainly due to a decline in executive functions.     

Suicide by jumping and accessibility of bridges: results from a national survey in Switzerland

Rates of suicide by jumping show large regional differences. Barriers on bridges may prevent suicides but also may lead to a substitution of jumping site or method. The aim of our study was to compare suicide data from regions with and without suicide bridges and to estimate the effects on method and site substitution if bridges were to be secured. In a national survey, suicide data for the years 1990 to 2003 were collected. Regions with high rates of bridge suicides were identified and compared with regions with low rates, and the analysis revealed that only about one third of the individuals would be expected to jump from buildings or other structures if no bridge was available. The results suggest no method substitution for women. For men, a trend of a substituting jumping by overdosing in regions without suicide bridges was found. We conclude that restricted access to suicide bridges will not automatically lead suicidal individuals to choose another jumping site or suicide method. The results support the notion that securing bridges may save lives.     

Drive for thinness, affect regulation and physical activity in eating disorders: a daily life study

Using Ecological Momentary Assessment, the within patient associations between drive for thinness, emotional states, momentary urge to be physically active and physical activity were studied in 32 inpatients with an eating disorder. Participants received an electronic device and had to indicate at nine random times a day during 1 week their momentary drive for thinness, positive and negative emotional states and their urge to be physically active and physical activity. Multilevel analyses indicated that patients with higher mean levels for urge to be physically active were characterized by lower body mass index (BMI) and chronically negative affect whereas patients with higher mean levels for physical activity were characterized by lower BMI and higher dispositions for drive for thinness. In addition, within patient relations between drive for thinness and urge to be physically active were moderated by BMI and chronically negative affect whereas within patient relations between drive for thinness and physical activity were moderated by BMI. Finally, also positive emotional states were significantly associated with physical activity within patients. By using a daily process design, characteristics of physical activity were revealed that have not been identified with assessment methods that have a lower time resolution.     

A comparative test of work-family conflict models and critical examination of work-family linkages

This paper is a comprehensive meta-analysis of over 20 years of work-family conflict research. A series of path analyses were conducted to compare and contrast existing work-family conflict models, as well as a new model we developed which integrates and synthesizes current work-family theory and research. This new model accounted for 40% of the variance in job satisfaction, 38% of the variance in family satisfaction, and 35% of the variance in life satisfaction. In a critical examination of work-family linkages, a series of analyses excluding work-family conflict constructs and pathways resulted in a well-fitting and more parsimonious model that still accounted for 39% of the variance in job satisfaction, 37% of the variance in family satisfaction, and 33% of the variance in life satisfaction. Results indicate that direct effects drive work-family conflict models while indirect effects provide little incremental explanation in regards to satisfaction outcomes.     

Approximate quantification in young,healthy older adults’, and Alzheimer patients

Forty young adults, 40 healthy older adults, and 39 probable AD patients were asked to estimate small (e.g., 25) and large (e.g., 60) collections of dots in a choice condition and in two no-choice conditions. Participants could choose between benchmark and anchoring strategies on each collection of dots in the choice condition and were required to use either benchmark or anchoring on all configurations in the no-choice conditions (one per strategy). The benchmark strategy involves visual estimation processes whereas the anchoring strategy involves both enumeration and estimation processes. Results showed that strategy use was influenced by collection, participant, and strategy characteristics. Age-related and dementia-related differences were found in both strategy use and strategy execution. The findings have implications for our understanding of aging effects in approximate quantification, strategic variations in Alzheimer’s patients, and sources of cognitive decline during early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.