Framing the construct of life satisfaction in terms of older adults' personal goals.

Older adults' life satisfaction can be better understood in light of their personal goals. This study of 179 elders examined (a) how goals correlate with satisfaction, (b) whether elders maintain satisfaction by accommodating goals to past losses, and (c) how correlations between satisfaction and key predictors differ among groups with different goals. Satisfaction was related positively to social maintenance and energetic life-style goals and negatively to concerns for improvement, disengagement, stability, and reduced activity. Past losses were correlated with current goals but not with satisfaction, consistent with the notion of accommodation. A cluster analysis identified 5 patterns of goals: high demand, age prescribed, self-focused, socially engaged, and low demand. Correlations between satisfaction and other predictors differed by cluster, suggesting that the determinants of elders' satisfaction depend on personal goals.     

Wisdom-related knowledge in a life review task: age differences and the role of professional specialization.

The study adopts life review as an avenue to access wisdom-related knowledge and examines the contribution of age and type of professional specialization to individual differences in wisdom-related knowledge. Women from 2 age groups/cohorts (young, M = 32 years; old, M = 71 years) and different professional specializations (human services vs. nonhuman services) were asked to think aloud about the life review of a fictitious woman who was either young or old. Verbal protocols were scored on 5 wisdom-related criteria: factual and procedural knowledge about life, life-span contextualism, relativism of values, recognition, and management of uncertainty. Three major findings emerged. First, human-services professionals outperformed the control group. Second, old adults performed as well as young adults. Third, for older adults wisdom-related performance was enhanced by the match between their own age and the age of the fictitious character.     

Cocaine-induced brainstem seizures and behavior.

A variety of abnormal sensory/motor behaviors associated with electrical discharges recorded from the bilateral brainstem were induced in adult WKY rats by mechanical (electrode implants) and DC electrical current stimulations and by acute and chronic administration of cocaine. The electrode implant implicated one side or the other of the reticular system of the brainstem but subjects were not incapacitated by the stimulations. Cocaine (40 mg/kg) was injected subcutaneously for an acute experiment and subsequent 20 mg/kg doses twice daily for 3 days in a chronic study. Cocaine generated more abnormal behaviors in the brainstem perturbation group, especially the electrically perturbated subjects. The abnormal behaviors were yawning, retrocollis, hyperactivity, hypersensitivity, "beating drum" behavior, squealing, head bobbing, circling, sniffing, abnormal posturing, and facial twitching. Shifts in the power frequency spectra of the discharge patterns were noted between quiet and pacing behavioral states. Hypersensitivity to various auditory, tactile, and visual stimulation was present and shifts in the brainstem ambient power spectral frequency occurred in response to tactile stimulation. These findings suggest that the brainstem generates and propagates pathological discharges that can be elicited by mechanical and DC electrical perturbation. Cocaine was found to activate the discharge system and thus induce abnormal behaviors that are generated at the discharge site and at distant sites to which the discharge propagates. Cognitive functions may also be involved since dopaminergic and serotonergic cellular elements at the brainstem level are also implicated.     

Comparison of simultaneous prompting and constant time delay procedures in teaching sight words to elementary students with moderate mental retardation

Simultaneous prompting (a type of antecedent prompt and test procedure) and constant time delay were compared with four students with moderate mental retardation learning expressive sight words. A parallel treatments design across word sets and replicated across students was used. For acquisition, the simultaneous prompting procedures required fewer trials, sessions, and training time to criterion and resulted in fewer student errors during daily probe and training sessions. However, maintenance data indicated mixed results across the two procedures. Reliability data (both dependent and independent variables) revealed no differences between the two procedures in terms of the teacher's accuracy in recording student responses and implementing each procedure. Future research issues are discussed.     

Developmental sequences in the age of onset of disruptive child behaviors

Retrospective and prospective reports of the onset of disruptive child behaviors were analyzed in a sample of clinic-referred boys. The younger boys (ages 7–9 years), compared with the older boys (ages 10–12 years), showed the highest level of disruptive behavior and, judging from mothers' reports, had the fastest progression of onsets from less serious to more serious problem behaviors. Despite some overlap, developmental sequences in problem behavior within the domains of hyperactivity/inattention, oppositional behavior, and conduct problems were similar across the two age groups. This was also the case for developmental sequences of overt or confrontive problem behaviors and covert or concealing conduct problems. Sequences of the onset of oppositional behavior and conduct problems were validated through prospective data, based on the information from mothers, teachers, and boys themselves. The implications of the findings are discussed for the formulation of developmental pathways of behavior and the analysis of causal factors.