Aging, dementia and Gibson Spiral Maze performance: a brief note

A comparison between normal and dementing subjects' performance on the Gibson Spiral Maze was carried out between two age groups (60-70 and 70-89 yr.). Analysis indicated that a differential pattern of impairment existed between early and late onset dementias (ns = 54 and 75), the latter characterized by poor accuracy, the former by abnormal slowing, when compared with their normal peers.     

Short-term memory for colors and color names in the absence of vocalization

In a previous experiment, Allen found no release from proactive inhibition using the Brown-Peterson procedure in a group who were shifted from recalling colors to recalling the names of colors. The lack of release suggests that colors and color names are encoded in similar ways. It was argued that the similarity of encoding might have been caused by the procedure of requiring the subjects to say out loud the names of the colors at the time of stimulus presentation and recall. In the present experiment, a procedure was devised that eliminated the need for verbalization of the colors. The same pattern of results was obtained, namely, release from proactive inhibition in the group shifted from recalling color names to colors but not in the group shifted in the opposite direction. It was concluded that if subjects encode colors as a verbal label, then this encoding strategy is not caused by the procedure of requiring the subjects to verbalize the colors.     

Experiences with the indirect Clausen Test using NTA as an antigen in multiple sclerosis and other neurologic diseases

The present study based on the indirect Clausen-test using NTA and PHA as antigens contributed to therapy control and possibly prognosis assessment rather than to immunological differential diagnosis.     

The roles of self-regulation and partner regulation on romantic relationship quality

Research into self-regulation and partner regulation strategies has largely involved parallel lines of research, thus, it is difficult to determine the relative contribution of both forms of regulation when it comes to relationship outcomes. Therefore, the question remains as to which form of regulation is more strongly associated with relationship quality; is it more important to focus on adaptive self-regulation or adaptive strategies to regulate one's partner? The current research addresses this important gap by comparing the relative associations of adaptive self-regulation and adaptive partner regulation strategies on romantic relationship quality. A community sample of mixed gender couples (N = 114) who were predominantly satisfied with their current relationships – but nonetheless still experienced relationship conflict – were administered self-report assessments of various self-regulation and partner regulation strategies as well as a measure of relationship quality. Couples also participated in a videotaped discussion of an unresolved relationship issue that was scored by trained coders for verbal and nonverbal indicators of self-regulation and partner regulation strategies. Actor–partner interdependence modeling revealed that for both men and women, adaptive self-regulation strategies were positively associated with their own evaluations of relationship quality as well as their partner's relationship quality. In contrast, engaging in adaptive partner regulation strategies was not significantly associated with men's or women's own, or their partner's relationship quality. Findings highlight the importance of focusing on self-regulation in relationships, as it is these strategies, over partner regulation strategies, that have more positive implications for the relationship quality experienced by typically satisfied couples.     

Reinforcer pathology,probabilistic choice,and medication adherence in patients with multiple sclerosis

The reinforcer pathology model posits that core behavioral economic mechanisms, including delay discounting and behavioral economic demand, underlie adverse health decisions and related clinical disorders. Extensions beyond substance use disorder and obesity, however, are limited. Using a reinforcer pathology framework, this study evaluates medical adherence decisions in patients with multiple sclerosis. Participants completed behavioral economic measures, including delay discounting, probability discounting, and a medication purchase task. A medical decision-making task was also used to evaluate how sensitivity to mild side effect risk and efficacy contributed to the likelihood of taking a hypothetical disease-modifying therapy. Less steep delay discounting and more intense (greater) medication demand were independently associated with greater adherence to the medication decision-making procedure. More generally, the pattern of interrelations between the medication-specific and general behavioral economic metrics was consistent with and contributes to the reinforcer pathology model. Additional research is warranted to expand these models to different populations and health behaviors, including those of a positive health orientation (i.e., medication adherence).