Showing papers by "Albion College published in 1996"
TL;DR: It is hypothesized that the tufts of the brush-legged wolf spider serve to increase the efficacy of visual displays of S. ocreata, as vibratory communication is constrained by the complex leaf litter habitat of some populations, which may make visual signalling over distance a critical factor for effective courtship communication.
Abstract: Males of the brush-legged wolf spider, Schizocosa ocreata (Araneae: Lycosidae), possess a conspicuous male secondary sexual character: dark pigmentation and tufts of bristles on the tibiae of their forelegs. We tested several hypotheses relating to the role of this conspicuous trait in sexual selection. Triad mating experiments suggest that the tufts do not play an obvious role in the operation of sexual selection by either male competition or female choice, as there were no significant differences in the mating success of intact and experimentally shaved males. However, females mated more often with males that initiated courtship first, suggesting that capture of a female’s attention by male signalling may play a critical role. In behavioral experiments that paired a single male with a female in arenas that allowed both visual and vibratory signal transmission during courtship, female receptivity did not vary significantly with the presence or absence of tufts. However, experiments that isolated the visual component of communication (by eliminating vibratory communication) revealed a significant effect of the presence of tufts: females showed receptivity less often to males with tufts removed. Female response to visual signals was much greater in S. ocreata than in its sibling congener, Schizocosa rovneri, which lacks male tufts. We hypothesize that the tufts serve to increase the efficacy of visual displays of S. ocreata, as vibratory communication is constrained by the complex leaf litter habitat of some populations. Such environmental constraints may make visual signalling over distance a critical factor for effective courtship communication, which may in turn strongly influence male fitness.
168 citations
TL;DR: Although men and women conceptualize the state of sexual desire in a manner similar to researchers and theorists (i.e., as a subjective, psychological experience rather than as a physiological or behavioral sexual event), sexual desire represents a more romantic, interpersonal experience for women than for men.
Abstract: Little is known about how men and women conceptualize sexual desire. This descriptive study explored beliefs about the nature of sexual desire. Participants defined sexual desire in a free response format. The results suggest that there is no single common understanding of sexual desire. In particular, although men and women conceptualize the state of sexual desire in a manner similar to researchers and theorists (i.e., as a subjective, psychological experience rather than as a physiological or behavioral sexual event), sexual desire represents a more romantic, interpersonal experience for women than for men. Significantly more women than men believed that love and emotional intimacy are important goals of sexual desire, and fewer women than men viewed sexual activity as a goal of sexual desire .
130 citations
TL;DR: This article found that women rated more reasons for virginity (particularly interpersonal ones) as important and had more positive reactions (were more proud and happy and less embarrassed and guilty) about being a virgin than did men.
Abstract: Whereas the sexual lives of college students have been the focus of many research studies, there is very little research on those young adults who have chosen to remain virgins. In this study, 97 virgin men and 192 virgin women from a Midwestern U.S. university were surveyed about the reasons they were virgins, their affective reactions to their virginity status, and other aspects of their virginity (e.g., the social pressure they received to remain a virgin vs. to become sexually active). As hypothesized, women rated more reasons for virginity (particularly interpersonal ones) as important and had more positive reactions (were more proud and happy and less embarrassed and guilty) about being a virgin than did men. Women reported more social pressure than did men to remain a virgin, and men were more likely than women to expect to become a nonvirgin in the near future. Associations among the reasons, affective reactions, and other aspects of virginity were examined for men versus women. Because data were ...
105 citations
TL;DR: A series of 37 new radiocarbon dates from three deep, stratified sites in the Basin of Mexico suggest that the traditional sequence of phases is essentially valid, and that both Coyotlatelco and Aztec I may have begun significantly earlier than traditionally believed as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Archaeologists working in the Basin of Mexico have long accepted a chronology in which sequential ceramic phases (Metepec, Coyotlatelco, Mazapan, Aztec I, and Aztec II) define the period between the last stages of Classic Teotihuacan and the immediate antecedents of Late Postclassic Tenochtitlan. The absolute chronology of these phases has remained tentative, and there have been hints of possible temporal overlap between some of them. A series of 37 new radiocarbon dates from three deep, stratified sites in the Basin of Mexico suggest (1) that the traditional sequence of phases is essentially valid; (2) that both Coyotlatelco and Aztec I may have begun significantly earlier than traditionally believed; (3) that there may have been partial chronological overlap between Late Coyotlatelco and Early Aztec I in some parts of the basin; (4) that there was probably little significant temporal overlap between Aztec I and Aztec II; and (5) that the ethnohistorically recognized sociopolitical complexity of the long era in question is amply reflected in a regional ceramic sequence that still requires considerable refinement in both time and space.
53 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, 1,012 mutual funds were examined to investigate the relationship between the funds' sales loads, annual expenses, and returns, and low expense funds significantly outperformed high and very high expense funds.
39 citations
TL;DR: The Appalachian Bewick's Wren (T. b. altus) is a songbird once found across much of the U.S. and was considered common or abundant in most of that region (Bent 1948).
Abstract: Widespread declines in breeding populations of migratory songbirds have been attributed to the destruction of breeding habitat, destruction of overwintering habitat, interspecific brood parasitism by cowbirds, and increased rates of predation on nests (Wilcove 1985; Terborgh 1989; Askins et al. 1990; papers in Hagan & Johnson 1992). Evidence for interspecific competition as a cause of decline is negligible (Terborgh 1989), although competition has been suspected as the cause of decline in Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii [Audubon]) (Wilcove 1990). Bewick's Wren, a songbird once found across much of the U.S., is on the Blue List (species of concern) of the National Audubon Society (Ehrlich et al. 1992), and Breeding Bird Surveys show declines in Bewick's Wrens from 1966 to 1991 in several parts of the country. Declines have been most notable in the migratory, eastemmost subspecies, the Appalachian Bewick's Wren (T. b. altus). The Appalachian Bewick's Wren once bred from eastern Kentucky, eastern Ohio, and Pennsylvania, south to Alabama and Georgia, and it was considered common or abundant in most of that region (Bent 1948). Over the past century the Appalachian Bewick's Wren has almost disappeared; during the 1980s only 20 pairs of Bewick's Wrens were found in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia combined (Maryland Natural Heritage Program 1989). In 1986 the Maryland Natural Heritage Program petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (UJSFWS) to list the Appalachian population of Bewick's Wren as endangered (Bartgis 1986). The USFWS accepted the petition (Maryland Natural Heritage Program 1989) but ranked the Appalachian population of Bewick's Wren
29 citations
TL;DR: It was suggested that sex or gender is present in handwriting in much the same way as it was present in movement of the whole body.
Abstract: The ability to infer the sex of the writer from cursive handwriting was examined under a range of conditions. In 5 experiments male and female college students were able to perform this task at the 75% accuracy level even with small amounts of material, sometimes only a single letter or a single geometric pattern. On the other hand, age of the writer was just barely discernible from handwriting. It was suggested that sex or gender is present in handwriting in much the same way as it is present in movement of the whole body.
20 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that the Student's t -statistic is asymptotically normal for random vectors in the generalized Domain of Attraction of the Normal Law.
17 citations
TL;DR: The Great Southwest of the Fred Harvey Company and the Santa Fe Railway as mentioned in this paper is a collection of artifacts from the Hearst Museum of the Pacific Coast Railway with a focus on railroads.
Abstract: The Great Southwest of the Fred Harvey Company and the Santa Fe Railway. Edited by Marta Weigle and Barbara A. Babcock. PhoeniX: The Heard Museum, 1996. Distributed by The University of Arizona Press. 254 pp., 138 b/w illustrations, appendix, bibliography, index. $24.95 (paper).
15 citations
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TL;DR: In a recent online search, I entered the words “biology” and “gender,” expecting to find papers investigating the ways girls might be socialized out of science careers, I did find some sociological papers, but also listed were a great many studies that had nothing to do with humans and their gender.
Abstract: In a recent online search, I entered the words “biology” and “gender,” expecting to find papers investigating the ways girls might be socialized out of science careers. I did find some sociological papers, but also listed were a great many studies that had nothing to do with humans and their
9 citations
02 Nov 1996
TL;DR: In this paper, a voxel driven approach is described where the reconstruction volume is partitioned into variable width slabs and each slab given to a workstation for backprojection.
Abstract: Cone beam geometries are increasingly of interest for X-ray CT applications to improve imaging efficiency. In this paper, we describe our practical experience implementing circular orbit cone beam backprojection on workstation clusters. The reconstruction problem is computationally intensive, particularly for arrays of 512 voxels in each direction. A voxel driven approach is described where the reconstruction volume is partitioned into variable width slabs and each slab given to a workstation. Each projection is filtered by one workstation and then sent to the others for backprojection. While most computation is done in the backprojection step, a significant amount of time must be spent in sending projectional data. A method is detailed to further reduce the communication overhead by restricting the amount of projection sent to only what is required by each backprojecting workstation. Furthermore, if the shape of the backprojection slabs is made as square as possible, the total communication requirement can be minimized. By reduction of the communication requirement, an overall improvement in processor utilization was observed, and the crossover point where communication dominates was improved.
Journal Article•