An experimental approach to detecting dementia in Down syndrome: a paradigm for Alzheimer's disease

Measures developed from animal models of aging may detect dementia of the Alzheimer's type in a population at-risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although, by middle age, individuals with Down syndrome (DS) show an extraordinarily high prevalence of AD-type pathology, their severe idiopathic cognitive deficits tend to confound the clinical diagnosis of AD. The current study was designed to improve detection of AD in DS by using measures of learning and memory derived from animal models of aging. Adults with DS (N=34) were assessed and reassessed (n=19) approximately one year later using stimulus-response (S-R) test methods derived from experimental literature, as well as standardized informant-based tests. Results demonstrated high validity and reliability of select tests. The implication of early symptom detection in a population at-risk for AD-type dementia was discussed in terms of potential brain regions of interest.     

Visual and Auditory Message Framing Effects on Tobacco Smoking1

Persuasive health messages can be framed to emphasize the benefits of adopting a health behavior (gains) or the risks of not adopting it (losses). This study examined the effects of message framing on beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors relevant to cigarette smoking. In video presentations about tobacco smoking, visual images and auditory voiceover content were framed either as gains or losses, yielding 4 message conditions. Undergraduates (N= 437) attending a public university in New England were assigned randomly to view one of these messages. Gain‐framed messages about smoking in visual and auditory modalities shifted smoking‐related beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors in the direction of avoidance and cessation. Health‐communication experts, when promoting prevention behaviors like smoking avoidance or cessation, may wish to diverge from the tradition of using loss‐framed messages and fear appeals in this domain, and instead consider using gain‐framed appeals that present the advantages of not smoking.     

Gender Differences in Work-Family Guilt in Parents of Young Children

The transition to parenthood is a watershed moment for most parents, introducing the possibility of intra-individual and interpersonal growth or decline. Given the increasing number of dual-earner couples in the United States, new parents’ attitudes towards employment (as well as the ways in which they balance employment and personal demands) may have an impact on their overall well-being. Based on anecdotal accounts, guilt about the conflict between employment and family (termed work-family guilt) appears particularly pervasive among U.S. mothers of young children; specifically, mothers, but not fathers, express high levels of a subtype of work-family guilt, that pertains to the negative impact their work has on their families (termed work-interfering-with-family guilt). However, little research within psychology has explicitly examined this phenomenon, and to our knowledge, no quantitative study has investigated gender differences in work-family guilt among U.S. parents of young children. In a cross-sectional, correlational study involving 255 parents of toddlers from the greater Southern California area, we coded parents’ narrative responses to a series of open-ended questions regarding employment and family for the presence of work-family guilt and work-interfering-with-family guilt (in the form of guilt about the negative impact of employment on children). Mothers had significantly higher work-family guilt and work-interfering-with-family guilt relative to fathers. We discuss our findings in terms of theory on gender roles, as well as the questions they generate for future areas of investigation.     

Deconstructing the Time-Out: What Do Mothers Understand About a Common Disciplinary Procedure?

Time-out (TO) is one of the most common and effective disciplinary tactics used to address problem behavior; however, parents rate TO as one of the least useful behavior modification techniques. This may be due to a discrepancy between empirically supported TO procedures and how mothers are actually conducting TO. Fifty-five mothers were asked to define TO, provide information on how they conduct TO, and identify errors in TO procedures. Results indicate that maternal knowledge and implementation of TO differs considerably from the empirical ideal, potentially impacting the utility and frequency of TO usage in the home to address child problem behaviors.     

Early executive control and risk for overweight and obesity in elementary school

An emerging literature suggests that poor executive control (EC) may be associated with clinical weight problems, e.g., body mass index (BMI) for age percentile ≥85 in children. However, our understanding of the impact of EC on overweight and obesity in childhood is limited by the lack of longitudinal studies spanning critical developmental periods and assessing EC using comprehensive performance-based batteries. The current study addresses these limitations in a longitudinal examination of 212 children who completed an extensive laboratory-based EC task battery in preschool (age 4 years and 6 months) and were followed through elementary school (Grades 1 through 4) with objective measures of weight status. The logistic regression results indicate that poorer EC in preschool is associated with significantly greater risk for clinical weight problems (either overweight or obese status, as defined by BMI-for-age percentile ≥ 85) in elementary school, controlling for maternal education. EC in preschool was not significantly associated with risk for obese status, specifically (defined by BMI-for-age percentile ≥ 95), but the trend was in the expected direction. The results suggest that early executive abilities are relevant for children’s subsequent health status, with deficits in EC in the critical period of preschool conferring risk for later problems with weight. Based on these findings, early interventions to promote stronger EC may be a promising, yet currently overlooked, component in pediatric obesity prevention efforts.     

Precision of Curriculum-Based Measurement Reading Data: Considerations for Multiple-Baseline Designs

Single-case designs provide an established technology for evaluating the effects of academic interventions. Researchers interested in studying the long-term effects of reading interventions often use curriculum-based measures of reading (CBM-R) as they possess many of the desirable characteristics for use in a time-series design. The reliability of CBM-R scores is often supported by research from group designs, but making idiographic interpretations regarding the change in a student’s oral reading rate requires attention to the precision of static scores and growth estimates. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we discuss how recent empirical work on the technical adequacy of CBM-R scores has revealed multiple threats to the data-evaluation validity when CBM-R passages are used to measure oral reading rate. Second, we identify pertinent considerations for conducting a visual analysis of intervention effects based on CBM-R data. We conclude with a brief discussion of implications for researchers considering the use of CBM-R within multiple-baseline designs.     

The many faces of working memory and short-term storage

The topic of working memory (WM) is ubiquitous in research on cognitive psychology and on individual differences. According to one definition, it is a small amount of information kept in a temporary state of heightened accessibility; it is used in most types of communication and problem solving. Short-term storage has been defined as the passive (i.e., non-attention-based, nonstrategic) component of WM or, alternatively, as a passive store separate from an attention-based WM. Here I note that much confusion has been created by the use by various investigators of many, subtly different definitions of WM and short-term storage. The definitions are sometimes made explicit and sometimes implied. As I explain, the different definitions may have stemmed from the use of a wide variety of techniques to explore WM, along with differences in theoretical orientation. By delineating nine previously used definitions of WM and explaining how additional ones may emerge from combinations of these nine, I hope to improve scientific discourse on WM. The potential advantages of clarity about definitions of WM and short-term storage are illustrated with respect to several ongoing research controversies.     

The emergence of autobiographical memory: a social cultural developmental theory

The authors present a multicomponent dynamic developmental theory of human autobiographical memory that emerges gradually across the preschool years. The components that contribute to the process of emergence include basic memory abilities, language and narrative, adult memory talk, temporal understanding, and understanding of self and others. The authors review the empirical developmental evidence within each of these components to show how each contributes to the timing, quantity, and quality of personal memories from the early years of life. The authors then consider the relevance of the theory to explanations of childhood amnesia and how the theory accounts for and predicts the complex findings on adults' earliest memories, including individual, gender, and cultural differences.