The effects of age upon the perception of depth and 3-D shape from differential motion and binocular disparity

The ability of younger and older adults to perceive the 3-D shape, depth, and curvature of smooth surfaces defined by differential motion and binocular disparity was evaluated in six experiments. The number of points defining the surfaces and their spatial and temporal correspondences were manipulated. For stereoscopic sinusoidal surfaces, the spatial frequency of the corrugations was also varied. For surfaces defined by motion, the lifetimes of the individual points in the patterns were varied, and comparisons were made between the perception of surfaces defined by points and that of more ecologically valid textured surfaces. In all experiments, the older observers were less sensitive to the depths and curvatures of the surfaces, although the deficits were much larger for motion-defined surfaces. The results demonstrate that older adults can extract depth and shape from optical patterns containing only differential motion or binocular disparity, but these abilities are often manifested at reduced levels of performance.     

Psychopathy, criminal responsibility, and civil commitment as a sexual predator

Recent judicial decisions regarding commitment under sexual predator statutes and commentary addressing the legal significance of psychopathy provide an interesting opportunity to reflect upon the exculpatory significance of psychopathy and the appropriate relationship between criminal conviction and police power civil commitment. This paper examines the legal significance of psychopathy for the purposes of criminal responsibility and of civil commitment under sexual predator statutes. By examining the significance of psychopathy for each of these legal institutions, it clarifies our understanding of the legal significance of psychopathy and of the relationship between these institutions. This process illuminates the defensible functions and boundaries of each institution and clarifies the nature of the impairment that should qualify an individual for confinement by each. This analysis interprets criminal conviction and police power commitment, including sexual predator commitment, as integrated institutions of social control intended to provide a coherent approach to psychopaths as well as to others who require state intervention under the police power.     

Biparental failure in the childhood experiences of borderline patients

The purpose of this study was to assess the role of biparental abuse and neglect in the development of borderline personality disorder (BPD). A semistructured research interview was used to blindly assess the childhood experiences of biparental abuse and neglect reported by 358 borderline inpatients and 109 axis II controls. Eighty-four percent of borderline patients reported having experienced some type of biparental abuse or neglect before the age of 18; 55% reported a childhood history of biparental abuse; 77% reported a childhood history of biparental neglect. These experiences were also reported by a substantial percentage of Axis II controls (biparental abuse or neglect [61%], biparental abuse [31%], and biparental neglect [55%]). However, borderline patients were significantly more likely than axis II controls to report having been verbally, emotionally, and physically but not sexually abused by caretakers of both sexes. They were also significantly more likely than controls to report having caretakers of both sexes deny the validity of their thoughts and feelings, fail to provide them with needed protection, neglect their physical care, withdraw from them emotionally, and treat them inconsistently. It was also found that female borderlines who reported a previous history of neglect by a female caretaker and abuse by a male caretaker were at significantly higher risk for having been sexually abused by a noncaretaker. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that biparental failure may be a significant factor in the etiology of BPD. They also suggest that biparental failure may significantly increase a preborderline girl's risk of being sexually abused by someone other than her parents.     

Recollections of conflict with parents and family support in the personality disorders

This study examined the relationships between personality disorders and retrospective reports of family support and conflict with parents. Participants were 798 United States Air Force recruits who were participating in a larger program of research on the peer assessment of personality disorders. Correlational analyses revealed consistent but modest associations between personality disorder features and both measures of family adversity. Borderline, antisocial, and paranoid features maintained small, unique associations after controlling for the general component of personality disorder. Further analyses, however, showed that differences among the correlations between personality disorder traits and family adversity measures account for little explained variance. In general, it does not appear that individual personality disorders have unique relations with retrospective reports of family adversity. Instead, the relation between personality disorders and family adversity seems to depend on a component common to all personality disorders.     

Age-related changes in the control of attention in depth

In 2 experiments, the authors examined the control of spatial attention in depth in advanced age. Observers viewed 2 sets of lines that overlapped in two-dimensional (2-D) space but that were presented at different depth locations. An exogenous cue indicated the depth at which a colored target line would appear. On some trials, a distracting colored element was also presented. The luminance of this distracter varied from high to low. For both older and younger adults, distractors slowed reaction time less if they were at a different depth from the target. This effect was more robust for older adults with low-luminance distractors, indicating an important role for target features as well as attentional control. Adding another feature (i.e., color) that distinguished between target and distracter reduced the effects of slowing shown by the older observers and eliminated the cost of low-luminance distractors for all observers. The results suggest that attentional control in depth is maintained in aging.     

Maximizing therapeutic effects in treating sexual offenders in an Australian correctional system

In Australia, the community response to sexual offenders is marked by uncertainty as to whether offenders should be incarcerated as punishment or provided treatment in order to reduce the likelihood of re-offense. The incarceration of sexual offenders results in particular management, ethical, and political issues. Nevertheless incarceration can provide leverage to encourage the offender to participate in treatment while delivering punishment for wrongdoing and acting to protect the community. In the state of Victoria the CORE Sex Offender Programs have developed a statewide strategy in the public correctional system in order to assess, manage, and treat male sexual offenders. However, such offenders are notoriously reluctant to engage in treatment to address offending behaviors. A critical element of the strategy has been the Victorian Adult Parole Board, an entity that can determine that an offender needs to engage in treatment before he is considered for parole. Using the therapeutic jurisprudence framework as outlined by Wexler (1990), strategies to minimize the anti-therapeutic effects of the Victorian Adult Parole Board and maximize the therapeutic effects of the CORE Sex Offender Programs are highlighted.     

Aversive racism and selection decisions: 1989 and 1999

The present study investigated differences over a 10-year period in whites' self-reported racial prejudice and their bias in selection decisions involving black and white candidates for employment. We examined the hypothesis, derived from the aversive-racism framework, that although overt expressions of prejudice may decline significantly across time, subtle manifestations of bias may persist. Consistent with this hypothesis, self-reported prejudice was lower in 1998–1999 than it was in 1988–1989, and at both time periods, white participants did not discriminate against black relative to white candidates when the candidates' qualifications were clearly strong or weak, but they did discriminate when the appropriate decision was more ambiguous. Theoretical and practical implications are considered.     

Visual capture of touch: out-of-the-body experiences with rubber gloves

When the apparent visual location of a body part conflicts with its veridical location, vision can dominate proprioception and kinesthesia. In this article, we show that vision can capture tactile localization. Participants discriminated the location of vibrotactile stimuli (upper, at the index finger, vs. lower, at the thumb), while ignoring distractor lights that could independently be upper or lower. Such tactile discriminations were slowed when the distractor light was incongruent with the tactile target (e.g., an upper light during lower touch) rather than congruent, especially when the lights appeared near the stimulated hand. The hands were occluded under a table, with all distractor lights above the table. The effect of the distractor lights increased when rubber hands were placed on the table, 'holding' the distractor lights, but only when the rubber hands were spatially aligned with the participant's own hands. In this aligned situation, participants were more likely to report the illusion of feeling touch at the rubber hands. Such visual capture of touch appears cognitively impenetrable.     

The Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale--Self-Report: factor structure and item stability

The Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale--Self-Report (PAIS-SR; Derogatis & Derogatis, 1990), a frequently used measure of adjustment in medically ill adults, was subjected to several exploratory factor analyses, with principal-axes factor extractions and varimax rotation procedures. The sample consisted of kidney, heart, liver, lung, and bone marrow transplant candidates (N = 280). The final analysis yielded a six-factor, 26-item instrument accounting for 59% of the variance. Coefficient alpha for the 26-item measure was .87, and internal consistency estimates for the factors ranged from .50 to .86. Strong correlations with other adjustment measures commonly used in the assessment of adults with chronic physical conditions support the validity of the PAIS-SR.     

Group preprogrammed systematic desensitization without the simultaneous presentation of aversive scenes with relaxation training

This study investigated the assumption that it is necessary to simultaneously present muscle relaxation and aversive scenes in order for decrements in anxiety to occur. Utilizing 70 high test anxious students, the following treatment groups were delineated: (a) preprogrammed systematic desensitization, (b) non-simultaneous (scenes presented prior to muscle relaxation), (c) relaxation, and (d) no-treatment control. Self-report measures of test and general anxiety as well as college grades constituted the dependent measures. The results indicated that there tended to be no significant differences between the preprogrammed systematic desensitization and non-simultaneous groups on the dependent measures and that the latter group tended to show significant decrements in anxiety and obtain better grades than the relaxation and no-treatment control groups. These findings question the necessity of simultaneously pairing muscle relaxation and aversive scenes in treating anxiety by this method.