Brain potentials implicate temporal lobe abnormalities in criminal psychopaths

Psychopathy is associated with abnormalities in attention and orienting. However, few studies have examined the neural systems underlying these processes. To address this issue, the authors recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) while 80 incarcerated men, classified as psychopathic or nonpsychopathic via the Hare Psychopathy Checklist--Revised (R. D. Hare, 1991, 2003), completed an auditory oddball task. Consistent with hypotheses, processing of targets elicited larger frontocentral negativities (N550) in psychopaths than in nonpsychopaths. Psychopaths also showed an enlarged N2 and reduced P3 during target detection. Similar ERP modulations have been reported in patients with amygdala and temporal lobe damage. The data are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that psychopathy may be related to dysfunction of the paralimbic system--a system that includes parts of the temporal and frontal lobes.     

Confirmatory factor analysis of the three-factor structure of the schizotypal personality questionnaire and Chapman schizotypy scales

We examined the factor structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ; Raine, 1991), using confirmatory factor analysis in 3 experiments, with an aim to better understand the construct of schizotypy. In Experiment 1 we tested the fit of 2-, 3-, and 4-factor models on SPQ data from a normal sample. The paranoid 4-factor model fit the data best but not adequately. Based on the strong basis for the Raine 3-factor model we attempted to improve the fit of the 3-factor model by making 3 modifications to the Raine model. These modifications produced a well-fitting model. In Experiment 2 the good fit of this modified 2-factor model to SPQ scores was replicated in an independent normal sample. In Experiment 3, the modified 3-factor model was successfully extended to include the 3 Chapman schizotypy scales. Together these 3 experiments indicate that the 3-factor model of the SPQ, albeit with some slight modifications, is a good model for schizotypy structure that is not restricted to 1 measure of schizotypal personality traits.     

A cross-cultural, long-term outcome evaluation of the ISTAR Comprehensive Stuttering Program across Dutch and Canadian adults who stutter

There is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of stuttering treatment programs delivered in domestic and international contexts and to determine if treatment delivered internationally is culturally sensitive. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the ISTAR Comprehensive Stuttering Program (CSP) within and across client groups from the Netherlands and Canada revealed generally positive results. At 2 years post-treatment both groups were maintaining statistically significant reductions in stuttering frequency and improvements in attitudes, confidence, and perceptions as measured by the Revised Communication Attitude Inventory (S24), Perceptions of Stuttering Inventory (PSI), and the approach scale of the Self-Efficacy Scaling by Adult Stutterers (SESAS). Data pooled across the groups on these measures gave evidence of a global treatment effect with standardized effect sizes ranging from typical to larger than typical in the behavioural sciences. Only two differences between the groups emerged: differences in speech rate and perception of self. Given that these groups represent two distinct cultures, differences were discussed in terms of whether they could be due to cultural, methodological, or other variables. Overall, results suggest that, the CSP appears to be similarly effective in both cultures and thus, sufficiently sensitive to the culture of Dutch adults who stutter.

Educational objectives: The reader will be able to (a) describe a methodology that can be used in a clinical setting to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of stuttering treatment with adults, (b) describe some of the challenges in developing a model of clinically meaningful outcome, (c) explain the rationale for the need for cross-cultural investigations of treatment outcome, and (d) summarize speech and self-report results of the cross-cultural evaluation of an integrated stuttering treatment program.     

Developmental trajectories of childhood disruptive behaviors and adolescent delinquency: a six-site,cross-national study

This study used data from 6 sites and 3 countries to examine the developmental course of physical aggression in childhood and to analyze its linkage to violent and nonviolent offending outcomes in adolescence. The results indicate that among boys there is continuity in problem behavior from childhood to adolescence and that such continuity is especially acute when early problem behavior takes the form of physical aggression. Chronic physical aggression during the elementary school years specifically increases the risk for continued physical violence as well as other nonviolent forms of delinquency during adolescence. However, this conclusion is reserved primarily for boys, because the results indicate no clear linkage between childhood physical aggression and adolescent offending among female samples despite notable similarities across male and female samples in the developmental course of physical aggression in childhood.     

Neighborhood structure,parenting processes,and the development of youths' externalizing behaviors: a multilevel analysis

Associations among neighborhood structure, parenting processes, and the development of externalizing behavior problems were investigated in a longitudinal sample of early adolescents (from age 11 to 13). Mothers' reports of parental monitoring (at age 11), mothers' and youths' reports of the amount of youths' unsupervised time (at age 11), and youths' reports of positive parental involvement (at age 12) were used to predict initial levels (at age 11) and growth rates in youths' externalizing behavior as reported by teachers. Census-based measures of neighborhood structural disadvantage, residential instability, and concentrated affluence were expected to moderate the effects of parenting processes (e.g., parental monitoring) on externalizing behavior. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed that less parental monitoring was associated with more externalizing behavior problems at age 11, and more unsupervised time spent out in the community (vs. unsupervised time in any context) and less positive parental involvement were associated with increases in externalizing behavior across time. Furthermore, the decrease in externalizing levels associated with more parental monitoring was significantly more pronounced when youths lived in neighborhoods with more residential instability.     

Evidence-based treatment of stuttering: III. Evidence-based practice in a clinical setting

At the heart of evidence-based practice in stuttering treatment are four issues: (1) the collection of data to inform treatment; (2) the long standing concern with maintenance of treatment gains; (3) the need to demonstrate accountability to clients, payers and our profession as service providers; and (4) the desire to advance theoretical knowledge. This article addresses the first three of these issues from a practical point of view, illustrating how data collection for stuttering treatment outcome research in a clinical setting is intimately blended with that required for clinical purposes and providing an example of a process of evaluating data for clinical and research purposes. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will learn about and be able to (1) differentiate between treatment outcome and treatment efficacy research, (2) describe models for integrating data collection for treatment outcome and clinical purposes, and (3) utilize guidelines for treatment efficacy that are applicable to outcome research to evaluate data for use in treatment outcome studies and to design outcome studies.     

Comparison of video- and EMG-based evaluations of the magnitude of children’s emotion-modulated startle response

We investigated the reliability and validity of a video-based method of measuring the magnitude of children’s emotion-modulated startle response when electromyographic (EMG) measurement is not feasible. Thirty-one children between the ages of 4 and 7 years were videotaped while watching short video clips designed to elicit happiness or fear. Embedded in the audio track of the video clips were acoustic startle probes. A coding system was developed to quantify from the video record the strength of the eye-blink startle response to the probes. EMG measurement of the eye blink was obtained simultaneously. Intercoder reliability for the video coding was high (Cohen’sκ = .90). The average within-subjects probe-by-probe correlation between the EMG- and video-based methods was .84. Group-level correlations between the methods were also strong, and there was some evidence of emotion modulation of the startle response with both the EMG- and the video-derived data. Although the video method cannot be used to assess the latency, probability, or duration of startle blinks, the findings indicate that it can serve as a valid proxy of EMG in the assessment of the magnitude of emotion-modulated startle in studies of children conducted outside of a laboratory setting, where traditional psychophysiological methods are not feasible.     

The role of self-enhancing evaluations in a successful life transition

The objective of the study was to investigate how self-enhancing evaluations, obtained via positive social comparisons and reflected appraisals, were related to mental health in a later life transition. The sample consisted of 266 women who were interviewed once before and 3 times after the experience of community relocation. Results extended prior findings suggesting the dynamic impact of self-enhancing evaluative processes on psychological well-being and depressive symptoms. Additional analyses showed evidence for reverse causality, that is, that mental health also influenced self-evaluative processes. This study underscores the significance of holding a positive view of self vis-à-vis others in negotiating life challenges as well as the reciprocal influence of well-being on social self-evaluative processes.     

Adult age differences in temporal and item memory

Three experiments tested whether the relationship between age differences in temporal and item memory depends on the degree to which the item memory measure relies on memory for context. The authors predicted a stronger relationship of temporal memory to free recall than to recognition memory. Results showed that age differences in temporal memory could be eliminated after controlling for free recall but not recognition memory performance. Under some conditions recognition memory accounted for a significant portion of age-related variance in temporal memory. These results challenge past research that has interpreted age differences in temporal and item memory as independent and suggest that a generalized decline in context memory may underlie reduced performance in older adults on all types of memory tests.