Impact of diagnosed depression and self-reported mood on mothers' control strategies: a longitudinal study

Control strategies of 70 well and depressed mothers were assessed twice: when their children were of toddler age (Time 1) and, for 39 of the mothers, when their children were 5 (Time 2). At Time 1 well mothers were more direct with their children, using more direct commands and reprimands, and fewer explanations than depressed mothers. At Time 2 well mothers used fewer direct commands than depressed mothers. Self-reported negative mood preceding the interaction in well mothers was associated with decreased directness at Time 1 but increased directness at Time 2. At Time 1 depressed mothers' negative mood was associated with a decrease in the use of explanations. All mothers used more unclear commands and fewer reprimands and positive incentives with their 5-year-olds than when the children were toddlers. Depressed mothers, but not well mothers, increased their use of direct commands when the children were older. The findings are interpreted in the context of complex interplay between mother's diagnosis of depression, self-reported mood preceding the interaction, and the developmental level of the child.     

Parts of visual objects: an experimental test of the minima rule

Three experiments were conducted to test Hoffman and Richards's (1984) hypothesis that, for purposes of visual recognition, the human visual system divides three-dimensional shapes into parts at negative minima of curvature. In the first two experiments, subjects observed a simulated object (surface of revolution) rotating about a vertical axis, followed by a display of four alternative parts. They were asked to select a part that was from the object. Two of the four parts were divided at negative minima of curvature and two at positive maxima. When both a minima part and a maxima part from the object were presented on each trial (experiment 1), most of the correct responses were minima parts (101 versus 55). When only one part from the object--either a minima part or a maxima part--was shown on each trial (experiment 2), accuracy on trials with correct minima parts and correct maxima parts did not differ significantly. However, some subjects indicated that they reversed figure and ground, thereby changing maxima parts into minima parts. In experiment 3, subjects marked apparent part boundaries. 81% of these marks indicated minima parts, 10% of the marks indicated maxima parts, and 9% of the marks were at other positions. These results provide converging evidence, from two different methods, which supports Hoffman and Richard's minima rule.     

Reflex modification in the rat: the inhibitory effects of intensity and frequency changes in steady tones

In laboratory rats (as in humans) a low-intensity tone that precedes a high-intensity burst of noise by approximately 100 ms can reduce the amplitude of the startle reaction elicited by the burst of noise. A series of four experiments with rats investigated the relation between the inhibitory effects of tonal frequency change and the length of the silent period (gap) preceding it. The major findings were the following: (a) A gap in an otherwise continuous pure tone inhibited startle when the gap occurred approximately 100 ms prior to the noise burst. (b) Although an increase in gap duration increased the inhibition afforded by the gap, the maximum inhibition was yielded by gaps of 100 ms and greater; this maximum was equivalent to the inhibition yielded by the presentation of a postgap tone alone. (c) A shift in tonal frequency across a 10-ms gap yielded more inhibition than did the same gap with no frequency shift; again the shift yielded equivalent inhibition to the presentation of the postgap tone alone. (d) An increase in the frequency shift increased inhibition when the shift occurred across a 10-ms gap, but not when the shift occurred across a 100-ms gap.     

Spatial attention in vision

Summary Human observers can selectively allocate processing resources to different areas of the visual field within a single fixation. This spatial attention system may affect either the quality of information extraction or the decisions and responses based on this information. This paper reviews evidence from behavioral, single-unit, and event-related potential paradigms; the evidence suggests a relatively early locus of spatial attention.This research was supported by the U. S. Army Research Office under contract DAAG 29-83-K-0049. Portions of this paper were presented to the Conference on Attention and Action, Bielefeld, West Germany, in July 1985     

Personality characteristics of Divorce-Prone individuals: A preliminary clinical study

This study focuses on Divorce-Prone individuals and the question of why some persons fail in one marriage after another. The authors studied 12 individuals who had each been divorced two or more times. They found that the cases fell into one of three broad and overlapping groups. The groups have been called the Self-Involved Narcissists, the Compliant Depressed, and the Casualties of Life's Vicissitudes. The individuals and the groups demonstrate a different etiology, different treatment problems, and a very different prognosis.     

Family crisis intervention: fish or fowl?

This paper considers the status of family intervention as an area of interest defined by its literature (70 publications) and includes a brief history, assessment of present status, and recommendations for future development of family crisis intervention as a distinct field with concepts and goals that can be clearly defined, taught, researched, and repeated in treatment. Recommendations are made for the development of an explicit paradigm for intervention with a clear, common language of terms and concepts for family involvement. Suggested directions for developing the paradigm and language are explored.     

Variables differentiating affective interaction in a family therapy and a control group: Father-child welfare and mother-child emergency affect

In this study of 37 pre-therapy and 23 matched control families who never sought family therapy, father-child welfare affect and mother-child emergency affect were significantly higher in the control families. Control families were found generally to express more Welfare and Emergency emotion. Affective expression between parents did not significantly differentiate the groups.This study has been supported by Grant No. MA-4510 of the Medical Research Council of Canada and was presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, September 1983. The authors wish to express their thanks to Toby Schwartz, Harriet Gold-Kaats, and Terry Tannenbaum-Dascal, who acted as coders and research assistants; Joseph Beltempo, BSc, who helped in the statistical analysis; and James Robbins, PhD, who gave much valuable advice.     

Book reviews

With Faith and Fury. Delos McKown. New York: Promethius Books, 1985. pp 440. $16.95

The Sacred in a Secular Age. Phillip E. Hammond, Editor. University of California Press, 379 pages (p/b) $8.95 (£8.50)