Attention,play, and social behavior in ADHD preschoolers

We investigated attention, play and nonplay behavior in preschool children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a matched control group of non-ADHD children. Forty 4- to 5-year-old children (20 ADHD and 20 matched control) participated. Across a 6-week-period, children's social and play interactions as well as nonplay behaviors were videotaped in the classroom. Videotape recordings were analyzed for the level of attention, cognitive play, and social participation. In addition, children's level of attention and cooperative behavior were observed during two group activities. Findings indicated that ADHD, relative to non-ADHD, children engaged in less overall play and greater functional or sensorimotor play. ADHD children also engaged in more transitional behavior, were less competent with peers, and were less attentive and cooperative during group activities.This research was supported in part by an MCP grant awarded to Dr. Steven Alessandri. The author wishes to thank the children, parents, and the MCP/EPPI preschool staff for their assistance and cooperation.     

Indirect self-destructive behavior in patients with Buerger's disease.

Patients with Buerger's disease (a circulatory illness) were studied to evaluate indirect self-destructive behavior (ISDB), evidence by neglect in following medical regimen, disregard of suggestions for environmental imporvements (avoidance of undue exposure to cold) and refusal to abstain from smoking. Personality characteristics and behavioral phenomena associated with ISDB were obtained by comparison of the files of 26 uncooperative patients with 26 matched cooperative controls with Buerger's disease and with 25 Buerger's disease patients representing a unselected annual population in a Veterans Administration (VA) hospital. The experimental group was characterized as more often complaining, manipulative, and aggressive. They manifested denial, negligence, and a tendency to minimize their illness. They were more likely to complain of pain and to demand relief. In a second clinical investigation of patients still in the hospital, 12 experimentals were compared with 12 controls using interview data and psychological tests measuring attitudes toward time and toward death. The experimentals did not seem to value time nor to be interested in achievement. They felt that a dull life was worse than death.     

Participatory management: Maintaining staff performance in a university housing cooperative

To apply behavior analysis to normal adults in non institutional settings, we may have to encourage their participation in the design and implementation of behavioral technology. This study evaluates a technology by which the members of a student housing cooperative manage their own staff with a minimum of supervision by one of the program designers. This staff management system consisted of prompts, self-reports, spot checks, and contingent rent reductions. Six resident staff members performed substantially more of their assigned tasks when this system was used. In addition, the management system was acceptable to the members, was affordable, and maintained high levels of staff performance during a 5-year follow-up. Participation by the members in the design and implementation of this system appears to have been useful in helping the behavior analysts to develop an unusually durable management system.     

社会困境中同伴行为、合作信念对合作变化的影响

本研究采用连续式公共物品困境,考察不同类型的个体在同伴遵守和违反均等规范两种条件下合作的前后变化及其可能的机制。结果发现：（1）依据行为决策对被试进行的分类与其社会价值取向之间不存在相关;（2）一人违反均等条件下被试的合作水平高于多人违反均等条件下的合作水平;（3）高贡献者在前后两次互动中维持较高的合作水平和信念水平;（4）低贡献者第二次决策时比第一次决策时更合作,这可能是由于他们的合作信念提高。     

Perceptions of Control and Causality as Predictors of Compliance and Coping in Hemodialysis

In the present study we examined the relationships among hemodialysis patients' perceptions of control over their health, attributions of causality, and staff ratings of coping and compliance. Patient responses to questions posed during a semi-structured interview were predictors entered into multiple regression analyses with coping and compliance ratings as criterion variables. Results indicate that having tried to prevent kidney failure and not succeeding predicts poor compliance and poor coping. Perceived control is associated with positive coping but is unrelated to compliance. Finally, patients who wondered, "Why me?" but had not arrived at an answer received the poorest coping and compliance ratings from staff. Results are discussed in light of current theory regarding the beneficial effects of perceived contingency between actions and outcomes, and the need to find a meaning for one's illness.     

动态两难对策中信息反馈方式对合作行为的影响

本研究着重探讨了多人动态对策情景中信息反馈方式和群体认同度对合作行为变化的影响。结果表明,集体反馈比个人反馈更能促进被试的合作行为,而群体认同度对合作行为的影响不显著;在集体反馈条件下,合作行为在各轮次问的随机波动较大,但在三个决策阶段问较为稳定;个人反馈条件下,合作行为在各轮次问的随机波动较小,但在三阶段问呈现出不对称的“U”型变化趋势。研究认为,建立在反馈信息基础上的决策学习使合作行为的动态变化具有策略性和适应性。     

短时接触双人电子游戏对幼儿同伴交往与亲社会行为的影响

电子游戏颇受儿童青睐,其用户日趋低龄化,它对幼儿的影响不容小觑。本实验以双人合作/竞技游戏为载体,考查了短时接触电子游戏对60名4~6岁幼儿的同伴交往与亲社会行为的影响,结果发现：1）幼儿与非好友玩伴共同接触双人电子游戏后会变得更喜欢自己的搭档,将其视为新好友并更希望未来与其交往;2）合作比竞技游戏更能促使幼儿喜爱玩伴,竞技游戏的获胜者比失败者更喜欢其搭档;3）年长比年少幼儿更喜欢与同伴交往;4）与其他非好友同伴相比,幼儿更愿意帮助自己的搭档。这表明短时接触内容适宜的双人电子游戏对幼儿的同伴交往和亲社会行为发展较为有益。     

Illness perception ratings of high-risk newborns by mothers and clinicians: Relationship to illness severity and maternal stress

Objective: Patients' views of illness are often thought to differ from those of medical staff, although this is rarely assessed. This study examined the correspondence between mothers' and clinicians' perceptions of the same high-risk newborns, as well as with an objective measure of illness severity. We also investigated how mothers' perceptions were related to reported stress. Methods: Mothers of 99 high-risk infants admitted to either a neonatal intensive care or neonatal high dependency unit, which offers specialized but not intensive care, completed illness perception ratings of their baby's condition as well as perceived stress 3 to 5 days following admission. At the same time, a standardized measure of neonatal illness severity was calculated and the baby's primary neonatologist completed illness perceptions ratings. Results: Unlike clinician ratings, mothers' illness perceptions were not significantly correlated with illness severity. Mothers generally rated babies in both units as sicker and having a more serious illness than did neonatologists. Whereas clinicians, compared with mothers, rated babies in intensive care as having an illness that would affect their life more and last for a longer time. Mothers rated medical treatment to be significantly more helpful than did clinicians, particularly for babies admitted to the high dependency unit. Mothers' stress was significantly associated with illness perceptions but unrelated to illness severity. Conclusions: Significant differences exist in the perceptions of illness severity, helpfulness of treatment, and the long-term effects of the baby's illness between parents and clinicians and this may lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretations in communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

L'observance thérapeutique : déterminants et modèles théoriques

The aim of this paper is to examine a certain number of parameters which are classically implicated in the emergence of therapeutic observance behavior. This health behavior can be defined as the consequence of a process of a patient's conforming to medical instructions issued by the medical authority in the framework of treating his illness. However, the determinants of following these medical instructions are numerous and interdependent. Therefore, this paper will attempt to present the concept of observance by proposing certain definitions with a rather vague outline. We will then present three principal models specifically devoted to its study. A study of the determinants of observance versus non-observance will then be envisaged and will treat the characteristics peculiar to the sick, as well as the quality of the relation which is maintained between them and the medical staff–doctors. Far from being exhaustive in the presentation of the concept of observance, we will emphasize more the difficulty in truly understanding such behavior; a problematic which finds a new originality for psychology and the human sciences by its focus on the field of health and illness.     

What Makes Crohn's Disease Patients Difficult to Manage? The Role of Psychosocial Factors

Most GI clinicians face the problem of a small group Crohn's Disease (CD) patients who function poorly and consume inordinate amounts of service with poor outcome. This study examines the hypothesis that psychosocial factors differentiate the CD patients who function poorly from the typical CD patient. A prototypal sample of CD patients with problems functioning, more typical CD patients (not selected for having problems in functioning), and healthy controls each completed a battery of validated psychosocial measures of disease-specific quality of life, coping skills, social support and life stress, perceived medical symptoms and life history factors. Chart data on hospital admissions, ER, GI, Surgeon, and GP visits were also collected. The CD patients with problems functioning reported more symptoms (GI and non-GI) and had many more ER, GI, and GP visits than the typical group. Psychologically, those with problems functioning had poorer quality of life and were more likely to cope using emotional discharge and support seeking. They experienced significantly more stress and reported a more chaotic family history. No differences on an experimental method of information processing biases were found between the CD groups, however. These results indicated that patients with problems functioning, selected by GI staff because they were best-case examples of functional difficulties, shared little with a matched group of typical CD patients. These patients likely require psychological as well as medical intervention to best manage their illness.     

Vicarious and operant experiences in the etiology of illness behavior: A replication with healthy individuals

The purpose of the present investigation was to replicate a previous study of diabetic patients on the role of parental modeling in the etiology of illness behavior. A random sample of healthy individuals were assigned to an avoidant model (AM) (i.e. parent reported to have avoided work. chores etc. when ill) or non-avoidant model (NAM) group. Subjects subsequently provided retrospective and current information concerning their illness-behavior experiences. The results indicated that individuals with an AM reported more responsibility avoidance when ill currently and as a child compared to the NAM subjects. Additionally. AM subjects reported receiving more positive reinforcement for current illness compared to NAM subjects. It was concluded that the process by which individuals learn to respond to illness may be similar in healthy and chronically-ill individuals but that positive reinforcement for illness may be more likely to be received by healthy individuals during acute illness than by chronically-ill individuals. The present study provides further preliminary support for the learningtheory model of illness behavior.     

An investigation of parental modeling in the etiology of diabetic illness behavior

The role of vicarious processes in the etiology of behavioral reactions to medical illness was examined in a preliminary investigation. Twenty-seven diabetics without chronically ill parents were assigned to an avoidant-model (i.e. parent reported to have generally avoided work and chores when ill) or non-avoidant-model group. Subjects subsequently provided retrospective and current information concerning their illness behavior experiences. Pathophysiology ratings by a blind rater and glycosylated hemoglobin measures were taken. The results indicated that diabetics with an avoidant model terminated work, chores etc. when ill significantly more than non-avoidant-model group subjects. Diabetics with an avoidant model reported significantly higher medical utilization rates, days ill and poorer quality of life. No group differences were observed on pathophysiology rating and glycosylated hemoglobin measures. The results suggest that individual differences in behavioral reactions to similar degree and type of medical pathology may be related to prior learning experiences such as modeling. The need for a reliable and valid assessment methodology to be used in future related research is emphasized.     

Emotions and cognitions in consumer health behaviors: insights from chronically ill patients into the effects of hope and control perceptions

The lack of compliance to medical advice is a widely recognized healthcare concern with important implications to consumer well‐being. Through an in‐depth examination of the narratives provided by chronically ill patients, this study contributes to transformative consumer research by offering a better understanding of patients' compliance or lack of compliance with medical advice. The narratives are examined with a focus on two potential antecedents: hope and perceptions of control over health outcomes. Findings suggest that although control perceptions play a crucial role in compliance, chronically ill patients often feel that they have no control over their health outcomes. The narratives reveal that the positive emotion of hope is a motivator for positive health behaviors. Additionally, the lived experiences accounts suggest a possible relationship between hope and control perceptions: patients' belief in their ability to manage their chronic illness facilitates hope but might not be essential to it. The importance of healthcare providers' role in cultivating hope and customizing their interactions with patients is discussed. The implications also indicate that health initiatives aimed at increasing treatment compliance should consider alternatives to messages calling for patients to take control of their health. Instead, future research on health behavior should look beyond social cognition models of health behavior and focus on the role of positive emotions such as hope. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interactions between mothers and infants showing food refusal

This study examined the interactional patterns of mothers and their infants who showed food refusal (N = 24) and of mothers and infants in a control group (N = 24) during feeding and play. The observations revealed significant group differences in both infant and maternal behavior. Infants in the case group rejected food more often and showed less clear communication signals than control infants, and mothers of case infants were less sensitive, less cooperative, and had more verbal teaching/control behavior than the control group. These differences pertained to both feeding and play situations. The findings have implications for the development of appropriate and efficient intervention strategies for infants showing food refusal.     

Phenomenology and its application in medicine

Phenomenology is a useful methodology for describing and ordering experience. As such, phenomenology can be specifically applied to the first person experience of illness in order to illuminate this experience and enable health care providers to enhance their understanding of it. However, this approach has been underutilized in the philosophy of medicine as well as in medical training and practice. This paper demonstrates the usefulness of phenomenology to clinical medicine. In order to describe the experience of illness, we need a phenomenological approach that gives the body a central role and acknowledges the primacy of perception. I present such a phenomenological method and show how it could usefully illuminate the experience of illness through a set of concepts taken from Merleau-Ponty. His distinction between the biological body and the body as lived, analysis of the habitual body, and the notions of motor intentionality and intentional arc are used to capture the experience of illness. I then discuss the applications this approach could have in medicine. These include narrowing the gap between objective assessments of well-being in illness and subjective experiences which are varied and diverse; developing a more attuned dialogue between physicians and patients based on a thick understanding of illness; developing research methods that are informed by phenomenology and thus go beyond existing qualitative methods; and providing medical staff with a concrete understanding of the impact of illness on the life-world of patients.     

Social group salience and interethnic cooperation

This research was designed to test the adequacy of H. Tajfel's (1978, Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations, New York/London: Academic Press) theory of social identity for predicting cooperative behavior among members of ethnically mixed groups. Equally divided by sex, subjects were 24 Anglo-American and 24 Hispanic undergraduate students attending the University of California, Riverside. Subjects were exposed to cooperative and competitive feedback in four-member, same-sex groups which varied in the ratio of Anglo to Hispanic subjects to create two conditions—a 3 to 1 versus a 1 to 3 in-group to out-group composition. Results showed that members of both ethnic groups were equally cooperative when their own group was in the numerical majority (low-salience condition). In the high-salience condition, however, when their own group was in the numerical minority, Hispanic subjects were significantly more competitive than Anglo subjects. In addition, while Hispanics were significantly more competitive in the minority than in the majority condition, Anglos showed a slight tendency to be less competitive in the minority than in the majority condition. These results are discussed in light of social identity theory and its application to the study of interethnic cooperation/competition in heterogeneous groups.     

An evaluation of support groups for patients with long-term chronic pain and complex psychosocial difficulties

There is a significant group of chronic pain patients with complex psychosocial needs who are frequent users of hospital outpatient departments and who do not participate in or benefit from traditional pain management treatments and are convinced there is a medical solution to their problems. They are a particularly challenging group of patients to help, often shunned by medical and psychological professionals. A new type of ten-session psycho-social group for these patients that is less demanding than traditional pain management group programmes is investigated. It is designed to foster the development into community-based self-help groups and reduce the need for professional support and unnecessary medical intervention. Accounts of four groups of patients who participated in support groups and successfully established their own groups is presented. To assess changes in motivation, mood and pain disability standardized questionnaire measures were given before and after group attendance. Findings suggest that patients benefited and took increased responsibility for their pain management but did not demonstrate positive changes on measures of mood or level of pain disability. Patients experienced satisfaction with the groups and established their own self-help community groups. The positive experience of participants and staff suggests further work with support groups would be productive for this group of patients.     

Measuring the effectiveness of psychoeducation on adherence,depression, anxiety and stress among patients with diagnosis of schizophrenia. a control trial

Despite evidence of the impact of depression and stress on attitudes towards medication in general medical pathology regimens, little is known of the effects of depression and stress on attitudes towards medication in schizophrenia. This study explores the effects of a hope-based psychoeducation on attitudes towards medication, depression, anxiety and stress, and predictors of attitudes towards medication. The participants in the study (n = 29) were randomly allocated to either the psychoeducation group or the control group. Results from the psychoeducation group revealed that attitudes towards medication were significantly improved and anxiety was significantly reduced. Given the small sample, which was recruited from among patients of a day mental health centre, findings should be interpreted tentatively. Being longer in pharmacotherapy, having experienced fewer occurrences of hospitalisation, and being less depressed predicted positivity towards medication. Patients in the control group did not exhibit significant change in any of the studied variables. Findings were interpreted in the light of research on stigma and insight into illness, and add modestly to literature arguing for the importance of patients’ retention of hope, empowerment and sense of control over illness. This study proposed that psychoeducation is an appropriate intervention to address a wide range of factors that compound adherence to medication and patients’ symptoms, such as patients’ interpretations of causal models, their sense of hope and control over the illness, and their insight into illness and self-stigma.

     

人际控制感对合作行为的影响:一项囚徒困境的ERPs研究

社会困境中的合作行为是通过抑制个体利益最大化的诱惑从而满足集体利益最大化的过程。研究采用囚徒困境游戏范式考察个体的合作行为,通过设置决策顺序操控人际控制感的高低,利用ERPs技术探讨了人际控制感影响合作行为的神经机制。行为结果发现:高人际控制感条件下个体做出合作行为的频率显著高于低人际控制感。ERPs结果发现:个体在高人际控制感条件下博弈时顶枕区所诱发的P2波幅更小,且右侧额区所诱发的N2波幅也更小。这表明被试在高人际控制感条件下感知到的不确定性更小,冲突控制水平更高,从而更能抑制利己诱惑,表现出更多的合作行为。     

Appraisals of control and predictability in adapting to a chronic disease

In a sample of 92 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, we examined interrelations among various control appraisals, illness predictability, psychosocial adjustment, mood, and illness status. Perceiving greater personal control over the disease and symptoms and perceiving greater health-care-provider control over symptoms were associated with greater illness predictability. Patients reported more personal control over their symptoms than over the course of the disease and thought that their health care providers had more control over disease course than they did themselves. Multiple regression analyses showed that perceiving greater personal control over one's medical care and treatment was associated with positive mood and psychosocial adjustment. Negative mood was also associated with the belief that providers have greater control over the patient's daily symptoms. Patients who had a more severe disease and expressed greater personal control over its course reported greater mood disturbance and were rated as exhibiting less positive adjustment, but those who had more severe daily symptoms and expressed greater personal control over their symptoms reported less mood disturbance. These findings are discussed in terms of the possible benefits of patients' active participation in their care and the implications of perceiving personal and others' control over more or less controllable aspects of the illness, especially when the illness is more severe.