Visual discrimination of number without counting

Observers in this study judged which of two fields contained the greater number of spots. Spots had difference-of-Gaussian luminance profiles and could differ in contrast polarity or were of uniform luminance and could differ in size. Weber fractions for all observers except one varied little except when spots varied in size. It is suggested that the results of this and previous studies might be explained by the existence of neurons tuned for number.     

Affective, behavioral, and cognitive functioning in adolescents with multiple suicide attempts

The purpose of this study was to examine affective, behavioral, and cognitive functioning in adolescents with multiple suicide attempts. Forty-seven adolescents with a history of multiple suicide attempts (MA) were compared to 74 single suicide attempters (SA) on psychiatric diagnosis, depressive symptoms, affect regulation, self-mutilation, alcohol use, and hopelessness. Results revealed that the MA group was more likely to be diagnosed with a mood disorder, and reported more severe depressive symptoms and anger, in comparison to the SA group. Behaviorally, the MA group had higher rates of disruptive behavior disorders and higher levels of affect dysregulation and serious self-mutilation than the SA group. Further, greater levels of hopelessness were reported by the MA than the SA group. After controlling for a mood disorder diagnosis, only differences in anger, affect dysregulation, and serious self-mutilation remained significant. Overall, results suggest that treatment with adolescent suicide attempters might specifically target anger and affect dysregulation to reduce risk for future suicidal behavior.     

Perspectives on probation and mandated mental health treatment in specialized and traditional probation departments

Despite the prevalence of mentally ill probationers, and probation officers' (POs') central role in their supervision, this is the first reported study to investigate how POs implement mandates to participate in psychiatric treatment. Five focus groups were conducted in major cities with 32 POs and 20 probationers representing a mix of traditional and "specialty" probation agencies. Three key findings resulted. First, there were considerable differences between POs in specialty and traditional agencies in the nature, range, and timing of strategies applied to monitor and enforce treatment compliance. Second, the quality of PO-probationer relationships colored POs' use of these strategies and was perceived as central to probationer outcomes. Relationships characterized by a respectful, personal, approach were perceived as more effective in achieving desired outcomes than those that were more authoritarian. Third, specialty agencies strongly emphasized offender rehabilitation whereas traditional agencies focused more exclusively on community safety. These agencies differed in how well probationers with mental illness "fit" their standard operating procedure. Implications for future research and directions for probation practice are discussed.     

Dogs (Canis familiaris) learn from their owners via observation in a manipulation task

Eighty-seven pet dogs (Canis familiaris) were involved in an experiment in which they had to solve a task to obtain a ball. After witnessing a full demonstration by their owner (10 times pushing the handle of the box, which released a ball), most dogs preferred to touch the handle sooner and more frequently in comparison with other parts of the box, and they used the handle to get the ball. In contrast, dogs in 3 control groups developed their own respective methods. The lack of emergence of the ball and playing after the demonstration did not affect the learning performance strongly. This suggests that in dogs the outcome of a demonstration plays only a restricted role in the manifestation of social learning.     

Technology for independence: a community-based resource center

Despite the prominence of the disability civil rights model--with its values of inclusion and empowerment--the majority of social and policy research conducted to date has not sufficiently included the perspective of persons with disabilities in the research process and as uniquely qualified researchers themselves. This article describes a new project, "Technology for Independence: A Community-Based Resource Center" (CBRC). Over a five-year period, the CBRC will attempt to enhance community and consumer-directed disability organizations to design, implement, and disseminate research that promotes access to and use of assistive technology (AT). The CBRC will use strategies such as leadership training, participatory action research, technical assistance, web-assisted training, and annual symposia. A primary goal of the CBRC is to increase the capacity of community organizations to conduct research on AT that is scientifically rigorous and relevant to disability services, policy, and law.     

Day treatment of patients with personality disorders: experiences from a Norwegian treatment research network

This study sought to investigate the following research questions: Are time-limited day treatment programs for patients with personality disorder (PD) effective outside resourceful university settings, and what are the overall treatment results when the program is implemented on a larger scale? Do all categories and subtypes of PDs respond favorably to such treatment? How intensive should such day treatment programs be? All patients (n = 1,244) were consecutively admitted to eight different treatment programs in the Norwegian Network of Psychotherapeutic Day Hospitals from 1993 to 2000. Altogether, 1,010 patients were diagnosed with PD. Avoidant, borderline, not otherwise specified (NOS), and paranoid PD were the most common conditions. SCID-II and MINI were used as diagnostic instruments. Outcome measures included GAF Global Assessment of Functioning, (GAF; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), SCL-90R, CIP, Quality of Life, work functioning and parasuicidal behavior, measured at admittance, discharge and 1-year follow up. The attrition rate was 24%. The number of dropouts did not improve over time. As a group, completers with PD improved significantly on all outcome variables from admittance to discharge and improvement was maintained or increased at follow up. Treatment results were best for borderline PD, cluster C patients, PD NOS and No PD, and poorer for cluster A patients. Units with a high treatment dosage did not experience better outcomes than those with a low treatment dosage (10 hours per week). Results from the University unit were not better than those from units at local hospitals or mental health centers.     

The effect of Axis II disorders on the outcome of treatment of anxiety and unipolar depressive disorders: a review

Psychiatric and other clinicians have often speculated on whether the presence of a personality disorder would indicate a poorer course of treatment for an Axis I disorder. Starting around 1990, the standardized criteria of the DSM increased interest in examining this area empirically. This report updates my previous reviews and examines other writing in this area. There is still a considerable body of evidence indicating that personality may cause a poorer treatment outcome of an Axis I disorder; however, there are also intriguing new developments. The introduction of new drug treatments that may be helpful with some dysfunctional personality traits changes some of the findings and may suggest that there may be preferential treatments for some Axis I patients with certain comorbid personality traits. (In certain cases this may apply to some specific psychotherapy techniques as well.) In addition, at times, personality traits may predict a positive outcome to treatment. This review is an attempt to bring together this diverse area and suggest where fruitful areas of research and intervention may possibly be found.     

Training monitoring skills improves older adults' self-paced associative learning

We investigated a memory-enhancement program that involved teaching older adults to regulate study through self-testing. A regulation group was taught standard strategies along with self-testing techniques for identifying less well-learned items that could benefit from extra study. This group was compared with a strategy-control group, which was taught only strategies, and with a waiting-list control group. Greater training gains were shown for the regulation group (effect size, d = 0.72) than for the strategy-control (d = 0.28) and waiting-list control (d = 0.03) groups, indicating that training a monitoring skill--self-testing--can improve older adults' learning.     

Personality differences in hindsight bias

Ten personality correlates of hindsight bias were tested in a study with 75 participants answering almanac-type knowledge questions. Participants showed hindsight bias when hindsight estimates were compared to foresight estimates (memory condition), when hindsight estimates were compared to foresight estimates of other participants (BS = between-subjects hypothetical condition), and when hindsight estimates were compared to foresight estimates in response to equally difficult control items (WS = within-subject hypothetical condition). The magnitude of hindsight bias in both hypothetical conditions was positively associated with the participant's field dependence and his or her tendency for favourable self-presentation (as measured by social desirability and impression management). Between-subjects hypothetical hindsight was associated with the participant's conscientiousness and need for predictability and control (as measured by a rigidity scale). In a multiple regression analysis, 39% of the variance in BS hypothetical hindsight, 24% of the variance in WS hypothetical hindsight, but no significant proportion of the variance in memory hindsight could be accounted for by personality measures. It is concluded that individual differences in hindsight bias exist and must be taken into account in a complete model of the effect.