Reorienting in images of a three-dimensional environment

Adult humans searched for a hidden goal in images depicting 3-dimensional rooms. Images contained either featural cues, geometric cues, or both, which could be used to determine the correct location of the goal. In Experiment 1, participants learned to use featural and geometric information equally well. However, men and women showed significant differences in their use of distant featural cues and the spontaneous encoding of geometric information when trained with features present. Transformation tests showed that participants could use either the color or the shape of the features independently to locate the goal. Experiment 2 showed that participants could use either configural or surface geometry when searching for the goal. However, their weighing of these geometric cues was dependent on initial training experience.     

High-lethality status in patients with borderline personality disorder

Recurrent suicidal behaviors in patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are often considered communicative gestures; however, 10% complete suicide. This study seeks to identify risk factors for suicide within a BPD sample by comparing patients with High- and Low-Lethality attempts. BPD attempters (n = 113) were assessed on demographic, diagnostic, and personality variables: clinical symptoms, suicidal behaviors; childhood, family, and treatment histories; social adjustment; and recent life events. Forty-four High-Lethality attempters, defined by a score of 4 or more on Beck's Medical Lethality Scale, were compared to 69 Low-Lethality attempters. Discriminating variables were entered in a multivariate logistic regression model to define predictors of High-Lethality status. High-Lethality attempters were older, with children, less education, and lower socioeconomic class (SES) than Low-Lethality attempters. They were more likely to have Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), co-morbid Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), and family histories of substance abuse. They reported greater intent to die, more lifetime attempts, hospitalizations, and time in the hospital. High-Lethality status was best predicted by low SES, co-morbid ASPD, extensive treatment histories, and greater intent to die. These characteristics resemble profiles of patients who complete suicide, are not specific for BPD, and do not include impulsivity, aggression, or severity of BPD criteria.     

Understanding of the concept of numerically "less" by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)

In 2 experiments, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) judged the ordinal relationship between novel numerosities. The dolphins were first trained to choose the exemplar with the fewer number of items when presented with just a few specific comparisons (e.g., 2 vs. 6, 1 vs. 3, and 3 vs. 7). Generalization of this rule was then tested by presenting the dolphins with all possible pairwise comparisons between 1 and 8. The dolphins chose the exemplar with the fewer number of items at levels far above chance, showing that they could recognize and represent numerosities on an ordinal scale. Their pattern of errors was consistent with the idea of an underlying analog magnitude representation.     

A laboratory school comparison of mixed amphetamine salts extended release (Adderall XR) and atomoxetine (Strattera) in school-aged children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Mixed amphetamine salts extended release (MAS XR; Adderall XR) and atomoxetine (Strattera) were compared in children 6 to 12 years old with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) combined or hyperactive/impulsive type in a randomized, double-blind, multicenter, parallel-group, forced-dose-escalation laboratory school study. Primary efficacy measure was the SKAMP (Swanson, Kotkin, Agler, M-Flynn, and Pelham) behavioral rating scale. Changes in mean SKAMP deportment scores from baseline were significantly greater for MAS XR (n = 102) than for atomoxetine (n = 101) overall (-0.56 and -0.13, respectively; p < .0001) and at each week (p < .001). Adverse events were similar for both treatment groups. The extended time course of action and greater therapeutic efficacy of MAS XR suggests that it is more effective than atomoxetine in children with ADHD.     

The Parents Matter! Program Interventions: Content and the Facilitation Process

The Parents Matter! Program (PMP) has developed three interventions for parents of 4th and 5th grade African-American children (9–12 years old). The overarching goal of all three interventions is to provide parents with knowledge, skills, and support for enhancing their efforts to raise healthy children. The interventions are: (1) Enhanced Communication and Parenting (five 2 -hour sessions), (2) Brief Communication and Parenting (single 2 -hour session), and (3) General Health (single 2 -hour session). This article discusses the development of these interventions, presents an overview of the content of each intervention, and discusses issues related to the facilitation/presentation of these interventions.     

Predictors of neuropsychological test performance after pediatric traumatic brain injury

The influence of neurological and demographic variables on neuropsychological test performance was examined in 100 9-to 16-year-old children with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Regression analyses were conducted to determine the relative contributions of coma, neuroimaging findings, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender to variance in performance on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III), California Verbal Learning Test--Children's Version (CVLT-C), and the Children's Category Test. Both neurological and demographic variables contributed to performance on various WISC-III factor index scores as well as the CVLT-C. No evidence for a moderating effect of demographic variables was found, but speed of information processing mediated the effect of neurological and demographic variables on CLVT-C performance. It is concluded that demographic variables have an incremental effect on the neuropsychological test performance of children with TBI above and beyond the influence of injury severity.     

MMPI-2 F scale as a predictor of acute versus chronic disorder classification

This study examined the relation between elevation of the infrequency (F) scale on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and the classification of psychological disorders as chronic or acute in an outpatient mental health setting. MMPI-2 and clinician rating data at time of intake were considered for 158 adult patients from an outpatient clinic. The results indicate that elevation on the F scale is associated with more chronic disorders even after the influence of other variables, such as age and comorbidity of other disorders, is statistically accounted for These results are discussed in terms of the utility and incremental validity of including the F scale as part of diagnostic screening.     

Searching in the center: pigeons (Columba livid) encode relative distance from walls of an enclosure

Pigeons (Columba livia) searched for food hidden in the center of a square enclosure. On occasional tests without food, the enclosure was (a) unchanged from training (control tests), (b) moved to different corners of the testing room (corner tests), or (c) doubled in size (expansion tests). The birds showed localized search in the center of the enclosure on control and corner tests. On expansion tests, some birds searched near the center of the enclosure, suggesting relative-distance encoding. Other birds searched at locations that maintained the training distance from walls, suggesting absolute-distance encoding. These results are consistent with previous studies on chicks (Gallus gallus) in similar enclosures and contrast with previous results on pigeons' responses to expansions of discrete landmark arrays.     

Reorientation in a two-dimensional environment: I. Do adults encode the featural and geometric properties of a two-dimensional schematic of a room?

Adults searched for a goal in images of a rectangular environment. The goal's position was constant relative to featural and geometric cues, but the absolute position changed across trials. Participants easily learned to use the featural cues to find the target, but learning to use only geometric information was difficult. Transformation tests revealed that participants used the color and shape of distinct features to encode the goal's position. When the features at the correct and geometrically equivalent corners were removed, participants could use distant features to locate the goal. Accuracy remained above chance when a single distant feature was present, but the feature farthest from the goal yielded lower accuracy than one closer. Participants trained with features spontaneously encoded the geometric information. However, this representation did not withstand orientation transformations.     

The Smell Identification Test as a measure of olfactory identification ability in schizophrenia and healthy populations: a Rasch psychometric study

This study examines University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT; R. L. Doty, 1995) performance in 133 controls and 54 chronic, medicated outpatients with schizophrenia (SZ) using item-response theory modeling. Results show that UPSIT items contribute to 1 factor, cover a range of 8 standard errors of measurement, and articulate 3 ability levels. Although it is not difficult enough to discriminate among persons of above-average ability, the test has diagnostic utility in detecting moderate impairment. Independent of item difficulty, 13 items differentiate patients from controls. When 45 patients and 45 controls were matched on gender and age, patient accuracy remained significantly reduced. The findings support the test's utility and demonstrate how traditional data analysis is insensitive to complexities in test performance.