Maternal concepts and expectations regarding a preterm infant

The objective of the present study was: (a) to identify the concerns, verbally expressed, of 50 mothers regarding their preterm infants (PT) and then compare their verbal expression with those of 25 mothers of full-term infants (FT); and (b) to correlate the mothers' verbal expressions with maternal and infant variables. The following instruments were used to compose and characterize the sample: Structure Clinical Interview for DSM III-R Non-Patient (SCID/NP), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and medical charts. Results showed that there was no difference between groups in term of mothers' expectations and conceptualizations; both groups exhibited predominantly positive expectations and concepts. In comparison with FT mothers, PT mothers verbally expressed more feelings and reactions predominantly negative or conflicting in relation to infant birth. Higher levels of maternal anxiety and depression in the PT Group were correlated with more verbal expressions about negative or conflicting emotions. In addition, lower birth weight, higher neonatal risk and longer length of stay in intensive care nursery of the infants were related with more negative or conflicting concepts by the mothers.     

A Spanish adaptation of the Parental Stress Scale

As a specific measure to assess levels of parental stress is lacking in Spain, the aim of this study was to develop the Spanish version of the Parental Stress Scale (PSS). After translating it from English into Spanish using the forward-backward translation method, it was administered to a sample of 211 first-time parents (105 males and 106 females). A factor analysis was carried out to assess its dimensionality. After refining the scale, we obtained a two-factor solution that accounted for 33.5% of the variance, with the factors Stressors and Parenting Rewards. No gender differences were found either in the scale or in the dimensions. Criterion-related validity was tested by means of correlations with anxiety and depressive symptoms and, with regard to internal consistency, adequate alpha coefficients were obtained for both factors.     

Measuring the discrepancy between current and ideal spiritual and religious functioning in problem drinkers.

The idea that spiritual and religious functioning (SRF) is associated with alcohol misuse is generally supported, but problems with typical research methods limit the utility of findings. Problems in SRF were conceptualized as discrepancies between current and ideal SRF. Two separate studies were conducted to develop and evaluate a scale to measure the subjective importance and adequacy of aspects of SRF that seem to be associated with alcohol problems. The 1st study suggested that a questionnaire developed to evaluate self-reported ratings of current and ideal SRF is both internally consistent and temporally stable. In the 2nd study, the questionnaire was administered to persons seeking treatment for alcohol problems and persons who indicated that they had never sought treatment for an alcohol problem. Results indicate that those with a drinking problem were more likely to report substantial discrepancies between current and ideal SRF, supporting the validity of the measure as an indicator of problems in SRF. The usefulness of this method for treatment and research is discussed.     

Thinking extreme social violence: The model of the literary plague

The author uses literary plagues as a model for thinking psychoanalytically about the basic anxieties activated among perpetrators of sanctioned massacres. The model of the plague allows abstracting an underlying primitive psychological organization characterized by syncretism and a powerful anxiety of de-differentiation and confusion, leading characteristically to imitative behavior within the in-group as well as to the disavowal of the out-group members similarities to oneself, i.e. the disavowal of the other's humanity. Recognizing the historical and social foundations of discrimination and genocide, the author analyzes the interaction between group and individual processes that allow ordinary people to join daily acts of immoral violence. She dramatizes the model of the plague through a psychoanalytic reading of three literary plagues: Thebes' plague according to Sophocles, Camus's chronicle of the plague in Oran, and Saramago's meditation on the plague of white blindness.     

The Elusive Nature of Executive Functions: A Review of our Current Understanding

Executive functions include abilities of goal formation, planning, carrying out goal-directed plans, and effective performance. This article aims at reviewing some of the current knowledge surrounding executive functioning and presenting the contrasting views regarding this concept. The neural substrates of the executive system are examined as well as the evolution of executive functioning, from development to decline. There is clear evidence of the vulnerability of executive functions to the effects of age over lifespan. The first executive function to emerge in children is the ability to inhibit overlearned behavior and the last to appear is verbal fluency. Inhibition of irrelevant information seems to decline earlier than set shifting and verbal fluency during senescence. The sequential progression and decline of these functions has been paralleled with the anatomical changes of the frontal lobe and its connections with other brain areas. Generalization of the results presented here are limited due to methodological differences across studies. Analysis of these differences is presented and suggestions for future research are offered.     

Speciation of Superions from Humans: Is Species Cleansing the Ultimate Form of Terror and Genocide?

Using ideas from evolution, and what is known about higher stages of development, we examine a hypothetical scenario, in which new humanoid species, called Superions, are produced. What would then happen with current humans? Recent genetic engineering advances have led to creating life forms with particular characteristics. Scientists are already genetically engineering human beings. Some changes are to improve health. Engineering of traits such as intelligence, higher stage reasoning or less neuroticism is also very likely. This is seen as the ultimate terrorist act because it is genocide, not against a culture, but against an entire species. The article will also discuss how Homo Sapiens could defend themselves against this. Relating two species (systems), the Homo Sapiens and Superions constitutes metasystematic operations. Developing a system of discourse that would not destroy the Homo-sapiens requires paradigmatic operations (Sonnert and Commons, Individ Soc 4:31–35, 1994).     

Reconsolidation of declarative memory in humans

The reconsolidation hypothesis states that a consolidated memory could again become unstable and susceptible to facilitation or impairment for a discrete period of time after a reminder presentation. The phenomenon has been demonstrated in very diverse species and types of memory, including the human procedural memory of a motor skill task but not the human declarative one. Here we provide evidence for both consolidation and reconsolidation in a paired-associate learning (i.e., learning an association between a cue syllable and the respective response syllable). Subjects were given two training sessions with a 24-h interval on distinct verbal material, and afterward, they received at testing two successive retrievals corresponding to the first and second learning, respectively. Two main results are noted. First, the first acquired memory was impaired when a reminder was presented 5 min before the second training (reconsolidation), and also when the second training was given 5 min instead of 24 h after the first one (consolidation). Second, the first retrieval proved to influence negatively on the later one (the retrieval-induced forgetting [RIF] effect), and we used the absence of this RIF effect as a very indicator of the target memory impairment. We consider the demonstration of reconsolidation in human declarative memory as backing the universality of this phenomenon and having potential clinical relevance. On the other hand, we discuss the possibility of using the human declarative memory as a model to address several key topics of the reconsolidation hypothesis.     

Learned preferences induced by electrical stimulation of a food-related area of the parabrachial complex: effects of naloxone

Electrical stimulation of the External Lateral Parabrachial Subnucleus (LPBe), a food-related area, induced behavioral preferences for associated stimuli in a taste discrimination learning task. Although this stimulation appeared to be ineffective to elicit standard lever press self-stimulation, it induced place preference for one of two training compartments of a rectangular maze in which animals (adult male Wistar rats) received concurrent electrical brain stimulation. In subjects that consistently showed a preference behavior in different trials, administration of the opioid antagonist naloxone (4 mg/ml/kg) blocked concurrent learning when the test was made in a new maze but not in the same maze in which animals had learned the task. These results are discussed in terms of the possible participation of the LPBe subnucleus in different natural and artificial brain reward systems.     

Acculturation and depression among Hispanics: the moderating effect of intercultural competence

In the present study the authors examined the relative contributions of typical acculturation indicators, general coping, and intercultural competence in predicting depression among 96 Hispanic adults. The results indicated that intercultural competence served to moderate the relationship between acculturation and depression. The combination of high acculturation and high intercultural competence was associated with fewer symptoms. General coping accounted for significant amounts of variance in predicting depression, over and above traditional acculturation variables alone, suggesting that an active problem-solving style was associated with a healthier outcome. The findings are discussed within the context of integrating competence-based variables into psychological conceptualizations of cultural adaptation and the importance of group-specific abilities as potential buffers against negative mental health consequences.     

Visual category-selectivity for faces, places and objects emerges along different developmental trajectories

The organization of category-selective regions in ventral visual cortex is well characterized in human adults. We investigated a crucial, previously unaddressed, question about how this organization emerges developmentally. We contrasted the developmental trajectories for face-, object-, and place-selective activation in the ventral visual cortex in children, adolescents, and adults. Although children demonstrated adult-like organization in object- and place-related cortex, as a group they failed to show consistent face-selective activation in classical face regions. The lack of a consistent neural signature for faces was attributable to (1) reduced face-selectivity and extent of activation within the regions that will become the FFA, OFA, and STS in adults, and (2) smaller volumes and considerable variability in the locus of face-selective activation in individual children. In contrast, adolescents showed an adult-like pattern of face-selective activation, although it was more right-lateralized. These findings reveal critical age-related differences in the emergence of category-specific functional organization in the visual cortex and support a model of brain development in which specialization emerges from interactions between experience-dependent learning and the maturing brain.