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Basic Findings (basic + finding)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Psychology	40%
Medical Sciences	40%

Selected Abstracts

Memory function in normal aging

ACTA NEUROLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 2003
Lars-Göran Nilsson
Basic findings obtained on memory functions in normal aging are presented and discussed with respect to five separate but interacting memory systems. These systems are: episodic memory, semantic memory, short-term memory, perceptual representation system and procedural memory. All available evidence from cross-sectional research shows that there is a linear, decreasing memory performance as a function of age for episodic memory. Longitudinal studies suggest, however, that this age deficit may be an overestimation, by showing a relatively stable performance level up to middle age, followed by a sharp decline. Studies on semantic memory, short-term memory, perceptual representation system, and procedural memory show a relatively constant performance level across the adult life span, although some tasks used to assess short-term memory and procedural memory have revealed an age deficit. Disregarding the mixed results for these latter two memory systems, it can be concluded that episodic memory is unique in showing an age deficit. Episodic memory is also unique in the sense that it is the only memory system showing gender differences in performance throughout the adult life span with a significantly higher performance for women. [source]

Challenge and threat responses during downward and upward social comparisons

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2001
Wendy Berry Mendes
We examined cardiovascular responses indicating challenge and threat during social comparisons. Experiment 1 manipulated comparison direction (i.e. upward/downward) within a cooperative social interaction, during which we measured cardiovascular responses, evaluations of demands and resources, and self-reports. Participants interacting with upward comparison partners evaluated the task as more ,threatening' (demands relative to resources) than participants cooperating with downward comparison partners. Moreover, participants cooperating with upward comparison partners exhibited cardiovascular reactivity consistent with threat (i.e. increased ventricle contractility, no changes in cardiac output, and vasoconstriction). In contrast, participants interacting with downward comparison partners exhibited challenge responses (i.e. increased contractility, increased cardiac output, and vasodilation). This basic finding was extended in Experiment 2 with the examination of a classic moderator of social comparison, attitudinal similarity of the comparison partner. Participants paired with attitudinally dissimilar partners exhibited exacerbated reactions relative to participants paired with attitudinally similar partners. That is, relative to similar partners, dissimilar partners engendered greater threat responses during upward comparisons and a tendency toward greater challenge responses during downward comparisons. These results are discussed within an assimilative/contrast model of social comparisons. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Caloric restriction for longevity: I. Paradigm, protocols and physiological findings in animal research

EUROPEAN EATING DISORDERS REVIEW, Issue 5 2004
Kelly M. Vitousek
Abstract The initial article in this series reviews basic findings in the field of caloric restriction for longevity (CRL). To eating disorder specialists, the data are disconcerting. The chronic dieting and subnormal weight we endeavour to prevent and treat in humans appear highly beneficial when imposed on animals. In the laboratory, organisms from nematodes to monkeys thrive when forced to undereat, as long as they receive sufficient micronutrients. The most remarkable results are obtained through the most extreme measures: mice, for example, do best if limited to a third of expected caloric intake, beginning soon after weaning and continuing throughout adulthood. Deprivation can be achieved through an ,anorexic' protocol of steady underconsumption or a ,bulimic' pattern in which periods of fasting alternate with bouts of binge eating. The benefits of such regimens include delayed senescence, postponement and/or attenuation of age-related disease and dramatic increases in average and maximum lifespan. Although some biological functions are impaired (including growth, reproduction and perhaps resistance to certain stressors), the cost/benefit ratio clearly favours CRL when calculated on the basis of physical outcomes in late age. Advocacy of comparable regimens for people, however, is ill-considered. Enthusiasm for CRL can be sustained only by detaching deprivation from the context of daily life, ignoring psychological effects, and dismissing data on human semi-starvation and eating disorders. The experiences of participants in Biosphere 2 and individuals with anorexia nervosa suggest that the price of CRL is unacceptably high when a wider range of outcome variables is examined. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. [source]

The Panel Study on American Religion and Ethnicity: Background, Methods, and Selected Results

JOURNAL FOR THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION, Issue 1 2010
Michael O. Emerson
Surveying 2,610 respondents, the Panel Study of American Religion and Ethnicity is a nationally representative in-home survey of the noninstitutionalized U.S. adult population. The survey is designed to (a) focus primarily on religion and spirituality (with over 200 questions on these topics), (b) include multiple other modules (such as health, family relationships, and social ties), (c) oversample African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics, and (d) follow the same respondents over time. We describe the main design features of the survey, present some characteristics of the sample, and provide basic findings. It is our hope that these data will foster more research and contribute to a better understanding of the role and meaning of religion in the contemporary United States. [source]

Almost 30 Years of Writing Research: Making Sense of It All with The Wrath of Khan

LEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 2 2009
Steve Graham
In this invited article, we present an ongoing research program in the area of writing. Although this program has focused on students with learning disabilities (LD) and other struggling writers, it has also concentrated more broadly on issues involving writing development and general writing instruction. One purpose of this review was to share our basic findings in each of these areas, as they have important implications for teaching writing to students with LD. Another purpose was to illustrate how an ongoing research program develops and grows over time. To make this process more concrete, we employed several different literacy devices, including drawing an analogy between the development of our research program and the development of the story line for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Our final purpose was to describe the research we plan to do in the near future. [source]