PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R E Cain

Publications and source records attributed to R E Cain.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Preservice elementary teacher's attitudes toward gay and lesbian parenting.

This preliminary investigation assessed preservice elementary teacher's attitudes toward homosexual parents and their children. The study populations included 195 college students enrolled in an elementary school health methods course at a large northeastern university. A 51-item " and Lesbian Parenting Questionnaire" was used for data collection purposes. Reliability estimates for the scales were: attitudes toward lesbians and gay men (alpha = .90), comfort toward gay and lesbian families (alpha = .92), and knowledge about homosexuality (alpha = .52). Most respondents agreed gay men: were not disgusting, should be allowed to teach, were not perverted, and should not overcome their feelings of homosexuality. Most respondents disagreed lesbians cannot fit into society or were sick. Nearly all agreed female homosexuality should not be a basis for job discrimination. Females were significantly (p < .001) more comfortable with gay or lesbian parents and their children than were males. Females had significantly (p < .01) more favorable attitudes toward gay fathers than did male respondents. Respondents with stronger religious attitudes had significantly (p < .01) more negative attitudes toward lesbian parents than respondents with weaker religious attitudes.

Adolescent↗

Knowledge of anatomy and physiology as a determinant of biofeedback performance.

In an extension of a previous experiment by Zappala (1970), prior training in anatomy and physiology was investigated as a determinant of frontal EMG biofeedback performance. Fourteen subjects with no college coursework in anatomy and physiology and little demonstrated knowledge of anatomy and physiology were compared with fifteen college students with coursework and demonstrated knowledge of anatomy and physiology. Each subject completed 11 sessions. Sessions one through three were baseline sessions, while sessions 4-11 included an initial (5-minute) baseline, followed by three (4-minute) biofeedback periods. The results indicated no differences in EMG performance among the two subject groups. Significant reductions in EMG were obtained over feedback sessions, and the four male subjects obtained lower levels of EMG than the 25 female subjects.

Adult↗

Successive spatial discrimination reversals in the prairie dog.

Six prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) were given reversal training on a spatial discrimination reversal task in a Wisconsin General Test Apparatus (WGTA). As with many other species, more errors occurred on the first reversal problem than during acquisition of the original discrimination. However, performance improved over training until each S eventually reversed after a single nonreinforced error. Initial findings indicate that prairie dogs perform at high levels in discrimination learning experiments and could be valuable subjects for psychological research.

Animals↗