Early maternal stimulation and the development of cognitive competence and attention of preterm infants

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between several dimensions of maternal interactive behaviours, and cognitive development and attention in preterm infants. Of special interest was the question of whether high levels of maternal stimulation and activity may have negative consequences for the development of preterm infants. Sixty-six preterm infants and their mothers were followed longitudinally and videotaped in interaction situations at home, at the infant age of 6, 9 and 12 months. Mothers behaviours were scored on involvement, sensitive responsiveness, non-intrusiveness and level of activity. Moreover, infant cognitive status was assessed at 6, 12 and 24 months of age, using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Infant ability in problem solving and attention were assessed in two problem solving tasks at 18 and 24 months of age. The results showed that infant cognitive status at 12 and 24 months was best predicted by maternal involvement and infant responsiveness. No significant relationships were found between maternal interactive behaviours and infant ability in problem solving and attention. More importantly, there was no indication that high levels of maternal stimulation or intrusiveness may have a negative impact on later cognitive development and attention in preterm infants. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gender and Military Contextual Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Aggression

This study explored individual and military risk factors for intimate partner aggression (IPA) perpetration among Navy personnel in their second year of service. We found some evidence that job stress was related to higher perpetration among men. Contrary to expectations, ship duty was related to lower perpetration rates, even though it involves more military operational stress and more frequent deployments than does shore duty. Premilitary alcohol problems were a stronger risk factor for men than for women, whereas premilitary patterns of aggressive behavior were a stronger risk factor for women. Recommendations for future research and public health interventions are discussed.     

Speaking in stone — On the meaning of architecture in the Middle Ages

Architecture has often served a variety of purposes in addition to that of mere functionality. Different categories of meanings can be distinguished. In this essay some aspects of political meaning in medieval architecture will be discussed. The architecture of churches commissioned for instance by bishops, archbishops, provosts or other high-ranking clerical patrons was often used to express views about the status and position of both patron and institution. Rivalling patrons could copy those parts of each other's churches that were considered essential and characteristic. Buildings were thus often symbols, not only of the Church and of Heavenly Jerusalem, but also of an idealized history and an aspired status and position.     

Docosahexaenoic Acid and Visual Functioning in Preterm Infants: A Review

Preterm children are at risk for a number of visual impairments which can be important for a range of other more complex visuocognitive tasks reliant on visual information. Despite the relatively high incidence of visual impairments in this group there are no good predictors that would allow early identification of those at risk for adverse outcomes. Several lines of evidence suggest that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation for preterm infants may improve outcomes in this area. For example, diets deficient in the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid DHA have been shown to reduce its concentration in the cerebral cortex and retina, which interferes with physiological processes important for cognition and visual functioning. Further, various studies with pregnant and lactating women, as well as formula-fed infants, have demonstrated a general trend that supplementation with dietary DHA is associated with better childhood outcomes on tests of visual and cognitive development over the first year of life. However, research to date has several methodological limitations, including concentrations of DHA supplementation that have been too low to emulate the in utero accretion of DHA, using single measures of visual acuity to make generalised assumptions about the entire visual system, and little attempt to match what we know about inadequate DHA and structural ramifications with how specific functions may be affected. The objective of this review is to consider the role of DHA in the context of visual processing with a specific emphasis on preterm infants and to illustrate how future research may benefit from marrying what we know about structural consequences to inadequate DHA with functional outcomes that likely have far-reaching ramifications. Factors worth considering for clinical neuropsychological evaluation are also discussed.     

Age differences in stroop-like interference as a function of semantic relatedness

Abstract

The disinhibition hypothesis advanced by Hasher and Zacks (1988) predicts a faulty inhibitory mechanism resulting in “increased breadth of activation of nongoal path ideas” with aging (p. 213, Fig. 1). to assess this prediction, we tested young and older adults with a modified Stroop paradigm in which the semantic relationship between the words and ink colors was varied. Items were presented in five conditions: Stroop words (BLUE), related color words (NAVY), related words (SKY), neutral words (REFER), and asterisks (???). We found an age difference in interference for the Stroop words only; that is, when the response set was the same as the stimulus set, older adults' color-naming performance was jeopardized. In contrast, young and older adults did not differ in proportional slowing when related colors, related words, neutral words, or asterisks were presented. the findings are discussed in terms of three explanations: (a) a developmental dissociation between response suppression and semantic suppression; (b) weaker semantic activation; and (c) the effect of paradigm differences.