The effects of contralateral noise on reaction time to monaural stimuli

Experiment I measured reaction time (RT) to monaural tones of six frequencies presented along with white noise to the contralateral ear. RT with the hand ipsilateral to the stimulus was an average of 9.63 msec faster than RT with the contralateral hand. Contralateral RT was significantly affected by the stimulus frequency. Experiment II measured ipsilateral and contralateral RT to monaural tones with and without contralateral noise. Noise-on results agreed with the results of Experiment I, while noise-off results showed no difference between ipsilateral and contralateral RT. No right-ear advantage was found. The ipsilateral-contralateral RT difference found with noise on is interpreted as being due to callosal transmission time as well as other factors. The finding of no right-ear advantage is discussed in relation to other studies which did report a right-ear advantage.     

Using bifactor models to identify faking on Big Five questionnaires

To identify faking, bifactor models were applied to Big Five personality data in three studies of laboratory and applicant samples using within‐subjects designs. The models were applied to homogenous data sets from separate honest, instructed faking, applicant conditions, and to simulated applicant data sets containing random individual responses from honest and faking conditions. Factor scores from the general factor in a bifactor model were found to be most highly related to response condition in both types of data sets. Domain factor scores from the faking conditions were found less affected by faking in measurement of Big Five domains than summated scale scores across studies. We conclude that bifactor models are efficacious in assessing the Big Five domains while controlling for faking.     

The Importance of Program Evaluation: How Can it be Applied to Diverse Genetics Education Settings?

The role of a genetic counselor often entails providing education to patient, community and/or health professional groups. While counseling supervision assists genetic counselors to be reflective about their clinical work and to enhance clinical skills, evaluation is a rather analogous process in the provision of education. Program evaluation of education activities can be applied to provide information about the needs of the target group (needs assessment), the delivery of the program (process evaluation) as well as determining the extent to which the education activity has met its intended aims (summative evaluation). Evaluation assists the educator to assess the impact of their program and provides an evidence base about genetics education. Although program evaluation can be a complex activity, the tools are ones that can be used by individuals to evaluate single or simple education activities. The components of evaluation are discussed with reference to genetic counseling practice and three very different examples of actual evaluations are provided to illustrate the diversity of evaluation strategy and programs to which it can be applied.     

A behavioral genetic study of trait emotional intelligence

Numerous models of emotional intelligence (EI) have proposed the existence of hitherto undiscovered mental abilities, competencies, and skills. The theory of trait emotional intelligence suggests that the content domains of these models invariably contain permutations of personality traits. The two studies in this article examine the heritability of trait EI scores with a view to demonstrating empirically that the construct has a similar level of genetic influence as other personality traits. Study 1 was a family design of 133 high-school students and their parents. Regressions of offspring on midparent scores suggested median upper-limit heritability estimates of .18 at facet level, .25 at factor level, and .32 at the global trait EI level. Study 2 was a twin design (213 pairs of monozygotic [MZ] twins and 103 pairs of dizygotic [DZ] twins). It yielded median heritabilities of .42 for the facets, .44 for the factors, and .42 for global trait EI. Overall, our findings are in accordance with studies of the major personality dimensions and provide further empirical support for the conceptualization of EI as a personality trait.     

Phenotypic and genetic relationships between vocational interests and personality

Relationships between personality and vocational interest factors were examined at the phenotypic and genetic levels. Twins and siblings (N = 516) completed self-report personality and vocational interest scales. Following factor analyses of each scale, five personality and six vocational interest factors were extracted. At the phenotypic level, correlations between personality and vocational interests ranged from zero to .33. Heritability estimates of the scales showed that genetic components accounted for 0–56% of the variance for the vocational interest factors and 44–65% for the personality factors. Genetic correlations between the two areas ranged from zero to .50. The results suggest that personality is related to some vocational interest dimensions and that some of these observed relationships have a common genetic basis.     

Cholinergic blockade, septal lesions, and DRL performance in the rat.

Four experiments describing the effects of cholinergic blockade produced by systemic injection of either atropine sulfate or atropine methyl nitrate on the differential reinforcement of low rate (DRL) responding of rats are reported. It was shown that atropine sulfate injected either chronically or at high dosage suppressed DRL responding. Injected acutely, atropine sulfate produced disinhibitory effects. When atropine was injected either chronically or acutely into animals with septal lesions, there was suppression of responding. It was suggested that the specific behavioral outcome resulting from cholinergic blockade depends on the balance resulting from the competing peripheral and central effects of such blockade.     

Cortical control of conditioned and spontaneous vocal behavior in rhesus monkeys

Rhesus monkeys were trained on a discriminative conditioning of vocalizations paradigm, a task that requires volitional vocal control. The monkeys' spontaneous vocal and other social behavior was also assessed. Each monkey then underwent ablation of anterior cingulate cortex, ablation of the homologus of Broca's and Wernicke's areas, or no lesion. The anterior cingulate lesions severely disrupted both conditioned and spontaneous vocal behavior, but had no effect on nonvocal social behavior or on a discriminative conditioning task requiring a nonvocal response. The lesions of the homologs of Broca's and Wernicke's areas had no effects on the behaviors studied. These findings have implications for the comparative neurology of primate vocalization and speech.     

Intersensory substitution in the blind

This study looks at the implications for theories of development of an intersensory surrogate for the blind—the Sonicguide. Results of both short- and longterm studies suggest that there is a critical age, before which use of the Sonicguide is qualitatively more effective than attempts at intervention begun after this age. Similarly the young infants in the sample show a much more rapid acquisition of ability to use the guide effectively. The importance of such results for theories of perceptual development is discussed.