Case study: Reinforcement control of severe aggression exhibited by a child with autism in a family home

This clinical case study describes in-home treatment of severe aggression and tantrum behavior exhibited by an 11 -year-old child with autism, using methods of differential reinforcement comparable to those of a case study by Luiselli (1990). No significant reductions in problem conduct occurred when a parent implemented differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) in conjunction with publicly posted ‘good behavior rules,’ physical management training, and redirection to relaxation. Control was established when the child was reinforced for compliance with task demands in conjunction with extinction, implemented directly by professional support staff working in the home. Despite demonstrable parental consistency, systematic training, and fading of supports, results were not maintained at follow-up. The generality of differential reinforcement as a practical intervention for severe aggression in family homes is questioned.     

Fixed vs. Flexible Neuropsychological Test Batteries Under the Daubert Standard for the Admissibility of Scientific Evidence

In Chapple v. Ganger, (1994), the Daubert standard was applied for the very first time to the use of fixed (standardized) versus flexible (nonstandardized) neuropsychological test batteries in the federal court. In this personal injury case the Chapple court gave far greater weight to the results obtained from a fixed battery than to the results obtained from two flexible neuropsychological test batteries. Significantly, under the Daubert standard the District Judge noted the lack of medical and scientific evidence to support the conclusions made by the Plaintiffs' two expert witnesses, a psychologist and a neuropsychologist, even though each had administered a comprehensive and flexible neuropsychological test battery and had based their conclusions on the test results. However, the Judge accepted as scientific evidence the objective test results obtained from the fixed Halstead–Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery for Older Children administered by the Defendants' expert witness Dr. Ralph Reitan and also accepted his scientific expert medical testimony which was closely derived from these data. Applying the Daubert standard to the neuropsychological test results and opinions of the expert witnesses, the District Judge held that the entire reasoning process and not simply part of the reasoning process upon which the expert witness derives a conclusion must reflect scientific methodology.     

Reducing risk of head injury in youth soccer: An extension of behavioral skills training for heading

Recently, concerns regarding sport-related concussions have increased within the research literature, the media, and popular culture. One potential source of soccer-related concussions involves the purposeful striking of the ball with one's head (i.e., heading). There is currently limited research on an effective teaching method to improve safe heading technique. In the current study, Behavior Skills Training (BST) was evaluated as a method to teach correct heading techniques to youth soccer players. BST increased the percentage of correct steps for each player based on a task analysis of heading. Based on social validity questionnaires administered to players and the coach, BST was rated as an acceptable form of training. After the final training session, experienced coaches rated each player as having improved from baseline to training.     

UFO和声称的绑架事件调查(四)——被外星人绑架

至于被绑架者故事,也并不新鲜。比如,关于仙女被飞龙绑架,后被一个勇敢的剑士救回的故事,就是这样的传说。乡间传说的被绑架者也只不过是每个民族都存在的这种故事的组成部分。骑着巫师的扫把或被仙女用马车带走,也是许多不同民族中流传的民间故事。所以,在我们自己的时代遇到这样的故事也一点都不奇怪。     

Mapping Men's Mental Health

The central theme of this paper is that men are at one and the same time both damaged and damage-doing. The process of being damaged through the agency of masculinity predisposes men to exploit, dominate and abuse—not only as boys, as partners and fathers, but as priests, teachers, therapists, lawyers, nurses, psychologists and psychiatrists. Mental health services need to see both aspects of this male equation: a focus on male abuse alone leads to punishment, containment and, very likely, the continuation of abuse; a focus on male damagedness alone preserves the ideology of male unaccountability. However, evidence reviewed here suggests that most traditional psychiatric services fail to acknowledge the impact of inequalities on men's mental health as comprehensively as they fail to acknowledge the impact of these inequalities on the mental health of women. This is a significant problem, and we suggest ways that a gendered analysis of masculinity can be used to help address this deficit. This analysis is used to develop a map of men's mental health that not only accommodates traditional categories of mental health difficulty, but other important consequences of the close association between masculinity and sexuality inequality, especially the use of violence and the capacity to do harm. This analytical framework also invites consideration of the invisibility of male distress, the disallowing and desensitizing of ‘vulnerability, and their submersion in a kind of psychology of entitlement. Finally, we consider the implications of this mapping exercise for mental health services and for working with men.     

A neural basis for expert object recognition

Although most adults are considered to be experts in the identification of faces, fewer people specialize in the recognition of other objects, such as birds and dogs. In this research, the neurophysiological processes associated with expert bird and dog recognition were investigated using event-related potentials. An enhanced early negative component (N170, 164 ms) was found when bird and dog experts categorized objects in their domain of expertise relative to when they categorized objects outside their domain of expertise. This finding indicates that objects from well-learned categories are neurologically differentiated from objects from lesser-known categories at a relatively early stage of visual processing.     

Memory for detail in item versus associative recognition

Some studies have shown that, although repetition increases the familiarity of a stimulus, it does not improve memory for its details. Because memory for associative information is thought to require memory for the details of study presentation, the effects of repetition on associative recognition were examined in the present study. The pattern of results was similar to that found for the recognition of item details: Repetition increased the familiarity of the individual items within each pair to a greater extent than it improved memory for their specific pairings.     

Aging family caregivers: policies and practices

This review examines later life family support for adults with developmental disabilities from a life course perspective that takes into account social trends and changes in service patterns and in attitudes of families. Key issues addressed include: (1) trends affecting family caregiving, (2) health and social outcomes of life-long caregiving, (3) support needs of families, (4) family support policies and practices, and (5) recommendations for a research and policy agenda. Research examining outcomes of life-long caregiving has shown that most families adapt well to having a family member with disabilities. However, some families are at risk for poorer physical and mental health outcomes. These include cultural minorities and families of adults with behavioral challenges. Caregiving does seem to have a negative impact on maternal employment and family income as mothers often give up or cut back on employment to care for a child with developmental disabilities, who is more likely to continue living in the family home throughout adulthood than other adult children. Federal and state initiatives are addressing issues of family support through both the developmental disabilities and aging service systems.