Pupillary Responses to Pictures and Descriptions of Sex-Stereotyped Stimuli

1979 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 759-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marsha L. Green ◽  
Susan K. Kraus ◽  
Ronald G. Green

An attempt was made to replicate Hess and Polt's (1960) report of sex differences in pupillary responses to sex-stereotyped pictures. Some methodological refinements were used that seem desirable for future studies. College men and women were either shown or told they would be shown pictures of a semi-nude man, a semi-nude woman, a baby, and a landscape. With resting pupil size as covariate, a three-factor analysis of covariance did not show sex differences in response to visually presented stimuli. Men responded more to verbal than visual mode of presentation and more than women to verbal stimuli. Contrary to previous results, men responded as much or more than women to verbal or visual presentation of baby stimuli. The verbal or anticipatory mode seems to be at least as sensitive as the visual and eliminates problems of control of visual materials.

1999 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Furnham ◽  
Tim Rakow ◽  
Ivan Sarmany-Schuller ◽  
Filip De Fruyt

In this study, 140 Belgian, 227 British, and 177 Slovakian students estimated their own multiple IQ scores as well as that of their parents (mother and father) and siblings (first and second brother and sister). Various factor analyses yielded a clear three-factor structure replicating previous studies. A sex × culture ANOVA on self-ratings of three factors that underline the seven intelligences (verbal, numerical, cultural) showed culture and sex effects as well as interactions. As predicted, males rated their own overall IQ, though not that of their parents or siblings, higher than females did. Males also rated their numerical IQ, but not their verbal or cultural IQ, higher than females did. There were few culture differences but many interactions, nearly all caused by Slovakian females, who rated aspects of their own and their fathers' IQ higher than Slovakian males, while the pattern for the Belgians was precisely the opposite. Participants believed their verbal IQ was higher than their numerical IQ and their cultural IQ. Males believed their verbal and numerical IQ score to be fairly similar, though much higher than their cultural IQ, while females believed their verbal IQ the highest, followed by numerical and cultural IQ. Females also believed they were more intelligent than both parents. Overall results showed consistency in the sex differences in ratings across cultures but differences in level of estimated IQ possibly as a result of cultural demands for modesty.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabell Hubert Lyall ◽  
Juhani Järvikivi

AbstractResearch suggests that listeners’ comprehension of spoken language is concurrently affected by linguistic and non-linguistic factors, including individual difference factors. However, there is no systematic research on whether general personality traits affect language processing. We correlated 88 native English-speaking participants’ Big-5 traits with their pupillary responses to spoken sentences that included grammatical errors, "He frequently have burgers for dinner"; semantic anomalies, "Dogs sometimes chase teas"; and statements incongruent with gender stereotyped expectations, such as "I sometimes buy my bras at Hudson's Bay", spoken by a male speaker. Generalized additive mixed models showed that the listener's Openness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism traits modulated resource allocation to the three different types of unexpected stimuli. No personality trait affected changes in pupil size across the board: less open participants showed greater pupil dilation when processing sentences with grammatical errors; and more introverted listeners showed greater pupil dilation in response to both semantic anomalies and socio-cultural clashes. Our study is the first one demonstrating that personality traits systematically modulate listeners’ online language processing. Our results suggest that individuals with different personality profiles exhibit different patterns of the allocation of cognitive resources during real-time language comprehension.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy A. Bigalke ◽  
Ian M. Greenlund ◽  
Jason R. Carter

Abstract Background COVID-19 and home isolation has impacted quality of life, but the perceived impact on anxiety and sleep remains equivocal. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders on self-report anxiety and sleep quality, with a focus on sex differences. We hypothesized that the COVID-19 pandemic would be associated with increased anxiety and decreased sleep quality, with stronger associations in women. Methods One hundred three participants (61 female, 38 ± 1 years) reported perceived changes in anxiety and sleep quality due to stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic and were administered the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Chi-square and T test analyses were utilized to assess sex differences in reported anxiety and sleep. Analysis of covariance was used to compare the associations between reported impact of COVID-19 and anxiety/sleep parameters. Results Women (80.3%) reported higher prevalence of increased general anxiety due to COVID-19 when compared to men (50%; p = 0.001) and elevated STAI state anxiety compared to men (43 ± 1 vs. 38 ± 1 a.u., p = 0.007). Despite these differences in anxiety, the perceived impact of COVID-19 on PSQI was not different between sexes. However, when stratified by perceived changes in anxiety due to COVID-19, participants with higher anxiety responses to COVID-19 had higher ISI compared to those with no perceived changes in anxiety (9 ± 1 vs. 5 ± 1 a.u., p = 0.003). Additionally, participants who reported reduced sleep quality due to COVID-19 reported higher state anxiety (45 ± 1 a.u.) compared to those that perceived no change (36 ± 2 a.u., p = 0.002) or increased (36 ± 2 a.u., p < 0.001) sleep quality. Conclusion COVID-19 and state-ordered home isolation was associated with higher anxiety and reduced sleep quality, with a stronger association in women with respect to anxiety.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Oliveira ◽  
Marta Fernandes ◽  
Pedro J. Rosa ◽  
Pedro Gamito

Research on pupillometry provides an increasing evidence for associations between pupil activity and memory processing. The most consistent finding is related to an increase in pupil size for old items compared with novel items, suggesting that pupil activity is associated with the strength of memory signal. However, the time course of these changes is not completely known, specifically, when items are presented in a running recognition task maximizing interference by requiring the recognition of the most recent items from a sequence of old/new items. The sample comprised 42 healthy participants who performed a visual word recognition task under varying conditions of retention interval. Recognition responses were evaluated using behavioral variables for discrimination accuracy, reaction time, and confidence in recognition decisions. Pupil activity was recorded continuously during the entire experiment. The results suggest a decrease in recognition performance with increasing study-test retention interval. Pupil size decreased across retention intervals, while pupil old/new effects were found only for words recognized at the shortest retention interval. Pupillary responses consisted of a pronounced early pupil constriction at retrieval under longer study-test lags corresponding to weaker memory signals. However, the pupil size was also sensitive to the subjective feeling of familiarity as shown by pupil dilation to false alarms (new items judged as old). These results suggest that the pupil size is related not only to the strength of memory signal but also to subjective familiarity decisions in a continuous recognition memory paradigm.


1989 ◽  
Vol 69 (3-2) ◽  
pp. 1351-1367
Author(s):  
Robert S. Sturgeon ◽  
Leslie M. Cooper ◽  
Robert J. Howell

15 highly aroused snake phobics individually constructed fear hierarchies by selecting colored photographs of snakes. Subjects either imagined fear scenes based on their photographs or were exposed to duplicate projected slides during desensitization. Pupillary responses of the Slide Group were also recorded before, during, and after desensitization. Fear of snakes was significantly reduced for both groups within five or fewer desensitization sessions. Changes in pupil size of the Slide Group appear to reflect arousal of fear as well as reduction of fear after treatment. Current technology makes pupillary response a viable psychophysiological measure of fear.


1979 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 555-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard P. Youniss ◽  
Maurice Lorr ◽  
Edward C. Stefic

Study aims to test for the hypothesized dimensional structure of a revision and extension of the Orientation and Motivation Inventory (OMI) and to check for sex differences. The 12-scale inventory was administered to 307 high school and college men, and to 184 college women. The intercorrelations among the half scale scores for the men and for the women were separately factor analyzed and rotated. For men, 10 of the factors, and for women, 11 of the factors hypothesized were confirmed. Five second-order dimensions were identified in both men and women. The scores were next applied in discriminant function analyses to differentiate male and female subjects allocated to one of Holland's six personality types. The results provide some support for the validity of the motivational scales.


2020 ◽  
pp. 140349482090462
Author(s):  
Frode Lysberg ◽  
Siw Tone Innstrand ◽  
Milada Cvancarova Småstuen ◽  
Cathrine Lysberg ◽  
Magnhild Mjåvatn Høie ◽  
...  

Background: The aim of the study was to investigate changes in self-rated health (SRH) between different age groups and sexes over a 20-year period. Methods: Data were retrieved from the large longitudinal Health Survey of North Trøndelag, Norway, which includes data collected from more than 190,000 participants aged 20–70+ years between the years 1984 and 2008. Data were analysed using logistic regression and adjusted for sex. Results: From 1984 to 2008, the odds of scoring higher on SRH decreased by 46% in the youngest age group (20–29 years) and increased by approximately 35% in the middle-aged and older age groups (40–70+ years). When considering sex differences, women in most age groups scored lower than the men on their SRH. Conclusions: Our finding suggest a trending shift in SRH, with a reduction in the youngest age group (20–29 years) and an increase in the middle-aged and older age groups (40–70+ years). Despite the sex differences being small, our data indicate that in most age groups, women tend to score lower than men on their SRH. Future studies should focus on these trends to understand better the mechanisms underlying these changes in SRH and to follow future trends to see if the trend is reinforced or diminished.


2017 ◽  
Vol 312 (1) ◽  
pp. G46-G51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoav Mazor ◽  
Michael Jones ◽  
Alison Andrews ◽  
John E. Kellow ◽  
Allison Malcolm

Fecal incontinence (FI) in men is common, yet data on sex differences in clinical features, physiology, and treatment are scarce. Our aim was to provide insights into FI in males compared with females. Prospectively collected data from 73 men and 596 women with FI in a tertiary referral center were analyzed. Anorectal physiology, clinical characteristics, and outcome of instrumented biofeedback (BF) were recorded. Thirty-one men with FI proceeded to BF and were matched with 62 age-matched women with FI who underwent BF. Men with FI had higher resting, squeeze, and cough anal sphincter pressures ( P < 0.001) and were more able to hold a sustained squeeze compared with women ( P = 0.04). Men with FI had higher rectal pressure and less inadequate rectal pressure on strain and higher sensory thresholds ( P < 0.05). Men, but not women, with isolated soiling had higher anal resting and squeeze pressures compared with those with overt FI ( P < 0.05). Men were less likely to undergo BF when offered compared with women. Baseline symptom severity did not differ between the groups. In men, the absence of an organic cause for the FI and the presence of overt FI, but not isolated soiling, were correlated with improvement in patient satisfaction following BF. The outcomes of 50% reduction in FI episodes, physician assessment, symptoms, and quality of life scores after BF all significantly improved in men similarly to women. We conclude that men, compared with women, with FI have unique clinical features and physiology and are less likely to have investigations and treatment despite successful outcome with BF. Future studies to customize treatment in males and determine barriers to therapy are warranted. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Fecal incontinence in men is common, yet data on sex differences in clinical features, physiology, and treatment are scarce. We provide evidence that men, compared with women, with fecal incontinence have unique clinical features and physiology and are less likely to have investigations and treatment despite successful outcome with anorectal biofeedback therapy.


1989 ◽  
Vol 69 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1351-1367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Sturgeon ◽  
Leslie M. Cooper ◽  
Robert J. Howell

15 highly aroused snake phobics individually constructed fear hierarchies by selecting colored photographs of snakes. Subjects either imagined fear scenes based on their photographs or were exposed to duplicate projected slides during desensitization. Pupillary responses of the Slide Group were also recorded before, during, and after desensitization. Fear of snakes was significantly reduced for both groups within five or fewer desensitization sessions. Changes in pupil size of the Slide Group appear to reflect arousal of fear as well as reduction of fear after treatment. Current technology makes pupillary response a viable psychophysiological measure of fear.


1982 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 555-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jayne Gackenbach

Psychological and physiological stress indices were taken from collegiate swimmers of both sexes prior to a practice session and prior to a meet. At another time these same individuals were administered a scale to ascertain their relative self-reported masculinity and femininity. Analysis of covariance demonstrated that 14 males had higher systolic blood pressure than 13 females but lower self-reported feelings of anxiety and hostility associated with the stress of competition. Sex differences in relative masculinity and femininity provided the key to interpretation.


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