Preserved spatial memory over brief intervals in older adults

Two studies compared young and older adults' memory for location information after brief intervals. Experiment 1 found that accuracy of intentional spatial memory for individual locations was similar in young and older participants for set sizes of 3 and 6. Both groups also encoded individual locations in relation to the larger configuration of locations. Experiment 2 showed that like young adults, older adults' latency to respond to a test probe in a letter working memory task was negatively influenced by spatial information that was irrelevant to the task. This interference effect indicated preserved incidental memory for spatial information in older adults. Together, these data suggest that initial encoding of spatial information for relatively small numbers of items is largely preserved in healthy older adults and that representations of spatial information persist over short intervals.     

The open dialogue approach to acute psychosis: its poetics and micropolitics

In Finland, a network-based, language approach to psychiatric care has emerged, called "Open Dialogue." It draws on Bakhtin's dialogical principles ( Bakhtin, 1984 ) and is rooted in a Batesonian tradition. Two levels of analysis, the poetics and the micropolitics, are presented. The poetics include three principles: "tolerance of uncertainly,""dialogism," and "polyphony in social networks." A treatment meeting shows how these poetics operate to generate a therapeutic a therapeutic dialogue. The micropolitics are the larger institutional practices that support this way of working and are part of Finnish Need-Adapted Treatment, Recent research suggests that Open Dialogue has improved outcomes for young people in a variety of acute, severe psychiatric crises, such as psychosis, as compared to treatment as-usual settings. In a nonrandomized, 2-year follow up of first-episode schizophrenia, hospitalization decreased to approximately 19 days; neuroleptic medication was needed in 35% of cases; 82% had no, or only mild psychotic symptoms remaining; and only 23% were on disability allowance.     

The Long-Term Neurocognitive Consequences of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: A 14-Year Study

Prenatal alcohol exposure, at doses not generally associated with maternal alcohol problems, produces a broad array of neurocognitive deficits in offspring even in the absence of effects on growth and morphology. This report presents a summary of neurobehavioral, growth, and morphology findings from long-term follow-up of a birth cohort of 500 from apopulation-based study that has revealed attention, memory, and information processing deficits from birth through 14 years. Also observed (from school age through 14 years) have been problems with antisocial and delinquent behaviors, and classroom learning and behaviors; some of these problems may be secondary to earlier neurocognitive disabilities. Continuing research in behavioral and neurobehavioral teratology provides important opportunities for the neurosciences and for improved health of future generations.     

Systematic analysis of deficits in visual attention

A variety of impairments in visual attention can follow damage to the brain. The authors develop systematic methods for analyzing such impairments in terms of C. Bundesen's (1990) Theory of Visual Attention and apply these in a group of 9 patients with parietal lobe lesions and variable spatial neglect. In whole report, patients report letters from brief, vertical arrays in left or right visual field. The results show substantial, largely bilateral impairments in processing capacity, implying a major nonlateralized aspect to neglect. In partial report, arrays contain 1 or 2 letters in red and/or green. The task is to report only those letters in a specified target color. In addition to the expected bias against left-sided letters, patients show striking, bilateral preservation of top-down control, or attentional priority for targets. The results show how differentiation of attentional impairments can be informed by a theory of normal function.     

Species differences in spatial memory among Clark's nutcrackers, scrub jays, and pigeons.

An operant nonmatching to sample procedure was used to compare the spatial memory abilities of 3 avian species. A trial consisted of the presentation of a spatially defined sample, a delay interval, and a 2-choice test during which the correct location was the new location. A single spatial location served as the sample in Experiment 1. The delay interval was manipulated using a titration procedure. In Experiment 2, 1, 2, or 3 sequentially illuminated locations served as the sample. The delay was 1 of 4 predetermined intervals. In Experiment 3, sample presentation was the same as Experiment 2, but the delay interval was titrated. In all of the experiments, the performance of nutcrackers was consistently better than the performance of scrub jays and pigeons (Experiment 1) and was correlated with differences in their foraging ecology.     

Experiments comparing qualitative approaches to rank ordering of multiattribute alternatives

ZAPROS, a method to support rank ordering tasks using ordinal input from decision makers, is discussed and compared with a preference cone technique and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). It provides a means to identify inconsistencies in ordinal decision tasks, yielding verification and explanation of results for partial ordering of a large set of alternatives. The results indicate that ZAPROS provides no less accuracy in task solution, while having some advantages from a behavioural point of view. Comparative analysis of the effectiveness of the methods under consideration in accordance with differences in task characteristics is carried out.     

Teacher Ratings of Behavioral Self-Regulation in Preschool Children: A Japanese/U.S. Comparison

Our primary aim was to determine whether a research questionnaire for assessing self-regulatory competence in young Japanese children could be adapted successfully for use with U.S. preschoolers. Preschool teachers contributed ratings for 322 U.S. and 328 Japanese children, who ranged in age from 33 to 69 months. Principal components analysis of the teachers' responses to the 71-item Kashiwagi questionnaire revealed that the two main factors, Self-Inhibition and Self-Assertion, were well replicated. Broadband factor scales were constructed from items that showed clear evidence of cross-cultural validity. Scale items were reliably rated, and in both cultures showed predictable effects for child age and gender. These data support the usefulness of the Kashiwagi questionnaire for comparative studies of U.S. and Japanese preschoolers.