Aversiveness of denatonium saccharide and quinine in grasshopper mice Onychomys leukogaster

The responses toward denatonium saccharide and quinine by three rodent species differ from those exhibited by humans. This study measured the relative aversiveness of these two compounds in grasshopper mice (Onychomys leucogaster) to determine if this species responded similarly to or differently from these other rodents. In a choice test, the mice clearly preferred quinine over denatonium saccharide at concentrations of 1/10,000 and 1/50,000, but only marginally preferred quinine at a concentration of 1/1000. When denatonium or quinine was paired with toxicosis, both suppressed drinking at concentrations from 1/10,000 to 1/50,000, but only denatonium suppressed drinking at 1/100,000. Neither compound suppressed drinking at 1 part in million. Grasshopper mice perceived denatonium saccharide as more aversive than quinine in both experiments. Such a response resembled the behavior of humans more than that of the other three rodents previously tested.     

Intercorrelations among general arousability, emerging and current sexual desire, and severity of sexual dysfunction in women

Intercorrelations among general trait arousability, emerging sexual desire, current sexual desire, lack of sexual desire perceived as a problem, and sexual dysfunction were assessed in 65 women currently involved in marital or de facto heterosexual relationships. The Stimulus Screening Test was used to measure general arousability and the Assessment of Sexual Function and Dysfunction Questionnaire was used to measure emerging sexual desire, current sexual desire lack of sexual desire, and sexual dysfunction. Analysis showed that arousability was positively associated with current levels of sexual desire which was negatively associated with sexual dysfunction. There was a curvilinear relationship between arousability and sexual dysfunction, with women experiencing both high and low levels of arousability being more likely to score higher on measures of sexual dysfunction than those experiencing medium levels of arousal. The possible implications of these results are discussed.     

Hair mineral analysis: biochemical imbalances and violent criminal behavior

Trace mineral analysis of human hair was utilized to determine whether violent and nonviolent criminals could be differentiated on the basis of concentrations of levels of major and trace minerals. 40 violent and 40 nonviolent inmates from a prison population were selected for study. 27 mineral levels were analyzed and a discriminant function analysis correctly classified 86% of the violent and 78% of the nonviolent inmates. The results lent support to the hypothesis that significantly different levels of trace minerals could be found between the two groups.     

Hypnotic susceptibility and its relationship to outcome in the behavioral treatment of asthma: some preliminary data

12 subjects from an experiment on relaxation therapy for asthma were given the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A. Full scale hypnotic susceptibility scores were positively correlated, at a borderline significance, with improvement in the methacholine challenge test, a measure of asthma severity. Performance on the amnesia item of the Harvard Group Scale was correlated with improvement in self-reported symptoms of asthma.     

Reliability of parental reports using the Katz Adjustment Scales: before and after hospital admission for schizophrenia

We examined the interrater and test-retest reliability of the KATZ Adjustment Scale (Relative rated or R form) longitudinally in a sample of schizophrenic patients, assessing their function before hospital admission, as well as at 1 and 9 mo. after discharge. Changes in mean scores over those assessments suggested sensitivity to change while mothers and fathers both completed the measure with moderate consistency over time. Interrater reliability was moderate at best and quite poor at initial testing, when the subjects were most disturbed clinically, suggesting that the scales may be acceptable when the individual is stable but that ratings may be unreliable when there is an exacerbation in clinical state.     

Types of personality disorders in oxycephaly

Based on 100 turriecephalous patients 5 types of personality disorders are exhibited, which were found in association with turricephaly: I. the psychosocial disturbed, sociopathic type, II. the neurasthenic type, III. the vascular type, IV. the psychosis type, V. the craniostenosis type, strictly speaking.     

Changes in the incidence of nocturnal bruxism in college students: 1966-1989

The frequency of self-reported nocturnal bruxism in three large samples of college undergraduates was compared as a means of assessing change in the incidence of this disorder since 1966. We found the incidence of nocturnal bruxism had increased from 5.1% to 20.5% in college students over the period covered by these studies.     

Human optokinetic nystagmus: competition between stationary and moving displays

We reported earlier that occlusion of the central retina and stationary edges have highly interactive effects on the gain of optokinetic nystagmus (OKN; Murasugi, Howard, & Ohmi, 1986). In this study, we explored this effect in more detail. A central occluding band of variable height, flanked by vertical bars, was superimposed onto an array of dots moving at 30 degrees per second. The height of the occluding band required to abolish OKN increased with the separation of the vertical bars. For bars 3.5 degrees apart, OKN was abolished in most subjects when a band only 6' high ran between them. For bars 75 degrees apart, a band at least 20 degrees in height was required to abolish the response. The effects of the stationary figure depended to some extent on the subject's attention, but only at intermediate values of bar separation. Both low- and high-level mechanisms are proposed to account for the results.     

Illusion decrement and transfer of illusion decrement in real- and subjective-contour Poggendorff figures

The reduction in illusion magnitude with visual inspection and the transfer of such illusion decrement to a noninspected figure were examined in real- and subjective-contour Poggendorff figures. For both types of figures, illusion magnitude decreased significantly, and in a similar manner, during a 5-min inspection period. Postinspection tests showed that inspecting either a real- or subjective-contour figure resulted in a reduction in illusion magnitude for the other, noninspected figure. These findings suggest that real- and subjective-contour Poggendorff figures share a similar global organization and are thus probably processed in a similar manner. These characteristics make subjective-contour figures a useful tool for separating illusion-producing mechanisms into structural and strategy components.     

Rate of processing and judgment of response speed: comparing the effects of alcohol and practice

Both alcohol and practice affect choice reaction time. The present study was conducted to investigate the possibility that impairment from alcohol and improvement with practice could be attributed to changes in the efficiency of control mechanisms (Rabbitt, 1979a), some of which depend upon the ability to judge response speed accurately. Twenty subjects participated in a four-choice reaction time experiment in which they received no alcohol (NA) in Session 1 and either no alcohol (10 subjects) or 0.8 ml alcohol (A) per kilogram of body weight (10 subjects) in Session 2. The task was to respond as fast and as accurately as possible to each stimulus. In addition, subjects were required to press a fifth key after any response that they considered to be both fast and accurate. Subjects had no difficulty in performing this task: (1) there was a significant difference of 122 msec between the mean response time for correct responses indicated as fast and that for correct responses not indicated as fast, and (2) subjects indicated 1 in 4 correct responses but only 1 in 64 errors. Alcohol increased all response times by approximately 40 msec. In contrast, practice decreased response times less for correct responses not indicated as fast than for correct responses indicated as fast. The ability to distinguish between fast and slow responses was thus unaffected by alcohol, but was improved by practice. Responses indicated as "fast" were significantly faster than errors, and appeared to occur without warning (unlike errors, which tended to end a sequence of increasingly fast correct responses). The results suggest that alcohol and practice influence choice reaction time in qualitatively different ways: Alcohol impairs overall response speed but has no effect on the ability to judge response speed, whereas practice improves both.