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PubMed1998

Assortative mating for antisocial behavior: developmental and methodological implications.

Do people mate assortatively for antisocial behavior? If so, what are the implications for the development and persistence of antisocial behavior? We investigated assortative mating for antisocial behavior and its correlates in a sample of 360 couples from Dunedin, New Zealand. We found substantial assortative mating for self-reports of antisocial behavior per se and for self-reports of couple members' tendencies to associate with antisocial peers (0.54 on average). Perceptions about the likelihood of social sanctions for antisocial behavior (e.g., being caught by the authorities or losing the respect of one's family) showed moderate assortative mating (0.32 on average). However, assortative mating for personality traits related to antisocial behavior was low (0.15 on average). These findings suggest that, whereas assortative mating for many individual-difference variables (such as personality traits) is low, assortative mating for actual antisocial behaviors is substantial. We conclude that future family studies of antisocial behavior should endeavor to measure and understand the influence of assortative mating. In addition, we outline a testable behavior-genetic model for the development of antisocial behavior, in which genes and environments promoting or discouraging antisocial behavior become concentrated within families (due to assortative mating), giving rise to widely varying individual developmental trajectories that are, nevertheless, similar within families.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Gender differences in tobacco smoking: higher relative exposure to smoke than nicotine in women.

INTRODUCTION: Men and women are thought to regulate their smoking differently and to differ in their susceptibility to nicotine addiction. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Various measures of smoke exposure were compared between 400 current regular tobacco-dependent (DSM-IV) male and female light (1-15 cigarettes per day) and heavy (>15 cigarettes per day) smokers. Between 2 and 8 PM, blood was collected for nicotine and cotinine analysis, and breath carbon monoxide (CO) was measured. Individuals with genetic variants of the CYP2A6 gene were removed from analysis (n = 25). RESULTS: No significant difference was found in the number of cigarettes per day or CO levels between the sexes. However, females had significantly lower nicotine levels than males (16.9 +/- 0.6 vs. 21.1 +/- 0.07, p < 0.01). This is only partly explained by the fact that females smoked lower nicotine-containing cigarettes. Female heavy smokers demonstrated higher -log nicotine/CO values (a representation of cost of smoking) compared with male heavy smokers (0.1 +/- 0.02 vs. 0.02 +/- 0.01 mg/L ppm, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Thus, gender differences appear to exist in smoking behaviors, nicotine sensitivity, and nicotine requirements. These differences are expected to contribute to gender differences in health risks and cancers associated with smoking.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

How older patient preferences are influenced by consideration of future health outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To determine patients' willingness to accept intubation and ventilatory support (IVS) when the best outcome available is a state involving both cognitive and physical/behavioral deficits. DESIGN: Structured interviews with patients seen consecutively in a continuity care general medicine clinic. SETTING: A university-based Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. SUBJECTS: A total of 113 patients (mean age = 67.3 years, age range 42-89; mean level of formal education = 12.6 years, range 2-24). MEASUREMENTS: Patients were asked to consider whether they would permit their physicians to intubate them and put them on ventilatory support when the best outcome to be expected was one of three future health care states, presented in the following order: State 1, where their mental and physical state of recovery would be exactly like their current mental and physical states at the time of their visit to the general medicine clinic (the patient's current baseline mental and physical functioning); State 2, involving cognitive compromise; State 3, involving both cognitive and physical/behavioral compromise. RESULTS: One patient refused IVS on State 1; 20.4% (23/113) of patients refused IVS on State 2; 23.0% (26/113) refused IVS on State 3; and 49.6% (56/113) reported they would accept IVS resulting in all three states. Six of 113 patients (5.3%) reported they would leave the decision up to their physician beginning with State 1 and continuing through State 3. One patient reported that he would leave the decision (State 1 through State 3) up to his wife. A reported history of stroke is related to patients' expressed dislike of IVS that would leave them with residual deficits. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that a substantial number of our older male veteran population would prefer intubation and ventilatory support if presented with a situation in which the best outcome that a physician could offer them was cognitive, physical, and behavioral dysfunction. These results also indicate that those patients who have had a stroke seem to be less inclined to accept IVS in more severe outcomes states.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Intra-ventral tegmental area injection of rat cocaine and amphetamine-regulated transcript peptide 55-102 induces locomotor activity and promotes conditioned place preference.

Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) is a novel mRNA that has been reported to be increased by acute psychostimulant administration, and that may be involved in the effects of psychostimulants. In this study, we examined the effect of centrally administered CART peptides on locomotor activity and conditioned place preference in the rat. CART peptide fragments were bilaterally injected into the ventral tegmental area. CART 55-102 (0.2-5.0 microg/side), an endogenously occurring peptide, dose dependently increased locomotor activity, whereas CART 1-26 (0.1-2.5 microg/side; not found endogenously) did not. The locomotor effects of CART 55-102 were dose dependently blocked by the dopamine D(2) receptor antagonist haloperidol (0.03-1.0 mg/kg i.p.). Four injections of 1.0 microg/side CART 55-102 induced a significant place preference, suggesting that CART 55-102 is reinforcing. Increases in locomotor activity after each of these CART 55-102 injections were similar and did not show tolerance or sensitization. This treatment regimen of CART 55-102 also did not produce sensitization to locomotor activity after a subsequent challenge with cocaine or amphetamine. When CART 55-102 (0.2-1.0 microg/side) was injected into the substantia nigra, no significant change in motor activity was observed. However, a higher dose of CART 55-102 (5.0 microg/side) induced a delayed increase in motor activity, suggesting a possible diffusion from the substantia nigra into the ventral tegmental area. Our findings suggest that CART 55-102 is behaviorally active and may be involved in the actions of psychostimulants. This is the first demonstration of the psychostimulant-like effects of CART peptides.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Right and left handedness defined: a multivariate approach using hand preference and hand performance measures.

OBJECTIVE: The major aim of this study was to determine whether a combination of hand preference inventories and hand performance measures identifies distinct handedness groups. If distinct groups are identified, then these subgroupings can be used in future studies to learn more about the neurobiology of these distinct handedness groups. BACKGROUND: Although most individuals classify themselves as right- or left-handed, it is not entirely clear whether handedness should be determined based on preference inventories, hand performance tasks, or a combination of these measures. Given that hand preference is linked in part to hemispheric specialization of language, it is important to clearly define hand preference groups if lateralized differences between right- and left-handers are to be explored. Healthy adult right- and left-handers were examined from a multivariate perspective in an attempt to determine whether handedness subgroups exist within performance data. METHOD: Hand preference of 62 right- and left-handed male and female adults was assessed using items from Briggs and Nebes' and Oldfield's handedness inventories. Individuals were assigned to right- and left-hand preference groups, both by visually inspecting the distribution of preference scores and via cluster analysis. Asymmetries in performance of unimanual motor tasks (grooved pegboard, finger-tapping, and grip strength) were then examined using a multivariate approach. RESULTS: Sixteen items from the two-handedness inventories were used to determine preference-based handedness groups. Two non-overlapping groups, right- and left-hand preference, were identified. Writing hand was highly correlated with hand-preference group, as only three individuals in the entire sample wrote with the non-preferred hand. The expected unimodal distributions of performance asymmetry scores, known as laterality quotients (LQs), were seen. However, when those LQs were viewed from a multivariate perspective, distinct performance-based groups emerged. In more than 90% of the observed cases, the performance-based groups corresponded to preference-based groups. No sex differences were found; the relationship between preference and performance measures was not significantly different for men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Writing hand was highly correlated with scores from a hand preference inventory. In contrast, the use of a single hand performance measure, finger tapping or pegboard, did not always correctly classify an individual as right- or left-handed. However, when both of these hand performance measures were used together. individuals were correctly classified as right- or left-handed. Using this approach, two approximately non-overlapping groups, right- and left-handers, emerged. Thus, handedness is probably not a one-dimensional trait or behavior, and must be defined using multiple measures that assess different aspects of hand preference and performance. The implications for hemispheric specialization of language and neural asymmetry research are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The pigeon as a model for comparative behavioral pharmacology and toxicology.

The effects of several drugs and neurotoxins on schedule-controlled responding are reviewed in a number of species. In general, the behavioral effects of these chemicals in different species differ quantitatively more frequently than qualitatively. The sensitivity of schedule-controlled behavior to chemical effects across species does not show any obvious relationship to position on the phylogenetic tree. Pigeons are more sensitive, less sensitive, or equally sensitive to chemicals than other species, depending on the chemical. Because pigeons are inexpensive, have a long life span and are easy to train and handle, they should receive serious consideration as a species of choice for behavioral testing of potential neurobehavioral toxins.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mobility versus sedentariness in task arrangements for people with multiple disabilities: an assessment of preferences.

This study was an attempt to assess preferences between a task arrangement involving mobility and a task arrangement involving sedentariness with three adults with multiple disabilities. Periods in which participants were exposed to both task arrangements were followed by periods in which they were allowed to choose between them. One participant had a strong preference for the task arrangement involving mobility from the beginning of the assessment. The other two participants developed a strong preference for the same task arrangement and showed higher levels of on-task behavior and/or of positive mood expressions within that arrangement. Aspects of the assessment as well as the use of assessment in daily contexts were discussed.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2004

Health care seeking behavior of Korean women with lymphedema.

The present biocultural study aimed to describe the health care use patterns of women with lymphedema. Data came from interviews and participant observations with eight key informants between February 2000 and February 2002. Analyzing the process of seeking health care, this paper explored how Korean women with lymphedema make use of all the available resources in the three sectors of the health care system: professional, folk and popular health. In these three sectors of the health care system, informants showed different patterns of behavior. In the professional health care sector, they behave based on scientific Western medicine and holistic herbal medical frameworks. Informants want scientific technological treatment from a Westernized doctor and perfect humanistic and holistic treatment from a herbal doctor. In the folk sector, informants' behavior is ruled by a pragmatic and supernatural framework. Informants seek religious healers who have strong spirituality and non-religious healers who have experience and skills. Informants complied with these healer's remedies based on efficacy and empirical healing evidence. In the popular sector of the health care system, informants behave based on their concept of illness and rules of daily life. They believe lymphedema comes from poor blood circulation and they want to be regarded as members of society, not as patients with lymphedema. Therefore, informants practised popular remedies that they believed were good for promoting blood circulation and keeping their social network active. This description about health care seeking behaviors being embedded in Korean socio-medical culture can serve to understand patients with other chronic health problems. With these results, we can put a bridge over the river of cultural conflict between health professionals and patients.

Choice Behavior↗
PubMed1977

Patterns of association voting behavior: I. Demographic correlates of voting/nonvoting and preference for candidates/issues.

A total of 58% of the eligible members voted in the 1974 APA balloting involving 6 officers, 13 amendments to the By-Laws, and a membership-initiated referendum. Analysis revealed that there was no significant relationship between member characteristics and voting/nonvoting behavior and that relatively few members followed specific voting patterns. The data support the view that most members voted carefully and relatively independently of organized influence.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Geophysical variables and behavior: LXXXVIII. Atmospheric electromagnetism: the possible disturbing influence of natural sferics on ESP.

Sferics are electromagnetic impulses generated by electrical discharges during thunderstorms (lightning). One category is comprised of very low frequency electromagnetic waves, traveling over distances up to a thousand kilometers. Sferics have been shown to affect biological responses such as pain syndromes, reaction times, and power in the alpha band of the EEG. In the present study, in which 100 subjects took part, sferics have been studied in their relation to performance on a forced-choice extrasensory perception (ESP) task and to several secondary variables. The general finding is a negative correlation between ESP performance and sferics activity around the time of the session, most notably 24-48 hours prior to the session. Secondary variables appear to modulate this correlation, as has been found in previous research on sferics: the correlation tended to be stronger for persons who scored lower on Neuroticism and higher on the Openness scale of a Five-Factor Personality Questionnaire.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Changing behavior within session: cyclicity and perseverance produced by varying the minimum ratio of a variable-ratio schedule.

Four pigeons repeatedly chose between a fixed-ratio (FR) 20 and a variable-ratio (VR) 40 schedule of reinforcement, in which the minimum ratio of the VR cycled within each session. The minimum ratio ascended and descended (ASCDESC), descended and ascended (DESCASC), or remained constant (unchanging). In Phase 1, 2 birds (Group 1) were exposed to ASCDESC series and 2 birds (Group 2) were exposed to the DESCASC series. Choice proportions changed with the cycling minimum ratio for Group 2 but not for Group 1. In Phase 2, Group 1 subjects were exposed to the DESCASC series and Group 2 subjects were exposed to the unchanging condition. Although Group 1's choice proportions appeared to be undifferentiated in Phase 2, Group 2's choice proportions continued to cycle for more than 100 sessions. Group 2 subjects were then moved to the ASCDESC series in the third phase, and choice proportions cycled with the minimum ratio as in the first phase. The descending portion of the series was the more powerful determinant of cyclicity. Response rates also changed with the minimum component ratio, a finding that goes against the claim of universality of a rise-and-fall within-session pattern of responding. That preference varied despite the constancy of the average ratio requirement suggests nonlinear averaging in quantitatively representing a variable schedule's value. The strong perseverance observed also lends support to a growing body of literature on history effects.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Neonatal aspiration lesions of the hippocampal formation impair visual recognition memory when assessed by paired-comparison task but not by delayed nonmatching-to-sample task.

Previous experiments showed that neonatal aspiration lesions of the hippocampal formation in monkeys yield no visual recognition loss at delays up to 10 min, when recognition memory was assessed by a trial-unique delayed nonmatching-to-sample (DNMS) task. The present study examined whether neonatal hippocampal lesions also have no effect on visual recognition when assessed by a visual paired-comparison (VPC) task. In the VPC task, animals are looking at visual stimuli and their preference for viewing new stimuli is measured. Normal adult monkeys showed strong preference for looking at the novel stimuli at all delays tested. By contrast, adult monkeys with neonatal hippocampal lesions, which included the dentate gyrus, cornus ammon (CA) fields, subicular complex, and portions of parahippocampal areas TH/TF, showed preference for novelty at short delays of 10 s but not at longer delays of 30 s to 24 h. This visual recognition loss contrasts with the normal performance of the same operated animals when tested in the DNMS task. The discrepancy between the results obtained in the two recognition tasks suggests that, to perform normally on the DNMS task, the operated monkeys may have used behavioral strategies that do not depend on the integrity of the hippocampal formation. In this respect, VPC appears to be a more sensitive task than DNMS to detect damage to the hippocampal region in primates.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

The effects of peptides on partner preference formation are predicted by habitat in prairie voles.

This study tested the hypothesis that intraspecific variations in mating systems are correlated with differences in the capacity of peripheral arginine vasopressin (AVP) to facilitate partner preferences. It has been hypothesized that differences in environmental conditions, Kansas being more xeric than Illinois, are responsible for some of the intraspecific differences in the mating systems between Kansas (KN) and Illinois (IL) prairie voles. We predicted that prairie voles from KN would be more behaviorally sensitive to peripheral AVP than prairie voles from IL. To test this hypothesis 60- to 120-day-old male and female, lab-reared, prairie voles originating from KN and IL received three subcutaneous injections of AVP or isotonic saline. Animals were then placed with an adult member of the opposite sex, designated a "partner," for a 1-hour period of cohabitation and subsequently tested for preference for the familiar partner versus a comparable stranger. Only KN males treated with AVP displayed a significant preference for the partner. Using the same experimental paradigm we also examined the ability of peripheral oxytocin (OT) to facilitate partner preference in KN prairie voles. OT facilitated partner preference in females, but not males. This finding was consistent with previous results describing the effects of peripheral OT in IL prairie voles. We also examined the hypothesis that the differential response of KN and IL males would be associated with differences in the distribution of AVP (V1a) receptors. However, there was no apparent difference in the distribution of V(1a) receptors between KN and IL males. The results of this study indicate that there is both intraspecific and intersexual variation in the regulation of social behavior in prairie voles. In addition, these findings suggest that the proximate causes of intraspecific variation may be predicted by knowledge of the habitat of origin.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Consumers as four-faced creatures. Looking at food consumption from the perspective of contemporary consumers.

One would believe that with the increasing importance attached to consumers in contemporary affluent societies, the difficulty to understand today's 'butterfly' or 'unmanageable' consumers seems to double simultaneously. Modern consumers defy traditional segmentation by age, gender or income. Classical criteria to distinguish different homogeneous groups of consumers with corresponding behavioral intentions and patterns, have lost much of their explanatory power. Hence, the behaviour of the inhabitants of modern consumer society can no longer be understood by 'straight' and measurable segmentation criteria only. In order to meet the complexities of modern consumer behaviour, it is suggested that we need to improve our understanding of socio-cultural and socio-psychological influences on consumer choices. Such are awarded to be supplementary to socio-demographic (e.g. age, gender) or socio-economic (e.g. income, occupation) criteria, which are traditionally used in consumer studies. Our contribution to this quest for new perspectives, in which consumption is both seen as an economic/materialistic and a socio-cultural/attitudinal phenomenon, is called the consumer images approach. The underpinnings of this approach are the dimensions materialism/nonmaterialism and individualism/collectivism. Based on these two dimensions, four consumer images are distinguished in a four-quadrantic continuum. This implies that consumer images are not another set of taxonomies to 'box in' consumers. The consumer images approach is in tune with lines of thought in the recent renaissance of the sociology of consumption. To illustrate this, a presentation of the multifaceted consumer will be given that is interlarded with quotations from several new studies on contemporary consumerism which give evidence of the current vitality of scholarly interest in consumption.

Choice Behavior↗
PubMed2005

Risk selection in the German public health insurance system.

The German statutory health insurance market was exposed to competition in 1996. To limit direct risk selection the regulator required open enrollment. As the risk compensation scheme, introduced in 1994, is highly incomplete, substantial incentives for risk selection exist. Due to their low premiums, company-based sickness funds have been able to attract a lot of new members. We analyze, using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, the determinants of switching behavior from 1995 to 2000. There is no evidence for selection by funds. The success of the company-based sickness funds originates in incomplete risk adjustment together with the negative correlation between health status and switching costs.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Striatal dysfunction in schizophrenia and unaffected relatives.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia has been frequently associated with impaired inhibitory control. Such control is known to involve the striatum. Here, we investigate whether impaired inhibitory control is associated with abnormal striatal activation in schizophrenia. First-degree relatives of patients were also tested to examine whether striatal abnormality is associated with schizophrenia, or with the risk for the illness. METHODS: Both functional MRI and behavioral data were acquired during a task designed to invoke inhibitory control in 21 patients, 15 unaffected siblings, and 36 matched controls. Subjects must refrain from responding to designated stop cues occurring within a series of motor cues. Subjects could anticipate the occurrence of stop cues as the likelihood of these cues increased in a linear fashion throughout the task. RESULTS: Control subjects showed striatal activation while responding to motor cues. This activation increased in a linear fashion when the likelihood of having to inhibit the response was increased. Both patients siblings did not show anticipation-related increase in either striatal activation. However, only patients showed behavioral impairments. CONCLUSIONS: Striatal abnormalities occur in schizophrenia patients and unaffected siblings. Thus striatal abnormalities may be related to an increased (genetic) risk to develop schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

The effect of quality information on consumer health plan switching: evidence from the Buyers Health Care Action Group.

We examine the factors that lead employees to search for health plan quality information and the effect of such information on the decision to switch plans. Extending Hirshleifer and Riley's model [Hirshleifer, J., Riley, J.G., 1979. The analytics of uncertainty and information--an expositional survey. Journal of Economic Literature 17 (December (4)), 1375-1421] of the economics of information, we develop a two-equation model of quality information awareness and switching behavior. We estimate the model using data from a random sample of 651 single employees from 16 firms that are members of the Buyers Health Care Action Group, a health care purchasing coalition in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. Our empirical results do not support either a link between quality information and switching behavior, or between perceived health plan satisfaction and switching. We do, however, find that switching is influenced by changes in premiums and whether an individual has an existing relationship with a health care provider.

Choice Behavior↗
PubMed1983

Predicting and understanding mothers' infant-feeding intentions and behavior: testing the theory of reasoned action.

The present study examines the applicability of Fishbein and Ajzen's theory of reasoned action to the prediction and understanding of how primiparous and multiparous mothers intended to feed their infants and how they actually fed these infants during the 6 weeks following delivery. Measures of attitudes to behavior, subjective norms, and behavioral intentions were taken during the last trimester of pregnancy. Behavior was assessed by self-report 6 weeks postpartum. In most respects the findings supported the theory of reasoned action. However, attitudes to behavior were found to make an independent and significant contribution to the prediction of infant-feeding behavior, and the previous behavior of multiparous mothers explained an independent and significant proportion of variation in their behavioral intentions. The relative importance of the attitudinal and normative components of the theoretical model tended to vary according to whether the mothers had direct experience of the criterion behavior. Further analysis revealed that mothers who breast-fed during the 6-week postpartum period differed from those who bottle-fed exclusively during this period on a number of behavioral beliefs, outcome evaluations, and normative beliefs, and on one measure of motivation to comply. The implications of these findings for the theory of reasoned action are discussed.

Adolescent↗