The origins of human ageing

The origins of human ageing are to be found in the origins and evolution of senescence as a general feature in the life histories of higher animals. Ageing is an intriguing problem in evolutionary biology because a trait that limits the duration of life, including the fertile period, has a negative impact on Darwinian fitness. Current theory suggests that senescence occurs because the force of natural selection declines with age and because longevity is only acquired at some metabolic cost. In effect, organisms may trade late survival for enhanced reproductive investments in earlier life. The comparative study of ageing supports the general evolutionary theory and reveals that human senescence, while broadly similar to senescence in other mammalian species, has distinct features, such as menopause, that may derive from the interplay of biological and social evolution.     

The origins of confusion.

Repeats previous criticism of the work of S. Dinitz, H. Goldman, H. E. Allen, and L. A. Lindner as resting on an inadequate data base. A series of published reports by the group are ostensibly independent but seem to be derived from a single study, a 1969 dissertation by Allen. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The cultural shaping of depression: Somatic symptoms in China, psychological symptoms in North America?

The expectation that Chinese people present distress somatically is a central prediction of cultural psychopathology and has been the subject of considerable theoretical speculation. At the same time, empirical studies have been infrequent and have yielded mixed results. The authors examined symptom presentation in Chinese (n = 175) and Euro-Canadian (n = 107) outpatients, using spontaneous problem report, structured clinical interview, and symptom questionnaire methods. All 3 methods yielded cross-culturally equivalent somatic and psychological symptom subscales. Chinese outpatients reported more somatic symptoms on spontaneous problem report and structured clinical interview compared with Euro-Canadians, who in turn reported more psychological symptoms on all 3 methods. The relation between culture and somatic symptom presentation was mediated by a tendency toward externally oriented thinking. Difficulties with identifying emotions or describing them to others did not differ significantly across cultures, supporting a nonpathological interpretation of observed differences. Psychological symptom effects were larger and more consistent than somatic symptom effects; because other studies have confirmed the ubiquity of somatic presentations worldwide, these results suggest that Western psychologization may be more culturally specific than is Chinese somatization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The origins of symbolic racism.

The theory of symbolic racism places its origins in a blend of anti-Black affect and conservative values, particularly individualism. We clarify that hypothesis, test it directly, and report several findings consistent with it. Study 1 shows that racial prejudice and general political conservatism fall into 2 separate factors, with symbolic racism loading about equally on both. Study 2 found that the anti-Black affect and individualism significantly explain symbolic racism. The best-fitting model both fuses those 2 elements into a single construct (Black individualism) and includes them separately. The effects of Black individualism on racial policy preferences are mostly mediated by symbolic racism. Study 3 shows that Black individualism is distinctively racial, with effects distinctly different from either an analogous gender individualism or race-neutral individualism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The origins of cognitive thought.

Words referring to feelings and states of mind were first used to describe behavior or the situations in which behavior occurred. When concurrent bodily states began to be noticed and talked about, the same words were used to describe them. They became the vocabulary of philosophy and then of mentalistic or cognitive psychology. The evidence is to be found in etymology. In this article, examples are given of words that have come to describe the feelings or states of mind that accompany doing, sensing, wanting, waiting, thinking, and several other attributes of mind. The bodily states felt or introspectively observed and described in these ways are the subject of physiology, especially brain science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The origins and ends of giftedness.

Five issues about giftedness are discussed. First, the origins of giftedness are explored. The view that giftedness is entirely a product of training is critiqued. There is indirect evidence for atypical brain organization and innate talent in gifted children: Many gifted children and savants have enhanced right-hemisphere development, language-related difficulties, and autoimmune disorders. Second, the intense motivation of gifted children is discussed. Third, it is argued that gifted children have social and emotional difficulties that set them apart. Fourth, evidence for the often uneven cognitive profiles of such children is presented. Finally, the relationship between childhood giftedness and "domain" creativity in adulthood is discussed. Few gifted children go on to become adult creators because the skills and personality factors required to be a creator are very different from those typical of even the most highly gifted children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The origins and evolution of eukaryotic proteins

The common ancestry of eukaryotes, archaebacteria and eubacteria is well demonstrated by amino acid sequence comparisons of numerous proteins that are common to all three groups. On the other hand, there are a few proteins, like ubiquitin, that are common to eukaryotes and archaebacteria and which have yet to be observed in eubacteria. Some proteins appear to be wholly restricted to eukaryotes; this is especially true of cytoskeletal proteins. Recently, actin has been found by crystallography to be homologous with an ATP-binding domain found in a heat shock protein and several other proteins common to all three urkingdoms. This observation is puzzling on several counts. Most cytoskeletal proteins like actin and tubulin are very slow changing and must have been so for a very long time. How is it, then, that no sequence resemblance can be discerned with their alledged prokaryotic antecedents? The question is addressed by considering two bacterial fts proteins which appear to be related to actin, on the one hand, and tubulin, on the other. One answer may be that the rate of change of these proteins changed dramatically at a key point in their history. Another possibility is that eukaryotes are much older than some of their other proteins indicate.     

The recent origins of spliceosomal introns revisited

Does the intron/exon structure of eukaryotic genes belie their ancient assembly by exon-shuffling or have introns been inserted into preformed genes during eukaryotic evolution? These are the central questions in the ongoing 'introns-early' versus 'introns-late' controversy. The phylogenetic distribution of spliceosomal introns continues to strongly favor the intronslate theory. The introns-early theory, however, has claimed support from intron phase and protein structure correlations.     

The cultural role of psychiatry.

Attempts to clarify the cultural role of psychiatry, with suggestions for improving both theory and practice. Historically, the dominance of medicine in psychiatry stems from the past 200 yrs. In addition, since Freud, psychological considerations have moved into the forefront. The combination of the 2 attitudes has created multiple roles for the psychiatrist with considerable confusion about which role to adopt. The earliest role was the purely custodial one, but then the somatic treatments came into vogue. Following Freud, psychotherapy entered the picture. However, it is argued that the greatest progress comes from assuming the transformational role—in which the psychiatrist recognizes that although in his/her everyday work, symptoms are alleviated by the best means available, in the larger sense the function of the profession is to transform society. Similar considerations apply to the clinical psychologist. (53 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The development of representations: The origins of mental life.

Discusses the notion of representation and its role in cognitive theory. The representational theory of mind takes for granted the existence of such representational states and processes as symbol use, belief, meaning, and intention. A sequence of developments is proposed that would have the effect of reworking the elementary sensory-motor schemata present at birth into the propositional representational states that develop in 2–4 yr olds and that operate on the basis of meaning, significance, and intentionality. The theory is used to explain a series of intellectual achievements of young children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The irony of cultural psychology research.

Responds to R. E. Erard's comments (see record 2009-13007-011) on the current authors' original article (see record 2008-12151-002) which reviewed a number of studies that identified cultural differences in the use and effect of different types of social support among Asians and Asian Americans and European Americans. Essentially, in his comment, Erard denied the validity of research examining cultural differences. The authors strongly believe that the issues concerning within-culture variation do not nullify the importance of conducting research on culturally based psychological and behavioral patterns. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The origins of joint visual attention in infants.

Two experiments examined the origins of joint visual attention with a training procedure. In Experiment 1, infants aged 6-11 months were tested for a gaze-following (joint visual attention) response under feedback and no feedback conditions. In Experiment 2, infants 8-9 months received feedback for either following the experimenter's gaze (natural group) or looking to the opposite side (unnatural group). Results of the 2 experiments indicate that (a) joint visual attention does not reliably appear prior to 10 months of age, (b) from about 8 months of age, a gaze-following response can be learned, and (c) simple learning is not sufficient as the mechanism through which joint attention cues acquire their signal value. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)