Factors influencing sexual performance in male rhesus monkeys.

A 5-yr retrospective study of the sexual behavior of eight adult male rhesus monkeys showed that sexual vigor declined over the years but testosterone levels in peripheral vein plasma did not. Two prospective experiments were then carried out on these males during the sixth year. (a) The four poorest performers were injected daily for 28 days with testosterone propionate (1 mg/kg of body weight). There was no significant increase in level of performance, and behavior was not correlated with plasma levels of testosterone either before or 24 hr after the last hormone injection. (b) All eight males were exposed to novel nonspecific sensory stimulation during tests of sexual behavior. Eight different adult male rhesus strangers-present in the room but not in the test cage-were used as stimuli, one for each experimental test. Sexual behavior during experimental and control tests did not differ.     

The measurement of hallucinatory predisposition in male and female prisoners

This paper describes the development of a 12-item questionnaire scale to measure hallucinatory predisposition. The scale, which conforms to at least one mathematical model of unidimensionality, includes both pathological items and other items which appear to represent sub-clinical forms of hallucinatory experience.The scale was used to test certain hypotheses concerning the link between aggressive-paranoid tendencies and hallucinatory predisposition (using the Eysenck's P scale) in a prison sample. The significant results presented do confirm such a link, although the precise behavioural correlates of hallucinatory predisposition require further definition.     

IDENTIFICATION DES EXPRESSIONS FACIALES EMOTIONNELLES PAR UN ECHANTILLON QUEBECOIS FRANCOPHONE*

The aim of this experiment was to study the identification of the facial expressions of six emotions in French-speaking québécois subjects. Two methods of stimuli presentation were used. The results showed high identification levels that were comparable to those of others working with various cultures. The simultaneous presentation of a facial expression and of the same face with a neutral expression had no effect on the subjects' accuracy of judgment. Female subjects had a higher identification level of disgust than male subjects. Finally, the analysis of the distribution of judgment errors partially confirmed previous data concerning confusions of emotions.     

Improvement of mental imagery after prism exposure in neglect: a case study

Previous work has shown that various symptoms of unilateral neglect, including the pathological shift of the subjective midline to the right, may be improved by a short adaptation period to a prismatic shift of the visual field to the right. We report here the improvement of imagined neglect after prism exposure in a patient with a left unilateral neglect. Despite a strong neglect observed for mental images as well as for conventional tests, the mental evocation of left-sided information from an internal image of the map of France map was fully recovered following prism adaptation to the right. This improvement could not be explained by the alteration of visuomotor responses induced by the prism adaptation. Prism adaptation may therefore act not only on sensory-motor levels but also on a higher cognitive level of mental space representation and/or exploration.     

Responding to allegations of scientific misconduct

Institutions in France are not yet well prepared to respond to allegations of scientific misconduct. Following a serious allegation in late 1997. INSERM,* the primary organization for medical and health-related research in France, began to reflect on this subject, aided by scientists and jurists. The conclusions have resulted in establishing a procedure to be followed in cases of alleged misconduct, and also in reinforcing the application of good laboratory practices within each laboratory. Guidelines for authorship practices and scientific assessment must also be considered. Even though each institution must remain responsible for responding to allegations of scientific misconduct within its doors, INSERM would like to see national, European, and international co-ordination about the methods of such response. Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (eng. French National Medical Research Institute) is known as INSERM. An earlier version of this paper was presented at a symposium, Scientific Misconduct: An International Perspective, organised by The Medical University of Warsaw, 16 November, 1998.     

Beyond fear: rapid spatial orienting toward positive emotional stimuli

There is much empirical evidence for modulation of attention by negative -- particularly fear-relevant -- emotional stimuli. This modulation is often explained in terms of a fear module. Appraisal theories of emotion posit a more general mechanism, predicting attention capture by stimuli that are relevant for the needs and goals of the organism, regardless of valence. To examine the brain-activation patterns underlying attentional modulation, we recorded event-related potentials from 20 subjects performing a dot-probe task in which the cues were fear-inducing and nurturance-inducing stimuli (i.e., anger faces and baby faces). Highly similar validity modulation was found for the P1 time-locked to target onset, indicating early attentional capture by both positive and negative emotional stimuli. Topographic segmentation analysis and source localization indicate that the same amplification process is involved whether attention orienting is triggered by negative, fear-relevant stimuli or positive, nurturance-relevant stimuli. These results confirm that biological relevance, and not exclusively fear, produces an automatic spatial orienting toward the location of a stimulus.     

Tool use as a way to assess cognition: how do captive chimpanzees handle the weight of the hammer when cracking a nut?

Tool use in apes has been considered a landmark in cognition. However, while most studies concentrate on mental operations, there are very few studies of apes’ cognition as expressed in manual skills. This paper proposes theoretical and methodological considerations on movement analysis as a way of assessing primate cognition. We argue that a privileged way of appraising the characteristics of the cognitive abilities involved in tool use lies at the functional level. This implies that we focus on how the action proceeds, and more precisely, on how the functional characteristics of the task are generated. To support our view, we present the results of an experiment with five captive chimpanzees investigating the way how chimpanzees adapt to hammers of various weights while cracking nuts. The movement performed in the hammering task is analyzed in terms of energy production. Results show that chimpanzees mobilise passive as well as active forces to perform the compliant movement, that is, they modulate the dynamics of the arm/tool system. A comparison between chimpanzees suggests that experience contributes to this skill. The results suggest that in tool use, movements are not key per se, but only in as much as they express underlying cognitive processes. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A confirmatory factor analytic investigation of the TAS-20: corroboration of a five-factor model and suggestions for improvement

Alexithymia represents an individual difference dimension characterized by difficulties identifying emotions, difficulties describing emotions, and a utilitarian approach to thinking. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20; Bagby, Parker, & Taylor, 1994) is a frequently used inventory to measure alexithymia, and although several studies have examined the factor structure of the TAS-20, a number of issues remain unresolved. Specifically, the severely unbalanced item-keyed nature of the TAS-20 has been suggested to limit the interpretation of the substantive Externally Oriented Thinking (EOT) factor. Further, it has also been suggested that the EOT factor may be better represented by 2 oblique factors. A review of the TAS-20 confirmatory factory analysis (CFA) literature has suggested that some improvement in CFA strategies could possibly be afforded by using a nested factors modeling approach. Based on a sample of 355 participants, we demonstrated that the TAS-20 was better represented by a nested factors model with 5 substantive factors. A novel, latent variable approach to estimating internal consistency reliability revealed that the subscales within the TAS-20 were associated with unacceptably low levels of reliability independently of the global alexithymia factor. Although there was some CFA evidence to suggest the plausibility of a negatively keyed factor, a thorough examination of the items in question offered an alternative interpretation. Further development of the TAS-20']s Externally Oriented Thinking subscale is encouraged.     

Influence of typical size of objects in a categorization task]

This study explores the influence of typical size during a categorization task. The specificity of this experimental work is based on the homogeneity of the graphic stimuli size. We have created a typical size standard of our stimuli, that concerns the real size of the objects represented by the drawings of homogeneous sizes. Then, a priming experiment was performed in which the prime and target drawings had two types of relations: a typical size, and a categorial. The participants are na?ve as to the typical size relation between prime and target. The results show a positive priming effect of the typical size but not of the category. The results are discussed in term of theoretical approach developed by Barsalou and his colleagues (1999, 2003). In this theoretical framework, the typical size can be considered as a perceptual knowledge. In that way, we propose that participants could automatically simulate the typical size as soon as they perceived the drawings of objects with homegenous sizes.