Family and psychosocial predictors of obsessive compulsive disorder in a community sample of young adolescents

A two-stage epidemiologic study conducted between 1986 and 1988 in the southeastern United States investigated family and psychosocial predictors of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and subclinical OCD in young adolescents. In the first stage, a life-event schedule and a family adaptability and cohesion scale were administered to a community sample of 3,283 adolescents. In stage two, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia in School Age Children and the Children's Global Assessment Scale were administered to 488 mother-child pairs. In multivariable models family cohesion was the only significant correlate of OCD (odds ratio=0.95, 95% confidence interval 0.91–0.98). Gender, race, age, socioeconomic status, guardian status, adaptability, undesirable life events and desirable life events were not found to be significant predictors of OCD in models adjusting for cohesion. Note of the above variables were significantly associated with subclinical OCD. However, separate analyses of the 41 individual life events indicated seven specific events were significantly associated with OCD or subclinical OCD. These findings are at odds with the theory that overinvolvement of family members is a risk factor for OCD, though an association with overly rigid family structure cannot be eliminated based on these data. Further exploration of family characteristics is warranted.     

The operant control of vocalization in the dog

Control over the vocal responses of three dogs was established using operant-conditioning procedures. Several points of interest were observed in the data. First, fixed-ratio schedules of reinforcement generated a vocal response topography which was similar in detail to that of a “motor” bar-nosing response. Second, vocal responding was brought under the control of external visual stimuli as a result of differential reinforcement. Third, good stimulus control was maintained on a multiple schedule containing a vocal-response component and a bar-response component. Fourth, the stimulus control on the multiple schedule transferred with minimal disruption to a chain schedule requiring a sequence of 10 bar responses followed by 10 vocal responses. Fifth, because vocal and bar responses are not mutually exclusive, concurrent responding tended to develop on the chain schedule.

These results were discussed with reference to the advisability of applying the terms operant and respondent to unconditioned behavior, and, particularly, to unconditioned verbal behavior.

     

Isolating observer-based reference directions in human spatial memory: head, body, and the self-to-array axis

Several lines of research have suggested the importance of egocentric reference systems for determining how the spatial properties of one's environment are mentally organized. Yet relatively little is known about the bases for egocentric reference systems in human spatial memory. In three experiments, we examine the relative importance of observer-based reference directions in human memory by controlling the orientation of head and body during acquisition. Experiment 1 suggests that spatial memory is organized by a head-aligned reference direction; however, Experiment 2 shows that a body-aligned reference direction can be more influential than a head-aligned direction when the axis defined by the relative positions of the observer and the learned environment (the "self-to-array" axis) is properly controlled. A third experiment shows that the self-to-array axis is distinct from - and can dominate - retina, head, and body-based egocentric reference systems.     

Learning scenes from multiple views: Novel views can be recognized more efficiently than learned views

In two experiments, participants were trained to recognize a playground scene from four vantage points and were subsequently asked to recognize the playground from a novel perspective between the four learned viewing perspectives, as well as from the trained perspectives. In both experiments, people recognized the novel view more efficiently than those that they had recently used in order to learn the scene. Additionally, in Experiment 2, participants who viewed a novel stimulus on their very first test trial correctly recognized it more quickly (and also tended to recognize it more accurately) than did participants whose first test trial was a familiar view of the scene. These findings call into question the idea that scenes are recognized by comparing them with single previous experiences, and support a growing body of literature on the existence of psychological mechanisms that combine spatial information from multiple views of a scene.     

Two-year-old twins refuse to eat: A multidisciplinary approach to diagnosis and treatment

This round table addresses the diagnosis and treatment of feeding disorders and failure to thrive. It describes a family-centered approach by a multidisciplinary feeding disorders team, beginning with the screening evaluation by the team coordinator at intake, through the evaluations by various team members, the team meeting with the parents, the development of a treatment plan, to a 1-year follow-up after treatment. Both twins refused to eat textured food and were found to have a posttraumatic feeding disorder secondary to repeated gagging and choking on cereal and lumpy baby food. However, only one twin was engaged in a battle with the parents over eating and developed infantile anorexia associated with failure to thrive. The differential diagnosis and the specific treatment plans of these two feeding disorders characterized by food refusal are discussed.     

The spacing effect in older and younger adults: does context matter?

Age-related memory change has been a topic of much investigation in recent years, including spacing benefits and reliance on contextual cues. We manipulated the spacing schedule and the context of learning and observed the effects on long-term recall ability in healthy older and younger adults. After learning Swahili–English word pairs, half practiced immediately (massed) and half practiced 24 h later (spaced) either in the same room or a different room (context) from the initial session. A final recall test 10 days after the practice session occurred in the same room as the first session. Participants in the spaced condition remembered more than those in the massed condition 10 days later. Younger adults remembered more word pairs than older adult participants. Context change eliminated the spacing benefit for both age groups.     

Epistemic motives and cultural conformity: need for closure, culture, and context as determinants of conflict judgments

Three studies support the proposal that need for closure (NFC) involves a desire for consensual validation that leads to cultural conformity. Individual differences in NFC interact with cultural group variables to determine East Asian versus Western differences in conflict style and procedural preferences (Study 1), information gathering in disputes (Study 2), and fairness judgment in reward allocations (Study 3). Results from experimental tests indicate that the relevance of NFC to cultural conformity reflects consensus motives rather than effort minimization (Study 2) or political conservatism (Study 3). Implications for research on conflict resolution and motivated cultural cognition are discussed.     

Prospective associations of co-rumination with friendship and emotional adjustment: considering the socioemotional trade-offs of co-rumination

Co-ruminating, or excessively discussing problems, with friends is proposed to have adjustment tradeoffs. Co-rumination is hypothesized to contribute both to positive friendship adjustment and to problematic emotional adjustment. Previous single-assessment research was consistent with this hypothesis, but whether co-rumination is an antecedent of adjustment changes was unknown. A 6-month longitudinal study with middle childhood to midadolescent youths examined whether co-rumination is simultaneously a risk factor (for depression and anxiety) and a protective factor (for friendship problems). For girls, a reciprocal relationship was found in which co-rumination predicted increased depressive and anxiety symptoms and increased positive friendship quality over time, which, in turn, contributed to greater co-rumination. For boys, having depressive and anxiety symptoms and high-quality friendships also predicted increased co-rumination. However, for boys, co-rumination predicted only increasing positive friendship quality and not increasing depression and anxiety. An implication of this research is that some girls at risk for developing internalizing problems may go undetected because they have seemingly supportive friendships.     

Movement imagery in rock climbing: patterns of interference from visual,spatial and kinaesthetic secondary tasks

Climbers were trained on two routes on a climbing wall, one vertical and one horizontal. The routes differed in the amount that could be seen from the start position, in the visibility of the holds (both of which were greater in the vertical climb), and in the need to use a range of hand and body configurations during the climb (which was greater in the horizontal climb); also the vertical climb was shorter than the horizontal climb. After training, subjects imagined climbing the routes under control conditions and with one of three secondary tasks derived from the working memory literature. The secondary tasks were dynamic visual noise, spatial tapping, and kinaesthetic suppression. Spatial tapping increased the duration of both routes; dynamic visual noise increased the duration on the vertical route, and kinaesthetic suppression increased duration on the horizontal route. The results are discussed in terms of the multiple forms of representation for action and the complexity of imagery for skilled movement. It is suggested that these working memory tasks may have a role in elucidating the demands of movement imagery under different conditions. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.