The Adaptation of Patients During the Hospitalization Period of Bone Marrow Transplantation

A longitudinally study was conducted among 42 bone marrow transplantation (BMT) patients to investigate the association between pretransplant psychosocial variables and psychophysiological outcomes during the immediate convalescence period. Family relationships (cohesion, expressiveness, and conflict) and coping resources (cognitive, social, emotional, spiritual/philosophical, and physical resources) were assessed on the admission day (Day –7 Time 1). Data on psychological distress and pain intensity were obtained on Day +7 (Time 2) and Day +14 (Time 3). The average scores at Times 2 and 3 were computed to indicate the overall adjustments of the patients during the hospitalization period after the day of actual transplant (Day 0). It was shown that higher expressiveness family relationships and higher resources to cope effectively with stressful situations were associated with less psychological distress during the above period. Both pretransplant psychosocial variables were not associated with pain intensity during hospitalization. Allogeneic transplant patients reported higher pain intensity than did autologous transplant patients. Psychological distress and pain intensity were positively correlated with each other. Our findings show that pretransplant family relationships and coping resources associate moderately with psychological distress during the immediate convalescent period of BMT. The present findings support the family-centered approach to BMT care and provide a scientific basis for pretransplant psychosocial interventions.     

Wading Through the Quagmire of Religious History

How should we teach religious history? What is the impact of our methodology on what, and on how, our students learn? Is there a methodology that cultivates an awareness of the multiculturalism and the need for deeper social interaction that characterizes many of our classrooms? This essay proposes and briefly explores the potential value of empathetic engagement as a pedagogical tool in response to these concerns. A specific application of empathetic engagement is made to teaching and learning about the history of American Catholicism.     

The sources of skill in seriating cups in children,monkeys and apes

Is a concept of either reversibility or of hierarchical forms of combination necessary for skilled seriation? We examined this question by presenting seriating cups to adult capuchin monkeys and chimpanzees and to 11‐, 16‐ and 21‐month‐old children. Capuchins and chimpanzees consistently created seriated sets with five cups, and placed a sixth cup into a previously seriated set. Children of all three ages created seriated five‐cup sets less consistently than the capuchins and chimpanzees, and were rarely able to place a sixth cup into a seriated set. Twenty‐one‐month‐olds produced more structures containing three or more cups than did the younger age groups, and these children also achieved seriated sets more frequently. Within all participant groups, success at seriating five cups was associated with the frequency of combining three or more cups, regardless of form. The ability to integrate multiple elements in persistent combinatorial activity is sufficient for the emergence of seriation in young children, monkeys and apes. Reliance on particular methods of combination and a concept of reversibility are later refinements that can enhance skilled seriation.     

Mapping the development of white matter tracts with diffusion tensor imaging

In this study, the development of white matter was studied using an optimized diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) protocol in 20 normal subjects (10–40 years old). The normal development of white matter tracts was addressed by comparing the diffusion anisotropy results between two sub‐groups: eight adults (26–38 years old) and eight adolescents (13–15 years old). The difference in myelination extent between these two groups as indexed by the fractional anisotropy was identified by conducting a student t‐test of the measured diffusion anisotropy maps. Significant differences (p < 0.01) were detected in the gyrus frontalis medialis (GFM), gyrus temporalis medialis (GTM) and gyrus cinguli (GC), in addition to the developmental changes in corpus callosum. A brief overview of previous published DTI studies in developmental science and current progress in DTI techniques is also given at the end of this paper. It may be useful for readers interested in using DTI to study developmental problems but who are not familiar with the various technical aspects.     

Number-of-translation norms for Dutch—English translation pairs: A new tool for examining language production

We collected number-of-translation norms on 562 Dutch-English translation pairs from several previous studies of cross-language processing. Participants were highly proficient Dutch—English bilinguals. Form and semantic similarity ratings were collected on the 1,003 possible translation pairs. Approximately 40% of the translations were rated as being similar across languages with respect to spelling/sound (i.e., they were cognates). Approximately 45% of the translations were rated as being highly semantically similar across languages. At least 25% of the words in each direction of translation had more than one translation. The form similarity ratings were found to be highly reliable even when obtained with different bilinguals and modified rating procedures. Number of translations and meaning factors significantly predicted the semantic similarity of translation pairs. In future research, these norms may be used to determine the number of translations of words to control for or study this factor. These norms are available at http://www.talkbank.org/norms/tokowicz/.     

How Do Consumers Transfer Existing Knowledge? A Comparison of Analogy and Categorization Effects

The trend in recent consumer research has been to emphasize the similarities between analogy and categorization. In this investigation, we merge the literature on analogy, categorization, and structure mapping theory to reach a better understanding of their differences. In 3 experiments, we compare consumers’ responses to analogy and categorization cues and find that analogy places much greater constraints on knowledge transfer than categorization by focusing consumers on relational similarities. Illustrating this, the analogy group in Study 1 was just as likely as the categorization group to generate relational inferences, but much less likely to generate attribute inferences. Likewise, the results of Study 2 indicate that the analogy group restricted their processing of features lying outside the common relational system, leading to inferior recall relative to the categorization group. Building on these findings, Study 3 demonstrates that, under certain circumstances, analogy and categorization work together syn‐ergistically to enhance consumer memory.     

The effects of dropping in‐situation safety behaviors in the treatment of social phobia

Over the past years, important advances in the cognitive–behavioral treatment of social phobia have taken place. There is wide evidence that demonstrates exposure is an effective treatment for social phobia. However, some research has noticed that exposure has limitations in treating this disorder. In clinical practice we find patients who do not achieve marked reductions in anxiety using this technique. One of the mechanisms that can be involved is the use of in‐situation safety behaviors, which patients use to prevent the feared consequences in social situations. The aim of this study is to present a single case study where we compare the improvement achieved using exposure alone versus exposure dropping in‐situation safety behaviors. The social phobic patient improved significantly when exposure was combined with the drop of in‐situation safety behaviors. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is a false belief statement a lie or a truthful statement? Judgments and explanations of children aged 3 to 8

Attribution of a false belief is usually taken to indicate that children distinguish between a real world state of affairs and its representation by a subject. But how do they conceive of the properties of such a mental entity? Do they understand that false belief necessarily goes hand in hand with good faith? Our study explores to what extent children conflate false beliefs with lies. Sixty children aged 3 to 8 were presented with an FB situation and then asked whether the character having an FB was lying or not. Results show that up to 6 years, although correctly attributing the FB, children systematically judge the FB statement to be a lie, since it does not correspond to the real world state of affairs. Older children succeed in the lie judgment, invoking the false believer's not knowing the world state. Discussion bears on the relation between false belief and more general epistemic states.     

Respective contributions of inhibition and knowledge levels in class inclusion development: a negative priming study

Dempster ( Dempster, 1995 ; Dempster & Corkill, 1999 ) proposed that developmental changes in performance on Piagetian tasks could be related to changes in inhibitory efficiency more than to logical development. In this study, the negative priming paradigm was adapted to the class inclusion task in order to investigate the role of inhibition and knowledge levels in the development of class inclusion. Participants were pre‐tested on two inclusion tasks, the standard Piagetian task and Markman's modification task, and assigned to different knowledge levels: empirical, and logical necessity. Children were then tested on a priming version of the class inclusion task. Results showed a negative priming effect, indicating that the irrelevant ‘subclass comparison strategy’ was actively inhibited during the processing of the class inclusion task. This effect was found to vary as a function of knowledge levels, indicating that the need for inhibition was reduced when children had attained logical necessity.