Cognitive problem-solving and life event correlates of depressive symptoms in children

This study examined the relationship between a number of cognitive problem-solving and life event variables and depressive symptoms in a sample of non-referred grade school children. The results indicated that higher levels of depressive symptoms were associated with an external locus of control, increased levels of objective and subjective life stress, and lower performance levels on an impersonal problem-solving task. Level of depressive symptoms was also found to be inversely related to socioeconomic status as measured by father's occupation. Contrary to prediction, no consistent relationship was found between depression and interpersonal problem-solving ability.This research is based on the first author's master's thesis submitted under the supervision of the second author to the Department of Psychology, University of Missouri-Columbia.     

Proactive behavior,but not inhibitory control,predicts repeated innovation by spotted hyenas tested with a multi-access box

Innovation is widely linked to cognitive ability, brain size, and adaptation to novel conditions. However, successful innovation appears to be influenced by both cognitive factors, such as inhibitory control, and non-cognitive behavioral traits. We used a multi-access box (MAB) paradigm to measure repeated innovation, the number of unique innovations learned across trials, by 10 captive spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). Spotted hyenas are highly innovative in captivity and also display striking variation in behavioral traits, making them good model organisms for examining the relationship between innovation and other behavioral traits. We measured persistence, motor diversity, motivation, activity, efficiency, inhibitory control, and neophobia demonstrated by hyenas while interacting with the MAB. We also independently assessed inhibitory control with a detour cylinder task. Most hyenas were able to solve the MAB at least once, but only four hyenas satisfied learning criteria for all four possible solutions. Interestingly, neither measure of inhibitory control predicted repeated innovation. Instead, repeated innovation was predicted by a proactive syndrome of behavioral traits that included high persistence, high motor diversity, high activity and low neophobia. Our results suggest that this proactive behavioral syndrome may be more important than inhibitory control for successful innovation with the MAB by members of this species.     

Thinking Developmentally: Perspectives Following Loewald and Klein

In this article, I explore two perspectives on development that are central to how I think and work as an analyst, one drawn from the work of Hans Loewald and one from Melanie Klein. Loewald turned the usual psychoanalytic way of thinking, rooted in the past, on its head when he theorized that development proceeds by internalization of the parent’s future vision of the child and, by corollary, the analyst’s future vision of the patient. Using a vignette from Klein’s work with 10-year-old Richard, I show how the analyst’s image of the patient’s potential can facilitate growth and development. Melanie Klein also introduced a radical reordering of traditional psychoanalytic theory when she theorized that the mind develops and is structured as positions, not as successive phases. For Klein, the mind is organized in groupings of anxieties, defenses, and object-relations that are in a continuous state of oscillation throughout life independent of chronological age. Through a clinical vignette, I illustrate how one understands a patient differently when development is seen as occuring in momentary shifts between different levels of the personality rather than as stages over time.     

Gender recognition from point-light walkers

Point-light displays of human gait provide information sufficient to recognize the gender of a walker and are taken as evidence of the exquisite tuning of the visual system to biological motion. The authors revisit this topic with the goals of quantifying human efficiency at gender recognition. To achieve this, the authors first derive an ideal observer for gender recognition on the basis of center of moment (J. E. Cutting, D. R. Proffitt, & L. T. Kozlowski, 1978) and, with the use of anthropometric data from various populations, show optimal recognition of approximately 79% correct. Next, they perform a meta-analysis of 21 experiments examining gender recognition, obtaining accuracies of 66% correct for a side view and 71% for other views. Finally, results of the meta-analysis and the ideal observer are combined to obtain estimates of human efficiency at gender recognition of 26% for the side view and 47% for other views.     

Variability in fundamental frequency during speech in prodromal and incipient Parkinson's disease: a longitudinal case study

Nearly two centuries ago, first observed that a particular pattern of speech changes occur in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). Numerous studies have documented these changes using a wide variety of acoustic measures, and yet few studies have attempted to quantify any such changes longitudinally, through the early course of the disease. Moreover, no attempt has been made to determine if speech changes are evident during the prodromal period, prior to the onset of clinically noticeable symptoms. This case-control pilot study is a first attempt to determine if changes in fundamental frequency variability during speech, an acoustic measure known to be affected later in the course of the disease, are evident during the prodromal period. A retrospective analysis of videotape footage recorded and made available by a leading national television news service. Videotape samples were obtained for a single individual (and a well-matched control subject) over an 11-year period of this individual's life (7 years prior to diagnosis of PD, and 3 years post-diagnosis). Results suggest that changes in F0 variability can be detected as early as 5 years prior to diagnosis (consistent with findings from other laboratories that have relied on cross-sectional study approaches). This pilot study supports the utility of such a design approach, and these results warrant continued effort to better understand the onset of PD and sensitivity of measurement of voice acoustical changes during the prodromal period.     

Voice acoustical measurement of the severity of major depression

A number of empirical studies have documented the relationship between quantifiable and objective acoustical measures of voice and speech, and clinical subjective ratings of severity of Major Depression. To further explore this relationship, speech samples were extracted from videotape recordings of structured interviews made during the administration of the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS; ). Pilot data were obtained from seven subjects (five males, two females) from videotapes that have been used to train expert raters on the administration and scoring of the HDRS. Several speech samples were isolated for each subject and processed to obtain the acoustic measurements. Acoustic measures were selected on the basis that they were correlated with HDRS ratings of symptom severity as seen under ideal voice recording conditions in previous studies. Our findings corroborate earlier reports that speaking rate is well correlated (negatively) with HDRS scores, with a strong correlation and nearly significant trend seen for the measure of pitch variability. A moderate pairwise correlation between percent pause time and HDRS score was also revealed, although this relationship was not statistically significant. The results from this cross-sectional study further demonstrate the ability of voice and speech signal analyses to objectively track severity of depression. In the present case, it is suggested that this relationship is robust enough to be found despite the less than ideal recording conditions and equipment used during the original videotape recording. Voice acoustical analyses may provide a powerful compliment to the standard clinical interview for depression. Use of such measures increases the range of techniques that are available to explore the neurobiological substrates of Major Depression, its treatment, and the dynamic interplay of the systems that govern the motor, cognitive, and emotional aspects of speech production.     

Complementary justice: effects of "poor but happy" and "poor but honest" stereotype exemplars on system justification and implicit activation of the justice motive

It was hypothesized that exposure to complementary representations of the poor as happier and more honest than the rich would lead to increased support for the status quo. In Study 1, exposure to "poor but happy" and "rich but miserable" stereotype exemplars led people to score higher on a general measure of system justification, compared with people who were exposed to noncomplementary exemplars. Study 2 replicated this effect with "poor but honest" and "rich but dishonest" complementary stereotypes. In Studies 3 and 4, exposure to noncomplementary stereotype exemplars implicitly activated justice concerns, as indicated by faster reaction times to justice-related than neutral words in a lexical decision task. Evidence also suggested that the Protestant work ethic may moderate the effects of stereotype exposure on explicit system justification (but not implicit activation).     

Behavioral and personality characteristics of children with reactive attachment disorder

The authors compared behavioral and personality characteristics of children with reactive attachment disorder (RAD) with non-RAD children. Participants included parents of children with RAD (n = 21), parents of non-RAD children (n = 21), and some of the children (n = 20). The parents completed questionnaires regarding behavioral and personality characteristics of their children. Parents were also given the option of asking their children to participate in the study by completing self-report measures. Several significant findings were obtained. Children with RAD scored lower on empathy but higher on self-monitoring than non-RAD children. These differences were especially pronounced based on parent ratings and suggest that children with RAD may systematically report their personality traits in overly positive ways. Their scores also indicated considerably more behavioral problems than scores of the control children. Previous research has been generally qualitative in nature. The current research represents some of the first quantitative, empirical work documenting specific behaviors associated with the diagnosis of RAD. The findings of this study have implications for better understanding and dealing with reactive attachment disorder.