The Stigmatising Implications of Presenting Schizophrenia as a Genetic Disease

This study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that belief in a genetic aetiology of schizophrenia will increase the stigma associated with the disorder. Levels of five potentially stigmatising attitudes were compared in two groups of participants who had read a vignette describing an individual who has schizophrenia. In one group the disorder was explained as being caused by ‘genetic’ factors, and in the other by ‘environmental’ factors. This study found that three of the five potentially stigmatising attitudes measured were increased when participants read a vignette with a genetic causation rather than an environmental causation. Firstly, genetic attributions increased levels of associative stigma towards close relatives (p < 0.001). Secondly, participants viewed recovery as less likely when genetic factors were implicated as causative (p < 0.001). Finally, there was also an increased perception of the character’s “dangerousness” when the condition was explained by genetic factors (p < 0.05). Contrary to previous research was the finding that perceived aetiology had no effect on participant’s desire for social distance from an affected individual. Neither did perceived aetiology influence beliefs about moral accountability. The implications of these findings suggest that genetic counsellors and other health professionals, who are providing genetic information to those affected by schizophrenia should be aware of the possibility that a genetic explanation of schizophrenia could increase potentially stigmatising attitudes towards their clients and their clients’ families. It is also possible that individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia may themselves form deterministic interpretations of the genetic information they receive and subsequently be less likely to adopt behavioural advice or adhere to treatment. Counsellors and health professionals should strive to present information in a balanced manner, ensuring recipients understand the multi-factorial causes of the disease.     

The Shapes of Commitment Development in Emerging Adulthood

Based on a model developed by Kunnen et al. (in: Nurmi (ed) Navigating through adolescence: European perspectives, 2001), we investigated trajectories of commitment development in university students and their relation with well-being, identity style, coping, personality, and ego-development. By means of cluster analysis on individual trajectories, we distinguished different clusters of trajectories in six domains of life. Almost all clusters could be classified according to the identity status theory, either on a moratorium-achieved trajectory (MAMA), or as a stable trajectory in one of the four identity statuses. As expected, clusters with stable strong commitment had highest levels of well-being, and MAMA clusters had highest levels of ego-development. In general, the condition “having no commitments for a prolonged period” was more strongly related to non-optimal outcomes than the condition “no exploration.” This is surprising, given the important role of exploration in identity development. We suggested that having no commitments may affect—probably temporarily—the coping preferences and personality characteristics. Differences between the domains can be interpreted as effects of different societal demands and the social or non-social nature of the domain.     

Intracranial self-stimulation improves memory consolidation in rats with little training

Post-training intracranial electrical self-stimulation can improve learning and memory consolidation in rats. However, the molecular mechanisms involved are not known yet. Since previous paradigms of this kind of facilitation are relatively unsuitable to try a molecular approach, here we develop a single and short model of learning and memory facilitation by post-training self-stimulation that could make easier the research of its neural and molecular basis. Thus, three consecutive experiments were carried out to ascertain whether post-training self-stimulation is able to facilitate memory when learning consists of only a brief (5 trials) two-way active avoidance conditioning session. The results of Experiment 1 showed that it is actually possible, and that 48 h after the acquisition session is a very good time to observe the memory improvement. As a way to probe the retroactive effect of self-stimulation, in Experiment 2 we observed that the same self-stimulation treatment given to the subjects not post-training but 48 h before a single two-way active avoidance session does not improve the acquisition of conditioning. In Experiment 3, we showed that the SS facilitative effect observed 48 h after the acquisition session in Experiment 1 was still maintained one week later. We concluded that post-training intracranial self-stimulation can consistently improve memory consolidation even when little acquisition training is given to the animals in a single training session.     

Workplace factors associated with family dinner behaviors

This study investigated relationships between workplace factors and family dinners. We examined two aspects of the family dinner, the frequency that the entire family typically has dinner together each week and the frequency that children eat fast food for dinner. Participants were 220 parents who worked at least 20 h a week and had at least one child living at home. Results indicated that work interference with family (WIF) mediated the relationship between family-supportive supervision and family dinner frequency. Greater flexplace (i.e., telecommuting) availability was associated with less frequent use of fast food for children’s dinner.     

Delivering phonological and phonics training within whole‐class teaching

Background Early, intensive phonological awareness and phonics training is widely held to be beneficial for children with poor phonological awareness. However, most studies have delivered this training separately from children's normal whole‐class reading lessons. Aims We examined whether integrating this training into whole class, mixed‐ability reading lessons could impact on children with poor phonological awareness, whilst also benefiting normally developing readers. Sample Teachers delivered the training within a broad reading programme to whole classes of children from Reception to the end of Year 1 (N = 251). A comparison group of children received standard teaching methods (N = 213). Method Children's literacy was assessed at the beginning of Reception, and then at the end of each year until 1 year post‐intervention. Results The strategy significantly impacted on reading performance for normally developing readers and those with poor phonological awareness, vastly reducing the incidence of reading difficulties from 20% in comparison schools to 5% in intervention schools. Conclusions Phonological and phonics training is highly effective for children with poor phonological awareness, even when incorporated into whole‐class teaching.     

Exploring cognitive effects of self reported mild stroke in older adults: selective but robust effects on story memory

Relatively little systematic information is available regarding patterns of cognitive effects of mild stroke in older adults. We explored this problem with a series of two independent samples from the Victoria Longitudinal Study data archives. In Study 1, self-reported mild stroke and neurologically intact matched controls were (a) confirmed as similar on a set of neurocognitive speed, basic cognition, and awareness indicators, and (b) compared for differences on a set of episodic, semantic, and working memory tasks. The mild stroke group was selectively worse on the language intensive story memory task. This effect was partially attributable to a deficit in remembering the most thematic information. Study 2 closely replicated these procedures and results. In addition, Study 2 follow-up analyses, comparing provisional right-hemisphere damaged and left-hemisphere damaged (LHD) participants, revealed that the thematic story memory deficit for mild stroke participants could be due to the selective impairment of LHD participants.     

Embodying gestures: The Social Orienting Model and the study of early gestures in autism

Autistic spectrum disorders impair the ability to interact socially. Detecting and understanding their onset is not only an empirical enterprise, but also a theoretical one, often linked to studies on intersubjectivity. Different theoretical perspectives have been elaborated in the past to account for the deficit. The main purpose of this paper is to reinforce and offer empirical grounding to a recent approach, termed Social Orienting Model, by presenting the main theoretical approaches to autism and contrasting them to this view, as well as considering its possible effect on empirical research, focusing on current literature analyzing gestures in children with autism.

Cross-cultural examination of the tripartite model in adults

Clark and Watson's (1991) tripartite model is commonly viewed as the preferred model for examining the relationship between anxiety and depression. The tripartite model proposes that the overlap and distinction between anxiety and depression can be best understood along three dimensions: positive affect, negative affect, and physiological hyperarousal. Although the tripartite model has received support in a wide variety of samples, little has been done to examine whether the tripartite model holds cross-culturally. Using a highly diverse sample of undergraduate students (n = 923), this study set out to determine the generalizability of the tripartite model among students who identified themselves as African American/Black (non-Hispanic), Caucasian/White (non-Hispanic), Hispanic/Latino(a), and Asian. The results of the present study suggest that the model fits generally for each group, but the study did not find cross-group equivalence in the relationships between constructs. Possible reasons for the lack of cross-group equivalence, as well as limitations of this study, are also discussed.     

Utility of extinction-induced response variability for the selection of mands

Functional communication training (FCT; Carr & Durand, 1985) is a commonly used differential reinforcement procedure for replacing problem behavior with socially acceptable alternative responses. Most studies in the FCT literature consist of demonstrations of the maintenance of responding when various treatment components (e.g., extinction, punishment) are present and absent (e.g., Fisher et al., 1993; Wacker et al., 1990). Relatively little research on FCT has (a) evaluated the conditions under which alternative responses are acquired or (b) described procedures with technological precision. Thus, additional research on a cogent technology for response acquisition appears to be warranted. In the current study, we evaluated the efficacy of exposing problem behavior to extinction for inducing response variability as a tool for selecting an alternative response during FCT. Once participants engaged in appropriate alternative responses, the reinforcer identified in the functional analysis as maintaining problem behavior was delivered contingent on the alternative behavior. Results showed that exposing problem behavior to extinction was a useful method for producing alternative behaviors during FCT.     

Children's perceptions of the classroom environment and social and academic performance: A longitudinal analysis of the contribution of the Responsive Classroom approach

This study examines the contribution of the Responsive Classroom (RC) Approach, a set of teaching practices that integrate social and academic learning, to children's perceptions of their classroom, and children's academic and social performance over time. Three questions emerge: (a) What is the concurrent and cumulative relation between children's perceptions of the classroom and social and academic outcomes over time? (b) What is the contribution of teacher's use of RC practices to children's perceptions and social and academic outcomes? (c) Do children's perceptions of the classroom mediate the relation between RC teacher practices and child outcomes? Cross-lagged autoregressive structural equation models were used to analyze teacher and child-report questionnaire data, along with standardized test scores collected over 3 years from a sample of 520 children in grades 3-5. Results indicate a significant positive relation between RC teacher practices and child perceptions and outcomes over time. Further, children's perceptions partially mediated the relation between RC teacher practices and social competence. However, the models did not demonstrate that child perceptions mediated the relation between RC practices and achievement outcomes. Results are explained in terms of the contribution of teacher practices to children's perceptions and student performance.