Concurrent Verbal and Emotion Laterality Effects Exhibited by Normally Achieving and Learning Disabled Children

This study assessed both left- and right-hemisphere functions simultaneously when two-syllable words differing only in the initial stop consonant and spoken in different emotional tones were paired dichotically. Seventy-two right-handed normally achieving children, 12 boys and 12 girls at each of grades 1, 3, and 5, were instructed to detect either the presence of a specific word or of a specific emotion. In addition, 30 right-handed learning disabled (LD) children (age-matched to the normal controls) were assessed to determine whether LD children distribute verbal and nonverbal functions to different hemispheres. Results indicated that although both control and LD children demonstrated an overall REA for word stimuli and an LEA for emotional stimuli, and that emotional stimuli were easier to process than word stimuli, LD children were less accurate in processing both types of stimuli than their control counterparts. ‘Complementary specialization,’ as assessed through distribution of laterality effects, was found to be greater for control children than for LD children. However, the lack of consistency in complementary specialization found among the three developmental grade levels may be indicative that independent brain mechanisms underlying verbal and emotional processing have yet to be fully established in children. Further, in contrast to adult findings, a larger LEA was obtained for the emotion ‘happy’ than for the emotion ‘sad.’ It was concluded that whereas independent hemisphere processing for words and emotions is somewhat prevalent for control children, LD children might not be as strongly lateralized for opposite hemisphere processing of these functions.     

The Fifth R: Jesus as Evolutionary Psychologist

The historical Jesus seems to have known about human nature as described by evolutionary psychology. He addresses the dispositions of human nature that evolutionary psychology says are central: resources, reproduction, relatedness (kinship), and reciprocity. In doing so he answers Aristotle's question, how can human beings flourish? His answer opens a window onto the divine.     

Book Review: Feminism and Psychotherapy: Reflections on Contemporary Theories and Practices

Abstract

I felt a compulsion to return to the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall late last autumn. My son had returned for his third university year, my daughter had left for her first university term. I felt very sad as one glorious autumn day succeeded another and I walked until I was exhausted. I felt full of memories, of endless summer and Easter holidays, of excited children running to beaches, of expeditions, of tired children trailing home, of prawning, sailing, picnics, crabbing—and later of long walks and evenings spent playing chess, racing demon or scrabble. All past. A chapter had closed, everything around me echoed and I mourned for what had passed. I remember vividly sitting alone gazing at a favourite view, acknowledging my womb had done its work, and how immensely sad that felt.     

Student poverty

Abstract

This article presents an exploration of the concept of student poverty from a psychoanalytic perspective. The hypothesis is made that the state of poverty, when applied to students in higher education, is a highly individual matter and relates as much to a construct of the mind as to financial hardship and associated environmental and social privations. Poverty status, it is postulated, is caused by an interplay between the unconscious and the external world of die student. Focus is concentrated on the differences in toleration and the coping strategies of students in the face of financial stringencies. This results in a body of knowledge which might aid counsellors in the task of assisting students to remedy, or appropriately manage, hardships which appear to be germane to student life in contemporary Britain.     

Constructing a Mind,One Image Schema at a Time

In The Foundations of Mind, Jean Mandler describes how perceptual analysis provides a mechanism that allows infants to begin their journey into conceptual life, and subsequently to enter the advanced worlds of conceptual systems, memory, language, and consciousness. This review provides an overview of Mandler's theoretical position, celebrates her accomplishments, and supports the claim that The Foundations of Mind is a “must read” for all developmental scientists.     

Young Children's Memory for the Times of Personal Past Events

Remembering the temporal information associated with personal past events is critical for autobiographical memory, yet we know relatively little about the development of this capacity. In the present research, we investigated temporal memory for naturally occurring personal events in 4-, 6-, and 8-year-old children. Parents recorded unique events in which their children participated during a 4-month period. At test, children made relative recency judgments and estimated the time of each event using conventional time scales (time of day, day of week, month of year, and season). Children also were asked to provide justifications for their time-scale judgments. Six- and 8-year-olds, but not 4-year-olds, accurately judged the order of two distinct events. There were age-related improvements in children's estimation of the time of events using conventional time scales. Older children provided more justifications for their time-scale judgments compared with younger children. Relations between correct responding on the time-scale judgments and provision of meaningful justifications suggest that children may use that information to reconstruct the times associated with past events. The findings can be used to chart a developmental trajectory of performance in temporal memory for personal past events and have implications for our understanding of autobiographical memory development.     

The Cognitive Development Society Best Authored Book Award

At the third biennial meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, held in San Diego, California, in October 2005, the Society was pleased to announce the winner of the first Best Authored Book Award. The volume selected for the award was Susan Gelman's The Essential Child: Origins of Essentialism in Everyday Thought (2003, Oxford University Press). The Best Authored Book Award was initiated by the third President of the Society, Susan Goldin-Meadow (2003-2005). The Essential Child is the first recipient of the award. It was selected from among 10 nominations of volumes published in 2002 or 2003; the other nominees are listed below. The volumes were considered by committee members Patricia Bauer (Chair), Judy DeLoache, Jean Mandler, Nora Newcombe, and Steve Reznick. Congratulations Susan Gelman, on receipt of the first Cognitive Development Society Best Authored Book Award.     

Genetic Counseling Supervisor Competencies: Results of a Delphi Study

Clinical supervision is a critical component of genetic counseling student preparation, yet empirically-determined competencies for genetic counseling supervisors are lacking. In this study a modified, two-round Delphi method was used to gain consensus about important genetic counseling supervisor knowledge, characteristics, and skills. Program directors and assistant directors of American Board of Genetic Counseling accredited genetic counseling programs in North America (N?=?33) were invited to participate and to recruit three experienced supervisors. Seventy-four individuals completed Round 1 and, of these, 61 completed Round 2. Approximately two-thirds were clinical supervisors from prenatal, pediatrics, cancer, and adult clinics; one-third were program directors. Participants rated the importance for genetic counseling supervisors of 158 items derived from supervision literature in allied health professions. They rated 142 items (89.9 %) as highly important. Content analysis of these items yielded six supervisor competency domains: Personal traits and characteristics; relationship building and maintenance; student evaluation; student centered supervision; guidance and monitoring of patient care; and ethical and legal aspects of supervision. The results provide a basis for training genetic counseling supervisors and for further research to refine and validate supervisor competencies.     

Does home life interfere with or facilitate job performance?

The study examines whether home life influences inrole and extrarole job performance in positive or negative ways. We hypothesized that home resources would have a direct positive effect on job performance, and an indirect relationship through home–work facilitation (HWF). Home demands were predicted to negatively affect job performance through home–work interference (HWI). These hypotheses were tested on a sample of 190 male employees. In addition to employees' self-reports, wives rated their own home demands and resources (these were used as controls), and co-workers rated the men's HWI, HWF, and job performance. Results partially supported the hypotheses. Men's home demands and resources were related to self-rated HWI and HWF respectively, whereas co-worker ratings of HWI and HWF were associated with inrole and extrarole performance respectively. Men's home resources also had a direct relationship with inrole and extrarole performance. There was no convincing evidence that HWI and HWF acted as mediators in these relationships. Taken together, the positive influence of home life on job performance was stronger than the negative one.     

‘Rehabilitation' in schizophrenia: A psychoanalytic viewpoint

This is a study which investigates some difficulties people with schizophrenia have in the long term; looks at some of the psychoanalytical theories concerning the difficulties they have in keeping an internal caring maternal imago; the consequences for them; how the NHS can help by providing an external caring maternal imago.