Event-Related Potential Findings in Healthy Extremely Pre-Term (< Week 29) Children at Age 10

Ten healthy extremely pre-term (EPT) children, born before gestational week 29, were tested at age 10 using mismatch negativity (MMN) and a three-tone odd-ball task; the results were then compared to age-matched full-term controls. We found no difference in MMN. By contrast, EPT children had generally shorter N1 latencies and larger P2 amplitudes, possibly indicating a more stimulus-driven response mode. However, P300 parameters, indicative of controlled attention, were unaffected.     

Developmental change in the neuropsychological functioning of very low birth weight infants

Research on very low birth weight (VLBW) infants has not carefully evaluated developmental patterns of neurological and neuropsychological functioning across time. This study reports on a broad range of developmental outcomes for VLBW infants of low (LR, n = 116) and high (HR, n = 84) medical risk compared to full term infants (FT, n = 120) across 6, 12, and 24 months of age. While low risk infants showed initial delays in most areas, faster rates of change in motor and neurological development resulted in catch-up by 2 years of age as compared to the FT infants. The lack of acceleration in development of mental skills demonstrates a persistent lag in this area. In contrast, HR infants showed initial delays in all areas as compared to both LR and FT infants with slower rates of change in mental and expressive language skills. Although faster rates of change were evident for HR infants in motor, neurological, and receptive language skills, scores in these areas remain lower than those for the LR and FT infants. The absence of accelerated rates of development for certain VLBW infants has implications for prognosis and patient access to early intervention services.     

Culturally Competent Family Interventions: Review and Case Illustrations

Family therapy is often the treatment of choice for culturally diverse clients. This article provides a critical review of culturally competent assessment and intervention strategies for use with ethnic minority families in the U.S. A culturally informed view of the definition of family health and dysfunction is presented, basic structure and goals of family therapy are delineated, and family therapy process and techniques are addressed. Clinical vignettes are provided to illustrate critical points.     

Aging and Family Therapy: Exploring The Training and Knowledge of Family Therapists

The present study examined therapists' training in aging issues, and their knowledge and attitudes about aging. One hundred and ninety-one clinicians completed a web-based questionnaire. The majority of respondents reported to have some training in aging issues, although they did not believe it prepared them well to work with older clients. Clinicians reported feeling comfortable working with older adults, yet they also agreed that special training could benefit their work. Knowledge scores were significantly correlated with interest in aging issues, perceived importance of training, perceived competence, and perceived effectiveness in treating older adults. Research and clinical implications are discussed.     

Parent predictors of changes in child behavior problems

The present study examined whether ineffective discipline, single parent status, social support, parent involvement, and parent depression predicted changes in preschoolers' (N = 129) behavior problems. This study also evaluated whether child sex and ethnicity moderated the relations between these variables and changes in problem behavior. Parents completed questionnaires at the beginning of the study, and parent, teacher, and observational ratings of children's behavior problems were collected twice during the school year. Parents' own social support predicted improvement for boys and parent depression was associated with worsening symptoms for girls. Single parenthood and parent involvement predicted changes in behavior problems for the sample as a whole. Several significant ethnic differences emerged, highlighting the importance of considering cultural context in studies of parenting and child externalizing behavior.     

Longitudinal Test of Forgiveness and Perceived Forgiveness as Mediators between Religiosity and Marital Satisfaction in Long-Term Marital Relationships

Abstract

Substantial research has found relations between religiosity and martial satisfaction. More longitudinal studies are needed to understand the inner-workings of this relationship. Over a four-year period, dyadic data from 331 married couples was used to test the longitudinal mediating effects of spousal forgiveness and partners’ perceptions of spousal forgiveness between religiosity and marital satisfaction. Husbands’ religiosity was associated with increases in wives’ marital satisfaction but the measures of forgiveness were not significant mediators in this relationship. Wives’ religiosity was predictive of lower levels of wives’ perceptions of spousal forgiveness, which led to decreases in both wives’ and husbands’ marital satisfaction.     

Affect as a motivational state

Using Brehm's (1999) intensity of emotion paradigm, we investigated whether basic positive or negative affect operates like a motivational state. We focused on one of the most basic affects, the sensory affect experienced when eating food. Participants tasted a delicious chocolate truffle (Study 1) or some bitter chocolate (Study 2) and were exposed to either a weak, moderately strong, or a very strong reason for feeling an opposing-valence affect or to no reason. In line with the predictions, the affect that participants reported in response to chocolate functioned like a motivational state as its intensity was a cubic function of the importance of the reason for feeling an opposing affect. We discussed the implications of these findings for the conceptualisation of affect and consider several applications for food advertising and consumer rating research.     

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE DIFFERENCE DEFICIT HYPOTHESIS USING THE CLOZE PROCEDURE

Abstract

This study considers the hypothesized differences of difference and deficitreaders using the cloze procedure in narrative passages at the fourth grade level. The authors reject the hypothesis that deficit readers are better able to use surrounding context than difference readers. While the study's experimental design to test the difference/deficit hypothesis may not be the most powerful, it is a modified replication of a previous study from which the difference/deficit hypothesis was drawn (Cromer & Weiner, 1966). As such it does not seem to support difference/deficit notions of reading disability.     

A Treatise vs. An enquiry: Omissions and Distortions by the New Humeans

There is a definite stress on the primacy of An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding over A Treatise of Human Nature by the so-called New Humeans, who in turn, advocate the sceptical/causal realist interpretation of Hume's empiricism. This paper shows how there has been a deliberate attempt by them to omit and distort certain negative aspects of Hume's life in the belief that in order to accept their interpretations we must first acknowledge that, (1) the Enquiry is the superior text and, (2) reject any criticisms suggesting that Hume only wrote it to help promote the Treatise and fulfil his ambitions for literary fame.     

A Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Study of Autobiographical Memory Retrieval

Memory for the experiences of one's life, autobiographical memory (AM), is one of the most human types of memory, yet comparatively little is known of its neurobiology. A positron emission tomography (PET) study of AM retrieval revealed that the left frontal cortex was significantly active during retrieval (compared to memory control tasks), together with activation in the inferior temporal and occipital lobes in the left hemisphere. We propose that this left frontal lobe activation reflects the operation of control processes that modulate the construction of AMs in posterior neocortical networks.