Cognitive modeling analysis of decision-making processes in cocaine abusers

This article examines the theoretical basis of decision-making deficits exhibited by cocaine abusers in a laboratory decision-making task first described by Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, and Anderson (1994). A total of 12 male cocaine abusers and 14 comparison subjects performed the task, and the cocaine group performed significantly worse than the comparison group. A cognitive modeling analysis (Busemeyer & Stout, 2002) was used to estimate three parameters that measure importance of the cognitive, motivational, and response processes for determining the observed performance deficit. The results of this analysis indicated, for the first time, that motivational and choice consistency factors, but not learning/ memory were mainly responsible for the decision-making deficit of the cocaine abusers in this task.     

Genetic Cancer Risk Assessment and Counseling: Recommendations of the National Society of Genetic Counselors

These cancer genetic counseling recommendations describe the medical, psychosocial, and ethical ramifications of identifying at-risk individuals through cancer risk assessment with or without genetic testing. They were developed by members of the Practice Issues Subcommittee of the National Society of Genetic Counselors Cancer Genetic Counseling Special Interest Group. The information contained in this document is derived from extensive review of the current literature on cancer genetic risk assessment and counseling as well as the personal expertise of genetic counselors specializing in cancer genetics. The recommendations are intended to provide information about the process of genetic counseling and risk assessment for hereditary cancer disorders rather than specific information about individual syndromes. Key components include the intake (medical and family histories), psychosocial assessment (assessment of risk perception), cancer risk assessment (determination and communication of risk), molecular testing for hereditary cancer syndromes (regulations, informed consent, and counseling process), and follow-up considerations. These recommendations should not be construed as dictating an exclusive course of management, nor does use of such recommendations guarantee a particular outcome. These recommendations do not displace a health care provider's professional judgment based on the clinical circumstances of a client.     

Why 8-year-olds cannot tell the difference between Steve Martin and Paul Newman: factors contributing to the slow development of sensitivity to the spacing of facial features

Children are nearly as sensitive as adults to some cues to facial identity (e.g., differences in the shape of internal features and the external contour), but children are much less sensitive to small differences in the spacing of facial features. To identify factors that contribute to this pattern, we compared 8-year-olds' sensitivity to spacing cues with that of adults under a variety of conditions. In the first two experiments, participants made same/different judgments about faces differing only in the spacing of facial features, with the variations being kept within natural limits. To measure the effect of attention, we reduced the salience of featural information by blurring faces and occluding features (Experiment 1). To measure the role of encoding speed and memory limitations, we presented pairs of faces simultaneously and for an unlimited time (Experiment 2). To determine whether participants' sensitivity would increase when spacing distortions were so extreme as to make the faces grotesque, we manipulated the spacing of features beyond normal limits and asked participants to rate each face on a "bizarreness" scale (Experiment 3). The results from the three experiments indicate that low salience, poor encoding efficiency, and limited memory can partially account for 8-year-olds' poor performance on face processing tasks that require sensitivity to the spacing of features, a kind of configural processing that underlies adults' expertise. However, even when the task is modified to compensate for these problems, children remain less sensitive than adults to the spacing of features.     

Semantic context influences memory for verbs more than memory for nouns

Three experiments revealed that memory for verbs is more dependent on semantic context than is memory for nouns. The participants in Experiment 1 were asked to remember either nouns or verbs from intransitive sentences. A recognition test included verbatim sentences, sentences with an old noun and a new verb, sentences with an old verb and a new noun, and entirely new sentences. Memory for verbs was significantly better when the verb was presented with the same noun at encoding and at retrieval. This contextual effect was much smaller for nouns. Experiments 2 and 3 replicated this effect and provided evidence that context effects reflect facilitation from bringing to mind the same meaning of a verb at encoding and at retrieval. Memory for verbs may be more dependent on semantic context because the meanings of verbs are more variable across semantic contexts than are the meanings of nouns.     

Transition planning and recidivism among mentally ill juvenile offenders

OBJECTIVES: To determine the extent to which transition planning and community service would predict lower levels of recidivism among mentally ill juvenile offenders. DESIGN: Review of legal, medical and social service records including examination of 3-month period following community release. PARTICIPANTS: Juvenile offenders incarcerated for 6 months or more (N = 44) transitioning to community. MEASURES: Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS), sum of different documented pre- and post-release discharge planning contacts, documented community service contacts. OUTCOMES: Re-offense during the first year post-release. RESULTS: Documented community service contacts in the 3 months following discharge were rare for mental health (20.5%), substance abuse (38.6%), financial assistance (29.5%), and school placement (34.1%). The average number of different pre-release and post-release discharge planning contacts was also low, M(SD)=1.86(1.68) and M(SD)= 2.34(1.71) respectively. Post-release discharge planning and the receipt of financial assistance and mental health services were all associated with lower levels of reoffending. CONCLUSIONS: Community transition planning, including the coordination and provision of community services, is an essential component of community reintegration for juvenile offenders and is associated with lower rates of recidivism during the first year post-discharge.     

A meta-analytic review of prospective memory and aging

A meta-analysis of prospective memory (PM) studies revealed that in laboratory settings younger participants outperform older participants on tests of both time- and event-based PM (rs=-.39 and -.34, respectively). Event-based PM tasks that impose higher levels of controlled strategic demand are associated with significantly larger age effects than event-based PM tasks that are supported by relatively more automatic processes (rs=-.40 vs. -.14, respectively). However, contrary to the prevailing view in the literature, retrospective memory as measured by free recall is associated with significantly greater age-related decline (r=-.52) than PM, and older participants perform substantially better than their younger counterparts in naturalistic PM studies (rs=.35 and.52 for event- and time-based PM, respectively).     

Too proud to let go: narcissistic entitlement as a barrier to forgiveness

Narcissistic entitlement impedes forgiveness in ways not captured by other robust predictors (e.g., offense severity, apology, relationship closeness, religiosity, Big Five personality factors), as demonstrated in 6 studies. Narcissistic entitlement involves expectations of special treatment and preoccupation with defending one's rights. In Study 1, entitlement predicted less forgiveness and greater insistence on repayment for a past offense. Complementary results emerged from Study 2, which used hypothetical transgressions, and Study 3, which assessed broad forgiveness dispositions. Study 4 examined associations with the Big Five, and Study 5 extended the findings to a laboratory context. Study 6 demonstrated that entitlement predicted diminished increases in forgiveness over time. Taken together, these results suggest that narcissistic entitlement is a robust, distinct predictor of unforgiveness.     

Accuracy of blood glucose estimation by children with diabetes: an investigation of repeated practice with growth curve modeling

This study used growth curve modeling to explore whether practicing the task of estimating blood glucose levels would increase accuracy in children with type 1 diabetes. It was predicted that accuracy would improve with practice and that younger, anxious, poorly adjusted children would improve most. 43 attendees at a diabetes summer camp participated. Their mean age was 13.4 yr. (SD = 1.6). All were Euro-American, and 22 were girls. Change in accuracy was best represented by a quadratic function, and this model fit the data well. Overall, participants' accuracy improved initially and then deteriorated. Results indicate that older children were more likely to improve and then deteriorate. Younger children were more likely to improve and sustain those improvements. Results indicate that practicing the task of estimating is not an effective way to increase accuracy and may be contra-indicated. These results can help guide research and clinical use of glucose estimation in children.     

Shyness: relationship to social phobia and other psychiatric disorders

The relationship between shyness, social phobia and other psychiatric disorders was examined. The prevalence of social phobia was significantly higher among shy persons (18%) compared with non-shy persons (3%). However, the majority of shy individuals (82%) were not socially phobic. A significant and positive correlation was found between the severity of shyness and the presence of social phobia, but the data suggest that social phobia is not merely severe shyness. Social phobia was also positively and moderately correlated with introversion and neuroticism. Thus, shy persons with social phobia were shyer, more introverted, and more neurotic than other shy people, but none of these factors was sufficient to distinguish shy persons with social phobia from those without social phobia. The proportion of the shy group with psychiatric diagnoses other than social phobia was significantly higher than among the non-shy group, indicating that various diagnostic categories are prominent among the shy. The results are discussed in terms of the overlap in shyness and social phobia and the relationship of shyness to other psychiatric diagnoses and personality dimensions.