Phonological coding in word reading: Evidence from hearing and deaf readers

The ability of prelingually, profoundly deaf readers to access phonological information during reading was investigated in three experiments. The experiments employed a task, developed by Meyer, Schvaneveldt, and Ruddy (1974), in which lexical decision response times (RTs) to orthographically similar rhyming (e.g., WAVE-SAVE) and nortrhyming (e.g., HAVE-CAVE) word pairs were compared with RTs to orthographically and phonologically dissimilar control word pairs. The subjects of the study were deaf college students and hearing college students. In Experiments 1 and 2, in which the nonwords were pronounceable, the deaf subjects, like the hearing subjects, were facilitated in their RTs to rhyming pairs, but not to nonrhyming pairs. In Experiment 3, in which the nonwords were unpronounceable, both deaf and hearing subjects were facilitated in their RTs to both rhyming and nonrhyming pairs, with the facilitation being significantly greater for the rhyming pairs. These results indicate that access to phonological information is possible despite prelingual and profound hearing impairment. As such, they run counter to claims that deaf individuals are limited to the use of visual strategies in reading. Given the impoverished auditory, experience of such readers, these results suggest that the use of phonological information need not be tied to the auditory modality.     

The interactional teaching patterns of mothers and fathers with their popular,moderately popular,or unpopular children

The interactional teaching strategies of mothers and fathers toward their sociometrically determined popular, moderately popular, or unpopular children, and children's responses to them were examined during a structured puzzle task in a laboratory setting. Parents of popular children used more explanations in aiding their children to complete the puzzle task than parents of moderately popular or unpopular children. Mothers were more likely to offer suggestions, use explanations, and ask questions during the puzzle task than fathers. Analysis of children's responses revealed that popular children were more likely to ignore imperatives by their parents compared with unpopular children, while unpopular children showed a tendency to be more cooperative following imperatives by parents than popular children. Finally, popular children were less likely to ignore but were more likely to go off task following suggestions by parents than either unpopular or moderately popular children. The data are discussed with respect to the possible link between parental socialization patterns and children's popularity in the peer group and the need to consider the interaction patterns in both the peer and parent-child systems for intervention purposes.Portions of this paper were presented by the first author at the Banff International Conference on Behavioral Science, Banff, Alberta, Canada, 1984. The research was supported through the Western Regional Project W144, Development of Social Competencies in Children, with funding from Science and Education Administration/Cooperative Research of the USDA and Utah State University Agricultural Experiment Station. We would like to thank the parents and children for their participation, and Nina Mounts, Maria Norton, Carla Seamons, Soheila Sobhani, and Joan Wareham for their assistance with varying aspects of coding and data analysis.     

Anisomycin impairs long-term working memory in a delayed alternation task

A long-term temporal component of working memory of rats trained on the radial maze has been shown to be susceptible to disruption by the protein synthesis inhibitor, anisomycin. It is not clear whether protein synthesis played a role in working memory because accurate performance on the radial maze required the storage of a large amount of information, or because the information was to be held in store for relatively long periods of time. This experiment tested these hypotheses by assessing the effect of anisomycin on choice accuracy in a comparatively simple spatial delayed alternation task. Results indicate that under the present training conditions, protein involvement in working memory is related more to the length of the retention interval than to the amount of information retained.     

Hyperphagia resulting from gut denervation in the sea slug, Pleurobranchaea

Previous research suggests that gut distension by ingested bulk plays an important role in the regulation of food intake in gastropod molluscs. The present study tested whether the bilateral stomatogastric nerves which innervate the esophagus and crop in Pleurobranchaea form a neural pathway carrying information about gut distension to the central nervous system. The posterior branches of the paired stomatogastric nerves were surgically exposed and sectioned in seven experimental animals while the nerves were simply exposed and not sectioned in seven sham-operated control animals. In three, subsequent, daily feeding sessions, the experimental subjects consumed a greater amount of food in terms of percentage of body weight than the control subjects. The experimental animals also gained a greater percentage of body weight and later were found to contain much more food within their guts. The results support the hypothesis that stretch receptors which innervate the gut and which have axons in the stomatogastric nerves form an important negative feedback pathway for the control of feeding in the sea slug.     

Evidence for aggression-modulating pheromones in prepuberal pigs

A series of behavioral bioassays were conducted to determine the aggression-influencing properties of urine and other fluids. Subjects were prepuberal castrated male and female domestic pigs from commercial stocks. In the behavior assay, pigs were painted with a test fluid and grouped for a videotaped 90 min observation period. Experiment 1 validated use of videotape recording by showing that duration of aggressive behavior registered live was correlated with that obtained from video records (R = .98). In experiment 2, urine and plasma collected from actively aggressive pigs reduced the durations of aggressive behavior of test pigs compared with the effects of urine and plasma collected from socially stable, handled pigs. In Experiment 3, a new set of test pigs confirmed that urine from fighting pigs reduced the duration of attack by test pigs compared with urine from nonfighting, handled pigs. In addition, the suggested reproductive pheromone, 5 alpha-androst-16-en-3-one, substantially reduced the duration of attack. The effects of gender and aggressive state of urine-donor pigs on test pigs was determined in Experiment 4. Again, urine from castrated male and female aggressive pigs reduced attack by test pigs compared with the level of attack shown by test pigs coated with urine from handled castrated males and females. Urine from fighting and nonfighting intact males had similar effects on test pig aggression. In Experiment 5, urine was obtained from nonhandled, socially stable pigs in their home pens and again from the same pigs after they had been regrouped (aggressive). These urine types had no significant influence on test pigs' aggression over the entire 90-min observation. However, during the first 30 min nonhandled, nonfighting pigs' urine induced less aggression in test pigs than did urine from fighting pigs. Results indicate that urine and blood plasma from aggressive pigs reduces aggression by test pigs compared with the effects of urine from handled pigs. Handling may increase the aggression-promoting properties of urine, and aggression may inhibit this aggression-promoting property.     

Modulation of male mouse sniff, attack, and mount behaviors by estrous cycle-dependent urinary cues

Modulation of male urogenital sniff, attack, and mount behaviors by urinary cues from female mice (SJL/J) was assessed in two experiments. Experiment 1 examined the efficacy of urine from ovariectomized and intact females in modulating the behavior of sexually experienced and inexperienced males vis-à-vis the control substance, water. It was found that urine from ovariectomized females showed no behavior-modulating properties, whereas urine from intact females decreased attack but increased sniff and mount behaviors in male mice. These findings are indicative of ovarian-dependent chemosignals contained in the urine of only intact females. Prior sexual experience had no effect on behavior of males when exposed to urine from ovariectomized females. Sniff and mount behaviors were, however, increased when sexually experienced males were exposed to urine from intact females. Using sexually inexperienced males, Experiment 2 assessed the chemosignal activity of urine from females in each of four estrous phases. It was determined that urine from proestrous and estrous females increased sniff and mount behaviors and decreased attack behavior. Urine from metaestrous females was shown to possess only sniff-inducing and mount-reducing chemosignal properties. Urine from females in diestrous lacked attack- and mount-modulating chemocues but may possess a sniff-inducing chemosignal.     

Modification of Type A behavior through aerobic exercise

This psychophysiological evaluation of an aerobic exercise program examined specifically whether aerobic training modified Pattern A for those individuals at behavioral risk for developing coronary heart disease, i.e., young Type A individuals. At pretest and posttest of this secondary prevention study, Type A and Type B subjects were assessed in three conditions: aerobic exercise program, nonaerobic activity (Aikido, a martial art) control, and notreatment control. After 10 weeks, Type A but not Type B subjects exhibited lower Pattern A behavior in the aerobic program than in control conditions. Average workout pulse rates and differentially reliable increases in aerobic capacity indicated that aerobic training was indeed aerobic, whereas aikido activity was not. Even though selected nonaerobic factors, such as locus of control and group participation, did not mediate the Pattern A decrease for Type A's when comparing aikido and aerobic conditions, changes in aerobic capacity may have been the mediator. Generalizability of the results and implications for theoretical development and clinical intervention are discussed.     

Social structure features in three inbred strains of mice, C57Bl/6J, Balb/cj, and NIH: a comparative study

Some features of social living were investigated in three inbred strains of mice: C57Bl/6j, Balb/cj, and NIH. Five social behaviors--Aggression, Submission, Allogrooming, Social Rest and Rest Alone, as well as Wheel Running Activity--were recorded 2 h daily for a week, in 26 groups of seven male mice living in an enriched environment. Dominants and subordinates among strains shared some behavioral characteristics, but strain contributions upon social structure were also detected. Similarities among strains included the appearance of a single dominant mouse per group rated as the most aggressive, besides from being the animal presented with most Submissions. Allogrooming was more frequent among subordinates than among dominants and subordinates. Differences among strains were that agonistic behavior among subordinates was higher in the Balb/cj and NIH groups than in the C57Bl/6j mice. NIH mice were recorded in Rest Alone more often than mice from the other strains. C57Bl/6j dominants showed higher rates of Wheel Running Activity than subordinates.