Prolonged inactivation of the hippocampus reveals temporally graded retrograde amnesia for unreinforced spatial learning in rats

We investigated whether systems consolidation of spatial memory could be detected in a non-navigational, spatial-learning test that takes advantage of rats’ natural propensity to preferentially investigate an object that was displaced relative to spatial cues more than an object that remained stationary. Previous studies using navigational spatial-learning tests have generally failed to reveal temporally-graded retrograde amnesia, possibly because the hippocampus needs to be intact for the retrieval and/or processing of navigational information during the test. In the present study, the hippocampus of rats was kept inactivated, at two sites along its septo-temporal axis (dorsal and intermediate), for four consecutive days, beginning either 3 h or 5 days after familiarization to two identical objects in an open field. Rats that had their hippocampus inactivated beginning 5 days but not 3 h after familiarization showed evidence that they remembered the previous location of the displaced object. The results suggest that systems consolidation of spatial memories can be detected using a non-navigational test of spatial memory.     

Experiences of being homeless or at risk of being homeless among Canadian youths

A qualitative study was undertaken with four groups--immigrants, youths, Aboriginal people, and landlords--in order to explore, compare, and contrast diversity issues among the homeless population and those at risk of homelessness in a larger Canadian city (Calgary, Alberta) with a smaller city (Lethbridge, Alberta), to better understand their and to needs make recommendations for improvement in service delivery and policy formation. This paper focuses on the findings from our sample of youths who shared information on a range of factors that contributed to their being homeless or at risk of being homeless. The youths in this study also shared their positive as well as negative experiences with educators, peers, family members, and social service providers. Canada's homeless include growing numbers of young people, families, women, and members of various ethnic communities, including Aboriginal people and immigrants. Today it is no longer possible to articulate a single silhouette of the homeless, but rather a diversity of profiles is needed. It was in the light of this reality that a study, "Diversity Among the Homeless and Those At Risk," was carried out. It was undertaken with four groups--immigrants, youths, Aboriginal people, and landlords.     

The prediction of stress by values and value conflict

The authors investigated the relationships among stress, values, and value conflict. Data collected from 400 people working in a variety of companies in Flanders indicated that the values of openness to change, conservation, self-transcendence, and self-enhancement were important predictors of stress. Participants open to change reported less stress, whereas participants who had high scores on conservation, self-enhancement, and self-transcendence perceived more stress. People who reported high value conflict also experienced more stress. Separate analyses for men and women showed that there were gender differences in the relationships observed between the 4 value types and stress. These data have noteworthy theoretical and practical implications.     

Saccadic inhibition in reading

In 5 experiments, participants read text that was briefly replaced by a transient image for 33 ms at random intervals. A decrease in saccadic frequency, referred to as saccadic inhibition, occurred as early as 60-70 ms following the onset of abrupt changes in visual input. It was demonstrated that the saccadic inhibition was influenced by the saliency of the visual event (Experiment 3) and was not produced in response to abrupt but irrelevant auditory stimuli (Experiment 1). Display changes restricted to an area either inside or outside the perceptual span required for normal reading produced strong saccadic inhibition (Experiment 2). Finally, Experiments 4 and 5 demonstrated higher level cognitive or attentional modulation of the saccadic inhibition effect.     

Training Family Therapists in a Multicultural Setting

Authors describe a multicultural training model for family therapists and psychologists at a traditionally conservative Afrikaans speaking university in South Africa. Black psychologists are now receiving high priority in a masters degree program that leads to professional registration licensure because of the needs of the population. The authors emphasize the importance of being able to think multidimensionally and creating a context in which students can do the same in such contexts.     

Intimacy and computer communication

The relationship between intimacy and communication which uses computer technology is addressed. Definitions of intimacy are considered, and the nature of intimate conversations which use computers as a communications medium are discussed. Implications for counselling are examined.     

A family-based approach to adult mental disorders

Recent research studies have provided strong support for a collaborative approach between families and mental health services in the clinical management of major mental disorders. A comprehensive approach to adult mental health care that employs cognitive-behavioural family therapy as the basis for clinical assessment and treatment is described. This model emphasizes home-based intervention, collaboration with primary care, targeted specific interventions, achievement of the personal goals of index patients and their family members, long-term rehabilitation, and assessment of benefits and costs.     

Warmth with mothers and fathers from middle childhood to late adolescence: within- and between-families comparisons

The authors examined siblings' dyadic and differential experiences of parental warmth from 7 to 19 years of age. Participants were first- and second-borns from 201 families who reported on their warmth with each parent in 4 home interviews spaced over 5 years. Supporting an individual development hypothesis, multilevel model analyses revealed declines in parental warmth from early through midadolescence but no changes or increases in warmth in middle childhood and later adolescence. Consistent with a learning-from-experience hypothesis, declines in paternal warmth were less pronounced for second-borns than for firstborns. The results also suggest gender intensification in differential warmth for parents of mixed-gender sibling dyads. Within-family comparisons of youth provide unique insights about family relationship development.