Fragile X syndrome: Neural network models of sequencing and memory

A comparative framework of memory processes in males with fragile X syndrome (FXS) and typically developing (TYP) mental age-match children is presented. Results indicate a divergence in sequencing skills, such that males with FXS recall sequences similarly to TYP children around five and a half years of age, but the males with FXS recall significantly worse when compared to TYP children around seven and a half years of age. Performance on one working memory measure, an n-back Card Task, is modeled with a neural network. To date, no network models explicate the sequencing and memory processes in those with FXS. Noise was added to various levels (weight matrices) in the FXS model and outputs approximated human FXS performance. Three models were compared: (1) FXS; (2) younger mental age-TYP matches; (3) older reading level-TYP matches. Modeling can help to reify conceptualizations of deficits and to guide in the creation of more valid, science-based remediations. The FXS model suggested that the levels of phonological representation and sequencing in memory were candidates for targeted therapies in males with FXS.     

Sit Still and Pay Attention?

Sitting still while trying to pay attention implicitly reinforces the idea that to pay attention one should focus on a single aspect of the stimulus. Movement encourages attending to different aspects of the stimulus and as such is hypothesized to increase attention. We tested this with students from a traditional and a nontraditional school. Students were asked to observe and recall landmarks on a map. Students from the traditional school who viewed the map from multiple perspectives remembered more landmarks and locations than students who viewed the map from a single perspective. Students from a nontraditional school who are accustomed to movement while learning, did not show this effect. The experiment is discussed in terms of mindfulness theory.     

Ethical psychiatry in an uncertain world: conversations and parallel truths

Psychiatric practice is often faced with complex situations that seem to pose serious moral dilemmas for practitioners. Methods for solving these dilemmas have included the development of more objective rules to guide the practitioner such as utilitarianism and deontology. A more modern variant on this objective model has been 'Principlism' where 4 mid level rules are used to help solve these complex problems. In opposition to this, there has recently been a focus on more subjective criteria for resolving complex moral dilemmas. In particular, virtue ethics has been posited as a more sensitive method for helping doctors to reason their way through difficult ethical issues. Here the focus is on the character traits of the practitioner. Bloch and Green advocated another way whereby more objective methods such as Principlism and virtue ethics are combined to produce what they considered sound moral reasoning in psychiatrists. This paper points out some difficulties with this approach and instead suggests that a better model of ethical judgment could be developed through the use of narratives or stories. This idea puts equal prima facie value on the patient's and the psychiatrist's version of the dilemma they are faced with. It has the potential to lead to a more genuine empathy and reflective decision-making.     

Judgmental God image,social embeddedness,and social trust among the highly religious in the United States

In this article we explore two propositions concerning the manner in which judgmental God image affects social trust among the highly religious in the United States. One proposition argues that having a judgmental God image and being highly embedded in a community of co-religionists can create low levels of social trust through social bonding and the formation of particularized trust. The other proposition maintains that embeddedness in a moral community of co-religionists helps to reinforce the idea that people are basically good and require love and forgiveness. This leads to higher levels of trust. We test an interaction between judgmental God image and social embeddedness with OLS analysis and data from the 2014 Baylor Religion Survey. We restrict the analysis to the highly religious, those who have no doubt about the existence of God and belong to a place of worship. We find that respondents with a judgmental God image who do not belong to a moral community with any or a few friends have the lowest levels of social trust. Those who have a judgmental God image but are highly embedded in a moral community with at least half of their friends have higher levels of social trust. Embeddedness negates the negative effects of judgmental God image on social trust. Implications for research are discussed in the conclusion.     

Comparisons of children with delayed and normal language at 24 months of age on measures of behavioral difficulties,social and cognitive development

This investigation compared a group of expressive language-delayed children with language-normal children of the same age (M = 25.7 months; SD = 0.8 months) on various measures of development and behavioral difficulties. Data were obtained through language sampling, direct developmental assessment, and maternal reports of children's development and behavior. Scores on measures of social and cognitive development for children with language delay were found to be significantly lower than normals. Further, maternal reports indicated that these children displayed significantly more behavioral difficulties overall than did the language-normal children. Specifically, the language-delayed children exhibited more symptoms of anxiety and depression, withdrawal, sleep problems, and other behavioral disturbances. In addition, children evaluated as expressive language delayed scored significantly lower on measures of receptive language, maternal ratings of communicative competency, and other indices of language proficiency. The results point to the centrality of expressive and receptive language development in relation to early-appearing behavior problems and other developmental milestones. With these findings in mind, early language intervention may not only promote language development, but also prevent the development or exacerbation of socioemotional problems. © 1998 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

Mindfulness and self-acceptance

The present article will focus on the cognitive theory of mindfulness and its importance in achieving unconditional self-acceptance. The goal of the mindful perspective is to increase cognitive flexibility and to thereby increase behavioral flexibility and the ability to adapt to one’s current environment in a meaningful manner. Empirical evidence spanning four decades attests to the beneficial effects of a mindful vs. mindless perspective. The article will focus on the following aspects of mindfulness as they apply to self-acceptance: the importance of authenticity, the tyranny of evaluation, the benefits of mistakes, the mindlessness of social comparison, the trap of rigid categories, and the acceptance of self as a mindful choice. The article concludes with a number of mindfulness applications geared toward enhancing self-acceptance.