Pain sensitivity and individual differences in self-reported sexual behavior.

The relationship between sexual behavior and pain sensitivity was assessed in 27 heterosexual men and 20 heterosexual women. Sexual behavior measures included sexual motivation and ratings of subjective sexual arousal to and enjoyment of an auditory stimulus. Pain sensitivity measures were pain threshold and pain tolerance in a cold pressor task. Participants were tested after exposure to a neutral or a sexual audio stimulus. Exposure to the sexual stimulus increased pain sensitivity in women but not in men. However, sexual behavior measures were correlated with pain threshold for both men and women. Specifically, higher pain thresholds were associated with weaker sexual motivation, lower enjoyment potential for sexual interaction, and increased inhibition during intercourse. These results are consistent with findings in laboratory animals, suggesting that differences in sexual behavior may reflect differences in responsiveness to a variety of stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in episodic memory: The impact of verbal and visuospatial ability.

The impact of verbal and visuospatial ability on sex differences in episodic memory was investigated. One hundred men and 100 women, 20–40 years old, participated in a series of verbal and visuospatial tasks. Episodic memory was assessed in tasks that, to a greater or lesser extent, were verbal or visuospatial in nature. Results showed that women excelled in verbal production tasks and that men performed at a superior level on a mental rotation task. In addition, women tended to perform at a higher level than men on most episodic memory tasks. Taken together, the results demonstrated that (a) women perform at a higher level than men on most verbal episodic memory tasks and on some episodic memory tasks with a visuospatial component, and (b) women's higher performance on episodic memory tasks cannot fully be explained by their superior performance on verbal production tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Profiles of college students demonstrating learning disabilities with and without giftedness

The purpose of this study was to analyze the assessment profiles of two groups of adults with learning disabilities. The first group comprised 48 adults (34 men and 14 women) demonstrating giftedness and a learning disability profile (G/LD). The second group of 46 adults (31 men and 15 women) demonstrated a learning disabled profile without giftedness (NG/LD). Both groups of participants were either attending or planning to attend college and sought testing at a university-affiliated learning disabilities center. Participants' mean age was 20 years, and all were White and from middle to upper-middle class backgrounds. Findings indicate that, as a group, the adults demonstrating a G/LD profile tended to be identified later and have more discrepancy among cognitive assessment profile scores than the NG/LD group. Cognitive subtest scores showed significant differences between the groups, but also several areas of weakness evident in both groups regardless of the presence of giftedness. These findings emphasize the importance of identifying the presence of learning disabilities among gifted populations.     

Large sexual-orientation-related differences in performance on mental rotation and judgement of line orientation tasks.

This study examined the performance of heterosexual and homosexual men and women on 2 tests of spatial processing, mental rotation (MR) and Benton Judgment of Line Orientation (JLO). The sample comprised 60 heterosexual men, 60 heterosexual women, 60 homosexual men, and 60 homosexual women. There were significant main effects of gender (men achieving higher scores overall) and Gender×Sexual Orientation interactions. Decomposing these interactions revealed large differences between the male groups in favor of heterosexual men on JLO and MR performance. There was a modest difference between the female groups on MR total correct scores in favor of homosexual women but no differences in MR percentage correct. The evidence suggests possible variations in the parietal cortex between homosexual and heterosexual persons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ability analysis of gender relevance and sex differences in cardiovascular response to behavioral challenge

Cardiovascular effects of gender-specific ability perceptions (ability perceptions linked to one's identity as being female or male) were examined under different task conditions. In Study I, participants were led to believe that either men (masculine task) or women (feminine task) tend to do well on a memory task and then were provided the chance to avoid noise by attaining a low or high performance standard. As expected, sex differences in systolic blood pressure response during performance depended not only on task type but also on the degree of challenge. In Study 2, high standard effects were strengthened and extended through the use of an appetitive procedure and the inclusion of conditions in which the performance standard was extreme. Findings are discussed in terms of an interactional analysis of ability percepts, task demand, and cardiovascular responsivity.     

Work preferences, life values, and personal views of top math/science graduate students and the profoundly gifted: Developmental changes and gender differences during emerging adulthood and parenthood.

Work preferences, life values, and personal views of top math/science graduate students (275 men, 255 women) were assessed at ages 25 and 35 years. In Study 1, analyses of work preferences revealed developmental changes and gender differences in priorities: Some gender differences increased over time and increased more among parents than among childless participants, seemingly because the mothers’ priorities changed. In Study 2, gender differences in the graduate students’ life values and personal views at age 35 were compared with those of profoundly gifted participants (top 1 in 10,000, identified by age 13 and tracked for 20 years: 265 men, 84 women). Again, gender differences were larger among parents. Across both cohorts, men appeared to assume a more agentic, career-focused perspective than women did, placing more importance on creating high-impact products, receiving compensation, taking risks, and gaining recognition as the best in their fields. Women appeared to favor a more communal, holistic perspective, emphasizing community, family, friendships, and less time devoted to career. Gender differences in life priorities, which intensify during parenthood, anticipated differential male-female representation in high-level and time-intensive careers, even among talented men and women with similar profiles of abilities, vocational interests, and educational experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Task control and cognitive abilities of self and spouse in collaboration in middle-aged and older couples.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 22(4) of Psychology and Aging (see record 2007-18670-006). Due to an editing mistake, the order of authorship was incorrect. The correct order is as follows: Berg, Smith, Ko, Beveridge, Story, Henry, Florsheim, Pearce, Uchino, Skinner, & Glazer.] Collaborative problem solving may be used by older couples to optimize cognitive functioning, with some suggestion that older couples exhibit greater collaborative expertise. The study explored age differences in 2 aspects of collaborative expertise: spouses' knowledge of their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities and the ability to fit task control to these cognitive abilities. The participants were 300 middle-aged and older couples who completed a hypothetical errand task. The interactions were coded for control asserted by husbands and wives. Fluid intelligence was assessed, and spouses rated their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities. The results revealed no age differences in couple expertise, either in the ability to predict their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities or in the ability to fit task control to abilities. However, gender differences were found. Women fit task control to their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities; men only fit task control to their spouse's cognitive abilities. For women only, the fit between control and abilities was associated with better performance. The results indicate no age differences in couple expertise but point to gender as a factor in optimal collaboration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of ethanol on temporal recovery of auditory-evoked potentials in individuals at risk for alcoholism

The present investigation examined the effects of placebo (P), low dose (LD), and high dose (HD) ethanol on auditory event-related potential (AEP) recovery functions in a group of males at high risk to develop alcoholism (HR; n = 23, mean = 22.3 years) and a low risk (LR; n = 27, mean = 23.0 years) control group. Condition order was randomized, with one condition (P, LD, or HD) per day and a minimum 1-day interval between conditions. For each subject, both blood alcohol levels (BALs) measured via breathalyzer, and event-related potentials recorded with the entire 10/20 International System, were assessed prior to and at mean intervals of 20, 60, 90, and 130 min after P, LD, or HD administration. A series of binaural auditory stimuli with randomly interposed interstimulus intervals of 0.5, 1.0, and 10.0 sec were used to elicit the N100 and P200 components of the AEP. Between-groups comparisons indicated that ethanol elicited risk group differences in recovery functions not present at baseline. The differences were manifested in the HR group as larger decrements in P200 amplitude during the ascending blood alcohol curve (acute sensitivity) and more rapid returns of both N100 and P200 to baseline levels during the descending blood alcohol curve (acute tolerance). These findings support Newlin and Thomson's (1990) Differentiator Model, suggesting that LR and HR individuals are differentially sensitive to the effects of ethanol.     

Are sex differences in navigation caused by sexually dimorphic strategies or by differences in the ability to use the strategies?

When navigating, women typically focus on landmarks within the environment, whereas men tend to focus on the Euclidean properties of the environment. However, it is unclear whether these observed differences in navigational skill result from disparate strategies or disparate ability. To remove this confound, the present study required participants to follow either landmark- or Euclidean-based instructions during a navigation task (either in the real-world or on paper). Men performed best when using Euclidean information, whereas women performed best when using landmark information, suggesting a dimorphic capacity to use these 2 types of spatial information. Further, a significant correlation was observed between the mental rotation task and the ability to use Euclidean information, but not the ability to use landmark information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult sex differences on a decision-making task previously shown to depend on the orbital prefrontal cortex.

Monkeys and children show sex differences on tasks that depend on the orbital prefrontal cortex. To determine whether similar sex differences exist across the life span, adults were tested on an orbital-dependent decision-making task, the Iowa Card Task, as well as on a control task, the California Weather Task. In addition, estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone were assayed. The 6 groups of participants were college-age men, older men, young low-hormone (menstruating) women, young high-hormone (midluteal) women, older postmenopausal women on estrogen replacement therapy (ERT), and older postmenopausal women not on ERT. Results showed a male superiority on the Iowa Card Task. Among college-age men there was a negative correlation between performance and testosterone levels. There were no significant differences among groups of women on the card task. There were no significant sex differences or hormone correlations on the California Weather Task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Regional dynamic signal changes during controlled hyperventilation assessed with blood oxygen level-dependent functional MR imaging

PURPOSE: To quantitate the amplitude changes and temporal dynamics of regional functional MR imaging signals during voluntary hyperventilation using blood oxygen level-dependent contrast echo-planar imaging. METHODS: Seven male subjects were studied during voluntary hyperventilation (PetCO2 = 20 mm Hg) regulated by capnometry. Measurements were made on multisection echo-planar MR images obtained with parameters of 1000/66 (repetition time/echo time), flip angle of 30 degrees, and voxel size of 3 x 3 x 5 mm3. Sensitivity of the functional MR imaging signal to changes in PetCO2, time delays in relation to PetCO2 changes, and time constants of functional MR imaging signal changes were assessed on a region-by-region basis. RESULTS: Within 20 seconds of starting hyperventilation, rapid and substantial decreases in the functional MR imaging signal (by as much as 10%) were measured in areas of gray matter, which were significantly greater than the modest changes observed in white matter. Regional-specific effects in areas of the frontal, occipital, and parietooccipital cortex were stronger than in subcortical regions or in the cerebellum. Signal decreases measured with functional MR imaging were significantly delayed with respect to the reduction in PetCO2. Apparent differences between regional time constants did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Regional and gray-white matter differences in functional MR imaging signal changes during controlled hyperventilation may reflect differences in metabolic activity, vascular regulation, and/or capillary density. When measuring brain activation with functional MR imaging, arterial PCO2 differences due to unregulated respiration may confound interpretation of activation-related functional MR imaging signal changes.     

Sexual orientation differences in cerebral asymmetry and in the performance of sexually dimorphic cognitive and motor tasks

With each of the tasks in the present studies we expected to find the reported sex difference between heterosexual women and heterosexual men and we predicted a sexual orientation effect with the performance of homosexual men being similar to that of heterosexual women and different from that of heterosexual men. Study 1 aimed to replicate earlier findings by recording the performance of a group of homosexual men on a visuospatial task, the Vincent Mechanical Diagrams Test (VMDT), a dot detection divided visual field measure of functional cerebral asymmetry, and on five subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). For each task the profile of scores obtained for the homosexual men was similar to that of heterosexual women in that they scored lower than heterosexual men on the VMDT, they showed less asymmetry, and they recorded a higher Verbal than Performance IQ on the WAIS. In Study 2, a male-biased targeted throwing task favored heterosexual men while, in contrast, on the female-biased Purdue Pegboard single peg condition heterosexual men were outperformed by heterosexual women and homosexual men. On neither of these two tasks did the performances of homosexual men and heterosexual women differ. One task, manual speed, yielded neither sex nor sexual orientation differences. Another, the Purdue Pegboard assemblies condition, revealed a sex difference but no sexual orientation difference. Failure to obtain a sexual orientation difference in the presence of a sex difference suggests that the sexual orientation effect may be restricted to a subset of sexually dimorphic tasks.     

Social support at work, heart rate, and cortisol: A self-monitoring study.

This study assessed the influence of work social support on self-monitored heart rate, blood pressure, and salivary cortisol recorded on 3 work days and 2 leisure days from 61 nurses and 32 accountants (40 men, 53 women). Heart rate and blood pressure were higher during the day at work than in the evening or on leisure days. Cortisol was higher on leisure than work days and was lower in the evening than in the day. Low social support at work was associated with elevated heart rate during the daytime and evening of work days, an effect that persisted after controlling for psychological distress, age, sex, smoking, and physical activity. Work social support was not related to cortisol on work days, but on leisure days cortisol was elevated among individuals reporting high social support. There were few differences between men and women, and no important occupational effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Race and gender comparisons: I. Hemodynamic responses to a series of stressors.

A sample of 155 adults (aged 18–49 yrs), including nearly equal subgroups of Black and White men and women, underwent evaluation of cardiovascular reactivity during 5 behavioral stressors. Among the men, overall blood pressure increases to tasks did not differ, but Blacks showed generally higher total peripheral resistance, whereas Whites showed greater heart rate and cardiac output increases. Among the women, the same racial-group differences were evident during certain tasks, but not during others. Men showed greater overall systolic blood pressure increases than did women, and they also showed less recovery toward baseline levels in systolic and diastolic pressure and stroke volume 5 min after the stressors. Other gender differences were task specific. The possible contributions of structural changes in the myocardium and vasculature, of altered sympathetic receptor distribution, and of task-specific behavioral factors influencing task involvement are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in sustained attention across the adult life span.

We used a life span sample of 18- to 91-year-old men (n?=?176) and women (n?=?108) to investigate sex differences and the effect of age on sex differences in performance and arousal during a 62-min no-memory-demand sensory vigilance task (Mackworth's Clock-Test). We observed sex differences in target response time and on measures of autonomic arousal; women were slower and less aroused than men. A review of the literature, in conjunction with the results of this study, led to our concluding that women are slower to respond to targets than men and that women may tend to detect fewer targets than men only when they are young (18–29 years old). Sex differences in arousal levels were consistent with an arousal explanation of sex differences in response time. However, detection accuracy and false alarm rates were not consistent with sex differences in arousal levels. Sex differences in the time course of vigilance performance were inconsistent. Age did not significantly moderate the sex differences in vigilance decrement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of sex hormone therapy on interhemispheric crosstalk in postmenopausal women.

Evidence exists that fluctuating levels of sex hormones affect interhemispheric interaction in women during the menstrual cycle. The present study investigated whether interhemispheric interaction is susceptible to direct hormonal manipulations via hormone therapy (HT). Sixty-eight postmenopausal women who received HT either with estrogen alone (n = 15), an estrogen-gestagen combination (n = 22) or without HT (n = 31) were investigated. Participants were asked to match letters according to their physical or name identity. Matches were presented either within or across visual half-fields. Additionally, a simple reaction time task, assumed to estimate interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT), was used. Overall, postmenopausal women showed an across-field advantage in the more demanding name-identity task but not in the less demanding physical-identity task. However, across both tasks, the groups differed in responses to within- and across-field trials: the control group performed better on across- than within-field trials, whereas both HT groups showed faster responses on within- than across-field trials. IHTT did not differ between groups. The findings suggest that postmenopausal estrogen-therapy affects the relative efficiency of interhemispheric integration by modulating within-hemisphere functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comprehension-monitoring skills in learning-disabled children.

Compared comprehension-monitoring skills of learning disabled (LD) and normal elementary school children. Comprehension monitoring, the ability to evaluate one's level of understanding incoming messages, was assessed in the context of a game-learning task. Ss were 12 younger LD boys (7–8 yrs old), 12 older LD boys (9–10 yrs old), and 12 younger and 10 older normal boys matched on age and IQ. No age effects were observed. The major finding was that relative to the matched normal Ss, LD Ss were deficient in comprehension-monitoring skills. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in neuropsychological performance and social functioning in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Objective: To investigate sex differences in neurocognition and social functioning in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and the possible role of sex as a moderator of this relationship. Method: Participants with schizophrenia (60 women/94 men), bipolar I disorder (55 women/51 men), and healthy controls (158 women/182 men) were assessed with an extensive neuropsychological test battery and a social functioning questionnaire. Results: We found significant main effects of sex for neuropsychological tests (p     

Sulphur removal in ironmaking and oxygen steelmaking

Sulphur removal in the ironmaking and oxygen steelmaking process is reviewed. A sulphur balance is made for the steelmaking process of Tata Steel IJmuiden, the Netherlands. There are four stages where sulphur can be removed: in the blast furnace (BF), during hot metal (HM) pretreatment, in the converter and during the secondary metallurgy (SM) treatment. For sulphur removal a low oxygen activity and a basic slag are required. In the BF typically 90% of the sulphur is removed; still, the HM contains about 0.03% of sulphur. Different HM desulphurisation processes are used worldwide. With co-injection or the Kanbara reactor, sulphur concentrations below 0.001% are reached. Basic slag helps desulphurisation in the converter. However, sulphur increase is not uncommon in the converter due to high oxygen activity and sulphur input via scrap and additions. For low sulphur concentrations SM desulphurisation, with a decreased oxygen activity and a basic slag, is always required.     

Power displays between women and men in discussions of gender-linked tasks: A multichannel study.

Conducted a multichannel investigation of how gender-based familiarity moderates verbal and nonverbal behaviors between men and women. Undergraduates in 24 mixed-sex dyads discussed masculine, feminine, and non-gender-linked topics. The primary dependent variables were verbal and nonverbal behaviors related to social power. The verbal behaviors examined were speech initiations and total amount of speech; the nonverbal behaviors studied were visual behavior (while speaking and while listening), gesturing, chin thrusts, and smiling. Systematic differences in the behaviors of men and women emerged on the gender-linked tasks. On the masculine task men displayed more verbal and nonverbal power-related behavior than did women. On the feminine task women exhibited more power than men on most of the verbal and nonverbal measures. On the non-gender-linked task men displayed greater power both verbally and nonverbally than did women. There were 2 exceptions to this overall pattern. Across all conditions, women smiled more often than did men, and men had a higher frequency of chin thrusts than did women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)