Specifying the human body configuration

Three experiments investigated the specific spatial relations that define the human body configuration. In Experiment 1, participants searched for scrambled bodies amongst normal distractors. In Experiments 2 and 3 participants were asked to identify whether single body images (upright or inverted) were scrambled or normal. Scrambled bodies had head or limbs displaced to either symmetrical or asymmetrical positions. Experiment 1 showed that asymmetrical violations are recognized faster than symmetrical violations. All three experiments revealed that when the number of structural violations is held constant, head violations are recognized faster than limb violations. Experiment 3 also showed a greater inversion effect for scrambled bodies that maintained head on top and vertical symmetry, providing evidence that these are key spatial relations in the human body configuration. Overall, the results supported our hypothesis that the human body configuration is defined primarily by a head at the apex of a vertically symmetrical body.     

Visioning Family-Centered Care in Genetics: What Parents and Providers Have to Say

The purpose of this multisite exploratory research study involving focus groups of consumers and service providers was to generate stakeholder input for a statewide strategic plan for genetic services in the southwestern region of the United States. This article describes the qualitative methods by which the data were collected and summarizes major themes in participants’ perceptions about genetic services. It also describes processes related to obtaining genetic services and characteristics of an ideal service delivery system for children affected by genetic disorders and the families that care for them. Implications for practice and policy are also reviewed.     

Anxiety, self-esteem and self-perceived satisfaction as predictors of health: differences between men and women

The main objective of this research is to analyze whether there are differences in physical health between men and women when considering their working situation. Three psychological variables are analyzed (anxiety, self-esteem and satisfaction) as well as several indicators of physical health for different working situations. The results seem to indicate that although women have worse health than men (when the group is analyzed in general), these differences vary when we take into account the working condition of the participants, and the differences even disappear. The psychological variables used in this survey only explain the variance of the subjective indicators of physical health, most of all, the Physiological Anxiety, which is responsible for the highest rate of the explained variance. The psychological variables predict women's physical health more than men's, what seems to indicate that women's physical health is closely related to psychological health.     

College students with previous exposure to crime report more PTSD after 9-11-2001

A sample of 415 university students (52 Crime Victims, 363 Nonvictims) who experienced indirectly the 9/11/01 disaster through media exposure, were administered the Davidson Trauma Scale. Crime victims had significantly more PTSD symptoms related to 9/11 exposure.     

Picking up speed in understanding: Speech processing efficiency and vocabulary growth across the 2nd year

To explore how online speech processing efficiency relates to vocabulary growth in the 2nd year, the authors longitudinally observed 59 English-learning children at 15, 18, 21, and 25 months as they looked at pictures while listening to speech naming one of the pictures. The time course of eye movements in response to speech revealed significant increases in the efficiency of comprehension over this period. Further, speed and accuracy in spoken word recognition at 25 months were correlated with measures of lexical and grammatical development from 12 to 25 months. Analyses of growth curves showed that children who were faster and more accurate in online comprehension at 25 months were those who showed faster and more accelerated growth in expressive vocabulary across the 2nd year.     

Responses to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks: experience of an indirect traumatic event and its relationship with perceived benefits

Little is known about how people might benefit from an indirectly experienced traumatic event. The authors examined the relationship between perception of benefit and trauma symptoms in response to a relatively severe, but indirectly experienced, traumatic event. The authors sampled from 2 colleges located in the southeastern United States (N = 136). Individuals responded to questionnaires that assessed perceived benefits and trauma symptoms 1-2 weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and again approximately 10 weeks later. Participants did perceive benefits from witnessing this event, although their perception of benefit declined over time. Level of trauma symptoms correlated positively with perception of benefit, and experiencing a previous trauma also correlated positively with perceived benefits. Additional analysis indicated that level of trauma symptoms mediated the relationship between previous trauma and perception of benefit. These findings help to elucidate understanding of the development of perceived benefits in response to indirectly experienced events.     

Foraging behaviour in domestic pigs (Sus scrofa): remembering and prioritizing food sites of different value

This experiment investigated whether domestic pigs can remember the locations of food sites of different relative value, and how a restricted retrieval choice affects their foraging behaviour. Nine juvenile female pigs were trained to relocate two food sites out of a possible eight in a spatial memory task. The two baited sites contained different amounts of food and an obstacle was added to the smaller amount to increase handling time. On each trial, a pig searched for the two baited sites (search visit). Once it had found and eaten the bait, it returned for a second (relocation) visit, in which the two same sites were baited. Baited sites were changed between trials. All subjects learnt the task. When allowed to retrieve both baits, the subjects showed no preference for retrieving a particular one first (experiment 1). When they were allowed to retrieve only one bait, a significant overall preference for retrieving the larger amount emerged across subjects (experiment 2). To test whether this preference reflected an avoidance of the obstacle with the smaller bait, 15 choice-restricted control trials were conducted. In control trials obstacles were present with both baits. Pigs continued to retrieve the larger bait, indicating they had discriminated between the two food sites on the basis of quantity or profitability and adjusted their behaviour accordingly when the relocation choice was restricted. This suggests for the first time that domestic pigs have the ability to discriminate between food sites of different relative value and to remember their respective locations.     

Comparing power imagery in TATs written by hand or on the computer

Two barriers to the use of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) in motivation research were addressed: its low internal consistency and its time-consuming coding system. Sixty males and 60 females wrote five stories to TAT pictures either on the computer or by hand. Half of each group were timed and half untimed. The writing of stories was guided by four sets of questions, and stories were coded for need for power (n Pow) by the corresponding four paragraphs. Cronbach’s alpha for the five stories was .46; for the 20 paragraphs, Cronbach’s alpha was .65. We conclude that, to the extent that measuring internal consistency is appropriate for a thought-sampling instrument like the TAT, internal consistency should be calculated by paragraphs. Significantly more words were produced in the untimed condition, but n Pow did not differ by gender, hand-written versus computer-written, or timed versus untimed conditions. The five pictures elicited significantly different amounts of n Pow. It is recommended that researchers who give the TAT on the computer use the untimed condition. Suggestions are made for increasing the scoring validity and for using the computer to decrease the time required for human coders.     

Pairings of a Circular Alley with Apomorphine Produce Conditioned Hyperactivity

During training trials, some rats were injected with apomorphine as the unconditioned stimulus immediately before (Group Forward) or 15 min before (Group Backward) exposure to the conditioned stimulus, a circular alley where locomotor activity was measured for 30 min. Rats in the control condition (Group Unpaired) were not injected until 15 min after their removal from the alley. When the rats were later tested in the circular alley without prior administration of the drug, both Groups Forward and Backward were more active than Group Unpaired and thus showed conditioned hyperactivity. During a final test in which all the rats were injected with apomorphine prior to placement in the circular alley, Groups Forward and Backward showed greater apomorphine-induced hyperactivity than Group Unpaired. Although Group Forward was more active than Group Backward during both tests, these differences were not significant. These findings provide further evidence for the modulation of drug effects by Pavlovian conditioning.