Introduction to the special section on aging, cognition, and neuroimaging

In response to the recent increase in the number of laboratories engaged in the use of functional and structural neuroimaging to study cognitive aging, this special section has been compiled to serve as an entry into this area for the readers of Psychology and Aging. These articles are representative of the field and cover many of the issues faced by researchers in this area. This introduction presents some background into the techniques that are used and provides an overview of the articles.     

The disposables: our treatment of violent adolescents

This paper discusses the clinical perceptions of levels of attachment disorder as theorized by John Bowlby. The findings are based on interview data of juvenile delinquent offenders who have committed criminal acts that are serious enough to warrant their being tried as adults. The data are based on clinical interviews, and the interviewer encourages empirical research of the clinical findings. It is suggested that attachment levels may be a viable means of determining appropriate types of rehabilitative interventions for juvenile offenders.     

Neuropsychological Issues in the Assessment of Refugees and Victims of Mass Violence

Brain injury, stressor severity, depression, premorbid vulnerabilities, and PTSD are frequently intertwined in trauma populations. This interaction is further complicated when the neuropsychologist evaluates refugees from other cultures. In addition, the observed psychiatric symptoms reported in refugees and victims of mass violence may in fact not be the primary features of PTSD and depression but psychiatric symptoms secondary to the effects of traumatic brain injury. This paper reviews the occurrence of starvation, torture, beatings, imprisonment, and other head injury experiences in refugee and POW populations to alert treators to the presence of chronic and persistent neuropsychiatric morbidity, with implications for psychosocial adjustment. The concept of fixed neural loss may also interact with environmental and emotional stresses, and a model of neuropsychological abnormalities triggered by traumatic events and influenced by subsequent stress will also be considered. Neuropsychologists working with refugees play an important role in assessing the possibility of traumatic brain injury with tools that are relatively culture-fair.     

How Do People Process Health Information? Applications in an Age of Individualized Communication

Advances in computer technology have made it possible to customize communication, including health-education materials, to the specific needs and interests of any individual. Studies show that individually tailored health-education materials are more effective than generic materials in promoting changes in a variety of health-related behaviors. Theory and research in information processing provide an explanation for why such materials are effective. This article discusses current research on how individuals process tailored health information, and discusses directions for future research in this area.     

Alcohol and tobacco cessation in alcohol-dependent smokers: analysis of real-time reports.

Alcohol-tobacco interactions and relapse precipitants were examined among alcohol-dependent smokers in a trial of concurrent alcohol and tobacco treatment. After discharge from treatment, participants completed 14 days of electronic diary (ED) assessments of mood, self-efficacy, urges to drink or smoke, and drinking and smoking behavior. ED data revealed an increase in frequency of alcohol urges after smoking episodes. Drinking relapse episodes were predicted by prior ED ratings of low self-efficacy to resist drinking and high urge to smoke. Smoking relapse episodes were predicted by high urge to smoke and high negative, high arousal mood. Results support a cross-substance cue reactivity model of multiple substance use and a limited-strength model, but not a cross-substance coping model.     

Haptic face processing.

We present an overview of a new multidisciplinary research program that focuses on haptic processing of human facial identity and facial expressions of emotion. A series of perceptual and neuroscience experiments with live faces and/or rigid three-dimensional facemasks is outlined. To date, several converging methodologies have been adopted: behavioural experimental studies with neurologically intact participants, neuropsychological behavioural research with prosopagnosic individuals, and neuroimaging studies using fMRI techniques. In each case, we have asked what would happen if the hands were substituted for the eyes. We confirm that humans can haptically determine both identity and facial expressions of emotion in facial displays at levels well above chance. Clearly, face processing is a bimodal phenomenon. The processes and representations that underlie such patterns of behaviour are also considered.     

Do women who succeed in male‐dominated domains help other women? The moderating role of gender identification

It is often expected that the first women to advance in male‐dominated fields will promote other women who follow them. Two studies test the hypothesis that some women show this expected pattern of promoting women but that others show the opposite pattern, favoring men over women. In two studies, women's gender identification moderated the extent to which they favored men over women when they advanced in a male‐dominated field. Specifically, the weaker women's gender identification, the more favoritism they showed for a male relative to a female subordinate. Gender identification did not moderate women's behavior in a context in which women were not underrepresented, pointing to the power of the situation in eliciting this relationship. Implications for the advancement of women in male‐dominated fields are discussed.