Personal and peers' word associations in relation to children's false recognition errors.

Attempted to show that false recognition errors would be more frequently elicited by children's personal associates to a set of target words than by associates based on peer norms; Ss were 80 White middle-class 2nd and 5th graders (mean ages, 7.6 and 10.6 yrs, respectively). In Session 1 Ss gave oral associations to 34 words. In the 1st phase of Session 2, target words were each read aloud once and Ss were required to memorize them; in the 2nd phase Ss worked for 5 min on a maze task to prevent rehearsal; and in the final phase, a 40-item recognition list was read. Ss determined whether a word was one they had been asked to remember. As predicted, responses occurred with decreasing frequency to target, personal, peer, and control words. Consistent with the expectation that personal associates would more frequently elicit false recognition errors than would peer associates, the difference between personal and control responses was larger than the difference between peer and control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-editing deficits in schizophrenia: A word-association analogue.

Made contrasting predictions to differentiate a 1- from a 2-stage model of word-association performance in schizophrenia. 24 schizophrenics and 24 normals provided word associations in response to (a) "free" vs. "idiosyncratic" instructions, and (b) stimulus words that typically elicit either a strong dominant or several weak associations. Results confirm the 2-stage model: under idiosyncratic instructions, schizophrenics produced more common associations than normals. Findings were consistent with 2 assumptions pertinent to the 2-stage model: schizophrenics (a) sample from an underlying repertoire of nondeviant associations; and (b) are deficient in the ability to edit out sampled but situationally inappropriate associations, whether common or unusual. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of undernutrition and amino acid deficiency on the timing of puberty in rats

Sexual maturation was examined in underfed or amino acid-deficient rats. We have demonstrated a highly significant negative linear relationship (r = -0.80, P less than 0.001) between the age at puberty and the growth rate in rats under conditions of food restriction. The weight at puberty in animals growing at different rates because of undernutrition was not constant but behaved as a quadratic function of growth rate, as predicted from the assumption that growth rate was an independent variable. Growth rate is therefore more important than arrival at a particular fixed weight in determining the timing of puberty. Feeding of low valine diets resulted in delayed sexual maturation. Both the weight at vaginal opening (182 +/- 5.9 g) and the weight at first estrus (187 +/- 6.1 g) were significantly greater in the valine-deficient group when compared with growth-matched control (139 +/- 10.7 g and 161 +/- 9.3 g, respectively, P less than 0.05). The valine-deficient group also had significantly later vaginal opening (98.8+/- 4.7 days) than growth-matched controls (76.6 +/- 6.6 days, P less than 0.02). Valine deficiency seemed to have a specific effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis since puberty in valine-deficient animals was delayed more than could be accounted for by impairment of growth.     

A galactosidase immunosorbent test for human immunoglobulin E

We report here the development of a galactosidase-immunosorbent test (GIST) for immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies in which the amount of galactosidase adsorbed to a cellulose disc is a single valued function of IgE concentration in human serum. Rabbit anti-IgE immunoglobulin insolubilized on cellulose discs is incubated sequentially with human serum, sheep anti-IgE serum, and a covalent conjugate of rabbit antisheep immunoglobulin with the enzyme beta-D-galactoside galactohydrolase (E.C.) 3.2.1.23). Colorimetric assay of enzyme conjugate adsorbed to discs permits quantitation of 1.0 to 25 ng of IgE per test. Concentrations of IgE in 48 sera as measured by the GIST gave a linear correlation coefficient of 0.97 with IgE concentrations as determined by radioimmunoassay. Preliminary studies indicate that the GIST makes possible nonisotopic measurement of ragweed-specific IgE antibiotics in human serum. The GIST for IgE is simple to perform and requires neither short-lived radioisotopes, expensive scintillation detection equipment, nor scarce, purified IgE.     

Simple modification of a liquid scintillation counter to decrease cost of and time for radioimmunoassay

A simple, inexpensive modification in the elevator mechanism of a liquid scintillation counter allows for radioimmunoassay tubes (12 X 75 mm) containing the antibody-bound radioligand to be counted directly, thereby obviating the need for counting vials and considerably decreasing the amount of fluor used. Furthermore, because assay and counting are all done in the same tube, the modification shortens assay time and increases precision by avoiding what is often the most time consuming and inaccurate step, the transfer of antibody-bound radioligand to a counting vial. We find that use of this modification results in about a 75% decrease in the overall cost for materials and a substantial decrease in assay time.     

White children's attitudes toward Blacks and the physically handicapped: A developmental study.

Children's behavior toward adults who differed from them along 2 dimensions was examined from a developmental perspective. A total of 80 White kindergartners and 4th graders were tested individually by either a Black or a White female adult who either was or was not seated in a wheelchair. Three kinds of behavior toward the adult were measured: physical distancing, imitation, and helping. On the basis of previous findings, it was predicted that children at both age levels would show more physical avoidance, less imitation, and less helping in the presence of other-race and handicap cues, as compared with own-race and nonhandicap cues. On all 3 types of behavior, the White E was favored over the Black E in both the wheelchair and nonwheelchair conditions. In addition, there were interaction effects involving race, handicap, age, and sex that suggest the operation of complex developmental processes in the formation of attitudes toward different types of stigmatized individuals. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of intermittent and constant punishment on resistance to punishment in a free operant situation for the albino rat.

Trained male Wistar albino rats (10 experimental and 9 control Ss) to barpress for food reinforcement in a 2-bar cyclic response chain situation. Responding on 1 bar led also to a punishment (footshock) on either an intermittent or constant schedule. Both punishment schedules led to increased responding on the nonpunished bar and to initial response suppression followed by recovery on the punished bar. For Ss on the intermittent schedule, the response increase on the nonpunished bar was seen only after a punishment on the other bar. Similar effects were found for transfer time between the 2 bars. The effects of punishment on response to both bars were more pronounced for the intermittent punishment groups. Results are discussed in terms of the motivational constructs of A. Amsel and of R. K. Banks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)