Encoding of taxonomic word categories by schizophrenics

Administered to 20 chronic, undifferentiated schizophrenics and 20 paranoid schizophrenic controls the release-from-proactive-interference procedure as developed by D. D. Wickens. Word triads representing 8 conceptual categories were the to-be-remembered stimuli. Proactive interference release was clearly established for both schizophrenic subgroups. These findings are interpreted to imply that chronic, undifferentiated schizophrenics as well as paranoid schizophrenics encode the attributes of conceptual word class in memory. Previous failures of chronic schizophrenics to benefit from categorized to-be-remembered materials in recall tests are probably not the result of an encoding deficiency. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Encoding processes and memory for categorically related words by schizophrenic patients.

Hypothesized that schizophrenics display a deficit in recall relative to recognition (as well as other memory deficits) because they encode the conceptual attributes of to-be-remembered items less frequently than normals. An experimental procedure consisting of 2 phases, incidental learning and long-term retention, was used to test 30 schizophrenics and 26 normal adults. During incidental learning, Ss were presented with 36 short word lists. After each, they recalled a single word that was detectable (i.e., encoded) on the basis of its conceptual category. Two variables were manipulated orthogonally: the probability that items were encoded conceptually and the number of times items were presented. Long-term retention of all items presented during incidental learning was tested in free-recall, category cued recall, and recognition tests, administered in that order. Results show an overriding similarity of schizophrenics to normals in patterns of response to the major variables, providing no support for the hypothesis. Data are consistent, however, with the hypothesis that schizophrenics encode items less elaborately than normals do. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of categorization and imagery on recognition and recall by process and reactive schizophrenics.

Imagery and categorization were orthogonally varied in an assessment of recognition and recall of 16 process schizophrenics (process group), 16 reactive schizophrenics (reactive group), and 16 controls (student group). Schizophrenic Ss were selected from the inpatient population at Bellevue Hospital, and "students" were volunteers who had all received a bachelor's degree. For all groups, recognition was uninfluenced by categorization but was directly related to imagery. For the student and reactive groups, recall was directly related both to categorization and to imagery. For the process group, however, neither variable influenced recall. In addition, the student group had higher intertrial repetition scores than the reactive group, which had higher scores than the process group. Taken together, findings suggest that the process schizophrenic's inabiity to retrieve information from memory is related to faulty mnemonic organization of to-be-remembered materials. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences and residual effects of food deprivation in the satiated rat.

Following 100 days of food deprivation, during which 9 male and 9 female albino rats received acquisition and extinction training in a runway, and following 2 mo of ad lib feeding, Ss were given a reacquisition test under satiated conditions. Results indicate that females were significantly superior in running speed and frequency of food consumption during satiated reacquisition; while there was a large performance decrement in males following the drive shift, females performed at about the same level during satiation as during food deprivation. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Residual effects of food deprivation on food consumption and runway performance in the satiated rat.

2 experiments studied the residual effects of prior food deprivation in 35 female and 28 male Holtzman rats as measured by probability to eat and acquisition of a running response under satiated conditions. Although the effects were positively related to the severity of prior deprivation (Exp II), a drive-conditioning interpretation was questioned because of 3 findings: (a) effects were not dependent on exposure to the test situation when Ss were deprived (Exp I and II); (b) prolonged testing during satiation increased rather than decreased the effects (Exp I and II); and (c) the instrumental response decreased only when reward was withheld (Exp I). (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Equity and premarital sex.

Investigated whether formal equity theory can provide insight into dating couples' intimate romantic and sexual relationships. It was hypothesized that if people feel they are getting less from a relationship than they deserve, they feel entitled to "call the shots" sexually. In light of the double standard, underbenefited males were expected to demand that their partners go fairly far sexually. In contrast, underbenefited females were expected to insist that their partners wait until they were ready for sex. Interview and questionnaire data were obtained from 227 men and 310 women who were casual or steady daters. Data were analyzed as to (a) relationship equity/inequity, (b) contentment/distress, (c) the existence of a double standard, (d) the degree of sexuality in the relationship, and (e) the stability of the relationship. Results do not confirm the hypotheses: Couples were most intimate in the equitable relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)