Drinking to regulate positive and negative emotions: A motivational model of alcohol use.

The present study proposed and tested a motivational model of alcohol use in which people are hypothesized to use alcohol to regulate both positive and negative emotions. Two central premises underpin this model: (a) that enhancement and coping motives for alcohol use are proximal determinants of alcohol use and abuse through which the influence of expectancies, emotions, and other individual differences are mediated and (b) that enhancement and coping motives represent phenomenologically distinct behaviors having both unique antecedents and consequences. This model was tested in 2 random samples (1 of adults, 1 of adolescents) using a combination of moderated regression and path analysis corrected for measurement error. Results revealed strong support for the hypothesized model in both samples and indicate the importance of distinguishing psychological motives for alcohol use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of relatedness and number of distractors on attribute judgments in Alzheimer's disease.

Participants made judgments about the relative salience of category exemplars (e.g., fruit: apple or grape) or parts (e.g., plane: wings or seats). Mildly affected Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients were as accurate but slower than normal controls, and their response times increased more for related (e.g., apple, grape, or fig) than unrelated (e.g., apple, gym, bandit) choices as the number of alternatives was increased from 2 to 3. Performance (accuracy and response times) of moderate-severely affected patients was poorer still, but number of distractors and relatedness did not interact. In combination with previous findings (e.g., M. K. Johnson, A. M. Hermann, & J. L. Bonilla, 1995), these results suggest that the reflective processes necessary for deciding among competing alternatives show disruption early in the disease process. Such processing deficits would compound any difficulties arising from a degrading semantic structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spectral tuning of opponent channels is spatially dependent

Psychophysical detection and appearance data suggest that the spectral tuning of opponent pathways varies with test size. The present study examines the effect on spectral sensitivity of the relative size of test and surround fields. Increment thresholds and flashed-field sensitivities were obtained for 580 nm and 641 nm targets. Three spatial configurations were used. The pattern of sensitivity loss is shown to depend on the spatial relation between test and field; the effect of the spatial relation in turn depends on test wavelength. The findings are explained by the activity of a changing network of spatially and spectrally opponent cells.     

Whatever happened to scholarly discourse? A reply to B. F. Skinner.

Comments that B. F. Skinner (see record 1988-00027-001) has presented an egregiously inaccurate characterization of humanistic psychology. The authors note that Skinnerian radical behaviorism emphasizes behavior, science, and technology, while humanistic psychologies emphasize human beings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of a test for bulimia.

Describes the development of a bulimia test (BULIT), a 32-item, self-report, multiple-choice scale that assesses symptoms of bulimia for clinical work and research. The BULIT was constructed by comparing responses of clinically identified female bulimic Ss with normal female college students on 75 preliminary test items, which were based on DSM-III criteria for bulimia. Cross-validation was performed on independent samples of bulimic and control Ss. The BULIT was a good predictor of group membership for both initial and replication samples. The scale was then administered to female college students, and a stratified sample of these Ss was retested and interviewed several weeks later. Results of retesting and judgments of diagnostic interviews show that the BULIT is a reliable and valid predictor of bulimia in a nonclinical population. The BULIT correlated highly with another measure of bulimia, indicating a high degree of construct validity. A lower correlation with a measure of anorexia nervosa suggests that bulimia and anorexia nervosa represent overlapping, but not identical, syndromes. The BULIT is appended. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification of wax esters inTetrahymena pyriformis

Wax esters, isolated fromTetrahymena pyriformis, have been found to contain 45% branched chain alcohols and 76% branched chain fatty acids. No esters of tetrahymanol or of sterols were found.     

Proactive effects in pigeons' memory for event duration: Evidence for analogical retention.

An intratrial proactive interference design was used to examine the nature of pigeons' memory for duration in a delayed matching task. Short (2 s) or long (10 s) target samples were preceded on test trials by a short or long presample. The durations were consistent on some trials (short-short or long-long) and inconsistent on others (short-long or long-short). Contrary to predictions based on prospective or categorical coding, accuracy was not related to duration consistency. Instead, accuracy was reduced on short-short and long-short trials and somewhat enhanced on short-long and long-long trials, suggesting that the Ss "summed across" the durations. This occurred even with a 10-s interstimulus interval (Experiment 1) and even when the presample and target sample were physically distinct (Experiment 2). Results suggest that pigeons remember event durations in an analogical and retrospective fashion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facial expression in adults with Down's Syndrome.

The facial expressions of adults with Down's syndrome (DS; n?=?15) as they watched happy, sad, and neutral videotapes were compared with those of a healthy age-matched control group (n?=?20). Facial movements were analyzed with the Facial Action Coding System (P. E. Ekman & W. V. Friesen, 1978). While watching happy stimuli, the 10 DS adults who were able to appropriately rate their reactions smiled with a cheek raise as frequently as control adults, suggesting that the expression of positive affect in these individuals is normal. Contrary to predictions, however, the DS group exhibited fewer smiles without cheek raises than did control adults and were more likely not to smile. Neither group showed prototypic sad facial expressions in response to sad stimuli. Independent of emotion, DS participants made more facial movements, including more tongue shows, than did control participants. Differences in facial expression in DS adults may confuse others' interpretations of their emotional responses and may be important for understanding the development of abnormal emotional processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Financial stress, social support, and alcohol involvement: A longitudinal test of the buffering hypothesis in a general population survey.

This study examined whether specific facets of social support (tangible assistance, appraisal and belonging) moderate the relationship between a specific type of stress (financial stress) and alcohol involvement (drinking to cope, heavy drinking, and alcohol problems). Data were derived from a community sample stratified by education and race. Respondents (N?=?1,040) were interviewed in 1986 and 1989 and had drunk alcohol during the year preceding both interviews. Results supported the buffering influence of tangible support on the financial stress–alcohol involvement relationship. In contrast, neither appraisal nor belonging support consistently revealed a buffering pattern. These findings indicate the importance of taking into account specific components of social support when examining the relationship between specific sources of life stress and alcohol involvement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response to contradiction: Scientific reasoning during adolescence.

In this study we examined how students restructure their scientific ideas in response to contradiction. Using equal numbers of male and female subjects, we presented 166 students aged 12, 13, and 14 with two conditions. In one interview condition, students were asked to make predictions about how much water would be displaced by objects of varying size, shape, and weight. They were then asked to test their predictions with physical apparatus by actually immersing objects in water. In the other inteview conditions, students were presented with the same experiences, but with an additional early opportunity to examine the equipment and to generate alternative variables. At first, subjects' predictions were generally wrong (in that they were guided by a weight rule). Gradually, most students changed their predictions in the face of contradictory evidence to a correct rule (volume). During the interview, boys learned the correct rule more quickly than did girls. However, there was a significant Sex?×?Treatment interaction for girls who had the additional opportunity to examine the equipment. We concluded that for girls, such additional experiences may (a) compensate for an initial lack of familiarity with formal experimental setting and (b) encourage them to use analogical reasoning processes to generate a list of potentially relevant variables. Furthermore, we noted that conceptual change requires reflection and that science educators should support the learner's mechanisms for restructuring information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)