Conscious and unconscious strategy discoveries: a microgenetic analysis

We examined second graders' strategy discoveries on a task that could be solved either by arithmetic computation or by a simple insight. Strategy use was assessed on each trial through both an implicit measure and an explicit one. The results provided unambiguous evidence that strategies can be discovered without conscious awareness. Almost 90% of children showed the insight at an implicit, unreportable level before they showed it at an explicit, reportable one. When children received the relevant problems on each trial, 80% reported the insight within 5 trials of when their solution times indicated that they first generated it. Implications for understanding the relation between unconscious and conscious discoveries and for the role of competing activations in strategy discovery are discussed.     

Introduction to the special section: In search of a double paradigm.

The goal of this special section was to publish articles that would speak to two audiences simultaneously—health psychologists with an interest in adult development and aging and geropsychologists with an interest in health psychology. The three articles that were included were each quite different in conceptualization and design. They included a targeted longitudinal study of samples of hypertensive and normotensive patients, a large national population survey, and a targeted pair of experiments. These articles add to a growing literature in health psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acute renal failure in idiopathic nephrotic syndrome

The authors report a huge lymphangioma of the tongue in a sixty-seven years old female patient. The remarkable progression in dimensions of this lesion, leading to the inevitable protrusion of the tongue, led to the realization of an extended glossectomy, with a functional objective in mind. This simple procedure showed an excellent five years follow-up results. From this case report, the authors stress up on the etiopathogenic, pathological, clinical as well as therapeutic aspects of lingual lymphangioma.     

Representations of the magnitudes of fractions.

We tested whether adults can use integrated, analog, magnitude representations to compare the values of fractions. The only previous study on this question concluded that even college students cannot form such representations and instead compare fraction magnitudes by representing numerators and denominators as separate whole numbers. However, atypical characteristics of the presented fractions might have provoked the use of atypical comparison strategies in that study. In our 3 experiments, university and community college students compared more balanced sets of single-digit and multi-digit fractions and consistently exhibited a logarithmic distance effect. Thus, adults used integrated, analog representations, akin to a mental number line, to compare fraction magnitudes. We interpret differences between the past and present findings in terms of different stimuli eliciting different solution strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associations among NEO personality assessments and well-being at mid-life: Facet-level analyses.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 16(1) of Psychology and Aging (see record 2007-17221-001). The article contained an error in the journal title for the Schmutte and Ryff (1997) reference. The correct reference is: Schmutte, P. S., & Ryff, C. D. (1997). Personality and well-being: Reexamining methods and meanings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 549-559.] The association between well-being and personality was examined in 2,379 middle-aged adults. Measures that parallel C. D. Ryff's (1989) psychological model were selected to assess well-being. The 30 facet scales of the NEO-PI–R were used to measure personality. More than 83% of the facet–well-being correlations within the domains of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness reached statistical significance, whereas, less than half of the correlations within the domains of Agreeableness and Openness were significant. The facets within each domain demonstrated different patterns of associations with the well-being measures, indicating that facet-level assessments yield additional information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coronary heart disease moderates the relationship of chronic stress with the metabolic syndrome

Mutations have been identified in the beta2-microglobulin gene of tumor cells of two metastatic melanoma patients who received immunizations with MAGE peptides. One mutation abolishes the start codon whereas the other introduces a premature stop codon. The second beta2-microglobulin allele of both tumors appears to be lost on the basis of sequence data and loss of microsatellite heterozygosity. The lack of beta2-microglobulin gene product results in the absence of HLA class I antigens on the surface of the tumor cells. This may explain why the tumors of both patients progressed despite the immunization treatment and shows the necessity of analyzing in depth the antigen presentation capability of the tumor cells for the interpretation of clinical trials involving anti-tumor vaccination.     

Iso-shaping rigid bodies for estimating their motion from image sequences

In many medical imaging applications, due to the limited field of view of imaging devices, acquired images often include only a part of a structure. In such situations, it is impossible to guarantee that the images will contain exactly the same physical extent of the structure at different scans, which leads to difficulties in registration and in many other tasks, such as the analysis of the morphology, architecture, and kinematics of the structures. To facilitate such analysis, we developed a general method, referred to as iso-shaping, that generates structures of the same shape from segmented image sequences. The basis for this method is to automatically find a set of key points, called shape centers, in the segmented partial anatomic structure such that these points are present in all images and that they represent the same physical location in the object, and then trim the structure using these points as reference. The application area considered here is the analysis of the morphology, architecture, and kinematics of the joints of the foot from magnetic resonance images acquired at different joint positions and load conditions. The accuracy of the method is analyzed by utilizing ten data sets for iso-shaping the tibia and the fibula via four evaluative experiments. The analysis indicates that iso-shaping produces results as predicted by the theoretical framework.     

Stress in employed women: impact of marital status and children at home on neurohormone output and home strain

We isolated peroxisome biogenesis mutants from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, using the 9-(1'-pyrene)nonanol/ultraviolet (P9OH/ UV) method and wild-type CHO-K1 cells that had been stably transfected with cDNA encoding Pex2p (formerly peroxisome assembly factor-1, PAF-1). Three mutant cell clones, ZP110, ZP111, and ZP114, showed cytosolic localization of catalase, thereby indicating a defect in peroxisome biogenesis, whereas ZP112 and ZP113 contained fewer but larger catalase-positive particles. Mutant ZP115 displayed an aberrant, tubular structure immunoreactive to anti-catalase antibody. Mutants lacking morphologically recognizable peroxisomes also showed the typical peroxisome assembly-defective phenotype such as severe loss of catalase latency and resistance to 12-(1'-pyrene)dodecanoic acid (P12)/UV treatment. ZP110 and ZP111, and ZP114 were found to belong to two novel complementation groups, respectively, by complementation group analysis with cDNA transfection and cell fusion. Cell fusion with fibroblasts from patients with peroxisome biogenesis disorders such as Zellweger syndrome revealed that ZP110 and ZP114 could not be classified to any of human complementation groups. Thus, ZP110/ZP111 and ZP114 are the first, two peroxisome-deficient cell mutants of newly identified complementation groups distinct from the ten mammalian groups previously characterized.     

Developmental differences in rule learning: a microgenetic analysis

Trial-by-trial strategy assessments and a microgenetic design were used to examine 4- and 5-year-olds' learning of rules for solving balance scale problems. The design allowed us to examine simultaneously the contribution to rule learning of distal variables (qualities and knowledge with which children enter the learning situation) and proximal variables (processes that they execute during learning). Developmental differences in learning arose through two distal variables that were correlated with age--initial rule use and initial encoding-helping older children to execute several proximal processes--noticing the potential explanatory role of a key variable, formulating a more advanced rule, and generalizing and maintaining the rule. Joint consideration of distal and proximal influences seems likely to be generally useful for understanding learning and development.