Rotated Drawing: The Range of Performance and Anatomical Correlates in a Series of 16 Patients

Recently there has been interest in an unusual neuropsychological disorder in which the patient copies a complex drawing in a position which is grossly rotated relative to the original. This disorder is of interest partly because of its relationship to current theories of the process of object recognition, but the range of performances typically seen, as well as its anatomical correlates, remain obscure. We report 16 cases who produced grossly rotated drawings of the Rey and Taylor Complex Figures. These patients were drawn from an unselected series of 240 cases, with a wide variety of lesion types and sites. The performances of the 16 patients displayed striking similarities. We describe the formal features of these drawings and plot their anatomical correlates.     

Limits to Infants' Knowledge of Objects: The Case of MagicalAppearance

Young infants have an impressive knowledge of material objects. They appreciate that distinct objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time, are internally cohesive units that maintain their boundaries, and exist continuously in space and time. We report a surprising limit to this body of understanding: Although 8-month-olds responded to the "magical" disappearance of an object as an unexpected event, they did not so respond to a magical appearance. These results suggest that infants' understanding of objects differs from adult cognition in important respects. We discuss four possible ways in which this finding can be reconciled with evidence that infants appreciate the spatiotemporal continuity of objects.     

Perfectionism and Suicidal Preoccupation

ABSTRACT One hundred twenty-nine undergraduate students were assessed for suicidal preoccupation, using the Alabama Adolescent Health Survey (AAHS) and selected cards from the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). They were also administered the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) to assess perfectionistic tendencies. Objective scoring of the TAT was found to be highly reliable. Canonical correlational analyses were nonsignificant for a relationship between perfectionism and suicidal themes on the TAT. However, the more direct questions of the AAHS relating to suicide were significantly related to perfectionism. Results suggest that passive perfectionists who procrastinate out of fear of making mistakes are more likely to be preoccupied with suicide, unlike perfectionists whose strivings produce achievement. High personal standards and parental expectations do not appear related to suicidal preoccupations.     

Practical guidelines in the use of symptom validity and other psychological tests to measure malingering and symptom exaggeration in traumatic brain injury cases

The detection of malingering or symptom exaggeration has become an essential component in forensic neuropsychological evaluations, particularly in cases involving personal injury claims. Symptom Validity Tests refer to those measures that can be utilized to detect test performance that is so poor that it is below the level of probability, oftentimes even among brain-damaged populations. This article outlines legal standards for expert testimony in regard to forensic neuropsychological personal injury evaluations. The article provides an outline of specific Symptom Validity Tests and Indicators, and reviews literature supporting test sensitivity and validity. In addition, the use of symptom checklists and questionnaires is discussed, as well as the appropriate use of Symptom Validity Tests and Indicators to establish the presence or absence of malingering or symptom exaggeration.     

Filial maturity: Analysis and reconceptualization

The concept of filial maturity has often been utilized to describe the nature and quality of the adult parent-child relationship. This paper will critically evaluate filial maturity as a central construct for understanding filial relations, present a reconceptualization of the concept, and identify areas for further empirical and conceptual elaboration.     

Electrocortical Responses to ecologically relevant visual stimuli among professional drivers with and without cardiovascular disease

Electrocortical responses were assessed using two simulated aspects of visual signals encountered in traffic: the Glare Pressor Test (GPT) and Event-Related Potential Avoidance Task (ERPAT) among four groups of male professional drivers: 12 with ischemic heart disease (IHD), 12 hypertensives, 10 borderline hypertensives, 34 who were apparently healthy and 23 nonprofessional driver healthy control subjects. The blood pressure (BP) responses immediately after the ERPAT were also measured. There was a significant between groups effect for the amplitude of the target N2 component in the ERPAT (p=0.02), with the lowest means among the drivers with IHD and the highest among those with hypertension. Drivers with IHD also showed the highest diastolic BP reactivity to the ERPAT. Significantly more than the expected number of drivers with IHD failed to recover alpha activity after the first glare impulse of the GPT. Professional drivers who failed to recover baseline levels of alpha activity after the GPT showed a significantly smaller N2 amplitude compared to those who recovered (p=0.01). There was a positive correlation between abundance of alpha activity at rest with P300 amplitude (p=0.02). An inverse relation was found between number of work hours behind the wheel and the amplitude of the target P300 (p=0.04). Results are interpreted in light of recent advances concerning integrative mechanisms of defence versus vigilance response patterns. The findings in this study justify further applications of these psychophysiologic methods to assess the relationship between simulated signals of the work environment and mechanisms of cardiac risk in this occupational group.     

Inferring the Meaning of Work From the Effects of Unemployment

Questionnaire data from 148 unemployed individuals were analyzed to investigate the meaning for work. Both economic and experiential functions of work were examined. The data revealed that, as predicted, increasing length of unemployment was associated with increasing economic and experiential deprivation. Economic deprivation, in turn, was associated with both more experiential deprivation and lower subjective well-being. Unexpectedly, experiential deprivation was not related to subjective well-being. The results indicate the importance of the economic functions of work in people's lives.