Neurobehavioral outcomes in diseases of childhood. Individual change models for pediatric human immunodeficiency viruses.

The growing incidence of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in children is a major public health problem. Current research emphasizes treatments for ameliorating deleterious effects on the child's neurological and behavioral development. This article outlines approaches to the assessment of individual change that may provide alternatives to more traditional approaches to the assessment of neurobehavioral outcomes in children with chronic diseases. These approaches provide more precise conceptualizations of changes that lead directly to statistical designs and measurement strategies for assessing effects of HIV-1 and AIDS on development. Such assessments can be superimposed on current clinical trial methodologies to evaluate the efficacy of pharmacological and behavioral interventions designed to improve quality of life in HIV-1 infected children.     

Individual differences and segment interactions in throwing

Arm segment velocities of 12 athletes throwing three differently weighted balls were analyzed by three-mode principal component analysis. Individual differences were characterized in terms of the combined influences of the phases of the throwing motion and the arm segment velocity relationships established in those phases. Using three individual differences components, three velocity measures components and four time phase components, 75% of the variance was described. The arm segment velocity relationships were described by two main components identified as directional velocity and proximal versus distal velocity. The time periods components distinguished between relationships among the arm segment velocities that occur in the windup versus those of the release phase. Three individual differences components are identified and appeared to be related to a general throwing style, the influence of skill level on technique, and the differential effect of the varying ball weights, respectively. Each athlete's throws are weighted combinations of these three components. The timing of segment involvement is investigated and the results indicate sequential patterns from proximal to distal as the throw unfolds. However, the results also suggest that different principles may apply to different throwers and that the summation of speed principle should not be applied universally to explain segment motion and interaction.     

Experience and backswing movement time variability : A short note concerning a serendipitous observation

Decreased variability of both response outcome and movement kinematics is generally thought to be a characteristic of skilled performance. This note reports an apparently paradoxical case in which expertise is associated with greater variability of an aspect of movement kinematics. The relative variability of backswing and downswing duration (standard deviation as a percent of movement time) was assessed for experienced and novice field hockey players performing a drive of an approaching ball. The experienced group exhibited higher relative variability of backswing duration than the novice group. It is argued that this variability is functional (in the sense that greater backswing duration variability is associated with superior task performance) and may result from the joint effects of players visually controlling movement during its execution (Bootsma 1988) and the experienced subjects' earlier pick-up of relevant information for visual control (cf. Abernethy and Russell 1987).     

Food-related stimuli increase desire to eat in hungry and satiated human subjects

In the present study, the effect of food-related cues on the desire to eat chocolate in hungry and satiated subjects was investigated. Subjects (n=46) were randomly assigned to either a hungry or satiated group and then assigned to a group receiving one of the following stimuli: taste (2 M&Ms), sight (a photograph of M&Ms), cognition (a passage describin M&Ms), or control (no stimulus). In each testing session, subjects rated their desire to eat chocolate before and after the 90-s presentation of the particular stimulus. Each subject was then given a half pound of M&Ms so that actual consumption could also be measured. Results indicated that, following the presentation of the sight and taste stimuli, the subjects’ desire to eat chocolate was significantly increased. Furthermore, no differences in chocolate consumption due to state of hunger or type of food-related stimulus presented were found.     

Giving the Devil His Due Process: Exorcism in the Church of England

In recent years the Church of England has renewed its interest in carrying out exorcism. The spiritual renewal manifested by the growth in the Charismatic movement, a growth based very much on healing and exorcism, is attractive to the Church, as is the idea that healing activities based on the practices of the Apostolic church will enhance the Church of England's spiritual presence. This renewal, however, carries many risks, because exorcism can be seen as superstitious behavior based on archaic beliefs contrary to modern science. Confronting Satan has physical risks for both the victim and the helper. There is a potential for wild, unrestrained, erotic, bizarre activities that can get the Church into trouble with the law and with the broader society. In its attempt to respond to these risks and opportunities, the Church has adopted practices that medicalize, bureaucratize, normalize, and restrain the process of dealing with the devil. These policies stress the compatibility between medical practices and exorcism.     

Interactions Between Exogenous Auditory and Visual Spatial Attention

Six experiments were carried out to investigate the issue of cross-modality between exogenous auditory and visual spatial attention employing Posner's cueing paradigm in detection, localization, and discrimination tasks. Results indicated cueing in detection tasks with visual or auditory cues and visual targets but not with auditory targets (Experiment 1). In the localization tasks, cueing was found with both visual and auditory targets. Inhibition of return was apparent only in the within-modality conditions (Experiment 2). This suggests that it is important whether the attention system is activated directly (within a modality) or indirectly (between modalities). Increasing the cue validity from 50% to 80% influenced performance only in the localization task (Experiment 4). These findings are interpreted as being indicative for modality-specific but interacting attention mechanisms. The results of Experiments 5 and 6 (up/down discrimination tasks) also show cross-modal cueing but not with visual cues and auditory targets. Furthermore, there was no inhibition of return in any condition. This suggests that some cueing effects might be task dependent.     

The Moderating Effects of Cognitive Appraisal Processes on Self-Attribution of Responsibility

Research indicates that self-attribution of responsibility for various types of problems is affected by a number of variables, including number of bystanders, persuasive communications, and focus of attention. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that attributions of responsibility are also influenced by cognitive appraisal of sufficiency of resources relative to the magnitude of the problem in question. When circumstances indicate that self is the most plausible locus of responsibility, attribution to self will occur only if the person also assesses his or her resources as being sufficient to fulfill the obligations implied upon locating responsibility for problem solution in self. The converse is also held to be true. Results confirmed this hypothesis. Implications of this theoretical approach for various theories that include attribution of responsibility to self as a critical factor are discussed.     

The impact of corrections for faking on the validity of noncognitive measures in selection settings

In selection research and practice, there have been many attempts to correct scores on noncognitive measures for applicants who may have faked their responses somehow. A related approach with more impact would be identifying and removing faking applicants from consideration for employment entirely, replacing them with high-scoring alternatives. The current study demonstrates that under typical conditions found in selection, even this latter approach has minimal impact on mean performance levels. Results indicate about .1 SD change in mean performance across a range of typical correlations between a faking measure and the criterion. Where trait scores were corrected only for suspected faking, and applicants not removed or replaced, the minimal impact the authors found on mean performance was reduced even further. By comparison, the impact of selection ratio and test validity is much larger across a range of realistic levels of selection ratios and validities. If selection researchers are interested only in maximizing predicted performance or validity, the use of faking measures to correct scores or remove applicants from further employment consideration will produce minimal effects.