The Effects of Exploration on Preschoolers' Problem-Solving Ability

Specific contributions of exploration for divergent and convergent problem-solving ability in preschool children were investigated. Participants were identified as players or nonplayers based on naturalistic observations of free-play activities, and were assigned to either an exploration or nonexploration control condition prior to administration of two divergent and two convergent problem-solving tasks. No significant differences were found between the exploration and nonexploration groups on either divergent or convergent problem-solving tasks. Subjects in the exploration group, however, spent significantly less time in the related convergent problem-solving task than in the nonrelated convergent task. The player/nonplayer distinction was also nonsignificant.     

Increased Jump Height with an External Focus Due to Enhanced Lower Extremity Joint Kinetics

Sensorimotor abilities are crucial for performance in athletic, military, and other occupational activities, and there is great interest in understanding learning in these skills. Here, behavioral performance was measured over three days as twenty-seven participants practiced multiple sessions on the Nike SPARQ Sensory Station (Nike, Inc., Beaverton, Oregon), a computerized visual and motor assessment battery. Wrist-worn actigraphy was recorded to monitor sleep–wake cycles. Significant learning was observed in tasks with high visuomotor control demands but not in tasks of visual sensitivity. Learning was primarily linear, with up to 60% improvement, but did not relate to sleep quality in this normal-sleeping population. These results demonstrate differences in the rate and capacity for learning across perceptual and motor domains, indicating potential targets for sensorimotor training interventions.     

5-HTTLPR X Stress in Adolescent Depression: Moderation by MAOA and Gender

Depression surges in adolescence, especially among girls. Most evidence indicates that the short allele of a polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) interacts with stress to influence the onset of depression. This effect appears to be less robust in adolescents, particularly among boys, and may be moderated by other genetic polymorphisms. Seeking to explain the adolescent gender difference in depression, this study examined the effects of 5-HTTLPR (rs25531), the monoamine oxidase A-upstream variable number tandem repeat (MAOA-uVNTR), and negative life events (NLE). A community-based longitudinal sample of 309 adolescents reported depressive symptoms and NLE at ages 11, 13, and 15. 5-HTTLPR and MAOA-uVNTR genotypes were ascertained via buccal swabs. A significant four-way interaction of 5-HTTLPR, MAOA-uVNTR, NLE at age 13, and gender predicted depressive symptoms at age 15. Girls were most likely to exhibit elevated depressive symptoms when experiencing NLE if they possessed low-expression MAOA-uVNTR alleles and short 5-HTTLPR alleles, whereas low-expression MAOA-uVNTR alleles but long 5-HTTLPR alleles were implicated in boys. The results indicate that the commonly reported 5-HTTLPR by stress interaction for depression may be limited to individuals with low-expression MAOA-uVNTR alleles. These data also provide new evidence that the short allele of 5-HTTLPR confers susceptibility to stress differently for females compared with males.     

prison guard predators: an analysis of inmates who established inappropriate relationships with prison staff, 1995-1998

Recently, media accounts have shed light on a number of correctional employees who were terminated for engaging in "inappropriate relationships" with prisoners. This study employed face-to-face interviews of 32 inmate "turners" who were investigated for engaging in inappropriate relationships with security officers. We found that many inmate manipulators share similar attitudes and beliefs regarding inappropriate relationships. Our findings indicate that there are three distinct types of inmate "turners," each exhibiting an entirely different set of motivations and behavior from one another. We conclude that inmates are very persistent in attempting to initiate an inappropriate relationship with prison employees.     

Generalizing treatment effects of functional family therapy: Three replications

Abstract

Functional Family Therapy with status delinquents has undergone careful scrutiny in well designed studies that included random assignment, realistic comparison treatment programs, formally trained therapists, and reasonable follow-up periods. The current report describes three replications in which FFT has been extended to new populations, has utilized less formally trained therapists, and has been applied in new treatment contexts. Taken together the replications provide important support for the generalizability of FFT across client and therapist populations.     

Instability of Double-Deficit Subtypes Among At-Risk First Grade Readers

The double-deficit hypothesis provides a framework for identifying students at-risk for persistent reading difficulties. I examined the temporal stability of four double-deficit subtypes (no-deficit, naming-speed deficit, phonological deficit, and double-deficit) in 197 low-performing, first-grade readers. Concurrent analyses in fall and spring revealed that students with poor phonemic awareness and naming speed were the lowest readers in the sample; however, having a double-deficit in fall was not a good predictor of subsequent progress, most likely because subtypes were not stable over the first half of grade 1. Only about half the sample retained the same subtype from fall to spring.     

Childhood-Onset Multiple Sclerosis and Mood Disorders: A Case Study

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is rare in children. Little research exists regarding emotional and behavioral disorders in childhood-onset MS, despite the occurrence of such problems in adults with MS. This paper describes the cognitive and behavioral characteristics of a boy diagnosed with MS at age 9 and mood disorder at age 10. He displayed no cognitive or behavioral problems prior to the onset of physical symptoms of MS. Three years after diagnosis, this child showed persistent problems with speed of processing, visual-motor skills, and parent and teacher-reported executive functioning. In addition, he had difficulties with emotional lability, behavioral disinhibition, depression, and social interaction. As with adults, children with MS may be at increased risk for mood disorder compared to their peers. Mood disorders in children with MS are likely to be multiply determined, although the specific causal mechanisms are unknown.     

Sticks,Stones, or Words? Counting the Prevalence of Different Types of Intimate Partner Violence Reported by New Zealand Women

This study documents the lifetime and 12-month prevalence and overlap of psychological/emotional, physical, and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) reported by a representative sample of New Zealand women. Use of controlling behaviors by women's current or most recent intimate partner was also explored. The results indicated that 55% of ever-partnered women had experienced any IPV in their lifetime: 33% had experienced more than one type of IPV (usually psychological/emotional violence and physical and/or sexual violence), and 22% had experienced one type of IPV. Use of controlling behaviors by the woman's current or most recent partner was associated with partner's use of physical or sexual violence. Implications are discussed at the population level, for service providers, and for future studies.     

Inhibitory processes in young and older adults in a picture-word task

Abstract

The present study examines changes in healthy young and healthy older adults in the ability to inhibit partially activated information in a picture/word interference paradigm. On each trial, subjects received a cue (i.e., the word PICTURE or WORD) indicating which of two stimuli the subject should attend to in an upcoming picture/word display. the display always contained a superimposed picture and word (e.g., a picture of a DEER with the word TEA printed on it). Following display offset, and depending upon the initial precue, either a test picture (e.g., KETTLE) or a test word (e.g., MOOSE) was presented. the subject's task was to determine as quickly and as accurately as possible whether the test stimulus was related to the cued dimension of the earlier picture/word display. the speed to reject an unrelated test item (e.g., picture of a KETTLE when the precue was PICTURE) that was related to the ignored dimension of the picture/word display (e.g., the word TEA in the picture/word display) was used as an index of the efficiency of the inhibitory system. the results indicated that older adults had more difficulty than younger adults inhibiting a to-be-ignored word when it was related to a picture test item, but did not have more difficulty inhibiting a to-be-ignored picture when it was related to a word test item. the results indicate that an age-related deficit in the control of interfering information is dependent upon the fluency of the processing routes.