Does a yellow filter improve visual object categorization in normal aging?

Previous studies have shown that a yellow filter (CPF450) can increase contrast, motion sensitivity, vergence, and accommodation. We investigated whether a yellow filter can reduce age-related visual deficits. We tested two groups of 60 observers (mean age 24 vs. 72) in an object categorization task. Grayscale photographs of natural objects and artifacts were displayed either centrally or peripherally (21°) at low (8%) or medium (30%) contrast. There were three filter conditions (no filter, placebo filter, and yellow filter). Both groups of observers performed similarly on central and medium-contrast pictures. The deleterious effects of reduced contrast and eccentricity were stronger in elderly individuals. Moreover, the yellow filter globally improved the speed of categorization for the elderly participants. The decrease in response time in the yellow filter condition was larger when the stimuli were displayed peripherally in both groups. A yellow filter should be considered as a potential means for visual improvement in normal aging.     

A Case of Premature Termination in a Treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

In this paper we present a case of failure in an integrative treatment for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) combining cognitive-behavioral therapy, an empirically supported treatment for GAD, and interpersonal-emotional processing therapy. The client of focus dropped out of treatment after the eighth session. Based on our analysis of this case, we discuss the participant, technical and relationship factors that were likely implicated in this case of premature termination in both of the cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal-emotional processing segments that comprised the treatment. Implications for practice, training and future research are also discussed.     

The group's search for wholeness: A Jungian perspective

In attempting to address a common group concept from a Jungian perspective, this paper starts by taking competing models as all contributing to laying the foundations of a generally accepted general theory. The theory of the invisible group as elaborated by Agazarian and Peters is taken as one of the most clearly stated models of the group-as-a-whole, and Jung's more obscure concepts of the self, the archetypes, individuation and the collective unconscious are used, not as a competing theory, but as a way of enlarging and enriching what is already known. First an outline of the invisible group theory is given. The theoretical clarity of this model is then contrasted with the richness of the group's fantasies about itself, and it is suggested that these point to a group self which represents the group-as-a-whole. Seen in this way, there are many similarities with Jung's treatment of individuation at an individual level, which are drawn out. Although Jung's model is more difficult to grasp in its paradoxes, it is often nearer to the experience of the group as it continuously and progressively defines itself. Finally, the limitations of models that try to define the group-as-a-whole are examined by looking at the boundaries between the group-as-an-individual and the outside world, which parallels Jung's attempts to view the self as both being the individual and transcending the limits of the individual, so that the group can be seen to develop in its search for wholeness.     

A 25-year follow-up: Some reflections on personality development over the long term

Highlights of our work over the last 30 years are reviewed; we begin with the infants whom we studied in the mid-1950s and conclude with impressions from a follow-up of their development 30 years later. The review begins with our first effort to propose a constructionist view of behavioral organization over the first 3 years of life, in terms of the negotiation by infant and caregiver of a sequence of adaptations in their interaction. This review includes a brief consideration of living systems and some of the principles that constrain the organization of behavior of the participants. Illustration of the way that these principles set up the “event-structure” of a system is given. In its recurrence, this event-structure sets the stage for psychic organization. The application of this early formulation to the study of 25- to 30-year outcome in these same infants studies the hypothesis that the configuration of adaptive strategies that the subject constructs by 2 years of age will be recognizable in the strategies which that individual employs in self-recognition and in the later construction of his ecologic niche at age 25. The logic or rules for this construction are set up over the first 2 years, as the infant's adaptation to the event-structure of the system is achieved and regulates later constructions. The bias set depends on the red thread of the subject's early inner experience of state and emotion (or affect) in relation to the infant's competence as agent in regulating states. A basis for inference as to this red thread of inner experience has been summarized in five propositions of construction. These highlight the patterning of competence in self-regulation within the individual's unique system. The role of infant state and of positive affects in this long-term influence is critical, as is the patterning of competence in enabling the infant to reconstruct desired states as goals in the unique configuration of adaptive solutions achieved for that system.     

UTILIZATION OF METACOGNITIVE JUDGMENTS IN THE ALLOCATION OF STUDY DURING MULTITRIAL LEARNING

Abstract— We contrasted several ways that an individual's judgments of learning (JOLs) can be utilized when allocating additional study ("restudy") during the learning of Swahilt-English translation equivalents The findings demonstrate how metacognitive monitoring can be utilized to benefit multitrial learning Computer-controlled allocation of restudy based on people's JOLs was equivalent to most people's own allocation of restudy (indicating that the computer algorithm can provide a sufficient account of people's allocation of restudy) and was more effective than a computer-controlled allocation based on normative performance (indicating that people's metacognitive monitoring of idiosyncratic knowledge has functional utility in causal chains for learning)     

An Intensive Outpatient Program for Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury

Post-9/11 service members may return from military service with a complicated set of symptoms and conditions, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, substance misuse, and traumatic brain injury (TBI), that interfere with reintegration and impair functioning. Although evidence-based treatments that facilitate recovery exist, their successful delivery at a sufficient dose is limited. Barriers to accessing treatment combined with challenges compiling a comprehensive treatment team further delay delivery of effective evidence-based care for PTSD, TBI, and co-occurring mental health conditions. This paper describes the development of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, 2-week intensive day program for post-9/11 veterans with complex mental health concerns. The treatment program combines skill building groups, family education, and integrative health approaches with evidence-based individual PTSD or TBI care. Initial results from the first 132 participants were notable for a 97% completion rate, as well as statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in PTSD, neurobehavioral, and depression symptom severity for the 107 veterans who completed the PTSD track and the 21 who completed the TBI track. These data suggest the intensive program approach is an effective, well-tolerated model of treatment for post-9/11 veterans with PTSD and/or TBI. Future controlled studies should examine the effectiveness of this intensive model compared to standard evidence-based therapy delivery, as well as longitudinal outcomes.