Marital dissolution and distress in a psychiatric population: A longitudinal design

There has been interest in recent years in the relationship between marital distress and psychopathology. It has been rare, however, for investigators to follow patients after their release from the hospital and observe the course of their marital relationships. The present study included patients meeting criteria for three DSM III DISORDERS (MAjor depressive, bipolar, and schizophrenic) and a normal control sample, all of whom are participants in an ongoing longitudinal study of children at risk for psychopathology (Stony Brook High-Risk Project; Weintraub & Neale, 1984). Marital Adjustment Test (MAT; Locke & Wallace, 1959) scores were collected on patients at entry into the project (Phase I) and at a three year follow-up (Phase II). Course of marriage was defined as negative if the couple's marital adjustment was rated as poor at Phase II or resulted in divorce or separation at Phase II. It was found that only the depressed group differed from the normal group in having significantly worse course of marital relationship; 84% of the depressive couples showed a “negative” course of marital change over time. However, all three patient groups had significantly higher rates of divorce by Phase II. MAT scores at Phase I successfully predicted course of marital relationship for all diagnostic groups. Implications for aftercare of psychiatric inpatients are discussed.     

Casuistry and clinical ethics

For the last century, moral philosophy has stressed theory for the analysis of moral argument and concepts. In the last decade, interest in the ethical issues of health care has stimulated attention to cases and particular instances. This has revealed the gap between ethical theory and practice. This article reviews the history and method of casuistry which for many centuries provided an approach to practical ethics. Its strengths and weaknesses are noted and its potential for contemporary use explored.     

Monocular-contingent and binocular-contingent aftereffects

Alternate monocular and binocular exposure to complementary stimulation can yield opposite but coexisting aftereffects that are contingent on whether the test display is viewed with one eye or two eyes. The motion aftereffect was studied by adapting each eye separately to a contracting spiral and both eyes together to an expanding spiral. The stationary test spiral subsequently appeared to be expanding when viewed monocularly, but to be contracting when it was seen with both eyes open. With respect to the McCollough effect, after monocular exposure to red-vertical and green-horizontal gratings and binocular exposure to red-horizontal and green-vertical gratings, the appearance of the color of the test gratings when viewed with one eye was different from that when viewed with both eyes. Opposite, coexisting aftereffects induced by complementary stimulation can be interpreted as evidence that there are unique binocular aspects to visual function.     

Concepts underlying the development of modules

The need for common pedagogical and design features in courseware is discussed. A particularly useful feature would allow use of courseware in either of two “modes”: as an “electronic chalkboard” for the instructor who wishes to take advantage of the computer in a traditional lecture setting, or as an “electronic study guide” in which students interact individually with the programs. Development of programs using these two modes can be facilitated using Author-Assist, a set of routines and a program skeleton being developed by CONDUIT (1983). Author-Assist provides procedures for use of several types of automatic menu generation, automatic text formatting in “text ports,” mixed text and graphics, protected input routines, lowercase characters in text, automatic scaling of graphic displays using “graphports,” on-screen calculator functions, and a variety of other features.     

Impact of Institutional Review Boards on cancer research

The concepts of informed consent and surveillance of human research designed to protect human subjects is commendable. The regulations of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) are having a major impact on clinical cancer research. There is greater administrative time needed of the investigator, the mechanisms of patient care have become cumbersome and some patients reject optional medical management that could be life saving. IRB regulations must be flexible to meet the needs of human subjects as well as those of the clinical investigator.     

An analysis of some sensitizing agents in the pathogenesis of stress-induced gastric erosive disease

Prior surgical implantation of a venous catheter sensitized rats to coldimmobilization stress. Three of six catheterized females succumbed during the stress. The remaining rats fell into two groups in terms of their core temperature at the end of the stress period: Male uncatheterized rats had higher temperatures than rats in the other three groups. No relation was found between catheter patency and magnitude of hypothermia. Degree of gastric disease paralleled the core temperature findings in that the male uncatheterized rats had significantly fewer gastric erosions than the rats in the other three groups. Additionally, a robust effect of gender was found with uncatheterized females showing more hypothermia and more gastric disease than uncatheterized males. A subsequent experiment was conducted to evaluate whether anesthesia or wearing the protective spring was responsible in part for the sensitization seen. Here, the gender difference was less although females consistently averaged lower core temperatures after stress than did males. Despite similar core temperatures after stress, females that were prepared with the protective spring apparatus developed more gastric disease than female controls or similarly treated males. Thus, the additional sensitization exhibited by females in the first experiment may relate to the fact that both catheterization and the taping procedure were sensitizers while only catheterization was a sensitizer for males.     

Frames of reference in preschoolers’ perception of motion

Experiments 1 and 2 established children’s (mean age 3 years, 7 months) subject-relative and object-relative motion thresholds at 1°31.37′/sec and 1°9.33′/sec, respectively, speeds well above those found for adults. Experiment 3 established that preschoolers, like adults, attribute object-relative motion to the smaller of two objects, with the inducing properties of the larger stimulus greatest when it is surrounding rather than adjacent to a smaller stimulus. The inducing advantage of surroundedness was equivalent for a single-element square frame and a multielement six-dot frame.