Exploring the Factor Structure of the Social Cognition and Object Relations–Global Rating Method: Support for Two- and Three-Factor Models

The Social Cognition and Object Relations Scales–Global Rating Method (SCORS–G) contains 8 scales for coding narrative content. This study explores the factor structure of this measure using college (n = 171), outpatient (n = 239), and inpatient (n = 78) samples. Participants told stories to the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943) cards. Stories were transcribed and coded by blind raters using the SCORS–G. Cases were randomly assigned to an exploratory or validation group. Exploratory factor analysis with the exploratory group suggested 2- and 3-factor models. The Emotional Investment in Relationships (EIR) scale did not obtain a primary loading on any factor and was not included in subsequentmodels. After modifications, confirmatory factor analysis indicated good-to-adequate fit for 2- and 3-factor models. Both models showed good fit in the validation group and met criteria for invariance across models. Findings indicated that some SCORS–G scales tap cognitive-structural elements, whereas others assess affective-relational components of narratives. We found mild support separating the affective-relational scales in terms of internal representations for the self and others and relationships. The results reported here indicate that clinicians and researchers can calculate a separate cognitive-structural composite score and an affective-relational composite score when using the SCORS–G to rate TAT stories.     

A Systematic Review of Cognition in Chiari I Malformation

Displacement of the cerebellar tonsils in Chiari type I malformation (CMI) can affect functions controlled by the cerebellum and brainstem. While playing an integral role in the control of movement, the cerebellum also has widespread cortical connections, influencing a range of cognitive process. A systematic literature review was conducted to examine the relationship between cognition and CMI, assessing evidence for general or domain-specific cognitive change. The search protocol examined the AMED, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases. Articles meeting the following criteria were included in this review (i) examined children or adults with a clinically defined diagnosis of CMI, (ii) assessed cognitive function with a prospective examination, (iii) included at least one standardized instrument designed to measure general or specific domains of cognitive function, and (iv) were published in English in a peer-reviewed journal. Twelve articles were identified, including 783 cases aged 3 months to 64 years. General cognition, processing speed, and learning and memory appeared less affected, while language deficits appeared to diminish with age. Executive dysfunction was the most commonly reported cognitive impairment, while attention and working memory, and visuospatial and perceptual skills also appeared vulnerable. Numerous methodological limitations were identified that should be considered in interpreting the impact of CMI and planning future investigations. Overall, there is currently insufficient evidence to describe a valid and reliable profile of cognitive impairment in CMI. Further research is required to confirm these preliminary psychometric results and integrate them with pathophysiological models     

Procrastination,Hoarding, and Attention Beyond Age 65 a Community-Based Study

We examined procrastination, hoarding, and attention in 80 older adults in community samples in the American South. Volunteers completed Lay’s General Procrastination Inventory, Frost, Steketee, and Grisham’s Saving Inventory Revised, the Oral Trail Making Test, a computerized Stroop Color Word Test, and measures of semantic and phonemic verbal fluencies. Findings suggest that procrastination affects older adults and it may be reliably measured. As with younger people procrastination and hoarding correlated in a positive direction. Hoarding correlated negatively with performance on the Trail Making Test Part B and the Color Word Score on a modified version of the Stroop Test. Hoarding also correlated negatively with Semantic Fluency though not with Phonemic Fluency. Procrastination correlated significantly and negatively only with Semantic Fluency and not with other attention measures. Limitations of the study and implications for future research are discussed.     

Parental Opioid Abuse: A Review of Child Outcomes,Parenting, and Parenting Interventions

Opioid abuse is now considered an epidemic, and many of the adults using this substance are parents. The purpose of the current paper is twofold: (1) to review rigorously conducted studies (e.g., included a comparison group; utilized inferential statistics) examining the association of opioid abuse with parenting and child outcomes, and (2) to review parenting intervention programs with these caregivers. Findings indicate that there are very few rigorously conducted studies examining children and parenting when parents abuse opioids. Furthermore, only four intervention programs have been conducted using randomized control trials and inferential statistics. We conclude that there is limited research that can be labeled as a rigorous science currently addressing this aspect of the opioid epidemic. Recommendations for further research are delineated.     

Loving-kindness language exposure leads to changes in sensitivity to imagined pain

To better understand the cultivation of positive intra- and interpersonal emotions, we examined an argument that some effects of contemplative training result from language processing. We presented participants with loving-kindness language used in kindness-meditation training studies and asked them to rate imagined pain. If loving-kindness language processing is responsible for some effects recently reported we expected this language could affect intra- and interpersonal sensitivity. Loving-kindness-language participants rated imagined other-pain significantly higher and imagined self-pain significantly lower than closely matched control participants. As a result of this interaction, the loving-kindness-language group showed no significant difference between self-pain and other-pain, whereas controls rated self-pain significantly higher than other-pain. These results suggest that exposure to loving-kindness-language in Loving-Kindness Meditation leads to changes in sensitivity to own and vicarious distress without explicit training. These findings underscore that meditation-like effects may be easily induced. Further research is needed to determine duration and degree of effect.     

Virtual reality goes to war: a brief review of the future of military behavioral healthcare

Numerous reports indicate that the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in returning OEF/OIF military personnel is creating a significant healthcare challenge. These findings have served to motivate research on how to better develop and disseminate evidence-based treatments for PTSD. Virtual Reality delivered exposure therapy for PTSD has been previously used with reports of positive outcomes. This article details how virtual reality applications are being designed and implemented across various points in the military deployment cycle to prevent, identify and treat combat-related PTSD in OIF/OEF Service Members and Veterans. The summarized projects in these areas have been developed at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies, a U.S. Army University Affiliated Research Center, and this paper will detail efforts to use virtual reality to deliver exposure therapy, assess PTSD and cognitive function and provide stress resilience training prior to deployment.     

Glucocorticoids are required for extinction of predator stress-induced hyperarousal

Background

The role of glucocorticoids in extinction of traumatic memories has not been fully characterized despite its potential as a therapeutic target for acquired posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The predator stress paradigm allows us to determine whether glucocorticoids mediate the extinction of both context-dependent and context-independent fear memories.

Methods

Male C57BL/6J mice were exposed to a predator (cat) then repeatedly exposed to the predator stress context in the absence of the cat. Context-dependent (associative) fear memory was assessed as suppression of activity during re-exposure to the predator stress context without the cat (extinction trials). Context-independent fear (non-associative) was assessed seven days after extinction trials using measures of hyperarousal and anxiety-like behaviours in environments unlike the predator stress context. To assess the role of glucocorticoids, mice were injected with metyrapone (50 mg/kg) 90 min prior to extinction trials in predator stressed mice and context-dependent and context-independent fear memories were assessed. Finally, metyrapone-treated predator stressed mice were injected with corticosterone (5 or 10 mg/kg) immediately following extinction trials and context-dependent and context-independent fear memories were assessed.

Results

Repeated re-exposure to the predator stress context without the cat present extinguished context-dependent fear memory, and also reduced hyperarousal, a generalized, chronic PTSD-like symptom. We show that extinction of context-independent predator stress-induced hyperarousal is dependent on endogenous glucocorticoids during the extinction trials. Furthermore, the inhibition of extinction by metyrapone on startle amplitude was reduced by exogenous administration of corticosterone following extinction trials. Overall, these data implicate glucocorticoids in the extinction of hyperarousal, a core symptom of PTSD.     

Working memory load reduces the late positive potential and this effect is attenuated with increasing anxiety

Emotion regulation decreases the processing of arousing stimuli, as indexed by the late positive potential (LPP), an electrocortical component that varies in amplitude with emotional arousal. Emotion regulation increases activity in the prefrontal areas associated with cognitive control, including the dosolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). The present study manipulated working memory load, known to activate the DLPFC, and recorded the LPP elicited by aversive and neutral IAPS pictures presented during the retention interval. The LPP was larger on low-load compared to high-load trials, and on trials with aversive compared to neutral pictures. These LPP data suggest that emotional content and working memory load have opposing effects on attention to distracting stimuli. State anxiety was associated with reduced modulation of the LPP by working memory load. Results are discussed in terms of competition for attention between emotion and cognition and suggest a relationship between DLPFC activation and the allocation of attentional resources to distracting visual stimuli–a relationship that may be disrupted with increasing anxiety.     

The impact of visual illusions on perception, action planning, and motor performance

The present study extended recent research revealing that illusions can influence performance in golf putting (Witt, Linkenauger, & Proffitt Psychological Science, 23, 397–399, 2012), by exploring the potential mediating roles of attention and action planning. Glover and Dixon’s (Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance, 27, 560–572, 2001) planning–control model suggests that both perceptual and movement-planning processes are prone to illusion-based bias. We therefore predicted that both the perception of target size and a measure of attentional control related to movement planning in golf putting (the quiet eye) would be influenced by the illusion. Moreover, as performance could not be corrected using online control (once the ball was struck), we predicted that these biases would also influence performance. We therefore proposed a three-stage process by which illusory context biases perceptual processes, which in turn bias subsequent attentional control related to movement planning, which in turn biases motor performance. Forty novice golfers completed an Ebbinghaus illusion putting task that was designed to manipulate their perceptions of target size, while quiet eye duration and performance (mean radial error) were measured. The results indicated that the illusion was effective in facilitating differences in perceived target size, with perceptually bigger holes promoting longer quiet eye durations and more accurate putting. Follow-up mediation analyses revealed that illusion-based differences in size perception partially mediated illusion-based differences in both quiet eye duration and performance. Moreover, the relationship between illusion-based differences in quiet eye duration and performance was also significant. Future research should further test this three-stage process of bias in other far-aiming tasks in which online control cannot be used.