G.A. Harrison

Hand preference and I.Q. in a group of Oxfordshire villages

Verbal and performance scores in a standard intelligence test (WAIS) were considered in relation to patterns of hand preference (measured by questionnaire) in a large sample of the general population. Left-handers and mixed-handers did not obtain lower scores than right-handers. Indeed, there was a tendency for subjects who reported that they could use either hand for at least one of the questionnaire tasks to obtain higher I.Q.s. Otherwise, there were no significant differences in I.Q. with the exception of a consistent sex difference, in that men achieved higher scores on both verbal and performance scales.

Association between smoking and drinking and sleep duration

In a study of lifestyles and health of the adult population of some Oxfordshire villages, data were collected upon the usual sleep duration and quality, smoking and drinking habits of 725 men and 759 women. A strong negative association has been found between cigarette smoking and sleep duration on both sexes, and between alcohol consumption and sleep duration in men. There is no equivalent association between drinking or smoking and reported poor quality sleep. While these findings do not prove a causal relationship, the absence of complaints of poor quality sleep among the smokers and drinkers suggests that these habits are not simply the correlates of underlying psychological problems leading to insomnia.

Epinephrine and cortisol responses to work: A test of the models of Frankenhaeuser and Karasek

Both Frankenhaeuser and Karasek have put forward models describing how job demand and control influence epinephrine and cortisol levels. These models were tested in a sample of 53 women and 51 men in a variety of occupations. They were studied over one rest day and two working days. Subjects reported their perceived demand and control and their mood on each day, as well as providing urine for assessment of urinary excretion rates of epinephrine and cortisol. In men, but not women, epinephrine levels were higher on the working days than on the rest day, and demand was found to covary positively with epinephrine, supporting Frankenhaeusers model with respect to epinephrine variation in men. However, cortisol levels were not elevated on working days compared to the rest day, and no relationship between job control and cortisol was seen which is in contradiction of Frankenhaeusers model with respect to cortisol variation. There was some suggestion that demand was most strongly associated with elevated epinephrine in men when job control was low in accordance with Karaseks model, but there was no evidence for such an effect with respect to cortisol.

Variability in stature growth.

An analysis of longitudinal data shows that there are marked changes in the variability of stature and stature velocity during growth in stature, as measured by the coefficient of variation. Variability in stature velocity tends to rise after birth but from age 2 years it gradually declines until the end of adolescence, once variation in the timing of adolescence is taken into account. Comparison of velocity variation in an affluent western society (UK) with velocity variation in two poorer societies (India and Thailand) shows the former to be systematically smaller.

Catecholamine excretion rates in relation to life-styles in the male population of Otmoor, Oxfordshire

The paper gives the results of the number of analyses of aspects of life-style and dietary patterns of members of the Otmoor population, in relation to their catecholamine excretion rates. The data reported here are restricted to males. Feelings of boredom were associated with low adrenaline excretion rates. Reported physical tiredness was associated with low adrenaline levels, while mental tiredness seems to be related to high adrenaline levels. People who regarded themselves as having a competitive personality, as being faced by a large number of life challenges, as having to meet self-set deadlines, as choosing to focus on more than one task at the same time, or as being under time pressure had high rates. Cigarette smoking and coffee consumption were related to high adrenaline excretion rates. Taken together these variables can explain 16-20% of variance in adrenaline excretion. Smoking and coffee consumption are of primary importance. The results of similar analyses of noradrenaline are reported.

Variation in epinephrine and cortisol excretion rates associated with behavior in an Australian Aboriginal community.

Urinary epinephrine and cortisol hormone output in a remote Australian Aboriginal community was on average about twice as high in those individuals measured on a Thursday or Friday as those measured at the beginning of the next week (Monday or Tuesday). Diastolic blood pressure was about 6 mm Hg higher in the Thursday-Friday group, but the difference in mean systolic blood pressure between the day groups does not reach statistical significance. These physiological differences are associated with a marked dichotomy in behavior in the two time periods: on the first 2 days, virtually all adults were involved in intense gambling activity for large stakes, but this was not a feature of the latter period. This behavior pattern occurs on a regular weekly basis. If substantiated by longitudinal studies, this phenomenon may provide an additional link between human behavior and a poor health profile mediated via the physiological consequences of high stress hormone output.

Respiratory function in Peruvian Quechua Indians

SummaryMeasurements of respiratory function (forced expiratory volume, forced vital capacity, and their ratio) were obtained from male Quechua Indians living at high altitude and at sea level in Peru. The samples included migrants from one altitude level to another, and also juveniles from 12 to 19 years old. Information on age, stature and weight was also collected. Differences in respiratory function according to altitude were found, with high altitude groups showing higher lung volumes and ratios, and lower rates of decline in these with age. It is concluded from the study of the migrants that these differences in respiratory characteristics are of immediate environmental origin; and that highland migrants to sea level come to resemble the coastal groups in their respiratory characteristics, although they retain their low weight and short stature. Examination of the juveniles indicates that the differences due to altitude are present from at least 12 years onwards. It is shown that both high-altitude a...

Social class and marital distance in Oxford City.

A study has been made of social class distributions and their effects on marital movement in the city of Oxford from 1837 to the present day. The data have been obtained from the marriage registers of nine ecclesiastical parishes which transect the city. There is marked social class heterogeneity according to district, but when the data are combined some striking relationships between occupation and the distributions of marital distance emerge. In general distance decreases and amounts of city endogamy increase almost linearly as one moves from Class I to Class V. There appears to be, however, no very great increase in marital distance in this century as compared with the situation in the last two-thirds of the nineteenth century. Some of the differences between the social classes are due to differences in marital age, but even after this has been taken into account there remains a very statistically significant relationship between class and marital movement.

Associations between anthropometric variables and reproductive performance in a Papua New Guinea highland population

Associations between anthropometric variation and reproductive performance have important ecological and evolutionary implications. Bivariate associations between measures of reproductive performance (live births and offspring still living at the time of interview) and 24 anthropometric variables were examined in 150 females, aged 21-44 years, from the Eastern Highlands district of Papua New Guinea. Where significant linear or curvilinear associations with age existed, the reproductive and anthropometric variables were age-corrected. Linear, quadratic and cubic regressions were computed for each bivariate regression of age-corrected reproductive variable on age-corrected anthropometric trait. Positive linear regressions were found in the cases of body weight, triceps skinfold and head breadth. Positive cubic regressions were found in the cases of upper arm circumference, calf circumference, bicondylar femur and wrist breadth. It is suggested that these associations may reflect important ecological factors which influence both anthropometric and reproductive variation. U-shaped associations were found in the cases of wrist breadth and bicondylar femur. Inverted U-shaped associations were found for stature, sitting height, bizygomatic diameter and morphological face height. These curvilinear associations may be interpreted in terms of natural selection, and suggest that stature and sitting height may be undergoing stabilizing selection in this population.

Psychometric, personality and anthropometric variation in a group of Oxfordshire villages

SummaryAn account is given of a survey of psychometric, personality and anthropometric variation among adults resident in nine villages in the Otmoor region of Oxfordshire. Using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, I.Q. variation was found between the sexes, social/occupational groups and the villages. Measures of extraversion and consistency obtained from the Eysenck Personality Inventory differentiated the social classes, and neuroticism the sexes. Anthropometric variation apparently existed between the villages independently of social class composition. Significant associations of a low order of magnitude have been found between many of these different measures and the results are discussed in relation to the demographic and social structure, and the history of the region.