Genetic Counseling: Clinical Geneticists' Views

Evaluation of genetic counseling requires a clear consensus about its objectives, which is not evident in published definitions and guidelines. This study aims to investigate clinical geneticists' beliefs and thoughts about their practice. Structured interviews with eight clinical geneticists addressed the aims, skills, and expectations of genetic counseling. Analysis of transcribed interviews revealed four key themes, with contradictory aspects: 1. Providing information that is objective, full, and accurate versus information that is contingent on circumstances and tailored to individual needs. 2. Eliciting emotion and dealing with it directly versus dampening down and containing emotion. 3. Communicating nondirectively versus directively. 4. Expecting to perform a range of sophisticated tasks while having minimal training in the necessary skills to achieve these. These results have implications for the nature of the professional role, the development of training required for it, and the evaluation of genetic counseling.     

An experimental study of some hypothesized behaviors and personality variables of college student procrastinators

Aitken's Procrastination Inventory was administered to 200 college students. Scores were correlated with extraversion and neuroticism scores of the revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Procrastination was positively correlated with extraversion and curvilinearly related to neuroticism. Forty procrastinators and nonprocrastinators were further tested. Procrastinators showed a significant tendency to underestimate the time needed to complete a reading task. They also showed a preference for beginning a task by performing the simpler portions first. Treatment and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Comparisons and perceived deprivation in ethnic minority settings

Two studies investigated comparison choices among ethnic minorities and majorities. The perceived status of the self vis-á-vis different comparison targets also was assessed. Antecedents and consequences of comparisons and relative deprivation were examined. Predictions were derived from social comparison, stigma, social identity, and relative deprivation research. Two surveys were conducted, one in London with mainly Asian participants (N = 235) and one in Germany with Turkish and Aussiedler participants (N = 166) and German majority members (N = 351). Participants preferred intragroup and temporal comparisons (with other ingroup members and with the self in the past) to various types of cross-group comparisons (with outgroup members). Perceived similarity and contact with a target positively predicted interest in comparing with this target, and perceived higher status of the target was a negative predictor. Some evidence was found that feelings of deprivation depend on comparison choices. Deprivation negatively predicted self-esteem and life satisfaction. Deprivation and group identification were negatively correlated.     

Young peoples' opinions about the causes of, and solutions to, New Zealand's high youth suicide rate

In response to an open-ended question about the causes of New Zealand's high youth suicide rate, 384 young adults most commonly cited pressure to conform and perform, followed by financial worries, abuse and neglect, problems with alcohol or drugs, and boredom. Depression was cited by 5 percent and mental illness by only 1 percent. Recommended solutions included crisis support services located in schools and youth centers, youth activities, educational programs to assist young people to discuss feelings and to bolster self-esteem, and financial aid. Neither increasing mental health services, nor reducing media coverage of suicides, was considered to be a solution.     

Oxford cognitive screen: A critical review and independent psychometric evaluation

The Oxford cognitive screen (OCS) is a stroke-specific cognitive screening assessment. Although the test developers have provided psychometric information for the assessment, the OCS has received minimal external scrutiny, with which to triangulate the underpinning psychometrics. The purpose of this study is to provide a critical review and independent validation of the OCS. This study analysed data from an anonymised clinical database, which consisted of 316 patients who were assessed using the OCS on an Acute Stroke Unit. The rates of impairment on tests of memory and receptive communication were lower than expectation, suggesting that these subtests may be relatively insensitive. Patients with aphasia were more likely to be unable to categorised as impaired on non-language tests, suggesting that they remain sensitive to language processing or non-dominant hand usage. Some of the subtests of the OCS achieve high retest reliability, which makes them good candidates for measuring cognitive change over time. Although the OCS has many advantages, it is also important to adequately consider its limitations, that is insensitivity to memory problems, the potential confounding impact of non-dominant hand usage, and the potential that some tests may sample overall cognitive ability instead of domain-specific functioning.     

Somatovisceral interactions in visceral perception: Abdominal masking of colonic stimuli

Clinical and experimental evidence on referred pain and spinal-afferent convergence demonstrates a close relationship between visceral and somatosensory perception, which is important for current models of symptom perception and central body representation. The study uses a psychophysical approach to quantify these interactions at the perceptual level, taking into account problems of comparable intermodal scaling and the role of awareness. An experiment on somatosensory masking of distension stimuli in the colon is reported in which a multiple staircase method of forced choice discrimination with concurrent sensation ratings was employed. Results showed perceptual masking of visceral by abdominal stimuli but not vice versa. The masking effect was not enhanced by intratomal placement of the abdominal stimulus in the lower left quadrant. This contradicts the spinal sensory convergence model and points to perceptual interactions at higher brain levels. Loglinear analysis of relations between discrimination and subjective sensation revealed qualitative differences of somatovisceral perception at the preconscious as compared to the conscious level. This argues for a two-process model of integrative body perception.     

From a passing thought to a false memory in 2 minutes: Confusing real and illusory events

The frequency with which subjects erroneously included a nonpresented word in their recall of a study list was explored in two experiments. The intrusion error was recalled by as many as 80% of the subjects, and when it was perceived to have been presented early in the study list, it was assigned confidence ratings and phenomenological retrieval characteristics equivalent to those for presented words. As a result, subjects were often unable to discriminate memories of real study words from their memories of a related but nonpresented word. Manipulations of encoding, but not of retrieval, conditions altered both the frequencies of illusory memories and their metamemorial characteristics. The results and paradigm are discussed in terms of their relevance to the “memory-recovery” debate.     

Procedural justice and preferential treatment: A brief review and comment

To put Singer’s (1992) work on relative deprivation and responses to preferential treatment in context, studies from a procedural justice perspective are reviewed. That review suggests that the psychological dynamics of preferential treatment are well accounted for by concepts derived from theories of procedural justice. It is thus argued that, to be parsimonious, Singer’s work is best conceptualized in procedural justice rather than relative deprivation terms.