Conceptual,methodological, and clinical issues in cognitive-behavioral assessment

This article reviews cognitive-behavioral assessment principles and procedures. The functions of such assessments are noted, and issues and advances in cognitive assessment are discussed. The need for integrated cognitive, behavioral, and affective assessments is then explored. Finally, conceptual methodological, and clinical issues in the integration of assessments and study of reciprocal determinants are presented.Preparation of this paper was supported in part by a General Research Board Faculty Research Award from the University of Maryland. The author would like to thank Steve Graham, Donald Meichenbaum, Barbara Keogh, and Bernice Wong for their feedback during the preparation of this paper.     

Midline and off-midline tongue and right- and left-hand vibrotactile thresholds of stutterers and normal-speaking individuals

Vibrotactile thresholds for 7 male stutterers and 7 normal-speaking men (age range for both groups = 19 to 32 yr.) were obtained from the right, midline, and left sides of the lingual dorsum, and the thenar eminences of both hands. The stutterers showed slightly higher (less sensitive) mean thresholds than the normal speakers for all three lingual test sites. This was not the case for the thresholds obtained from both hands. The preliminary data suggest that oral peripheral sensory integrity might be somewhat different for stutterers than for normal-speaking individuals.     

Referrals to school psychologists: A national survey

School psychologists serving a national, systematic sample of public elementary and secondary schools were surveyed regarding recent referrals. Most referrals were initiated by school staff members (75% of referrals), and the majority occured initially through formal mechanisms (55% of referrals). Most informal requests for assistance or information eventually became, or were thought likely to become, formal referrals. In 92% of cases, the referral agent's initial communication with the psychologist included some designation of what the pupil was doing or not doing that was viewed as problematic. Poor academic performance was of primary concern in 52% of referrals and social/emotional problems in 31%. More boys were referred than girls, and one-half of referrals from the elementary grades involved pupils in grades K-2. Frequency of referral and reason for referral were not independent of pupil's grade or sex. Reason for referral was independent of time of year (October vs. May) and geographical region.     

Schedule-induced behavior in hyperactive children

A schedule-induced behavior paradigm was used to investigate the activity patterns of hyperactive children in a standardized situation. In Experiment I, 10 hyperactive and 10 normal control children matched for age, sex, and IQ were observed under conditions of baseline and schedule. Measures of a number of categorized activities were taken on a time-sampling basis. Hyperactive children were more active than controls in baseline and did not respond to the schedule, unlike the controls who became significantly more active in schedule conditions. In Experiment II, 12 hyperactive and 6 normal children were again subjected to the same experimental paradigm, but in two of the four experimental sessions the stimulant drug methylphenidate was administered in an attempt to reduce the amount of baseline activity. Results were substantially similar to those of Experiment I, with hyperactive children more active than controls in baseline and insensitive to the schedule. There was no overall effect of drug administration on the behavior of either group. There were some ratedependent effects of both drug and schedule conditions.     

SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE ATTRIBUTION OF SOCIALLY DESIRABLE AND UNDESIRABLE TRAITS TO OUT-GROUP MEMBERS*

One hundred and forty-four male and female Australian subjects rated an Australian or a Vietnamese target group on the possession of five socially desirable and five socially undesirable personality traits. As predicted, the out-group was perceived less favourably than the in-group, but only by the males, the females not making the distinction.     

Stability of magnitude production scales for oral and nonoral vibrotactile mechanoreceptive systems

The stability of oral and nonoral vibrotactile magnitude scales produced by the method of magnitude production was investigated for 11 adult subjects. Each subject was tested over four sessions separated by 1-wk. intervals. Data analyses included correlations across trials of power function slopes as well as individual adjustments of intensity. Analysis showed a lack of stability over time for the slope functions obtained on the thenar eminence but moderate stability for the functions obtained on the tongue. Individual adjustments on intensity showed consistently high correlations across trials and structures. It was concluded that the subjects' responses were guided by the imposed experimental variables and that each individual's scaling was not necessarily reflected by the correlations based on power function slopes established over the four trials.     

Centering culture in the treatment of opioid use disorder with American Indian and Alaska Native Communities: Contributions from a National Collaborative Board

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities are disproportionally impacted by the opioid overdose epidemic. There remains a dearth of research evaluating methods for effectively implementing treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD) within these communities. We describe proceedings from a 2-day Collaborative Board (CB) meeting tasked with developing an implementation intervention for AI/AN clinical programs to improve the delivery of medications to treat OUD (MOUD). The CB was comprised of Elders, cultural leaders, providers, individuals with lived experience with OUD, and researchers from over 25 communities, organizations, and academic institutions. Conversations were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded by two academic researchers with interpretation oversight provided by the CB. These proceedings provided a foundation for ongoing CB work and a frame for developing the program-level implementation intervention using a strength-based and holistic model of OUD recovery and wellbeing. Topics of discussion posed to the CB included engagement and recovery strategies, integration of extended family traditions, and addressing stigma and building trust with providers and clients. Integration of traditional healing practices, ceremonies, and other cultural practices was recommended. The importance of centering AI/AN culture and involving family were highlighted as priorities for the intervention.     

Anticipation across modalities in children and adults: Relating anticipatory alpha rhythm lateralization,reaction time,and executive function

The development of the ability to anticipate—as manifested by preparatory actions and neural activation related to the expectation of an upcoming stimulus—may play a key role in the ontogeny of cognitive skills more broadly. This preregistered study examined anticipatory brain potentials and behavioral responses (reaction time; RT) to anticipated target stimuli in relation to individual differences in the ability to use goals to direct action (as indexed by measures of executive function; EF). A cross-sectional investigation was conducted in 40 adults (aged 18–25 years) and 40 children (aged 6–8 years) to examine the association of changes in the amplitude of modality-specific alpha-range rhythms in the electroencephalogram (EEG) during anticipation of lateralized visual, tactile, or auditory stimuli with inter- and intraindividual variation in RT and EF. Children and adults exhibited contralateral anticipatory reductions in the mu rhythm and the visual alpha rhythm for tactile and visual anticipation, respectively, indicating modality and spatially specific attention allocation. Variability in within-subject anticipatory alpha lateralization (the difference between contralateral and ipsilateral alpha power) was related to single-trial RT. This relation was more prominent in adults than in children, and was not apparent for auditory stimuli. Multilevel models indicated that interindividual differences in anticipatory mu rhythm lateralization contributed to the significant association with variability in EF, but this was not the case for visual or auditory alpha rhythms. Exploratory microstate analyses were undertaken to cluster global field power (GFP) into a distribution-free temporal analysis examining developmental differences across samples and in relation to RT and EF. Anticipation is suggested as a developmental bridge construct connecting neuroscience, behavior, and cognition, with anticipatory EEG oscillations being discussed as quantifiable and potentially malleable indicators of stimulus prediction.