Relations between prenatal testosterone levels and cognitive abilities at 4 years.

Relations between prenatal testosterone (T) levels and cognitive abilities at age 4 were examined for 28 girls and 30 boys. Prenatal T levels were measured in 2nd trimester amniotic fluid samples obtained by amniocentesis and were examined in relation to scores on tests of cognitive abilities. For girls, prenatal T levels showed a curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) relation to language comprehension and classification abilities. Linear relations also were observed in that prenatal T levels were inversely related to girls' scores on tasks assessing counting and number facts. Similarly, girls with high average block building scores had lower prenatal T and cognitive abilities were not observed. The observation of relations in girls and not boys is discussed, and the findings are examined in relation to theories of hormone-behavior relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of prenatal testosterone on lateralization of handedness and language.

Objective: Handedness is the most noticeable functional expression of cerebral lateralization in humans. However, its developmental process and plasticity remain elusive. It has been postulated that prenatal testosterone (pT) has an effect on human lateralization development. In the present study we examined the relationship between pT and handedness and compared the outcome to previously published data on language lateralization in the same children. Method: pT was assessed from amniotic fluid of healthy pregnant women using radioimmunoassay. Strength and direction of handedness of the children (n = 65 [31 girls, 34 boys], mean age [years]: 6.43, range: 5.97–7.53) was assessed based on hand choice during performance of age appropriate tasks. Regression procedures and the Olkin & Siotani Z-statistic were used. Results: Results demonstrate that higher pT exposure was related to a decrease in strength of handedness (R2 = .11, p = .01). The analysis shows that pT has quite stronger explanatory power than sex by itself, although there may be an additional effect of sex independent from pT. In a subgroup of these children we recently reported that higher levels of pT are related to increased left hemisphere dominance for language. Analyses show that pT is differentially related to handedness and language lateralization in these children (Z > 2.75, p     

Salivary testosterone concentrations in left-handers: An association with cerebral language lateralization.

The level of testosterone exposure in early brain development may influence the direction or degree of cerebral language lateralization. Possible links between individual differences in testosterone levels and patterns of speech representation were investigated in 180 healthy young adults (97 left handed, 83 right handed) using the Fused Dichotic Words Test (T. Halwes, 1991). Among left-handed participants, significantly higher testosterone concentrations were observed in individuals with a left-ear advantage on dichotic listening than in individuals with a right-ear advantage. Among right-handed participants, the pattern of group differences in testosterone tended to be reversed, resulting in a statistically significant interaction. Results extend prior findings by S. D. Moffat and E. Hampson (see record 1996-03260-006) and raise the possibility that higher testosterone is associated with patterns of brain organization in which speech and praxic functions are lateralized to the same hemisphere. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measuring degree of cerebral lateralization in children as a function of age.

Discusses the indices of the degree of cerebral lateralization given by J. C. Marshall et al (see record 1975-30869-001) in the context of developmental experiments. These indices are the differences in the number of correct responses when information is presented to the right and left perceptual fields divided by either the total number of correct responses or by the total number of errors, according to whether proportional accuracy across the perceptual fields is above or below .5. Marshall et al argued that these measures are unconstrained by an S's overall level of accuracy. However, it is shown for hypothetical developmental experiments, in which error rates tend to decrease as a function of age, that the Marshall et al indices are arbitrarily related to changes in the efficiency of the hemispheres. The indices indicate developmental increases in lateralization, although the difference between the hemispheres remains constant and even in some circumstances where the difference decreases. It is argued that the use of the Marshall et al index either prejudges the issue or results in relationships that are difficult to predict on any substantive theory of cerebral lateralization. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental instability and cerebral lateralization

On the basis of prior studies of handedness, it was predicted that variations from modal asymmetry scores on cognitive tasks, in either direction from the mean, would be associated with an elevated incidence of classic markers of developmental instability (minor physical anomalies and fluctuating anatomic asymmetries). University students (N = 146) were administered 4 tasks that typically reveal functional asymmetries: the fused rhymed words dichotic listening task, the line bisection task, the chimeric faces task, and the cartoon faces task. A composite measure of developmental instability was computed from minor physical anomalies and fluctuating asymmetries. Participants with greater evidence of developmental instability had more atypical lateralization scores, deviating more from the sample mean, in either direction. Directional asymmetries were unrelated to developmental instability. These results suggest that developmental instability influences variation in the lateralization of cognitive skills as well as handedness.     

Relations between coparenting and father involvement in families with preschool-age children.

A sample (N = 112) composed primarily of European American and middle-class two-parent families with a resident father and a 4-year-old child (48% girls) participated in a longitudinal study of associations between coparenting and father involvement. At the initial assessment and 1 year later, fathers reported on their involvement in play and caregiving activities with the focal child, and coparenting behavior was observed during triadic family interactions. Structural equation modeling was used to test cross-lagged associations between coparenting behavior and father involvement. Overall, paths from father involvement to coparenting behavior were significant, but paths from coparenting behavior to father involvement were not. Specifically, greater father involvement in play was associated with an increase in supportive and a decrease in undermining coparenting behavior over time. In contrast, greater father involvement in caregiving was associated with a decrease in supportive and an increase in undermining coparenting behavior. Multigroup analysis further showed that these cross-lagged relations did not differ for dual-earner families and single-earner (father) families, but these relations appeared to differ for families with focal daughters and families with focal sons. These findings highlight the potential for fathering to affect coparenting and the importance of the role of contextual factors in coparenting-fathering relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between reflection–impulsivity and behavioral impulsivity in preschool children.

Administered the PPVT and measures of reflection–impulsivity, activity level, parent education, and personality to 90 43–79 mo old preschoolers (half males and half females). Analyses supported the findings of J. Block et al (see record 1975-03118-001) that the dimension of behavioral impulsivity characterized Ss with long response latency and high error scores rather than the findings of J. Kagan and S. B. Messer (see PA, Vols 54:1125 and 58:1257). When variables were treated as continuous and analyzed by multiple regression analysis, response accuracy rather than response latency was the variable with important relations to behavior. Data show that gender differences (often masked in research designs) accounted for important variance in the relations of conceptual and behavioral impulsivity: In predicting impulsive behavior, activity level was the central differentiating variable, important for males and unimportant for females. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between maternal employment and development of nursery school children.

Examined the relations between maternal employment status and nursery school children's sex role concepts, cognitive development, and adjustment. 110 children formed 4 groups according to their sex and their mothers' employment status. It was predicted that maternal employment would be associated with a broadening of Ss' sex role concepts and differential cognitive development depending on the sex of the S. Results show that Ss' sex role concepts were broader if their mothers were employed. Ss' perceptions of their mothers were not related to their employment status, but fathers were perceived more negatively by their sons if the mother was employed. Sons of employed mothers had lower IQ scores than either daughters of employed mothers or Ss with nonemployed mothers. Ss with employed mothers received better adjustment ratings from their teachers. (French summary) (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining the relationship between degree of handedness and degree of cerebral lateralization for processing facial emotion.

This paper examines the relationship between degree of handedness and degree of cerebral lateralization on a task of processing positive facial emotion in right-handed individuals. Three hundred and thirteen right-handed participants (157 women) were given two behavioral tests of lateralization: a handedness questionnaire and a chimeric faces test. Two further handedness measures were taken: familial lefthandedness and writing posture. Regression analysis showed that both degree of handedness and sex were predictive of degree of lateralization. Individuals who were strongly right-handed were also more strongly lateralized to the right hemisphere for the task. Men were more strongly lateralized than women. Data were reanalyzed for men and women separately. The relationship between handedness and lateralization remained for men only. Neither familial left-handedness nor writing posture were associated with cerebral lateralization for men or women. The results suggest a positive relationship between degree of handedness and degree of cerebral lateralization, and further that there is a sex difference in this relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Brain lateralization and severity of stuttering in children

Cerebral lateralization in visual perception was investigated in 9 severe stuttering, 11 mild stuttering and 48 fluent speakers. The subjects were asked to identify words presented in the left or right visual field for 20 ms. Children responded by pointing to the exposed test word on a response card which contained four different words. Errors committed in the left and right visual fields were analyzed. The data showed a left hemisphere superiority in the processing of words in both the mild stutterers and the fluent speakers, but a right hemisphere advantage in the severe stutterers. The results suggest a close relationship between the severity of stuttering and functional brain organization.     

The ontogeny of right cerebral lateralization of spatial mental set.

Tested the manner in which right-hemisphere function lateralizes in childhood based on the left-hemisphere bias in visual orientation that results from inducing spatial mental set. 49 male and 49 female 5–12 yr olds identified tachistoscopically presented digits in either half field, given either verbal or spatial priming. The spatial priming even diminished the right-field advantage in the verbal condition when it was conducted in the 2nd session several days later. No evidence of progressive lateralization for the left hemisphere (verbal identification) or for the right hemisphere (spatial priming) process was found. Minor sex differences could be due to strategic factors. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motor lateralization, behavioral despair and dopaminergic brain asymmetry after prenatal stress

This paper presents data suggesting a relationship between rat behavioral despair in the Porsolt test and motor lateralization in the T-maze test. In addition, experimental evidence suggests a functional coupling among dopaminergic systems, behavioral despair and motor lateralization. In the first experiment, female, not male, rats with a high level of behavioral despair showed a low level of behavioral lateralization. The inverse relationship was found in female offspring of mothers stressed during gestation. In comparison with unstressed-mother rats, the female offspring of stressed mothers showed an increase of dopamine (DA) and a decrease of dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and Homovanillic (HVA) levels and of DOPAC:DA and HVA:DA indexes in the n. accumbens of the right side of the brain. No significant differences were found in the n. accumbens of the left brain. Taken together, the present data provide evidence of a relation between behavioral despair and motor lateralization, suggesting that the biological dopaminergic inervation of n. accumbens could be the basis for this functional coupling. Because the stress of gestant mothers modified these biochemical and behavioral variables, the present study also suggests that lateralization of behavior and emotion during adulthood can be modified by prenatal variables.     

Relation between lateralization and loudness in asymmetrical hearing losses

The purpose of these experiments was to study the role of interaural intensity and loudness differences in median-plane lateralization. Observers who either wore an earplug in one ear or had an asymmetrical hearing loss varied the intensity of simultaneous tone bursts at the two ears to center a sound image inside their heads. Hard-of-hearing Ss with conductive and cochlear losses centered the tone bursts by setting them somewhere between equal intensity and equal loudness at the two ears. Although Ss with the simulated loss first centered the tones on the basis of equal loudness, after several days of wearing the ear plug, they centered in the same manner as observers with long-term hearing losses.     

Focused and shifting attention in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure.

Attention deficits are a hallmark of the teratogenic effects of alcohol. However, characterization of these deficits remains inconclusive. Children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure and nonexposed controls were evaluated using a paradigm consisting of three conditions: visual focus, auditory focus, and auditory-visual shift of attention. For the focus conditions, participants responded manually to visual or auditory targets. For the shift condition, participants alternated responses between visual targets and auditory targets. For the visual focus condition, alcohol-exposed children had lower accuracy and slower reaction time for all intertarget intervals (ITIs), while on the auditory focus condition, alcohol-exposed children were less accurate but displayed slower reaction time only on the longest ITI. Finally, for the shift condition, the alcohol-exposed group was accurate but had slowed reaction times. These results indicate that children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure have pervasive deficits in visual focused attention and deficits in maintaining auditory attention over time. However, no deficits were noted in the ability to disengage and reengage attention when required to shift attention between visual and auditory stimuli, although reaction times to shift were slower. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between biographical data and patient symptomatology.

Performed a correlational analysis of the relation between item clusters derived from a biographical inventory, the MMPI, and the factors derived from the Katz Adjustment Scales. Ss were 117 psychiatric inpatients, 18-65 yrs of age. Data confirm the expected relations between life history clusters and symptomatology. The factor of Social and Familial Alienation was related to both affective symptoms and more stable personality characteristics. A history of acting out was related to a tendency to emphasize Psychopathology, Masculine Interests, and the character disorder dyad of Psychopathic Deviancy and Hypomania. Age and social status also yielded expectable results, although they tended to be less consistently related to personality variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between early child care and schooling.

The purpose of this article is to examine relations between aspects of early child care (age entered, full- or part-time structure, and number of child-care arrangements and their quality) and school adjustment. The early child-care experiences of 87 children who entered a laboratory elementary school at 3 years, 9 months of age were documented, and their first-grade adjustment was assessed 3 years after school entrance. Although single-parent families and families in which the mother was employed used more child care and enrolled their children at earlier ages, maternal education was more closely associated with children's school adjustment than was maternal employment or marital status. After family characteristics were accounted for, academic progress, school skills, and few behavioral problems were predicted by high-quality, stable child care. The structure of the early child care (full- or part-time) was not associated with school adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning.

One of the most important open questions in reasoning research is how inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning are related. In an effort to address this question, we applied methods and concepts from memory research. We used 2 experiments to examine the effects of logical validity and premise–conclusion similarity on evaluation of arguments. Experiment 1 showed 2 dissociations: For a common set of arguments, deduction judgments were more affected by validity, and induction judgments were more affected by similarity. Moreover, Experiment 2 showed that fast deduction judgments were like induction judgments—in terms of being more influenced by similarity and less influenced by validity, compared with slow deduction judgments. These novel results pose challenges for a 1-process account of reasoning and are interpreted in terms of a 2-process account of reasoning, which was implemented as a multidimensional signal detection model and applied to receiver operating characteristic data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between factor analysis and multidimensional scaling.

Describes the fundamental relations between multidimensional scaling and factor analysis. Metric and nonmetric versions of both models are described in terms of type of data analyzed, assumptions made, objectives, computational procedures, geometric representations of data and solutions, and psychological meaning of results. What is commonly taken to be a fundamental identity between the metric versions of the 2 models is shown to be merely the employment of the same theorems. The strongest relations between the techniques lie in the realm of individual differences models for multidimensional scaling. Several such models are presented and are shown to represent the application of the logic of factor analysis to the substance of multidimensional scaling. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between feeding and sleep patterns in the rat.

A concomitant analysis of sleep and feeding patterns in 11 male Wistar rats was carried out over 8 days, using continuous EEG recording. The proportion of slow-wave sleep and paradoxical sleep within an intermeal interval was constant and varied only in relation to the time of the day. During the dark period only, there were significant correlations between meal size and amount of time spent in both stages of sleep in the following intermeal interval. These correlations were even stronger between meal size and sleep duration in the intermeal interval that followed the next meal. Circadian variations in satiety ratios (i.e., units of subsequent intermeal interval and sleep per units of food ingested) and in deprivation ratios (i.e., units of feeding per units of prior intermeal interval and sleep) suggest that division of 24-hr data into 3 8-hr periods rather than 2 12-hr periods reveals distinct correlations between meal size and pre- and postmeal sleep and might reflect more accurately the underlying metabolic events. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)