Procedural dependence in action memory: Effects of verb form and individual vs group conditions

Two experiments explored whether the magnitude of the enactment effect in action memory (i. e., higher recall with motor than with non-motor encoding) may depend upon the use of individual or group testing procedures. Nonmotor encoding instructions, requiring the subjects to listen to orally presented action items, were compared to instructions which also required enactment. With encoding treated as a within-subject factor, the observations failed to reveal any significant difference between individual and group testing. With encoding treated as a between-subject factor, the results showed an interaction between test and encoding conditions, such that an enactment effect was found only with group testing. Different support value for auditory cues in group and individual test situations was assumed to account for this difference. In a third experiment the indicative and imperative verb forms were compared. An interaction was observed, showing that in Norwegian, enacted verbs were remembered better when presented in the indicative than in the imperative. No corresponding difference was found under non-enactment conditions. For this finding, a social interaction interpretation was offered.     

Toward a psychological cost-benefit model for educational and vocational choice

The usefulness of cost-benefit models for analyzing the individual's educational and occupational choice is discussed, with the choice after high school graduation as an example. As a background, the economic approach linked to the human capital concept is described as well as the use of cost-benefit analysis within this framework. Cost-benefit analysis is then discussed as a possible model within the area of educational and occupational choice. First, the traditional, strictly economic model is analyzed and criticized. A psychological economic alternative is proposed which, in contrast to the economic model, is based on the individual's perceptions and expectations regarding costs and benefits. As a third step, a purely psychological cost-benefit model is suggested, where the cost and benefit concepts are broadened to include all types of personal sacrifices and rewards. This model is regarded as more realistic for the individual's career choice than the economic prototypes.     

Sex-related differences in socio-political ideology

The study was directed towards uncovering differences in socio-political ideology between males and females. The subjects consisted of 532 Swedish high school students from metropolitan Stockholm. All subjects were from the same grade and of approximately the same age (18 years). The results failed to disclose any significant differences in the political party preference of males and females. However, there were a number of statistically significant differences in the socio-political attitudes of males and females as measured by the S5 Conservatism Scale. Females were found to be less generally conservative, less racist, pro-western, punitive and more religious and egalitarian than males. Despite certain ideological differences between males and females, the socio-political attitude profiles and the attitude structures, as measured by profile and factor analyses, were quite similar for males and females. The results are discussed in terms of four schools of thought concerning the sources of sex-related differences in political style.     

The invariance of asymmetric cross-modal transfer effects

Cross-modal transfer as a function of the amount of first modality training was investigated in two experiments. Subjects learned to associate numbers with three-dimensional objects which were presented either visually or tactually. After training in one of the modalities, the transfer was tested in the other modality. In the first experiment the transfer was tested after different number of trials of training and in the second experiment it was tested after different levels of overlearning. Transfer in the tactual-visual order was superior to transfer in the visual-tactual order in all training conditions, and the magnitude of the effect was the same. The results suggest that learning factors such as amount of training are of minor importance as causes to the asymmetry between these modalities and that it may be more fruitful to concentrate on perceptual factors.     

彩色多普勒超声在人工动静脉内瘘并发症中的临床决策评价

由于血液透析的广泛应用,尿毒症患者的生存时间显著延长. 建立并保持良好的血管通路是长期慢性血液透析的前提条件.彩色多普勒超声作为一种无创性检查方法,在人工动静脉内瘘血管通路的监测中发挥着重要的临床价值.本文评估彩色多普勒超声在人工动静脉内瘘并发症临床决策中的重要作用.     

The Three Domains of Disgust Scale: factor structure, psychometric properties, and conceptual limitations

This investigation examined the measurement properties of the Three Domains of Disgust Scale (TDDS). Principal components analysis in Study 1 (n = 206) revealed three factors of Pathogen, Sexual, and Moral Disgust that demonstrated excellent reliability, including test-retest over 12 weeks. Confirmatory factor analyses in Study 2 (n = 406) supported the three factors. Supportive evidence for the validity of the Pathogen and Sexual Disgust subscales was found in Study 1 and Study 2 with strong associations with disgust/contamination and weak associations with negative affect. However, the validity of the Moral Disgust subscale was limited. Study 3 (n = 200) showed that the TDDS subscales differentially related to personality traits. Study 4 (n = 47) provided evidence for the validity of the TDDS subscales in relation to multiple indices of disgust/contamination aversion in a select sample. Study 5 (n = 70) further highlighted limitations of the Moral Disgust subscale given the lack of a theoretically consistent association with moral attitudes. Lastly, Study 6 (n = 178) showed that responses on the Moral Disgust scale were more intense when anger was the response option compared with when disgust was the response option. The implications of these findings for the assessment of disgust are discussed.     

Assessment of Disgust Sensitivity in Children With an Age-Downward Version of the Disgust Emotion Scale

The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Disgust Emotion Scale for Children (DES-C). Principal components analysis of the DES-C data revealed five factors reflecting disgust toward (a) rotting foods, (b) injection and blood, (c) odors, (d) mutilation and death, and (e) animals, which were largely in keeping with the intended subscales. The DES-C showed good reliability, excellent convergent validity (as established by correlations with an alternative self-report index of disgust), fairly good predictive validity (as assessed by correlations with measures of fear/anxiety and a behavioral index of disgust), and acceptable parent–child agreement (in particular with the mothers). Importantly, the DES-C proved to perform better on some psychometric indicators than an age-downward version of the Disgust Scale. These findings indicate that the DES-C should be regarded as the preferred scale for measuring disgust sensitivity and its role in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety problems in children.     

Effects of experienced disgust on habituation during repeated exposure to threat-relevant stimuli in blood-injection-injury phobia

Despite growing evidence implicating disgust in the etiology of blood-injection-injury (BII) phobia, the relevance of disgust for exposure-based treatment of BII phobia remains largely unknown. Individuals with BII phobia were randomly assigned to a disgust (view vomit videos) or neutral activation (view waterfall videos) condition. They were then exposed to 14 videotaped blood draws, during which fear and disgust levels were repeatedly assessed. Participants then engaged in a behavioral avoidance test (BAT) consisting of exposure to threat-relevant stimuli. Examination of outcome comparing the identical first and last blood-draw clips revealed that fear and disgust toward blood draws was significantly reduced in both groups. Disgust levels were also found to be more intense for the video stimuli relative to fear levels whereas the opposite was true for BAT stimuli. Contrary to predictions, the disgust induction did not enhance reductions in negative responses to the target video or reduce behavioral avoidance. Growth curve analyses did show that individuals with BII phobia exposed to the disgust induction showed greater initial fear levels during repeated exposure than those in the neutral condition. However, this effect was not consistently observed across different analytic approaches. Changes in fear during exposure were also found to be independent of changes in disgust but not vice versa, and greater initial fear levels during repeated exposure to threat was associated with fear and disgust levels during the BAT. The implications of these findings for conceptualizing the role of disgust in etiology and treatment of BII phobia are discussed.     

Disgust vulnerability and symptoms of contamination-based OCD: descriptive tests of incremental specificity

The present investigation examines the incremental association between disgust propensity and sensitivity and contamination-based obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms. Structural equation modeling in Study 1 indicated that general disgust was related to contamination fear even when controlling for negative affect in a nonclinical sample. Evidence was also found for a model in which the effect of negative affect on contamination fear is mediated by general disgust. Study 1 also showed that both disgust sensitivity and disgust propensity uniquely predicted contamination fear when controlling for negative affect. Growth curve analyses in Study 2 indicated that higher baseline contamination fear is associated with less reduction in contamination fear over a 6-week period as disgust sensitivity increases even when controlling for negative affect. Lastly, disgust propensity was associated with concurrent levels of excessive washing symptoms among patients with OCD in Study 3 when controlling for depression. Implications of these findings from nonclinical, analogue, and clinical samples for future research on the specificity of disgust-related vulnerabilities in the etiology of contamination concerns in OCD are discussed.