Beliefs about birth rank and their reflection in reality.

Beliefs about birth rank reflect what the society regards as social reality, and they may also influence that reality. Three studies found that people believe those with different birth ranks differ in their personalities, that higher birth ranks are likely to attain higher occupational prestige, and that the personality characteristics attributed to the various birth ranks favor the actual attainment of higher occupational prestige. In one example of such beliefs, firstborns were rated as most intelligent but least creative whereas the opposite was true of last-borns. The 4th study found that those with higher birth ranks in fact attain more prestigious occupations and actually do complete more years of schooling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exposure effects may not depend on stimulus recognition.

Compared the applicability of M. H. Birnbaum and B. A. Mellers' (see PA, Vol 64:00000) 1-factor (subjective recognition) model with the present author's (see record 1979-23525-001) 2-factor model to data on the role of stimulus recognition in the mere exposure phenomenon. Results of a series of linear structural equation analyses show that the 2-factor model provided a significantly greater degree of fit. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the primacy of affect.

Discusses R. S. Lazarus's (see PA, Vols 69:11728 and 25:2812) challenge of the view that there are circumstances under which affect precedes cognition and that affective arousal that does not entail prior cognitive appraisal exists. His argument, however, is based entirely on an arbitrary definition of emotion that requires cognitive appraisal as a necessary precondition. To satisfy this concept of emotion, Lazarus has broadened the definition of cognitive appraisal to include even the most primitive forms of sensory excitation, thus obliterating all distinction among cognition, sensation, and perception. No empirical evidence is offered to document the principle of cognitive appraisal as a necessary precondition for emotional arousal. It is concluded that the contrasting view of an affective primacy and independence is derived from a series of findings and phenomena, including the existence of neuroanatomical structures allowing for independent affective process. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A one-factor mind about mind and emotion.

R. B. Zajonc comments that M. H. Birnbaum's (1980) one-factor proof that Zajonc's theoretical position can be rejected on scientific grounds is tenable only if 2 sets of important findings reported in the article are disregarded. Birnbaum's predilection for parsimony is misdirected in the analysis of the affect-cognition problem, for it pre-empts much of the research that needs to be carried out. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contentions over the confluence model: A reply to Price, Walsh, and Vilburg.

Argues against the contention of G. G. Price et al (see record 1984-27746-001) that the confluence model is invalid on grounds that (a) the assumptions of the age-range correlation formula were not met in the within-family samples cited and hence the formula was misapplied, (b) the confluence model has successfully predicted family configuration effects in between-family samples with children of the same age, and (c) Price et al assigned an inappropriate role to chronological age in their model-testing scheme that leads to a strong bias against finding the effects of other developmental variables. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The decline and rise of scholastic aptitude scores: A prediction derived from the confluence model.

Argues that the confluence model, a theory that describes the influence of family factors on intellectual growth, explains the decline of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores by relating them to changing family patterns. According to the confluence model, intellectual growth is attenuated for children with many siblings, and especially so for children with older siblings. Because there has been a steady increase in the average family size for the cohorts taking SATs between 1963 and 1980, SAT scores were predicted to decline until 1980 and then to rise again when the birth rate, and therefore family size, began decreasing. New SAT data show the predictions made in 1976 to be borne out, revealing interesting sex differences. The trend of continued decline in family size suggests a rise in SAT scores until the year 2000. A leveling off and a decline is expected thereafter. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Additivity of nonconscious affect: Combined effects of priming and exposure.

Affect deriving from 2 independent sources—repeated exposure and affective priming—was induced, and the combined effects were examined. In each of 4 studies, participants were first shown 72 Chinese ideographs in which the frequency of exposure was varied (0, 1, or 3). In the 2nd phase participants rated ideographs that were primed either positively, negatively, or not at all. The 4 studies were identical except that the exposure duration—suboptimal (4 msec) or optimal (1 sec)—of both the initial exposure phase and the subsequent priming phase was orthogonally varied. Additivity of affect was obtained only when affective priming was suboptimal, suggesting that nonconscious affect is diffuse. Affect whose source was apparent was more constrained. Interestingly, increases in liking generated through repeated exposures did not differ as a function of exposure duration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

4“-O-Alkylated α-Galactosylceramide Analogues as iNKT-Cell Antigens: Synthetic,Biological, and Structural Studies

Invariant natural killer T-cells (iNKT) are a glycolipid-responsive subset of T-lymphocytes that fulfill a pivotal role in the immune system. The archetypical synthetic glycolipid, α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer), whose molecular framework is inspired by a group of amphiphilic natural products, remains the most studied antigen for iNKT-cells. Nonetheless, the potential of α-GalCer as an immunostimulating agent is compromised by the fact that this glycolipid elicits simultaneous secretion of Th1- and Th2-cytokines. This has incited medicinal chemistry efforts to identify analogues that are able to perturb the Th1/Th2 balance. In this work, we present the synthesis of an extensive set of 4“-O-alkylated α-GalCer analogues, which were evaluated in vivo for their cytokine induction. We have found that conversion of the 4”-OH group to ether moieties decreases the immunogenic potential in mice relative to α-GalCer. Yet, the benzyl-modified glycolipids are able to produce a distinct pro-inflammatory immune response. The crystal structures suggest an extra hydrophobic interaction between the benzyl moiety and the α2-helix of CD1d.     

Harold B. Gerard (1923-2003).

Reports the obituary of Harold B. Gerard (1923-2003), a frequent contributor to the literature of experimental social psychology. In his later years, he was a practicing psychoanalyst and was developing research relating psychoanalytic theory to social phenomena. Among his many distinctions, Gerard was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fulbright Fellowship to the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands and was twice a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)