Human (Homo sapiens) responses to the pig (Sus scrofa) sex pheromone 5 alpha-androst-16-en-3-one

Previous studies have suggested that the pig sex pheromone 5 alpha-androst-16-en-3-one may function as a human sex pheromone. Two hundred male and female college students were assigned to one of four odor conditions (androstenone, methyl anthranilate, skatole, and a no-odor control) and were asked to rate photographs of a male stimulus and to rate their own mood in the presence of each odorant. There was a significant overall sex by treatment condition interaction. Men in the androstenone condition rated the stimulus male as more passive, and women in the androstenone condition rated themselves as less sexy; these effects were specific to the androstenone condition.     

Fluency breaks in older speakers: Implications for a model of stuttering throughout the life cycle

In order to test a model describing the occurence of fluency breaks throughout the life cycle, spontaneous speech samples of 40 nonstutterers and 4 stutterers above the age of 50 were perceptually analyzed. Fluency breaks were classified into categories of formulative or motoric breaks. The results supported research, noting an increase in formulative fluency breaks (especially fillers and interjections) for older speakers. There was, however, a significant decrease in the occurence of formulative fluency breaks during the final years of late adulthood. No change was found in the occurence of motoric fluency breaks in the nonstuttering speakers. Stuttering speakers had significantly less formulative breaks and significantly more motoric breaks than nonstuttering speakers.     

A tactile suffix effect

Evidence for a representational tactile memory was obtained from a tactile analogue of the auditory suffix effect. In two experiments, a short sequence of tactile stimuli applied to the fingers was followed by an acoustic (control) or tactile (suffix) recall signal. The serial position curves for the two conditions were compared. They revealed similar and strong primacy effects, but recall of the last few stimuli was higher in the control condition. This terminal control advantage was attributed to the retention of raw tactile information.     

A comparison of Holland's model using constructs measured by two different methods

The relationship was studied between the set of constructs specified by Holland's 1973 theory (viz, Realistic, Intellectual, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional) measured by an Adjective List (AL) derived from Holland's theory and the same set of constructs as measured by the Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI). The correspondence of the two measures of Holland's model compared the distances between the constructs as measured by the AL and the constructs measured by the VPI in factor space using an adaptation of a model testing procedure reported by Wakefield and Doughtie 1973. The subjects were 174 undergraduates at a state university. The correspondence between the two separate measures of Holland's model was significant (p < .01). These results provide further support of the construct validity of Holland's theory and offer evidence that the relationships hypothesized by the theory are not tied to any one particular method of measurement.     

Disbelief,lies, and manipulations in a transactional discourse model

Disbelief, lies, and manipulations have been objects of scholarly consideration from widely different perspectives: historical, sociological, philosophical, ethical, logical, and pragmatic. In this paper, these notions are re-examined in the framework of a Transactional Discourse Model which operates in terms of the location and relocation of various knowledge items within two sets of knowledge, A and B, representing two interlocators A and B, and two of their subsets C_a and C_b, which constitute the sets of the matters of A's and B's current concern. This approach reveals certain formal features shared by lies, disbelief, and manipulations that indicate that these three types of discourse behavior constitute a deviation from successful interpersonal communication as defined in the proposed model. The model, moreover, enables us to explicitly capture both the similarities and the differences of lies and manipulations with other pragmatic phenomena, such as jokes, impersonating, role-acting, memory failure, politeness expressions, and tact; the comparison suggests that certain modifications of Gricean conversational maxims may be in order.     

Echoic memory and voice quality: Recency recall is not enhanced by varying presentation voice

Three experiments explored the effects on immediate recall of varying voice of presentation. Experiment 1 showed that the free-recall recency effect was not enhanced by presenting list words alternately in a male and a female voice. Experiment 2 replicated this result and also showed that recall of a given recency item from such a list was no more probable when the subjects were informed immediately following presentation that they need not recall the words presented in the other voice. Experiment 3 replicated previous findings of a reduction in the “suffix effect” when presentation voice is changed for the suffix item. The relation of this result to those of Experiments 1 and 2 is discussed.     

Remembering the message: the use of a reminder cue to increase condom use following a safer sex intervention.

Condom use interventions may be more powerful if they provide cues to recall safe-sex messages when sexual activity occurs. The authors tested this notion by assigning sexually active introductory psychology students (N = 196) to a standard safe-sex intervention, a safe-sex with reminder intervention, or a control (drinking and driving) intervention. Participants assigned to the reminder intervention were given a "friendship bracelet" to wear and were instructed to have the bracelet remind them of the intervention. In a follow-up session (5-7 weeks later), they were asked questions pertaining to condom use. Of the 125 participants who had engaged in sexual intercourse, condom use at last intercourse was higher in the bracelet condition (55%) than in the standard (27%) or control (36%) conditions. The authors also found that the bracelet remained effective, even when participants were under the influence of alcohol. These findings therefore imply that health intervention programs may be more efficacious if they include strategies such as reminder cues to increase the salience of health information in the appropriate contexts.