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Summary. Forty children (20 boys and 20 girls) aged 8-16 years with no previous experience of dental visits were included in the study. Three psychological variables were determined: anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory of Children), personality (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Junior) and intelligence (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children). The relationship between personality and intelligence factors and the levels of anxiety at the beginning of the first dental visit (before treatment) and at the end of the third visit (after treatment) were determined. There was no significant relationship between levels of dental anxiety and age. Dental anxiety both before and after treatment was higher among the girls than among the boys. Children with high intelligence quotients showed less dental anxiety at their first dental visit. There was no relationship between the children's anxiety and their own personality variables. Résumé. La peur du dentiste chez l'enfant: influence de l'intelligence et de la personnalité Quarante enfants (20 garçons et vingt filles) âgés de 8-16 ans, qui n'avaient jamais eu de soins dentaires, ont été étudiés. Trois variables psychologiques ont été déterminées à l'aide de tests: l'anxiété (inventaire des symptômes d'anxiété chez l'enfant), la personnalité (questionnaire d'Eysenck de personnalité pour jeunes) et intelligence (échelle d'intelligence de Wechsler pour enfants). Les relations entre la personnalité et l'intelligence et le niveau d'anxiété, au début de la première consultation (avant traitement) et à la fin de la troisième consultation (après traitement) on été notées. Il n'y avait pas de relation significative entre le niveau d' anxiété et l'âge. l'anxiété dentaire, avant et après traitement, était plus élevée chez les filles que chez les garçons. Les enfants, dont le quotient intellectuel était élevé, souffraient moins d'anxiété dentaire lors de la première consultation. Il n'y avait pas de relation significative entre l'anxiété des enfants et les variables de leur personnalité. Zusammenfassung. Kinder Angst vor den Zahnartzt: Der Einfluss der Intelligenz und Personalität Anhand von allgemein anerkannten Instrumenten wurden Kinder (20 Jungen und 20 Mädchen) im Alter zwischen 8 und 16 Jahren untersucht, die zuvor noch keine zahnärztliche Praxis besucht hatten. Es wurden die folgenden psychologischen Variablen analisiert: Ängstlichkeit (Test STAIC), Persönlichkeit (Test EPQ-J) und Intelligenz (Test WISC). Zwischen diesen psychologischen Factoren und der Ausprägung der Ängstlichkeit wurde eine Beziehung vor und nach unterschiedliechen zahnärztlichen Behandlungen hergestellt. Es besteht keine Beziehung zwischen der Ausprägung der Ängstliichekeit und dem Alter. Offensichtlich geben Kinder mit hohem Intelligenzkoefizient weniger Ängstlichkeit bei ihrem ersten zahnärztlichen Besuch Zu erkennen als diejenigen mit niedrigem Koefizient. Die Ängslichkeit vor dem Zahnarzt ist in der Gruppe der Mädchen höher ausgeprägt als bei den Jungen. Es kann keine Beziehung hergestellt werden zwischen der Ängstglichkeit der Kinder und der Variablen, die die eigene Persönlichkeit bestimmen. Resumen. Ansiedad dental en niños: influencia de los factores personalidad e inteligencia Se estudiaron 40 niños (20 varones y 20 hembras) de 8-16 años de adad sin visitas previas al consultorio dental. Se analizaron las siguientes variables psicológicas: ansiedad (test STAIC: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory of Children), personalidad (test EPQ-J: Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Junior), e inteligencia (test de WISC: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children). No se detectó relación entre estos factores psicológicos y los niveles de ansiedad y la edad. La ansiedad fue mayor en las niñas que en los niños. Los niños con alto coeficiente intelectual manifestaron menos ansiedad en su primera visia dental que aquellos con dicho coeficiente más bajo. No se encontró relación entre la ansiedad de los niños y la variables que determinan su propia personalidad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Memory Characteristics Questionnaire (MCQ) was developed by Johnson, Foley, Suengas, and Raye (1988) to assess the characteristics of memories of external and internal origin, postulated in the source monitoring model (Johnson, Hashtroudi, & Lindsay, 1993). The MCQ was translated into Spanish using a back-translation method. Psychometric properties of the translated MCQ were tested using responses collected from an experimental study simulating a forensic context. Ten police officers and 8 psychologists individually interviewed 240 university students who completed the MCQ after reporting what they had seen in a film. Half of the participants were asked to tell the truth, while the other half were asked to lie. The results have shown adequate psychometric properties of the Spanish MCQ items for the total sample and across experimental conditions. Cronbach's alpha value was .79 for the total sample, .78 for the honest condition, and .76 for the lie condition. Validity evidence of dimensionality supports that the factor structure of Spanish MCQ was equivalent to that proposed by the authors of the original version. Also, a two-factor ANOVA (video clip x condition) was performed to analyze experimental data. Neither interaction effects, F(236) = 1.189; p = .277, nor main effects were found to be significant between those asked to tell the truth and those asked to lie. These results demonstrate that the Spanish MCQ has adequate psychometric properties.

The study of cardiac defense has a long tradition in psychological research both within the cognitive approach--linked to Pavlov, Sokolov, and Graham's work on sensory reflexes--and within the motivational one--linked to the work of Cannon and subsequent researchers on the concepts of activation and stress. These two approaches have been difficult to reconcile in the past. We summarize a series of studies on cardiac defense from a different perspective, which allows integration of the traditional approaches. This new perspective emphasizes a sequential process interpretation of the cardiac defense response. Results of descriptive and parametric studies, as well as those of studies examining the physiological and psychological mechanisms underlying the response, show a complex response pattern with both accelerative and decelerative components, with both sympathetic and parasympathetic influences, and with both attentional and emotional significance. The implications of this new look at cardiac defense are discussed in relation to defensive reactions in natural settings, the brain mechanisms controlling such reactions, and their effects on health and illness.

How cardiac components of the defense reaction are modulated by attentional factors related to sensory intake versus sensory rejection was examined. Forty-eight men participated in a test of the heart rate response to three presentations of an intense auditory stimulus while performing one of three attentional tasks during the 80 s following stimulus onset: (a) internal (rejection) task, (b) external (intake) task, and (c) no task. Results showed a potentiation of the defense response only under the external attention condition. We concluded that defensive reactions, far from provoking the rejection of the aversive stimulus, require allocation of attention to processing that stimulus in detail.