An accelerated stability test using the peroxide value as an index

Summary A quick stability test for lard is described which depends on the peroxide content for identification of the rancid point. By its use ordinary samples of lard can be evaluated for stability in a working day. Oleo oil also is being tested by this method. It is applicable to edible fats and oils and hydrogenated shortenings. Typical peroxide curves for various fats and oils are shown. The effect of copper in accelerating oxidative rancidity is discussed.     

Color sensitivity

This paper reports primarily upon tests of the color sense of about thirty men who have had large experience in the color grading of vegetable oils in terms of Lovibond glasses, nearly all of these men being members of the American Oil Chemists’ Society. Similar tests on five other observers are also included for comparison. All of the oil chemists were first tested by the Stilling Chart test, but the results by this test (although reported) are not the principal matter of interest. This test was regarded merely as preliminary, serving to discover any gross abnormality of color sense. The tests of specific interest relate to the observer’s ability to report correctly very small differences in Lovibond red at 35 yellow 7.6 red on the Lovibond scale, brightness diffences being eliminated so that the judgment depends, in effect, entirely upon the observer’s sensibility to difference in dominant wave length at equal brightness. The subject’s ability in this regard was tested by the well known psycho-physical method of “right and wrong answers.” The results for each observer are expressed so as to show the probability of his perceiving correctly given small differences in Lovibond red, under certain specified conditions. The chief results may be summarized as follows:

1. 1.
   A difference of 0.1 red at 35 yellow 7.6 red is perceivedwith certainty by only very few exceptional observers. However, this difference is perceptible in the sense that its presence does affect the observer’s judgmentin the average, although he is very doubtful of the reality of such a difference.     

Interrelations of social support measures: Theoretical and practical implications.

To obtain a clearer picture of what constitutes social support, we conducted three studies to compare measures of different conceptions of social support. Relations of these instruments to various personality measures were also investigated. Subdividing the construct into discrete functions did not add to the sensitivity of the indices. Measures of received support and support networks were not strongly related to most of the perceived available support measures. Interview and questionnaire approaches were similar in the information they evoked about close supportive relationships. The results suggest that measures of perceived available support, regardless of the way the instruments attempt to break down the construct, generally assess the extent to which an individual is accepted, loved, and involved in relationships in which communication is open. Psychometric characteristics of the measures were associated with differential sensitivity over the range of supportive relationships. The theoretical implications of the findings are discussed with emphasis on the common core underlying social support indices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative psychology: The next 100 volumes.

Comparative psychologists study the "mind" of animals by studying what animals do and what animals are capable of doing. Different investigators address questions of proximal cause, motivation, physiological mechanism, evolutionary and ontogenetic considerations, as well as functional consequences. Some use animal subjects to explore universal theories of behavior; others focus on the diversity of behavior itself. A number of theoretical positions guide the different approaches. Some theories have been proven woefully inadequate, even fatally flawed, but no discipline thrives solely on the validity of a single theory. Let us preserve the data and discard discredited hypotheses, but let us continue to advance our discipline and refrain from wallowing in remorse over erroneous earlier ideas. Ideas are exciting but data endure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)