Knowledge of and Interest in Genetic Results Among Parkinson Disease Patients and Caregivers

The purpose of the study is to investigate Parkinson disease (PD) patients’ and caregivers’ knowledge of and interest in genetic testing. Gaucher disease (GD) results from recessive mutations in glucocerebrosidase (GBA). Both heterozygote GBA carriers and GD patients are at greater risk for PD. Studies regarding knowledge of and interest in genetic testing have been limited and have not offered genetic results to participants. In this study, 353 PD patients and 180 caregivers were recruited to a PD genetic study. The association between GD, GBA mutations and PD was described to participants who reported their familiarity with genetic terms, answered questions on genetic concepts, and indicated their interest in knowing if they may have GD (two GBA mutations) and other genetic information that could impact their health. Ninety-three-percent of participants were interested in receiving GBA results; however, only 51.6 % of PD participants and 55.6 % of caregivers knew that “scientists have identified genes associated with a higher risk of developing PD.” PD patients may benefit from education and genetic counseling on the implications of genetic testing.     

Religious Fundamentalism and Religious Orientation Among the Greek Orthodox

The experimenters explored how religious fundamentalism related with religious orientation, irrational thinking, and immature defense mechanisms. They also explored the possible moderational role of the Big 5 personality factors. The participants were predominantly Greek Orthodox College students from a Cypriot University. The experimenters employed a cross-sectional design and required participants to complete a series of self-report measures. Religious fundamentalism significantly predicted irrational thinking. Intrinsic and personal extrinsic religious orientations significantly predicted religious fundamentalism. The results provide support for the idea that the more dogmatically one holds their religious beliefs, the more likely they are to think irrationally.     

Response Interruption and Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior for the Treatment of Pica

Pica displayed by two individuals with autism was decreased by a treatment involving differential reinforcement and response interruption that altered the chain of behavior involved in pica (i.e., picking up items and placing them in the mouth). The treatment involved establishing prompts to ‘clean‐up’ as a new discriminative stimulus (SD) for picking up items from the floor; and holding potential pica items was established as an SD for discarding those items in a trash receptacle, putting them away, or using them appropriately. After demonstrating the effectiveness of the treatment in an analog setting, the treatment package was systematically generalized to community settings. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Test-retest reliability of the Frankfurt Complaint Questionnaire

Long-term reliability of the Frankfurt Complaint Questionnaire (FCQ) was investigated in two follow-up studies of participants with psychosis using a test-retest method. In the first study (N = 56), the duration of the follow-up ranged from 6 months to 2 years; Spearman rho was .62 for the abridged (18 items) Spanish version of the questionnaire. In Study 2 (N = 21), in participants with stable schizophrenia, the follow-up ranged from 8 to 11 years; test-retest Spearman rho was .83 for the French version of the questionnaire. Subjective experiences could constitute, in psychosis-prone people, traits or markers of psychotic vulnerability.     

The Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes--Stuttering (POSHA-S): summary framework and empirical comparisons

Purpose

The Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) was developed to make available worldwide a standard measure of public attitudes toward stuttering that is practical, reliable, valid, and translatable. Mean data from past field studies as comparisons for interpretation of POSHA-S results are reported.

Method

Means for POSHA-S items (converted to −100 to +100 scales), components comprising clusters of items, subscores comprising clusters of components, and Overall Stuttering Scores comprising two subscores for stuttering were generated from 64 samples, totaling 2876 respondents who completed experimental versions of the POSHA-S.

Discussion

Lowest, highest, and median sample values, which vary with the addition of new sample data to the growing POSHA-S database archive, provide points of comparison for any potential sample rather than predetermined values.

Conclusions

The final POSHA-S, together with an ongoing and growing archive, can provide increasingly meaningful comparisons for stakeholders measuring public attitudes toward stuttering.Educational objectives: (1) Describe the subscores and components of the POSHA-S, (2) describe the Overall Stuttering Score of the POSHA-S, and (3) describe the format for interpretation of the POSHA-S.     

Changing adolescent attitudes toward stuttering

Purpose

Live oral or recorded video presentations on stuttering were delivered to high school students in order to determine the extent to which their attitudes toward stuttering could be improved.

Methods

A classroom teacher administered the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) to two health classes before and after an oral live presentation by a person who stutters. She also gave the POSHA-S to two other similar classes before and after a True Life^®: I Stutter video presentation. The stuttering person in the oral condition was one of three people featured in the video. Also, following the video condition, students filled out the POSHA-S a third time after a short oral presentation by the same person who stutters.

Results

Measured attitudes improved overall on the POSHA-S and on selected items.

Conclusions

High school students hold similar attitudes toward stuttering and stutterers as adults, and these attitudes can be improved, at least temporarily, by a presentation on stuttering but more via a live presentation than a professionally prepared video.Educational objectives: (1) The reader will identify different ways to improve attitudes toward stuttering in high school students. (2) The reader will list advantages and disadvantages of live oral presentations and recorded video presentations as strategies to change attitudes toward stuttering. (3) The reader will identify characteristics of a speaker that can assist in attitude changes of high school students.     

How does motor imagery speed affect motor performance times? Evaluating the effects of task specificity

The present experiment investigated whether motor imagery (MI) performed at a faster speed might influence the actual motor performance duration by comparing real‐time vs. fast MI of different finger movement sequences. Forty‐eight participants were either asked to do real‐time or fast MI practice of simple 8‐digit (unimanual), complex 8‐digit (bimanual), and long (16‐digit) finger movement sequences. The main findings revealed that both fast and real‐time MI resulted in actual speed gains in all experimental conditions, hence suggesting that performing fast MI did not systematically provide additional benefits as compared to real‐time MI. Interestingly, the results suggested that the speed at which movements were performed following an increase in MI speed was selectively influenced by the complexity of the task. MI training at higher speed seemed to be more effective in changing complex motor sequences compared with real‐time MI. Practical implications in motor learning and rehabilitation are also discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of response blocking and re-presentation in a competing stimulus assessment

Competing stimulus assessments (CSA) have been used to identify stimuli that are associated with reduced levels of problem behavior, presumably as a function of reinforcer competition. Following a standard CSA in which stimuli simply were made available, 2 more CSAs were conducted with additional components designed to enhance reinforcer competition: re-presentation of stimuli and response blocking for self-injury. The results obtained from each CSA were validated in an extended treatment analysis. The study illustrates how the effects of additional components designed to enhance reinforcer competition can be evaluated efficiently in the context of a CSA.     

Measuring the person-centeredness of caregivers working with nursing home residents with dementia

There is increasing interest in promoting person-centered caregiving within gerontology. However, few observational instruments have been developed to measure person-centered caregiving behaviors. In the present study, two innovative coding instruments—the Person-Centered Behavior Inventory (PCBI) and the Global Behavior Scale (GBS)—were used to test the hypothesis that caregivers’ person-centeredness would be negatively correlated with residents’ resistiveness to care. The study hypothesis was based on the need-driven dementia-compromised theory of behavior. It was expected that person-centered caregiving would better meet residents’ needs and be associated with less resistiveness to care. This hypothesis was tested by coding 70 videotaped interactions between 54 caregivers and 20 residents diagnosed with dementia. Resistiveness to care was measured by behaviorally coding residents’ resistive behaviors based on the Resistiveness to Care scale. The study hypothesis was supported when the GBS was used to measure person-centeredness, but not when the PCBI was used. The findings provide preliminary support for the predictive and construct validity of the GBS and the PCBI.