Traits revisited.

"… much of our research on traits is overweighted with methodological preoccupation… we have too few restraints holding us to the structure of a life as it is lived. We find ourselves confused by our intemperate empiricism which often yields unnamable factors, arbitrary codes, unintelligible interaction effects, and sheer flatulence from our computors… I propose the restraints of 'houristic realism' which accepts the common-sense assumption that persons are real beings, that each has a real neuropsychic organization, and that our job is to comprehend this organization as well as we can." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Scanning electron microscopy of vascular casts

Corrosion casts provide three dimensional replicas that can be examined readily by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). They are prepared by filling vascular networks with polymerizing plastic and then digesting away the tissue. As based on our studies of ocular vessels, this report describes the vascular anatomy, as well as the artifacts, that are encountered during SEM studies of such preparations.     

Comparison of programmed and prose culture training upon attitudes and knowledge.

A programmed culture training manual, developed for nurses working in Pitjantjatjara communities in South Australia, was compared with parallel essay training for effects upon knowledge, attitudes to Aboriginals, and motivation to work with Aboriginals. Two experiments were conducted, one with 14 community welfare workers and the other with 74 postgraduate nurses. In Exp I, Ss were randomly allocated to either programmed training or prose training, whereas in Exp II, Ss were randomly allocated to a programmed, a prose, or a no-training condition. Results show that the manual had a stronger effect than essay training or no training upon retention and generalization of culture knowledge. Manual training also seemed to make trainees more cautious about their willingness to work with Aboriginals than essay-trained Ss. There were no significant effects on attitudes. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple joint infections with Enterobacter cloacae

An infant with multiple joint infections from Enterobacter cloacae seems not to have been reported previously. The infant survived, incurred a pathologic dislocation of the left hip, but at 18 months of age was well with all other joints functioning normally.     

Clinical and biochemical studies in Engelmann's disease (progressive diaphyseal dysplasia)

The clinical and biochemical features of four adults with Engelmann's disease (Camurati-Engelmann disease; progressive diaphyseal dysplasia) are presented. One young patient, with a particularly severe form of the disease, is discussed in detail. Biochemical abnormalities were found in three of the patients. In two of them, one with localized hyperostosis and one with generalized bone disease, the only changes were an increase in the plasma alkaline phosphatase and urinary total hydroxyproline excretion. The most severely affected patients, who had had progressive and generalized bone disease from age two and a half years, also had persistent hypocalcaemia and hyperphosphataemia, a positive calcium balance, and a very low urine calcium excretion. It is suggested that some patients with Engelmann's disease may have a previously unrecognized metabolic disorder associated with increased retention of calcium and excessive bone formation. The possible role of abnormal phosphate metabolism in this increased formation of bone, and the relationship of Engelmann's disease to other hyperostoses, are discussed.     

Interventricular septal motion in patients with proximal and distal left anterior descending coronary artery lesions

In order to evaluate the ability of the echocardiogram to detect and localize left main or left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery lesions, 43 patients were studied. The systolic excursion of the left side of the septum and the ratio of posterior wall to septal excursion were measured. Seventeen patients had no LAD lesions; all had systolic septal excursion of 3 mm or greater. Twelve patients with septal excursion of 2 mm or less all had left main or LAD lesions, but 14 other patients with LAD lesions had septal excursions of 3 mm or greater. Nine of 16 patients with LAD lesions proximal to the first septal branch had reduced or absent septal excursion, as did three of ten with LAD lesions distal to the first septal branch. In a setting of coronary artery disease reduced or absent septal motion on echocardiography suggests involvement of the left main or left anterior descending coronary. However, the technique is relatively insensitive, with 54% of the LAD patients having normal septal motion.     

Evidence for occurrence of mounting sex pheromone on body surface of femaleDermacentor variabilis (Say) AndDermacentor andersoni (Stiles) (Acari: Ixodidae)

MaleDermacentor variabilis andD. andersoni respond to an unknown chemical or chemicals present on the body surfaces of partially engorged conspecific female ticks. Following contact, the males mount the females and apply their mouthparts and legs against the female dorsal body surface. Then, the males turn with these appendages still in close contact and crawl to the female's venter, whereupon they locate the gonopore, probe the vulva, and copulate. Similar responses are elicited by heterospecific as well as conspecific females. However, the response is lost when the female cuticle is cleaned (delipidized) with organic solvents. It can be restored by applying hexane extracts prepared from female cuticle to the previously cleaned females. Males do not use surface texture as the primary stimulus for mate recognition. Male ticks also respond to hexane extracts applied to spherical inanimate objects, (dummy female), suggesting that a chemical or chemicals soluble in organic solvents has been transferred to these objects. These findings suggest the existence of a previously undescribed pheromone, the mounting sex pheromone (MSP). This contact sex pheromone enables males excited and attracted by 2,6-dichlorophenol to identify the female as a potential mating partner. The MSP is the second in the series of three sex pheromones guiding the hierarchy of behavioral responses which constitute tick courtship behavior.Supported by grant AI 10,986 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland 20205.     

Component and pattern information in adaptive networks.

M. A. Gluck and G. H. Bower (see record 1989-00340-001) presented an adaptive network model of human classification in which associative weights are modified according to R. A. Rescorla and A. R. Wagner (1972) conditioning theory, a special case of the Widrow-Hoff/LMS learning rule. Presenting empirical data from a series of artificial medical classification tasks, we argued that the network model predicts results that were unanticipated, given prevailing alternative theories of category learning. We consider here some alternative interpretations of this data suggested by D. R. Shanks (see record 1990-27514-001) and argue that they are not sufficiently compelling when compared to the network model's treatment of the data from all the experiments presented in our earlier study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the relation between production and verification tasks in the psychology of simple arithmetic.

Most theories of arithmetic assume that verification tasks are performed by producing an answer and comparing it with the presented answer. Verification is production plus comparison. We tested this hypothesis by imposing delays between arithmetic arguments and answers, in theory imposing delays between production and comparison. Long delays should absorb effects on production, and reaction time, from the onset of the answer, should reflect only comparison. Six experiments were conducted, three with addition and three with multiplication. Experiments 1 and 2 used experimenter-imposed delays; Experiments 3 and 4 used subject-imposed delays. In Experiments 5 and 6, subjects uttered the sum or product before exposing the answer. In Experiments 1–4, argument magnitude affected reaction time, even at the longest delay; in Experiments 5 and 6, argument magnitude effects were reduced. These results are contrary to the hypothesis that verification is production plus comparison and consistent with the idea that verification involves comparing the equation as a whole against memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Connections between the pontine central gray and the ventromedial hypothalamus are essential for lordosis in female rats.

Lesions and knife cuts were used to study central gray (CG) and ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) mediation of sexual receptivity in female rats. Lesions of the midbrain–pontine CG eliminated lordosis in female rats. Bilateral sagittal knife cuts that bracketed the rostral pontine CG also eliminated lordosis, and an experiment with the retrograde tracer Fluoro-Gold confirmed the effectiveness of these cuts in severing the lateral connections linking the VMH and the CG. Finally, females with a unilateral hypothalamic cut combined with a contralateral CG transection almost never showed lordosis. Each cut, at a different level for each side of the brain, transected axons linking the VMH and the CG. The demonstration that this combination eliminated lordosis provides new evidence that the lateral connections between the VMH and the CG are essential for the display of sexual receptivity in female rats. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)