Schedule-induced defecation.

Excessive defecation, typically considered to be a concomitant of stress, was experimentally induced or eliminated under specific schedules of positive reinforcement of lever pressing by rats. The schedules were, by and large, those under which polydipsia is typically induced. In the first of three experiments, rats under fixed-interval 32-second schedules and variable interval 32-second schedules for food and water reinforcers defecated profusely, but not under fixed-interval one-second schedules or other small interval schedules. Somewhat higher rates of defecation were observed on variable interval 32-second schedules than on fixed-interval 32-second schedules. In a second experiment, fixed-ratio schedules were used, some of which resulted in responding such that reinforcement densities were similar to those on the interval schedules that induced defecation. Defecation was not systematically induced by these ratio schedules. In a third experiment, fixed-time schedules of food presentations were utilized. High rates of defecation were induced comparable to those induced by interval schedules of the same time parameter. No other behavior commonly termed "emotional" was observed in any of these experiments.     

A COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF FIXED AND VARIABLE RATIO SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT ON THE BEHAVIOR OF DEAF CHILDREN

The performance of all five students in an adjustment class for deaf children was compared under fixed and variable ratio schedules of reinforcement. During the fixed ratio (FR) condition, students earned checks if they were attentive and did not engage in disruptive behavior. These checks could be exchanged for the opportunity to draw a prize from a grab bag. During the variable ratio (VR) condition, they earned a draw from the grab bag according to a variable ratio schedule with a mean ratio equal to the value of the preceding FR schedule. During the VR condition, students visually attended more and engaged in disruptive behavior less often than during the FR condition. The number of math problems completed per minute was also higher during the VR condition although no specific consequences were applied to math performance.     

A new proof for monotone likelihood ratio for the sum of independent bernoulli random variables

By use of an inequality of Marcus and Lopes for elementary symmetric functions, a new proof is presented for the following result by Ghurye and Wallace: Given that the independent random variablesX _j are Bernoulli with success probabilityp _j () strictly between 0 and 1 and nondecreasing in, the sum X _j has monotone likelihood ratio.     

Safer sex: Lessons from the male sex industry

Discerning the complex factors influencing male sex work is an important element of understanding HIV transmission. The present study examines a sample of London-based masseurs and street workers' ideas concerning their sexual encounters, their partners and their role in society. Unsafe sex is associated with (1) a lack of perception of control in the sexual encounter, (2) attractive clients, and (3) loving relationships with non-clients. The ways in which personal needs and stigma influence sexual practices and the men's sense of identity are considered. For some of the men, unsafe sex demarcates a sphere containing a type of intimacy that is absent from their working life. Since working life is associated with negative social judgements, the importance of this separate sphere is heightened. The findings call into question models of health behaviour that are built on individualist, reason-based tenets and highlight the importance of social and emotional factors in safer sexual behaviour. The implications of the findings for prevention programmes and future research are discussed.     

Perceptions of wisdom: What is it and who has it?

One hundred fifty-five men and 233 women, aged 20 to 79 years, were asked to name both the most wise and the most interpersonally wise persons they knew personally and to give the age and sex of each. Participants were also asked for the areas in which their nominees were particularly wise. Overall, men and women responded similarly. The subjects tended to nominate individuals who were older than they were; the difference between their own age and their nominees' age decreased with increasing age. Subjects nominated males more often than females as wise and this tendency increased with the subjects' age. With the exception of older women, participants nominated females more often than males as interpersonally wise. When asked to report the areas in which their wise nominees were particularly wise, subjects tended to mention specific skill areas (e.g., business or science) for male nominees and interpersonal skill areas for female nominees.Please note that Nancy W. Denney is deceased.     

Sex Differences in Clinical Pain: A Multisample Study

A recent meta-analysis of the experimental pain literature revealed effect sizes of .55 for pain threshold and .57 for pain tolerance, indicating a moderate difference in pain perception between men and women, with women reporting an increased sensitivity to pain. The current study investigated the relationship between sex and clinical pain ratings, in patients seeking care at a tertiary care facility. Five samples of chronic pain patients were recruited from several diverse clinics associated with the University of Florida. Analyses of clinical pain ratings revealed similar effect sizes for all samples, ranging from –.07 to –.25, indicating small differences, with women reporting higher levels of clinical pain. This is the first paper to report effect sizes for differences in report of pain in samples of chronic pain patients presenting for treatment at a tertiary care facility.     

Sex, Aggression, and Pain: Sociobiological Implicatios for Theological Anthropology

Theological anthropology can be enriched by paying attention to insights into human behavior taken from sociobiology. The capacity for reflective self-consciousness enables the human animal to respond to basic instincts and drives in unprecedented ways. Humans follow gender-specific sexual strategies, display aggressive behavior, and respond to physical pain as do other animals. Yet human beings have the intellectual ability to express these tendencies uniquely in either destructive or constructive ways. The human being, unlike any other animal, must reckon with sexual ethics, the problem of violence, and the meaning of suffering. In developing the basic concepts of theological anthropology—good creation, natural evil, fall, sin, and image of God—sociobiological research can lead to more adequate understanding of the human.     

Norms for 439 action events: Familiarity,emotionality, motor activity,and memorability

A total of 128 male and female university students having Swedish as their mother tongue rated 439 actions on a 7-point scale in the dimensions of Familiarity, Emotionality, Motor Activity, and Memorability under instructions to imagine themselves performing each action (e.g., “to roll a ball”, “to break a match”). Overall mean ratings were higher for women than for men in all four dimensions. High reliabilities were obtained in each scale. Intercorrelations between the dimensions were low to moderate, indicating that different characteristics of the actions were assessed. It is demonstrated that the ratings of the four dimensions are in agreement with previous categorisations of actions along the same or similar dimensions and with findings related to memory performance. Furthermore, control studies performed on the Familiarity dimension show that norm values are highly correlated with ratings given by participants in standard enacting and nonenacting conditions and with ratings in a condition where objects were present. These norms offer possibilities to control for and vary item characteristics of importance in the study of actions and the memory of actions.     

Heritabilities of Common and Measure-Specific Components of the Big Five Personality Factors

Three different measures of the Big Five personality dimensions were developed from the battery of questionnaires used in the National Merit Twin Study: one from trait self-rating scales, one from personality inventory items, and one from an adjective check list. Behavior-genetic models were fit to what the three measures had in common, and to the variance distinctive to each. The results of the model fitting agreed with other recent studies in showing the Big Five dimensions to be substantially and about equally heritable, with little or no contribution of shared family environment. Heritabilities for males and females did not differ significantly. For Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, some effect of shared environment was found for measure-specific variance on the personality inventory, and for Extraversion and Neuroticism, models involving nonadditive genetic variance or twin contrast effects provided slightly better fits.     

Heart rate reactivity in attention deficit disorder subgroups

Beat-to-beat heart rate (HR) was analyzed for 9 contiguous seconds in a warned reaction time (RT) paradigm. Imperative stimuli were tones of three intensity levels (55, 78, and 100 db); a visual warning signal occurred 5 sec before tone onset. Baseline and reward conditions were run. Normal controls were contrasted with three Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) subgroups: ADD-only, ADD with hyperactivity (ADDH), ADD with hyperactivity and aggression (ADDHA). The ADD subgroups were predicted to show less deceleration in HR because of their problem sustaining readiness to respond. Significant sex x group differences in HR levels and change scores were found. Overall, girls had higher HR levels than boys and the ADD-only group (boys and girls) had lower HRs than the other ADD groups. But, the ADD-only boys had more marked deceleration to the warning signal and acceleration to the tones than the other ADD boys, whereas the ADD-only girls were no more reactive than the ADDH and ADDHA girls. Control girls had the highest HR levels and were the most reactive to stimuli. Control boys and ADD-only boys had similar HR levels and reaction patterns. ADD-only girls appear to be underaroused, whereas ADD-only boys do not. Results suggest that cardiac measures can provide external validation of disruptive and nondisruptive ADD subtypes.