Ethnic and gender differences in sexuality: variations in sexual behavior between Asian and non-Asian university students

Seven hundred and two (346 non-Asian, 356 Asian) undergraduate volunteers were assessed in a confidential laboratory setting on levels of interpersonal sexual behavior (e.g., petting, intercourse), intrapersonal sexual behavior (e.g., fantasy, masturbation), and sociosexual restrictiveness (e.g., lifetime number of partners, number of "one-night stands"). The purpose was to examine possible differences in sexual behavior between Asian and non-Asian Canadian university students and to determine the association between North American residency and the sexual behavior of Asians. The role of gender on sexual behavior both across and within ethnic groups was also examined. Statistical analyses revealed that Asian students were significantly more conservative than non-Asian students on all measures of interpersonal sexual behavior and sociosexual restrictiveness. Significant differences were also noted between Asian and non-Asian students on most measures of intrapersonal sexual behavior. With the exception of two fantasy items, length of residency in Canada was unrelated to interpersonal sexual behavior, intrapersonal sexual behavior, or sociosexual restrictiveness among Asians. Although gender differences were substantial for intrapersonal sexual behaviors such as fantasy and masturbation, no significant gender differences were found for measures of interpersonal sexual experience, with the exception of reported number of one-night stands.     

Irish descent, religion, and alcohol and tobacco use

The West of Scotland has traditionally been a focus for Irish migration. Using data from two studies carried out in this region, one quantitative, the other qualitative, this paper shows little difference in drinking and smoking between Scots of Irish descent and other Scots. It does, however, show significant differences in these behaviours according to religious affiliation in adulthood. Rather than confirming the stereotype of Irish Catholics as heavy drinkers and smokers the present paper puts forward the hypothesis that drinkers and smokers are differentially retained in membership by different religious affiliations, and argues that this accounts for differences in reputation and in health-related behaviours.     

Relation of social fantasy play to social competence in preschoolers.

Examined the relation of social fantasy play to several indices of social competence in 91 preschoolers, aged 35–69 mo, enrolled in daycare centers. Naturalistic observations of the frequency and complexity of social fantasy play during free-play periods were collected. Competence measures included teacher ratings of social competence, popularity, social role-taking skills, and observations of social behavior. Multiple regression procedures were used to analyze the prediction of social competence from the fantasy measures, independent of age, sex, IQ, and frequency of social activity. Results indicate that the amount and complexity of fantasy play significantly predicted 4 of the competence measures: teacher rating of peer social skill, popularity, affective role taking, and a behavioral summary score reflecting positive social activity. Fantasy play was also more positive, sustained, and group oriented than was nonfantasy play. Implications of these findings on the role of fantasy play and peer–peer activity in social-skill acquisition are discussed. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring patterns of fantasy behavior in children.

Developed the Children's Fantasy Inventory using 748 1st and 3rd graders. Within the limits of a 45-item instrument relevant to the children's attention span, a wide range of fantasy activity was tapped. The 9 empirically derived, nonorthogonal scales had good internal consistency, as measured by coefficient alpha, and good test–retest reliabilities. The scales on the Children's Fantasy Inventory were related to other previously used measures of fantasy in children and to previously derived adult scales. Differences in styles of fantasy were found between boys and girls and between 1st and 3rd graders, but there were no significant differences in overall frequency of fantasy. Retesting after a year's lag indicated that fantasy behaviors had significant stability over time. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hospitalization and Premorbid Characteristics in Withdrawn and Active Schizophrenics.

Hospitalization and premorbid data were collected on withdrawn and active schizophrenics in an attempt to explore basic differences between these types of patients. Results showed that withdrawns are first hospitalized at an earlier age, stay in the hospital longer each time they are admitted, spend more of their lives in psychiatric facilities, and have a higher incidence of delusions and hallucinations than actives. These data seem to reflect basic differences beyond the schizophrenic episode since withdrawns were also found to have a poorer overall premorbid adjustment, are less likely to be married, have fewer estimated friends between the ages of 6 and 18, and have fewer estimated high school activities than actives. Finally, implications for future research and high-risk studies are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationships between overt and fantasy aggression.

The interrelationships among aggressive needs, anticipation of punishment, and overt aggressive behavior in 29 lower-class boys were investigated in this study. Three hypotheses were tested: 1) among lower class boys, those having a relatively great amount of fantasy aggressive needs indulge in more overt aggressive behavior than those who have relatively few aggressive fantasy needs; 2) Ss whose TAT stories included a great deal of punishment press relative to the number of their aggressive needs demonstrate less overt aggression than Ss whose ratios of punishment press to aggressive needs are low; and 3) Those with low punishment press/aggressive fantasy ratio show more aggression in their behavior than those with high P/A ratio. All three hypotheses were supported by the data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predisposition to fantasy and situational variations as determinants of attention in reaction time tasks.

Predicted the effects of procedural changes and embellished directions on performance in a RT task on the basis of 200 undergraduates' predisposition toward fantasy activity. Ss who had given more Human Movement (M) responses to an inkblot test were found to be more responsive than Ss who had given less M responses to changes in procedures and directions which altered the interest value of the task. However, this effect was primarily found for the female sample. Interpretations regarding the likelihood of task-relevant and task-irrelevant cognitive activity as mediators of the obtained changes in performance and cautions regarding sex differences in attention and fantasy processes are offered. (23 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Combination of open field and elevated plus-maze: a suitable test battery to assess strain as well as treatment differences in rat behavior

1. A test battery consisting of a standard open field, an enriched open field and an elevated plus maze was used to study behavior in rats. 2. Male rats of the strains PVG/OlaHsd (PVG) and Sprague-Dawley-Hsd (SPRD) (150-200 g body wt) were used to assess interstrain differences as well as handling effects. In a subsequent experiment an other set of male PVG rats (150-200 g body wt) treated either with diazepam or zolpidem was used to evaluate the test battery for pharmacological purposes. 3. SPRD rats displayed higher motor activity levels and also higher levels of exploratory behavior than the PVG rats. In contrast plus-maze activity indicated more anxiety of SPRD than PVG rats. One week pre-test handling increased the activity of both strains but it increased explorative behavior in the enriched open field only in SPRD rats. Diazepam had a substantial anxiolytic effect. Zolpidem enhanced the explorative activity in a differently to diazepam and exerted only minor anxiolytic properties. 4. We concluded that the test battery used here enables to reveal differentially strain, and treatment effects in rats.     

Stimulus generalization and schizophrenia.

Paranoid and nonparanoid schizophrenics, on and off drugs, were compared with medical inpatients for stimulus-generalization responsivity. The stimuli were lines differing in length, and the response alternatives differed in amplitude. There were no significant differences in gradients of stimulus generalization among the groups. This finding opposes Mednick's original anxiety-drive theory of schizophrenia, especially his assumption that schizophrenics overgeneralize. The finding does not oppose Mednick's amended theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Specific sexual fantasy themes: A multidimensional study.

A multidimensional study with 138 female and 125 male undergraduates questioned the implicit assumption that sexual fantasies are unidimensional, hypothesizing that total sexual fantasy frequency is a composite of independent fantasy themes. Using factor analysis, 4 sets of fantasy themes were identified for both males and females who were also administered the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey, a sibling incest aversion scale, and sexual fantasy and behavior scales. Ss' specific fantasy themes and total fantasy scores were submitted to discriminant analyses. The 4 factors of the female fantasy themes were Romance, Variety, Suffering, and Dominance. The 4 factors of the male fantasy themes were Force, Same Sex, Unpopular, and Macho. In none of these analyses were the discriminating variables for the high vs low total fantasy scores the same as those for the specific fantasy theme scores. The existence of 4 independent male and female fantasy factors, each associated with differing personality and sexual patterns, supports the contention that sexual fantasies are multidimensional. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fantasy play and related cognitive development in 2- to 6-year-olds.

Developmental changes in specific types of material and ideational fantasy play and the relation of role taking, egocentrism, and receptive vocabulary from the PPVT were examined in a group of 78 2–6 yr olds who were randomly assigned to play in dyads. Each dyad engaged in free play for 3 15-min periods each week, for 3 wks in a playroom of the daycare center or school. Both frequency and duration of material and ideational fantasy play increased with age, but the play patterns differed. Material fantasy play followed a curvilinear trend, whereas ideational fantasy displayed a linear trend for frequency but a curvilinear trend for duration. Contrary to previous research, sex differences were not found for material or ideational fantasy play. Role taking was negatively correlated with material fantasy and sociodramatic play. Egocentrism did not correlate with the play measures, and the PPVT measure of receptive vocabulary correlated only with material play. Data suggest the developmental progression from object to person fantasy play does not occur as presumed. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocabulary performance of short-term and long-term schizophrenics.

"The following three measures of vocabulary performance varying in sensitivity were obtained from groups of short-term schizophrenics, long-term schizophrenics, and normals equated for art and education: gesticulation (nonverbal), conventional vocabulary achievement, and level of verbal communication. No differences were found between the short-term schizophrenics and the normals of any of the measures. The long-term schizophrenics were significantly lower than normals and short-term schizophrenics on all of the measures. The decrement on gesticulation for the long-term schizophrenics was significantly less than that for the other measures." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of social reinforcement on the level of abstraction in schizophrenics.

This study was designed to investigate (1) the effects of the nature of contingent vs. noncontingent social reinforcement upon the level of abstraction in schizophrenics as measured on a proverbs task, (2) the generalization of this behavior to another verbal conceptual task administered under neutral conditions, and (3) the predictive and construct validity of the Ullmann-Giovannoni Process-Reactive Self-Report Scale. 64 male schizophrenics were assigned to 4 treatment groups: contingent positive, noncontingent positive, contingent negative, and control. The results indicated that only the contingent positive Ss significantly increased their level of performance on the proverbs task and showed generalization. The other 3 groups showed no significant differences. Validity evidence for the Process-Reactive Scale and marital status was obtained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adaptations of rat lateral gastrocnemius motor units in response to voluntary running

This study investigated the effects of 12 wk of voluntary wheel running on motor units from rat lateral gastrocnemius. Motor units were isolated via ventral root splitting (L5) from active or sedentary rats and were classified into slow, fast-fatigue-resistant, and fast-fatigable (FF) units. An overall increase in mean motor unit tetanic tension (35%) was accompanied by a decrease in mean motor unit fatigue resistance (-10%). These adaptations were localized in the fast unit population but varied among fast motor unit subtypes. The overall increase in tetanic force was due primarily to increases in fast-fatigue-resistant units (300%), whereas changes in fatigue resistance (-43%) were confined to FF units. However, the changes seen with activity may have been partly obscured by classifying fast motor units based on fatigability, since a significant increase in tetanic force accompanied by a decreased twitch one-half relaxation time was apparent in units falling in the midrange of the tetanic force continuum and included a number of FF units. These data provide direct demonstration of nonuniform motor unit adaptations subsequent to increases in normal functional activity.     

Isolation and properties of myoglobins from rat (Rattus norvegicus) skeletal muscles

A simple test of critical thermal maximum (CTM) to assess a break-down of heat-escape behavior in rats is described. Experiments were performed on 18 unrestrained adult Wistar rats of both sexes. Hypothalamic and intraperitoneal (i.p.) temperatures as well as motor activity were simultaneously and continuously recorded in the rats exposed to heat. When animals were growing restless, as evidenced by an increase in their motor activity, which was usually recorded at hypothalamic temperatures well above 41 degrees C, we started testing CTM. To assess heat-escape behavior we used a precooled cooling bar (a part of a camp-cooler) which was placed at intervals in a climatic chamber. The hyperthermic rats, given the bar for 30 s, mounted it vigorously until they failed at particular levels of brain and body temperatures which were recognized as respective CTM values. Rapid external cooling of rats prevented lethal effects of the heat exposure. We were able to show effects of timing of heat exposure on heat tolerance. We also managed to detect small but significant differences in heat tolerance of warm-reared (an increase), cold-reared (a decrease), and bacterial-endotoxin-treated (an increase) rats. The heat-escape behavior was less heat-resistant than selective brain cooling response which was still present at CTM point. In conclusion, our CTM test is a safe and reliable way to study heat tolerance in rats.     

The expression and inhibition of hostility in imaginative and overt behavior.

"Half of a group of 40 white male college students, representing the extreme scores on the Segal Manifest Hostility Scale, were placed in a situation designed to arouse strong hostility, and half in a low arousal situation. Ss were then permitted to express hostility in fantasy (using TAT pictures selected for differences in cue properties relevant to hostility) and in overt behavior, in a situation in which Ss could actually hurt another person… . The results of this experiment were consistent with a goal gradient model in which high and low expressors were assumed to differ in strength of approach motivation (proximity to the goal)." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation between individual differences in fantasy and theory of mind

The relation between early fantasy/pretense and children's knowledge about mental life was examined in a study of 152 3- and 4-year-old boys and girls. Children were interviewed about their fantasy lives (e.g., imaginary companions, impersonation of imagined characters) and were given tasks assessing their level of pretend play and verbal intelligence. In a second session 1 week later, children were given a series of theory of mind tasks, including measures of appearance-reality, false belief, representational change, and perspective taking. The theory of mind tasks were significantly intercorrelated with the effects of verbal intelligence and age statistically controlled. Individual differences in fantasy/pretense were assessed by (1) identifying children who created imaginary characters, and (2) extracting factor scores from a combination of interview and behavioral measures. Each of these fantasy assessments was significantly related to the theory of mind performance of the 4-year-old children, independent of verbal intelligence.     

Developmental and behavioral effects of postnatal amitraz exposure in rats

The effects of postnatal amitraz exposure on physical and behavioral parameters were studied in Wistar rats, whose lactating dams received the pesticide (10 mg/kg) orally on days 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16 and 19 of lactation; control dams received distilled water (1 ml/kg) on the same days. A total of 18 different litters (9 of them control and 9 experimental) born after a 21-day gestation were used. The results showed that the median effective time (ET50) for fur development, eye opening, testis descent and onset of the startle response were increased in rats postnatally exposed to amitraz (2.7, 15.1, 21.6 and 15.3 days, respectively) compared to those of the control pups (1.8, 14.0, 19.9 and 12.9 days, respectively). The ages of incisor eruption, total unfolding of the external ears, vaginal and ear opening and the time taken to perform the grasping hindlimb reflex were not affected by amitraz exposure. Pups from dams treated with amitraz during lactation took more time (in seconds) to perform the surface righting reflex on postnatal days (PND) 3 (25.0 +/- 2.0), 4 (12.3 +/- 1.2) and 5 (8.7 +/- 0.9) in relation to controls (10.6 +/- 1.2; 4.5 +/- 0.6 and 3.4 +/- 0.4, respectively); the climbing response was not changed by amitraz. Postnatal amitraz exposure increased spontaneous motor activity of male and female pups in the open-field on PND 16 (140 +/- 11) and 17 (124 +/- 12), and 16 (104 +/- 9), 17 (137 +/- 9) and 18 (106 +/- 8), respectively. Data on spontaneous motor activity of the control male and female pups were 59 +/- 11 and 69 +/- 10 for days 16 and 17 and 49 +/- 9, 48 +/- 7 and 56 +/- 7 for days 16, 17 and 18, respectively. Some qualitative differences were also observed in spontaneous motor behavior; thus, raising the head, shoulder and pelvis matured one or two days later in the amitraz-treated offspring. Postnatal amitraz exposure did not change locomotion and rearing frequencies or immobility time in the open-field on PND 30, 60 and 90. The present findings indicate that postnatal exposure to amitraz caused transient developmental and behavioral changes in the exposed offspring and suggest that further investigation of the potential health risk of amitraz exposure to developing human and animal offsprings may be warranted.     

Verbally expressed fantasy play of preschoolers as a function of toy structure.

Investigated the fantasy play utterances produced by 36 3-, 4-, and 5-yr-olds while playing alone. Toy structure was manipulated by using dolls that were either realistic or schematic and by varying the presence vs absence of supporting props to accompany the dolls. All fantasy play speech was identified and coded into 1 of 3 categories: role-taking speech, narrating fantasy statements, and imitation of object sounds. A significant Age?×?Toy Condition interaction indicated that 3-yr-olds engaged in more verbal fantasy play in the presence of environmental supports while 5-yr-olds did the reverse. This interaction came from role-taking speech. Age differences in fantasy themes are discussed, and it is suggested that the supporting objects function by eliciting fantasy scenarios from memory. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)