Gist-based memory for prices and “better buys” in younger and older adults

Ageing typically leads to various memory deficits which results in older adults’ tendency to remember more general information and rely on gist memory. The current study examined if younger and older adults could remember which of two comparable grocery items (e.g., two similar but different jams) was paired with a lower price (the “better buy”). Participants studied lists of grocery items and their prices, in which the two items in each category were presented consecutively (Experiment 1), or separated by intervening items (Experiment 2). At test, participants were asked to identify the “better buy” and recall the price of both items. There were negligible age-related differences for the “better buy” in Experiment 1, but age-related differences were present in Experiment 2 when there were greater memory demands involved in comparing the two items. Together, these findings suggest that when price information of two items can be evaluated and compared within a short period of time, older adults can form stable gist-based memory for prices, but that this is impaired with longer delays. We relate the findings to age-related changes in the use of gist and verbatim memory when remembering prices, as well as the associative deficit account of cognitive ageing.     

Impact of Postural Stability and Modality on the Perception of Passage and Surface Climbing

The foundation for this study is the belief that an accurate understanding of affordance perception requires consideration of the observer-ground surface interface. More specifically, it is argued that variations in the organism-environment interface will affect postural stability that, in turn, will affect affordance judgments. It is further expected that the impact of variations in postural stability should be independent of the perceptual system employed by the perceiver. Participants in this study wore shoes meant to create varying degrees of postural stability and used either vision or sound to determine whether a gap afforded passage or a surface could be stepped upon. The results revealed that the manipulation of postural stability significantly affected judgments of passage and climbability. Although modality alone did not influence affordance judgments, it did so in combination with postural stability. Discussion is given to the notion that an accurate understanding of perception requires consideration of the perceiver and the environment as a single unit.     

A Rapid Systematic Review of Outcomes Studies in Genetic Counseling

As healthcare reimbursement is increasingly tied to value-of-service, it is critical for the genetic counselor (GC) profession to demonstrate the value added by GCs through outcomes research. We conducted a rapid systematic literature review to identify outcomes of genetic counseling. Web of Science (including PubMed) and CINAHL databases were systematically searched to identify articles meeting the following criteria: 1) measures were assessed before and after genetic counseling (pre-post design) or comparisons were made between a GC group vs. a non-GC group (comparative cohort design); 2) genetic counseling outcomes could be assessed independently of genetic testing outcomes, and 3) genetic counseling was conducted by masters-level genetic counselors, or non-physician providers. Twenty-three papers met the inclusion criteria. The majority of studies were in the cancer genetic setting and the most commonly measured outcomes included knowledge, anxiety or distress, satisfaction, perceived risk, genetic testing (intentions or receipt), health behaviors, and decisional conflict. Results suggest that genetic counseling can lead to increased knowledge, perceived personal control, positive health behaviors, and improved risk perception accuracy as well as decreases in anxiety, cancer-related worry, and decisional conflict. However, further studies are needed to evaluate a wider array of outcomes in more diverse genetic counseling settings.     

“This is. That was.” Examining a Family’s Lived Experiences After a Cancer Diagnosis

In 2015, 231,840 American women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. This figure represents mothers, wives, or sisters diagnosed with cancer, a diagnosis which has the potential to affect those closest to them, especially their immediate family. This research aimed to examine the lived experience of a family unit that lost their spouse/mother/sister-in-law to invasive breast cancer. A phenomenological case study was utilized to guide this research. One family unit, consisting of a spouse, daughter, son, and sister-in-law to the deceased were recruited from Southern Ontario, Canada. Background questionnaires and one-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted. The following themes emerged: (1) negatives, describing struggles with balancing care, faith, and living after a death in the family and (2) silver linings, depicting the strength that Nancy, the deceased, maintained during her illness, and the family’s hope and optimism for the future. This paper only addresses the theme “Negatives,” while the last theme is addressed in Part II of this research. Within the theme “Negatives,” there were four sub-themes: (1) What About the Kids? (2) The Balancing Act, (3) Why Would He Do This? and (4) Life After Mom. Each will be discussed in turn. This research study provides valuable information regarding the lived experiences of families coping with a parental/spousal cancer diagnosis. It may assist other individuals in similar situations by providing comfort knowing that they are not the only ones encountering this journey. The participants’ voices may also allow others to develop strength by understanding the effect of cancer on a family.     

Adolescents' performance on the Iowa Gambling Task: implications for the development of decision making and ventromedial prefrontal cortex

Healthy adolescents (79 girls, 66 boys), ages 9-17, completed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; A. Bechara, A. R. Damasio, H. Damasio, & S. W. Anderson, 1994) as well as working memory (digit span) and behavioral inhibition (go/no-go) tasks. Cross-sectional age-related changes were seen on all 3 tasks. Gender differences were seen in IGT deck preference and attentional variables (i.e., go/no-go hit rate and forward digit span). After age, gender, and general intellectual abilities were controlled for, IGT performance was not predicted by working memory or behavioral inhibition scores. Findings suggest that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex or its connections are functionally maturing during adolescence in a manner that can be distinguished from maturation of other prefrontal regions. Development of these functions may continue into young adulthood.     

Cognitive bias in dizziness: emotional Stroop and autobiographical memories

Dizziness is commonly associated with anxiety, and is often caused by a dysfunction of the balance system. While a link between dizziness and both anxiety disorders and depression has been established, less is known about information processing in dizziness. In the first experiment we tested whether 15 patients with dizziness would display an emotional Stroop effect for panic-related words. Also included was a control group of 15 persons. The Stroop task was preceded by ratings of personal relevance of the Stroop words and followed by a surprise free recall of the words. Results showed a Stroop effect for panic-related words in the dizziness group, but the interaction did not reach significance (p = 0.08). Separate analysis of dizziness-related panic words however resulted in a significant group x condition interaction. In the free recall of Stroop words a main effect of word category was found, with more panic-related words being recalled. The second experiment investigated autobiographical memories in 14 patients with dizziness and 14 matched controls. Results showed a group x condition interaction with less specific memories being recalled following positive cue-words in the dizziness group. The overall pattern of results suggests that dizziness is related to deficits in information processing, which could be targeted in treatment.     

Play with me at my speed: describing differences in the tempo of parent-infant interactions in the Lausanne Triadic Play paradigm in two cultures

The goal of the present study was to examine the tempo of triadic play in Swedish and American families through a comparison of 20 families from each culture. When infants were approximately 3 months old, families in both cultures participated in the Lausanne Triadic Play (LTP), a paradigm that facilitates the examination of the triad as a whole and an organization of its parts. All family play sessions were coded separately in Sweden and America using coding systems that had been developed in each country. Dynamics within the triadic play were compared across cultures, and also across coding systems. Results indicated that both coding systems described a distinct difference in the tempo of play between American and Swedish Families. Overall, although there were many similarities between countries, American families were found to have a faster pace in triadic play than Swedish families. This difference in tempo is explored in the data analyses and the discussion of this article.     

Behavioral interventions to improve performance in collegiate football

Using a multitreatment withdrawal design, this study evaluated the differential effects of publicly posted plus verbal feedback, goal setting plus verbal feedback, and publicly posted feedback, verbal feedback, and goal setting together on the performance of 3 collegiate football players in practice scrimmages. Also assessed was whether the changes in practice behavior generalized to games. The dependent variables were performances on three wide receiver skills. The results show that public posting with verbal feedback, goal setting, and public posting with verbal feedback and goal setting were effective in improving player performance to a 90% criterion level during practice, and these changes generalized to game performance.     

Newspaper coverage of injuries affecting the Spanish surname population in two counties in Colorado

The present study assessed newspaper reports of injuries affecting individuals with Spanish surnames and compared newspaper reports to hospital injury discharge data in two counties in Colorado. Newspaper reports came from 12 daily and weekly newspapers. Hospital discharge data were obtained from the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment. Motor vehicle crashes, assault and legal intervention, and suicide and suicidal acts were counted. A higher proportion of people with Spanish surnames were reported in newspapers than expected based on the hospital discharge data. Motor vehicle injuries were far more frequent based on hospital discharge data than in newspaper reports. Assault and legal intervention injuries were similarly represented by Hispanic ethnicity and absolute numbers in both reporting sources. Suicide and suicidal acts were not often reported in newspapers relative to hospital discharge data; however, the proportion of Hispanics was not significantly different. These findings suggest that the use of newspapers for surveillance of injuries may be helpful, but should not be used in the absence of other data sources.