Carl Westphal--a progressive university teacher of neurology and psychiatry in the 19th century

Carl Westphal (1833-1890) is described on the basis of his theoretical considerations concerning the teaching of psychiatry and neurology and his influence on the contents and organization of teaching in these fields at the then Charité as a university teacher with progressive pedagogic and didactic aims and methods. His other scientific work shows that C. Westphal was a worthy heir and like-minded successor to W. Griesinger (1817-1868).     

The establishment of the department of psychiatry in the Mount Sinai Hospital: a conflict between neurology and psychiatry

A conflict between neurology and psychiatry and controversies about psychoanalysis played an important role in the establishment of psychiatry in the general hospital. This article reviews the impact of this conflict on the establishment of an independent Department of Psychiatry in the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York during the first half of the twentieth century. A unique opportunity is provided to consider the relationships and personalities of the individuals involved, as well as economic, social, and scientific factors, including the introduction of psychoanalysis as a major psychiatric treatment.     

Ego function rating by the specialist working alone in neurology and psychiatry

Bellak and coworkers' "Ego-Function" rating was performed at a neuropsychiatric outpatients department by having an interview that was recorded once on tape analyzed by the same rater at intervals of 16 +/- 6 months using an estimation scale divided into seven main points. The result shows a high degree of uniformity in assessing the following functions: Reality testing, judgement, feeling for reality of oneself and the world, control of drives and affects, relationship to objects, ability to think, use of fantasy for solving problems, protection from stimuli, defence function, autonomic function, synthetic integrative function and feeling of competence. The most important result is that the rating can be used to good effect by neurologists and psychiatrists working alone.     

Herzberge - a chapter in the history of psychiatry in Berlin]

This paper gives an outline of the work done at the insane asylum at Herzberge, Berlin, from 1893, the year when the asylum was established, through to World War 1. The then concept of therapy includes many basic principles that are now embraced in the term sociotherapy.     

On the problem of psychodiagnosis in psychiatry and psychotherapy]

Owing to the changed concept of psychiatry and psychotherapy, greater demands are also being made on psychodiagnostics. The article deals with the prerequisites, possible significance and application of the clinical methods and psychological tests, describes the problems of standardization and quality testing and discusses indications and problems of the different groups of methods. The demands of the clinician addressed to test designers are dealt with, as well as the question of which group of methods should be used and by whom.     

The proportion of neurological diseases among patients in an observation department of a pediatric-neuropsychiatric university clinic

In view of the fact that neurology and psychiatry in childhood and adolescence necessarily form a unity, the proportion of neurological diseases is analysed on the basis of the in-patients of five clinic years of a pediatric-neuropsychiatric university hospital. In this analysis, age and sex distribution, catchment area and referring institutions, reasons for the admission and duration of the stay are taken into account. A generally valid statement cannot be made, and the study is intended to encourage similar investigations.     

Performance on the Test of Memory Malingering in children with neurological conditions

Despite increasing interest in the use of performance validity tests with youth, relatively little is known about how children and adolescents with neurological diagnoses perform on these measures. The purpose of this study was to examine performance on the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) in a general pediatric neurologic sample. Data were obtained from 266 consecutive patients (mean age = 13.0, SD = 3.7, range = 5–18) referred for a neuropsychological assessment in a tertiary care pediatric hospital. As part of a broader neuropsychological battery, patients were administered the TOMM. In this sample, 94% of children passed the TOMM. Pass rate was 87% for 5–7 year-olds but was ≥ 90% for all other ages. Children with a history of stroke had the lowest pass rate (86%), with other diagnostic groups scoring ≥ 90%, including epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and hydrocephalus. Lower TOMM performance was related to slower processing speed and weaker memory performance. The results support using the TOMM with children and adolescents who have neurological diagnoses. Caution may still be warranted when interpreting scores in those who are younger and/or who have more significant cognitive difficulty.     

The contribution of forensic psychiatry in the determination of punishable guilt]

As part of the consultative discussions between members of the Supreme Court and workers at the Department of Forensic Psychiatry, G.D.R. Institute of Psychiatrists and Neurologists, problems are being dealt here with, which have been discussed by the present authors as early as in 1972. These are questions arising in connection with expert opinions on responsibility and guilt and concerning the offender's personality, the motives, the kind and extent of guilt, the possible exclusion of guilt, as well as urges of passion beyond the limits of paragraphs 15 and 16 in addition to exceptional objective and subjective circumstances.     

A method for electronically monitoring the ambulatory activity of honeybees under dark conditions

An electronic apparatus using infrared beams for monitoring the movements of individual bees under dark conditions is described. The searching behavior of workers in an arena was monitored over 2-h periods. Mean ambulatory velocity for one bee over a distance of 100 mm was 45.6±1.51 mm/sec (n=45). Thigmokinesis and temporal activity patterns are illustrated.     

General behavior inventory identification of unipolar and bipolar affective conditions in a nonclinical university population

Validated the General Behavior Inventory (GBI), revised to identify unipolar as well as bipolar affective conditions, in a nonclinical sample (n = 201) against naive, interview-derived diagnoses. For bipolar and unipolar conditions, respectively, the GBI had high positive (.94, .87) and negative (.99, .93) predictive power with the effect of prevalence considered, adequate sensitivity (.78, .76), high specificity (.99, .99), and adequate selection ratios for sampling of affective and nonaffective subjects from nonclinical populations for research purposes. The utility of the GBI in several different research contexts is discussed.     

Preparation of school psychologists for school-based consultation: A training activity and a service to community schools

Presents a set of training experiences to develop school-based consultation skills in preservice school psychologists and discusses problems in implementing this model of service. Based on their experience in training school psychologists at the University of California, Berkeley, the authors report on preparing students to deal with teacher and principal expectations. Also discussed are methods for mobilizing teachers to plan more precisely to meet the needs of individual pupils in the classroom. A distinction is made in the paper between school-based and community-based mental health consultation.