Source monitoring in Alzheimer's Disease

Source monitoring is the process of making judgments about the origin of memories. There are three categories of source monitoring: reality monitoring (discrimination between self- versus other-generated sources), external monitoring (discrimination between several external sources), and internal monitoring (discrimination between two types of self-generated sources). We investigated whether Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients, when compared with young and older adults, are impaired at the same level on the three source monitoring categories. We designed three tasks, one for each source monitoring category. In the first task, aimed at reality monitoring, participants had to remember whether objects were previously placed in a bag by themselves or by the experimenter. In the second task, assessing external monitoring, participants had to remember whether the experimenter had previously placed objects in the bag with a black or white gloved hand. In the third task, measuring internal monitoring, participants had to remember whether they had previously placed or imagined themselves placing objects in the bag. Participants showed worse performances in the external and internal monitoring tasks, when compared with reality monitoring. The external monitoring deficit was even more pronounced in AD patients. Regression analyses showed that variation in the external monitoring performances was reliably predicted by inhibition. Our results emphasize the role of inhibitory processes in AD patients' source monitoring decline. The close relation between source and inhibitory decline in AD is interpreted in terms of a common neural base for both concepts.     

Effects of the Acquisition of Prerequisite Behavior on the Learning of Nonvocal Verbal Behavior and Vocal Imitation in Children With Severe Retardation

The effects of acquisition and maintenance of prerequisite interactions, such as attending behavior, nonverbal imitative behavior, and disruptive behavior, on the learning of nonvocal verbal behavior and vocal imitation were evaluated. Four severely retarded children were selected on the basis of low level or absence of the target behaviors (nonvocal verbal behavior and vocal imitation) and failure to reach the acquisition criterion on prerequisite behavior. The results were evaluated visually and by time series analysis. Findings indicated that the acquisition of prerequisite interactions led to superior performance and fewer trials to reach criteria in this language intervention.

     

Of scapegoats,strawmen, and scarecrows

The thesis of this paper is that much pathology derives from our inability to deal with our feelings of hurt. The inability to deal with hurt results in the externalization of responsibility which in turn creates victims and dysfunctional behavior. The drama of the externalization of responsibility involves the same individual, the victim, or identified patient, playing three successive dysfunctional roles: the scapegoat, the strawman, and the scarecrow. This view of pathology is basically transactional because the process occurs in a familial context where all the parts of the system are intrinsically related in producing a victim.     

Western literature on Soviet psychology and physiology of behavior: A selected bibliography

The present bibliography includes the most important writings which have appeared in Western countries about Soviet psychology, and the translations (into English, French, German, Spanish and Italian) of monographs and anthologies of Soviet psychologists. The references were collected in connection with the preparation of a work on the diffusion of Soviet psychology in Western countries.     

One-year follow-up of pharmacotherapy-resistant patients with panic disorder treated with cognitive-behavior therapy: Outcome and predictors of remission

Non-response to pharmacotherapy for panic disorder (PD) is a well-documented problem. However, little information exists to guide next-step strategies for these non-responders. In addition to pharmacologic augmentation strategies, several studies support the efficacy of cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for these patients, although data on long-term outcomes has been lacking. In this study, we provide one-year outcomes on a sample of 63 patients who completed group CBT for PD after failing to respond adequately to previous pharmacotherapy. Sustained significant benefit was found for all dimensional outcome scores, and nearly two-thirds of the sample met remission criteria. This occurred with reductions in medication use over the follow-up period. Negative predictors of remission status included comorbid dysthymia, social phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder. These results provide additional evidence for the efficacy of CBT for medication non-responders with PD.     

How tool use and arm position affect peripersonal space representation

Experiment 1 investigated whether tool use can expand the peripersonal space into the very far extrapersonal space. Healthy participants performed line bisection in peripersonal and extrapersonal space using wooden sticks up to a maximum of 240 cm. Participants misbisected to the left of the true midpoint, both for lines presented in peripersonal and for those presented in extrapersonal space, confirming a peripersonal space expansion up to a distance of 240 cm. Experiment 2 investigated whether arm position could influence the perception of peripersonal and extrapersonal space during tool use. Participants performed line bisection in the peripersonal and in the extrapersonal space (up to a maximum of 120 cm) using wooden sticks in two different conditions: either with the arm bent or with the arm stretched. Results showed stronger pseudoneglect in the stretched arm condition.     

Using an eye-tracker to assess the effectiveness of a three-dimensional riding simulator in increasing hazard perception

A crucial factor contributing to the high rate of road accidents involving young people is inexperience, in particular the inability to promptly identify risky situations. The aim of this study is to test the effectiveness of a riding simulator in improving this skill in young inexperienced riders. We use the first fixation latency to measure the improvement in detecting the hazardous object. Results show that four training sessions can significantly affect promptness in detecting new hazardous objects as they appear, decreasing the time needed to orient the eyes to the hazard.     

The Italian Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire: A Contribution to its Validity and Reliability

Mindfulness refers to the ability to be aware of and attentive to internal and external events, without becoming overwhelmed or feeling the need to react automatically. Recent studies indicate that this ability is associated with the following factors: mental health, psychological functioning, and stress reduction. Although questionnaires have been developed to measure mindfulness, so far these have not been adapted for use within the Italian population. Thus, the aim of our studies was to investigate the reliability and validity of an Italian version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ; Baer et al. Assessment, 13, 27–45, 2006). The FFMQ is a self-report measure that is based on a five-facet model (i.e., Observe, Describe, Act with Awareness, Nonjudge, and Nonreact). In the first study, internal consistency, factor structure, and concurrent validity analyses were carried out on a sample of 559 volunteers. The second study entailed test–retest analyses on a different sample of 43 students. The results showed that the Italian FFMQ: (a) has a similar factor structure to the original English version; (b) has good to excellent internal consistency as a whole (alpha?=?0.86) with sub-scale consistency ranging from 0.65 to 0.81, and test–retest stability for the total score being 0.71; (c) has good concurrent validity as demonstrated by significant correlations between the FFMQ scores and a number of self-report measures related to mindfulness. Our findings support both the adaptation of the FFMQ to the Italian context as well as the conceptualization of mindfulness in multi-faceted terms.