Predicting developmental deficiencies at the age of four based on data from the first seven months of life

The study examines very young children with the aim of identifying precursors of developmental problems during the first 7 months of age. Information from screening and observations in the birth clinic, in the first level of health care, and from parents was collected on five different occasions. The information that was included concerning the child and family was defined as either optimal or nonoptimal. At the age of 4 years, a clinical group was identified (11.1% of the total population). Logistic regression analyses were performed to detect risk factors. Twenty‐one precursors were used to create a screening questionnaire that provided useful information (sensitivity = 56.1%, specificity = 98.8%) for predicting developmental problems of the children. The contribution of sociodemographic data was significant; medical information was less significant. The highest prediction rate surprisingly was found in the moderate clinical subgroup (62.1%), compared to the group with more severe problems that had a slightly lower rate (46.7%). The conclusion of the study is that it is possible to detect infants in need of early intervention using a continuous process of observation and screening.     

Penrose's New Argument

It has been argued, by Penrose and others, that Gödel's proof of his first incompleteness theorem shows that human mathematics cannot be captured by a formal system F: the Gödel sentence G(F) of F can be proved by a (human) mathematician but is not provable in F. To this argment it has been objected that the mathematician can prove G(F) only if (s)he can prove that F is consistent, which is unlikely if F is complicated. Penrose has invented a new argument intended to avoid this objection. In the paper I try to show that Penrose's new argument is inconclusive.     

Supreme Emergencies Without the Bad Guys

This paper discusses the application of the supreme emergency doctrine from just-war theory to non-antagonistic threats. Two versions of the doctrine are considered: Michael Walzer’s communitarian version and Brian Orend’s prudential one. I investigate first whether the doctrines are applicable to non-antagonistic threats, and second whether they are defensible. I argue that a version of Walzer’s doctrine seems to be applicable to non-antagonistic threats, but that it is very doubtful whether the doctrine is defensible. I also argue that Orend’s version of the doctrine is applicable to non-antagonistic threats, but that his account is not defensible, regardless of whether the threats are antagonistic or not.

Reply to Farrell and Lewandowsky: Recency—contiguity interactions predicted by the temporal context model

Farrell and Lewandowsky (2008) argued that the temporal context model (TCM; Howard & Kahana, 2002) cannot explain nonmonotonicities in the contiguity effect seen at extreme lags. However, TCM actually predicts these nonmonotonicities to the extent that end-of-list context persists as a retrieval cue during recall and to the extent that end-of-list context generates a recency effect. We show that the observed nonmonotonicity in the contiguity effect interacts with the recency effect, as predicted by TCM. In conditions, such as immediate and continualdistractor free recall, that exhibit strong recency, one observes more prominent nonmonotonicities in the contiguity effect than in conditions, such as delayed free recall, that attenuate recency. The nonmonotonicities in the contiguity effect at extreme lags, and the interactions between recency and contiguity, result from the role of end-of-list context as a retrieval cue in TCM. Results of an additional simulation based on the Howard and Kahana (2002) version of TCM may be downloaded from http://pbr.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.     

An operant approach to teaching joint attention skills to children with autism

A lack of joint attention skills may constitute a core impairment in autism. In the present study, a training protocol was developed, based on the literature on joint attention and on behavioral interventions. The training was organized into a sequence of three main parts respectively aimed at establishing each of the following skills: (1) responding to joint attention bids, (2) engaging in turn‐taking activities based on joint attention skills, and (3) initiating joint attention. Two novel components were incorporated in the training: (a) a discrimination training procedure aimed at establishing the adult's nods as conditioned reinforcers and (b) tasks based on turn‐taking, where joint attention skills were targeted and reinforced. The study was conducted according to a single‐subject experimental design, in which joint attention skills were measured before and after intervention, using the “behavioral assessment of joint attention.” Four 3.5–5.5 year‐old children diagnosed with autism participated in the study. All four children completed the training successfully and made significant progress in engaging in joint attention and in initiating joint attention skills. Following the completion of training and at 1 month follow‐up, parents reported that their children used their skills in different settings. Moreover, at follow‐up, all four children were reported to engage in joint attention behaviors and to enjoy doing so. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does a short self‐compassion intervention for students increase healthy self‐regulation? A randomized control trial

The primary aim of this study was to examine the effects of a two‐week self‐compassion course on healthy self‐regulation (personal growth self‐efficacy and healthy impulse control) and unhealthy self‐regulation (self‐judgment and habitual negative self‐directed thinking) in university students. We also examined the effects on self‐compassion, anxiety and depression. Students (N = 158, 85% women, mean age = 25 years) were randomized to an intervention group and a waiting‐list control group in a multi‐baseline randomized control trial. Healthy self‐control was measured by the Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS) and the Self‐Control Scale; unhealthy self‐control was measured by the Non‐judgement subscale from the Five‐Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (reversed) and the Habit Index of Negative Thinking (HINT). Secondary outcomes were measured by the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI‐trait), the Major Depression Inventory (MDI), and the Self‐Compassion Scale (SCS). A 2 × 3 repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed gains for the intervention‐group in personal growth self‐efficacy and healthy impulse‐control and reductions in self‐judgment and habitual negative self‐directed thinking, as well as increases in self‐compassion and reductions in anxiety and depression. After all participants had completed the course, the groups were combined and repeated measures ANOVAs showed that changes remained at six‐month follow‐up for personal growth self‐efficacy, self‐judgment and habitual negative self‐directed thinking; as well as for self‐compassion, anxiety and depression. Concluding, a short self‐compassion course seems an effective method of increasing self‐compassion and perceived control over one's life for university students, as well as increasing mental health.     

An open trial of mindfulness‐based stress reduction for young adults with social anxiety disorder

The present study investigated mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) for young adults with a social anxiety disorder (SAD) in an open trial. Fifty‐three young adults in a higher education setting underwent a standard eight‐week MBSR program. Eight participants (15%) did not complete the program. Participants reported significant reductions in SAD symptoms and global psychological distress, as well as increases in mindfulness, self‐compassion, and self‐esteem. Using intention‐to‐treat (ITT) analyses, effect sizes ranged from large to moderate for SAD symptoms (Cohen's d = 0.80) and global psychological distress (d = 0.61). Completer analyses yielded large effect sizes for SAD symptoms (d = 0.96) and global psychological distress (d = 0.81). The largest effect sizes were found for self‐compassion (d = 1.49) and mindfulness (d = 1.35). Two thirds of the participants who were in the clinical range at pretreatment reported either clinically significant change (37%) or reliable improvement (31%) on SAD symptoms after completing the MBSR program, and almost two thirds reported either clinically significant change (37%) or reliable improvement (26%) on global psychological distress. MBSR may be a beneficial intervention for young adults in higher education with SAD, and there is a need for more research on mindfulness and acceptance‐based interventions for SAD.     

Aspects of Fluency in Writing

The notion of ‘fluency’ is most often associated with spoken-language phenomena such as stuttering. The present article investigates the relevance of considering fluency in writing. The basic argument for raising this question is empirical—it follows from a focus on difficulties in written and spoken language as manifestations of different problems which should be investigated separately on the basis of their symptoms. Key-logging instruments provide new possibilities for the study of writing. The obvious use of this new technology is to study writing as it unfolds in real time, instead of focusing only on aspects of the end product. A more sophisticated application is to exploit the key-logging instrument in order to test basic assumptions of contemporary theories of spelling. The present study is a dictation task involving words and ‘non-words’, intended to investigate spelling in nine-year-old pupils with regard to their mastery of the doubling of consonants in Norwegian. In this study, we report on differences with regard to temporal measures between a group of strong writers and a group of poor ones. On the basis of these pupils’ writing behavior, the relevance of the concept of ‘fluency’ in writing is highlighted. The interpretation of the results questions basic assumptions of the cognitive hypothesis about spelling; the article concludes by hypothesizing a different conception of spelling.     

EFFECT OF REWARD AND PUNISHMENT ON VISUAL PERCEPTION OF FIGURE–GROUND

Eight experiments, based on the original design of Schafer & Murphy (1943) for study of the development of the figure—ground relationship, are examined and the results found to be contradictory. The definition given of the perception of the figure–ground relationship is judged to be inadequate and ascribed to an unwillingness of behavioristically oriented psychologists to analyze the term perception with reference to perceptual experience.