Irritability and Emotional Impulsivity as Core Feature of ADHD and ODD in Children

The categorical approach of diagnosing mental disorders entails the problem of frequently occurring comorbidities, suggesting a more parsimonious structure of psychopathology. In this study, we therefore aim to assess how affective dysregulation (AD) is associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in children. To assess AD in children aged 8–12 years (n?=?391), we employed the parent version of a newly constructed parent rating scale. Following item reduction, we conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to establish a factorial structure of AD. One core dimension was identified, comprising irritability and emotional impulsivity, and two smaller dimensions, comprising positive emotionality and exuberance. Subsequently, we examined five different latent factor models – a unidimensional model, a first-order correlated factor model, a second-order correlated factor model, a traditional bifactor model, and a bifactor S-1 model, in which the first-order factor AD-Irritability/Emotional Impulsivity (II) was modeled as the general reference factor. A bifactor S-1 model with the a priori defined general reference domain AD-II provided the best fit to our data and was straightforward to interpret. This model showed excellent model fit and no anomalous factor loadings. This still held true, when comparing it to bifactor S-1 models with ADHD/ODD-related reference factors. Differential correlations with emotion regulation skills and the established Parent Proxy Anger Scale validate the interpretation of the different dimensions. Our results suggest that irritability/emotional impulsivity might be a common core feature of ADHD and ODD.

     

Correction to: Irritability and Emotional Impulsivity as Core Feature of ADHD and ODD in Children

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment -     

A FURTHER EVALUATION OF PICTURE PROMPTS DURING AUDITORY‐VISUAL CONDITIONAL DISCRIMINATION TRAINING

This study was a systematic replication and extension of Fisher, Kodak, and Moore (2007 ), in which a picture prompt embedded into a least‐to‐most prompting sequence facilitated acquisition of auditory‐visual conditional discriminations. Participants were 4 children who had been diagnosed with autism; 2 had limited prior receptive skills, and 2 had more advanced receptive skills. We used a balanced design to compare the effects of picture prompts, pointing prompts, and either trial‐and‐error learning or a no‐reinforcement condition. In addition, we assessed the emergence of vocal tacts for the 2 participants who had prior tact repertoires. Picture prompts enhanced acquisition for all participants, but there were no differential effects on tact emergence. The results support a generality of the effect reported by Fisher et al. and suggest that a variety of learners may benefit from the incorporation of picture prompts into auditory‐visual conditional discrimination training.     

Aspects of narcissism and symbiosis, or, essential neurosis of twins

Following a brief introduction I address the relationships of twins from five different perspectives: the Intimate Connection, the Mirror Image and Complementarity, Object- and Self-Representation, Self and Object or Rivalry, and Intersubjective Communication. This approach attempts to understand twin relationships and the individual development of twins in terms of their intense mutual dependence, akin to infantile symbiosis, and in terms of narcissism. In their similarity to each other, twins may choose each other as love objects even as they see themselves in the other. That is, a twin may "love what he himself is" or "someone who was once part of himself." This "type of object-choice … must be termed 'narcissistic'" (Freud, 1914, pp. 90, 88). Such "cathexis of an undifferentiated self-object" is considered to be "primary narcissism" (Burstein, 1977, p. 103). Hoffer (1952) describes primary narcissism as "the lack of all qualities discriminating between self and not-self, inside and outside" (p. 33).     

Schools as Ethical or Schools as Political? Habermas Between Dewey and Rawls

Education is oftentimes understood as a deeply ethical practice for the development of the person. Alternatively, education is construed as a state-enforced apparatus for inculcation of specific codes, conventions, beliefs, and norms about social and political practices. Though holding both of these beliefs about education is not necessarily mutually contradictory, a definite tension emerges when one attempts to articulate a cogent theory involving both. I will argue in this paper that Habermas’s theory of discourse ethics, when combined with his statements on constitutional democracy and law, manifests this tension for formal education. Through a contrast with Dewey’s social-liberal view of education on the one hand, and the procedural liberalism and its associated view of education, common to Rawls and others writing in the contemporary Anglo-American tradition on the other, the questions of what this means for education and why it matters are raised and addressed.     

Early experience of Cued Speech enhances speechreading performance in deaf

It is known that deaf individuals usually outperform normal hearing subjects in speechreading; however, the underlying reasons remain unclear. In the present study, speechreading performance was assessed in normal hearing participants (NH), deaf participants who had been exposed to the Cued Speech (CS) system early and intensively, and deaf participants exposed to oral language without Cued Speech (NCS). Results show a gradation in performance with highest performance in CS, then in NCS, and finally NH participants. Moreover, error analysis suggests that speechreading processing is more accurate in the CS group than in the other groups. Given that early and intensive CS has been shown to promote development of accurate phonological processing, we propose that the higher speechreading results in Cued Speech users are linked to a better capacity in phonological decoding of visual articulators.     

The Effects of Masculinity and Suspect Gender on Perceptions of Guilt

This study investigated whether perceptions of guilt for both male and female suspects co‐varied with masculine physical appearance. In addition, the study tested whether the relationship between masculine physical appearance and perceptions of guilt was dependent upon whether the crime is stereotypically male perpetrated. Participants read one of three crime scenarios (burglary, child abuse and neglect, fraud and forgery) and evaluated the likelihood that suspects of varying masculine appearance committed the crime in question. Masculine physical appearance significantly affected guilt ratings across all crime types for both male and female suspects. Additionally, guilt ratings for male compared with female suspects were higher for burglary, a crime that was viewed as stereotypically male perpetrated by research participants. The results are discussed in relation to applied implications and future research directions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fitness correlates of obligatory versus health motives for exercise: An examination of men in the military

Objectives

To examine quantity of exercise and motives for exercise as predictors of men in the military’s health and fitness level.

Design

Participants completed a survey to address research questions of interest.

Methods

One-hundred and fourteen men who were active duty Air Force members, with a mean age of 31.43 years (SD = 7.43) and an average military time in service of 10.66 years (SD = 7.75), completed a modified version of the Reasons for Exercise Inventory, a survey assessing their quantity of exercise, and reported their most recent score on their Air Force Fitness Test.

Results

Correlational analyses indicated a relation between quantity of exercise and men’s score on the Air Force Fitness Test and a relation between intrinsic motives for exercise and quantity of exercise. Intrinsic motivation was found to moderate the relation between quantity of exercise and men’s health and fitness score.

Conclusions

Men in the military who exercise because of their military obligation are less likely to score high on the Air Force Fitness Test than are men who are motivated to exercise for health benefits.