Deterioration of the phonological processing skills in adults with an acquired severe hearing loss

Phonological processing was examined in a group of individuals with an acquired severe hearing loss and compared to a group of matched normal hearing individuals. The hearing-impaired group was significantly slower and less accurate when performing a visual rhyme-judgement task, and produced fewer rhyming word pairs on a rhyme-generation task than the normal hearing group. In contrast, the hearing-impaired group performed on a par with the normal hearing group on verbal working memory tasks. It is concluded that specific aspects of the phonological system deteriorate in this population as a function of auditory deprivation. In particular, the phonological representations are impaired and this impairment also affects the ability to rapidly perform phonological operations (i.e., analyse and compare). In contrast, phonological processing involved in verbal working memory is preserved in this population.     

Time-series analysis of the relationship between dizziness and stress

Ten individuals with dizziness participated in a longitudinal study on the relationship between stress and dizziness. The participants rated dizziness and stress on visual analogue scales twice daily for a period of 28 days (in all 56 data points). The ratings of stress included physical stress, mental stress, emotional stress, and the presence of stressful events. The data was analysed by means of time-series analysis (ARIMA), and the temporal associations investigated by lagged correlations. Results showed concurrent associations between dizziness and mental and emotional stress. However, individual differences were observed indicating complex and diverse patterns of association between different forms of stress and dizziness.     

What people believe about memory

Two representative samples of adult Norwegians (n=2000) were asked a set of general and specific questions regarding their beliefs and opinions about human memory. The results indicate that on many questions, such as time of the earliest memories, inhibiting effects of collaboration, and memory for dramatic versus ordinary events, the views of the general public concurred with current research findings, and people in general had realistic views about their own memory performance. On other questions, such as the reliability of olfactory as compared with visual and auditory memory, the memory of small children in comparison with that of adults, the likelihood of repression of adult traumatic memories, and on more general questions such as the possibility of training memory and the capacity limitations of long-term memory, a large proportion of the participants expressed views that are less supported by scientific evidence. Implications of these findings are briefly discussed.     

Tinnitus Stages of Change Questionnaire: psychometric development and validation

This study describes the development of the Tinnitus Stages of Change Questionnaire (TSOCQ), which aims to assess the readiness of tinnitus patients to change their behaviors and attitudes in relation to tinnitus. Its ability to predict treatment outcome was also investigated. One hundred and fifty-one patients with tinnitus completed the questionnaire. Through repeated principal component analyses, together with judgments of the factors' theoretical relevance, empirically and clinically meaningful scales were derived. A factor solution in accordance with the transtheoretical model (TTM) and with acceptable psychometric properties was found with the five scales of the TSOCQ labeled Precontemplation (Medical Solution), Precontemplation (Helplessness), Contemplation, Preparation and Action/Maintenance. Participants scoring high on Precontemplation (Helplessness) and low on Action/Maintenance had better treatment outcomes. In conclusion, the TSOCQ had some ability to predict treatment success, but further research is required into the utility of the TTM for understanding the rehabilitation process in tinnitus patients.     

Treatment of panic disorder: live therapy vs. self-help via the Internet

A randomized trial was conducted comparing 10 individual weekly sessions of cognitive behaviour therapy for panic disorder (PD) with or without agoraphobia with a 10-module self-help program on the Internet. After confirming the PD diagnosis with an in-person structured clinical interview (SCID) 49 participants were randomized. Overall, the results suggest that Internet-administered self-help plus minimal therapist contact via e-mail can be equally effective as traditional individual cognitive behaviour therapy. Composite within-group effect sizes were high in both groups, while the between-group effect size was small (Cohen's d=16). One-year follow-up confirmed the results, with a within-group effect size of Cohen's d=0.80 for the Internet group and d=0.93 for the live group. The results from this study generally provide evidence to support the continued use and development of Internet-distributed self-help programs.     

Randomized controlled trial of internet-based stress management

This study investigated the effects of an internet-based self-help stress management program with a randomized controlled design. Of 85 participants, 26% dropped out, leaving a final sample of 63 participants with 23 in the treatment group and 40 in the waiting list control group. Treatment included applied relaxation, problem solving, time management and cognitive restructuring. All information and treatment interventions were provided via the internet. Results were evaluated with the Perceived Stress Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Improvements were seen in both groups, with greater improvements in the self-help treatment group. It is concluded that the internet can be used to provide stress management techniques and result in stress relief. However, spontaneous improvement, differential dropout rate and compliance need to be monitored in future studies.     

Reactions to social and non‐social novelties in 2‐year‐olds

The purpose of this study is to investigate the internal structure of behavioural inhibition [cf. Goldsmith, H.H. and Campos, J.J. (1990). Child Development, 61 , 1944–1964]. Observations of 45 2‐year‐olds’ approaching/positive reactions, inhibited/negative reactions, and latencies, when encountering strangers as well as unfamiliar objects, are made in a laboratory setting. The intercorrelations between the six different measures, obtained from the observations, are analysed by means of a multitrait–multimethod matrix. It is concluded, from inspection of the matrix, that aggregations of data into indexes covering different reactions (approaching/positive reactions, inhibited/negative reactions, and latency) and settings (stranger and objects), respectively, are appropriate. To further validate the different indexes, assessments of concurrent variables (separation reactions, reactions to physical intrusion, reactions in a new setting, and maternal ratings of reactions to strangers) are used. The results indicate that all reactions to both social and non‐social novelties can be assigned to one construct, which is in line with the assumption made by Kagan and his co‐workers about behavioural inhibition. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The face you recognize may not be the one you saw: memory conjunction errors in individuals with or without learning disability

Memory conjunction errors, that is, when a combination of two previously presented stimuli is erroneously recognized as previously having been seen, were investigated in a face recognition task with drawings and photographs in 23 individuals with learning disability, and 18 chronologically age-matched controls without learning disability. Compared to the controls, individuals with learning disability committed significantly more conjunction errors, feature errors (one old and one new component), but had lower correct recognition, when the results were adjusted for different guessing levels. A dual-processing approach gained more support than a binding approach. However, neither of the approaches could explain all of the results. The results of the learning disability group were only partly related to non-verbal intelligence.