Harris S. Goldstein

Cognitive Development in Low Attentive, Hyperactive, and Aggressive 6- through 11-year-Old Children

Abstract In a national probability sample of 6- through 11-year-old children, the relationship between the childrens cognitive development and three teacher rated attributes, low attentiveness, hyperactivity, and aggressivity, was examined. Family context as defined by parental education and family income per individual under 21 years of age in the household were controlled. Analyses of covariance revealed that the attribute of below average attentiveness was associated with significantly lower performance on tests of intelligence (WISC Vocabulary and Block Design) and on tests of achievement (Reading and Arithmetic subtests of the Wide Range Achievement Test). Hyperactivity alone was not associated with differences in cognitive development, whereas aggressivity in boys but not in girls was associated with lower performance on Block Design.

Cognitive Development in Inattentive, Hyperactive, and Aggressive Children: Two- to Five-year Follow-up

Abstract One third of children assessed when they were ages 6-11 were reassessed at ages 12-17. The relationship of the cognitive development of these youths to their categorization at ages 6-11 along the dimensions of attentiveness, hyperactivity, and aggressivity was examined. Control for initial level of cognitive performance was incorporated with controls for family context. Results demonstrated a continuing effect of below average attentiveness at the younger age on the youths cognitive development as defined by WISC Vocabulary and Block Design subtests and WRAT Reading and Arithmetic subtests administered at the latter age. Neither hyperactivity nor aggressivity was associated with differences in cognitive development.

Relationship of expressed anger to forearm muscle vascular resistance.

The relationship of style of anger expression to physiological reactivity was examined in 45 nonmedicated subjects during their performance of three tasks with contrasting response demands. The primary physiological focus was on forearm muscle vascular resistance (FMVR) with forearm muscle blood flow (FMBF), digital pulse volume (DPV), digital vascular resistance (DVR), heart rate (HR), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), and electrodermal frequency (EF) monitored. Family Expressed Anger, i.e. the overtness of anger expression in the subjects family of origin, was related to FMVR such that the more anger was expressed in the family of origin, the greater the vasoconstriction during Mental Arithmetic and the less the vasoconstriction during Anger Imagery. Self Expressed Anger, i.e. the degree to which others were aware when the subject was feeling angry, was related to SBP and DBP during Vigilance with a lesser degree of anger expression going with greater blood pressure increases. The meaning of these findings in relation to task appraisal and task demand is discussed.

Uric acid level increases in humans engaged in gambling: A preliminary report

The effect of gambling and gaming on plasma levels of uric acid was studied. Blood samples were obtained from normal subjects while they gambled for money or while they played checkers without betting. There was an interaction of time and activity reflecting primarily an association of increased uric acid levels during gambling over time, compared with gaming and relaxation. This indicates that gambling can increase plasma levels of uric acid.

The paradoxical relation between diastolic blood pressure change under stress and the H factor of the Jenkins activity survey

This study examined the relation of the Type A scale and of the three factors of the Jenkins Activity Survey to the cardiovascular responses of twenty-six subjects during two stressful tasks. The two tasks were reaction time (RT) and paced arithmetic (PA) and the sample was drawn from a general medical practice. While heart rate correlated directly with the subjects score on the Hard Driving and Competitive Factor (H), diastolic blood pressure response to PA was inversely related to the subjects Type A and factor H scores. This paradoxical inverse relation remained highly significant when the diastolic pressure in the rest preceding PA was statistically controlled.

Conduct problems, parental supervision, and cognitive development of 12- to 17-year-olds

Data from the Cycle III Health Examination Survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics provided the opportunity to examine the effect of conduct problems on cognitive development in a representative sample of the Nations 12- to 17-yr.-olds. Conduct problems (school discipline, police contact, and arrest) and degree of parental supervision were the two factors in the analysis of covariance design with Intellectual Index (WISC Vocabulary plus Block Design) and Achievement Index (WRAT Reading plus Arithmetic) as outcome measures. Family background factors were controlled by covariation. White male youths with both in- and out-of-school problems performed less well on Intellectual and Achievement Indices. White girls with in-school problems also scored less well. Paradoxically high parental supervision was associated with lower achievement for these youths. Also for both white boys and girls, high parental supervision was associated with lower Intellectual Index scores.

Suppressor effects in the relations of psychological variables to resting blood pressure

The role of suppressor effects in obscuring the relation of psychological variables and blood pressure was studied. Forty-five nonmedicated patients in a family practice rated themselves relative to their peers on a series of characteristics. Two of these, trapped and lonely, exhibited marked suppressor effects in their relationship with each other and resting blood pressure. Self-ratings of lonely exhibited a moderately strong positive association with ratings of trapped (r = .63) while only ratings of lonely showed a significant correlation with resting systolic blood pressure (r = -.31). Yet when the suppressor effects of the ratings on feeling lonely were removed in the regression analyses, the ratings on feeling trapped showed a significant positive association with resting systolic pressure (r =.42). Similarly, while neither ratings on feeling lonely or on feeling trapped showed separately a significant association with resting diastolic pressure, when suppressor effects were removed in the regression analyses, the ratings of trapped were significantly associated with diastolic pressure in a positive direction (r = .34) and ratings of lonely were significantly associated in a negative direction (r = -.33). The significance of this specific suppressor effect and the implications of suppression for psychosomatic research are discussed.