The effect of practice plus information upon learning theory: A book review

The Psychological Record - Hilgard’s revised edition of Theories of Learning is in many respects a new book and an improvement over the earlier edition. Its clarity and comprehensiveness make...     

Implicational Meaning (Re)Creation in Bereavement as a Lifeworld Dialogue: An Existential–Constructivist Perspective

This article draws on Robert A. Neimeyer's work on meaning reconstruction in bereavement, focusing on an aspect of meaning that has elsewhere been termed implicational meaning and developing an account of relevant meaning-making processes against the background of existential understandings of the 4-dimensional lifeworld structure. The article emphasizes that meaning reconstruction in bereavement can be seen as a deeply emotional, transactional, and creative process, which implies verbal and nonverbal dialogue and transformation across multiple layers and dimensions that can be seen to constitute the person and their lifeworld.     

The Role of Family Routines in the Intergenerational Transmission of Depressive Symptoms between Parents and their Adolescent Children

Whereas previous research on environmental factors implicated in the intergenerational transmission of depression has tended to focus on the role of parenting quality (e.g., harshness), the current study sought to assess whether structural aspects of families may contribute to depression-relevant affective and immune processes in youths. Specifically, the present study examined the role of family routines in linking parental depressive symptoms to youth emotion regulation, a depression-relevant marker of low-grade inflammation, and depressive symptoms in youths. 261 parent-adolescent dyads reported on their own depressive symptoms, family routines, and youths’ emotion regulation abilities. In addition, peripheral blood was drawn from youths to assess levels of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin 6 (IL-6). Path analyses provided support for a model in which parental depressive symptoms related to fewer family routines, which in turn were associated with higher IL-6 and depressive symptoms in youths as well as marginally associated with worse youth emotion regulation. Moreover, family routines were found to statistically account for part of the association between parent- and youth- depressive symptoms. Together, these results suggest that family routines may represent an additional facet of the family environment that can potentially contribute to the intergenerational transmission of depressive symptoms.     

A Typology of Youth Participation and Empowerment for Child and Adolescent Health Promotion

Research suggests that increasing egalitarian relations between young people and adults is optimal for healthy development; however, the empirical assessment of shared control in youth–adult partnerships is emerging, and the field still requires careful observation, identification, categorization and labeling. Thus, our objective is to offer a conceptual typology that identifies degrees of youth–adult participation while considering the development potential within each type. We use an empowerment framework, rooted in evidence-based findings, to identify five types of youth participation: (1) Vessel, (2) Symbolic, (3) Pluralistic, (4) Independent and (5) Autonomous. The typology is constructed as a heuristic device to provide researchers, practitioners and policy-makers with a common language for articulating degrees of youth participation for optimal child and adolescent health promotion.     

MR Diffusion Tensor Imaging: A Window into White Matter Integrity of the Working Brain

As Norman Geschwind asserted in 1965, syndromes resulting from white matter lesions could produce deficits in higher-order functions and “disconnexion” or the interruption of connection between gray matter regions could be as disruptive as trauma to those regions per se. The advent of in vivo diffusion tensor imaging, which allows quantitative characterization of white matter fiber integrity in health and disease, has served to strengthen Geschwind’s proposal. Here we present an overview of the principles of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and its contribution to progress in our current understanding of normal and pathological brain function.     

DISCUSSION: ALTRUISM,SPIRITUALLY MERGING WITH A FELLOW HUMAN BEING'S SUFFERING

This discussion focuses on the details of the wellsprings of altruism. The preceding articles in this section portray how spirit figures in various cultural guises appear in human lives with the gift of altruism, in a kind of seeding of the willing healer with the spirit's presence and its accompanying power of love, altruism, and healing. The word altruism is related to the French autre and autrui, “other,” with a special meaning here implying a relationship of identification.     

Guardianship determinations by judges, attorneys, and guardians

Guardianship is intended to protect incapacitated individuals through the appointment of a surrogate decision maker. Little is known about how judges, attorneys, and professional guardians assess the need for guardianship, to what extent they apply statutory guidelines when making these determinations, and how their decisions compare. Three groups of participants (probate judges, elder law attorneys, and professional guardians) read vignettes portraying older adults that varied in the extent to which the evidence supported the appointment of a guardian. They were asked about the appropriateness of various resolutions. Participants were reluctant to endorse full guardianship even when warranted by the evidence and preferred informal, family-based interventions that do not involve legal action. Professional groups did not always agree on the appropriate resolutions, suggesting that one's professional orientation may play a role in perceptions of older adults.