Functional brain activation differences in stuttering identified with a rapid fMRI sequence

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether brain activity related to the presence of stuttering can be identified with rapid functional MRI (fMRI) sequences that involved overt and covert speech processing tasks. The long-term goal is to develop sensitive fMRI approaches with developmentally appropriate tasks to identify deviant speech motor and auditory brain activity in children who stutter closer to the age at which recovery from stuttering is documented. Rapid sequences may be preferred for individuals or populations who do not tolerate long scanning sessions. In this report, we document the application of a picture naming and phoneme monitoring task in 3 min fMRI sequences with adults who stutter (AWS). If relevant brain differences are found in AWS with these approaches that conform to previous reports, then these approaches can be extended to younger populations. Pairwise contrasts of brain BOLD activity between AWS and normally fluent adults indicated the AWS showed higher BOLD activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), right temporal lobe and sensorimotor cortices during picture naming and higher activity in the right IFG during phoneme monitoring. The right lateralized pattern of BOLD activity together with higher activity in sensorimotor cortices is consistent with previous reports, which indicates rapid fMRI sequences can be considered for investigating stuttering in younger participants.Educational objectives: The reader will learn about and be able to describe the: (1) use of functional MRI to study persistent developmental stuttering; (2) differences in brain activation between persons who stutter and normally fluent speakers; and (3) potential benefit of time efficient fMRI sequences combined with a range of speech processing tasks for investigating stuttering in younger populations.     

Religious tolerance through religious diversity and epistemic humility

This paper uses developments in externalist epistemology and philosophy of mind as a foundation for a tolerance-producing attitude of epistemic humility towards the beliefs one retains in light of religious diversity. The first section of this paper describes the conditions under which epistemic humility tends to occur in both the philosophy of mind and externalist epistemology due to what shall be called the resolution problem, and the second section argues that these conditions often obtain in the presence of religious diversity. A third section argues that epistemic humility tends to lead to religious tolerance.     

Addiction as an indicator of vulnerability: The case of indoor tanning

Research concerning the marketing of potentially harmful products to vulnerable consumer segments reveals difficulties in identifying vulnerable consumers. Businesses must be able to identify such segments if they are to avoid regulation and consumer activism. Whether a measure of nonsubstance addiction is an appropriate indicator of vulnerability is examined here in the context of indoor tanning. Three studies of young adult tanners indicate that (a) a modified alcohol addiction scale, the CAGE index, can be used to measure other addictions; (b) addicted indoor tanners have high motivation to meet social appearance norms and to experience the feeling of tanning, which may make them susceptible to marketing cues for indoor tanning; and (3) addicted and nonaddicted indoor tanners are similar in their knowledge of the dangers of indoor tanning, thus supporting the assertion that addicted tanners' decisions to tan indoors are likely more influenced by addiction than by informed decision making.     

Surface-illuminant ambiguity and color constancy: effects of scene complexity and depth cues

Two experiments were conducted to study how scene complexity and cues to depth affect human color constancy. Specifically, two levels of scene complexity were compared. The low-complexity scene contained two walls with the same surface reflectance and a test patch which provided no information about the illuminant. In addition to the surfaces visible in the low-complexity scene, the high-complexity scene contained two rectangular solid objects and 24 paper samples with diverse surface reflectances. Observers viewed illuminated objects in an experimental chamber and adjusted the test patch until it appeared achromatic. Achromatic settings made tinder two different illuminants were used to compute an index that quantified the degree of constancy. Two experiments were conducted: one in which observers viewed the stimuli directly, and one in which they viewed the scenes through an optical system that reduced cues to depth. In each experiment, constancy was assessed for two conditions. In the valid-cue condition, many cues provided valid information about the illuminant change. In the invalid-cue condition, some image cues provided invalid information. Four broad conclusions are drawn from the data: (a) constancy is generally better in the valid-cue condition than in the invalid-cue condition: (b) for the stimulus configuration used, increasing image complexity has little effect in the valid-cue condition but leads to increased constancy in the invalid-cue condition; (c) for the stimulus configuration used, reducing cues to depth has little effect for either constancy condition: and (d) there is moderate individual variation in the degree of constancy exhibited, particularly in the degree to which the complexity manipulation affects performance.     

Choosing Assessment Instruments for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Screening and Outcome Research

Effect‐size results from Erford et al.'s ( 2016 ) meta‐analysis for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were used to compare 6 instruments' usefulness in measuring counseling treatment outcomes. Effect‐size comparisons indicated equivalent overall effect sizes using the Clinician‐Administered PTSD Scale, the Impact of Event Scale–Revised, the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, the PTSD Checklist, and the Structured Interview for PTSD. The Mississippi Scale for Combat‐Related PTSD yielded significantly more conservative (i.e., lower) effect‐size comparisons.     

Social pressures on organizational website adoption

Innovation adoption research has demonstrated that organizational features and perceived benefits of innovations play significant roles in explaining organizational‐level decisions to adopt new technologies. Beyond such motivations, however, social pressures operating at the interorganizational level have been proposed to influence the decision to adopt innovations, even without regard to any proven or anticipated benefit from the innovation itself. To empirically determine the influence of organizational features, perceived benefits, and social pressures on organizations' innovation adoption decisions, this study examined the decisions of 288 organizations to adopt Internet websites. Organizational social pressures were found to be the most significant discriminators of adopters and non adopters, although they were not particularly important in predicting the likelihood of future adoption for those organizations currently without websites. This finding suggests that social pressures are significant in innovation adoption, but that they may have their strongest effect during the early phases of innovation diffusion. Organizational features and perceived benefits were also reasonable discriminators of adopters and nonadopters as well as effective predictors of the likelihood of adoption for nonadopters. To a lesser degree, these factors were also predictive of the stage of adoption for those organizations that have already adopted websites.     

Lateral specialization and social-verbal development in preschool children

Forty-two 2 1/2- to 5 1/2-year-old children's social and verbal behaviors were observed during free play in a preschool. A test measuring lateral specialization of verbal function and a standardized psychometric test of verbal ability were also administered. Analysis of variance indicated that the right ear (left hemisphere) is predominant in processing verbal stimuli in children as young as 2 1/2. Multiple regression analyses revealed significant relations between the right ear accuracy score for dichotically presented verbal stimuli and both psychometrically measured verbal ability and a social-verbal factor score derived from play behavior. After the increase related to age was statistically partialled out from both verbal ability and social-verbal scores, verbal expression, length of verbal utterances, time spent in conversation, and peer social interactions increased and parallel play decreased as a function of right ear (left hemisphere) accuracy for verbal stimuli. The relationship between left ear (right hemisphere) accuracy scores for verbal stimuli and social-verbal behavior, however, was not linear. Very high and very low levels of left ear recall predicted an increase in the frequency of parallel play and low social-verbal behavior while moderate levels of left ear accuracy scores predicted the reverse.     

The Nature of Sociodynamics and Psychodynamics in a Therapy Group of Adolescents

The development of combined individual and group psychotherapy is split between the “separationists” and the “integrationists” with regard to therapists' handling of the interface between the individual and group sessions. To bridge the impasse, a high-benefit–low-risk series of guidelines is offered for therapists that includes techniques for analyzing patients' “cross-references” to the other component modality. The four guidelines provide for a harmonious balance that preserves the confidentiality of the individual sessions vis-à-vis the group, while enhancing the group interaction rather than draining it. The therapist guidelines maximize patient initiative in integrating parts of the self expressed in the individual and group sessions, while employing the least intrusive methods necessary to best integrate the processes into a unified combined modality.     

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for generalized anxiety disorder in older adults: a preliminary report

Some evidence suggests that acceptance-based approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may be well-suited to geriatric generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The primary goal of this project was to determine whether ACT was feasible for this population. Seven older primary-care patients with GAD received 12 individual sessions of ACT; another 9 were treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy. No patients dropped out of ACT, and worry and depression improved. Findings suggest that ACT may warrant a large-scale investigation with anxious older adults.