Facilitation of fear extinction by D-cycloserine: theoretical and clinical implications

Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychological disturbances in the industrialized world. Current behavioral therapy procedures for these disorders are somewhat effective, but their efficacy could be substantially improved. Because these procedures are largely based on the process of extinction, manipulations that enhance extinction may lead to improvements in treatment effectiveness. We review the evidence that D-cycloserine (DCS), a partial NMDA agonist, facilitates extinction of learned fear in rats. Although only a few studies have examined the effects of DCS on extinction of learned fear, this work suggests that this drug may have a number of potential clinical benefits. In addition, attempts at interpreting this research illustrate our limited understanding of the processes involved in extinction.     

U.S. Muslim women and body image: links among objectification theory constructs and the hijab

This study tested tenets of objectification theory and explored the role of the hijab in body image and eating disorder symptoms with a sample of 118 Muslim women in the United States. Results from a path analysis indicated that individual differences in wearing the hijab were related negatively with reported sexual objectification experiences. Sexual objectification experiences, in turn, had significant positive indirect relations with body surveillance, body shame, and eating disorder symptoms, primarily through the mediating role of internalization. Internalization of cultural standards of beauty also had a significant positive direct relation with body shame and significant positive direct and indirect relations with eating disorder symptoms. By contrast, the direct and indirect relations of body surveillance were significant only when the role of internalization was constrained to 0 (i.e., eliminated), suggesting that internalization of cultural standards of beauty subsumed the hypothesized role of body surveillance in the model. Taken together, these results support some of the tenets of objectification theory with a sample of U.S. Muslim women, point to the importance of internalization of dominant cultural standards of beauty within that framework, and suggest the utility of considering individual differences in wearing the hijab among U.S. Muslim women.     

Influence of depression on verbal fluency performance

Abstract

Neuropsychologists are often faced with the challenge of assessing older adults who exhibit both cognitive deficits and symptoms of depression. This study examined factors associated with diminished fluency in elderly adults. Three groups were tested: 54 community elderly, 35 institutionalized elderly, and 40 young adults using the Controlled Oral Word Association test. Significant incremental contributions to performance on verbal fluency included age, education, depression, and the interaction term for depression and functional impairment. Diminished verbal fluency was associated with depression among older adults who were not functionally impaired. the results suggest that variables other than cerebral integrity must be taken into consideration when interpreting older adults' performance on fluency tests.     

Evaluating Generalization of Addition-Fact Fluency Using the Taped-Problems Procedure in a Second-Grade Classroom

A multiple-baseline design across math-fact sets was used to evaluate the effects of a taped-problems intervention on students’ performance with addition facts and their inverses in an intact, rural, second-grade classroom. Results suggested that the procedure was effective in improving fluency on math facts as well as their inverses. Across 3 sets of math facts, 15 students increased their fluency (i.e., average increases of 5 digits correct per min or more) on math-problem sets and these improvements were maintained over time. Additionally, results provide evidence that these increases generalized to inverse-problem sets. However, 4 students showed little gains (i.e., average increases of fewer than 5 digits correct per min) on math problems. Discussion focuses on evaluating academic interventions for generalization and directions for future research.     

Does Knowing Why Someone is Gay Influence Tolerance? Genetic,Environmental, Choice,and “Reparative” Explanations

In the U.S., belief that sexual orientation is genetically based is tied to greater tolerance toward gay men and lesbians and a belief that they deserve rights equal to those of other citizens. This study explores whether evidence for a particular causal explanation of sexual orientation influences participants’ tolerance toward gay men and lesbians. Participants were 224 heterosexual college students provided with scientific evidence that sexual orientation is genetically caused, environmentally caused, or a choice, who then answered questionnaires assessing their attitudes toward science, their tolerance toward gay men and lesbians, their selection of the best explanation for sexual orientation, and their assessments of statements about an imagined gay man (which, together, comprised their level of support for a “reparative” explanation of gay male sexuality viewed as the result of trauma, poor father–son relations, and immorality). Participants who were male, black, religious, or believed that the environmental or choice explanation of sexual orientation was the best, were less tolerant and more supportive of the reparative explanation than, respectively, participants who were female, white, nonreligious, or believed that the genetic explanation was the best. By contrast, participants were less tolerant when they read that scientific findings support a genetic explanation than when they read that scientific findings support choice as an explanation. Participants’ level of support for the reparative explanation correlated positively with their level of intolerance, suggesting that increasing tolerance toward gay men and lesbians may be more dependent on diminishing support for tenets of the reparative explanation than in convincing heterosexuals that sexual desires are under genetic control, which may influence some heterosexuals who believe otherwise to feel more intolerant.