Contrasting effects of phonological priming in aphasic word production

Two fluent aphasics, IG and GL, performed a phonological priming task in which they repeated an auditory prime then named a target picture. The two patients both had selective deficits in word production: they were at or near ceiling on lexical comprehension tasks, but were significantly impaired in picture naming. IG's naming errors included both semantic and phonemic paraphasias, as well as failures to respond, whereas GL's errors were mainly phonemic and formal paraphasias. The two patients responded very differently to phonological priming: IG's naming was facilitated (both accuracy and speed) only by begin-related primes (e.g. ferry-feather), whereas GL benefited significantly only from end-related primes (e.g. brother-feather), showing no more than a facilitatory trend with begin-related primes. We interpret these results within a two-stage model of word production, in which begin-related and end-related primes are said to operate at different stages. We then discuss implications for models of normal and aphasic word production in general and particularly with respect to sequential aspects of the phonological encoding process.     

Mapping the developmental constraints on working memory span performance

This study investigated the constraints underlying developmental improvements in complex working memory span performance among 120 children of between 6 and 10 years of age. Independent measures of processing efficiency, storage capacity, rehearsal speed, and basic speed of processing were assessed to determine their contribution to age-related variance in complex span. Results showed that developmental improvements in complex span were driven by 2 age-related but separable factors: 1 associated with general speed of processing and 1 associated with storage ability. In addition, there was an age-related contribution shared between working memory, processing speed, and storage ability that was important for higher level cognition. These results pose a challenge for models of complex span performance that emphasize the importance of processing speed alone.     

A prospective study of factors that lead to body dissatisfaction during pregnancy

This study examined changes in body image and predictors of body dissatisfaction during pregnancy. It was expected that higher levels of depression, social comparison tendencies, teasing, societal pressure to be thin and public self-consciousness would predict body dissatisfaction prospectively. Healthy pregnant women (n = 128) completed questionnaires on three occasions during their pregnancies reporting on a total of four time points: 3 months prior to pregnancy (retrospectively reported), in the early to mid-second trimester, the late-second/early-third trimester, and the latter part of the third trimester. For the most part women reported adapting to the changes that occurred in their body; however, women were most likely to experience higher levels of body dissatisfaction in early to mid-second trimester. Findings related to predictors of body dissatisfaction revealed that both social and psychological factors contributed to body image changes in pregnancy. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Counselling children and adults about AIDS/HIV: The ripple effect on haemophilia care settings

Haemophilia and HIV/AIDS are life-long, life-threatening conditions for which there is treatment but no cure. Both affect not only the patient but all members of the family. This paper focusses on how the counselling of those with AIDS/HIV has been affected by dilemmas such as treatment, infectious aspects, blood donation, sex, the media and having children. The impact of haemophilia and AIDS on the family and the ripple effect on health care staff is addressed.     

A ToolBook computer program to develop course objectives and assessment measures

College courses are generally developed because of current fashion in the field and/or student and faculty interest in some topic without reference to departmental or programmatic goals. Current calls and needs for accountability in higher education demand a more organized approach. A computer program, ToolBook 1.53, which provides information to the instructor about systematic development of courses and assessment of student outcomes, is described. The program supports the construction of outcome-oriented learning objectives and corresponding assessment techniques. Instructors who used this program to learn about how to construct such objectives showed an increase in knowledge and evaluated the program positively. Using the information provided in this program leads to an integrated approach to course design and development in which course objectives are linked to the college mission statement through departmental or program objectives.     

What happens before and after acute enactments? An exercise in clinical validation and the broadening of hypotheses

This paper seeks to validate clinical facts and theoretical hypotheses that have been discussed before and that address configurations involving chronic and acute enactments. Its validation process compares clinical material from psychoanalytic work in different psychoanalytic cultures - work from South America-Uruguay (Yardino), Europe-Spain (Sapisochin), South Africa (Ivey), Europe-UK (Bateman). It documents clinical facts described in four articles and confirms that during chronic enactments the analytic dyad gets caught up in a dual relationship that veils and congeals the triangular situation because acknowledging it would be traumatic. The lack of triangular space impedes the formation of symbols as well as dreaming and creates non-dreams-for-two. During chronic enactments analysts use their implicit alpha-function to assemble traumatic areas. These areas emerge as a mix of discharges and non-dreams that are dreamed through acute enactments. Acute enactments occur when chronic enactments dissolve and patients experience an abrupt contact with reality. The attenuated trauma is then dreamed alive. The linking of new symbols develops a network of symbolic thought and creates dreams-for-two and broadens the patient's mental universe. The validation process has deepened our vision concerning clinical facts, especially in relation to: (1) the wavering between acute and chronic enactments, (2) analysts' inhibitions and feelings of guilt, and (3) the influence of analysts' personalities on the configurations they describe. These theoretical hypotheses have been confirmed and broadened not only in relation to the vicissitudes of dream work in traumatic areas, but also in relation to defenses such as thin or thick skin, and in relation to listening in countertransferential detours.     

Dissociation, trauma, and the role of lived experience: toward a new conceptualization of voice hearing

Voice hearing (VH) is often regarded as pathognomic for schizophrenia. The purpose of this article is to review and integrate historical, clinical, epidemiological, and phenomenological evidence in order to suggest that VH may be more appropriately understood as a dissociative rather than a psychotic phenomenon. First, we discuss the lifetime prevalence of VH in the general population, which is estimated to range between 1% and 16% for adult nonclinical populations and 2% and 41% in healthy adolescent samples. Second, we demonstrate how the ubiquity of VH phenomenology, including variables like voice location, content, and frequency, limits its diagnostic and prognostic utility for differentiating psychotic from trauma-spectrum and nonclinical populations. Finally, we report on the empirical associations between VH, measures of dissociation, and trauma particularly (though not exclusively) childhood sexual abuse. There are 2 main conclusions from this review. First, we argue that available evidence suggests that VH experiences, including those in the context of psychotic disorders, can be most appropriately understood as dissociated or disowned components of the self (or self-other relationships) that result from trauma, loss, or other interpersonal stressors. Second, we provide a rationale for clinicians to use psychotherapeutic methods for integrating life events as precipitating and/or maintaining factors for distressing voices. Potential mechanisms for the relationship between trauma, dissociation, VH, and clinical diagnosis are described, including the relevance of literature from the field of attachment in providing a diathesis for dissociation. Suggestions for future research are also discussed.