PET validation of a novel prefrontal task: Delayed response alteration.

Deficits in working memory have been proposed to explain the performance failures of frontally lesioned primates on delayed alternation (DA) and delayed response (DR) tasks. The authors examined a computerized test of delayed response alternation (DRA), which combines elements of DR and DA in a sample of 18 normal volunteers who underwent oxygen-15 PET regional cerebral blood flow scans during the DRA and a sensorimotor control task. Significant activations were observed in a network of frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal regions during initial task performance. A qualitatively similar but somewhat reduced set of activations was observed in a subset of participants who repeated the task after practice and instruction. These results are consistent with distributed models of working memory derived from studies of nonhuman primates and suggest that the frontal lobes contribute to human working memory function. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Probing suspicion among participants in deception research.

Seven introductory psychology students were led to believe they were participating in a study of the effect of practice task feedback on subsequent performance. When left alone by the experimenter, Ss compared the feedback they had received and discovered it was false. When the experimenter returned, Ss continued to participate as though nothing had happened. After announcing that the experiment involved deception, the experimenter asked on 3 separate occasions whether Ss were suspicious of the procedures or of anything that had happened in the experiment. Not only did Ss fail to divulge their knowledge of the deception, but their responses to manipulation check questions completed before the questioning provided little evidence that they were aware of the deception. Results indicate that investigators (in any field) who fail to adequately assess participant suspicions and perceptions are jeopardizing the tests of their hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Science and government: A federal agency perspective.

Discusses support of university-based research and training by the National Institutes of Health in terms of issues such as reimbursement for indirect costs, mechanisms of faculty support, and attacks on the peer review system. The need to assure that institutions and their faculties are not diverted from their commitments to teaching and research is stressed. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cohort differences in attitudes toward mental health services among older persons.

In order to investigate historical shifts in attitudes toward mental health and mental health services, two independent samples of older adults separated by a 14-year time interval were administered questionnaires. There were 91 in the 1977 sample (mean age 69.91 yrs) and 116 in the 1991 sample (mean age 71.94 yrs). Four newly created, internally consistent scales assessed multiple dimensions of their mental health attitudes (breadth of conceptions, bias, openness to help, range of problems). Analyses suggested that the younger cohorts of older adults held more positive attitudes toward mental health and mental health services than the older cohorts. These cohort differences remained when controlled for age, level of education, self-reported health, and income. These data indicate a positive cohort shift in attitudes toward mental health, a finding with numerous implications for the design and implementation of mental health services for future cohorts of older persons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of pavement surface texture significance and measurement techniques

It is generally agreed that the skid resistance of a pavement is controlled by the surface texture characteristics. Therefore, by measuring the relevant parameters describing texture, or by measuring a physical process dependent on texture, regression techniques can be used to relate skid resistance to the chosen texture parameter or process. Two scales of texture are of particular importance: microtexture (small-scale asperities) and macrotexture (largescale asperities).In this paper work performed at the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute at the Pennsylvania State University is described and is given in two parts: (1) a review of candidate macrotexture and microtexture measurement methods that can be made at highway speeds (at or above 65 km h^?1), which are presently used or have potential for use in pavement texture research, with a recommendation of the more promising methods for further development, and (2) a summary of the effects of pavement surface texture on skid resistance.     

Chemistry and function of mandibular gland products of bees of the genusExoneura (Hymenoptera,Anthophoridae)

FemaleExoneura richardsoni, E. bicolor, andE. bicincta (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae) release a pungent, staining liquid from their mandibular glands upon disturbance. This secretion is primarily composed of ethyl dodecanoate, with lesser amounts of homologous ethyl and methyl esters, salicylaldehyde, and 1,4-benzoquinone. The secretion elicits vigorous grooming when topically applied to antennae ofFormica ants. The shared, unique combination of mandibular gland lipids of these threeExoneura species supports their monophyletic classification, while the presence of salicylaldehyde may associateExoneura (Allodapini) withPithitis (Ceratinini).     

Levels of functional impairment following a civilian disaster: The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire.

117 individuals (mean age 37.77 yrs) who were at the fire and 30 individuals (mean age 40.72 yrs) who were not at the fire (bereaved families and rescue workers) were assessed regarding objective stressfulness of their fire experience, subjective stressfulness, and intensity of psychological symptoms (the Psychiatric Evaluation Form, PEF) in a structured clinical interview approximately 1 yr after the fire. Ss also filled out the Symptom Checklist-90, Revised Version (SCL-90R). 88 Ss were followed-up at 2 yrs. The group as a whole was more impaired than comparison samples of normals but less impaired than outpatients. Ss at the fire were less impaired than those not at the fire, who were similar to outpatients on the PEF. The latter group improved significantly on several measures from 1 to 2 yrs postfire, whereas the group at the fire showed little change. Results are discussed in the context of the specific instruments and methodology used in the present study, impairment levels of other samples, and the nature of the particular disaster. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of impurity redistribution of the subthreshold leakage current in CMOS n-channel transistors

A study of subthreshold leakage current in n-channel transistors on low threshold voltage CMOS circuits has been made. Redistribution of impurities at the silicon surface during thermal oxidation is shown to be the main cause of excess subthreshold leakage current. Processing techniques to minimize this leakage have been developed.     

Testing in State Hospitals: Comment.

Replies to a comment made by Paul Hauck (1959). The author uses Hauck's comment as an opportunity to examine some assumptions and assertions of various psychologists in and out of state hospital service. The author's main concern is that if psychologists confine themselves to tests and become too closely identified with them, they may suddenly find themselves without function in working with emotionally disturbed humans if it is finally decided that personality testing is invalid or irrelevant or both. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)