Functional analysis of tardive dyskinesia: implications for assessment and treatment

We conducted an analogue functional analysis contrasting motor tasks with varying types of social consequences for movements associated with tardive dyskinesia (TD) in 2 men who had been diagnosed with developmental disabilities and TD. Our findings suggest that TD-related movements were not a function of social reinforcement contingencies. However, motor-activation tasks decreased TD-related movements, suggesting a possible novel intervention.     

Witnessing interparental psychological aggression in childhood: implications for daily conflict in adult intimate relationships

We examined the consequences of witnessing interparental psychological aggression in childhood for daily conflict processes in adult intimate relationships. Both partners in 73 heterosexual couples provided daily diary reports of relationship conflict over a 28-day period. Partners' reports of witnessing mother-to-father and father-to-mother psychological aggression were used to predict exposure to daily relationship conflicts and reactivity to those conflicts (as reflected in end-of-day anger). Results showed no evidence of exposure effects: Witnessing interparental psychological aggression was unrelated to the number of conflict days reported by either partner. Reactivity effects emerged for males only, with father's aggression predicting increased reactivity and mother's aggression predicting the opposite. However, we found evidence of direct or unmediated effects of interparental conflict on daily anger for both males and females. Mirroring the reactivity pattern, the same-sex parent's psychological aggression predicted greater daily anger, whereas the opposite-sex parent's aggression predicted less daily anger. These effects emerged independently of Big Five measures of personality; moreover, Big Five measures did not predict outcomes independently of interparental aggression.     

A magnetic resonance imaging study of regional cortical volumes following stereotactic anterior cingulotomy

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that orbitofrontal cortical volume would be reduced following anterior cingulotomy for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Whole brain cortical parcellation was performed on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from nine patients, before and 9 (+/-6) months following anterior cingulotomy. No significant volumetric reductions were found in the orbitofrontal cortex. Exploratory findings of reduced volume in ventral temporo-fusiform and posterior cingulate regions were consistent with chance differences, in the face of multiple comparisons. Therefore, though the circumscribed lesions of anterior cingulotomy have recently been associated with corresponding volumetric reductions in the caudate nucleus, no comparable volumetric reductions are evident in cortical territories. Taken together, these results are most consistent with a model of cingulo-striatal perturbation as a putative mechanism for the efficacy of this procedure. While limitations in sensitivity may have also contributed to these negative findings, the methods employed have previously proven sufficient to detect cortical volumetric abnormalities in OCD. The current results may reflect a relatively diffuse pattern of cortico-cortical connections involving the neurons at the site of cingulotomy lesions. Future functional neuroimaging studies are warranted to assess possible cortical or subcortical metabolic changes associated with anterior cingulotomy, as well as predictors of treatment response.     

Utilizing physiological measures to facilitate phobia treatment with individuals with autism and intellectual disability: A case study

Despite the conceptualization of phobic fear as a multi‐factorial response, the measurement and treatment of phobias is often not comprehensive. The extant literature on the treatment of phobias for individuals with intellectual disabilities has exclusively focused on indices of behavioral avoidance. The present study demonstrates the treatment of behavioral avoidance and physiological reactivity in a child diagnosed with autism, intellectual disability, and a dog phobia. The results indicate that the individual often experienced physiological reactivity in the presence of the feared stimulus despite engaging in behavioral approach. Treatment of both behavioral avoidance and physiological reactivity resulted in successful generalization of treatment effects across three additional dogs and maintenance of treatment effects during a six‐month follow‐up assessment. Implications for examining multiple aspects of the anxious response when treating children with intellectual disabilities and severe language delays are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reflective practice framework for TESOL teachers: one teacher’s reflective journey

Just as in the field of general education, scholars within the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) have also struggled to come to a consensus as to how reflective practice should be operationalized with many different approaches suggesting a retrospective approach to questioning about practice. As a result, many of these approaches have led to a type of routinization of reflection. Worried about such routinization of reflection, Farrell developed a more holistic approach to reflective practice that recognizes the spiritual, moral, and emotional aspects of reflection, as well as the usual retrospective questions about practice. This paper outlines a case study of the reflections of one experienced TESOL teacher teaching in South Korea using Farrell’s framework for reflecting on practice that included reflections on his philosophy, principles, theory, practice, and beyond practice. The results revealed three common themes of approachability, art-oriented conceptions, and curiosity that emerged in all aspects of his reflection as uniquely influential parts of a larger whole. Thus, Farrell’s holistic framework for teacher reflection employed in this study provided multiple filters through which these various parts could be viewed.     

Perception and action influences on discrete and reciprocal bimanual coordination

For nearly four decades bimanual coordination, “a prototype of complex motor skills” and apparent “window into the design of the brain,” has been intensively studied. Past research has focused on describing and modeling the constraints that allow the production of some coordination patterns while limiting effective performance of other bimanual coordination patterns. More recently researchers have identified a coalition of perception-action constraints that hinder the effective production of bimanual skills. The result has been that given specially designed contexts where one or more of these constraints are minimized, bimanual skills once thought difficult, if not impossible, to effectively produce without very extensive practice can be executed effectively with little or no practice. The challenge is to understand how these contextual constraints interact to allow or inhibit the production of complex bimanual coordination skills. In addition, the factors affecting the stability of bimanual coordination tasks needs to be re-conceptualized in terms of perception-related constraints arising from the environmental context in which performance is conducted and action constraints resident in the neuromotor system.     

Neurostructural and Neurophysiological Correlates of Multiple Sclerosis Physical Fatigue: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cross-Sectional Studies

Neuropsychology Review - Fatigue is one of the most debilitating symptoms for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). By consolidating a diverse and conflicting evidence-base, this systematic review...