Age and gender moderate the effects of localized muscle fatigue on lower extremity joint torques used during quiet stance

This study examined the effects of localized muscle fatigue, age, and gender on lower extremity joint torques used during quiet stance. Thirty-two participants performed exercises designed to fatigue the ankle plantarflexors, knee extensors, torso extensors, or shoulder flexors. Body kinematics and ground reaction forces were obtained both before and after the exercises, and joint torques were derived via inverse dynamics. Single joint fatigue affected torque variability at all lower extremity joints, with similar changes for both age groups. Males and females exhibited increased ankle torque variability after different tasks, with males showing more variability after ankle fatigue and females after shoulder and lumbar fatigue. Correlations between peak torques and torque variability differed between males and females and between age groups in certain cases. The results of this study suggested that both age and gender moderate the effects of fatigue on postural control and should be considered when developing strategies to prevent occupational falls.     

Psychometric Properties of the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales in an Undergraduate Sample: Classical Test Theory,Item Response Theory,and Differential Item Functioning

The Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales are widely used for assessing schizotypy in nonclinical and clinical samples. However, they were developed using classical test theory (CTT) and have not had their psychometric properties examined with more sophisticated measurement models. The present study employed item response theory (IRT) as well as traditional CTT to examine psychometric properties of four of the schizotypy scales on the item and scale level, using a large sample of undergraduate students (n = 6,137). In addition, we investigated differential item functioning (DIF) for sex and ethnicity. The analyses revealed many strengths of the four scales, but some items had low discrimination values and many items had high DIF. The results offer useful guidance for applied users and for future development of these scales.     

Immunizing against prejudice: effects of disease protection on attitudes toward out-groups

Contemporary interpersonal biases are partially derived from psychological mechanisms that evolved to protect people against the threat of contagious disease. This behavioral immune system effectively promotes disease avoidance but also results in an overgeneralized prejudice toward people who are not legitimate carriers of disease. In three studies, we tested whether experiences with two modern forms of disease protection (vaccination and hand washing) attenuate the relationship between concerns about disease and prejudice against out-groups. Study 1 demonstrated that when threatened with disease, vaccinated participants exhibited less prejudice toward immigrants than unvaccinated participants did. In Study 2, we found that framing vaccination messages in terms of immunity eliminated the relationship between chronic germ aversion and prejudice. In Study 3, we directly manipulated participants' protection from disease by having some participants wash their hands and found that this intervention significantly influenced participants' perceptions of out-group members. Our research suggests that public-health interventions can benefit society in areas beyond immediate health-related domains by informing novel, modern remedies for prejudice.     

I only have eyes for you: Ovulation redirects attention (but not memory) to attractive men

A number of studies have found a disjunction between women’s attention to, and memory for, handsome men. Although women pay initial attention to handsome men, they do not remember those men later. The present study examines how ovulation might differentially affect these attentional and memory processes. We found that women near ovulation increased their visual attention to attractive men. However, this increased visual attention did not translate into better memory. Discussion focuses on possible explanations, in the context of an emerging body of findings on disjunctions between attention to, and memory for, other people.     

Understanding the Effect of Social Capital on the Depression of Urban Chinese Adolescents: An Integrative Framework

Using data from an ongoing longitudinal study of 5,164 adolescents and their parents from seven cities in mainland China, this study investigated how social capital embedded in the family and the community, together with family human capital and financial capital, influenced the depressive symptoms of urban Chinese adolescents within an integrative framework. The structural equation modeling results suggested that higher community social capital was associated with lower level of adolescent depressive symptoms and was the strongest predictor among all these contextual factors. Family social capital played a significant role in mediating the effects of all other contextual factors on adolescent depressive symptoms. Unexpectedly, higher family financial capital predicted increased depressive symptoms both directly and indirectly through its negative effect on family social capital. As for gender, female adolescents reported more depressive symptoms as a result of less available family social capital. Implications of these findings for theory, practice, policy, and future research are discussed.     

The role of the couch in psychoanalysis: proposed research designs and some preliminary data

Ever since Freud, the couch has been viewed as an important--some would argue essential--component of psychoanalysis. Although many theoretical papers and case reports have addressed the use of the couch in psychoanalysis, no empirical study has investigated its effect on psychoanalytic process or outcome. After a review of the literature, a number of research designs are proposed that might be used in such an investigation. Finally, preliminary empirical data are presented from archived audiotapes of two psychoanalyses: one in which the patient switched from lying down to sitting up, and one in which the opposite occurred. The aim is to stimulate research-oriented psychoanalysts to undertake empirical investigations of the theoretical concepts underlying use of the couch and, more generally, to present a specific example of research as a paradigm for a broader research agenda for empirical investigation of the key theoretical ideas underlying psychoanalysis.     

“Master your Johnson”: Sexual rhetoric in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Maxim</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Stuff</Emphasis> magazines

This article reports the results of a content analysis of sexual rhetoric in editorial photographs (N=994) in 2001 issues of Maxim and Stuff magazines. Goffman’s (1979) classifications of gender in advertisements were used to examine how this new generation of “lad” magazines uses images to provide readers with cues about sexuality and sexual practice. The findings reveal that both magazines construct sexuality in similar ways. However, as expected, the overall message about sexuality in the photos is different for men than for women. Women are more likely than men to be portrayed as sex objects, such as the common practice of photographing them in contorting or demeaning positions. Both magazines also depict white people as sexier than other races and assume heterosexuality.