Psychological impact of benign breast biopsy: A longitudinal, comparative study.

The impact of benign breast biopsy (BBB) on distress and perceptions of risk for breast cancer (BC) was examined. Interviews were conducted with 100 women shortly after notification of biopsy results and 4 and 8 months post-BBB. Compared with matched healthy comparison (HC) women without BBB, the BBB group evidenced greater BC-specific distress at baseline. BC-specific distress declined after BBB, remaining elevated relative to the HC group at the 8-month follow-up. Dispositional (optimism, informational coping style), demographic (education), clinical (family history of BC), and cognitive (BC risk perception) variables were associated with baseline levels of BC-specific distress or persistence of distress. Results support the monitoring process model (S. M. Miller, 1995) and the cognitive social health information processing model (S. M. Miller, Y. Shoda, & K. Hurley, 1996). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in mathematics performance: A meta-analysis.

Performed a meta-analysis of 100 studies (published 1963–1988) of gender differences in mathematics performance. They yielded 254 independent effect sizes, representing the testing of 3,175,188 Ss. Averaged overall effect sizes based on samples of the general population indicated that females outperformed males by only a negligible amount. An examination of age trends indicated that girls showed a slight superiority in computation in elementary school and middle school. There were no gender differences in problem solving in elementary or middle school; differences favoring men emerged in high school and college. Gender differences were smallest and actually favored females in samples of the general population, grew larger with increasingly selective samples, and were largest for highly selected samples and samples of highly precocious persons. The magnitude of the gender difference has declined over the years. Gender differences in mathematics performance are small. Nonetheless, the lower performance of women in problem solving that is evident in high school requires attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retaliation against whistle blowers: Predictors and effects.

Examined the power–dependency relationships between "whistle blowers" and their employers through the regression analyses of survey data from 636 employees of federal agencies who had reported evidence of official wrongdoing. Ss reported that they were more likely to suffer retaliation if they lacked the support of their supervisors and managers. Retaliation was also more severe if the wrongdoing was serious and if the S used channels outside the organization to report the incident. Following severe retaliation, Ss were likely to file official complaints about the retaliation and to leave their jobs involuntarily. Other predictors of reactions to retaliatory action are discussed. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Screening catalytic lipase activities with an analytical supercritical fluid extractor

Two different screenings of several commercial lipases were performed to find a lipase with superior performance for the conversion of lipid moieties to their fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) derivatives under supercritical conditions. The first screening was done under hydrolytic conditions in a buffer. The second screening was done under supercritical conditions with CO₂, utilizing some of the same lipases for the methanolysis of different lipids. For the substrates studied, there was a significant difference in lipase activity under the two above conditions. Significant hydrolytic activity was demonstrated for three different lipid types (triglycerides, sterols, and phospholipids) with Lipase PS30, but when the same lipase was immobilized on an Accurel carrier (polypropylene), the activity decreased considerably. The opposite was found for Lipase G, which showed strong activity when immobilized and under supercritical conditions. Furthermore, Chirozyme L-1 was superior under supercritical conditions. The altered substrate specificity that some of these lipases show in supercritical CO₂ suggests several interesting synthetic options and applications under these conditions.     

Adult age differences in short-term memory for serial order: Data and a model.

Age-related deficits in short-term memory have been widely reported, but reduced overall scores could reflect increased order errors, increased omissions, or increased intrusions. Different explanations for reduced short-term memory with aging lead to different predictions. In this study, young (n?=?68; M age?=?20 years) and older (n?=?99; M age?=?65 years) adults were presented with lists of letters and were asked to recall each list immediately in the correct order. Age differences in error patterns were similar for auditory and visual presentation. For example, older adults made more errors of every type, and a greater proportion of the older adults' errors were omissions. An additional condition, in which older adults were encouraged to guess, ruled out an age increase in response threshold as a full explanation for the results. The data were modeled by an oscillator-based computational model of memory for serial order. A good fit to the aging data was achieved by simultaneously altering two parameters that were interpreted as corresponding to frontal decline and response slowing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A longitudinal study of the relation between language and theory-of-mind development.

Fifty-nine 3-year-olds were tested 3 times over a period of 7 months in order to assess the contribution of theory of mind to language development and of language to theory-of-mind development (including the independent contributions of syntax and semantics). Language competence was assessed with a standardized measure of reception and production of syntax and semantics (the Test of Early Language Development). Theory of mind was assessed with false-belief tasks and appearance–reality tasks. Earlier language abilities predicted later theory-of-mind test performance (controlling for earlier theory of mind), but earlier theory of mind did not predict later language test performance (controlling for earlier language). These findings are consistent with the argument that language is fundamental to theory-of mind development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult age comparisons in the processing of event frequency information.

The usual superiority in frequency-of-occurrence judgments of younger vs older subjects was hypothesized to result from greater strategic encoding of the materials conveying frequency information. A subject-paced, visual search task was designed to control nontarget word encoding. Relative frequency judgments for the nontarget word pairs were equally accurate for younger and older subjects, and performance of both groups was above chance. Results suggest that strategic cover-task encoding can induce age differences in incidental frequency processing. Consistent with a nonoptimal as opposed to an optimal view, automatic processes require only minimal capacity for above-chance performance, but additional strategic resources can increase performance. When such additional resources are used more by younger than by older subjects, the former are better in frequency performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

University professors' views of knowledge and validation processes.

Professors in 6 matched pure and applied fields of study were interviewed to determine the validation processes and truth criteria used in their disciplines. Differences across disciplines were found in the validation processes and in the importance placed on conceptual frameworks or models. Use of empirical evidence was more important in the natural and social sciences; peer review was more important in the humanities. Professors in pure fields of study were more likely to use conflicting evidence or counterexamples in validating their work than were professors in applied fields. The results suggest that different fields of study operate according to different sets of rules. An important part of university instruction is to provide students with a sense of what these rules are and how they affect learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender-related traits and helping behaviors.

Explored the relation between gender-related instrumental and expressive traits and bystander intervention. 91 male and 83 female undergraduates participated in either a 2- or a 4-person group discussion, carried on via an intercom, during which one of the purported participants (18 undergraduate confederates served) supposedly fainted and fell to the floor. Relationships were determined between helping behavior and scores on the M (instrumentality) and F (expressiveness) scales of the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. In both experimental conditions, men high in instrumentality were less likely to respond than low-scoring men, thus replicating findings obtained by D. M. Tice and R. F. Baumeister (see record 1986-01161-001) with a group of men and women. A high degree of expressiveness in men was also associated with lesser responding. These results were contrary to those reported by P. Senneker and C. Hendrick (see record 1984-12171-001), who found with a group of women that instrumentality facilitated helping behaviors. Nonsignificant results were found in females, but the trends were in the same direction as those reported by Senneker and Hendrick. A theoretical analysis integrating these disparate findings is presented. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)