The role of IQ and education in predicting later labor market outcomes: Implications for affirmative action.

The authors examine the complex relationships among intelligence, educational attainment, and labor market outcomes. First discussed are differences between psychometric and bioecological approaches to the study of intelligence. Next, the authors describe a study examining the relationship among scores on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) taken in adolescence, educational attainment, and the labor market outcomes of wages, personal income, and occupational status 15 years later. At all levels of labor market outcomes, there were greater mean Black–White differences for AFQT scores than for educational attainment. Educational attainment strongly mediated the effects of AFQT scores; there were also substantial racial and gender differences in effects. The article closes by considering the implications of using intelligence test scores and educational attainment as selection criteria. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of calcium-naloxone treatment on blood calcium, beta-endorphin, and acetylcholine in milk fever

Milk fever is a postpartum syndrome of cows characterized by acute hypocalcemia, which reduces the release of acetylcholine (ACH), inducing flaccid paralysis and recumbency. Our aim was to evaluate the effect of calcium (Ca²⁺) combined with naloxone (Nx, an opioid antagonist; Ca²⁺-Nx) on plasma concentrations of ACH, ß-endorphin (ßE), and Ca²⁺ just before treatment (T0) and at 15, 30, and 90 min after treatment (T15, T30, and T90, respectively). Thirty cows were divided into 3 groups of 10 cows each. In group A1, cows affected by milk fever were treated (i.v.) with a combination of 0.2 mL/kg of body weight (BW) of Ca²⁺ borogluconate (20%) and 0.01 mg/kg of BW of Nx hydrochloride dihydrate. In group A2, cows affected by milk fever were treated (i.v.) with 2 mL/kg of BW of Ca²⁺ borogluconate (20%). In group C, healthy cows were treated (i.v.) with a combination of 0.2 mL/kg of BW of Ca²⁺ borogluconate (20%) and 0.01 mg/kg of BW of Nx hydrochloride dihydrate. Cows underwent treatments within 24 h of calving. Blood samples were collected at T0 and at T15, T30, and T90 for quantitative determination of ACH, ßE, and Ca²⁺. The cows in groups A1 and A2 recovered within a mean of 20 ± 10 min, although 4 cows in group A2 underwent a relapse. Blood Ca²⁺ concentrations in group C increased slightly at T30 and at T90 (T30: 8.8 ± 0.6 mg/dL; T90: 8.7 ± 0.6 mg/dL) after treatment, whereas the response in groups affected by milk fever was similar, even though Ca²⁺ concentrations showed a sharp increase (A1: 8.9 ± 0.8 mg/dL; A2: 6.0 ± 0.7 mg/dL), particularly at T15 in group A1. Concentrations of ßE showed a similar pattern in groups A1 and C, with an increase at T15 (A1: 8.2 ± 1.0 ng/mL; C: 2.7 ± 0.4 ng/mL) and a subsequent decrease until T90 (A1: 1.4 ± 0.3 ng/mL; C: 1.4 ± 0.4 ng/mL), whereas ßE remained constant throughout in group A2. Concentrations of ACH in group A1 decreased significantly between T0 and T15, T30, and T90 (T0: 7.2 ± 1.1 nmol/L; T15: 4.2 ± 1.2 nmol/L; T30: 2.9 ± 0.8 nmol/L; T90: 3.1 ± 0.3 nmol/L), whereas in group A2, it did not change. In group C, concentrations of ACH decreased at T15 and increased again at T30 (T15: 1.1 ± 0.3 nmol/L; T30: 3.2 ± 0.7 nmol/L). Our results suggest that administration of Ca²⁺-Nx, which restored the physiological Ca²⁺ concentrations, might have an effect on nicotinic receptors by restoring the normal neuromuscular transmission at the motor endplate.     

Schooling, intelligence, and income.

In this article, the authors examined the evidence for linkages among 3 variables: schooling, intelligence, and income. They concluded that intelligence and schooling have a bidirectional relationship, with each variable influencing variations in the other. Moreover, changes in both schooling and intelligence influence variations in economic outcomes. Although any single study of the interdependency of these 3 variables can be criticized on the grounds that the data are correlational (and consequently are open to alternative interpretations) when viewed together, the evidence for their linked causality is quite convincing: Each increment in school attendance appears to convey significant increases not only in economic and social returns but also in psychometric intelligence. Thus, the value of schooling appears to extend beyond simply schooling's direct effect on income. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A day at the races: A study of IQ, expertise, and cognitive complexity.

Reports several corrections in the original article by the authors (The Journal of Experimental Psychology-General, 1986[Sept], Vol 115[3], 255–266). Tabular errors are reported for data in Tables 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6. A correction is also given for a text error in Paragraph 2 on page 262. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared as follows in PA, Vol 73:29074). 30 middle-aged and older men who were avid racetrack patrons were studied and tested over a 3-yr period. 14 were classified as experts and the remaining as nonexperts based on their ability to predict posttime odds on the basis of factual information about horses. The important background characteristics of experts and nonexperts were equivalent. IQ was measured by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). Cognitive complexity was measured by the extent to which Ss used a sophisticated multiplicative model to handicap races, as opposed to a simpler additive model. Ss were asked to handicap 10 actual races and 50 experimenter-contrived races. Analyses revealed that expert handicapping was a cognitively sophisticated enterprise, with experts using a mental model that contained multiple interaction effects and nonlinearity. The findings suggest that (a) IQ is unrelated to skilled performance at the racetrack and (b) IQ is unrelated to real-world forms of cognitive complexity that would appear to conform to some of those that scientists regard as the hallmarks of intelligent behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suggestibility of children's memory: Psycholegal implications.

Examined the psychological mechanisms responsible for suggestibility in the accounts of young children in 4 experiments. Exp I examined whether 182 children (aged 3–12 yrs) were susceptible to misleading postevent information. Results indicate that young children (3- and 4-yr olds) are particularly vulnerable to suggestion. The subsequent experiments focused on this age range and the basis for their susceptibility to misleading postevent information. Exp II, with 102 Ss (mean age 4.6 yrs) found that Ss' susceptibility to misleading information was reduced when another child, as opposed to an adult, provided the misleading information. Therefore, suggestibility effects in children arise in part from a desire to conform to the wishes of an adult authority figure. Exps III and IV tested 2 competing hypotheses as to how postevent suggestions distort children's memories using a total of 175 preschoolers. Data indicate that postevent suggestions can in fact distort memory. Results from these 4 experiments are discussed within the context of children's eyewitness memory and the associated psycholegal implications. (66 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improved method for the determination of wax esters in vegetable oils

In this work, a modified International Olive Council (IOC) method for wax determination involving a double‐adsorbent layer of silica gel and silver nitrate‐impregnated silica gel is presented (SN method). Column chromatography by the SN method did not show retention of wax esters standards with an even number of carbon atoms (C34–C44), observing recovery percentages higher than 90% even for unsaturated wax esters. All wax fractions were lower by the SN method than by the IOC method, resulting in a percentage decrease in the total wax content (olive oils: 20–50%, crude sunflower oil: 38%, crude soybean oil: 58% and crude grape seed oil: 13%). Olive oils analysed by the SN method showed increases of up to 27% in C40 relative percentage with respect to the IOC method. Additionally, decreases were observed by the SN method in the relative percentages for odd‐carbon atom waxes for the seed oils in comparison to the IOC method (crude sunflower oil: 27%, crude soybean oil: 28% and crude grape seed oil: 13%). The main advantages of the proposed modification consist in its easy implementation and a better determination of wax esters (C34–C60) by controlling their complete recovery and removing interfering substances. The method is suitable for quality control and for authentication of olive oil and seed oils as well as in processing monitoring. Practical applications: The proposed method is useful in the quality, authentication and processing control of fruit and seed oils. Moreover, it can be an important tool for vegetable oil industries to control the efficiency of the wax separation process to prevent turbidity in the refined oil.     

Oenological potential of wines produced from disease-resistant grape cultivars

Within the EU, changes in policy and public sentiment have made it more urgent to consider the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. Consequently, one of the EU’s goals is to reduce pesticide use by 50 per cent by 2030, including in viticulture. One of the proposed approaches is to expand the use of disease resistant hybrid grape-cultivars (DRHGC), such as ‘PIWI’ grapes (German, Pilzwiderstandsfähige Rebsorten), and to introduce new DRHGCs. However, the characteristics of DRHGCs are different from those of Vitis vinifera, which makes it necessary to take measures and make changes in winemaking technology to maintain high wine quality. This paper examines the chemistry of wines made from DRHGC and discusses their impact on aroma and flavor profiles. It also reviews the main winemaking practices suggested to produce high-quality wines from DRHGCs. The chemistry of DRHGCs is different to wine produced from V. vinifera, which can lead to both challenges during winemaking and unusual flavor profiles. Although newer DRHGCs have been bred to avoid unexpected flavors, many DRHGCs are still rich in proteins and polysaccharides. This can make tannin extraction difficult and produce wines with little astringency. In addition to this, new or alternative winemaking techniques such as thermovinification and the use of alternative yeast strains (non-Saccharomyces) can be used to produce wines from DRHGCs that are acceptable to consumers.