Neuropsychological correlates of recollection and familiarity in normal aging

The dual-process model of recognition memory proposed by Jacoby (1991; see also Mandler, 1980) postulates the existence of two independent components of recognition memory: a conscious retrieval process (recollection) and an automatic component ( familiarity). Older adults appear to be impaired in recollection, but findings with respect to familiarity have been mixed. Studies of the brain bases of these components, using neurological patients, have also been inconclusive. We examined recollection and familiarity, using the process dissociation procedure, in older adults characterized on the basis of both their frontal and their medial temporal lobe function. Findings suggest that only some older adults, depending on their neuropsychological status, are impaired in recollection and/or familiarity: Recollection seems to involve both frontal and medial temporal lobe function, whereas familiarity appears to be dependent only on function associated with the medial temporal lobes.     

Rorschach correlates of sexual abuse: trauma content and aggression indexes

This study compared Rorschach records of nondissociative outpatients with histories of (a) definite sexual abuse (n = 22), (b) suspected but unconfirmed sexual abuse (n = 13), or (c) no sexual abuse (n = 43) on selected variables hypothesized to be associated with sexual abuse. As predicted, clients with definite sexual abuse scored significantly higher than clients known not to be sexually abused on Armstrong and Loewenstein's (1990) Trauma Content index (TC/R), with an effect size greater than 1 SD. Contrary to prediction, there was no significant difference in the frequency of their Aggressive Past (AgPast; Gacono & Meloy, 1994) scores. AgPast scores, however, did positively correlate with sexual abuse that was violent or sadistic. As a test of discriminant validity, we hypothesized that 2 Rorschach variables (PER and Sc) would be unrelated to sexual abuse. This was supported by our data. Although TC/R was strongly associated with the presence and severity of sexual abuse, it could not discriminate sexually abused from nonsexually abused clients with great accuracy. The TC/R score is 1 factor among many that can be used to assess the validity of clients' claims of past sexual abuse.     

Childhood Gender Nonconformity and Body Dissatisfaction in Gay and Heterosexual Men

Although researchers have long hypothesized a relation between gender role orientation (i.e., masculinity and femininity) and body dissatisfaction, findings have been inconsistent. The current study employed a measure of recalled childhood gender nonconformity to examine gender role behaviors in association with body dissatisfaction among an ethnically diverse (76% Caucasian, 2% African American, 8% Asian, and 16.4% Hispanic American) group of predominantly college-aged males of both homosexual (n = 129) and heterosexual (n = 52) orientation. Consistent with past research, gay males reported more body dissatisfaction and recalled more childhood gender atypical behaviors (e.g., disliking athletics, playing with dolls). Group differences in body dissatisfaction, however, disappeared when childhood gender nonconformity was statistically controlled, suggesting childhood atypical gender role behavior may place males at greater risk for adult body dissatisfaction. A within-group analysis also found that a high feminine subtype of gay males had greater body dissatisfaction than less feminine subtypes had. Results support the assertion that gender role behaviors may contribute to body dissatisfaction among gay males.     

Gender, gender relations, and the social dynamics of children's conversations

The authors investigated the effects of gender on the social dynamics and outcomes of conversations involving 120 children (mean age = 8 years 7 months). Children were taught particular values for different shaped counters and placed in same-gender or mixed-gender pairs with children who were taught different values. Pairs were asked to add the counters together to make a total of 100. Conversations were coded in terms of communication acts and simultaneous speech acts. Boys used more controlling acts overall and more negative interruptions in mixed-gender pairs. Girls used more affiliating acts. All children used more collaborative communication in same-gender pairings. Children whose perspective dominated used more controlling and comparatively fewer affiliating acts. When children reached a compromise, conversations were more collaborative.     

The effect of school-based kindergarten transition policies and practices on child academic outcomes

This study examined the effect of school-based kindergarten transition policies and practices on child outcomes. The authors followed 17,212 children from 992 schools in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten sample (ECLS-K) across the kindergarten school year. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that the number of school-based transition practices in the fall of kindergarten was associated with more positive academic achievement scores at the end of kindergarten, even controlling for family socioeconomic status (SES) and other demographic factors. This effect was stronger for low- and middle-SES children than high-SES children. For low-SES children, 7 transition practices were associated with a .21 standard deviation increase in predicted achievement scores beyond 0 practices. The effect of transition practices was partially mediated by an intervening effect on parent-initiated involvement in school during the kindergarten year. The findings support education policies to target kindergarten transition efforts to increase parent involvement in low-SES families.     

Modeling error variance in job specification ratings: the influence of rater, job, and organization-level factors

The authors modeled sources of error variance in job specification ratings collected from 3 levels of raters across 5 organizations (N=381). Variance components models were used to estimate the variance in ratings attributable to true score (variance between knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics [KSAOs]) and error (KSAO-by-rater and residual variance). Subsequent models partitioned error variance into components related to the organization, position level, and demographic characteristics of the raters. Analyses revealed that the differential ordering of KSAOs by raters was not a function of these characteristics but rather was due to unexplained rating differences among the raters. The implications of these results for job specification and validity transportability are discussed.     

Behavioral effects of stimulation of the medial amygdala in the male rat are modified by prior sexual experience

Researchers have found that stimulation of the medial nucleus of the amygdala (MeA) in male rats increases appetitive copulatory behavior directed toward an anestrous female but suppresses copulation with an estrous female (C. P. Stark et al., 1998). The objective in the present study was to determine if the behavioral change produced by stimulation of the MeA was dependent on chemical and/or visual cues from the conspecific. The author reports that electrical stimulation of the MeA in male rats increased the frequency of mounting and investigative behavior directed toward a male conspecific. However, these effects were limited to those subjects that had no prior sexual experience. Results are discussed in terms of possible experience-dependent alterations in neural response patterns within the MeA and related areas.     

The rubber hand illusion revisited: visuotactile integration and self-attribution

Watching a rubber hand being stroked, while one's own unseen hand is synchronously stroked, may cause the rubber hand to be attributed to one's own body, to "feel like it's my hand." A behavioral measure of the rubber hand illusion (RHI) is a drift of the perceived position of one's own hand toward the rubber hand. The authors investigated (a) the influence of general body scheme representations on the RHI in Experiments 1 and 2 and (b) the necessary conditions of visuotactile stimulation underlying the RHI in Experiments 3 and 4. Overall, the results suggest that at the level of the process underlying the build up of the RHI, bottom-up processes of visuotactile correlation drive the illusion as a necessary, but not sufficient, condition. Conversely, at the level of the phenomenological content, the illusion is modulated by top-down influences originating from the representation of one's own body.