Parallel processing of position and form information in young children

Young children and adults were compared in their processing of position and form information when only one type of information was processed and when both types of information were processed. For adults, position information in both the single and combined tasks showed a linear increase in report accuracy with increasing duration. For children, this linear increase was found only in the single task, at longer durations, resulting in a loss of parity across tasks for position information among children. No loss of parity was found for form information for either age group. The children’s loss of parity in processing position information when combined with form information replicates their previously demonstrated inability to process multiple-form arrays using a parallel independent strategy.     

Type A behavior pattern, parental history of hypertension, and cardiovascular reactivity in college males

Two risk factors for cardiovascular disorders, parental history of hypertension and the Type A behavior pattern, were investigated concurrently with respect to cardiovascular reactivity to challenging situations. Sixty-four college males were given both the Structured Interview (SI) and Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS) for the Type A behavior pattern and a family health questionnaire to determine parental history of hypertension. The students were monitored for blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and pulse transit time (PTT) response to four tasks: cold pressor, isometric handgrip exercise, a reading comprehension task, and backwards digit span. Type As based on SI classification had significantly higher HR levels across all tasks than did Type Bs, as well as higher diastolic BP levels in the cold pressor task. No main effects for Type A-B using JAS classification were found. Positive parental history students had higher HR and shorter PTT levels across all the tasks. Type A and parental history did interact in a limited way on some tasks, but the interactions were also dependent on the Type A classification used.     

The effects of essential fatty acid supplementation by efamol in hyperactive children

Thirty-one children, selected for marked inattention and overactivity, were studied in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study of essential fatty acid (EFA) supplementation. Subjects received the active treatment and placebo conditions for 4 weeks each and were assessed on a variety of cognitive, motor, and standardized rating scale measures. EFA supplementation (evening primrose oil; Efamol®) resulted in significantly lower levels of palmitoleic acid (a nonessential fatty acid) and higher concentrations of dihomogammalinolenic acid, an EFA previously found to be deficient in some hyperactive children. Supplementation was also associated with significant changes on two performance tasks and with significant improvement to parent ratings on the subscales designated as Attention Problem and Motor Excess of the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist. However, a variety of eight other psychomotor performance tests and two standardized teacher rating scales failed to indicate treatment effects. When the experimentwise probability level was set at.05, only 2 of 42 variables showed treatment effects. Baseline EFA concentrations appeared to be unrelated to treatment response. It was concluded that EFA supplementation, as employed here, produces minimal or no improvements in hyperactive children selected without regard to baseline EFA concentrations.This study was supported by grants from Efamol Research Inc., and the Medical Research Council of New Zeland. We thank Messers. Patrick Flynn and Mark Norwood for carrying out the statistical analyses.     

How many memory systems? Evidence from aging

The present research tested Tulving's (1985) ternary memory theory. Young (ages 19-32) and older (ages 63-80) adults were given procedural, semantic, and episodic memory tasks. Repetition, lag, and codability were manipulated in a picture-naming task, followed by incidental memory tests. Relative to young adults, older adults exhibited lower levels of recall and recognition, but these episodic measures increased similarly as a function of lag and repetition in both age groups. No age-related deficits emerged in either semantic memory (vocabulary, latency slopes, naming errors, and tip-of-the-tongue responses) or procedural memory (repetition priming magnitude and rate of decline). In addition to the age by memory task dissociations, the manipulation of codability produced slower naming latencies and more naming errors (semantic memory), yet promoted better recall and recognition (episodic memory). Finally, a factor analysis of 11 memory measures revealed three distinct factors, providing additional support for a tripartite memory model.     

Treatment of families in conflict: Recurrent themes in literature and clinical practice

This article undertakes to demonstrate, through works of great literature throughout the ages, that our best writers have always understood the primacy and linkages between individual growth, character and destiny, and the context of the various living systems that impinge upon each individual, the primary context being the family of origin. Beginning with the immortal classic, theSophoclean Trilogy, which inspired Freud's use of the major character's name in these three dramas, Oedipus has been used to explain the psychological complex which Freud regarded as universal. The author in this article finds a rather different point of view borne out by these same dramas, as well as in the other literary works cited. It is the discovery that the identified patient is not Oedipus, but his natural and adoptive families.This often-quoted classic in family therapy literature is slightly revised and reprinted, with permission, fromNew Directions in Mental Health, NY: Grune & Stratton, 1968.     

Temporal grouping, rehearsal and short-term memory

The effects of temporal grouping on auditory short-term memory are investigated, using pauses of different lengths to indicate the groups. No quantitative or qualitative differences were found between the shorter and longer pauses. This result, in conjunction with an analysis of the order errors, is used to suggest what kind of processing occurs during the pauses. This processing is selective, recoding the information about order according to position within a group.