Physical training and personality factors as predictors of marathon time and training injury

On the basis of surveys completed by 105 male participants in a popular marathon, a multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify the variables contributing significantly to the prediction of final time. Overall prediction was successful, with R = .896, and training pace was the most important factor in the equation, speedier workouts being associated with faster marathon times. Final time was also related positively to best 10-km race time in the previous 12 mo. and repression-sensitization (faster runners being more sensitized), and negatively to maximum number of training miles in a single week, number of previous marathons completed, and number of days of training lost through illness or injury. Contrary to expectations, locus of control was not related to final time. Only 27% of the runners had lost training time through injury, but a discriminant analysis showed that, compared to those who had avoided this problem, the injured were younger, rested less, ran less in the week prior to the marathon, ran a slightly longer long run but ran it earlier before the race, and ran fewer runs of 20 miles or more. It is suggested that researchers should study the repression-sensitization variable and investigate injury in runners preparing for a marathon.     

Comparison of the Token Test of Language Development and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised

Correlations were calculated between the Token Test of Language Development (Token) and scores of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised (WISC-R) based on responses from 38 Caucasian children (23 boys and 15 girls) of a semi-rural Northeastern Ohio school district. The relatively low Pearson correlations (.25 to .47) between the standard scores in the Token test and WISC-R IQs are discussed in relation to ability and achievement.     

Antidepressant treatment of children: clinical relapse is unrelated to tricyclic plasma concentrations

Plasma concentrations of imipramine and amitriptyline and their desmethylated metabolites were measured in 20 children being treated for major depressive illness 2 wk. and 5 to 10 wk. after achieving drug dosages of 2.25 mg/kg body weight. At 2 wk. all children had exhibited clinical improvement, but by 10 wk. 4 of the 10 children treated with imipramine and 5 of the 10 children treated with amitriptyline had experienced clinical relapse of depressive symptoms. Tricyclic antidepressant plasma concentrations and ratios were comparable in the subgroups of children who maintained their clinical improvement and those who relapsed. There was no evidence of a systematic decline in plasma tricyclic antidepressant concentrations in those children who relapsed.     

A noninvasive index of hemispheric activity

Tympanic thermometers were used to measure fluctuations in the temperature of the left and right hemispheres of 22 normal high school students while performing verbal and nonverbal visual discrimination tasks. The nonverbal task involving face recognition demonstrated the predicted effect of hemispheric bias on performance: The subjects performed better when they showed a relative rise in right-hemisphere temperature. No significant relationship between hemispheric temperature and level of performance was observed during the verbal task, perhaps owing to the opportunity to treat effectively the nonwords as either linguistic strings or visual patterns. It is concluded that tympanic temperature effectively measures hemispheric activity during cognitive processing.     

Physical exercise, social background, and the well-being of older adult women

28 older women participating in an exercise program were compared to 30 older women not participating in an exercise program on two behavioral measures. There were no significant main effects for participation-nonparticipation in an exercise program. Significant main effects were found, however, for each of three social variables.     

Multifactorial assessment of reading disability: identifying the best predictors

A multifactorial diagnostic assessment battery was evaluated using data obtained from 105 reading-disabled children and their matched controls (total N = 210). A stepwise discriminant function analysis selected five nonreading measures from among 16 as the best diagnostic predictors of reading disability. These measures included WISC-R Information and Digit Span, self-reported family histories of reading problems, and tests of symbol-processing speed and letter fluency.