A randomized study of the impact of a sensitizing intervention on the child‐rearing attitudes of parents of low birth weight preterm infants

Nordhov, S. M., Kaaresen, P. I., Rønning, J. A., Ulvund, S. E. & Dahl, L. B. (2010). A randomized study of the impact of a sensitizing intervention on the child‐rearing attitudes of parents of low birth weight preterm infants. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 385–391. The background for this study was that nurturant child‐rearing attitudes are associated with positive development in low birth weight (LBW) infants. The objective was to study child‐rearing attitudes and early intervention (EI) in parents of LBW infants from 12–36 months corrected age. LBW infants (BW < 2000 g) were randomized to an intervention (IG) or a control group (CG). The EI consisted of seven in‐hospital sessions prior to discharge, then four home visits. A Child Rearing Practices Report was administered at 12 (mothers only), 24 and 36 months. A total of 146 infants were randomized. The mean BW in IG was 1396 (SD 429) g and 1381 (436) g in CG. The mean GA was 30.2 (3.1) weeks in IG and 29.9 (3.5) weeks in CG. Mothers in IG reported significantly more nurturant child‐rearing attitudes at 12 and 24 months. There was a significant change in restrictive and nurturant attitudes over time. It was concluded that EI may lead to more nurturant child‐rearing attitudes in mothers of preterms.     

The AMQ: A Four‐Factor Inventory of Absentmindedness and Memory

The Absentmindedness and Memory Questionnaire (AMQ) is a new self‐rating scale designed to evaluate everyday memory problems related to absentmindedness. It includes 24 items and is based on studies of different samples (N= 623). Its test‐retest reliability is high and it has consistently shown similar factor structure. The AMQ thus measures four weakly correlated factors: Absentmindedness, Persons, Locations and Codes/Addresses. Factor analysis further indicates that Absentmindedness may include two subfactors: momentary attention deficit and prospective forgetfulness or impaired agenda memory. Gender differences were found in Persons (Female+) and Locations (Male+) but not in Absentmindedness or Codes/Addresses. The current version of AMQ has seven interindividually comparable response alternatives for each item in the questionnaire. This makes it useful as a measure of subjective absentmindedness or forgetfulness as well as a complementary measure of subjective memory for persons, locations, and codes/addresses/stories, especially at follow‐up examinations.     

Effect of task, selection set, and dispersion of attention on visual identification time

Schioldborg, P., Paus, E. & Myhre, G. Effect of task, selection set, and dispersion of attention on visual identification time. Scand. J. Psychol., 1973, 14, 195–198. Letters and digits were presented in rows of one, two, or three, and the time required for identifying their position, colour, class, or names recorded for three subjects. The identification tasks were performed under three different conditions of preparatory set, making use of position, colour, and class as selecting attributes. (1) Under each selection set, only the identification of letters and digits as such required more time with increasing number of items, indicating limiting conditions for a "constancy" model of attention. (2) For all identification tasks, selection procured by class yielded longer identification time than selection by position or colour, suggesting different levels of complexity in information processing. (3) Identification of class under a position set, or position under a class set, required less time than the corresponding combinations with colour in place of position, suggesting that analysis of form and position relate basically to the same processes.     

The Creative Product and Process in Computer‐Mediated Groups

The effects of information technology on the creative performance in small groups were examined. An experimental 3 × 2 design was used in order to assess the effects of Group Communication Support System (GCSS) and perceived usefulness on the creative product and the creative process. A chat, a video conference and a face‐to‐face group were compared. The consensual technique was used to obtain measurements of creativity. The results of the analysis of variance indicated that the face‐to‐face group evoked more creative results than the other two. The more real life‐like the conditions were the better fluency of ideas. The video conference group scored significantly lower on incubation in the creative process. No effects were found concerning the participants' perceived usefulness. Participants in the face‐to‐face group reported themselves to be more satisfied with both their product and process than the participants in the computer‐mediated groups. The study suggests that the measurement of both the creative product and the creative process can contribute to the research on how GCSS affects creative performance.     

EARLY REGULATION IN CHILDREN WHO ARE LATER DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER. A LONGITUDINAL STUDY WITHIN THE DANISH NATIONAL BIRTH COHORT

Studies have shown that children later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in their first years of life might show symptoms in main developmental areas and that these signs might be sensed by the parents. The present study investigated in a large birth cohort if children later diagnosed with ASD had deviations at 6 and 18 months in areas such as the ability to self‐regulate emotions, feeding, and sleeping. The study was based on prospective information collected from 76,322 mothers who participated in the Danish National Birth Cohort. When the children reached an average age of 11 years, 973 children with ASD and a control group of 300 children with intellectual disability (IDnoASD) were identified via Danish health registries. Associations were found between short periods of breast‐feeding and the children later diagnosed with ASD and IDnoASD as well as associations at 18 months to deviations in regulation of emotions and activity. The similarities in these associations emphasize how difficult it is to distinguish between diagnoses early in life.     

HAS PSYCHOLOGY DEBUNKED CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS?

Abstract: The philosophical method of conceptual analysis has been criticised on the grounds that empirical psychological research has cast severe doubt on whether concepts exist in the form traditionally assumed, and that conceptual analysis therefore is doomed. This objection may be termed the Charge from Psychology. After a brief characterisation of conceptual analysis, I discuss the Charge from Psychology and argue that it is misdirected.     

Psychological aspects of myelomeningocele—a longitudinal study

The possibilities of treatment of the congenital neurological disease myelomeningocele have improved since the 1960s. The patients who survive often suffer from severe motor and mental handicaps, and it has been discussed whether a selection should be made of those children who should be treated or whether all children should be treated. Here we present results of a longitudinal study of 56 children, who were all treated and still continue active treatment. The results show that mental retardation was not greater than in groups of children selected for treatment according to a criterion. There was no difference between the sexes. Mean IQ was 90, 75% attended normal school, and only 33% received remedial instruction, primarily because of difficulties with emptying the bladder.     

Personality organization defined by DMT and the Structural Interview

The psychoanalytic concept of Personality Organization (PO) may be operationalized by means of a Structural Interview as well as by means of psychological tests. The present study utilized the Structural Interview and a projective test called the Defence Mechanism Test (DMT) to operationalize the PO concept on a sample of 50 psychiatric inpatients. The reliability of the PO judgements were found to be acceptable for both the Structural Interview and the DMT. The validity, which was estimated as the correlation between the two methods, was also found to be substantial. The conclusion is that the concept of PO may be reliably operationalized for psychiatric patients and seems to have concurrent validity. Both the DMT and the Structural Interview may be used for differential diagnosis of PO.     

Personality and developmental psychology

Research on personality and developmental psychology in Scandinavia in the seventies is presented according to what are considered important and significant research interests. Such interests are defined primarily from the viewpoint of general trends in society, e.g. research on infancy and preschool children and research on old age. Other interests are defined from an almost purely theoretical viewpoint. This applies to research from an interactional perspective. Future research in this branch of psychology seems to place priority on a methodological approach based upon external validity and the use of multidimensional models. As to the theoretical frame of reference, future research points to conceptualizations of the influence of society on structure, process and development of personality.     

Persuasion via facts in political discussion

A theoretical model for analysing persuasive attempts in discussions with special emphasis on exchanges of political opinions where alleged facts play a salient role, is outlined. It is suggested that alleged facts put forward in a discussion can be categorized according to the degree of correspondence between the participants' judgments. A discussion which revolves around the validity of facts is characterized as an interactive sequence of mutual attempts to either transfer facts or obstruct the transfer of facts, to a category consisting of commonly accepted, reliable and relevant information. The model is applied to the politically delicate controversy over the causes for the stranding of a Soviet submarine near a Swedish naval base in 1981. The contending sides were shown to be extremely unwilling to accept facts introduced in the debate by each other, as both reliable and relevant. Results are discussed by reference to the role of preexisting beliefs in considerations of factual information. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.