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Biomedical subjects

L M Giambra

Publications and source records attributed to L M Giambra.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

A laboratory method for investigating influences on switching attention to task-unrelated imagery and thought.

Thought-intrusions, automatic inferences, and other unintended thought are beginning to play an important role in the study of psychiatric disease as well as normal thought processes. We examine one method for the study of task-unrelated imagery and thought (TUIT). TUIT likelihood was shown to be reliably measured over a wide range of vigilance tasks, to have high short-term and long-term test-retest reliability, and to be sensitive to information processing demands. Likelihood of TUITs was shown to be different as a function of aging, hyperactivity, time of the day, and level of depression. Thus, we now can reliably measure the influence of endogenous and exogenous influences on TUITs. In addition, TUIT measurement was proposed as a minimally interfering and natural second task for determining resource utilization in a primary task. Finally, this method was offered as a reliable approach to quantification of such mental states as obsessions and drug craving and addiction.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Adult life span changes in immediate visual memory and verbal intelligence.

A sample of 558 women and 1,163 men 17 to 102 years old, screened for neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disease, was administered tests of immediate visual memory (Benton Visual Retention Test) and crystallized intelligence (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Vocabulary subtest) from 1 to 5 times over 27.7 years. Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence led to the conclusion that the 65-74-year decade was a watershed for decremental changes in immediate visual memory and verbal intelligence. Age accounted for considerably less variance in vocabulary than in immediate memory. The proportion of individuals whose longitudinal trajectories were contrary to group trends decreased substantially with increased age; observed age changes remained when analyses were restricted to individuals who had perfect or near-perfect mental status scores. Selected neuronal loss and slower reproduction times were considered as possible causes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Changes in immediate visual memory predict cognitive impairment.

Six-year changes in immediate visual memory performance assessed by the Benton Visual Retention (BVR) test predicted Alzheimer's disease (AD) prior to its onset. Subjects of this study were 371 community-dwelling adult participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, seven of whom received probable or definite AD diagnoses using DSM-III-R and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria. Subjects with diagnoses of AD had larger changes in immediate memory performance over the 6-year interval prior to the estimated onset of their disease than subjects without AD. Six-year longitudinal change as well as level in immediate visual memory performance also predicted subsequent cognitive performance 6-15 and 16-22 years later, even after adjusting for the influences of age, general ability, and initial immediate memory. These results provide evidence that change and level in immediate visual memory performance has long-term prognostic significance over as many as 16-22 years. These results further suggest that change in recent memory performance, an important component in AD diagnoses, may be an important precursor of the development of the disease.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1993

Adult age differences in forgetting sentences.

Age comparisons of performance-based measures of forgetting were carried out. In Exp. 1, 18- to 21-year-olds and 55- to 64-year-olds (n = 24) forgot at an equal rate when compared at 30 s and at 3, 6, and 24 hr after acquisition. In Exp. 2, 17- to 21-year-olds and 65- to 74-year-olds (n = 24) were compared at the same 4 retention intervals. Initial learning was equated for the 2 groups. There was evidence for an age difference in forgetting rate in cued recall when a minimal learning level was required. In Exp. 3, 440 men and women 17 to 74 years old were assigned to a retention interval from 10 min to 7 hr. Age was related to 4 performance-based measures of forgetting rate. Although the age differences were small, they imply 2 decremental processes: 1 before 10 min, possibly a result of incomplete consolidation, and a later 1 that is continuously and cumulatively operative thereafter. Evidence relating initial level to forgetting rate is presented.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

The relationship of sexual daydreaming to sexual activity, sexual drive, and sexual attitudes for women across the life-span.

The association among sexual daydreaming and sexual attitudes and activity was examined in a cross-sectional life-span sample of women (N = 117, 26 to 78 years). Sexual daydreaming was measured using the Imaginal Processes Inventory (IPI) while sexual history measures of sexual activity, sexual drive, and sexual attitudes were derived from a comprehensive personal interview. A factor analysis and varimax rotation of the sexual history variables, age, and the Sexual Daydream Scale of the IPI revealed three primary factors representing dimensions of sexual activity and drive, attitudes toward sexual activity, and sexual satisfaction. Age was associated with less sexual daydreaming, less sexual drive, less sexual activity, and more negative sexual attitudes. Sexual daydreaming varied directly with sexual drive and sexual activity and with a positive sexual attitude.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Curiosity and stimulation seeking across the adult life span: cross-sectional and 6- to 8-year longitudinal findings.

Giambra (1977-1978, 1979-1980) found that 2 scales of the Imaginal Processes Inventory measuring curiosity (i.e., information seeking) did not change across the adult life span, but 2 measuring stimulation seeking (i.e., boredom) for external stimulation need significantly decreased with age. In this study, these outcomes were replicated (1,356 men and 1,080 women 17 to 92 years old). In addition, a 6- to 8-year longitudinal repeat was obtained on 222 men and 124 women. Significant longitudinal declines were obtained for the stimulation-seeking measures. Furthermore, women showed an increase in impersonal-mechanical curiosity and a decline in interpersonal curiosity, though the amount of change was modest. Men were unchanged on both curiosity measures. Gender differences in longitudinal changes apparently reflected effects of socialization as well as tendencies toward displaying increased androgyny with advancing age.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Age-related decrement in auditory selective attention.

Young (n = 30), middle-aged (n = 32), and old (n = 28) adults repeated (shadowed) words presented to the left ear at 60 words per minute with and without distracter words presented to the other ear. Dichotic shadowing error rate increased with age. An attempt to eliminate the age effect by adjusting for age differences in monaural shadowing errors, fluid intelligence, and pure-tone hearing loss did not succeed. When the analyses were confined to subjects who made no monaural shadowing errors, dichotic shadowing errors still increased linearly with age. These results showed that there are selective-attention deficits in older adults that cannot be accounted for by the uncertainty of the target location.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Consistent and varied memory/visual search: is there an interaction between age and response-set effects?

Interactions of stimulus consistency and response-set were examined after extensive consistent (CM) and varied mapping (VM) practice for young (mean age 20) and old (mean age 74) adults. The experiment examined whether reduced response complexity would lead to equivalent consistent mapping search performance across age groups. Subjects received 2,240 training trials each for CM and VM versions of a hybrid memory/visual search task. During training two response conditions were used: (1) respond only when a target was present (Yes-only responding) and (2) respond only when a target was absent (No-only responding). Following initial training, subjects were transferred to the opposite response condition. During training the function relating reaction time to memory-set size differed between age groups only with CM practice, replicating age-related effects previously found for extensive CM practice. Response reversal (e.g., Yes-only to No-only) after training led to age-related transfer effects for both CM and VM search. Importantly, the transfer data suggest age-dependent controlled processing effects.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Sustained attention in adulthood: a unique, large-sample, longitudinal and multicohort analysis using the Mackworth Clock-Test.

A cross-sectional sample of men (n = 177) tested in 1962-1964, and men (n = 188) and women (n = 113) tested in 1980-1984, and a longitudinal sample (n = 53) of men tested in 1962-1964 and 1980-1984, were used to investigate age differences and 18-year age changes on a 62-min sensory vigilance task that made virtually no demand on memory, the Mackworth Clock-Test. Age differences and changes in the vigilance decrement were also examined. No age differences or changes were obtained for detection accuracy. Target response time showed significant age-related 18-year longitudinal changes and one significant cross-sectional age difference; the overall age effect was of a U-shaped function with a minimum at middle age. Age differences and changes were obtained in a measure of arousal: skin potential response latency; the overall age effect was also consistent with a U-shaped function. There was little consistent evidence of a differential effect of age on the vigilance decrement. Outcomes contradictory to Surwillo and Quilter (1964) and Quilter, Giambra, and Benson (1983) are reconciled through additional statistical analyses.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

The influence of age on consistent and varied semantic-category search performance.

Three experiments examined age-related consistent mapping (CM) and varied mapping (VM) practice effects. In separate experiments, young (age, 19-22), middle-aged (37-50), and older (64-88) adults' performance was examined using semantic-category and letter-based search paradigms. After extensive practice, major age differences occurred in CM search. Young and middle-aged subjects showed near-zero comparison slopes, large reductions in mean reaction times, and substantial reductions in response variability. Although older adults' reaction time decreased with CM practice, the reduction in reaction time, comparison slope, and response variability was small compared with the other groups. In VM search, older subjects were slower than the other age groups, but all groups exhibited similar linear set-size functions, search termination, and comparison-load effects. We concluded that age-associated declines in cognitive performance may be due in large part to the degree with which older adults can acquire or use automatic processes to perform tasks.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Daydreaming in 40- to 60-year-old women: menopause, health, values, and sexuality.

In a cross-sectional study of 17- to 92-year-olds two midlife influences in daydreaming were observed by Giambra (1979-80): A much larger mean for daydreaming frequency at 45-49 years of age for both men and women and a much smaller mean for sexual daydreaming beginning with 50- to 54-year-old women. This study investigated these midlife influences on daydreaming on a large sample of women. The sample consisted of 477 women from 40 to 60 years of age. A total of 42 variables were investigated; these included variables related to health status, symptom presence, menstruation difficulties, sexual activity, demographic concerns, importance of various life activities, and effects of menopause. The most salient outcome of this study was that daydreaming tended to be more prevalent among women who exhibited various psychological symptoms and who were less physically healthy, and that menopause was not a moderating variable. This outcome was discussed within the current concerns framework of Klinger (1971).

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Longitudinal age changes in vigilance over an eighteen year interval.

An 18-year longitudinal repeat of the Mackworth Clock vigilance experiment was conducted. Skin potential response latencies (SPRL) and reaction times were taken from 33 men during the vigilance task. The longitudinal change in this study reproduced the earlier cross-sectional relationship. The 51 to 69 year olds showed faster reaction times, the 70 to 88 year olds showed slower reaction times and, the 70 to 88 year olds detected significantly fewer targets than when 18 years younger. It was found that the greater the change noted in this study reflected previously determined cross-sectional SPRL effect. However, the SPRL outcome was equivocated by a time-of-measurement effect. It was concluded that at about age 70 years a noticeable reduction in vigilance performance occurs, and this is accompanied by a reduction in autonomic and central nervous system reactivity.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Depression and daydreaming; an analysis based on self-ratings.

Investigated the relationship between depression and daydreaming characteristics in a non-hospitalized sample. Level of depression was determined by the Beck Depression Inventory, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, and the Lubin Depression Adjective Check Lists. Daydreaming characteristics were determined from a self-report retrospective questionnaire, the Imaginal Processes Inventory. The sample consisted of 91 university undergraduates and 29 male correctional institution inmates. The full-scale global measures of depression were found to be related directly to the neurotic, anxious, dysphoric, and negative dimension of daydreaming. Specific direct relationships were noted between mental agitation and distractibility, between indecisiveness-personal devaluation and mental slowing, and between personal devaluation-poor body image and fear of failure daydreams. Inverse relationships were noted between a sense of punishment and useful-positive aspects of daydreaming and between psychomotor-activity level and internally stimulated mental activity. The suicidal ambivalance, appetite-weight loss, and fatigability dimensions of depression were found to be unrelated to daydreaming.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Independent dimensions of depression: a factor analysis of three self-report depression measures.

Covariance studies of objective depression measures have concentrated on total scores. This approach is relatively insensitive in specifying whether these instruments measure the same sub-aspects of depression. To investigate this question, a factor analysis was performed on the items of the Beck Depression Inventory and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale and lists A, B, C, and D of the Lubin Depression Adjective Check Lists. Ss were 91 college students and 29 correctional institution inmates. Four clearly interpretable multimeasure factors resulted from a Varimax rotation. The most salient factor was labeled "Depression: Affective Malaise." Earlier studies also have shown this to be a dominant and reliable dimension of depression. The other factors were: Suicidal Ambivalence," "Appetite-Weight Loss," and "Fatigability." Females showed greater Fatigability associated with depression. Factors specific to the Beck and Zung measures also were found, which suggests that the different emphases of these instruments, intensity/severity vs. frequency of symptoms, may contribute very specific depression indicators. This may indicate that both intensity and frequency of symptoms ought to be considered to obtain a "best" objective measure of depression.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Sexual daydreams and quantitative aspects of sexual activity: some relations for males across adulthood.

Sexual daydreams were measured using the Imaginal Processes Inventory, while retrospective data on number of coital partners, frequency of intercourse in early marriage, and quantity of sexual activity experienced between 20 and 40 years of age were obtained by interview. The 277 men studied ranged from 24 to 91 years. The frequency and intensity of sexual daydreams declined with increasing age, and after age 65 virtually disappeared. The occurrence of sexual daydreams varied directly with each of the three behavioral indicators of sexual vigor for all age groups through age 64. The results are seen as supportive of the "current concerns" explanation of daydreaming production.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

A factor analytic study of daydreaming, imaginal process, and temperament: a replication on an adult male life-span sample.

One hundred and seventy males aged 24 to 91 years were measured on daydreaming and related mental activity using the imaginal processes inventory and on temperament using the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey to determine if earlier results relating temperament to daydreaming in college populations were generalizable to the adult life-span. The earlier derived factor of "Neurotic-Anxious Absorption in Daydreaming" was found in this sample and had a negative correlation with chronological age, suggesting a decrease with increasing age. Other earlier derived factors on "Personal Acceptance-Utilization of Daydreaming," "Masculinity-Femininity," "Thinking Introversion," and "Social Extroversion" were also found in this sample, but were not related to age.

Adult↗