Noncompliance in hemodialysis patients as measured with the MBHI

Abstract

Fifteen patients beginning maintenance hemodialysis due to renal failure were administered the Millon Behavioral Health Inventory, the Family Environment Scale and Beck Depression Inventory at the outset of treatment. They were then followed regarding their compliance with fluid, diet and medication, using weight change and serum potassium and phosphorus levels. Statistically significant differences were found on independence/dependence conflicts and between patients showing at least moderate noncompliance with weight and/or phosphorus limitations. Significantly higher levels of depression were associated with consistently poorer compliance patterns.     

Surviving breast cancer: Women's experiences with their changed bodies

In this study, we explored women's experiences with their bodies following treatment for breast cancer. Eleven women who had been treated for the disease (M_{time since treatment} = 4.45 years) were interviewed. Data were collected and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith et al., 2009). Four main themes emerged from the data: changing visibly and invisibly; experiencing intense thoughts and emotions; meaning of the body: a vehicle of health, well-being, and social expression; and managing and dealing with physical changes. Overall, the women experienced various physical changes that shaped, mostly in a negative way, their perceptions, thoughts, attitudes, feelings, and beliefs about their bodies. The women described attempts to make positive lifestyle behavior choices (e.g., diet, participate in physical activity), and used other strategies (e.g., wigs, make-up, clothes) to manage their appearances and restore positive body-related experiences. Based on these findings, it is important to be cognizant of women's body image concerns following breast cancer given the poignant and lasting effects they can have on their psychosocial and emotional well-being.     

Preservation of person‐specific knowledge in semantic memory disorder: A longitudinal investigation in two cases of dementia

The double dissociation involving person‐specific and general semantic knowledge is supported by numerous patient studies, though cases with preservation of the former are few. In this paper, we report longitudinal data from two cases. Their knowledge in both domains was preserved at the start of the investigation, but progressive deterioration was primarily observed on tests of general semantics. These data strengthen the evidence‐base for preservation of person‐specific knowledge in semantic memory disorder, and support its separate representation from object knowledge.     

Object and action picture naming in English and Greek

When two orthographically similar words are displayed using rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP), the repeated letters in the second critical word (W2) are not detected, leading to a deficit in reporting this word known as repetition blindness (RB). In Turkish, letters containing diacritic markings (e.g., y, ö) are considered separate letters, yet are visually highly similar to their non-diacritic analogues (s,o). Two experiments used the phenomenon of RB to investigate whether diacritic letters are represented as more similar to their non-diacritic analogues than are two unrelated letters. In Experiment 1, substantially more RB was found for words differing in just a diacritic (i y im-isim) compared to orthographic neighbours (words differing in a visually non-similar letter, such as ilim-isim). In Experiment 2, the amount of RB for identical words (isim-isim) was comparable to words that differed by a single diacritic marking (i y im-isim). We conclude that diacritic letters are mentally represented as variants of their non-diacritic analogue. Letter / word recognition researchers may be interested in pursuing these findings using standard techniques such as backward masking and orthographic priming.     

Two sets of twins with selective mutism: neuropsychological findings.

Neuropsychological data are reviewed from two sets of dizygotic twins presenting with selective mutism characterized by situation specific anxiety, extreme passive behavior, lack of responsivity, lack of peer interaction, and a chronic course of selective mutism. Both sets of twins had a history of prematurity and delayed speech development. One set of twins presented with normal intelligence and normal receptive language skills but with expressive language and oral motor sequencing difficulties. The second set of twins presented with Verbal IQ deficits and significant receptive and expressive language deficits. A summary of current conceptualizations regarding etiology and treatment of selective mutism is provided.     

Children's Adjustment to Parental Physical Illness

We review recent empirical literature examining the impact of parent physical illness on child functioning. We review studies of illness characteristics (n = 16), individual characteristics (n = 6), and family characteristics (n = 6). Although children's self-reports indicate heightened distress, parental reports do not suggest more problematic functioning. Child adjustment appears to be more closely related to perceptions of stressfulness rather than to objective illness severity indices. Adolescent girls seem to represent a group at heightened risk. Preliminary results suggest that family variables such as cohesion, conflict, and individual and family coping styles are important predictors of child adjustment.     

Paired associate and sequential probes in dichotic memory

Paired associate (PA) and sequential (SQ) probes were compared in two experiments in which lists of four (Experiment I) or five (Experiment II) pairs were presented dichotically. The SQ probe gave higher recall for early list items while the PA probe was superior for the last serial position. The effects of presentation rate and a nonredundant suffix were typical in the PA probe conditions but were not systematic in the SQ conditions. The data were discussed in terms of the sequential association hypothesis and the importance of considering the subject’s processing strategies in interpreting rate and interference effects in memory.     

The perception of eye contact

Ss made judgments of whether or not they were being looked in the eye as an E fixated several points on and off their faces.Distance between sender and receiver, sex, and whether the sender made a sequence of fixation sprior to the terminal fixation were variables of interest. The sender-receiver distance produced less effect than predicted from the hypothesis that receiver judgments were determined solely by the discrepancy between the sender’s iris/sclera configuration (ISC) during true eye contact and the current fixation point. There was no stable differencein accuracy as a function of whether the sender’s terminal fixation was preceded by other fixations or not. These findings cast doubt on the belief expressed in recent studies that the ISC can be used to accurately discriminate eye gazes from other gazes. The results also suggest that fixations on some portions of the face yield a judgment of eye contact which might be predicted on the basis of social experience.