Convergence between attention variables and factors of psychometric intelligence in older adults

The purpose of the present study was to examine the hypothesis that individual differences on measures of attention would converge with select factors of psychometric intelligence, especially fluid intelligence and short-term acquisition and retrieval. A sample of 83 elderly adults $\text{(}\text{X}\text{= 71}\text{years}\text{)}$ was administered a battery of 17 psychometric ability tests. Tests were selected to mark four psychometric ability factors (Cattell and Horn's dimensions of fluid and crystallized intelligence, short-term acquisition and retrieval, and perceptual speed). Also, seven tasks representing four aspects of attention—decoding processes, selective attention, attention switching, and concentration—were administered. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine the relationships among the four psychometric ability factors and 11 variables obtained from the attention tasks. Results were only partially consistent with the hypothesized pattern of convergence. Two attention measures had significant loadings on a fluid-type intelligence factor, and one had a marginally significant loading on a short-term memory factor. In general, the greatest convergence occured between attention variables and the ability factor of Perceptual Speed. Results were discussed with respect to previous research on psychometric abilities and cognitive processes, the theory of fluid-crystallized intelligence, and their implications for understanding intellectual aging.     

Adolescents' comprehension of televised sexual innuendos

This study assessed various determinants of adolescents' comprehension of televised sexual innuendos. Eighteen males and 18 females at each of three ages (12, 14, and 16 years) were asked to interpret a series of 24 TV excerpts, each of which contained either a sexual innuendo or a nonsexual filler joke. Based on adult ratings, the innuendos were systematically varied by the topic alluded to (intercourse, physical/sexual attributes, socially discouraged practices, and nonsexual) and the level of explicitness (high vs. low). Age of viewer and topic referenced significantly influenced the comprehension scores. Fourteen- and sixteen-year-olds yielded higher scores than twelve-year-olds. Innuendos referencing discouraged sexual practices were most adequately explained and those referencing intercourse were least adequately explained.     

Nonconsummatory and consummatory behavioral CRs elicited by lithium- and amphetamine-paired flavors

Various behavioral CRs elicited by saccharin solution previously paired with either lithium or amphetamine were measured in a series of four experiments. With one conditioning trial, lithium (Experiment 1), but not amphetamine (Experiment 2), produced nonconsummatory behavioral evidence of conditioning in the form of chin-rub CRs; both drugs, however, produced strong flavor aversions. With 3 conditioning trials, lithium- and amphetamine-paired flavors elicited a pattern of agitated activity, characterized by increased general activity, rearing duration, and body temperature, when the flavor was forcibly presented through an intraoral cannula (Experiment 3). When the flavor was presented in a single-bottle test (Experiment 4), 3 conditioning trials produced a similar pattern of agitated activity characterized by increased general activity, rearing (duration and frequency), stretching (duration and frequency), and limb flicking. Although both drugs supported the pattern of increased agitation-related CRs, only the lithium-paired flavors elicited chin-rub CRs (Experiments 1, 3, and 4). The difference between the drug conditions was not the result of a greater saccharin aversion in the lithium-conditioned group than in the amphetamine-conditioned group (Experiment 4). The results are related to findings that suggest that flavor aversions are mediated by a shift in the hedonic properties of the drug-paired flavors.     

Issues to consider in the differential diagnosis of normal childhood nonfluencies and stuttering

Historically more attention has been focused on the adult stutterer than on the young stutterer. This article discusses three key issues in the differential diagnosis of normal childhood nonfluencies and childhood stuttering. The three issues are (1) whether early childhood disfluencies are heterogeneous or homogeneous phenomena, (2) whether the relationship between normal childhood nonfluencies and early stuttering is continuous or dichotomous, and (3) whether normal nonfluencies and stuttering differ quantitatively or qualitatively. Theoretical research as well as clinical implications of these issues are discussed.     

Control of social desirability in personality inventories: Principal-factor deletion

Rational and statistical techniques for controlling social desirability (SD) in scales derived from self-report inventories are reviewed. The principal-factor deletion technique is explained in detail. It is applied during factor analysis when derived content scales are expected to be tainted with SD. If one principal factor is found to represent social desirability, the implicated factor is dropped and the communalities adjusted before the remaining factors are rotated to a desired simple structure criterion. Subscales derived from resulting factors are free of SD bias. Principal-factor deletion is compared with other approaches including rational techniques, covariate procedures, and target rotation.     

Stimulus control of spatial behavior on the eight-arm maze in rats

Rats were trained on an eight-arm, elevated radial maze in a large cylindrical chamber where extramaze stimuli could be manipulated. The first experiment indicated that rats could use extramaze stimuli to locate the arms if such stimuli were available, whereas they performed less effectively and tended to employ response chaining if these stimuli were not available. The second experiment demonstrated that maze performance was disrupted by transposition of the stimuli but was relatively unaffected by rotation of the same stimuli. The third experiment suggested that the disruptive effect of stimulus transposition might be due to a “resetting” process elicited by the alteration in the configuration of the stimuli after stimulus transposition. These results suggest that when extramaze stimuli are available, rats tend to use such stimuli in a configurational manner to locate the arms rather than as a list of items processed independently of their spatial relationships to each other.     

Caffeine ingestion,misattribution therapy,and speech anxiety

While theoretical analogs of misattribution therapy appeared promising (Nisbett & Schachter, 1966; Ross, Rodin, & Zimbardo, 1969), attempts with clinically relevant behaviors have not been so successful (Kellogg & Baron, 1975; Singerman, Borkovec, & Baron, 1976). Since the plausibility of the misattribution manipulation appears to be the central problem, the present study attempted to increase plausibility by manipulating familiarity with the setting and actual psychological arousal in a clinically relevant situation. Subjects only slightly fearful of giving speeches presented a speech in front of two observers. Familiarity was varied by having half of the subjects give a pretest speech, while arousal was manipulated by having half of the subjects ingest caffeine while the others ingested a placebo just prior to the test speech. The subjects' attributions were varied by giving them either arousal or irrelevant symptom instructions regarding the effects of the ingested drug. Direct suggestion rather than misattribution effects occurred: Those subjects receiving arousal symptoms reported more nervousness than subjects who had received irrelevant symptoms. The authors conclude that while the misattribution effect may have experimental validity, it is not effective with clinically relevant behavior.     

A comprehensive dining program for mentally retarded adults

Twenty-six types of behavior (e.g. uses fork in socially appropriate manner, chews food before swallowing) were treated in a course of independence training, using 80 institutionalized retarded adults (40 experimentals and 40 no-treatment controls). The 3-month long training phase incorporated a number of treatment components including in vivo modeling, peer social reinforcement, self-evaluation and monitoring; then a four-month follow-up. A group (i.e. experimentals and controls) by sex, by time, analysis of variance was computed with repeated measures on the last dimension (pre, post, follow-up measures = time). A significant difference was obtained between the experimentals and controls on post-test and follow-up     

Relationships among vocational training,income, and job complexity of high school dropouts and high school graduates

High school dropouts (N = 100) and high school graduates (N = 100), of which half of each group had received vocational training and the other half had not, were compared on data taken from the inactive employment applications of the Fort Walton Beach, Florida State Employment Office. The sample (N = 200) consisted of an equal number of males and females while 30% were minority group members. A two-way analysis of variance showed that completing vocational training was positively correlated with higher income and job complexity level. The existence or absence of vocational training was a more potent influence on income level and job complexity than was completion of high school.