Showing papers by "Southern Illinois University Carbondale published in 1977"

Development of a self-report inventory for assessing individual differences in learning processes

Abstract: Five studies are presented—all related to the de velopment and application of a self-report inventory for measuring individual differences in learning processes. Factor analysis of items derived by trans lating laboratory learning processes into the context of academic study yielded four scales: Synthesis- Analysis, Study Methods, Fact Retention, and Elab orative Processing. There were no sex differences, and the scales demonstrated acceptable reliabilities. The Synthesis-Analysis and Elaborative Processing scales both assess aspects of information processing (including depth of processing), but Synthesis- Analysis assesses organizational processes, while Elaborative Processing deals with active, elaborative approaches to encoding. These two scales were positively related to performance under incidental learning instructions in both a lecture-learning and traditional verbal-learning study. Study Methods assessed adherence to systematic, traditional study techniques. This scale was positively related to pe...

The amino- and carboxyl-terminal sequence of bovine rhodopsin

Abstract: The amino terminus of bovine rhodopsin is blocked and has the sequence x-Met-Asn(CHO)-Gly-Thr-Glu-Gly-Pro-Asn-Phe-Tyr-Val-Pro-Phe-Ser-Asn(CHO)-Lys-Thr-Gly-Val-Val-Arg, where CHO represents sites of carbohydrate attachment. The carboxyl-terminal sequence of rhodopsin is Val-Ser-Lys-Thr-Glu-Thr-Ser-Gln-Val-Ala-Pro-Ala. Upon short-term digestion of rod outer segment (ROS) membranes with thermolysin, opsin (similar to 35,000 daltons) is converted to a membrane-bound fragment O' (similar to 30,500 daltons) and 2 peptides containing 12 amino acids are released from the carboxyl terminus of rhodopsin into the supernatant. Upon long-term digestion of ROS with thermolysin, opsin and O' are replaced by the membrane-bound fragments F1 (similar to 25,000 daltons), and F2 (similar 9,500 daltons). When 32P-ROS are digested, F2 carries the 32P. Both O' and F1 contain the amino-terminal glycopeptide.

Quadriceps strength in relation to total knee arthroplasty outcomes.

Abstract: The patellar and articular cartilages of the femoral and tibial condyles can be demonstrated well by double contrast arthrography, and abnormalities of the cartilage can be seen. A comparison of surgical findings with the preoperative arthrogram was made for 100 patients, and the diagnosis of chondromalacia of the patella and condyles had an accuracy of about 90 per cent.

Teaching coin equivalence to the mentally retarded.

Abstract: A program was designed to teach coin equivalence to mentally retarded adolescents. Coin equivalence was defined as choosing several different combinations of coins to equal specified target values. A pretest-posttest matched-groups design was employed with an experimental group receiving the monetary training, and a no-training control group. A multiple baseline across coin-counting responses was also incorporated in the experimental group. Training was divided into six stages, each teaching one specific method of combining coins to equal 10 target values from 5 cents through 50 cents. A three-component response chain was used, requiring (a) naming, (b) selecting and counting, and (c) depositing target monetary values into a coin machine. Experimental subjects improved significantly in coin equivalence performance and maintained their skill on follow up tests; control subjects did not.

A histone-like protein from adenovirus chromatin

Abstract: THE DNA in adenovirus is complexed with two viral specific polypeptides, VII and V, to form the compact core structure. There are 1,070 copies of VII (18,000 molecular weight) and 180 copies of V (45,000 MW) per viral genome of 36,000 base pairs1. Cordon et al.2 have suggested that the combination of six copies of VII, one copy of V and 200 DNA base pairs form the basic subunit structure of adenovirus chromatin. Such arrangement is also characteristic of the eukaryotic chromatin subunit which is composed of eight histones (two each of H2a, H2b, H3 and H4) and a unit DNA length of approximately 200 base pairs (see ref. 3 for review). The major core protein, VII is highly basic; almost 23 mole per cent of the residues are arginine4–6. A simple calculation reveals that the mass ratio of VII: DNA is 1 : 1 which is similar to the histone : DNA ratio in eukaryotic chromatin. This suggests that polypeptide VII-DNA interaction may be similar to that of histones and DNA. Amino acid sequence studies have revealed an asymmetric distribution of basic residues in the histones. In particular, the amino end is highly basic and is implicated in DNA binding; the carboxy1 end is less basic yet more hydrophobic and is involved in histone–histone interactions7,8. To determine if the amino end of VII is also basic, we isolated polypeptide VII from adenovirus type 2 in milligram yield9 and sequenced its amino end by automatic Edman degradation (Fig. 1). We present here a partial sequence determination.

Strain differences in the response of the mouse to diethylstilbestrol

Abstract: BALB/c StCrlfC3Hf/Nctr, CS7BL/6J, C57BL/6 X BALB/c F1 hybrid (B6CF1), and monohybrid‐cross offspring from the breeding of B6CF1 mice were examined with respect to uterine, vaginal, and thymus responses to diethylstilbestrol (DES). About 400 mice of each genetic population were used. Weanling mice were fed DES at dietary concentrations of 2.5 to 1,000 ppb (μg/kg feed) for 6 days and were killed by cervical dislocation about 20 hr after removal of the feed. C57BL/6, B6CF1, and the monohybrid‐cross offspring did not differ in the uterine‐weight response to DES, but the slope of the dose‐response line was shallower for the BALB/c than for the other strains. Dietary DES concentrations of 250 ppb or more inhibited the uterotrophic response in all populations. Vaginal cornification occurred at lower concentrations of DES in the C57BL/6 strain than in the B6CF1 animals. BALB/c and monohybrid‐cross offspring were indistinguishable from each other in their vaginal response to DES and were less sensitive to DES than...

Decision Making and Cognition

Abstract: The last five years has seen a remarkable growth of interest in cognitive psychology, a topic that includes all those approaches to psychology that postulate internal, mental processes on the basis of observed behavior. Although cognition has always been a respectable area of psychology in Europe and Great Britain, the influence of behaviorism in the United States has been so strong that, until recently, the term “cognition” was considered by many to be inappropriate for use in the scientific study of behavior. In recent years this attitude has changed; there are now few psychologists who would deny the legitimacy of cognitive phenomena as a topic for psychological study. This growth of interest in cognition has led to the development of novel approaches to theory and research methodology that have had an effect on all areas of psychology.

The Effects of a Social Learning Experiment on Attitudes and Behavior toward Environmental Conservation

Abstract: This investigation studied the general relationship of expressed attitude and overt behavior by applying an attitude and behavior change model, social learning theory, to issues and activities of environmental conservation. The research question tested was: will a "change-agent role-playing" social learning treatment have a significant positive effect on college geography students' attitude and/or behavior toward a sample of environmental conservation issues? With the experimental design and controls applied in this study, it was concluded that behavior over a ten-week period was changed positively. Social learning theory has postulated that once a new behavior has been established it was translatable to other issues. For affectively oriented instruction this postulation would be very useful if new positive behavior toward the environment would also enhance behavioral patterns toward other social issues learned and discussed in the public school classroom.

Discriminant Analysis of Student Ratings as a Means for Identifying Lecturers who Differ in Enthusiasm or Information-Giving

Abstract: This investigation employed discriminant analysis to improve the usefulness of student-faculty ratings in detecting differences in lecturer types. Equivalent groups of college students in each of two studies viewed lectures delivered by a Hollywood actor so as to vary in number of substantive teaching points covered (high, low) and presentation manner (enthusiastic, unenthusiastic). Students rated lecturer effectiveness using an 18-item questionnaire like those commonly used. Optimal scoring methods were derived in the first study for the purpose of differentiating among lecturer types and were cross-validated in a second study of groups of students who saw and rated the same lectures. Scoring methods derived in the first study were valid in relation to differences in lecturer enthusiasm in the first and second studies and were valid in relation to differences in information-giving in the first but not in the second study. Results were explained in terms of the "Doctor Fox Effect" and suggestions were off...

Effects of acid-mine wastes on aquatic ecosystems

Abstract: The Cedar Creek Basin (39th N parallel 92nd W meridian) was studied for the period June 1952 through August 1954 to observe the effects of both continuous and periodic acid effluent flows on aquatic communities. The acid strip-mine effluent contained ferric and ferrous Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Al, Mg, titratable acid, and elevated H ion concentration, and was toxic to many of the aquatic organisms. In the areas of Cedar Creek, subjected to continuous acid flow, planktonic and benthic species had become adapted to the severe conditions and varied in abundance and diversity. No fishes were observed in the continuous acid effluents area. Downstream, where periodic mineral acid conditions changed drastically during an excessive effluent flow, planktonic and benthic communities had high diversity but low density. The populations of fishes were variable in this stream reach. The chemical basis of water quality variability was shown to be time-related, and statistically related to the aquatic communities.

Morphine and shuttle-box self-stimulation in the rat: a model for euphoria

Abstract: In a shuttle-box self-stimulation paradigm, analgesic doses of morphine increase the amount of time a rat leaves rewarding brain stimulation on, without altering average OFF times. This paradigm may serve as a model for the euphoria induced by narcotic drugs and as a useful tool for evaluating the reinforcing effects of drugs.

Loneliness: an interdisciplinary approach.

Abstract: Psychological motivations, reasons why human nature is what it is, principles by which we may 'explain', understand, sympathize, or empathize with other human beings--and ourselves--what a variety of possible principles has been offered by philosophers and psychologists! All men seek happiness, announces Aristotle (Ethics). Just as all men delight in imitation (Poetics), and human beings universally take pleasure in knowing (Metaphysics), in that same sense it may be said that the arche of human conduct or action derives from the self-evident fact that all men desire to be happy. According to Hobbes, each human atom is motivated by self-interest, not to say selfishness, and every individual strives for his own 'good' through power over others. Bentham, on the other hand, regards man as under the sovereign twin masters of pleasure and pain, whose dominion extends over the entirety of human conduct. Freud retraces the path of our problematic symptoms to a fund of repressed sexual and libidinal energy, whose fettered strivings results in overt neuroses. Adler employs a Schopenhauerian and Nietzschean 'will to power' as a model for understanding a universal feeling of inferiority, whose ultimate origin is grounded in the inadequacy of the infant. And Jung cavalierly splits the human race into the extrovertish and the introvertish, the cosmopolitans and the islanders. What I have chosen as my concern, in the foregoing, is not a rough survey of conceptions of human nature--whether man is good, bad, or indifferent; a rational creature or essentially a sentient one; whether man's nature has ever been the same' or whether 'man makes himself', creatively. Rather, I am interested in what 'motivates' man, I am searching for a universal principle through which we may 'understand' why man does what he does, why man is what he is. Obviously, however, the commitment we make in regard to a theory of human motivation will itself necessarily be found to entail a corresponding view of human nature. Confronted with this impressive variety of interpretations, I don't know if I am able to offer a comparable general principle, but I shall try. In a word, that principle is loneliness. Thus, I wish to hold that once man has satisfied his more obviously physiological and biologic drives and comfortably secured the necessities of air, water, and food, he then strives to alleviate his desperate loneliness. It is not so much, then, a fact--correcting Jung, for instance--that we are to be dichotomized into extroverts and introverts, but rather that we all begin by aspiring toward human communion and affection and friendship but that, unfortunately, many of us fail; we who fail are the frustrated extroverts, the retreating introverts; if we cannot enjoy the company of others and command from them the recognition we (abnormally) feel for ourselves, well, then we shall cultivate our own company.

A Middle Pennsylvanian Nodule Flora from Carterville, Illinois

Abstract: As early as 1875 the occurrence of small, irregularly-shaped nodules of pyritiferous clay in which fossil plants could be found, had been reported in the roof shales of the Herrin (No. 6) Coal at Carterville, Illinois. Active collection of these plant bearing nodules began nearly 15 years ago, and at present over 2500 specimens are curated in the Southern Illinois University paleobotanical collection. The impression-compression ironstone concretion flora is Middle Pennsylvanian in age, assigned to the Carbondale Formation, Kewanee Group. The completed floristic survey encompasses 1,475 specimens delegated to 24 genera and 52 species. Specimens not able to be placed in a taxonomic rank were assigned to form status. The flora is dominated (44% of all specimens assignable to a generic status) by Filicalean and Marattialean elements of the genus Pecopteris Brongniart. Medullosan pteridosperm taxa, Neuropteris (Brongniart) Sternberg, Alethopteris Sternberg, Odontopteris Sternberg, and Callipteridium Weiss compose nearly 25% of the flora. Few Lyginopterid elements have been encountered. Calamitean components are relatively abundant in the forms of Annularia Sternberg, Asterophyllites Brongniart, and Calamites Suckow, while Sphenophyllalean taxa are rare. Isolated sporophylls dominate the Lepidodendralean aspect of the flora. The assemblage exhibits an abundance of Upper Allegheny and Lower Conemaugh plants, and has been equated to the Upper Kittanning Coal of the Appalachian Region.

Concerning the origin of handedness in humans.

Abstract: The origin of right-handedness as the predominant chirality in humans seems to be related to the tendency of human (and presumably prehuman) mothers to hold infants on the left side. The latter practice has previously been ascribed to imprinting and the soothing sound of the mother's heartbeat on the infant. Given the practice of holding the child in this manner, dextral mothers will be more skillful at manipulation of objects and selectively favored.

Teaching naming of coin values—comprehension before production versus production alone1

Abstract: The purposes of this experiment were to determine whether (a) it would require fewer trials to teach verbal production of coin values directly or to teach auditory comprehension first, (b) comprehension training would generalize or transfer to production, and (c) production training would generalize to comprehension. Fourteen mentally retarded subjects participated. Their mean mental age was 4.83 yr (SD = 1.83), their mean chronological age was 12.67 yr (SD = 3.17), their mean IQ was 43.86 (SD = 7.81), and their mean arithmetic grade level was Kindergarten 0.1. A matched groups pretest-posttest design, as well as a multiple baseline across responses within each group were employed. The Comprehension-Production Group received coin-value training using two procedures sequentially: auditory comprehension (pointing to the correct coins in response to their verbally stated value) followed by verbal production (verbally stating the coins' value in response to a pointing prompt). The Production Group was trained on the production procedure only. Each subject was repeatedly administered coin-value comprehension and coin-value production tests, which provided the dependent measures. The results indicated that the two experimental groups improved significantly in their comprehension and production of coin values from pretest to posttest and maintained those increments on one- and four-week followup tests. Mean group performance on four-week followups ranged from 89 to 96% correct for the two dependent measures and two groups. Multiple-baseline data showed pronounced increases in performance only after training was initiated on a particular coin. A comparison of the number of trials required for both groups to complete their respective training programs indicated that teaching production alone (X trials = 137.42) was significantly more efficient than training both comprehension and production (X = 281.71). The failure of the comprehension procedure to facilitate production acquisition was evidenced by the fact that the Comprehension-Production Group required as many verbal naming trials to achieve mastery as did the Production Group. On the other hand, there was generalization from production training to comprehension. Subjects in the Production Group who were not trained to point to the coins in response to verbal instruction averaged 99% correct on the comprehension test. Research to this point may suggest an interaction between mental level and direction of transfer. The mentally retarded may experience facilitation from production to comprehension training, and for the nonretarded, the direction of transfer may be the converse.

High Pressure Liquid Chromatography of Selected Sulfur Compounds

Abstract: High pressure liquid chromatography was used to separate and determine quantitatively the following groups of sulfur compounds: thiols, sulfides, disulfides, sulfones, isothiocyanates, thioamides, and thioureas. Amperometric and UV detectors were compared; for thiols, thioureas, isothiocyanates, and thioamides, the former was generally more sensitive. With the exception of alkyl and cycloalkyl sulfides, the liquid chromatographic method can be used for the analysis of the investigated sulfur compounds below the ppm range. The method developed was compared to gas chromatography with flame photometric detection. The latter was found to be superior for the analysis of alkyl and cycloalkyl thiols, sulfides and disulfides of molecular weight below 200, whereas the former was more suitable for the analysis of aromatic thiols, sulfides and disulfides, as well as thioamides, isothiocyanates, and thioureas. Both methods were equivalent for the analysis of aromatic sulfones.

Effect of Galactose and Other Monosaccharides on IAA Movement in Bean Hypocotyl Segments

Abstract: Galactose enhances the production of ethylene gas, and ethylene gas inhibits the movement of IAA in plant tissues. If galactose enhances ethylene production and ethylene inhibits auxin movement, then galactose should inhibit auxin movement. The above hypothesis was examined by observing the effects of d-galactose, d-inannose, d-arabinose, d-glucose, and d xylose on the uptake, presumed decarboxylation, efflux, velocity and metabolism of labeled indole-3-aectic acid in hypocotyl segments of Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Pinto. Galactose inhibited, arabinose and glucose enhanced, and mannose and xylose had no effect on partitioning of auxin between tissue and receptor. The reduction of auxin efflux by galactose was related to an increased presumed decarboxylation, reduced uptake and slower velocity of applied auxin. The relationship between galactose-induced growth effects, ethylene production, and auxin migration are discussed.

Lactobacillus acidophilus Utilization of Sugars and Production of a Fermented Soybean Product

Abstract: Eight strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus, obtained from the ARS Culture Collection, were tested for their ability to use monosaccharides [fructose, galactose, glucose and D (+) mannose], disaccharides (lactose, maltose and sucrose) and two oligosaccharides (raffinose and stachyose). As judged by titratable acidity and pH changes during growth, strain variation existed in the ability of the microorganisms to utilize the sugars. Strain NRRL B-1910 was a superior utilizer of raffinose and stachyose as measured by medium pH changes. Therefore, B-1910 was selected as inoculum for the successful production of a yoghurt-like soybean product, which has potential as a good protein food source.

Test-Free Person Measurement with the Rasch Simple Logistic Model.

Abstract: This research investigated the use of the Rasch simple logistic model in obtaining test-free ability estimates. Two tests each of word, picture, symbol, and number analogies were administered to college and high school students. Differences between scores on each pair of tests were analyzed to deter mine whether the ability estimates were independ ent of the tests employed. The results indicate that raw-score ability estimates are influenced by the difficulty of the items used in measurement but that Rasch ability estimates are relatively independ ent of the difficulty of these items. The need is dis cussed for additional research in which an indi vidualized item-presentation procedure is used with the Rasch model.

Eye Contacts: Increasing Their Rate in Social Interactions:

Abstract: An almost totally blind, 26-year-old, retarded man whose rate of eye contact was below 30 percent in any time period was trained in his sheltered workshop environment. By employing auditory feedbac...