Facial identity and facial expression matching in 5–12‐year‐old children and adults

Facial identity and facial expression matching tasks were completed by 5–12‐year‐old children and adults using stimuli extracted from the same set of normalized faces. Configural and feature processing were examined using speed and accuracy of responding and facial feature selection, respectively. Facial identity matching was slower than face expression matching for all age groups. Large age effects were found on both speed and accuracy of responding and feature use in both identity and expression matching tasks. Eye region preference was found on the facial identity task and mouth region preference on the facial expression task. Use of mouth region information for facial expression matching increased with age, whereas use of eye region information for facial identity matching peaked early. The feature use information suggests that the specific use of primary facial features to arrive at identity and emotion matching judgments matures across middle childhood. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exemplary Counseling Strategies for Developmental Transitions of Young Women With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

This article is intended to provide rehabilitation, career, and mental health counselors with an understanding of how attentional impairments are manifested in young women and how professional counselors may help them most effectively. Treatment guidelines and recommendations are presented for working with these young women through the developmental transition years of adolescence and young adulthood.     

Autism and 15q11-q13 disorders: behavioral, genetic, and pathophysiological issues

New insights into biological factors that underlie autism may be gained by comparing autism to other neurodevelopmental disorders that have autistic features and relatively well-delineated genetic etiologies or neurobiological findings. This review moves beyond global diagnoses of autism and instead uses an endophenotypic approach to compare specific clusters of autistic symptomatology to features of chromosome 15q11-q13 disorders. Paternally or maternally derived deficiencies of 15q11-q13 result in Prader-Willi or Angelman syndromes, and we first use a global approach to review potential autism susceptibility genes in the 15q11-q13 region. We then use a more trait-based approach to suggest possible ties between specific phenotypic characteristics of autism and Prader-Willi syndrome, namely savant-like skills. We conclude with insights from pathophysiological studies that implicate altered development of specific neuron types and circuits in the cerebral cortex as part of the pathophysiological processes associated with autism and mental retardation.     

Effects of Anxiety on Novice Genetic Counseling Students’ Experience of Supervised Clinical Rotations

Supervised clinical experiences with patients comprise a critical component of genetic counseling student education. Previous research has found genetic counseling students tend to be more anxiety prone than the general population, and anxiety related to supervision has been found in genetic counseling and related fields. The present study investigated how anxiety affects the experience of supervision for genetic counseling students. Second year genetic counseling students were invited to participate through email invitations distributed via training directors of the 33 programs accredited at the time of the study by the American Board of Genetic Counseling. An initial online survey contained the trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to estimate anxiety proneness in this population and an invitation to participate in a 45-minute semi-structured phone interview focusing on students’ experiences of supervision during their clinical rotations. High and low trait anxiety groups were created using STAI scores, and the groups’ interview responses were compared using consensual qualitative research methodology (CQR; Hill 2012). The high anxiety group was more likely to describe problematic supervisory relationships, appreciate the supervisor’s ability to help them when they get stuck in sessions, and feel their anxiety had a negative effect on their performance in general and in supervision. Common themes included supervisors’ balancing support and guidance, the importance of feedback, ego-centric responses, and supervisors as focal points. The results of the present study are largely consistent with current literature. Further research findings and research, practice, and training recommendations are provided.     

Indigenous Healing Practices in Australia

ABSTRACT

Indigenous Australian women are among the most disadvantaged women in the world. Over two centuries of colonization have had a damaging impact on perceptions of their gender roles and status as well as many other consequential oppressions. These experiences have affected the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous women of all ages, resulting in socio-economic ghettoization, higher suicide rates, psychological distress, illness, and poverty. Generations of women have experienced the forced removal of their children, resulting in complex forms of historical trauma. Despite this, Indigenous women have also maintained strong leadership roles and have kept families and communities intact. In the last few decades, the Australian Indigenous mental health movement has emerged within the context of a broader self-determination movement, restoring and strengthening women’s traditional therapeutic practices. This article offers an overview of the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous women within neocolonial Australia and explores women’s relationship to traditional therapeutic practices. Future directions and key issues for the capacity building of Indigenous women’s healing are explored.