Development and validation of the HIV Medication Readiness Scale

Excellent medication adherence (>95%) is required for optimal HIV treatment success. This study aimed to develop and validate a brief scale to assess psychological readiness for successfully starting and adhering to HIV medications. HIV-positive men and women (N = 142) from an HIV outpatient clinic completed the proposed HIV Medication Readiness Scale (HMRS) prior to starting HIV medications. The 10-item HMRS demonstrated high internal consistency (alpha = .90), test-retest reliability (r = .83), and sensitivity to change following a standardized 4-session psychoeducational intervention designed to increase readiness for successful adherence. Predictive validity was supported by higher readiness scores on the day starting HIV medications, predicting higher treatment adherence at 1-month follow-up. The HMRS is a brief, easy-to-use, clinically relevant tool that can assist in identifying people living with HIV at high risk of nonadherence, who might benefit from tailored readiness counseling prior to initiating HIV medications.     

Can dogs count?

Numerical competencies have been thoroughly examined in several species, yet relatively few studies have examined such processes in the domestic dog. In an initial experiment, procedures from numerical studies of chimpanzees (0010 and 0015) were adapted for use with 27 domestic dogs. Subjects in these experiments watched as different quantities of food were sequentially dropped into each of two bowls. The subjects were then allowed to select and consume the contents of one of the bowls. Although dogs excelled in a 1 vs 0 condition, their performance failed to significantly surpass chance across all other ratios. In a second experiment with a single subject (a rough collie named Sedona), the procedure was revised so that non-food stimuli were presented simultaneously to the dog on two magnet boards. If Sedona chose the board with the majority of the items, she was rewarded with a piece of food hidden underneath the board. If she made an incorrect choice, she received no reinforcement. Interestingly, Sedona's performance far exceeded that of the dogs in Experiment 1. Implications of these findings for the study of domestic dogs are discussed.     

Collective Apologies and Their Effects on Forgiveness: Pessimistic Evidence but Constructive Implications

In the last three decades, there has been an explosion in the frequency with which leaders of groups have issued official apologies for collective transgressions. These apologies are commonly assumed to lay a pathway to forgiveness and reconciliation, but empirical examination of the downstream consequences of collective apologies is still in its infancy. In this article, we review a series of studies—including interview studies, survey studies, and experiments—that question the assumed wisdom that collective apologies lead to intergroup forgiveness. Reasons for the muted evidence of an apology–forgiveness link at the intergroup level are elaborated, and implications for how best to issue gestures of reconciliation and remorse are discussed.     

Expansion of Genetic Services Utilizing a General Genetic Counseling Clinic

We established a general genetic counseling clinic (GCC) to help reduce long wait times for new patient appointments and to enhance services for a subset of patients. Genetic counselors, who are licensed in Tennessee, were the primary providers and MD geneticists served as medical advisors. This article describes the clinic referral sources, reasons for referral and patient dispositions following their GCC visit(s). We obtained patients by triaging referrals made to our medical genetics division. Over 24 months, our GCC provided timely visits for 321 patients, allowing the MD geneticists to focus on patients needing a clinical exam and/or complex medical management. Following their GCC visit(s), over 80 % of patients did not need additional appointments with an MD geneticist. The GCC allowed the genetic counselor to spend more time with patients than is possible in our traditional medical genetics clinic. Patient satisfaction surveys (n?=?30) were very positive overall concerning the care provided. Added benefits for the genetic counselors were increased professional responsibility, autonomy and visibility as health care providers. We conclude that genetic counselors are accepted as health care providers by patients and referring providers for a subset of clinical genetics cases. A GCC can expand genetic services, complement more traditional genetic clinic models and utilize the strengths of the genetic counselor health care provider.     

Impulsivity and Alcohol Use Coping Motives in a Trauma-Exposed Sample: The Mediating Role of Distress Tolerance

The present investigation examined the mediating role of distress tolerance in the association between impulsivity and alcohol use coping motives among trauma-exposed individuals. Participants were 86 adults (64.3% women; M(age) = 23.4, SD = 9.3) who met the DSM-IV-TR posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) criterion A for at least one traumatic life event and endorsed alcohol use in the past month. Distress tolerance at least partially mediated the association between impulsivity and alcohol use coping motives, after controlling for the variance explained by PTSD symptom severity and alcohol use problems. Clinical implications and future directions related to this line of inquiry are presented and discussed.     

Taxonomising the senses

I argue that we should reject the sparse view that there are or could be only a small number of rather distinct senses. When one appreciates this then one can see that there is no need to choose between the standard criteria that have been proposed as ways of individuating the senses—representation, phenomenal character, proximal stimulus and sense organ—or any other criteria that one may deem important. Rather, one can use these criteria in conjunction to form a fine-grained taxonomy of the senses. We can think of these criteria as defining a multidimensional space within which we can locate each of the senses that we are familiar with and which also defines the space of possible senses there could be.