When attention is intact in adults with ADHD

Is covert visuospatial attention—selective processing of information in the absence of eye movements—preserved in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? Previous findings are inconclusive due to inconsistent terminology and suboptimal methodology. To settle this question, we used well-established spatial cueing protocols to investigate the perceptual effects of voluntary and involuntary attention on an orientation discrimination task for a group of adults with ADHD and their neurotypical age-matched and gender-matched controls. In both groups, voluntary attention significantly improved accuracy and decreased reaction times at the relevant location, but impaired accuracy and slowed reaction times at irrelevant locations, relative to a distributed attention condition. Likewise, involuntary attention improved accuracy and speeded responses. Critically, the magnitudes of all these orienting and reorienting attention effects were indistinguishable between groups. Thus, these counterintuitive findings indicate that spatial covert attention remains functionally intact in adults with ADHD.     

We are what we eat: How food is represented in our mind/brain

Despite the essential role of food in our lives, we have little understanding of the way our knowledge about food is organized in the brain. At birth, human infants exhibit very few food preferences, and do not yet know much about what is edible and what is not. A multisensory learning development will eventually turn young infants into omnivore adults, for whom deciding what to eat becomes an effortful task. Recognizing food constitutes an essential step in this decisional process. In this paper we examine how concepts about food are represented in the human brain. More specifically, we first analyze how brain-damaged patients recognize natural and manufactured food, and then examine these patterns in the light of the sensory-functional hypothesis and the domain-specific hypothesis. Secondly, we discuss how concepts of food are represented depending on whether we embrace the embodied view or the disembodied view. We conclude that research on food recognition and on the organization of knowledge about food must also take into account some aspects specific to food category, the relevance of which has not been sufficiently recognized and investigated to date.     

Profiling the deaf high school student who is a problem in the classroom

The discipline referral forms and available school records of five residential schools for the deaf were surveyed. Students were categorized as being never referred, periodically referred, and chronically referred. The student characteristics of age, sex, degree of hearing loss, and reading ability were used to predict membership in a frequency of referral category through a log-linear analysis statistic. A conceptual model was built and tested statistically which showed that the most important factor was reading ability followed by hearing loss, age, and sex of the student. The "typical problem" student would be a younger male who was a poorer reader and had a less severe hearing loss.     

Perceived stress and adjustment in religious Jewish families with a child who is disabled.

We investigated 82 religious Israeli families who had a disabled child, many of whom had experienced economic strains, lack of community support, feelings of stigma, and lack of time. Results showed that families reporting a stronger impact associated with the care of the disabled member were smaller, faced more daily strains and hardships, had a boy with a disability, and a mother who was older. About 50% were rated by a school professional as coping and adjusting effectively. Many mothers and fathers maintained close contact with their own parents, frequently discussed the child's problems, and sought advice from health care professionals and from their spiritual leader. Most families needed financial assistance. Many would have benefited from relief services, parent training programs, and a stronger social support network.     

Direction information in multiple object tracking is limited by a graded resource

Is multiple object tracking (MOT) limited by a fixed set of structures (slots), a limited but divisible resource, or both? Here, we answer this question by measuring the precision of the direction representation for tracked targets. The signature of a limited resource is a decrease in precision as the square root of the tracking load. The signature of fixed slots is a fixed precision. Hybrid models predict a rapid decrease to asymptotic precision. In two experiments, observers tracked moving disks and reported target motion direction by adjusting a probe arrow. We derived the precision of representation of correctly tracked targets using a mixture distribution analysis. Precision declined with target load according to the square-root law up to six targets. This finding is inconsistent with both pure and hybrid slot models. Instead, directional information in MOT appears to be limited by a continuously divisible resource.     

Imitation in young children: when who gets copied is more important than what gets copied

Unlike other animals, human children will copy all of an adult's goal-directed actions, including ones that are clearly unnecessary for achieving the demonstrated goal. Here we highlight how social affiliation is key to this species-specific behavior. Preschoolers watched 2 adults retrieve a toy from a novel apparatus. One adult included irrelevant actions in her demonstration; the other only used actions causally related to opening the apparatus. After both adults took turns demonstrating, 1 left the test room, and the remaining adult gave the apparatus to the child. Children reproduced the irrelevant actions only when given the apparatus by the adult who had demonstrated them, even though the departed adult's actions emphasized how unnecessary these redundant actions were. Our results highlight the specialized skills for participating in cultural groups that have evolved in humans and provide insight into why finding such high fidelity copying in other animals has proven elusive.     

Case study: Use of propranolol to reduce aggressive behavior in a woman who is mentally retarded

Although neuroleptic medications are frequently used to treat the aggressive behavior of persons with mental retardation, little empirical support exists for their efficacy. In the case study reported here, the beta-blocker propranolol was used to treat the aggressive behavior of a 23-year-old woman with severe mental retardation. Initiation of treatment was correlated with a dramatic decrease in aggression and a less pronounced improvement in self-injurious behavior (SIB). An increase in resting heart-rate was associated with a significant increase in aggression, and progressive increases in propranolol dosage were correlated with reductions in heart rate and in significant behavioral improvement. Consideration of propranolol as a less intrusive, and possibly more effective, pharmacologic treatment for the aggressive behavior of persons with mental retardation is discussed.     

试论邪教精神依赖和精神痴迷者的心理治疗

邪教精神依赖和精神痴迷是一种独特的“成瘾”现象,有学者指出精神依赖和精神痴迷者具有精神病样症状,但是治疗这种情况有其独特性,针对邪教精神依赖和精神痴迷者需要进行全面的心理治疗,同时社会支持系统对邪教精神依赖和精神痴迷者起到的作用也非常关键。     

Holding fat stereotypes is associated with lower body dissatisfaction in normal weight Caucasian women who engage in body surveillance

This study examined the moderating effect of body surveillance on the relationship between fat stereotype endorsement and body dissatisfaction in normal weight women. Participants (N = 225) completed online measures of fat stereotyping, body surveillance, body dissatisfaction, and internalized thin ideals. After accounting for thin ideals, body surveillance moderated the relationship between fat stereotypes and body dissatisfaction. Contrary to hypotheses, higher fat stereotype endorsement predicted lower body dissatisfaction in women with higher body surveillance. Conversely, higher fat stereotype endorsement predicted greater body dissatisfaction in women with lower body surveillance. Thus, endorsing fat stereotypes appears protective against body dissatisfaction in normal weight women who extensively engage in body surveillance. For women who hold fat stereotypes and report high body surveillance, we propose that downward appearance comparison may create a contrast between themselves and the people with overweight whom they denigrate, thus improving body dissatisfaction.     

When what you have is who you are: self-uncertainty leads individualists to see themselves in their possessions

Four studies tested whether uncertainty about the self-concept can motivate people, particularly individualists who define themselves in terms of their personal traits and characteristics, to perceive their material possessions as extensions of themselves (i.e., as self-expressive). In Study 1, European American participants rated their favorite pair of blue jeans as more self-expressive after being induced to feel self-uncertain, whereas Asian American participants did not. In Study 2, participants who scored high on a measure of individualism rated their cars as more self-expressive following a self-uncertainty manipulation. In Study 3, individualists (but not collectivists) rated their favorite possessions as more self-expressive after being subject to self-uncertainty; a manipulation of self-irrelevant uncertainty did not produce these results. In Study 4, thinking about a self-expressive (relative to utilitarian) possession bolstered self-certainty among individualists, but not collectivists. Implications for research on culture, the self-concept, and possessions are discussed.     

The narrow use of the term ego in analytical psychology: the 'not-I' is also who I am

This paper(1) explores some aspects of the narrowness of Jung's usage of the term ego and the consequences which are understood to follow there from. Jung is understood to see the ego as a surface phenomenon and, essentially, as the focal point of consciousness, not recognizing its potential to function more broadly, deeply, and unconsciously. Furthermore, although he does recognize the ego as 'the total conscious personality' his use of the term frequently does not reflect that definition. Whilst Jung's analysis of the narrowly functioning ego is enlightening and groundbreaking, he treats this narrow functioning as if it is characteristic of the ego itself, ascribing any 'broad functioning' primarily to the Self. This narrow use of the term ego, and the corresponding use of the term Self, are understood to have significant consequences for clinical practice, including leading the analyst into an over-identification with the patient and a loss of the analyst's sense of self. It is also understood to lead to difficulties dealing with more disturbed individuals, to stuck and broken down analyses, to wear and tear on the analyst and, potentially, splits between the different schools of analytical psychology. These concerns all represent difficulties with working in the transference, and Jung's own experience of this is briefly explored.     

Multiple reinforcement contingencies to reduce aggression,self-injury and dysfunctional verbal behaviors in an adult who is sensory impaired

Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) and differential reinforcement of low rates of responding (DRL) have been effective techniques in reducing maladaptive behaviors in therapeutic settings. Reported studies of these reinforcement-based procedures indicate that they are usually implemented in isolation, targeting only a single behavior or class of behaviors. In this study, multiple DRO and DRL contingencies were utilized concurrently in reducing two distinct classes of behaviors with a 26 year-old blind man with moderate retardation. One class of behaviors included socially inappropriate verbalizations, while the other included aggressive, self-injurious and environmentally destructive behaviors. Distinct contingencies were established according to the functions of the targeted behaviors and their severity and separate schedules of reinforcement were derived from baseline frequencies. Over a period of 20 months, the differential reinforcement interventions resulted in rapid reduction of behaviors in both classes to near-zero rates and frequencies were maintained at this low level while contingency schedules were systematically lengthened. Collateral effects are discussed including performance in functional academics and participation in community integration activities.     

明末大儒黄宗羲的无神论思想

300多年前,黄宗羲以其高度的历史使命感和社会责任心,清醒地意识到世俗迷信、陋习对社会政治、经济的影响,提出必须革除迷信和陋习的主张,并运用气化论揭露种种迷信的虚妄性。     

When self-help is no help: Traditional cognitive skills training does not prevent depressive symptoms in people who ruminate

A randomized trial was conducted to test the efficacy of three self-directed prevention intervention workbooks for depression. Cognitively at-risk college freshmen were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: traditional cognitive, non-traditional cognitive, and academic skills. Consistent with hypotheses, participants who were high in rumination and experienced stress exhibited significantly greater levels of depressive symptoms after completing the traditional cognitive skills workbook than after completing the other two workbooks. This pattern of results held post-intervention and 4 months later. These findings indicate that rumination may hinder ones ability to identify and dispute negative thoughts (at least without the help of a trained professional). The results underscore the importance of identifying individual difference variables that moderate intervention efficacy. They also raise concerns about the potential benefits of self-help books, an industry that generates billions of dollars each year.     

Quint: An R package for the identification of subgroups of clients who differ in which treatment alternative is best for them

In the analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), treatment effect heterogeneity often occurs, implying differences across (subgroups of) clients in treatment efficacy. This phenomenon is typically referred to as treatment-subgroup interactions. The identification of subgroups of clients, defined in terms of pretreatment characteristics that are involved in a treatment-subgroup interaction, is a methodologically challenging task, especially when many characteristics are available that may interact with treatment and when no comprehensive a priori hypotheses on relevant subgroups are available. A special type of treatment-subgroup interaction occurs if the ranking of treatment alternatives in terms of efficacy differs across subgroups of clients (e.g., for one subgroup treatment A is better than B and for another subgroup treatment B is better than A). These are called qualitative treatment-subgroup interactions and are most important for optimal treatment assignment. The method QUINT (Qualitative INteraction Trees) was recently proposed to induce subgroups involved in such interactions from RCT data. The result of an analysis with QUINT is a binary tree from which treatment assignment criteria can be derived. The implementation of this method, the R package quint, is the topic of this paper. The analysis process is described step-by-step using data from the Breast Cancer Recovery Project, showing the reader all functions included in the package. The output is explained and given a substantive interpretation. Furthermore, an overview is given of the tuning parameters involved in the analysis, along with possible motivational concerns associated with choice alternatives that are available to the user.     

Blocking but not conditioned inhibition results when an added stimulus is reinforced in compound with multiple pretrained stimuli

Conditioned barpress suppression by rats was used to explore the associative status of an initially neutral stimulus that was reinforced in simultaneous compound with two independently pretrained conditioned excitors. In contrast to the Rescorla-Wagner model, which predicts that the target stimulus (X) will be inhibitory following such A+/B+/ABX+ training, the present study found no evidence that X acquired inhibitory associative strength. Rather, the pretrained stimuli merely served to block conditioned excitatory responding to the target stimulus.     

"HIV testing is so gay": the role of masculine gender role conformity in HIV testing among men who have sex with men

Men who have sex with men (MSM) account for more than half of all new cases of HIV infection in the United States. Yet, many MSM are unaware of their HIV serostatus. Consistent with research indicating that gender role conformity impacts health behaviors, this study examined how masculine norms may influence HIV testing among MSM in the United States. Data from 170 self-identified MSM (age M = 46.45, SD = 12.18) of self-reported negative or unknown HIV serostatus living in the United States were used in this study. About half (52%) of participants reported that they had been tested for HIV within the past 12 months; 48% reported that they had not. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between domains of masculine gender role conformity and HIV testing within the past 12 months, controlling for number of sexual partners in the last 12 months. The masculine norm of heterosexual self-presentation (i.e., desire to be perceived by others as heterosexual) was negatively associated with HIV testing (B = -0.74, SE B = 0.36, O.R. = 0.48, 95% CI [0.24, 0.96]), after controlling for the effect of number of sexual partners. Psychologists and other health professionals may remain mindful of potential implications of HIV testing among MSM, including potential for MSM to view HIV testing as an "outing" procedure.