Heat stress reduces the accumulation of rosmarinic acid and the total antioxidant capacity in spearmint (Mentha spicata L)

Selected high‐phenolic lines of spearmint were subjected to a constant 30 °C heat regimen for a period of 4 weeks to determine the effects of heat stress on soluble phenolics, phenols and rosmarinic acid biosynthesis and antioxidant capacity. Heat stress significantly reduced levels of total phenolic acids (71–87%) and soluble phenols (75–87%). This loss was concomitant with a loss of total antioxidant capacity of 21–60% after week 1 and up to 95% by week 4. High‐performance liquid chromatography profiling of heat‐stressed plants at 270 and 320 nm detected nearly a complete loss of rosmarinic acid in all seven chemotypes. High‐temperature drying of non‐heat‐stressed plants at 80 °C resulted in a similar loss of total antioxidant capacity and rosmarinic acid content an effect not observed in material that was subjected to low‐temperature drying first, followed by exposure to high temperature. This suggests that heat stress negatively regulates rosmarinic acid biosynthesis and causes a potential rapid biological breakdown of rosmarinic acid in tissues. 2,2‐Diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl radical assays of heat‐stressed and non‐stressed plants clearly show that rosmarinic acid is the major contributor to the antioxidant capacity in spearmint. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Memory for spatial layouts in relation to age and schema typicality.

The hypothesis that prior experience, specifically a knowledge-based schema for typical house layouts, can compensate for age declines in spatial memory was evaluated in 4 experiments. Old and young adults explored and subsequently recalled house layouts presented 1 room at a time on a computer screen. The findings failed to support the compensation hypothesis in that schema-relevant layouts facilitated recall equivalently for the 2 age groups. Violation of a typical house schema had a more negative effect on recall of the older group. Individual differences in spatial visualization ability explained much of the age difference in performance but not the effects of schema manipulations. It was concluded that there is age invariance in the facilitatory effects of relevant prior knowledge on spatial memory but an age-related decrease in the ability to inhibit irrelevant prior knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of visual pattern classification in preschool children: Prototypes and distinctive features.

Studied the use of prototypes and distinctive features in visual pattern classification with 12 Ss at each of 3 age levels: 4, 5, and 6 yrs. All Ss attended day-care centers in middle-class neighborhoods of metropolitan Canadian areas. Two tasks were performed: (a) an oddity task requiring selection of the odd pattern in problems containing 2 patterns generated from 1 prototype and 1 from another, and (b) a sequential task requiring designation from memory of each pattern's class membership. There was a marked improvement in oddity task classification accuracy between the 4- and 5-yr age levels. Performance at each age level could be predicted from measures of deviation from prototype and 2 distinctive features unrelated to pattern class membership. In the more difficult sequential task, the preschoolers did not respond to an entire set of features as subsumed in prototype measures, but a single class-defining feature significantly predicted the classifications of the 4- and 5-yr-olds. It is concluded that the ability to use single features develops prior to the ability to use a feature list or prototype and that both distinctive features and prototypes are important for perceptual learning and development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability of intelligence: A 40-year follow-up.

Readministered the Revised Examination "M," a measure of intelligence, to 260 men approximately 40 yrs after they had received this test as World War II army recruits. Their average age and educational level was 64.7 yrs and Grade 8.7, respectively. Three sets of scores were compared: those obtained at the time of army enlistment; current scores obtained within the regular time limits of the test; and current scores obtained within double the test's regular time limits. Results indicate a reliable but minor decline in total score in the regular speeded condition and a reliable improvement over wartime total scores in the double-time conditions. Test–retest correlation coefficients, in general, attested to the long-term stability of individual differences among members of the sample. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experience and auditory-visual equivalence in pattern classification: Native speakers of Cantonese versus native speakers of English.

Assessed the role of experience in auditory pattern classification by replicating with native speakers of Cantonese T. M. Williams and L. S. Aiken's (1977) study of auditory–visual equivalence that was conducted with native English speakers. In Cantonese, both the pitch and content of word carry meaning. 72 2nd and 6th graders and 36 adult Ss had to state whether pairs of auditory and visual patterns came from the same prototype class. As hypothesized, Cantonese-speaking Ss were more accurate than English-speaking Ss at classifying auditory patterns, but not differentially accurate at classifying visual patterns. The finding that even the Cantonese Ss were more accurate at classifying visual than auditory patterns lends weight to the theory that vision is the most adept modality for dealing with spatial information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Structural equation model of intellectual change and continuity and predictors of intelligence in older men": Erratum.

Reports an error in the original article by D. P. Gold et al (Psychology & Aging, 1995 [Jun], Vol 10[2], 294–303. On page 300, Figure 2, an extra path was inadvertently included in the LISREL program analyzing the data. The correct model is presented. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 1995-43339-001.) This study examined the effects of abilities as a young adult, an engaged lifestyle, personality, age, and health on continuity and change in intellectual abilities from early to late adulthood. A battery of measures, including a verbal and nonverbal intelligence (INT) test, was given to 326 Canadian army veterans. Archival data provided World War Two enlistment scores on the same INT test for this sample. Results indicated relative stability of intellectual scores across 40 years, with increases in vocabulary and decreases in arithmetic, verbal analogies, and nonverbal skills. Young adult INT was the most important determinant of older adult performance. Predictors for verbal INT were consistent with an engagement model of intellectual maintenance but also indicated the importance of introversion–extraversion and age. Nonverbal INT in late life was predicted by young adult nonverbal scores, age, health, and introversion–extraversion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult age differences in memory in relation to availability and accessibility of knowledge-based schemas.

Three experiments investigated whether, over adulthood, the use of schemas to process and remember new information increases (developmental shift hypothesis), decreases (production deficiency hypothesis) or remains constant (age-invariance hypothesis). Effects of schema access were studied by having young, middle-aged, and old music experts and nonexperts recall information that was relevant or irrelevant to music (Experiment 1) and by comparing young and old participants' memory for prose passages when they knew or did not know the subject of the passage (Experiments 2 and 3). In each case, schema access facilitated memory equally across age levels, supporting the age-invariance hypothesis and implying that the basic structures and operations of memory do not necessarily change with age. Possible limits on the independence of age and schema utilization were considered in relation to the conditions under which each of the two alternative hypotheses might hold. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structural equation model of intellectual change and continuity and predictors of intelligence in older men.

This study examined the effects of abilities as a young adult, an engaged lifestyle, personality, age, and health on continuity and change in intellectual abilities from early to late adulthood. A battery of measures, including a verbal and nonverbal intelligence test, was given to 326 Canadian army veterans. Archival data provided World War Two enlistment scores on the same intelligence test for this sample. Results indicated relative stability of intellectual scores across 40 years, with increases in vocabulary and decreases in arithmetic, verbal analogies, and nonverbal skills. Young adult intelligence was the most important determinant of older adult performance. Predictors for verbal intelligence were consistent with an engagement model of intellectual maintenance but also indicated the importance of introversion–extraversion and age. Nonverbal intelligence in late life was predicted by young adult nonverbal scores, age, health, and introversion–extraversion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of psychosocial context, age, and intelligence in memory performance of older men.

Examined the hypothesis that psychosocial contextual factors contribute to developmental changes in memory using 326 World War II veterans. Availability of young adult intelligence scores made it possible to separate the contributions of contextual variables and age to maintenance of general intelligence from their direct contributions to performance on 4 memory tasks. Being younger, healthier, more educated, more introverted, more intellectually active, and more satisfied with social support predicted less intellectual decline and, indirectly, better memory performance. Age, personality, locus of control, and extent of social support directly contributed to performance on 1 or more memory tasks. Age contributions were consistent with F. I. Craik's (1986) proposed continuum of task demands for self-initiated effort. Possible elaborations of Craik's hypothesis to accommodate contextual variables are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)