Infant development of configural object processing in visual and visual-haptic contexts

Infants’ visual processing of objects is characterised by a developmental trend from a predominantly analytical to a configural processing mode. In two studies with 6- and 8-month-old infants, we sought to replicate this finding in a purely visual condition (inspecting objects), and to examine how far redundant visual-haptic information present in a visual-haptic condition influences the processing mode. Infants were familiarized with two objects differing in three dimensions (texture, size and shape). At test, infants were presented with a familiar object, a switch object consisting of a recombination of familiar dimensions, and a novel object, and looking times were measured. Results indicate a transition from analytical processing at 6 months to configural processing at 8 months in the visual condition. In the visual-haptic condition, both age-groups displayed configural processing. Thus, redundant visual-haptic information seems to enhance object processing.     

Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI): Norwegian norms to identify conduct problems in children

This article presents the first Norwegian standardization of an assessment tool specifically designed to measure childhood conduct problems. Norwegian norms for the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI) based on data obtained from a random population sample (N= 4063) of children in the age range of 4 to 12 years are presented. The sample was drawn from rural and urban areas within three Norwegian town districts. Clinical and research advantages of having a properly standardized assessment tool for this specific subclass of childhood psychiatric problems in Norway are discussed.     

Attachment priming and avoidant personality features as predictors of social-evaluation biases

Personality research has shown that negativity in social situations (e.g., negative evaluations of others) can be reduced by the activation of participants' sense of attachment security. Individuals with avoidant personality disorder (APD), however, are theoretically less responsive to context or situational cues because of the inflexible nature of their personality disposition. This idea of individual differences in context-responsiveness was tested in a sample of 169 undergraduates who were assessed for APD features and assigned to positive, negative, or neutral attachment priming conditions. More pronounced APD features were associated with more negative responses to vignettes describing potentially distressing social situations. A significant interaction showed that participants with more avoidant features consistently appraised the vignettes relatively more negatively, regardless of priming condition. Those without APD features, by contrast, did not exhibit negative appraisals/evaluations unless negatively primed (curvilinear effect). This effect could not be explained by depression, current mood, or attachment insecurity, all of which related to negative evaluative biases, but none of which related to situation inflexibility. These findings provide empirical support for the notion that negative information-processing is unusually inflexible and context-unresponsive among individuals with more pronounced features of APD.     

Retrospective reports of parental physical affection and parenting style: a study of Finnish twins

Individual differences in parenting behaviors are due, in part, to genetic factors. In the present study, the authors sought to determine whether the degree of genetic influence varied according to the type of parental behavior under consideration. A population-based sample of 2,334 pairs of Finnish twins provided ratings on the physical affection, control, abusiveness, and indifference shown by their father and mother during childhood. Genetic influences, shared environmental influences, and nonshared environmental influences accounted for a small-to-medium proportion (17%-30%), a small-to-large proportion (22%-44%), and a medium-to-large proportion (37%-55%) of the variance in each parenting measure, respectively. There were no significant differences in effect sizes for mothers and fathers or across the 4 types of parental behavior. The genetic results may reflect characteristic styles with which parents respond to genetically influenced behaviors of individuals (gene-environment correlations) or individual perceptions of this relationship (gene-person correlation processes). The findings have implications for intervention and prevention work with families and for interpretation of evidence for interactions between genes and parenting behaviors.     

Normality and naturalness: A comparison of the meanings of concepts used within veterinary medicine and human medicine

This article analyses the different connotations of “normality” and “being natural,” bringing together the theoretical discussion from both human medicine and veterinary medicine. We show how the interpretations of the concepts in the different areas could be mutually fruitful. It appears that the conceptions of “natural” are more elaborate in veterinary medicine, and can be of value to human medicine. In particular they can nuance and correct conceptions of nature in human medicine that may be too idealistic. Correspondingly, the wide ranging conceptions of “normal” in human medicine may enrich conceptions in veterinary medicine, where the discussions seem to be sparse. We do not argue that conceptions from veterinary medicine should be used in human medicine and vice versa, but only that it could be done and that it may well be fruitful. Moreover, there are overlaps between some notions of normal and natural, and further conceptual analysis on this overlap is needed.     

Functions of nonsuicidal self-injury among young women in residential care: a pilot study with the Swedish version of the Inventory of Statements about Self-Injury

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) refers to the direct and deliberate destruction of one's own body tissue in the absence of lethal intent. The Inventory of Statements about Self-Injury (ISAS) is a recently developed instrument that taps both the frequency of different forms of NSSI and the self-perceived functions of the behaviour. The purpose of the present pilot study was to use the ISAS to study the functions of self-injury in a group of women with severe forms of NSSI who were treated within Swedish residential care settings and also to compare the patients' views with their therapists' views concerning these functions. Consistent with previous research, the patients reported intrapersonal functions (e.g. affect regulation and self-punishment) as more relevant than interpersonal functions (e.g. interpersonal influence and peer bonding). The therapists' ratings differed little from the patients' self-reports, although significant differences were found for some functions: The patients rated self-care and toughness as more important than the therapists did; the therapists, on the other hand, rated interpersonal influence and the marking of distress as more relevant than the patients did. Although the present study did not contain a full validation of the Swedish version of the ISAS, the results showed good internal consistency for the interpersonal and intrapersonal factors of the Swedish version.     

Ten- and twelve-month-olds' visual anticipation of orientation and size during grasping

The anticipation of two object dimensions during grasping was investigated in 10- and 12-month-olds. We presented objects varying in both orientation and size and analyzed infants’ anticipatory hand configurations. We found in Experiment 1 that nearly all of the 12-month-olds (94%), but less than half of the 10-month-olds (40%), anticipated both dimensions before touching the object. Experiment 2 ruled out the possibility that this behavior resulted from the infants’ inability to anticipate the size of the stimuli. Thus, integrating two object dimensions during reaching seems to be difficult for 10-month-olds. In addition, we found a sequential adjustment when two dimensions were considered: Infants first adjusted the orientation and then the size. The implications of our findings concerning the planning and execution of grasping movements are discussed.     

The relationship between attachment, personality and antisocial tendencies in a prison sample: a pilot study

This study examined the role of adult attachment and personality in relation to antisocial tendencies (i.e. convictions for violence and interpersonal problems in romantic relationships) in Norwegian prison inmates (N=92). Attachment styles and personality were measured using self-report questionnaires (RSQ; Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994; and NEO-FFI, Costa & McCrae, 1992a). The prison inmates scored higher on avoidant than on anxious attachment style. While age and agreeableness (negatively associated) emerged as significant predictors of violence, anxious attachment explained most of the variances in aggression in intimate relationships. The study suggests that different types of antisocial tendencies could have different attachment and general personality correlates.     

Deliberate self-harm and psychological problems in young adolescents: evidence of a bidirectional relationship in girls

The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses that there is a bidirectional prospective relationship between mental health and deliberate self-harm, in the sense that (1) psychological problems are a risk factor for the development of self-harm; (2) self-harm is a risk factor for the development of psychological problems; and (3) the relative absence of psychological problems is a protective factor against the continued use of self-harm in adolescents who have started to harm themselves. This was studied in a community sample of 879 young adolescents by means of a 2-wave longitudinal design with a one-year interval, with self-harm measured by a nine-item version of the Deliberate Self-Harm Inventory (DSHI-9r) and psychological problems by the self-report version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The hypothesis of bidirectional relationship between psychological problems and self-harm was supported among girls, but not among boys - although there was evidence of psychological problems as a risk factor of self-harm in boys, the converse was not the case. The relative absence of psychological problems was found to be a protective factor against self-harm only among boys, but not among girls. The results are discussed in terms of self-harm having a different role in the development of psychopathology among girls than among boys.