Jeffrey W. Elias

Preferences for sweet in relationship to use of oral contraceptives and pregnancy

Abstract Sweetness preference of 165 women was measured during a variety of hormonal conditions. Group LP consisted of women using oral contraceptives (OC) which had a low progestin potency, while the women in group HP used OCs which had a high progestin potency. Groups I, II, and III consisted of women who were tested during one of the three trimesters of pregnancy. For purposes of comparison with the treatment groups, women who were nonpregnant, non-OC users were roughly divided into groups representing the phase of the menstrual cycle during which they were tested. All of the women tasted four solutions of sucrose and ranked them in order from most to least preferred. Group LP had a significant preference for strong concentrated sucrose solutions, whereas Group HP had no preference. There were no significant differences in sweetness preference between the three trimesters of pregnancy, but the sweetness preference of pregnant women was significantly less than that of the nonpregnant women.

Computerized versus standard personality measures: Equivalency, computer anxiety, and gender differences

Abstract Undergraduate students were administered the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Purpose in Life Test (PIL) in either paper-and-pencil or computer-administered format. Prior to administration, all subjects completed the Computer Anxiety Rating Scale (CARS). State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Phobos Mathematics Anxiety Inventory (PHOBOS) in their original paper-and-pencil formats. For those subjects who received the personality tests via computer administration, high CARS scores were associated with higher BDI scores and lower PIL scores, even when state, trait, and mathematics anxiety were partialled out. The results suggest that standardized normative distributions on personality tests may not be applicable to computerized personality tests (CPT).

Changes in the performance of parkinsonian patients and normal aged on the benton visual retention test

Performance on the Benton Visual Retention Test was compared between those with Parkinsons disease (PD) and age-equivalent controls. The major difference between groups was that those with PD showed an increase in figural reproduction errors between test periods spaced six months apart, while controls showed little increase in errors over this time and made fewer errors at each time of testing. Age and IQ accounted for major proportions of variance in performance for both groups (about 50%), far more than that attributable to group membership. Within the PD group, however, age and disease onset were confounded (r = .92), indicating that age as a variable is quite when disease onset is considered. The results support the notion that PD is associated with change in visual-spatial memory, beyond that predicted by age per se.

When world views collide: a commentary on home health care case-mix and patient outcomes.

The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) has developed a prospective payment system for home-health care that is primarily focused on cost-containment. This new payment system results in a change in a case-mix for treatment that was more care-outcome based. The new case mix is compared to the old case mix with respect to research that is ignored regarding care outcome.The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) has developed a prospective payment system for home-health care that is primarily focused on cost-containment. This new payment system results in a change in a case-mix for treatment that was more care-outcome based. The new case mix is compared to the old case mix with respect to research that is ignored regarding care outcome.

Aggressive social interaction in mice genetically selected for blood pressure extremes.

Mice genetically selected for blood pressure extremes were compared with regard to aggressive social behavior. Aggressor mice from the high and low blood-pressure lines were pitted against mice from the high and low lines (targets). High blood-pressure mice were less aggressive socially than low blood-pressure mice. The low blood-pressure mice exhibited the highest social aggression scores when pitted against high blood-pressure targets. Examination of extreme blood-pressure groups chosen from the segregating F 2 generation resulting from crosses of the high and low lines indicated that aggressive social behavior and blood pressure were influenced by the same genes or linked genes.

Age cohort differences in the ability to perform closure on degraded figures.

Young (17-26) and old (60-80) men and women performed a perceptual closure task for degraded line drawings under three conditions of prior picture knowledge (exact, similar, no prior knowledge) and two conditions of perceptual noise (contour or detail drawings) resulting in six levels of task difficulty. Young and old subjects took equal advantage prior knowledge conditions, however, old subjects required a greater percentage of picture and more time to make closure under all conditions when compared to young subjects. To test the perceptual slowing hypothesis, old subject performance was regressed on that of young across three levels of task difficulty. The slope of these regression equations supported the notion of a perceptual slowing hypothesis to explain age cohort differences.

Left Hemispheric Advantage for a Visuospatial-Dichaptic Matching Task

Twenty right handed, female subjects performed a visuospatial-dichaptic matching task which required them to view a single shape for a brief period of time while palpating two shapes, one in each hand. There was an identification and reaction time advantage for right hand responses, which allowed the inference of a left hemispheric advantage for this particular matching task. These results are discussed in reference to factors that may modify the typical right hemispheric superiority for the processing of spatial information, i.e., motor feedback, concurrent memory load, and the differential use of spatial cues.

Cortical spreading depression-induced aversion to saccharin at two levels of KCI: Electroencephalographic verification

Cannulated, male albino rats were placed on a 23-hr water deprivation schedule. The animals were allowed a daily 10-min access to an orange extract solution in a large animal cage for 5 days. On the sixth day of deprivation the animals were randomly divided into three groups given either 12% KCI, 25% KCI, or Ringers solution applied unilaterally to the cortex immediately after access to saccharine. On the seventh day of deprivation, each animal was placed in a two-choice situation with an 0.15% saccharine solution and an 0.08% orange extract solution. Both the 12 and 25% KCI groups developed an aversion to the saccharin. EEG recordings verified the presence of cortical spreading depression in both groups. These results verify the finding that cortical spreading depression has aversive properties.

The relationship of perceived latitude of choice to morale in a nursing home environment

An Importance, Locus and Range of Activities Checklist (The Perceived Latitude of Choice Scale) and the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale were administered to 17 institutionalized elderly women. The Perceived Latitude of Choice instrument contained 37 items representing activities of daily life which subjects rated for personal importance and range of choice available. The morale scale contained 17 items presented in a dichotomous format that would indicate high or low morale. A number of positive correlations were observed between morale and perceived degree of choice, with Attitude Toward Own Aging the factor on the morale scale showing the strongest relationships to choice. The degree of choice available for privacy stood out as one of the most important items related to morale. A number of methodological considerations were discussed relating to the use of correlations, restrictions of range of scores and selection of subjects from populations.

Meaningfulness and Interference as Factors in Paired-Associate Learning with the Aged.

A group of young and elderly females were tested on a paired‐associate task. The responses of the paired‐associates were consonant‐vowel‐consonant trigrams (CVCs) that were either high in association value (AV) on Glaze norms and low on Archer norms, or low in AV on Glaze norms and high on Archer. The results indicated that older individuals made more intrusion errors on the CVCs high in AV on the Glaze norms but low on the Archer norms. Results showed that associations were being formed across the life‐span of the individual.