160 research outputs found
Do self-referent metacognition and residential context predict depressive symptoms across late-life span? A developmental study in an Italian sample
There is controversial evidence concerning the variables favoring depression in community-dwelling elderly individuals. This study mainly investigates the impact of lifestyle, residential environment, cognitive efficiency and social desirability in predicting self-assessed depressive signs in late adult span
Comparing Psychology Undergraduates' Performance in Probabilistic Reasoning under Verbal-Numerical and Graphical-Pictorial Problem Presentation Format: What is the Role of Individual and Contextual Dimensions?
This study aims to investigate about the existence of a graphical facilitation effect on probabilistic reasoning. Measures of undergraduates’ performances on problems presented in both verbal-numerical and graphical-pictorial formats have been related to visuo-spatial and numerical prerequisites, to statistical anxiety, to attitudes towards statistics and to the confidence in response correctness. Psychology undergraduates in Italy and Spain with no statistical expertise (N= 676) completed a protocol under conditions of presence versus absence of time pressure. Hierarchical linear regressions and ANCOVAs with mixed design have been carried out separately for each sample. The best predictor of performance in both formats has been the confidence in solution correctness under the condition of time pressure administration, which seemed to promote the commitment to the task. The findings suggest that the eventual occurrence of a graphical facilitation could be the result of a multifactorial interaction among contextual and individual dimensions, rather than being strictly related to the problem presentation format
Why Y chromosome is shorter and women live longer?
We have used the Penna ageing model to analyze how the differences in
evolution of sex chromosomes depend on the strategy of reproduction. In
panmictic populations, when females (XX) can freely choose the male partner
(XY) for reproduction from the whole population, the Y chromosome accumulates
defects and eventually the only information it brings is a male sex
determination. As a result of shrinking Y chromosome the males become
hemizygous in respect to the X chromosome content and are characterized by
higher mortality, observed also in the human populations. If it is assumed in
the model that the presence of the male is indispensable at least during the
pregnancy of his female partner and he cannot be seduced by another female at
least during the one reproduction cycle - the Y chromosome preserves its
content, does not shrink and the lifespan of females and males is the same.
Thus, Y chromosome shrinks not because of existing in one copy, without the
possibility of recombination, but because it stays under weaker selection
pressure; in panmictic populations without the necessity of being faithful, a
considerable fraction of males is dispensable and they can be eliminated from
the population without reducing its reproduction potential.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
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