Sleep-related attentional bias in good, moderate, and poor (primary insomnia) sleepers

Evidence was sought of an attentional bias toward a highly representative object of the bedroom environment in good, moderate, and poor (primary insomnia) sleepers. Using a flicker paradigm for inducing change blindness, the authors briefly presented a single scene comprising a group of bedroom environment and neutral objects to participants and then briefly replaced this scene with an identical scene containing a change made to either a bedroom environment or a neutral object. In a 3 x 2 entirely between-participants design, change-detection latencies revealed a sleep-related attentional bias in poor sleepers but not in good sleepers. A possible bias in moderate sleepers was also revealed. It is suggested that attentional bias has a role in the perpetuation and possibly precipitation of primary insomnia.     

Bodily states of anxiety: the movement from somatic states to thought

My paper attempts to stimulate thought about the relationship between physical and mental 'states of anxiety' by looking at some experiences in the consulting room, particularly at those moments when shifts from predominantly somatic to predominantly psychic forms of representation appeared to be taking place. These experiences are considered in conjunction with some of the ideas of Jung, Fordham, Bion, Winnicott, Meltzer and others relevant to the body-mind question. I conclude with some imaginative speculations.     

An examination of Euro-American and African-American differences in social physique anxiety among college women

Many studies have examined sex differences in social physique anxiety; however, few researchers have examined possible perceptual differences in such anxiety based on ethnicity. The present purpose was to examine social physique anxiety among college-age women of Euro-American and African-American descent. Participants (N = 91) from physical activity classes at a university located in the southeastern United States completed the Social Physique Anxiety Scale. The participants were 67 Euro-Americans and 24 African Americans. An independent t test yielded a significant difference (p =.01) between groups on Eklund's scale, which supports the hypothesis.     

Willingness to seek help for psychosocial problems among Latino and white American college students

This study compared 50 Latino and 50 White American students' perceptions of the severity of 25 psychological problems, their willingness to seek help for these problems, and their preferences for caregivers. Each group received a modified version of the Personal Problems Inventory. Latino students rated depression, financial concerns, and discrimination as more severe problems; their preference for mental health workers consistently significantly exceeded those of White students, although both groups preferred seeking help from family and community resources. Findings suggest the possibility of a greater role for therapists serving Latino students than currently exists.     

The Association of American Medical Colleges and the Association of Medical School Psychologists: Finding Psychology’s Place in Academic Medicine

This paper highlights the role of the Association of Medical School Psychologists (AMSP) as a bridge between academic medicine and psychology. AMSP’s affiliation with Division 12 of the American Psychological Association is discussed, but the primary focus is AMSP’s affiliation with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the AAMC’s Council of Academic Societies (CAS). The history, structure, activities, and goals of AAMC and CAS are examined. AMSP’s affiliation with AAMC is important for psychologists in medical schools and academic medical centers, and for psychology in general, because AAMC is the major voice of academic medicine in the US. AAMC activities affect medical education at all levels, as well as research and health services at academic medical centers, and health care policy at the national level. AMSP’s dual affiliation with AAMC’s CAS and APA’s Society of Clinical Psychology will increase psychology’s visibility and influence in academic medical centers and enhance the two-way flow of ideas and information between academic medicine and psychology.     

Eating disorder prevention programs: a meta-analytic review

This meta-analysis of eating disorder prevention programs found that intervention effects ranged from an absence of any effects to reductions in current and future eating pathology. Certain effects persisted as long as 2 years and were superior to minimal-intervention control conditions. Larger effects occurred for selected (vs. universal), interactive (vs. didactic), and multisession (vs. single session) programs; for programs offered solely to females and to participants over age 15; for programs without psychoeducational content; and for trials that used validated measures. The results identify promising prevention programs and delineate sample, format, and design features that are associated with larger effects, but they suggest the need for improved methodological rigor and statistical modeling of trials and enhanced theoretical rationale for interventions.     

Shape-from-shading depends on visual, gravitational, and body-orientation cues

The perception of shading-defined form results from an interaction between shading cues and the frames of reference within which those cues are interpreted. In the absence of a clear source of illumination, the definition of 'up' becomes critical to deducing the perceived shape from a particular pattern of shading. In our experiments, twelve subjects adjusted the orientation of a planar disc painted with a linear luminance gradient from one side to the other, until the disc appeared maximally convex-that is, until the luminance gradient induced the maximum perception of a three-dimensional shape. The vision, gravity, and body-orientation cues were altered relative to each other. Visual cues were manipulated by the York Tilted Room facility, and body cues were altered by simply lying on one side. The orientation of the disc that appeared maximally convex varied in a systematic fashion with these manipulations. We present a model in which the direction of perceptual 'up' is determined from the sum of three weighted vectors corresponding to the vision, gravity, and body-orientation cues. The model predicts the perceived direction of 'up', contributes to our understanding of how shape-from-shading is deduced, and also predicts the confidence with which the 'up' direction is perceived.     

Comparing learning environments in U.S. military officer education: a brief replication

A 2003 comparative study on learning environments at two military officer training sites was replicated using different methodology. Satisfaction with learning environment and with administrative inprocessing was higher at Fort Leavenworth than at Fort Dix. Most students expressed a preference for Fort Leavenworth. Satisfaction with institutional support and educational facilities appears to influence perceived satisfaction with a learning environment and with preference for training sites among senior military officers.