Genetic and environmental influences on parent–son relationships: Evidence for increasing genetic influence during adolescence.

Genetic and environmental influences on self-reported parent-child relationships were examined in a sample of 824 individual male twins and their parents. Cross-sectional comparisons of twin similarity at ages 11 and 17 yrs were undertaken to identify developmental changes in the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to family relationships. Significant genetic influences were found on perceptions of parent-son conflict, regard, involvement, and overall support. Heritabilities were significantly higher in older twins, suggesting increased genetic influence with age. Age differences were present primarily in the father-son relationship. These results provide support for the proposal of S. Scarr and K. McCartney (1983) that the importance of active gene-environment correlations increases during adolescence. Older adolescents may have more choice and impact on the nature of the relationships they have with their parents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence for genetic influences on personality from self-reports and informant ratings.

Self-report data on Extraversion (E) and Neuroticism (N), together with ratings by the co-twin, were obtained from a sample of 826 adult female twin pairs ascertained through a population-based twin register. Data were analyzed using a model that allowed for the contributions to personality ratings of the rater's personality (rater bias) as well as of the personality of the person being rated. For E, but not for N, significant rater bias was found, with extraverted respondents tending to underestimate, and introverted respondents tending to overestimate, the E of their co-twins. Good agreement between self-reports and ratings by the respondent's co-twin was found for both E and N. Substantial genetic influences were found for both personality traits, confirming findings from genetic studies of personality that have relied only on self-reports of respondents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence for the influence of the initial complement components on the assembly and activity of the membrane attack complex

The failure of functionally purified C5gp to reconstitute the hemolytic complement (C) activity of C5-deficient human serum was studied. The lack of hemolytic activity of C5gp in this system could not be correlated with the failure of EAC1-3hu to bind and activate C5gp, but was related to the failure of EAC1-3hu5gp6hu to efficiently bind C7hu in a form that would lead to lysis when HuC8 and HuC9 were added. This failure was not observed with EAC1-3gp5gp6hu or EAC1-3hu5hu6hu, which could be lysed with any combination of human or guinea pig C7 through C9. The implications of these findings on the control of the lytic C attack mechanism by the initial components in the C cascade are discussed.     

Evidence for a genetic etiology of early-onset delinquency.

Age at onset of antisocial behavior discriminates persistent and transitory offenders. The authors proposed that early-onset delinquency has an underlying genetic influence that manifests in problems related to inhibition, whereas late-onset delinquency is more environmentally mediated. To test these notions, they selected 36 early starters, 86 late starters, and 25 nondelinquent controls from a large sample of 11-yr-old twins and compared them on several measures related to inhibition and a peer group measure. As expected, early starters had more psychological, behavioral, and emotional problems related to inhibition than late starters and controls. A longitudinal analysis indicated an increase in antisocial behavior among peers of late starters shortly before their delinquency onset. Family history data and a twin analysis provided evidence of greater genetic influence on early-onset than late-onset delinquency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A genetic association for cigarette smoking behavior.

Dopaminergic genes are likely candidates for heritable influences on cigarette smoking. In an accompanying article, Lerman et al. (1999) report associations between allele 9 of a dopamine transporter gene polymorphism (SLC6A3-9) and lack of smoking, late initiation of smoking, and length of quitting attempts. The present investigation extended their study by examining both smoking behavior and personality traits in a diverse population of nonsmokers, current smokers, and former smokers (N?=?1,107). A significant association between SLC6A3-9 and smoking status was confirmed and was due to an effect on cessation rather than initiation. The SLC6A3-9 polymorphism was also associated with low scores for novelty seeking, which was the most significant personality correlate of smoking cessation. It is hypothesized that individuals carrying the SLC6A3-9 polymorphism have altered dopamine transmission, which reduces their need for novelty and reward by external stimuli, including cigarettes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job satisfaction: Environmental and genetic components.

Monozygotic twins reared apart from an early age were used to test the hypothesis that there is a significant genetic component to job satisfaction. 34 monozygotic twin pairs who had been reared apart completed the Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire as part of a comprehensive work-history assessment. Three subscales were formed from the job satisfaction items to reflect intrinsic, extrinsic, and general satisfaction with the current (or major) job. Intraclass correlations were computed to estimate the proportion of observed variability resulting from genetic factors for all job satisfaction items and for the 3 subscales. Resulting values indicated that approximately 30% of the observed variance in general job satisfaction was due to genetic factors. Additional analysis indicated that these results obtained even when job characteristics such as complexity, motor skill requirements, and the physical demands were held constant via partialing methods. Finally, the data indicated significant heritabilities for several of these job characteristics, which is consistent with the hypothesis of a genetic disposition to seek and remain in similar environments (jobs). Implications of these findings for theories of job satisfaction, selection, and job enrichment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence for deficits on different components of theory of mind in Huntington's disease.

Objective: The main aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Huntington's disease (HD) on cognitive and affective Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities. The relation of ToM performance and executive functions was also examined. Method: Eighteen HD patients, early in the course of the disease, and 18 healthy volunteers matched for age and educational levels, were given two tasks: a nonverbal cognitive ToM task assessing attribution of intentions to others and a revised version of the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' test, which is an affective ToM task assessing the understanding of other people's mental states from their eyes. Participants were also given various executive tests. Results: The two ToM tasks revealed a significant impairment of ToM abilities in HD patients. Executive functioning was impaired in the HD group and ToM performance on the attribution of intentions task was dependent on several executive processes. Conclusions: Our results are consistent with the idea that both cognitive and affective aspects of ToM could be impaired in HD patients, indicating that cortico-subcortical circuits are underlying higher social functions such as ToM. The results are also consistent with the idea that only a few executive mechanisms regulate the ToM abilities we tested in this work. They also provide a basis for the understanding of the disorganized behavior and the breakdown of interpersonal relationships in daily life after HD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Genitosensory nerve modulation of paced mating behavior: Evidence for pelvic, but not hypogastric, nerve influence.

The pelvic nerve is known to play a role in the behavioral and neurochemical responses exhibited during paced mating behavior. The present study extended the analysis of the contribution of the genitosensory nerves to the display of paced mating behavior to include bilateral hypogastric nerve transection, bilateral pelvic nerve transection, or transection of both the hypogastric and pelvic nerves. Rats with pelvic nerve transection were less likely to exit the male compartment, took longer to exit the male compartment following intromissions, and returned to the male more quickly following intromissions compared to rats with an intact pelvic nerve. In contrast, hypogastric nerve transection alone did not affect paced mating and had no modulating effect on the paced mating behavior of rats with pelvic nerve transection. Our results support the view that key aspects of paced mating behavior are modulated by signals transmitted via the pelvic nerve, without any discernable contribution from the hypogastric nerve. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence for a hierarchical structure underlying avoidance behavior.

In studies on avoidance learning, a warning signal is followed by an aversive unconditioned stimulus unless the participant performs a designated response. The authors examined whether avoidance behavior can be based on hierarchical knowledge, that is, knowledge about the conditions under which certain relations hold. In the present study, a single avoidance response had different effects depending on the nature of the warning signal. Results showed that participants acquired this hierarchical knowledge and used it to avoid negative outcomes. The results are in line with an occasion setting account of avoidance learning and can be explained also by a modified version of Lovibond's (2006) account of avoidance learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of sodium pentobarbital on vocal behavior.

This study investigated the effects of sodium pentobarbital on the voice, on a psychomoter task (differential visual reaction time) and on mood, as reported by the Ss on the Clyde Mood Scale. 2 oral dose levels and a placebo were given blind to 12 Ss in a Latin-square design. Care was taken to control the effects of social interaction. The rate of reading a standard, well-practiced paragraph was slowed in response to this drug, as were reaction times. Ss described themselves as less clear thinking, less energetic, and less aggressive after pentobarbital, but not more or less jittery, depressed, or friendly. Frequency spectrum analysis of the voice did not show consistent changes in voice quality in response to this drug. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contrast effects in paired comparisons: Evidence for both stimulus-based and response-based processes.

Participants made paired comparisons of square sizes, with blue squares presented on the left side of a computer screen and red squares on the right. Context was manipulated by varying the distributions of blue and red squares separately. In Exp 1, target squares from low-range distributions were judged larger than the same-size squares from high-range distributions. In Exp 2, ranges were equated but ranks manipulated between distributions, pairing bell with U-shaped and positively skewed with negatively skewed distributions. Results provided little support for a rank-dependent valuation model. Exp 3 used distributions that were designed to test between adaptation-level and response-equalization models. Both models received support, with response latencies constituting an important moderating variable. Response patterns for short latency participants were consistent with a stimulus-based adaptation-level process, and those for longer latency participants were consistent with a response-equalization process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of a situation-specific trait-state test for the prediction and measurement of affective responses.

Describes the development of a situation-specific trait–state test for affective responses, the Zuckerman Inventory of Personal Reactions. Form 1 contains 20 situations to which 355 undergraduates described their responses on 16 scales for each situation. Factor analyses were done on traits (responses summed over situations) and states. States were obtained on another form containing responses with instructions to describe feelings "now." Factor scales for responses were derived from these analyses, and classes of situations were obtained by factor analysis and cluster analysis of the situations. Study 2, with 64 male and 90 female undergraduates in 2 classes, assessed the reliability of these scales, sex differences, and the trait–state relationships. The reliability characteristics fit the model derived from prior studies. Sex differences were found in trait tests but not in state tests. Five validity studies are described, and the convergent and discriminant validities are examined. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of personality and situational cautiousness on conceptual behavior.

An assessment of the degree to which cautiousness ("the tendency to behave in a manner designed to avoid potential failure or disapproval experiences… often at the expense of other satisfactions") affected responsiveness to TAT cards and MAPS. Degree of cautiousness was assessed by performance on the Rotter Level of Aspiration Board (see 19: 2261). Ss were then administered a test of social acceptability of attitudes and were either told that they scored low (failure experience), scored high (success experience), or were given no feedback (neutral). Comparisons of cautious (C) and noncautious (NC) Ss revealed that degree of cautiousness distinguished C and NC Ss in the neutral situation only. The finding supported the assumption that cautiousness, as a personality trait, could also be used to describe conceptual behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of alertness on spatial and nonspatial components of visual attention.

Three experiments investigated whether spatial and nonspatial components of visual attention would be influenced by changes in (healthy, young) subjects’ level of alertness and whether such effects on separable components would occur independently of each other. The experiments used a no-cue/alerting-cue design with varying cue-target stimulus onset asynchronies in two different whole-report paradigms based on Bundesen’s (1990) theory of visual attention, which permits spatial and nonspatial components of selective attention to be assessed independently. The results revealed the level of alertness to affect both the spatial distribution of attentional weighting and processing speed, but not visual short-term memory capacity, with the effect on processing speed preceding that on the spatial distribution of attentional weighting. This pattern indicates that the level of alertness influences both spatial and nonspatial component mechanisms of visual attention and that these two effects develop independently of each other; moreover, it suggests that intrinsic and phasic alertness effects involve the same processing route, on which spatial and nonspatial mechanisms are mediated by independent processing systems that are activated, due to increased alertness, in temporal succession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of psychological distress on use of genetic testing for cancer risk.

The recent identification of BRCA1, a breast cancer susceptibility gene, offers an unprecedented opportunity for high-risk individuals to learn whether they are genetically predisposed to develop breast or ovarian cancer. This study examined the relationships between psychological distress and use of BRCA1 testing by 149 high-risk individuals from hereditary cancer families. After a baseline assessment of demographics, objective risk, cancer-specific distress, and global distress (depressive symptoms), study participants were offered the opportunity to receive genetic counseling and to learn whether they carry a mutation in the BRCA1 gene. Overall, 58% of study participants requested BRCA1 test results, and 42% declined to learn their genetic status. After controlling for demographic factors and risk status, cancer-specific distress was significantly and positively related to BRCA1 test use, whereas global distress was unrelated to test use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonverbal behavior, gender, and influence.

Participants viewed a videotape of either a male or female confederate delivering a persuasive message using a high task, social, submissive, or dominant nonverbal style. Participants were influenced more after viewing the social and task styles than the dominant or submissive styles. Participants liked task and social confederates more than dominant confederates and considered submissive confederates to be less competent than the other 3 styles. Although both likableness and competence were predictive of influence, likableness was a more important determinant of influence for female than male speakers when the audience was male. Consequently, with a male audience, women exhibiting a task style were less influential and likable than men exhibiting that style. Men were not more influential than women when displaying dominance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of positive affect on the components of expectancy motivation.

The influence of positive affect on expectancy motivation was investigated in 2 studies. The results of Study 1 indicated that positive affect improved people's performance and affected their perceptions of expectancy and valence. In Study 1, in which outcomes depended on chance, positive affect did not influence people's perceptions of instrumentality. In Study 2, in which the link between performance and outcomes was specified, positive affect influenced all 3 components of expectancy motivation. Together, the results of Studies 1 and 2 indicated that positive affect interacts with task conditions in influencing motivation and that its influence on motivation occurs not through general effects, such as response bias or general activation, but rather through its influence on the cognitive processes involved in motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of phonological processing and inattentive behavior on reading acquisition.

This article reports the findings from a longitudinal study investigating the influence of phonological processing and inattentive behavior on reading acquisition. Data from individually administered measures of phonological processing and reading, as well as teacher ratings of children's behavior, were collected from a cohort of 132 children at 12-month intervals, from kindergarten to 2nd grade. Results from multiple linear regression analyses employing latent constructs of phonological abilities and inattentive behavior provided support for the hypothesized model, with kindergarten measures of inattentiveness and phonological abilities predicting subsequent reading performance. An analysis of reciprocal relationships among these constructs revealed evidence that inattentiveness also interfered with the acquisition of phonological analysis skills. Implications for reading instruction and reading interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adrenal pheochromocytoma with both benign and malignant components

A case of adrenal pheochromocytoma is reported characterized by polygonal basophilic granular cells of benign type, plump eosinophilic granular cells of transitional type, and spindle-shaped cells of malignant type. In the primary tumor the neoplastic cells of each type revealed a distinctive topographical distribution. All gradations between the latter two varieties of cells were found, especially in the vicinity of the transitional cell area. Multiple metastases were present in the liver and lungs, where only anaplastic spindle-shaped cells could be found. Ultrastructurally, the benign cells contained predominantly large, rather light, secretory granules with a coarsely granulated core. In the malignant cells, the number, size, and intensity of granules varied considerably from cell to cell or even within a single cell. In general, the malignant cells had a higher frequency of smaller granules with electron-dense homogeneous cores. Moderate amounts of noradrenalin but not significant dopamine or adrenalin could be demonstrated from a metastatic nodule in liver. We postulate that this adrenal medullary pheochromocytoma was benign originally and underwent malignant transformation shortly before the patient's death. This is based upon the patient's clinical features and the peculiar structures of the primary tumor.