Parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT) in young children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT) is an evidence-based treatment for typically developing children with disruptive behavior. We conducted a randomized-controlled trial of PCIT versus wait-list control (WLC) with 23 children with ASD (3–7?years) and disruptive behavior. Over 16 treatment sessions, PCIT significantly predicted reductions in disruptive behavior over WLC and explained a significant variation in scores on the ECBI Intensity subscale. Additionally, parent skills improved significantly compared to WLC. However, no statistically significant group differences were found on child compliance rates, autism severity, or parental stress. Results support PCIT as an evidence-based treatment for disruptive behavior in ASD.

• Highlights

• Parent skills were significantly improved for those receiving PCIT

• Intensity of disruptive behaviors decreased significantly for those receiving PCIT

• Parental stress and autism severity did not significantly decrease with PCIT

     

Encoding context and false recognition memories

False recognition of an extralist word that is thematically related to all words of a study list may reflect internal activation of the theme word during encoding followed by impaired source monitoring at retrieval, that is, difficulty in determining whether the word had actually been experienced or merely thought of. To assist source monitoring, distinctive visual or verbal contexts were added to study words at input. Both types of context produced similar effects: False alarms to theme‐word (critical) lures were reduced; remember judgements of critical lures called old were lower; and if contextual information had been added to lists, subjects indicated as much for list items and associated critical foils identified as old. The visual and verbal contexts used in the present studies were held to disrupt semantic categorisation of list words at input and to facilitate source monitoring at output.     

Scented memories of literature

This study examined the effects on recall of story details of congruity or incongruity between the hedonic valence of literary texts and odours inhaled while reading them. During the reading session, 24 undergraduates (12 males and 12 females) read two passages involving positive subject matter and two with negative subject matter while sniffing pleasant or unpleasant odours in a within‐subject fully counterbalanced design. Subjects rated their experience of each text on eleven 7‐point scales. During the test session 48 hours later, subjects read a two‐word title associated with each of the passages and inhaled the odour that was paired with it in the reading session. They also rated their experience on six of the scales that had been used during the reading session. Results showed that hedonic congruence between the passage and the odour fostered enhanced recall during the test session. The combination of positive subject matter and positive odour was reflected in more accurate recall of character details, while pairing negative subject matter and negative odour resulted in more accurate recall of setting details. Regression analysis showed that overall recall accuracy was increased by identifying with the characters in the stories and for passages that were found pleasing and personally meaningful. Consistent with the literature on implicit learning involving odours, recall accuracy varied inversely with perceived odour intensity. Implicit learning involving odours and literary passages is therefore fostered by unity in the reading experience.     

Covariates of Production and Perseveration on Tests of Phonemic,Semantic and Alternating Fluency in Normal Aging

ABSTRACT

Standard measures of phonemic and semantic fluency, as well as fluency measures that impose additional demands upon set-switching were administered to younger and older adults. No age effect was found for total output on semantic fluency, while older participants generated significantly more responses relative to their younger counterparts on the phonemic measure. However, older adults made significantly more perseverative errors on both these measures. For tests of alternating fluency, only where participants were required to switch between two semantic dimensions, was an age deficit observed. Although the correlation between phonemic repetitions and age remained significant when performance on the Digit Symbol Test or a measure of fluid intelligence was partialled out, age effects for semantic repetitions and semantic alternating fluency were substantially reduced. The age benefit for number of correct responses upon phonemic fluency was significantly attenuated when a measure of crystallized intelligence was entered as a control variable. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

Spiritual Coping in American Buddhists: An Exploratory Study

Researchers in the United States have examined spiritual coping in Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Muslims, but rarely Buddhists. Using qualitative methodology, the present study represents an initial investigation into Buddhist forms of coping. Twenty-four Buddhists from across the United States were interviewed by phone, examining how their spirituality is used to cope with stress. Thematic analyses revealed six forms of Buddhist coping—right understanding, meditation, mindfulness, spiritual struggles, morality, and finding support in one's sangha. Implications of the study are discussed, including possibilities for future research on Buddhist coping.     

Global Self-Esteem as a Correlate of Work-Related Attitudes: A Question of Dimensionality

We examined the dimensionality of one of the most frequently used measures of global self-esteem, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE; Rosenberg, 1965). Although the RSE is assumed to be unidimensional, Kaplan and Pokorny (1969) provided evidence that the scale taps two independent constructs: self-derogation versus defensive assertion of self-worth, in our study a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted which supported the superiority of the Kaplan and Pokorny two-factor model over a one-factor model but indicated that their model provided a poor fit to the data. Consequently, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted which revealed two dimensions, one mostly defined by negatively worded items (self-derogation) and the second by positively worded items (self-enhancement). Although the correlations obtained were generally quite small, relations with work-related attitudes shown for the negative factor were in the opposite direction and somewhat larger than those shown for the positive factor. Thus, additional support was provided for a two-dimensional conceptualization of the scales.     

Bearing Witness Through Medicine: An Exploratory Study of Attitudes to Service Among Australian Evangelical Christian Doctors

This study explores the attitudes of Australian evangelical Christian doctors to healing, suffering and good practice, using in-depth interviews. Doctors described an intellectualised faith, in which medical care was conceived in itself as a way of bearing witness. The alleviation of suffering, for these doctors, included supporting patients to rediscover purpose and meaning in their lives. There was diversity of opinion about evangelising, with many feeling that this was a contingent activity best conducted outside the consultation. This cohort of doctors, mostly non-denominational, had consciously engaged in work with the poor and marginalised as an expression of their faith.     

The Elective System in American Education

Abstract

The Distribution and Relation of Educational Abilities. By Cyril Burt. London, Darling, 1917. 93 p.

The Child's Unconscious Mind. By Wilfrid Lay. N. Y., Dodd, Mead and Co., 1919. 329 p.

Education For Character. By Frank C. Sharp. Indianapolis, Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1917. 453 p.

Mental Hygiene of Childhood. By William A. White. (With an introduction by H. Addington Bruce.) Boston, Little, Brown and Co., 1919. 193 p.

Experimental Education. By Robert R. Rusk. N. Y., Longmans, Green and Co., 1919. 346 p.

The American Language. By H. L. Mencken. N. Y., Knopf, 1919. 374 p.

The Winston Simplified Dictionary. Edited by William D. Lewis and Edgar A. Singer. Phil., Winston Co., 1919. 820 p.

First Lessons in Business. By J. A. Bexell. Philadelphia, Lippincott, 1919. 174 p. (Thrift Text Series).