Offering predictive testing for Huntington disease in a medical genetics clinic: Practical applications

Predictive testing for Huntington disease is presently offered in a select few medical genetics centers in the United States. This is in part due to the labor intensive counseling and psychological testing suggested by the research protocols. We discuss some specific suggestions for establishing programs for Huntington disease predictive testing within pre-existing medical genetics clinics to encourage more centers to offer presymptomatic testing. This will allow more at risk individuals the opportunity to consider predictive testing and cut down the expenses of traveling to the few predictive testing centers that currently exist. The counseling principals will remain similar to those discussed here, even following the identification of the Huntington disease mutation.     

Parental assessment of the adjustment of children following abduction by the other parent

We present a multiple regression model that explores post-return adjustment of school-age children who experienced abduction by a parent. The model includes: a) child and family characteristics preceding abduction, b) characteristics of the abduction experience, and c) child and family characteristics following return. Overall, the model accounts for 21% of the variance in post-return adjustment of children (p.05). The most salient finding is that post-return adjustment of children was best explained by characteristics of the child and family before the abduction occurred. Domestic violence perpetrated by one or both parents was the most significant factor.     

Nonsuicidal physically self-damaging acts in adolescents

To determine the frequency and correlates of nonsuicidal physically self-damaging acts in 12–14 year olds, a two stage epidemiologic survey with a self-administered questionnaire (N=3283) followed by a psychiatric interview of a subsample of the adolescents and their parents (N=444) was used. Prevalence estimates of interview validated nonsuicidal physically self-damaging acts were 2.46% in males and 2.79% in females. Significant relationships were found between nonsuicidal physically self-damaging acts and suicidal ideation, major depression and undesirable life events. Data suggest that physically self-damaging acts occur at substantial rates during early adolescence. The strong correlation between nonsuicidal self-destructive acts and both suicidal ideation and major depression clarifies prior conflicting reports in the literature and suggests that a history of self-damaging acts should be taken into consideration when evaluating for possible depression and suicide risk.     

MacLaboratory for Psychology: Successes,failures, economics,and outcomes over its decade of development

The history of the development of MacLaboratory for Psychology offers insights into both problems and solutions in academic software creation and implementation. Superficially, MacLaboratory for Psychology has been very successful, having garnered numerous acclamations, including two EDUCOM awards. It is used on thousands of Macintoshes at universities, hospitals, schools, and other institutions worldwide. However, there have also been some shortcomings to its use. In a candid discussion, successes, failures, the economics of software development, and student outcomes are addressed. Specific examples from the software as it has been used by over 10,000 undergraduates at Drexel University provide guidelines for future academic software in such domains as multimedia use, psychological and scientific education, classroom implementation, faculty research, and software support and maintenance.     

Lotus 1-2-3 simulation of frequency encoding on the basilar membrane

A spreadsheet simulation was designed to describe frequency encoding on the basilar membrane according to the place theory (Greenwood, 1961). For any given frequency, the simulation displayed the location of maximum amplitude on the basilar membrane and the relevant critical bandwidth. The authors found a very high correlation between data given by the simulation and data from empirical research. The high correlation indicates the validity of the place theory of frequency encoding and the usefulness of this simulation for future research purposes.     

Practices and representations of child care and motor development among West Africans in Paris

Massage techniques and postural manipulation used by West African women immigrants in Paris were studied, with the aim of demonstrating that culturally regulated caretaking practices have an influence on infant motor development. Twenty-five infants were observed between the ages of 3 and 12 months and 9 and 15 months. Frequency of massage and its accompanying set of physical exercises were found to be related to age at onset of independent walking. The findings show that infants receiving daily massage walk significantly earlier than infants who do not receive massage, thus confirming other reports that vestibular and postural stimulation have a positive effect on motor development. These results are discussed in relation to the observed frequencey of contact and of physical games with the caregiver for a smaller sample of three infants, and to parental expectations about the age of acquisition of certain cognitive and motor abilities. African immigrant mothers expect their infants to sit and to walk earlier than French mothers. The conclusion emphasizes the contribution of social anthropology, which shows that in all cultures, physical development and body changes elicit symbolic practices and a search for explanation.     

An X Windows tool for synthesizing face images from eigenvectors

An X Windows software tool for the construction of faces with a weighted combination of eigenvectors is described. The eigenvectors were extracted from an autoassociative matrix that comprised 100 face images. The program input consists of eigenvectors and sets of weights that describe individual faces and combines these to create face images. The tool creates a panel of buttons that permits the display of individual eigenvectors and the display of an average face as well. Facilities for on-line changes to the intensity of individual eigenvectors can be used to change the appearance of a face. Previously, O’Toole, Abdi, Deffenbacher, and Bartlett (1991) have shown that the intensity of certain individual eigenvectors contains reliable information for determining the sex and race of the face.     

Time-stamping computer events to report .1-msec accuracy of events in the Micro Experimental Laboratory

A critical problem in most real-time programming tasks is the verification that timing of the presented displays and recorded events occur at the expected times. It is often difficult for psychologists to verify critical timing because of the lack of costly specialized tools and technicians to measure events with millisecond accuracy. Algorithms utilized in a new Time Audit mechanism, added to the Micro Experimental Laboratory, are described. This new mechanism involves the recording and time stamping of all input and output events with 0.1-msec accuracy. This allows the experimenter to determine the initiation, duration, and termination of each event and also makes it possible to relate these events to the synchronization of the screen refresh cycle. A customized user interface provides a time log and event-tracing feature that enables nonprogrammers to determine the duration of command execution to the .1-msec level, allowing rapid, precise assessment of program execution. The resulting time log provides a detailed specification of the experimental events for debugging and a permanent record of the experimental procedure.