Brain Oxidative Damage Following Acute Immobilization and Mild Emotional Stress

We studied the role of free radicals on brain oxidative damage in rats after acute immobilization stress (restraint) and mild emotional stress (handling). To investigate brain oxidative damage, CuZn and Mn dependent superoxide dismutase (CuZn SOD, Mn SOD) activities, lipid peroxidation (TBARs), Na ⁺ K ⁺ ATPase activity, protein carbonyl (PrC), and reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH, GSSG) levels were measured in the cerebral cortex (CTX), hippocampus (HIP), and striatum (ST) of the animals after the two different stress stimuli. Because stress produces abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the intensity of the two stress conditions were measured by plasmatic corticosteroid (COR) levels: particularly, COR levels doubled in handled rats and increased 15-fold in restrained animals. The SOD activities increased in CTX and decreased in HIP of the handled rats, while in ST a significant decrease in handled animals but an increase in restrained animals occurred. TBARs, GSH, and GSSG levels remained unchanged, while an index of glutathione redox decreased significantly in ST of handled animals and in CTX of restrained ones. Na ⁺ K ⁺ ATPase activity increased significantly in the HIP and ST of both groups of stressed rats. The stress induced a remarkable increase in PrC levels in all studied cerebral areas. These findings provide evidence to support the idea that stress produces oxidants but that the oxidative damage in stress differs in cerebral areas and could contribute to the degenerative mechanism of aging.     

Democratizing Creativity: How Arts/Philosophy Can Contribute to the Question of Arts Bias

This article critically deconstructs the 21st-century economization and massification of creativity. It extends the discussion of arts bias and the associated ideas that artistic creativity is institutionalized, elitist, and an obstruction to more profitable applications of creativity. A tension is thus highlighted between the historically prevalent domain of art, and newer domains which focus on everyday, functional, organizational and the dark sides of creativity. The aim is to open up a genuine debate about the place of art in modern creativity discourse, and to examine the problematic theme of democratization in creativity as it relates to cultural, economic and industrial issues. A new framework for conceiving creativity in hermeneutics is also suggested, with a view to cohesively and logically balancing the artistic with other domains, and eliminating some of the current problems that render creativity less than it has been regarded in generations past.     

Advanced training in child psychology: Key elements in offering a Doctor of Psychology (DPsych) programme in South Africa

The aim of this article is to propose some benchmarks for a Doctor of Psychology (DPsych) in advanced training in Child Psychology in South Africa, and to highlight key elements in offering such a programme. In doing so, we use as case illustration an existing DPsych programme currently being offered at the University of the Free State, South Africa. We consider advanced child psychology training to registered psychologists in the clinical, counselling and educational categories. The DPsych option encompasses clinical practice, research, training, selection, and student outcomes in the context of theory as well as evidence-based practices. A wider adoption of a DPsych, focusing on child psychology, would add value to the integration of the best available research and clinical expertise in child mental health care in South Africa.     

Category norms for verbal items in 25 categories for children in Grades 2–6

Three hundred and seventy-five children in Grades 2, 3, 4, and 6 were asked to generate instances of 25 different categories within a time period of 1 min per category. Data were tallied so that category instances are ranked as to proportion of subjects making each response at each grade level. Indications of the average number of category instances generated by children at each grade level within each category are provided.     

Individual and relational contributions to parallel and joint attention in infancy

Objective

This study examined the contributions of maternal bids for joint attention, relationship quality, and infant characteristics, to individual differences in infants’ parallel and joint attention.

Method

Fifty-two 10-month-olds and their mothers were assessed in order to investigate concurrent predictors of infant parallel attention, responding to joint attention, and initiating joint attention.

Results

Parallel attention was predicted by infants’ higher mental development, low expression of negative emotionality, and maternal entertaining behaviors. Responding to joint attention was marginally predicted by total maternal bids for joint attention. Initiating joint attention was predicted by the infants’ low expression of negative emotionality, as well as marginally predicted by fewer maternal teaching behaviors.

Conclusion

These results further the understanding of the factors influencing infant parallel as well as joint attention.     

CIT in small municipalities: Officer‐level outcomes

Research on the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) as a method to deal with mental illness in policing encounters has primarily focused on officers from large urban areas. The current study examined officer‐level outcomes in a non‐urban geographical setting using a pre/post‐CIT training design. The sample included 46 police officers from seven departments that would be considered rural and 13 that would be classified as suburban. Officers completed scales to gauge change in mental illness attitudes at the beginning and end of their one‐week CIT training. CIT training resulted in reductions in stigmatic attitudes with seven large effect sizes (ranging from η² = .24 to .59) across the two measures. The findings from this research are a direct response to the call for greater diversity in the size of police settings in the CIT literature and serve to expand the empirical base for CIT in relation to officer‐level outcomes.     

Autobiographical Narratives of Oldest-Old Persons: What Matters at That Age?

This study adopts the Valuation theory and the Self-Confrontation Method to explore the autobiographic narrative in oldest old persons, considering a temporal perspective (past, present, future). The sample comprises three men and two women (84-95 years old). The findings suggest that the narrative of oldest-old persons emerges structured in a way that their narration of the past focus on outside connections (proximity with others; success achieved); their narration of the present centers on attaining a life philosophy and proximity with others and their narration of the future concentrates on self-enhancement (maintaining autonomy vs. experiencing powerlessness and lack of involvement).     

A simple intervention for stereotypical engagement with an augmentative alternative communicative device

Although electronic devices may enhance the effectiveness of some behavioral interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders, such devices may also give rise to problem behavior such as repetitious button pressing (i.e., object stereotypy). Results of this study showed that a child with autism spectrum disorder only displayed high levels of object stereotypy on an iPad? when presses generated auditory output. Subsequently, results showed that when the participant used the iPad? without auditory output, his stereotypical behavior decreased and his manding for various items simultaneously increased.