Correlates and predictors of hyperactivity and aggression: A longitudinal study of parent-referred problem preschoolers

Forty-six parent-referred problem 3-year-olds and 22 comparison children were assessed with parent report and observational measures; 54 were followed up at age 4, and 53 were followed again at age 6. Lower social class and greater family stress were associated with higher symptom ratings at initial referral and age 6 follow-up. Negative and directive maternal behavior and negative and noncompliant child behavior observed in the lab at age 3 were associated with higher maternal ratings of child aggression and hyperactivity; these observed behaviors continued to be highly predictive of maternal ratings of persistent problems at ages 4 and 6. A laboratory index of inattention and overactivity at intake also predicted hyperactivity ratings at age 6. These findings suggest that externalizing problems identified in early childhood are likely to persist when they are associated with more family disruption and a negative mother-child relationship.This research was supported by Grant No. MH 32735 from the National Institute of Mental Health to Dr. Campbell. We are indebted to the children and families who have participated so enthusiastically in this study over the past 5 years. The help of Deborah Baldwin, Patricia Cluss, and Diane Gluck is gratefully acknowledged. Many additional people participated in various phases of this study as independent observers and data coders. Their contributions are also recognized.     

The case against mental duality

The arguments for and against Puccetti’s (1981a) notion of “mental duality” are reviewed. This model of mind asserts that not only do commissurotomy patients have two independent spheres of consciousness but so do normal intact brains. The role of the corpus callosum is viewed as being purely duplicative, not integrative. Following a detailed discussion of conceptual and terminological issues, neuropsychological and neuroanatomical considerations, and various clinical implications of the model, it is concluded that the available empirical evidence refutes the model and that the model is conceptually inadequate.     

The case against mental duality

The arguments for and against Puccetti’s (1981a) notion of “mental duality” are reviewed. This model of mind asserts that not only do commissurotomy patients have two independent spheres of consciousness but so do normal intact brains. The role of the corpus callosum is viewed as being purely duplicative, not integrative. Following a detailed discussion of conceptual and terminological issues, neuropsychological and neuroanatomical considerations, and various clinical implications of the model, it is concluded that the available empirical evidence refutes the model and that the model is conceptually inadequate.     

Memory accessibility and probability judgments: an experimental evaluation of the availability heuristic.

Consistent with Tversky and Kahneman's (1973, 1974) availability heuristic hypothesis, the current study found a negative correlation between recall latency for past events and the perceived future probability of similar events. Furthermore, when the relative accessibility of memories of positive and negative events was experimentally manipulated using the Velten mood-induction procedure, the perceived future probabilities of similar events also changed in a manner consistent with the availability heuristic account. Reductions in recall latencies resulting from the mood manipulations were, as predicted, related to increases in perceived probability, and vice versa. Partial correlations indicated that this association between the observed patterns of changes in recall latencies and probability judgments could not be accounted for by the existence of independent associations between each of these effects and the magnitude of mood change.     

Family criticism and self-starvation: a study of expressed emotion

The measure Expressed Emotion (EE) has been established as an exceptionally useful indicator of relapse in people with schizophrenia and depression. EE is now also being applied more broadly for the investigation of other disorders. EE is usually rated by conducting the Camberwell Family Interview, i.e. in the course of separate individual interviews with the relatives of the symptomatic individuals. This paper reports the rating of EE in adolescents with eating disorders within a semi-structured family schedule - the Standardized Clinical Family Interview. Consecutive referrals for eating disorders were assessed prior to family therapy and again at regular intervals during therapy. EE ratings for this sample, the prognostic value of EE, and the changes in EE that took place during the course of therapy are presented and their clinical implications discussed. The findings suggest that even low levels of Critical Comments from the parents to the anorexic adolescent are associated with continuing symptoms.     

An adventure in scholarship and faith: Reflections on the study centre 1975–1992

CSIC has now had 15 years' experience of Muslim/Christian partnership in an adventure of faith and scholarship. How honest have the partners been able to be with each other, and with the rest of the world? CSIC was a Christian initiative, yet quickly became a co‐operative venture. One of its emergent problems was how to present Christianity intelligibly to Muslims; another the perennial issue of dialogue and mission. Faith and reason clashed predictably among the students, but many outside the institution valued its expertise in their professional responsibilities, and CSIC acquired the credibility to contribute to wide‐ranging socio‐political debates. May the adventure continue, at the expense of academic safety, if necessary.     

Improving assignment preference through interspersing additional problems: Brief versus easy problems

College students were exposed to a control mathematics assignment containing 16 three-digit by two-digit multiplication (3×2) problems and two experimental assignments that contained 16 equivalent 3×2 problems and six additional interspersed problems. On one experimental assignment, 4-digit plus 4-digit problems (4+4) were interspersed. On the other experimental assignment, 2-digit divided by 1-digit with whole number answers problems (2/1) were interspersed. When given a choice, significantly more students choose the 2/1 assignment over the control and 1+4 assignment. Students also ranked the 2/1 sheet as requiring less time to complete than the control or 4+4 assignment but no differences were found on assignment difficulty rankings between the 4+4 and 2/1 assignments. No differences were found on accuracy levels or rates of responding on the target 3×2 problems across assignments. Results showed that interspersing additional problems that take relatively less time to complete may be more important for altering student preference for assignments than interspersing easier problems. Discussion focuses on schedules of reinforcement and resource efficient procedures for increasing student preference for assignment without compromising curricula integrity.     

Use of speech-modulated noise adds strong “bottom-up” cues for phonemic restoration

When deleted segments of speech are replaced by extraneous sounds rather than silence, the missing speech fragments may be perceptually restored and intelligibility improved. This phonemic restoration (PhR) effect has been used to measure various aspects of speech processing, with deleted portions of speech typically being replaced by stochastic noise. However, several recent studies of PhR have used speech-modulated noise, which may provide amplitude-envelope cues concerning the replaced speech. The present study compared the effects upon intelligibility of replacing regularly spaced portions of speech with stochastic (white) noise versus speech-modulated noise. In Experiment 1, filling periodic gaps in sentences with noise modulated by the amplitude envelope of the deleted speech fragments produced twice the intelligibility increase obtained with interpolated stochastic noise. Moreover, when lists of isolated monosyllables were interrupted in Experiment 2, interpolation of speech-modulated noise increased intelligibility whereas stochastic noise reduced intelligibility. The augmentation of PhR produced by modulated noise appeared without practice, suggesting that speech processing normally involves not only a narrowband analysis of spectral information but also a wideband integration of amplitude levels across critical bands. This is of considerable theoretical interest, but it also suggests that since PhRs produced by speech-modulated noise utilize potent bottom-up cues provided by the noise, they differ from the PhRs produced by extraneous sounds, such as coughs and stochastic noise.     

Hume's refutation of the cosmological argument

Conclusion Let me summarize the results of this paper in a way that seems fitting to Hume's discussion of the cosmological argument. There are some philosophers who adopt the most stringent empiricist principles. Such men and women would reject any notion of necessity that is not analytic, and for this reason they would never admit a proof of the necessary existence of anything. Other philosophers, though empiricists, are not so dogmatic. They question the need for, not the coherence of, necessary existence. They believe that the material universe is nothing over and above the sum of its material parts and, thus, see no reason to conclude that a necessary being exists based on PSR. Still others are driven by a rationalist persuasion. They would gladly recognize the existence of almost anything provided it be proven by reason and argument. When they confront the cosmological argument they do indeed find it compelling but still see no reason to conclude that God, or any transcendent being, necessarily exists. The entity established need be nothing more than the universe itself. Therefore, as Hume has demonstrated, no philosopher need accept the conclusion of the cosmological argument.