Self-concept differentiation and self-concept clarity across adulthood: associations with age and psychological well-being.
(25/32)
This study focused on the identification of conceptually meaningful groups of individuals based on their joint self-concept differentiation (SCD) and self-concept clarity (SCC) scores. Notably, we examined whether membership in different SCD-SCC groups differed by age and also was associated with differences in psychological well-being (PWB). Cluster analysis revealed five distinct SCD-SCC groups: a self-assured, unencumbered, fragmented-only, confused-only, and fragmented and confused group. Individuals in the self-assured group had the highest mean scores for positive PWB and the lowest mean scores for negative PWB, whereas individuals in the fragmented and confused group showed the inverse pattern. Findings showed that it was psychologically advantageous to belong to the self-assured group at all ages. As hypothesized, older adults were more likely than young adults to be in the self-assured cluster, whereas young adults were more likely to be in the fragmented and confused cluster. Thus, consistent with extant theorizing, age was positively associated with psychologically adaptive self-concept profiles. (+info)
Integrating patients into medical education.
(26/32)
Biorhythms in the activity of children during free play.
(28/32)
The interaction between the arousal to action of environmental stimuli and recovery from that activity was presumed to generate biorhythms in the activity level of children. The level of environmental stimuli was manipulated by varying the play-group size and the apparatus, and higher environmental complexity was expected to produce more pronounced rhythms. The heart rates of 16 subjects playing in monad, dyad, and tetrad group sizes, in two playroom configurations, were monitored and spectral analysis used to locate significant biorhythms. There was a tendency toward 40-min (slow frequency) and 15-min (fast frequency) biorhythms. The group size manipulation produced the strongest biorhythmic behavior in the dyadic groups. Apparatus differences were not significant but the configuration containing a minimum quantity of play apparatus produced more variable activity than the configuration containing a large amount of play apparatus. (+info)
Behavior and performance of pigs grouped by three different methods at weaning.
(29/32)
Crossbred pigs (384) used in three trials were assigned to one of three grouping treatments when moved to 1.4 X 1.6 m nursery pens 4 h postweaning at 28 d of age. Treatments included eight pigs from the same litter (8-1), four pigs from each of two different litters (4-2) and one pig from each of eight different litters (1-8). A commercial odor masking agent (OMA) commonly used to reduce tail biting and fighting was sprayed on one-half of the replicates of each treatment 20 min after (trial 1) or immediately before (trials 2 and 3) the pigs were moved to the nursery. Agonistic behavior was quantified (trials 2 and 3) by direct observation for the first 3 h and again for 2 h at 24 and 48 h post-grouping. Application of OMA 20 min post-mixing caused only a temporary (3 to 5 min) cessation of fighting. A slight increase in fighting in all three grouping treatments was observed when OMA was applied before mixing. Average daily gain for 0 to 4 and 0 to 28 d and feed intake for 0 to 7 and 0 to 28 d were not influenced by OMA or grouping treatments. Combining alien pigs resulted in a significant increase in fighting but did not affect long term performance. (+info)
Restructuring parental attitudes--working with parents of the adult mentally ill.
(30/32)
The Thresholds parents group gives the parents of clients an opportunity that has rarely been presented to them. They are able to discuss openly, with their peers, many issues that have not been expressed previously except in the greatest privacy. Often their children's mental illness has been a well-kept secret or has been handled in a guilty and shamefaced way. They do not find it easy, as a rule, to discuss mental illness in the same way they might discuss diabetes or congenital heart disease. It is an enormous relief to be open about their problems with others who are in similar circumstances. The main issues addressed in the group are a redefinition of good parenting to include mutual disengagement, emancipation, and separation; reduction of parental guilt, with its consequent implications of parents getting more out of their own lives, and a reduction of manipulation; and the handling of management issues such as money, medication, visiting, parental expectations, holidays, siblings, and parents' united front. Parents of the emotionally ill are a much maligned group. Too often they are regarded by the mental health community as enemies and not allies. Too often the suffering that they have endured is ignored. Too often parents' strengths are overlooked by mental health professionals treating their offspring. And, finally, too often basic change in the parents is demanded as a prerequisite for meaningful change in the member. (+info)
Changes in social organization during the breeding season of wild talapoin monkeys.
(31/32)
Two adjacent troops of talapoin monkeys were studied near Mbalmayo, Cameroon, during a predicted 3-month breeding season. Mating continued for just over 2 months. One troop began to mate at least 2 weeks before the other, suggesting that, though climatic changes were probably important, precise timing was mediated through some intra-troop social facilitation effect. Before the breeding season, adult males and females lived in separate sub-groups. Males began to move into female sub-groups before there was any sign of the perineal swellings characteristic of receptive talapoin females. Copulation occurred only with females with medium or large swellings, except towards the end of the season. It is probable that the majority of females were monoestrous. At the height of the mating period, females joined mainly male sub-groups, leaving their infants with the mainly female groups which also included a few males. Copulations were observed in both these types of sub-groups. Consort behaviour was not observed, males frequently returning to all-male sub-groups immediately after ejaculation. Intersexual grooming was not characteristic of sexual interactions. At the end of the season, adults were seen more frequently in groups of their own sex or with juveniles only, and there was some indication that increased aggressiveness by newly pregnant females might be partly responsible for this separation. (+info)
Energy metabolism in young pigs as affected by mixing.
(32/32)
The effect of mixing on energy metabolism was studied in 8-wk-old pigs. In each of two trials, two clusters of 20 pigs (two litters of 10 pigs) were randomly assigned to one of two treatments: control or mixing. Each cluster was housed in two pens. In each trial, after a preliminary period od 2 wk, the two litters within the mixing treatment were mixed at the start of a 2-wk experimental period. During mixing, the five heaviest pigs of each litter were put together in one pen, and the five lightest pigs of each litter were put together in the other pen. In the control treatment, the social structure of both litters in one climatic chamber was not altered. After mixing, a short-term effect on total heat production and activity-related heat production was present. Both were increased (P < .01) only during the 1st h after mixing. Only 57.3% of this increased total heat production was caused by an increased activity. However, no long-term effects of mixing on energy partitioning were present during the total experimental period. The absence of a long-term mixing effect might be caused by the optimal conditions at the moment of mixing. In the preliminary period the transposition of GE into ME increased 1.3% (P < .05), and ME for maintenance decreased 80 kJ.kg(-.75).d(-1) (P < .01) between wk 1 and 2. These large alterations in energy metabolism are probably a carry-over effect of the transportation of the pigs and (or) the changes in housing environment. (+info)