Effects of sleep loss on sustained cognitive performance during a command and control simulation

Because of low cognitive demands and infrequent performance assessment, previous sleep-loss studies may have provided conservative estimates of the cognitive deficits that can occur during sustained, intensive, military operations. The research described here addresses the limitations of earlier studies by requiring and measuring performance on a continuous basis in a computerized laboratory environment. During a 54-h period of wakefulness, subjects were required to continuously monitor and act upon information being transmitted over a communication network while their performance on cognitive tests, which were embedded in and distributed around the message traffic, was continuously evaluated. The results show that this cognitively demanding environment produces greater mood and performance decrements as a function of sleep loss than previous, less-demanding studies. The methodology is described in detail, and the implications of the experimental findings are discussed.     

The effects of task duration and work-session location on performance degradation induced by sleep loss and sustained cognitive work

Studies attempting to estimate the degree of performance degradation resulting from sleep loss typically use relatively long-duration tasks that are distinctly separate from ongoing activities. Since long-duration tasks are not practical for assessing the performance degradation induced by sleep loss in field settings, this study was designed to examine whether the results of short-duration (1-min) tasks were markedly different from those of long-duration (10-min) tasks with respect to detecting performance changes during a 54-h period of sleep loss and sustained cognitive work. Performance changes also were examined as a function of the location of tasks within work sessions by comparing performance on 1-min tasks that were placed within work sessions with those tasks that immediately followed short rest periods. The results showed that short-and long-duration tasks were equally sensitive to sleep loss. In addition, once sleep-deprivation effects began to emerge, it was found that performance on short-duration tasks within work sessions showed significantly more impairment than performance on tasks that followed rest breaks. These results suggest that task duration is not a critical factor for detecting performance degradation induced during continuous work experiments but that the location of tasks within work sessions is critical for accurately assessing expected performance.     

Community-based multiple-gate screening of children at risk for conduct disorder

The present study employed a multiple-gate screening procedure to identify children at risk for the development of conduct disorder. Measures of cross-setting disruptive behavior and parent discipline practices were administered in sequential fashion to screen a population of 7,231 children attending suburban elementary schools. Convergent validity of the respective gating measures was confirmed by significant correlations with adjustment constructs. Analyses of covariance performed between positive screens, negative screens, and low-risk comparison children on adjustment constructs at each gate supported the discriminative validity of the gating procedure. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that the gating measures were predictive of diagnostic ratings of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder that were obtained 18 months following the screening. A stepwise logistic regression analysis indicated that the best predictors of high-risk group membership were variables related to family process, including poor family communication and involvement, poor maternal coping skills, and an external parent locus of control.This study was supported by grant MH-46584 from the National Institute of Mental Health.     

Genetic Testing Considerations in Breast Cancer Patients

Genetic testing is now feasible for a growing number of cancers. Although the implications for unaffected relatives have been widely described, the impact of the tests on affected individuals are often not recognized. We present and discuss four cases that highlight some of the issues—for example, feelings of guilt and anxiety, intrafamilial conflict, and support needs—that may arise in testing affected individuals. We offer some suggestions to aid in the approach to such testing.     

Binocular single vision achieved by fusion and suppression

The occurrences of fusion and suppression were determined from stereograms which produced two retinal images located at equal distances but in opposite directions from the fovea. Subjects reported whether the dichoptic stimulus appeared single or not, and if single whether it appeared in the center of the visual field. The report of centrality is predicted by the fusion theory of single vision and that of noncentrality by the suppression theory. Experiment 1, with eight subjects, showed that for small disparities perceived singleness was the percept predicted by the fusion theory; for larger disparities, the percepts could sometimes be predicted by the fusion theory and other times by the suppression theory. Experiment 2, with 16 subjects, showed that with larger stimuli the percept predicted by the fusion theory is more likely to occur. Experiment 3, with four subjects, showed that the centrality was reported when the stimuli were presented for 100 msec. This result provided support for our interpretation that the centrality reports in Experiments 1 and 2 were not due to fixation error and suppression.     

Queer(ing) notions of Islamic authority: a methodological disposition in the work of Khaled Abou El Fadl

ABSTRACT

Queer approaches to Islam take a multitude of forms, and reflect queer lived experiences in a variety of ways. This article focuses on one particular form of queer approach to an aspect of the Islamic tradition, examining Khaled Abou El Fadl’s approach to the Shari’ah, focusing on his particular methodology of de-legitimization, re-presentation, and judgment according to the ethical standard of beauty. In doing so, its retrieval of internally queer aspects of the tradition come to light, including the focus on the nature of certainty within the Shari’ah as problematic, a strong emphasis on procedural non-finality, and the importance of the contextual nature of legal outcomes. Each of these aspects of the methodology have an impact on the lived experiences of Muslims within a community in which the law holds significant legal and social authority. In queering approaches to the Shari’ah, Abou El Fadl’s methodology simultaneously opens up space for a queering of contemporary norms of Muslim identity, society, and performance.     

A metaphor analysis in treatments of depression: Metaphor as a marker of change

This paper examines the use of ‘burden' metaphors relating to the experience of depression in one good and one poor outcome process-experiential short-term psychotherapy dyad. Burden-metaphors are meaningful as they appear to characterize the way these clients experience the course of their depressions (e.g. Korman & Angus, 1995). Understanding how these experiences are dealt with in productive therapies, as compared to less-productive treatments, can aid in therapist training and in developing therapeutic programmes for depressed clients. The Experiencing Scale (Klein et al., 1970) and the Narrative Process Coding System (Angus et al., 1996) are used to examine the processes at play when burden-metaphors are used in the good and the poor therapy. Results indicate that, in the good outcome dyad, metaphors of ‘being burdened' were transformed into metaphors of ‘unloading the burden' over the course of the therapy, while there was no transformation evident in the poor-outcome dyad. The good outcome therapy tended to have a higher level of experiencing when discussing burden-metaphors, in comparison with the poor-outcome therapy. Furthermore, the successful dyad tended to more often use internal narrative sequences (as identified by the NPCS) in the exploraiton of metaphoric expression.     

Professional Ambivalence: Accounts of Ethical Practice in Childhood Genetic Testing

Childhood genetic testing raises complex ethical and moral dilemmas for both families and professionals. In the family sphere, the role of communication is a key aspect in the transmission of ‘genetic responsibility’ between adults and children. In the professional sphere, genetic responsibility is an interactional accomplishment emerging from the sometimes competing views over what constitutes the ‘best interests’ of the child in relation to parental preferences on the one hand, and professional judgements on the other. In the present paper we extend our previous research into parental accounts of childhood genetic testing and explore the ethical accounts of professionals in research interviews. Interviews (n = 20) were conducted with professional practitioners involved in the genetic diagnosis and management of children and their families. We first identify four inter-related themes—juxtaposition of parental rights vis-à-vis child’s autonomy, elicitation of the child’s autonomy, avoidance of parental responsibility and recognition of professional uncertainty. Then, using Rhetorical Discourse Analysis, we examine the range of discourse devices through which ethical accounts are situationally illustrated: contrast, reported speech, constructed dialogue, character and event work. An overarching device in these ethical accounts is the use of extreme case scenarios, which reconstruct dilemmas as justifications of professional conduct. While acknowledging ambivalence, our analysis suggests that professional judgement is not a simple matter of implementing ethical principles but rather of managing the practical conditions and consequences of interactions with parents and children. We conclude that more attention is needed to understand the way professional practitioners formulate judgements about ethical practice.     

Narrative process modes as a bridging concept for the theory, research and clinical practice of systemic therapy

This article is concerned with the relationships which hold between the clinical practice and the theory of family therapy; and between these and academic research. These relationships are seen as tenuous and thin because, in the first place, there is a lack of rigorous theoretical underpinning; and second, the research methods employed do not fit in with current family therapy practice, and with the theory that underlies this practice. The role of the concept of narrative process modes is proposed as a bridging and mediating one. The external, internal and reflective narrative process modes are seen as relevant from the point of view of family therapy process research, and the clinical practice of marital and family therapy.