Detecting the malingering of cognitive deficits: An update

There has recently been a dramatic increase of empirical studies that investigate methods for detecting malingering of cognitive deficits. The present review focuses on a comparison of simulated and suspected malingerers in the malingering literature, and critiques the numerous approaches to the detection of malingering. The approaches that are reviewed include detection of floor effects, discrepancies of information, response bias, neuropsychological tests and batteries, symptom validity testing, and anomalous performance on memory tests. The latter approach has only recently been proposed by researchers and may show the most promise.     

Ethical aspects of the safety of medicines and other social chemicals

The historical background of the discovery of adverse health effects of medicines, food additives, pesticides, and other chemicals is reviewed, and the development of national and international regulations and testing procedures to protect the public against the toxic effects of these drugs and chemicals is outlined. Ethical considerations of the safety evaluation of drugs and chemicals by human experimentation and animal toxicity studies, ethical problems associated with clinical trials, with the falsification of clinical and toxicological data, and with inadequate experimental methodology, are reviewed, and the ethics of the marketing of drugs and their post-marketing surveillance, are similarly considered. These ethical problems are illustrated with many specific examples, including the drugs neoarsphenamine, chloramphenicol, thalidomide, diethyl stilboestrol and benoxaprofen.     

Condom Use by Low-Income African American and Hispanic Youth With a Weil-Known Partner: Integrating the Health Belief Model,Theory of Reasoned Action,and the Construct Accessibility Model1

This study used multiple group structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate gender and ethnic differences in a theoretical model of condom use with a well known partner. The sample consisted of urban, low income, African American and Hispanic males and females. The theoretical model incorporated concepts from the Health Belief Model (HBM), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), and Construct Accessibility Model (CAM). A new theoretical concept, condom predisposition, emerged from SEM as a predictor of condom use in all four gender-ethnic groups. This concept combines elements of the TRA (attitude, partner norm) and CAM (accessibility of condom related constructs). Statistically reliable differences were found in the theoretical models for each group. For example, talking about AIDS was positively related to a predisposition to use condoms for African American males and both Hispanic males and females. In contrast, for African American females, it was their concern about AIDS that was positively related to this predisposition. These results underscore the importance of investigating gender differences within ethnic groups, and benefits of integrating different theoretical perspectives.     

SUCCESSFUL USE OF THE NOCTURNAL URINE ALARM FOR DIURNAL ENURESIS

We report the effects of using a urine alarm, typically employed for nocturnal enuresis, to treat chronic diurnal enuresis in a 15-year-old female resident at Boys' Town. The results of an ABAB reversal design indicate that the alarm eliminated wetting in both treatment phases and that continence was maintained at 3- and 6-month follow-up.     

In search of altruistic community: Patterns of social support mobilization following Hurricane Hugo

Twelve months after Hurricane Hugo, 1,000 disaster victims and nonvictims were asked about social support they exchanged following the hurricane. Victims of disaster received and provided very high levels of tangible, informationa, and emotional support. Disaster exposure (loss and harm) was a strong predictor of help received and a modest predictor of help provided. However, postdisaster help was not distributed equally and disaster exposure was more strongly related to social support in some groups than in others. Race, education, and age most consistently moderated the impact of disaster exposure on receipt of postdisaster support. Blacks and less educated victims received less help than similarly affected victims who were white or more educated. Relative disadvantage of being old in receiving support was not the case for those elderly disaster victims who experienced threats to their lives or health. Some subgroups of victims were relied upon disproportionately for providing assistance. Implications for social support research are addressed. This research was supported by Grant MH45069 from the Violence and Traumatic Stress Research Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health to Fran H. Norris, principal investigator.     

Reliability of the Wraparound Observation Form: An Instrument to Measure the Wraparound Process

Within the past decade, the wraparound approach has gained significant popularity in providing services to children with challenging social and family needs. While a plethora of wraparound programs have been developed and studies have been conducted to assess their effectiveness, the need to develop instruments that measure the implementation of wraparound services is clear. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the reliability of a scale that measures wraparound services. In this study, the Wraparound Observation Form (WOF), was developed to evaluate the implementation of the wraparound process in treatment planning meetings. The WOF includes 34 closed-ended items that requires the respondent to note the occurrence or non-occurrence of specific events or behaviors at treatment planning meetings. In the present study, two data collectors attended planning meetings and independently completed the WOF. The inter-rater reliability was 95%. The WOF appears to be a reliable instrument and be appropriate in evaluating wraparound services.     

BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT OF FEEDING PROBLEMS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIES

As many as 80% of the individuals with severe or profound mental retardation exhibit feeding problems. Although behavioral interventions have been used to treat these problems, no assessment procedure for determining a functional relationship between a person's acceptance of food and the type and texture of that food has been reported. The purpose of this study was to test a behavioral assessment procedure for a feeding problem of limited intake. Five individuals with severe or profound mental retardation were fed 10 to 12 types of foods with one or more textures. Behavioral categories of acceptance, rejection, expulsion, and other negative behavior were recorded. Results indicated that each subject fit into one of four categories of feeding problems: (a) total refusal, (b) type selectivity, (c) texture selectivity, or (d) type and texture selectivity. Thus, although all 5 subjects exhibited limited intake, the food characteristics correlated with the problem were different for each individual. Results suggest that treatments for limited intake may be based on assessments that show the association of food type or texture to a person's rejection or expulsion of food.     

Discriminative echolocation in a porpoise

Operant conditioning techniques were used to establish a discriminative echolocation performance in a porpoise. Pairs of spheres of disparate diameters were presented in an under-water display, and the positions of the spheres were switched according to a scrambled sequence while the blindfolded porpoise responded on a pair of submerged response levers. Responses which identified the momentary state of the display were food-reinforced, while those which did not (errors) produced time out. Errors were then studied in relation to decreased disparity between the spheres. As disparity was decreased, errors which terminated runs of correct responses occurred more frequently and were followed by longer strings of consecutive errors. Increased errors and disruption of a stable pattern of collateral behavior were associated. Since some sources of error other than decreased disparity were present, the porpoise's final performance did not fully reflect the acuity of its echolocation channel.     

Dominance of persistence over adaptation in forward masking

Persistence of excitation and neural adaptation are competing theories proposed to explain the mechanisms underlying psychophysical forward masking. Previous research has been directed towards finding models that accurately describe the phenomenon but cannot account for the underlying explanation. The current study was designed to determine which theory best accounts for results obtained from behavioral gap duration adjustment tasks. Thirteen adults adjusted the gap within asymmetrical noise markers to be subjectively equal to the gap within equal-intensity-noise markers. The duration of the perceived gap between the asymmetrical markers is expected to vary depending on which theory dominates perception. The persistence of excitation mechanism would lead to longer duration gaps when the second noise marker is lower in intensity than the preceding. Neural adaptation would result in matched gaps that are shorter in duration when the second noise marker was lower in level. The outcome of our data analysis is consistent with the persistence of excitation as a dominant mechanism in forward masking.