Assessing performance upon abrupt awakening from naps during quasi-continuous operations

Quasi-continuous work settings often involve sleep loss and requirements to perform at unpredictable times. Napping may alleviate some of the sleep-loss problems, but it increases the risk that the person will have difficulty functioning upon abrupt awakening. This paper describes an experimental approach, techniques, and analyses for investigating performance upon abrupt awakening from 2 h naps placed near either the circadian peak (P) or trough (T) in body temperature and preceded by 6, 18, 30, 42, or 54 h of sleep deprivation. Five groups of healthy young adults performed quasi-continuously for 54 h and were permitted a 2-h nap at one of five times. Reaction time (RT) to answer a phone terminating the nap, subjective estimates, and performance of a brief, challenging cognitive task were related to nap-sleep parameters of each group. Sleep deprivation increased the amount of deep sleep in the naps, and this was associated with greater postnap cognitive performance decrements; subjective estimates were unaffected, and RT performance was related simply to stage of sleep prior to awakening. Circadian placement of the naps also modulated the postnap cognitive decrement: T naps produced greater cognitive decrements than P naps, even when the latter involved more prior sleep loss. These findings have both practical and theoretical significance for evaluating the awakening process, and would not have been possible without the approach, techniques, and procedures described.     

A multimodal treatment strategy for behavior problems in toddlers

The article focuses on a multimodal strategy for the treatment of behavior problems commonly associated with toddlers. These problem behaviors, which include temper tantrums, bedtime and sleep difficulties, aggressiveness, not listening, and eating problems, are among the most often presented to mental health professionals who deal with this age group. The treatment approach, which combines clinically pertinent aspects of dynamic, behavioral, and family approaches, includes the following components: data collection (problem clarification, family-of-origin interviews, interactional sessions), formulation of hypotheses, introduction of a behaviorally oriented management program, tracking of problems inherent in the implementation and successful management of the behavioral program, and booster sessions. The treatment strategy is illustrated by a clinical case. Each component of the treatment, along with its inherent clinical problems/difficulties, is discussed.     

The Stripping of the Words: Conflict over the Eucharist in the Episcopal Church

The article recounts and analyses conflict over the Eucharist in England with respect to the words of the 1662 rite in the Book of Common Prayer. It offers a brief historical background followed by an account of methods used to propagate new rites, and the character and arguments of the opposition. It focuses on the conflict between the clergy (in control of the administrative machinery, local and national) and the clerisy in the university and literary intelligentsia. The analysis is made in terms of cultural, social and theological warfare over symbols, and touches on linked issues, such a female ordination and social activism.     

An Investigation of Attention Allocation During Sequential Eye Movement Tasks

Allocation of visuo-spatial attention during dynamic viewing was investigated with a dual task. Primary tasks (reading, scanning, searching) all required sequential left-to-right eye movements. An additional speeded manual response was made to a visual probe that appeared early or late after the onset of a randomly determined fixation (25 or 170 msec probe delay). The probe appeared to the left, directly above, or to the right of the currently fixated character (-10, -5, 0, +5, or +10 characters probe eccentricity). Faster probe detection near the location of the forthcoming eye fixation was found in the search task, but not during reading or scanning. Fixation times increased and saccade lengths decreased as a consequence of probing in all three tasks. Fixations were, however, less prolonged when the probe appeared in the right than when it appeared in the left hemifield, and saccades were greatest when the probe appeared at +10 characters. The results extend the notion of goal-directed attention shifts to free viewing and highlight the impact of task-specific processing requirements.