Papers by Robert Matchock
Psi Chi journal of undergraduate research, 2010
F inger length ratios such as the ratio of the length of the second digit, or index finger (2D) d... more F inger length ratios such as the ratio of the length of the second digit, or index finger (2D) divided by the length of the fourth digit, or ring finger (4D) serve as a developmental marker for prenatal testosterone (T) exposure. The 2D:4D ratios correlate with many behaviors (e.g., aggression, spatial ability, and number of sexual partners) and physical characteristics (e.g., fluctuating asymmetry) (Bailey & Hurd, 2005; Benderlioglu & Nelson, 2004; Csathó, et al. 2001). Past research suggests that lower ratios, closer to 0.9, are associated with higher levels of prenatal T and higher ratios, closer to 1.0, with lower levels of prenatal T. Prenatal T exposure and the 2D:4D ratio are consistently found to be a sexually dimorphic trait with men having lower ratios and higher levels of T
Current Opinion in Psychiatry, Sep 1, 2015
Purpose of review Pet ownership and brief human-animal interactions can serve as a form of social... more Purpose of review Pet ownership and brief human-animal interactions can serve as a form of social support and convey a host of beneficial psychological and physiological health benefits. This article critically examines recent relevant literature on the pet-health connection. Recent findings Cross-sectional studies indicate correlations between pet ownership and numerous aspects of positive health outcomes, including improvements on cardiovascular measures and decreases in loneliness. Quasiexperimental studies and better controlled experimental studies corroborate these associations and suggest that owning and/or interacting with a pet may be causally related to some positive health outcomes.
American Journal of Human Biology, Jul 1, 2008
The prenatal environment of the human fetus is now known to have lasting physiological and behavi... more The prenatal environment of the human fetus is now known to have lasting physiological and behavioral effects into childhood and adulthood. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between early testosterone exposure, as measured by the ratio of the length of the 2nd and 4th digits (2D:4D ratio), and age of menarche. Retrospective, self‐report data on menarcheal age were obtained from 206 healthy female college students, as well as finger length ratio data from both hands. Low right‐hand 2D:4D ratios (but not left‐hand) were associated with delayed menarche. The results provide evidence for an androgen‐delayed menarche link and suggest that this relationship can be continuous in nature and not always categorical as occurs in congenital adrenal hyperplasia, hyperandrogenism, or polycystic ovary syndrome. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Personality and Individual Differences, Dec 1, 2018
Chronotype and sociosexuality have been reported to be associated with each other and to also be ... more Chronotype and sociosexuality have been reported to be associated with each other and to also be sexually dimorphic. Specifically, research has suggested a link between evening chronotypes and increased sociosexuality, but the research is sparse, including the extent to which gender may interact with chronotype and sociosexuality. To that end, the present study administered the Horne and Ostberg morningness/eveningness questionnaire (MEQ) and the revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R), which consists of behavior, attitude, and desire subscales, to 554 participants (61.7% female). Results indicated that men had a more unrestricted sociosexuality than women, except for the behavioral subscale. Eveningness was related to increased sociosexuality for both men (except the behavioral subscale) and women (for all subscales). It is suggested that adopting phase-delayed nocturnal short-term sexual strategies is an adaptive niche-exploiting behavior for both men and women that is governed by natural selection.
International Review of Neurobiology, 2010
The process of waking up from an episode of sleep can produce temporary deficits in cognitive fun... more The process of waking up from an episode of sleep can produce temporary deficits in cognitive functioning and low levels of alertness and vigilance, a process referred to as sleep inertia. Cognitive ability varies as a function of time-of-day; cognitive ability associated with sleep inertia also shows circadian influences with deleterious effects most pronounced when awakened from biological night, possibly paralleling the core body temperature minimum. The length of the sleep episode may contribute to the severity of sleep inertia. Short sleep episodes (<20 min) produce little cognitive impairment, probably because of a lack of slow-wave sleep in the sleep episode. With longer sleep episodes, aspects of sleep depth such as percentage of slow-wave sleep or total length of the sleep episode may be important. Finally, myriad tasks have been used to measure sleep inertia effects, and cognitive deficits associated with waking up have been demonstrated on both simple and complex tasks for both speed and accuracy. More research is needed on how the type of task may interact with sleep inertia. Tests that measure known specific aspects of cognition and that can be mapped to brain systems and neurotransmitters (e.g., the Attentional Network Test: ANT) are recommended to further understand how information processing during the process of awakening is distinct from other aspects of awareness.
Three groups of undergraduates (42 senior graduating psychology majors, 27 first-year premajors t... more Three groups of undergraduates (42 senior graduating psychology majors, 27 first-year premajors taking introductory psychology, and 24 first-year, high-performing nonmajors taking introductory psychology) completed the Psychology Major Field Test (MFT) and a short-answer (SA) essay test on reasoning about core knowledge in psychology. Graduating majors significantly outper-formed both first-year groups using raw and covariate-corrected scores (adjusted for group differences in SAT-Verbal and high school grade point average). On the MFT, graduating majors scored above the 50th percentile, whereas high-performing nonmajors and premajors scored in the 25th and 20th percentiles, respectively. On the SA test, graduating majors averaged good-to-excellent quality responses, whereas premajors and high-performing nonmajors averaged only fair-to-good quality responses. Discussion focuses on the design and implementation of value-added, academic program assessments with limited data collection...
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, 2021
Personality and Individual Differences, 2018
Chronotype and sociosexuality have been reported to be associated with each other and to also be ... more Chronotype and sociosexuality have been reported to be associated with each other and to also be sexually dimorphic. Specifically, research has suggested a link between evening chronotypes and increased sociosexuality, but the research is sparse, including the extent to which gender may interact with chronotype and sociosexuality. To that end, the present study administered the Horne and Ostberg morningness/eveningness questionnaire (MEQ) and the revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R), which consists of behavior, attitude, and desire subscales, to 554 participants (61.7% female). Results indicated that men had a more unrestricted sociosexuality than women, except for the behavioral subscale. Eveningness was related to increased sociosexuality for both men (except the behavioral subscale) and women (for all subscales). It is suggested that adopting phase-delayed nocturnal short-term sexual strategies is an adaptive niche-exploiting behavior for both men and women that is governed by natural selection.
Evolutionary Psychological Science, 2018
Previous research indicates that men can accurately assess women's mating orientation from facial... more Previous research indicates that men can accurately assess women's mating orientation from facial photographs (DeLecce et al. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43, 319-327, 2014). The current study investigated whether this ability is moderated by men's own mating orientation. To that end, 89 men completed the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI)-an assessment of mating orientation-and rated the perceived faithfulness of 55 women (who also completed the SOI) depicted in facial photographs. Although men were indeed accurate in their faithfulness perceptions of the female targets, men's mating orientation did not moderate the negative association between their faithfulness ratings and the self-reported mating orientation of the female targets. Limitations of the current study and directions for future research are addressed in the discussion.
Current opinion in psychiatry, 2015
Pet ownership and brief human-animal interactions can serve as a form of social support and conve... more Pet ownership and brief human-animal interactions can serve as a form of social support and convey a host of beneficial psychological and physiological health benefits. This article critically examines recent relevant literature on the pet-health connection. Cross-sectional studies indicate correlations between pet ownership and numerous aspects of positive health outcomes, including improvements on cardiovascular measures and decreases in loneliness. Quasi-experimental studies and better controlled experimental studies corroborate these associations and suggest that owning and/or interacting with a pet may be causally related to some positive health outcomes. The value of pet ownership and animal-assisted therapy (AAT), as a nonpharmacological treatment modality, augmentation to traditional treatment, and healthy preventive behavior (in the case of pet ownership), is starting to be realized. However, more investigations that employ randomized controlled trials with larger sample si...
Journal of behavioral medicine, 2014
Limited research has addressed how social support in the form of a pet can affect both sympatheti... more Limited research has addressed how social support in the form of a pet can affect both sympathetic and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal reactivity in response to a psychological challenge. The present study examined the effects of social support on salivary cortisol and heart rate (HR). Forty-eight participants were randomly assigned to three different conditions (human friend, novel dog, or control). All participants completed the Trier Social Stress Test and provided cortisol, HR, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory measures. For participants paired with a dog, overall cortisol levels were attenuated throughout the experimental procedure, and HR was attenuated during the Trier Social Stress Test. For all groups, state anxiety increased after the Trier Social Stress Test, and HR during the Trier Social Stress Test was a predictor of cortisol. These results suggest that short-term exposure to a novel dog in an unfamiliar setting can be beneficial. They also suggest a possible mechanism ...
International Review of Neurobiology, 2010
The process of waking up from an episode of sleep can produce temporary deficits in cognitive fun... more The process of waking up from an episode of sleep can produce temporary deficits in cognitive functioning and low levels of alertness and vigilance, a process referred to as sleep inertia. Cognitive ability varies as a function of time-of-day; cognitive ability associated with sleep inertia also shows circadian influences with deleterious effects most pronounced when awakened from biological night, possibly paralleling the core body temperature minimum. The length of the sleep episode may contribute to the severity of sleep inertia. Short sleep episodes (<20 min) produce little cognitive impairment, probably because of a lack of slow-wave sleep in the sleep episode. With longer sleep episodes, aspects of sleep depth such as percentage of slow-wave sleep or total length of the sleep episode may be important. Finally, myriad tasks have been used to measure sleep inertia effects, and cognitive deficits associated with waking up have been demonstrated on both simple and complex tasks for both speed and accuracy. More research is needed on how the type of task may interact with sleep inertia. Tests that measure known specific aspects of cognition and that can be mapped to brain systems and neurotransmitters (e.g., the Attentional Network Test: ANT) are recommended to further understand how information processing during the process of awakening is distinct from other aspects of awareness.
Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2013
The current study examined whether men&am... more The current study examined whether men's ratings of women's desirability as a long-term pairbond, based on static photographs, were related to the women's second-to-fourth digit (2D:4D) ratio and their sexual attitudes and behavior. The 2D:4D ratio was measured in 164 women and facial photographs were taken of 55 of these women. All women completed the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI). Male participants (n = 89), masked to this information, rated the 55 female participants on their desirability as a long-term sexual partner, specifically along dimensions of faithfulness, youthfulness, and attractiveness. Ten independent judges rated women's photographed faces on masculinity. Results indicated a significant negative relationship between women's SOI scores and men's faithfulness ratings (more unrestricted sociosexuality was associated with lower faithfulness ratings). There was also a significant positive relationship between right (but not left) 2D:4D ratio and faithfulness ratings (women with female-like ratios were rated as being more faithful). The SOI scores of the women were not related to 2D:4D ratios. These results suggest that the potential for sexual infidelity can be gleaned from static facial cues.
American Journal of Human Biology, 2008
The prenatal environment of the human fetus is now known to have lasting physiological and behavi... more The prenatal environment of the human fetus is now known to have lasting physiological and behavioral effects into childhood and adulthood. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between early testosterone exposure, as measured by the ratio of the length of the 2nd and 4th digits (2D:4D ratio), and age of menarche. Retrospective, self-report data on menarcheal age were obtained from 206 healthy female college students, as well as finger length ratio data from both hands. Low right-hand 2D:4D ratios (but not left-hand) were associated with delayed menarche. The results provide evidence for an androgen-delayed menarche link and suggest that this relationship can be continuous in nature and not always categorical as occurs in congenital adrenal hyperplasia, hyperandrogenism, or polycystic ovary syndrome.
Teaching of Psychology, Nov 20, 2009
Page 1. King, H. (2002, July). Success in intermediate theory: One-semester or two-semester princ... more Page 1. King, H. (2002, July). Success in intermediate theory: One-semester or two-semester principles?Paper presented at the Western Economics Association International Conference, Seattle, WA. Klos, JJ, & Trenton, RW (1969). One semester or two. ...
Experimental Brain Research, May 1, 2007
The aim of the present study was to examine visual attention, especially the executive control fu... more The aim of the present study was to examine visual attention, especially the executive control functions that deal with conXict, when participants were in a low arousal state shortly after a nighttime awakening. Fifteen participants spent four consecutive nights at a laboratory and performed a Xankers task using two levels of target-distractor spacing (0.75° and 1.50°) and three trial types (compatible, incompatible, and neutral). The Wrst night was a habituation night. For the next three nights, participants went to sleep at 2300 hours and were then awakened at either 2400 hours (1-h sleep bout), 0300 hours (4-h sleep bout), or 0600 hours (7-h sleep bout) and were administered a Xankers task and a self-report questionnaire that measured arousal level. These testing times were counter-balanced across participants, and a 2100 hours (pre-sleep) Xankers task was also randomly assigned to be completed on one of the testing nights. Response time on neutral-Xanker trials was increased if participants were awakened from a sleep bout and was slowest at 0300 hours, appearing to parallel circadian body temperature. In contrast, failures of selective attention, as indexed by the diVerence between compatible and incompatible trials, increased linearly as a function of the length of the sleep bout. Compared to the 2100 hours pre-sleep condition, self-reported energy was lower and Tiredness was higher after awakening from a sleep bout. Taken together, the current data suggest a dissociation between the processes that perform a non-conXict task and the executive control of attention. SpeciWcally, longer sleep bouts seem to be associated with greater diYculty in inhibiting taskirrelevant information, perhaps due to a sleep inertia eVect aVecting the anterior cingulate cortex.
Journal of behavioral medicine, 2014
Limited research has addressed how social support in the form of a pet can affect both sympatheti... more Limited research has addressed how social support in the form of a pet can affect both sympathetic and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal reactivity in response to a psychological challenge. The present study examined the effects of social support on salivary cortisol and heart rate (HR). Forty-eight participants were randomly assigned to three different conditions (human friend, novel dog, or control). All participants completed the Trier Social Stress Test and provided cortisol, HR, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory measures. For participants paired with a dog, overall cortisol levels were attenuated throughout the experimental procedure, and HR was attenuated during the Trier Social Stress Test. For all groups, state anxiety increased after the Trier Social Stress Test, and HR during the Trier Social Stress Test was a predictor of cortisol. These results suggest that short-term exposure to a novel dog in an unfamiliar setting can be beneficial. They also suggest a possible mechanism ...
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Papers by Robert Matchock