Family therapy and systemic practice with older people: where are we now?

Older people are becoming an increasingly significant group as demographic and cultural change impacts on their roles within the family and society. In this article we consider how family therapy and systemic practice with older people has developed over the past ten years from the early foundations identified by Richardson et al . in 1994. Although older people face particular challenges, themes such as social constructionism, attachment and narrative, familiar to therapists working with people earlier in the life cycle, have also been influential in work in this field. These developments have resulted in increasing recognition of the relevance of systemic practice in older people's services, but significant challenges remain.     

Using temporal logics of knowledge for specification and verification—a case study

Temporal logics of knowledge are useful for reasoning about situations where the knowledge of an agent or component is important, and where change in this knowledge may occur over time. Here we use temporal logics of knowledge to reason about the game Cluedo. We show how to specify Cluedo using temporal logics of knowledge and prove statements about the knowledge of the players using a clausal resolution calculus for this logic. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using this logic to specify and verify the game Cluedo and describe related implementations.     

Predicting impending death: inconsistency in speed is a selective and early marker

Among older adults, deficits in both level and variability of speeded performance are linked to neurological impairment. This study examined whether and when speed (rate), speed (inconsistency), and traditional accuracy-based markers of cognitive performance foreshadow terminal decline and impending death. Victoria Longitudinal Study data spanning 12 years (5 waves) of measurement were assembled for 707 adults aged 59 to 95 years. Whereas 442 survivors completed all waves and relevant measures, 265 decedents participated on at least 1 occasion and subsequently died. Four main results were observed. First, Cox regressions evaluating the 3 cognitive predictors of mortality replicated previous results for cognitive accuracy predictors. Second, level (rate) of speeded performance predicted survival independent of demographic indicators, cardiovascular health, and cognitive performance level. Third, inconsistency in speed predicted survival independent of all influences combined. Fourth, follow-up random-effects models revealed increases in inconsistency in speed per year closer to death, with advancing age further moderating the accelerated growth. Hierarchical prediction patterns support the view that inconsistency in speed is an early behavioral marker of neurological dysfunction associated with impending death.     

‘The Inner Citadels of the Color Line’: Mapping the Micro‐Ecology of Racial Segregation in Everyday Life Spaces

The role of racial segregation in perpetuating racial prejudice and inequality has been widely investigated by social scientists. Most research has concentrated on the macro‐sociological organization of institutions of residence, education and employment. In this paper, we suggest that such work may be usefully complemented by research that investigates the so‐called ‘micro‐ecology of segregation’ in everyday life spaces – the dynamic, largely informal network of social practices through which individuals maintain racial isolation within settings where members of other race groups are physically co‐present. Developing this argument, we discuss some historical examples of research on the micro‐ecological dimension of race segregation in the United States. We also draw examples from an ongoing program of work on everyday practices of contact and segregation in post‐apartheid South Africa. The paper concludes by exploring some conceptual and methodological implications of treating racial segregation as a micro‐ecological practice.     

Exploring cognitive effects of self reported mild stroke in older adults: selective but robust effects on story memory

Relatively little systematic information is available regarding patterns of cognitive effects of mild stroke in older adults. We explored this problem with a series of two independent samples from the Victoria Longitudinal Study data archives. In Study 1, self-reported mild stroke and neurologically intact matched controls were (a) confirmed as similar on a set of neurocognitive speed, basic cognition, and awareness indicators, and (b) compared for differences on a set of episodic, semantic, and working memory tasks. The mild stroke group was selectively worse on the language intensive story memory task. This effect was partially attributable to a deficit in remembering the most thematic information. Study 2 closely replicated these procedures and results. In addition, Study 2 follow-up analyses, comparing provisional right-hemisphere damaged and left-hemisphere damaged (LHD) participants, revealed that the thematic story memory deficit for mild stroke participants could be due to the selective impairment of LHD participants.     

Acculturation and Attitudes of Asian International Students Toward Seeking Psychological Help

Relationships between acculturation and attitudes toward psychological help seeking were studied with 170 Asian international students. Results showed a significant relationship between levels of acculturation and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Significant correlations were found between students' levels of acculturation and stigma tolerance and confidence in mental health practitioners. La relación entre la aculturación y las actitudes hacia la busqueda de ayuda psicológica se estudió con 170 estudiantes internacionales de orígen asiático. Los resultados demostraron una relación significante entre los niveles de aculturación y las actitudes hacia la solicitación de ayuda psicológica profesional. Correlaciones significantes se encontraron entre los niveles de aculturación y la tolerancia hacia las estigmas de los estudiantes y la confianza que ellos les tienen a los médicos psiquiátricos.     

Learning to ignore: Acquisition of sustained attentional suppression

We examined whether the selection mechanisms committed to the suppression of ignored stimuli can be modified by experience to produce a sustained, rather than transient, change in behavior. Subjects repeatedly ignored the shape of stimuli, while attending to their color. On subsequent attention to shape, there was a robust and sustained decrement in performance that was selective to when shape was ignored across multiple-colortarget contexts, relative to a single-color-target context. Thus, amount of time ignored was not sufficient to induce a sustained performance decrement. Moreover, in this group, individual differences in initial color target selection were associated with the subsequent performance decrement when attending to previously ignored stimuli. Accompanying this sustained decrement in performance was a transfer in the locus of suppression from an exemplar (e.g., a circle) to a feature (i.e., shape) level of representation. These data suggest that learning can influence attentional selection by sustained attentional suppression of ignored stimuli.