Attitudes towards menopause in a group of women followed in a public service for menopause counseling.

This preliminary study addressed some specific attitudes towards menopause, and behavioral styles in menopausal women. The study was conducted during the period January-May 1998 at the Menopausal Service of the Magenta Hospital (Milano) in 88 women, representing almost one half of the patients followed during that period; 43 women were treated with HRT. Some traits characterizing women's life during menopause were examined, such as presence of disturbing physical symptoms, changes in interests and discovery of new interests, and feelings of loss and uselessness. We used different psychological tests in order to evaluate anxiety and depression, in particular, the STAI (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), the SDS (Self-rating Depression Scale), and 16 cartoon-like images representing stereotypes of menopause. The answers of our subjects showed high individual variation, with negative symptoms (e.g., hot flashes, memory loss) frequently associated with positive experiences (e.g., new hobbies, new life-styles). However, even the most frequent negative symptom (memory loss) was reported only by 70%. The experience of a change represented by menopause was described both in terms of objective change (e.g., weight increase, hot flashes, memory loss), and of subjective change (e.g., character, feeling of not being attractive, new life-styles). Treatment with HRT seems to reduce the onset of hot flashes considerably. The occurrence of anxious-depressive states was comparable to that observed in other studies; it was not associated with HRT, but rather to losses (loss of desire, memory loss, insomnia). In conclusion, menopause represents a transitional moment in which physical and psychological changes are generally integrated by the persons experiencing them. In order to preserve a good quality of life in menopause, it seems relevant to check memory loss and stabilize the mood in persons who are most "at risk" of psychological disease.

The orientation of a parallel-line texture between the verticals can modify the strength of the Poggendorff illusion.

In the present experiments, we attempted to evaluate the modification of the strength of the Poggendorff illusion as a function of the different orientation of a parallel-line texture filling the space between the vertical lines. In Experiment 1, the standard version of the Poggendorff configuration was tested against four different parallel-line textures oriented at 0 degrees, 45 degrees, 90 degrees, and 135 degrees with respect to the obliques. The results showed that the illusory effect was a linear function of the progressive discrepancy between the angle of the lines of the texture and that of the obliques. In Experiment 2, we tested the same textures used in Experiment 1 after the elimination of the two vertical lines. The data obtained approximated a linear function, as in the previous experiment, but the alignment errors were consistently lower. The statistical analysis performed on the data of all eight experimental conditions shows that both factors--texture and presence/absence of verticals--were significant, but most of the effect was due to the texture factor. The results may be interpreted through the "perceptual compromise hypothesis," originally proposed for the bisection forms of the Poggendorff illusion, but with important modifications. The data are also discussed in terms of their implications for other theories proposed for the Poggendorff illusion.

A note on the kinematcis of drawing movements in children.

The relationship between instantaneous tangential velocity and radius of curvature (power 1/3) that is characteristic of adult subjects was found to be already present in children 3 to 11 years old. The correlation coefficient between these two parameters increases gradually with age without apparent discontinuities. However, even at the upper limit of the age range examined, the values are still lower than in the adults.