Quality of Life in Old Age: Problematic Issues

Quality of Life (QoL) is a concept widely used in gerontology, as well as in other fields such as anthropology, health sciences, psychology, sociology and political sciences. Historically, although Aristotle is considered as an antecedent, the term QoL emerged in about the sixties in scientific literature. In the field of ageing, it is considered as an outcome of projects, programmes, services or policies and is used for describing populations, contexts and individuals. QoL is considered by most experts as a multidimensional concept involving multiple domains (health, psychological, social and environmental), containing objective and subjective components. Nevertheless, in recent years, QoL has been reduced to the subjective appraisal, to health or to subjective psychological attributes such as well-being, happiness or life satisfaction. Moreover, conceptual confusions can be found between QoL and other concepts related to positive ageing. In this conceptually-driven paper, after reviewing a set of expert and lay conceptualizations of QoL and identifying the diversity of its components, three critical issues will be discussed: its reduction to health or to the subjective appraisal of a set of domains, the confusion of QoL with other subjective or positive concepts and, finally, its methodological reductionism to self-reports as an exclusive procedure for QoL data collection. From these criticisms some conceptual and methodological suggestions are proposed.     

The importance of context information for the spatial specificity of gaze cueing

In three experiments, we investigated the spatial allocation of attention in response to central gaze cues. In particular, we examined whether the allocation of attentional resources is influenced by context information—that is, the presence or absence of reference objects (i.e., placeholders) in the periphery. On each trial, gaze cues were followed by a target stimulus to which participants had to respond by keypress or by performing a target-directed saccade. Targets were presented either in an empty visual field (Exps. 1 and 2) or in previewed location placeholders (Exp. 3) and appeared at one of either 18 (Exp. 1) or six (Exps. 2 and 3) possible positions. The spatial distribution of attention was determined by comparing response times as a function of the distance between the cued and target positions. Gaze cueing was not specific to the exact cued position, but instead generalized equally to all positions in the cued hemifield, when no context information was provided. However, gaze direction induced a facilitation effect specific to the exact gazed-at position when reference objects were presented. We concluded that the presence of possible objects in the periphery to which gaze cues could refer is a prerequisite for attention shifts being specific to the gazed-at position.     

Perceptual integration of motion and form information: evidence of parallel-continuous processing

In three visual search experiments, the processes involved in the efficient detection of motion-form conjunction targets were investigated. Experiment 1 was designed to estimate the relative contributions of stationary and moving nontargets to the search rate. Search rates were primarily determined by the number of moving nontargets; stationary nontargets sharing the target form also exerted a significant effect, but this was only about half as strong as that of moving nontargets; stationary nontargets not sharing the target form had little influence. In Experiments 2 and 3, the effects of display factors influencing the visual (form) quality of moving items (movement speed and item size) were examined. Increasing the speed of the moving items (> 1.5 degrees/sec) facilitated target detection when the task required segregation of the moving from the stationary items. When no segregation was necessary, increasing the movement speed impaired performance: With large display items, motion speed had little effect on target detection, but with small items, search efficiency declined when items moved faster than 1.5 degrees/sec. This pattern indicates that moving nontargets exert a strong effect on the search rate (Experiment 1) because of the loss of visual quality for moving items above a certain movement speed. A parallel-continuous processing account of motion-form conjunction search is proposed, which combines aspects of Guided Search (Wolfe, 1994) and attentional engagement theory (Duncan & Humphreys, 1989).     

Does P3 Reflect Attentional or Memory Performances,or Cognition more Generally?

The study evaluated the off-line relationship of attention, memory and other cognitive performances with the auditory event-related potentials P3 (P300) and N2. The sample comprised 200 middle-aged construction workers. Verbal, visuomotor and memory tests were administered. Attentional domains were examined using CogniSpeed software. Slowed reaction times in the test of sustained attention (vigilance) were associated with delayed P3 latency (p < 0.001) and decreased P3 amplitude (p = 0.005), as well as with delayed N2 latency (p < 0.001). Visuomotor slowing in Digit Symbol was also related to delayed P3 latency (p = 0.030) and decreased P3 amplitude (p = 0.014). In contrast, mild cognitive impairment, short- and long-term memory, and concentrating or sharing attention with high working memory demands were not related to P3. The results suggest that P3 is linked to attentional performance with low working memory demands rather than to effortful working memory updating, retrieval from memory stores, or mild cognitive impairment.     

Six year follow-up of health status changes in Danish adults with suicide tendency in 1994

The purpose of this study was to determine whether suicidal ideation and/ or suicide attempts have any long-term health effects. The relationship between suicidal thoughts and/or a previous suicide attempt in 1994 and the presence of suicidal ideation in 2000 was analyzed. We found that health status in 1994 differed significantly between the groups with and without suicidal ideation or a previous suicide attempt and that the differences persisted or even deepened (not significant) after 6 years. Further, people who had suicidal ideation or a suicide attempt in 1994 had a significantly greater risk (OR = 7.4) of having suicidal ideation in 2000 than people who had not.     

The Ebbinghaus illusion modulates visual search for size-defined targets: evidence for preattentive processing of apparent object size

Five search experiments investigated whether the apparent size of objects is, like their retinal size, coded in preattentive vision. Observers searched for a target circle that was either larger or smaller than distractor circles, with both types of test circles surrounded by context circles modulating apparent size (i.e., the Ebbinghaus illusion). The size ratio between the test and the context circles was manipulated in such a way that the test circles were surrounded by, for example, smaller context circles (making the larger target appear even larger) or by larger context circles (making the smaller distractors appear even smaller). Under optimal conditions, the detection reaction times were independent of the number of test circles in the display, and the Ebbinghaus illusion facilitated the detection of the target even in comparison with control conditions without any context circles. This finding is consistent with preattentive, spatially parallel processing of apparent size.     

Physical attractiveness and health: comment on Weeden and Sabini (2005)

Evolutionary behavioral biology suggests that certain characteristics of the human face and body are important for mate preferences and are therefore subject to sexual selection. J. Weeden and J. Sabini identify a number of weaknesses in the association between traits' attractiveness and health. In contrast, the authors argue that (a) studies on preferences for physical characteristics that rely on 1 trait permit only limited interpretation, (b) limitations placed on J. Weeden and J. Sabini's review exclude important associations, (c) there are misconceptions in their treatment of some traits, and (d) their selected literature provides an inaccurate picture regarding effect size. The authors suggest that future research in this field should seek conceptual and methodological constancy in trait selection and in the evaluation of attractiveness- and health-related traits.     

A multinomial model to assess central characteristics of mental operators

Knowledge about potential operators, about the preconditions of their applicability, and about their effects is essential to interact effectively with the physical world. Four classes of representational units of this knowledge can be distinguished: I) rules, II) structures, III) instances, and IV) episodes. Two important characteristics of these units are the abstractness of content and the directionality of access. A multinomial model is presented that enables the measurement of these characteristics. Three experiments were conducted to validate the parameters of the model. The multinomial model could be fitted very well to the empirical data of each experiment. Moreover, the parameter estimates showed the expected effects. The model allows the investigation of the influence of important variables (for example, knowledge domain, type of instruction, or amount of practice) on characteristics of mental operators without a strong commitment to any specific process theory. Debates regarding the contribution of different kinds of knowledge can be converted into statistical tests of the corresponding model parameters.     

Investigation into the effect of fluphenazine hydrochloride (lyorodin) in children with behaviour disorders by means of psychophysiological parameters

In a group of 44 children with behaviour disorders, the mode of action of the phenothiazine preparation fluphenazine hydrochloride (Lyorodin) was tested by means of psychophysiological methods of measurement (critical flicker-fuse frequency and measurement of the response time). In some of the comparative examinations before and after administration of the drug significant differences were found. A defined psychic stress resulted in changed measured values in both methods. Children with cerebral injuries showed a lower degree of reaction after the administration of the preparation than children not encephalopathically affected.     

Episodic psychoses in epileptic juveniles with reference to electroencephalographic findings]

The present paper describes three juveniles affected with epilepsy, who suffered from episodic psychoses. Such disorders are a very rare occurrence in young persons. The patients had grand mal epilepsy with "secondary temporalization". Clinical and electroencepholographic aspects are discussed by reference to these particular cases. Also, the authors deal with questions of classification and etiopathogenesis. Finally, possible causes producing such psychoses and giving rise to the psychopathological character thereof are pointed out within the framework of a multiconditional approach.