Division of the corpus callosum into subregions

Various attempts have been made to subdivide the corpus callosum (CC) into anatomically and functionally distinct subareas. A promising current approach is the use of factor analytic techniques in conjunction with traced MRI images. The traced images are divided into 99 percentile slices, where the widths of the percentile slices are used as variables that are entered into the analysis (Denenberg, Kertesz & Cowell, 1991). Studies that use this technique agree broadly between 6 and 7 factors, but available factor solutions contain inconsistencies and large gaps, which arise when many of the percentile slices do not load appreciably on any of the factors. The present study uses a larger number of brains (N = 184), all normalized, and some methodological refinements in the analysis of the traced MRI images of the CC. A stable 7 factor solution was found, and the factor structure for males and females was very similar.     

A shift of attention may be necessary, but it is not sufficient, for the generation of the Simon effect

The Simon effect is the performance advantage for spatially corresponding, compared to non-corresponding, target-response ensembles when the location of the target is task irrelevant. In four experiments, we tested the predictions of the attention-shift account of the Simon effect. In all experiments, subjects made choice responses with respect to the identity of a central target that followed a spatially non-informative peripheral precue. The first experiment showed a Simon effect away from the precue when the precue was a go/no-go signal: responses to spatially non-corresponding precue-response pairs were faster than responses to spatially corresponding precue-response pairs. The results of the second experiment suggested that this “reverse” Simon effect was not due to inhibition. In the third experiment, a secondary working memory task required the encoding, and later recall, of “oddball” precues. Although the Simon effect was absent, larger Simon effects towards the precue (i.e., responses were faster to spatially corresponding, compared to non-corresponding, precue-response ensembles) were correlated with poorer performance on the memory task. In the last experiment, the identity of completely non-informative precues was congruent, incongruent, or unrelated to the identity of the target. With precues that were unrelated to the identity of the target, there was a Simon effect towards the precues. Conversely, the Simon effect occurred away from the precue when the identity of the precue was related to that of the target. The findings suggest that a shift of attention alone is not sufficient to produce the Simon effect. Rather, the shift of attention must originate from an intentionally defined object. The results are discussed within a framework that integrates the attention-shift and referential-coding hypotheses. Received: 2 December 1999 / Accepted: 23 March 2000     

Genetic Cancer Risk Assessment and Counseling: Recommendations of the National Society of Genetic Counselors

These cancer genetic counseling recommendations describe the medical, psychosocial, and ethical ramifications of identifying at-risk individuals through cancer risk assessment with or without genetic testing. They were developed by members of the Practice Issues Subcommittee of the National Society of Genetic Counselors Cancer Genetic Counseling Special Interest Group. The information contained in this document is derived from extensive review of the current literature on cancer genetic risk assessment and counseling as well as the personal expertise of genetic counselors specializing in cancer genetics. The recommendations are intended to provide information about the process of genetic counseling and risk assessment for hereditary cancer disorders rather than specific information about individual syndromes. Key components include the intake (medical and family histories), psychosocial assessment (assessment of risk perception), cancer risk assessment (determination and communication of risk), molecular testing for hereditary cancer syndromes (regulations, informed consent, and counseling process), and follow-up considerations. These recommendations should not be construed as dictating an exclusive course of management, nor does use of such recommendations guarantee a particular outcome. These recommendations do not displace a health care provider's professional judgment based on the clinical circumstances of a client.     

Does handedness influence the strength of phantom limb illusions in the virtual reality box?

Subjects had to judge the size of a tactile stimulus held in the unseen hand, while a visible phantom hand representing that unseen hand held a tactile stimulus of same or different size. No asymmetries in interference effects were found that could be related to hand or handedness. The method lends itself to quantification of virtual reality box illusions and can be used to evaluate the role of experience and sources of variability in the strength of the illusion across subjects.     

Interidentity amnesia for neutral,episodic information in dissociative identity disorder

Interidentity amnesia is considered a hallmark of dissociative identity disorder (DID) in clinical practice. In this study, objective methods of testing episodic memory transfer between identities were used. Tests of both recall (interference paradigm) and recognition were used. A sample of 31 DID patients was included. Additionally, 50 control subjects participated, half functioning as normal controls and the other half simulating interidentity amnesia. Twenty-one patients subjectively reported complete one-way amnesia for the learning episode. However, objectively, neither recall nor recognition scores of patients were different from those of normal controls. It is suggested that clinical models of amnesia in DID may be specified to exclude episodic memory impairments for emotionally neutral material.     

Comparison of two creativity style measures

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between two measures of creativity style for a sample of beginning teachers. 116 student teachers enrolled in an undergraduate teacher-education program in a medium-sized, metropolitan university completed the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory and Basadur Creative Problem Solving Profile measures. A preference for an Innovator style (higher scores on Kirton's inventory) was correlated with the Generator profile on the Basadur profile (r=.36, p<.01). The KAI Efficiency scores, suggesting a preference for broad, global ideas as opposed to narrow, specific ones, was correlated with the Basadur Conceptualizer scores (r=.26, p<.01). Implications are discussed for teachers who must adapt to newer instructional and assessment methods designed to foster students' higher-level thinking skills.     

Power in Numbers: The Effect of Target Set Size on Prospective Person Memory in an Analog Missing Child Scenario

Efforts to find missing or wanted individuals have been characterized as an example of event‐based prospective memory called prospective person memory. We examined prospective person memory in the context of missing children. Participants studied 4 or 12 mock missing child posters. In Experiment 1, we equated total time per poster and found no difference between conditions in prospective person memory accuracy. In Experiment 2, we equated total time for all posters and found evidence of a decrease in prospective person memory accuracy in the 12‐poster condition. In Experiment 3, we allowed free study and also found a decrease in prospective person memory accuracy. Across all three experiments, we also found evidence of a more liberal response bias in the 12‐poster condition. Results are discussed in terms of both practical and theoretical implications. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of a measure of the experience of being bullied in youth

The Personal Experiences Checklist (PECK) was developed to provide a multidimensional assessment of a young person's personal experience of being bullied that covered the full range of bullying behaviors, including covert relational forms of bullying and cyber bullying. A sample of 647 school children were used to develop the scale, and a 2nd sample of 218 children completed the PECK and a battery of measures of bullying (including peer nomination), anxiety, depression, and self-esteem, to provide validity evidence. Test-retest reliability was assessed in a further sample of 78 students. Four factors emerged from a principal axis factoring consistent with the domains of relational-verbal bullying, cyber bullying, physical bullying, and bullying based on culture and were confirmed with confirmatory factor analysis. The data also supported a higher order bullying factor with direct effects on these 4 factors. All PECK scales showed good to excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α range = .78-.91) and adequate test-retest reliability (range r = .61-.86). Most, but not all, expected relations were found with alternative methods of assessing bullying and measures of psychopathology. Taken together, the PECK provides a promising comprehensive and behaviorally focused dimensional measure of bullying.