Categorical and dimensional reports of experienced affect to emotion-inducing pictures in depression

Self-reported affect to positive and negative emotional pictures was contrasted in people with major depressive disorder (MDD) and never-depressed control participants (n = 25 in each group). The results revealed significant differences in response to positive images (reduced arousal, less pleasant valence, decreased happiness, increased sadness) in MDD but no clear group differences in response to negative stimuli. Extending earlier findings of reduced responsiveness to positive, but not negative, stimuli in MDD (D. M. Sloan, M. E. Strauss, S. W. Quirk, & M. Satajovik, 1997; D. M. Sloan, M. E. Strauss, & K. L. Wisner, 2001), the data indicate that blunted response to positive stimuli is found when both categorical and dimensional ratings are elicited. Further, the data replicate earlier findings of elevated sadness reports to positive stimuli (J. Rottenberg, K. L. Kasch, J. J. Gross, & I. H. Gotlib, 2002), which may reflect broader difficulties in regulating emotions in MDD.     

Reliability and validity of the Beck depression inventory--II with adolescent psychiatric inpatients

This investigation was conducted to validate the Beck Depression Inventory--II (BDI-II; A. T. Beck, R. A. Steer, & G. K. Brown, 1996) in samples of adolescent psychiatric inpatients. The sample in each substudy was primarily Caucasian. In Study 1, expert raters (N=7) and adolescent psychiatric inpatients (N=13) evaluated the BDI-II items to assess content validity. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses of several first-order solutions failed to provide adequate fit estimates to data for 205 boys, 203 girls, and the combined sample. Exploratory factor analyses identified new item-factor solutions. Reliability estimates were good (range =.72 to.91) for the BDI-II total and scale scores. In Study 3 (N=161 boys and 158 girls from Study 2), preliminary evidence for estimates of concurrent, convergent, and discriminant validity were established for the BDI-II.     

"Frog, where are you?" Narratives in children with specific language impairment, early focal brain injury, and Williams syndrome

In this cross-population study, we use narratives as a context to investigate language development in children from 4 to 12 years of age from three experimental groups: children with early unilateral focal brain damage (FL; N=52); children with specific language impairment (SLI; N=44); children with Williams syndrome (WMS; N=36), and typically developing controls. We compare the developmental trajectories of these groups in the following domains: morphological errors, use of complex syntax, complexity of narrative structure, and types and frequency of evaluative devices. For the children with early unilateral brain damage, there is initial delay. However, by age 10, they are generally within the normal range of performance for all narrative measures. Interestingly, there are few, if any, side specific differences. Children with SLI, who have no frank neurological damage and show no cognitive impairment demonstrate significantly more delay on all morphosyntactic measures than the FL group. Quantitatively, on morphosyntactic measures, the SLI group clusters with those children with WMS who are moderately retarded. Together these data help us to understand the extent and nature of brain plasticity for language development and those aspects of language and discourse that are dissociable.     

The Systems Approach: A Technique for Establishing Counseling and Guidance Programs

Schools and agencies are under increasing pressure to demonstrate program effectiveness and be accountable in terms of cost to the consumer. Systems methodology, developed for use in other fields, may have the potential for program development in counseling. This article discusses some of the ways in which systems technology may be directly employed in a counseling setting.     

Interal locus of control as a value

Internal and external subjects, who previously filled out Rotter's (1966) I-E scale, were asked to score the I-E scale of “another student”. Subjects were exposed to “an other's” score of either 0, 5, 10, 16, or 23, and were asked to rate themselves and the “other” on an evaluative questionnaire. It was predicted that ratings of the “other” would increase in positivity to the extent the “other” scored as an internal. A reverse direction was predicted for an index of negative evaluations. The predictions were confirmed. The results suggest that internal locus of control is a societal value. The findings did not support either Hannah's (1973) hypothesis that internals are more responsive to a need for social approval, or Byrne's (1969) similarity hypothesis.     

Effects of Goal Choice,Strategy Choice,and Feedback Source on Goal Acceptance,Performance and Subsequent Goals1

This study examined the effects of goal choice, strategy choice, and feedback source on goal acceptance, performance, and future self-set goals. The results were partially consistent with earlier work by Earley and Kanfer (1985) in that goal and strategy choice interacted to affect initial performance and goal acceptance. However, the nature of the performance interaction was not as expected. Results pertaining to future goals and subsequent performance suggested that goal choice was an important determinant of future goals and that feedback, goal choice, and strategy choice interacted to influence subsequent performance. Contrary to expectations, feedback source did not exert a main effect on subsequent performance, goal setting, or perceptions of feedback acceptance and usefulness. Discussion centered on the differential impact of choice on perceptual and behavioral variables and the failure of self-feedback to significantly affect subsequent goals and performance.     

Discovery of the pendulum and spring dynamics in the early stages of walking

The authors investigated the self-selected, overground walking patterns of 7 children (aged 11 months to 1 year, 5 months) at the initiation of walking (brand-new walkers [BNWs]) and for the next 6 months at 1-month intervals. Walking speed, stride length, and stride frequency increased significantly between the first 2 visits without significant changes in height and weight. The authors calculated sagittal plane angular accelerations of the center of mass over the foot for each step as an indicator of the escapement pulse. Results for the acceleration profiles changed after the 1st visit to positive, single-peaked accelerations that occurred < 0.20 s after initial foot contact. Increases in sagittal plane hip angular displacement and decreases in frontal plane pelvic angular displacement were observed. The pattern changes suggest that children quickly discover appropriately timed and directed escapements that initiate and support the conservative sagittal plane pendulum and spring dynamics observed in older children.