Hyperactivity and the Fragile X Syndrome

Workers who have claimed an association between Fragile X [fra(x)] Syndrome and Hyperactivity and aggressive behavior have done so despite the lack of controlled studies using standard diagnostic criteria. Accordingly, we provided a controlled test of the hypothesis that individuals with the fra(x) Syndrome are more hyperactive and have more symptoms of aggression than other mentally retarded individuals. The test formed part of a study to assess autistic behavior in fra(x) individuals. A sample of fra(x) individuals was obtained from the register of a clinical genetics unit and individually matched for age, sex, and IQ with mentally retarded individuals selected from assessment centres. Fortyfive pairs of fra(x) cases and control individuals were compared on criteria which reflected DSM-III concepts of hyperactivity and on criteria reflecting aggressive behavior. The comparison failed to find a higher prevalence of these symptoms in the fra(x) group. An analysis of the study's statistical power suggested that it is unlikely that the investigation failed to detect a large to medium difference between fra(x) individuals and control individuals in the symptoms investigated.     

Functionally referential and intentional communication in the domestic dog: effects of spatial and social contexts

In apes, four criteria are set to explore referential and intentional communication: (1) successive visual orienting between a partner and distant targets, (2) the presence of apparent attention-getting behaviours, (3) the requirement of an audience to exhibit the behaviours, and (4) the influence of the direction of attention of an observer on the behaviours. The present study aimed at identifying these criteria in behaviours used by dogs in communicative episodes with their owner when their toy is out of reach, i.e. gaze at a hidden target or at the owner, gaze alternation between a hidden target and the owner, vocalisations and contacts. In this study, an additional variable was analysed: the position of the dog in relation to the location of the target. Dogs witnessed the hiding of a favourite toy, in a place where they could not get access to. We analysed how dogs engaged in communicative deictic behaviours in the presence of their owner; four heights of the target were tested. To control for the motivational effects of the toy on the dogs’ behaviour and for the referential nature of the behaviours, observations were staged where only the toy or only the owner was present, for one of the four heights. The results show that gazing at the container and gaze alternation were used as functionally referential and intentional communicative behaviours. Behavioural patterns of dog position, the new variable, fulfilled the operational criteria for functionally referential behaviour and a subset of operational criteria for intentional communication: the dogs used their own position as a local enhancement signal. Finally, our results suggest that the dogs gazed at their owner at optimal locations in the experimental area, with respect to the target height and their owner’s (or their own) line of gaze.     

Ex-hospital clients evaluate their aftercare experiences

Seventy-two previously hospitalized clients of an inner-city community clinic, assigned to three treatment groups - medication-only, medication plus individual therapy, and medication plus therapy plus group experiences - evaluated their respective aftercare programs by responding to five questions. As compared with the others, medication-only clients were less inclined to see either the clinic or the medication as preventing rehospitalization, were alone in reporting that the clinic was responsible for preventing rehospitalization to the extent that the medication was effective, and responded to the question of rehospitalization by emphasizing worsening symptoms. Others emphasized therapy failure. Clients agreed with the professionals - aftercare should not be medication alone.     

On internal object relations

This paper gives an account of the author's attempts to come to terms with the concept of internal object relations, and to find an appropriate theoretical place for it within non-Kleinian mainstream theory. It is proposed that the internal object be regarded as a structure in the nonexperimental realm, being built up during development on the basis of the child's subjective perceptual and fantasy experiences. The internal objects in turn influence perception, thought, fantasy, current object relations, and transference. From the point of view of the clinician, the concepts of internal object and of internal object relation act as useful organizing constructs for both analyst and patient. Finally, the suggestion is made that internal objects can be regarded as the source of internal "presences" with which the person constantly unconsciously interacts.     

Perceptual grouping does not affect multi-attribute decision making if no processing costs are involved

Adaptive strategy selection implies that a decision strategy is chosen based on its fit to the task and situation. However, other aspects, such as the way information is presented, can determine information search behavior; especially when the application of certain strategies over others is facilitated. But are such display effects on multi-attribute decisions also at work when the manipulation does not entail differential costs for different decision strategies? Three Mouselab experiments with hidden information and one eye tracking experiment with an open information board revealed that decision behavior is unaffected by purely perceptual manipulations of the display based on Gestalt principles; that is, based on manipulations that induce no noteworthy processing costs for different information search patterns. We discuss our results in the context of previous findings on display effects; specifically, how the combination of these findings and our results reveal the crucial role of differential processing costs for different strategies for the emergence of display effects. This finding describes a boundary condition of the commonly acknowledged influence of information displays and is in line with the ideas of adaptive strategy selection and cost–benefit tradeoffs.