Brain activity for visual judgment of lifted weight

It is well established that humans can recognize high-level aspects from point-light biological motion, such as gender and mood. If the task is to judge the manipulated weight we expected that sensorimotor regions should be recruited in the brain. Moreover, we have recently shown that chronic pain in a limb that is involved in the presented movement disturbs the weight judgment. We therefore hypothesized that some cortical regions usually activated during the processing of pain will also be activated while viewing point-light biological motion with the instruction to judge the manipulated weights. We investigated point-light biological motion of two types of movements performed with different weights in a blocked fMRI experiment in healthy subjects. In line with our a priori hypothesis, we found strong activity in the regions known as the neuromatrix of pain, such as the anterior cingulate (ACC), insula, as well as primary and secondary somatosensory regions. We also found activation in the occipital and temporal regions that are typical for biological motion, as well as regions in the cerebellum and prefrontal cortex. The activation of the somatosensory regions probably serves the judgment of the biological motion stimuli. Activation of the anterior cingulate and the insula might be explained by their role in the integration of behaviorally relevant information. Alternatively, these structures are known to be involved in the processing of nociceptive information and pain. So it seems possible that the interference between judgment of weights and perception of pain in chronic pain patients occurs in the somatosensory areas, anterior cingulate and/or insula. This finding provides important information as to the underlying mechanisms used for the weight judgment task, but also why chronic pain interferes with this task.     

The marital status inventory: Development of a measure of dissolution potential

Abstract

The development of a 14-item intensity scale measuring likelihood of marriage dissolution is described. The Marital Status Inventory (MSI) forms a Guttman-like scale. Preliminary discriminant validity data are presented for the self-report scale indicating that couples presenting with marital problems score significantly higher than couples seeking parent-child related therapy. The predictive validity of the scale remains to be demonstrated, but the MSI is reported for use by researchers and clinicians.     

Ethics and Culture in Mental Health Care

This article examines the complex relationship between culture, values, and ethics in mental health care. Cultural competence is a practical, concrete demonstration of the ethical principles of respect for persons, beneficence (doing good), nonmaleficence (not doing harm), and justice (treating people fairly)—the cornerstones of modern ethical codes for the health professions. Five clinical cases are presented to illustrate the range of ethical issues faced by mental health clinicians working in a multicultural environment, including issues of therapeutic boundaries, diagnosis, treatment choice, confidentiality and informed consent, and the just distribution of limited health care resources.     

Language-guided visual processing affects reasoning: The role of referential and spatial anchoring

Language is more than a source of information for accessing higher-order conceptual knowledge. Indeed, language may determine how people perceive and interpret visual stimuli. Visual processing in linguistic contexts, for instance, mirrors language processing and happens incrementally, rather than through variously-oriented fixations over a particular scene. The consequences of this atypical visual processing are yet to be determined. Here, we investigated the integration of visual and linguistic input during a reasoning task. Participants listened to sentences containing conjunctions or disjunctions (Nancy examined an ant and/or a cloud) and looked at visual scenes containing two pictures that either matched or mismatched the nouns. Degree of match between nouns and pictures (referential anchoring) and between their expected and actual spatial positions (spatial anchoring) affected fixations as well as judgments. We conclude that language induces incremental processing of visual scenes, which in turn becomes susceptible to reasoning errors during the language-meaning verification process.     

Prospective risk factors for subsequent exposure to potentially traumatic events

Abstract

In a sample of 1528 college students, we examined (1) whether several risk factors prospectively predicted exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) over a 2-month period and (2) whether dependent events (i.e., those more likely to depend upon one's behavior or characteristics) and independent events were predicted by different risk factors. Logistic regression analyses indicated that overall subsequent PTE exposure was higher for women, those with more previous PTEs, and those who engaged in more binge drinking. Female gender and previous PTE exposure also predicted exposure to independent events. Subsequent dependent PTE exposure was predicted by more previous PTEs and binge drinking, and was somewhat higher in ethnic minority students. Implications for prevention efforts are discussed.     

The Prediction of Family Interaction from a Battery of Projective Techniques

This study first explored the adequacy of items on the Rorschach Rating Scale (RRS), which measures Rorschach constructs from a variety of scoring systems. Analyses determined that all items had an adequate capacity to differentiate people and none were clearly redundant. At the same time, the current version of the RRS requires good reading comprehension skills for accurate completion (13th grade level). Next, we developed two sets of RRS scales. Factor analysis of observer ratings (N = 234) indicated the RRS contained six broad, empirically derived factors. In addition, 19 conceptually derived scales were developed from the RRS item pool. Both sets of scales were evaluated for reliability and then compared to the Big Five model (B5M) of personality through a series of factor and regression analyses. Results indicated that RRS scales do not provide adequate definition of all B5M dimensions and B5M scales do not provide adequate definition of all RRS dimensions. We discuss the place of psychotic processes within a comprehensive model of personality and other implications from these findings.     

College Students' Judgments and Perceptions of Persons with AIDS From Different Risk Groups

In this analog study, 104 female and 75 male undergraduate students in the United States read 1 of 8 vignettes that described a person who had just received positive HIV antigen results. The vignettes were identical except for the sex of the person described and his or her risk-group membership (gay, heterosexual, injection-drug user, or hemophiliac). After reading the vignette, the participants completed questionnaires assessing (a) responsibility, blame, and personality characteristics of the person described in the vignette; and (b) their own homophobia and knowledge about AIDS. Results revealed that homophobia was a significant covariate that affected participants' perceptions of the person in the vignette. with homophobia as a covariate, the hemophiliac was judged the least harshly, followed by the heterosexual person, the gay person, and the injection-drug user. No gender differences were revealed. The injection-drug user was evaluated the most negatively on the personality characteristics; the other 3 groups were rated similarly. Analyses without homophobia as a covariate revealed significant gender differences, suggesting that prior research findings of gender differences on perceptions of persons with AIDS may be attributable more to differential levels of homophobia than to gender of the rater.     

Children's Repetition Choices in an Intellectual Achievement Situation following Success and Failure

(Ausubel, David P. Theory and Problems of Adolescent Development. New York: Grune &; Stratton, 1954. Pp. 580.) Reviewed By W. Drayton Lewis.     

Parental Influences on Memories of Parents and Friends

The authors evaluated the role parent–child relationship quality has on two types of memories, those of parents and those of friends. Participants were 198 Italian university students who recalled memories during 4 separate timed memory-fluency tasks about their preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school and university years. Half were instructed to recall memories involving parents and the remainder memories involving friends. Moreover, parent–child relationships were assessed by the Network of Relationships Inventory (NRI; W. Furman & D. Buhrmester, 1985) and Adolescents’ Report of Parental Monitoring (D. M. Capaldi & G. R. Patterson, 1989). Results showed that men with positive parent–son relationships had more memories of parents and more affectively positive memories of friends, supporting a consistency model positing similarity between parent–child relationships and memories of friends. Women with positive parental relationship quality had more affectively positive memories of parents but for friends, positive relationship quality only predicted positive memories when young. At older ages, especially middle school-aged children, negative parent–daughter relationships predicted more positive memories of friends, supporting a compensatory model. The gender of parent also mattered, with fathers having a more influential role on affect for memories of friends.