A dynamic assessment of offender risk, needs, and strengths in a sample of pre-release general offenders

Static, dynamic, and protective factors have been identified as three focal domains significantly related to offender recidivism. However, few measures include comprehensive and inclusive assessment of these variables. The Inventory of Offender Risk, Needs, and Strengths (IORNS) was developed to fill a void in the assessment of risk and needs for offenders. The current study examines the reliability and initial validity of the IORNS in a sample of pre-release offenders assessed for risk and treatment need. Results indicate moderate to high levels of internal consistency and identical IORNS scale results across race, and that the IORNS indexes, scales, and subscales display good convergent validity with self-report and interview measures of static risk, dynamic risk, antisocial behavior, psychopathy, personality pathology, substance abuse, depression, and anxiety. Initial predictive validity examination of the IORNS indicates that several of the indexes, scales, and subscales were able to differentiate offenders who were sent back to prison for half-way house rule violations from those who did not violate rules.     

Character movement and the representation of space during narrative comprehension

Traditional research on situation models has examined the accessibility of locations and objects during narrative experiences. These studies have described a ubiquitous gradient effect: Spatial locations and objects in reader focus are more accessible than locations farther from this focus, with accessibility decreasing as a function of distance. How might readers’ expectations about character movement, beyond information about spatial locations, additionally affect this accessibility gradient? In two experiments, we investigated whether reader expectations for character movement impact the accessibility of spatial information from memory. In Experiment 1, participants read stories that described characters moving in either a unidirectional or a random pattern through a learned environment. In Experiment 2, characters moved forward in a unidirectional way or backtracked through previously explored rooms. The results suggest that reader expectations for character movement can influence the accessibility of spatial information. Such expectations play a critical role in processes of narrative comprehension.     

Neural correlates of spatial term use

The current research used event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to assess the processes underlying online apprehension of the spatial term above. Constituent steps defined within G. D. Logan and D. D. Sadler's (1996) computational theory of apprehension were associated with distinct modulations of ERPs. Specifically, finding the relevant objects was associated with an amplitude modulation of P3; competition in assigning directions to space was associated with modulation of a frontal slow wave; and computing and comparing the spatial relation was associated with modulation of a parietal slow wave. These modulations were differentially influenced by the type of reference frame used to define the spatial term and by the participant's response. The current study supports this decompositional approach to apprehension and provides a means of assessing each step independently.     

Investigating the validity of the Draw-A-Person: Screening Procedure for Emotional Disturbance: a measurement validation study with high-risk youth

This validity study examined the extent to which the Draw-A-Person: Screening Procedure for Emotional Disturbance (DAP:SPED; J. A. Naglieri, T. J. McNeish, & A. N. Bardos, 1991) was a significant predictor of behavioral functioning within a clinical sample of 68 latency-age children (6-12 years old) receiving counseling services at outpatient and residential treatment facilities. Study results showed that the total DAP:SPED (man, woman, and self scores summed) was a significant predictor in explaining variation in internalizing behavioral disturbance. Specifically, the DAP:SPED remained a moderate strength predictor of internalizing behavioral disturbance after controlling for the Child and Adolescent Adjustment Profile parent-report behavioral measure. Findings lend preliminary support to the DAP:SPED's validity in providing assessment information about child behavioral functioning. Continued validation investigation along these lines is recommended.     

Normal recognition of emotion in a prosopagnosic

In the leading model of face perception, facial identity and facial expressions of emotion are recognized by separate mechanisms. In this report, we provide evidence supporting the independence of these processes by documenting an individual with severely impaired recognition of facial identity yet normal recognition of facial expressions of emotion. NM, a 40-year-old prosopagnosic, showed severely impaired performance on five of six tests of facial identity recognition. In contrast, she performed in the normal range on four different tests of emotion recognition. Because the tests of identity recognition and emotion recognition assessed her abilities in a variety of ways, these results provide solid support for models in which identity recognition and emotion recognition are performed by separate processes.     

Immediate breast reconstruction and psychological adjustment in women who have undergone surgery for breast cancer: a preliminary study

Current debate exists regarding the timing of reconstructive surgery following mastectomy for breast cancer, with research pointing in favour of immediate reconstruction. This cross-sectional study sought to compare the psychological outcome of breast cancer treatment in women who had either received mastectomy and immediate reconstruction using autogenous tissue (n?=?30), or mastectomy alone (n?=?34), and also determine adjustment factors in this population as a whole. Participants completed measures of depression, anxiety, body image, self-esteem, coping and perceived social support at a time point 3?-?15 months after initial surgery. No significant differences were revealed between the two groups on any of the outcome measures. Poor body image, low self-esteem, and a tendency to use coping strategies characterized by helpless/hopelessness and anxious preoccupation, rather than fighting spirit, were highly predictive of distress. Reasons for the lack of differences between the two groups are explored.