The Mackworth Clock Test: a computerized version

The Mackworth Clock Test (MCT; N. H. Mackworth, 1948) was developed to evaluate vigilance in British Air Force radar technicians during World War II. Homemade versions of the MCT have since varied with respect to both the characteristics of the device and the procedures of its administration. This article is a report on a computerized version of the MCT developed by the authors to closely emulate Mackworth's test. MCT data were collected from 25 undergraduate students; their performance was found to be equivalent to Mackworth's participants' data. This is the first MCT version that has been validated against the original.     

Socioeconomic status and insomnia

This investigation compared the likelihood of insomnia and insomnia-related health consequences among individuals of different socioeconomic status. A random-digit dialing procedure was used to recruit at least 50 men and 50 women in each age decade from 20 to 80+ years old. Participants completed 2 weeks of sleep diaries as well as questionnaires related to fatigue, sleepiness, and psychological distress. Socioeconomic status was measured by education status assessed at 3 different levels: individual, household, and community. Results indicated that individuals of lower individual and household education were significantly more likely to experience insomnia even after researchers accounted for ethnicity, gender, and age. Additionally, individuals with fewer years of education, particularly those who had dropped out of high school, experienced greater subjective impairment because of their insomnia.     

Current trends in neuropathic pain treatments with special reference to fibromyalgia

Neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia are prevalent diseases which have major consequences on healthcare resources and the individual. From the clinical point of view neuropathic pains represent a heterogeneous group of aetiologically different diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes. Patients with fibromyalgia also display clinical features common in neuropathic pain suggesting that there might be some overlap. The mechanisms responsible for symptoms and signs in both diseases are still unknown. Recently, there have been numerous reports of various pharmacological treatments of neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia with often disappointing results. Most of the studies were of short duration, had high attrition rates, and displayed other methodological problems. Some compounds had high rates of adverse effects which makes it often difficult for the patients to tolerate the treatment, especially in the long-term. At present, the best options for medication treatment are tricyclic antidepressants in lower dosage than usual in psychiatric disorders and a wide range of anticonvulsants. Opioids are sometimes recommended but have been found to have minor efficacy. Recently, there have been more controlled trials, which are reported here if they had been published between 2002 and 2004. Various compounds have been tested in different studies. Treatment of fibromyalgia, which has many features in common with depressive symptoms, became the focus of interest. New promising studies with dual serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (duloxetine and milnacipram) and a newer antiepileptic drug (pregabalin) are in progress. Future research will have to apply new approaches (e.g., using a mechanism-based classification of neuropathic pain and carrying out studies in populations with the same symptom but not necessarily the same disease) in order to find effective treatments for these common and often debilitating diseases.     

Peripheral cuing by abrupt-onset cues: the influence of color in S-R corresponding conditions

Research on visuospatial attention indicates that a peripheral abrupt-onset cue at target position (valid condition) facilitates processing of the target, whereas a cue at another position interferes. This validity effect seems to be contingent on a similarity of the cue's color to the set of target colors (cf. J. Exp. Psychol.: Human Percep. Perform. 18 (1992) 1030). In Experiments 1-3, we confirm this contingency with cues that have the potential to activate responses. Thus, attentional capture and response capture are apparently governed by the same principle. In Experiment 2, it is demonstrated that color priming is not responsible for the contingency. In Experiment 3, it is shown that a more efficient reallocation of attention after color-dissimilar cues than after color-similar cues might contribute to the contingency.     

The emerging dialogue between psychoanalysis and neuroscience: neuroimaging perspectives

Current progress in the cognitive neurosciences is highly relevant to the development of psychoanalytic theory and practice. Neuroscience is today becoming mature enough to provide empirical biological approaches for the investigation of psychoanalytic models and observations. The current state of functional neuroimaging techniques is reviewed, selected paradigms and findings relevant to psychotherapy research are presented, and ways to pursue the dialogue between psychoanalysts and neuroscientists are discussed, as are some related obstacles and pitfalls. The emerging dialogue between psychoanalysts and neuroscientists may help not only to reestablish a solid position of psychodynamic theory and treatment in contemporary medicine, but also to bridge the division between "psychological" and "somatic" treatments, and gain important insights into the mind-brain relationship.     

Style in Philosophy: Part I

In this article, I attempt to restore the philosophical significance of that nonformalizable, noniterable, "singular' element of natural language that I call "style." I begin by critically addressing the exclusion of such instances of natural language by both semantics-oriented logical analysis and a restricted variation of structuralist linguistics. Despite the obvious advantages – with regard to style – of "pragmatic"approaches to language, such pragmatism merely returns to rule-determination in the guise of "normativity." Although style by definition resists any kind of rule-determination – whether posed in terms of semantics or intersubjective regulations of speech-acts – there can be no consideration of language that ignores the persistence of style in natural language. In terms of cognition, any discursive agent understands more than allowed by either semantics or speech-act theory. I ascribe this element of excessive signification to the role of style. My principal thesis is twofold: (1) a hermeneutic approach (exemplified by Schleiermacher) to literature should reveal the heuristically decisive role played by style in philosophy; and, more radically still, (2) style, in fact, may be crucially determinative of philosophical discourse in general. I suggest that a closer scrutiny of the lesser-known works of Ludwig Wittgenstein, conventionally regarded as having dreamt of a "philosophy without style," may consolidate the restoration of style's philosophical import.     

Parentification and its impact on adolescent children of parents with AIDS.

Parentification refers to children or adolescents assuming adult roles before they are emotionally or developmentally ready to manage those roles successfully. We assess predictors and outcomes of parentification among adolescent children of Parents with AIDS (PWAs) in two phases. In Phase 1, relationships among parental AIDS-related illness, parent drug use, parent and adolescent demographics, and parentification indicators (parental, spousal, or adult role-taking) were assessed among 183 adolescent-parent pairs (adolescents: 11 to 18 years, M = 14.8 years, 54% female; parents: 80% female). Adult role-taking was associated with maternal PWAs, female adolescents, and greater parent drug use. Greater parental AIDS-related illness predicted more spousal and parental role-taking. Parent drug use predicted more parental role-taking. In Phase 2, we examined the impact of parentification on later adolescent psychological adjustment (N = 152 adolescents). Adult role-taking predicted more internalized emotional distress; parental role-taking predicted externalized problem behaviors: sexual behavior, alcohol and marijuana use, and conduct problems. Given these dysfunctional outcomes, we discuss interventions to mitigate parentification among children of PWAs.     

Direktausbildung Psychotherapie an der medizinischen Fakultät

Background

There is ongoing political discussion at the Federal Ministry of Health that a university entrance diploma should allow psychotherapy to be studied directly: Graduation leads to a licensure that qualifies for further specialization, e.g. in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or psychodynamic psychotherapy analog to medical specialization. As psychotherapy has its roots in both psychology and in medicine, the question is raised which faculty should be the future home of direct psychotherapy schools.

Material and methods

A theoretical model curriculum of psychosomatic psychotherapy is proposed. Its structure which is oriented to the established structure of medical training and its contents are described. It is argued that the proposed model in the tradition of psychosomatic medicine is suitable to meet ongoing changes in the structure of psychotherapeutic care due to new challenges in the field of public health.

Conclusion

The study of psychotherapy should be associated with chairs in clinical psychology and psychosomatic medicine in order to maintain and further develop the variety and quality which psychotherapy has gained in Germany.     

Psychodynamic focal group treatment for psychosomatic inpatients--with an emphasis on work-related conflicts

Conflicts arising from the work setting have remained a neglected issue in psychotherapy. To address this, the present study investigated the effectiveness of a manualized focal group treatment for psychotherapeutic inpatients suffering from vocational strains and conflicts and identified predictors of outcome. Cohorts of patients were assigned either to a treatment (N=144) or control condition (N=135). The group therapy intervention was found to be highly accepted by participants who were also more optimistic about returning to work and more favorable in their evaluations of treatment than patients in the treatment-as-usual condition. Group climate was found to be a predictor of favorable outcome. The findings suggest that a group therapy intervention with a strong emphasis on motivations and attitudes about work may be particularly suitable to deal with vocational conflicts and strains.