ERP Correlates of Form and Rhyme Letter Tasks in Impaired Reading Children: A Critical Evaluation

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained from 15 electrode sites in six average and six impaired reading children, 12 years of age, during visual letter discrimination tasks. Subjects responded to target letters with an enclosed area in the form task and to letters that rhymed with “e” in the rhyme task. Response accuracy was similar between the groups. Reaction time was relatively longer for the impaired group during the rhyme task. At lateral sites, condition differences were evident as greater negative shifts in the rhyme task than the form at 170 and 470 ms as well as a delayed late positivity for the rhyme. In terms of reading ability, the average readers’ ERPs were more negative than those of the impaired group at 270 and 450 ms. Interhemispheric variations were also seen between the groups, with the average readers more negative than the impaired readers at right hemisphere sites. Contrary to expectations, group differences in the ERP did not vary substantially as a function of condition, and task demands were evaluated in view of these findings.     

The Relationships Among Differing Loss Experiences,Adjustment, Beliefs,and Coping

Abstract

Losses are often equated for conceptual purposes, and it is often assumed that different types of losses result in similar grief reactions and exert similar effects on cognitive structures and coping patterns. This article examines the expectancies, beliefs, coping patterns, and psychological adjustment associated with loss due to death, parental. divorce, or illness and disability in a college student population. Loss groups did not differ from each other or from a no-loss group on cognitive variables, coping, or psychological adjustment. In instances in which associations between the cognitive measures and either coping or adjustment were indicated, the typical pattern was for loss groups to differ from the no-loss condition but not from each other.     

Afterword: some reflections on implicit religion and ordinary theology

This brief piece relates Edward Bailey's concept of implicit religion, together with some themes from the papers published in this special issue, to Astley's concept of ordinary theology. In particular, it attends to their different, but overlapping, focal concerns and their shared emphasis on a spiritual core of personal meaningfulness.     

New application of psychology to law: Improving forensic evidence and expert witness contributions

Psychology has made a tremendous contribution to law by showing the malleability of eyewitness perception and memory, and developing best practices for obtaining eyewitness identifications. We suggest that even expert scientific witnesses, which the court heavily relies on as objective and impartial, are also susceptible to bias from various psychological influences. For example, forensic examiners’ interactions with detectives and exposure to information about the case can bias their judgments. We discuss the ten commentaries on these issues across a range of forensic science domains, and affirm what reforms are needed.     

Does attention follow the motion in the “shooting line” illusion?

When a line is presented in the vicinity of a recent luminance change (peripheral cue), it is perceived to be drawn over time away from its “cued” end even though the line is actually presented all at once. This study was designed to determine whether attention, exogenously attracted to the cue, would come under the exogenous control of this illusory motion and follow the drawing motion from the cued end to its terminus. Each trial began with the display of four small squares at the corners of an imaginary square centered about fixation. On the critical trials, one of the four squares brightened briefly, after which a horizontal line was presented joining either the two upper or the two lower squares. Shortly thereafter, the distribution of attention was determined by asking the observer to indicate the nature of a change that was equally likely to occur to one of the squares. Responses to targets presented at a noncued location that was at the end of an illusorily drawn line were as fast as those to targets at the cued location and were much faster than those to targets at the remaining noncued locations. This pattern was not shown when the line preceded the cue, strongly suggesting that attention follows the motion in this illusion.     

Flashbulb and factual memories: the case of Rabin's assassination

Similarities and differences between factual memories (FTM) and flashbulb memories (FBM) of the assassination of Israel's Prime Minister, Itzhak Rabin, were explored. About two weeks after the assassination 61 Israeli students filled out a questionnaire which focused on the event and the circumstances in which they had first learned about it. About 11 months later they filled out again the same questionnaire, and self‐assessed their emotional and cognitive reactions to the assassination, as well as specific properties of their memory; such as confidence in its accuracy, and the amounts of rehearsals and visual representations. Comparative analysis of the participants' responses on the two questionnaires uncovered decrements of about 25% in FTM accuracy, and about 36% in FBM consistency. Rehearsals and visual representations were more common in FTM than in FBM, but the levels of confidence in memory accuracy were similar for both. FTM which were presumably based on information provided by television broadcasts, appeared to have episodic properties. The data seem to support the hypothesis that FTM and FBM of traumatic public events are encoded together; perhaps by the same memory mechanism. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Impact of Adolescent Suicide on Siblings and Parents: A Longitudinal Follow-Up

The psychiatric sequelae of loss of a family member to suicide were evaluated in parents and siblings of adolescent suicide victims and controls, who were followed up to 3 years after the suicide. Siblings did not show an increased risk for the development of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or other conditions over the course of follow-up, despite showing a prolonged elevated level of grief symptomatology. Mothers showed an increased rate of recurrence of depression over follow-up, whereas fathers did not show an increased incidence of disorder compared to fathers of controls. The interrelationship of bereavement and depression for siblings, parents, and others exposed to suicide is discussed.     

Dissociation,Physical Pain,and Suicide: A Hypothesis

The hypothesis of this paper states that at least some suicidal individuals are characterized by a disposition toward dissociation manifested in relative insensitivity to physical pain and indifference to their bodies. Three main topics are discussed: dissociation and suicide, psychological aspects of pain, and pain and suicide. Various theoretical and experimental studies suggest that certain stress conditions lead to the development of dissociative tendencies, and that once these tendencies are established, they become an integral part of suicidal behavior. Psychological variables that affect pain tolerance are presented and they include perception, motivation, emotions, and behavioral and cognitive strategies of pain control. These can increase tolerance of pain in suicidal individuals, making the suicidal act possible. The specific relationships of pain and suicide are then introduced through an examination of pain analgesia in the phenomenon of self-harm. The integration of the material suggests that early and continuous stress lead to the simultaneous development of dissociative tendencies (including indifference to the body and pain) and heightened vulnerability to stress. These dispositions may facilitate suicidal behavior in the face of mounting intolerable stress, helplessness, and hopelessness. Preliminary empirical support for the present hypothesis is cited. This hypothesis shifts the focus of attention from the question of what causes suicide to what facilitates suicide, and in so doing suggests new directions for research and therapy.     

Cupid: A program for computations with probability distributions

This article describes Cupid, a program that performs computations with univariate probability distributions. Cupid can be useful in stochastic modeling and simulation, hypothesis testing, and examination of statistical procedures. The program runs on IBM-PC compatibles under the DOS operating system, and it is free for educational and noncommercial use.