Using subtests of the Brain Age Quotient to screen for cognitive deficits among substance abusers.

The subtests of the Brain Age Quotient, a brief neuropsychological battery, were used to screen for cognitive impairment in a sample of 112 substance abusers. Each of the subtests was scored, using newly developed T scores corrected for age, education, and gender, for which a mean battery score of T less than 40 indicates general cognitive impairment. The chance-corrected agreement in finding cognitive dysfunction between this battery and the Average Impairment Rating T score from the Halstead-Reitan battery was adequate, kappa = .81. This result suggests that, for discerning global cognitive impairment, this relatively brief neurodiagnostic screening device may be an attractive alternative to the more time-consuming Halstead-Reitan battery.     

Effects of color of paper on which the Profile of Mood States is printed on the psychological states it measures.

The Profile of Mood States was printed on four different colors of paper (yellow, red, green, blue) and white to test whether the color of paper would influence mood state scores of 246 college students. Univariate analyses of variance identified color effects only on the Fatigue scale.     

Adolescents and computers: attitude, personality and motive for interaction]

This empirical study was undertaken to clarify controversial points emanating from previous theoretical and empirical papers dealing with apparently negative consequences on the personality development of young people who have at least a causal working-acquaintance with computers. We tested 174 persons of both sexes (age: 14-18 years) with a "Computer-Attitude-Questionnaire" and the "Mehrdimensionaler Pers?nlichkeitstest für Jugendliche" (Schmidt, 1981; "Multidimensional-Personality-Test"). A subgroup of 63 persons who have access to and do avail themselves of computers on a regular basis (as leisure-time activity) also answered the "Computer-Motive-Questionnaire". Statistical analyses revealed that the personality test-values of young people with a positive attitude toward computers range within the test-norm. The data for these people describe them as stress resistant, emotionally stable, well-balanced, sociable, achievement-oriented, and less aggressive.     

Rubbing your stomach while tapping your fingers: interference between motor planning and semantic judgments.

Previous research (Klatzky et al., 1989) shows that the time required to make sensible/nonsensible judgments about an action-object phrase (e.g., "rub your stomach") is reliably faster when the phrase is preceded by a cure representing a specific prototypical hand shape (vs. a neutral cue). The current experiments investigated the effects of preparing for an alternate task (finger tapping vs. syllable vocalization) on facilitatory priming of sensibility judgments. Preparation for finger tapping reduced the magnitude of the priming effect more than preparation for vocalization, suggesting that resources accessed during semantic processing of action-object phrases are also used during manual response preparation. The results support the existence of a system representing manual actions that is limited in the number of activities that can be represented at one time and that is not so general that it represents manual and vocal tract movements.     

Visually perceived eye level: changes induced by a pitched-from-vertical 2-line visual field.

The physical elevation corresponding to visually perceived eye level (VPEL) changes linearly with the pitch of a visual field. Deviations from true eye level average more than 0.5 times the angle of pitch over a 65 degrees pitch range. A visual field consisting of 2 dim, isolated vertical lines in darkness is more than 4/5 as effective as that of a complexly structured visual field; 2 horizontal lines have a small and inconsistent effect. Differences in influence on VPEL between pitched-from-vertical and horizontal lines were predicted from an analysis that extracted differences in retinal perspective resulting from changes in pitch. The Great Circle Model (GCM), based on a spherical approximation to the erect, stationary eye, predicts the present results and results of 8 other sets of experiments. The model treats the influence of a single line on VPEL as systematically related to the elevation of the intersection between the great circle containing the image of the line and the central vertical retinal meridian; generalized GCM combines visual inputs with inputs from the body-referenced mechanism and maps onto the central nervous system.     

Residential and community treatment services utilized by a sample of youth with severe emotional disturbances

Analyzed case records to determine the costs and service usage patterns for a group of 25 youth randomly selected from the case load of a regional mental health agency. Study participants had extensive histories of publicly supported psychiatric hospitalizations. An average of 36.2 contacts per youth (905 total contacts) with human services providers were documented. Approximately 2 out of every 5 contacts resulted in out-of-home placements. The estimated cost of providing services to the 25 youth exceeded 3 million dollars. The types and costs of treatment services provided to study participants are discussed.     

A short-term longitudinal study of the early development of self-regulation

A short-term longitudinal study was conducted to determine whether self-regulation at 4 years could be predicted from child and maternal measures obtained when the children were age 24 months. The subjects were 69 children and their mothers drawn from the general community. Criterion behaviors assessed at 4 years were those suggestive of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Of the 24-month child measures, maternal ratings of the child's impulsivity and attention span, plus an objective measure of delay ability, were the most effective predictors. Maternal negativity, as assessed in mother-child interaction, predicted the criterion behaviors, even after the child's behavior as an elicitor of maternal behavior was controlled. Maternal child-rearing attitudes on the dimensions of warmth and aggravation were also effective predictors, even after controlling for the child's emotionality as a possible determinant of maternal attitudes. It is argued that the results with the maternal attitude measures provide support for the hypothesis that maternal behavior is a contributor to the development of self-regulation.This research was supported by a State of Ohio Academic Challenge Grant to the Bowling Green State University Clinical Psychology Program, and by a Basic Grant awarded to the first author by the Bowling Green State University Faculty Research Committee. The authors are grateful to Eric Dubow, Douglas Ullman, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and criticisms on previous versions of this article.     

Behavioral response of altricial and precocial rodent fetuses to acute umbilical cord compression.

Norway rat fetuses (Rattus norvegicus) exhibit a stereotypic behavioral response when the umbilical cord is experimentally compressed with a vascular clamp. In this study, the development of the fetal behavioral response to cord compression was compared in altricial and precocial rodents, which differ markedly in neural and motor maturity at the time of birth. Both altricial and precocial species showed some form of behavioral response to umbilical cord compression. Fetuses of two altricial species, Norway rats and Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus), expressed hyperactivity in response to cord compression throughout the last third of gestation. In contrast, precocial cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) and spiny mice (Acomys cahirinus) did not respond to cord compression until relatively late in gestation. Thus, altricial and precocial species do not express the cord compression response during comparable periods of neural development: precocial species are much more mature at the earliest expression of this behavior than altricial species. These findings are consistent with the interpretation that the cord compression response is a behavioral adaptation that can promote survival of the fetus in utero.     

Nifedipine blocks retention of a visual discrimination task in chicks.

Reports that the dihydropyridine Ca2+ channel antagonists may facilitate memory led to the present study of the behavioral effects of nifedipine. Ninety-two 4-day-old male chicks received 0, 100 nM, 100 microM, or 10 mM nifedipine. Drugs were administered in volumes of 2 microliters into the fourth cerebral ventricle 5 min before training on a visual discrimination task. Nifedipine did not produce any detectable changes in behavior during acquisition trials. Retention, however, was impaired 24 h after training in the 100 nM and 100 microM nifedipine-treated chicks, which made significantly more errors than controls. Nifedipine did not affect the amount of time required to complete the task. No effects on body weight gain were detected, suggesting that the memory impairment was not due to a change in feeding behavior. These data are discussed in terms of the role of calcium-dependent processes in memory.