Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) for HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders

Neuropsychology Review - This study aims to systematically review the evidence on the accuracy of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test for diagnosing HIV–associated neurocognitive...     

Restoring Dyadic Connection in the Face of Multiple Disruptions: Accounting for Vicissitudes in the Therapist’s Capacity for Reflective Functioning

This article describes the working method of our study group comprised of former Chestnut Lodge Hospital therapists and focusing on understanding therapeutic work with severely disturbed adolescents. Using process material from one therapy session, the therapist’s commentary on her feelings and reactions in the session, and the group’s discussion of the work, we explore factors disrupting the therapist’s moment-to-moment capacity to maintain a theory of her own and the patient’s minds. We then discuss what allows her to refind her theory of mind in the face of the patient’s aggressive nihilism and her own sense of loss. Salutary factors included the therapist’s empathy for the patient’s shared sense of grief, the patient’s offering the therapist cues to his inner state, and the dyad’s capacity to tolerate the therapist’s vulnerability in the patient’s presence.     

Hsun Tzu on Family and Familial Relations

The Confucian tradition is often held to have accorded the family a prominent place in their ethics. This paper distinguishes three different senses in which the family is held to be primary in Confucian morality. It then explores Hsun Tzu's views on the family and familial relations. I argue that, while other early Confucians such as Confucius and Mencius would have held the family to be primary in all three senses, Hsun Tzu held the family to be primary in only one of the three senses. In particular, there is textual evidence that Hsun Tzu holds that one's primary obligation is to the ruler of the state, rather than to the immediate family.     

Risperidone-induced polydipsia and polyphagia associated with galactorrhea, abdominal pain, and rapid weight gain in an adolescent Hispanic female

A 15-year-old Hispanic female was started on risperidone for new-onset psychosis. The patient responded well to the gradual dose increase but developed rapid weight gain secondary to polydipsia and polyphagia. She also began complaining of nipple discharge and griping abdominal pain on the left lower quadrant by the third week of treatment. Her prolactin level escalated to three times normal with a weight gain of 12 pounds in 16 days. Risperidone was switched to another antipsychotic. Her prolactin level then dropped to a normal level within 7 days and she lost 7 pounds in the next 2 weeks. Her abdominal pain, galactorrhea, polydipsia, and polyphagia subsided within the first few days of the cessation of risperdione.     

Good-bye, Mr. Chips: Male Teacher Shortages and Boys’ Reading Achievement

One hundred seventy-five third- and fourth-grade boys who were identified as struggling readers participated in a 10-week intervention to determine the effect of the reading teachers’ sex on boys’ reading performance, self-perceptions as readers, and view of reading as a masculine, feminine, or gender-neutral activity. Findings indicated no main effects on reading performance, yet main effects of teacher’s sex on two sub-scales of reader self-perception emerged. Evidence of interactions showed that boys responded differentially to the intervention—they responded better to female teachers. Further analysis revealed that the boys’ responses varied as much as a response to individual male teachers as to the teacher’s sex.     

SOCIOEMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS IN TODDLERS WITH LANGUAGE DELAY

Toddlers with language delay are at risk for persistent developmental and behavioral difficulties; however, the association between socioemotional/behavior problems and language in young children is not well understood. This study explored socioemotional/behavior problems in a unique sample of toddlers with language delays using a measure developed explicitly for this age group. Toddlers identified by 18 months with receptive and expressive language delay (LD; n = 30) or typical development (TD; n = 61) were evaluated at 18 and 24 months of age using the Infant‐Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (ITSEA) and the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Compared to toddlers who had TD, toddlers with LD had significantly more concerning scores at 18 and 24 months on all ITSEA domains. The rate of “clinical concern” on most domains was not high in either group, except that >60% of LD toddlers were in the clinical concern range on the Competence domain. Socioemotional/behavioral problems were dimensionally related to receptive and expressive language, with greater language delay associated with more concerning ITSEA scores. Socioemotional and behavioral problems are related to receptive and expressive language abilities in 18‐ and 24‐month‐olds, indicating the need for screening of both types of concerns in toddlers identified with potential language delays.     

Baby steps: investigating the development of perceptual–motor couplings in infancy

There are cells in our motor cortex that fire both when we perform and when we observe similar actions. It has been suggested that these perceptual‐motor couplings in the brain develop through associative learning during correlated sensorimotor experience. Although studies with adult participants have provided support for this hypothesis, there is no direct evidence that associative learning also underlies the initial formation of perceptual–motor couplings in the developing brain. With the present study we addressed this question by manipulating infants’ opportunities to associate the visual and motor representation of a novel action, and by investigating how this influenced their sensorimotor cortex activation when they observed this action performed by others. Pre‐walking 7–9‐month‐old infants performed stepping movements on an infant treadmill while they either observed their own real‐time leg movements (Contingent group) or the previously recorded leg movements of another infant (Non‐contingent control group). Infants in a second control group did not perform any steps and only received visual experience with the stepping actions. Before and after the training period we measured infants’ sensorimotor alpha suppression, as an index of sensorimotor cortex activation, while they watched videos of other infants’ stepping actions. While we did not find greater sensorimotor alpha suppression following training in the Contingent group as a whole, we nevertheless found that the strength of the visuomotor contingency experienced during training predicted the amount of sensorimotor alpha suppression at post‐test in this group. We did not find any effects of motor experience alone. These results suggest that the development of perceptual–motor couplings in the infant brain is likely to be supported by associative learning during correlated visuomotor experience.     

Giving voice to emerging science and theory for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people of color

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people of color may experience multiple layers of oppression, as they often not only contend with the negative societal reactions to their sexual orientation but also may experience racial prejudice, limited economic resources, and limited acceptance within their own cultural community. Despite the range of psychosocial issues that may be encountered by this population, and the need to understand factors that promote resiliency and well-being, the empirical psychological literature has virtually ignored LGB people of color. This article provides general background regarding the empirical research needs and concerns regarding LGB people of color and introduces the articles included in this special issue. Recommendations for increasing research with LGB people of color are offered.