A Psychosocial Resource Impairment Model Explaining Partner Violence and Distress: Moderating Role of Income

This study examines the role of income in a psychosocial resource impairment model that explains partner violence and distress. Using data from a nationally representative sample, we test whether psychosocial resources of social support and self-esteem operate differently in four income groups (poor, “working”-poor, middle and upper-income). Structural equation modeling shows that among women considered working-poor, low self-esteem is relevant for the process through which violence becomes linked to distress. Women of upper-income appear distinct with negative interactions serving as sole mediator of violence and distress. Other findings indicate impaired support may mediate the violence and distress relation for women, regardless of income. Overall, income partially moderates the impact of partner violence on distress, suggesting social contexts should be considered when examining the effects of violence.     

The severity and status of eating disorder NOS: implications for DSM-V

"Eating disorder NOS" is the most common eating disorder encountered in outpatient settings yet it has been neglected. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of eating disorder NOS, establish its severity, and determine whether its high relative prevalence might be due to the inclusion of cases closely resembling anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. One hundred and seventy consecutive patients with an eating disorder were assessed using standardised instruments. Operational DSM-IV diagnoses were made and eating disorder NOS cases were compared with bulimia nervosa cases. Diagnostic criteria were then adjusted to determine the impact on the prevalence of eating disorder NOS. Cases of eating disorder NOS comprised 60.0% of the sample. These cases closely resembled the cases of bulimia nervosa in the nature, duration and severity of their psychopathology. Few could be reclassified as cases of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. The findings indicate that eating disorder NOS is common, severe and persistent. Most cases are "mixed" in character and not subthreshold forms of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. It is proposed that in DSM-V the clinical state (or states) currently embraced by the diagnosis eating disorder NOS be reclassified as one or more specific forms of eating disorder.     

Concurrent task performance enhances low-level visuomotor learning

Visuomotor association learning involves learning to make a motor response to an arbitrary visual stimulus. This learning is essential for visual search and discrimination performance and is reliant upon a well-defined neural circuit in the brain that includes the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampal formation. In the present study, we investigated the possible role of attentional processes during such learning using dual-task interference. A motor, verbal, or perceptual concurrent task was performed during the learning/training block of a simple visual discrimination task. Contrary to expectation, the dual-task groups showed improved learning and learning-dependent performance compared with untrained control and non-dual-task trained groups. A second experiment revealed that this effect did not appear to be due to increased arousal level; the inclusion of alerting tones during learning did not result in facilitation. These findings suggest that the engagement of attention, but not arousal, during the acquisition of a visuomotor association can facilitate this learning and its expression.     

Copying without rewards: socially influenced foraging decisions among brown capuchin monkeys

An individual’s foraging activity can be influenced by the choices made by nearby conspecifics. The interest shown in the location and characteristics of a feeding patch may depend on the feeding success of a conspecific there, a process that needs to be distinguished from choices guided by rewards to the observer itself. We investigated how rewards for both self and others influence the foraging choices of captive capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Thirteen adult capuchins observed familiar female conspecific models explore one of three opaque boxes under three conditions. In the first, there were no rewards available to either monkey; in the second, rewards were available to the model only; and in the third, both monkeys could retrieve a reward. Under all conditions, subjects more often explored the same box as the model than was expected by chance. Thus, without ever receiving a reward themselves or without seeing another receive rewards, subjects’ searches were directed at the box explored by another monkey. The tendency to match the model’s choice increased if the subject was rewarded. We compared these results to control conditions in which the model was either absent, or present but not allowed to demonstrate. Subjects’ located the reward less often in control conditions, than in the experimental conditions. We conclude that extrinsic rewards, while helpful, are not required for partners to influence the foraging choices of capuchins, and that the unrewarded copying of foraging choices demonstrated here may provide the basis for additional social influences on learning. This contribution is part of the Special Issue “A Socioecological Perspective on Primate Cognition” (Cunningham and Janson 2007)     

Are Episodic Buffer Processes Intact in ADHD? Experimental Evidence and Linkage with Hyperactive Behavior

Working memory deficits are present in a substantial proportion of children with ADHD, and converging evidence links these deficits with ADHD-related behavioral and functional impairments. At the same time, working memory is not a unitary construct, and evidence is lacking regarding the role of several components of this system in ADHD. Preclinical behavioral studies are needed to fractionate the multicomponent working memory system, determine which specific subcomponent(s) are impaired in ADHD, and more importantly link these subcomponent(s) with specific ADHD-related behavioral symptoms/functional impairments. The current study reflects one piece of that puzzle, and focuses on the episodic buffer component of working memory. Across multiple testing days, a well-characterized sample of 86 children ages 8–13 (M=10.52, SD=1.54; 34 girls; 64% Caucasian/Non-Hispanic) with ADHD (n=49) and without ADHD (n=37) completed three counterbalanced working memory tests that were identical in all aspects except the key subcomponent process (phonological, visuospatial, episodic buffer). Gross motor movement during these and control tasks were measured using 4 high-precision actigraphs. There was no evidence of group differences in gender, age, SES, or IQ. Bayesian mixed-model ANOVAs indicated that the ADHD group performed significantly worse on all three working memory tests (d=1.17–1.44) and was significantly more hyperactive than controls (d=0.66–1.05) during the visuospatial and episodic buffer tests. In contrast, the ADHD and Non-ADHD groups were equivalent with regard to effects of episodic buffer demands on performance and hyperactive behavior. The most parsimonious conclusion is that the episodic buffer is likely intact in ADHD, and unrelated to ADHD hyperactivity symptoms.