Founder of the Journal of Genetic Psychology

Fifteen college-level readers (2 men and 13 women) were given 34 passages from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) for reading. During reading, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from the midline sites (Fz, Cz, and Pz) of the participants' scalps. The first 17 passages were read by the participants at their own natural rate (self-paced condition). The second 17 passages were read at a fast-paced rate determined by the fastest reading rate recorded on an adequately comprehended trial from the preceding passages. Results indicated that accelerating reading rate increased the readers' comprehension. Additionally, the increase in reading rate and improvement in comprehension were reflected in the ERP measures. This finding confirms this study's assumption that there is a disparity between reading ability and routine performance, and that this disparity is manifested in measures of neurocognitive functioning as reflected by the ERPs. Specifically, the ERP waveforms discriminated not only reading rate (specifically manifested by differences in speed of processing), but also the level of comprehension attained by the participants.     

Notes on Measurement of the Magnitude of the Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex Response in Normal Preschool Children

This study investigated the magnitude of the asymmetrical tonic neck reflex (ATNR) response in forty preschool children, grouped by age (3 years and 5 years) and sex. The ATNR response was measured by electrogoniometers at the head and elbows and recorded graphically on an X-Y plotter. Change scores indicating the difference in degrees of elbow flexion before and after head rotation were analyzed. Repetition of the stimulus (head turning) to the left and to the right occurred under two test postures (supine, quadrupedal) with the effect of a blindfold nested within quadruped trials and the effect of added tension nested within supine, totaling 16 trials per child. The magnitude of the ATNR decreased significantly with age, but sex differences were not significant. The quadrupedal test posture produced significantly larger responses than did the supine test posture. Added tension produced significant increases in the supine posture. The blindfold did not produce significant main effects. Electro-goniometric measurement consistently demonstrated the magnitude of the ATNR in normal preschool children, which decreases with age, is dependent upon test posture and can provide numerical guides in clinical tests of central nervous system integration.     

Citizen at the Edge: Czeslaw Milosz and the Poetry of Redemption

The author is haunted by the painful collective images of her troubled times, and by the ghost of her father who was passionate about politics and would be horrified, were he still alive, at how the basic principles of our democracy have been undermined in recent history. In active imagination the author has a dialogue with her dead father and introduces him to the poetry of Czeslaw Milosz, a man of his generation and, like her father, a “Child of Europe,” which is a title of a Milosz poem. Born in Lithuania, Milosz had to contend with the threats to his country from both the right and from the left, from the Nazis and from Stalinist Russia. His poetry helps the author, in dialogue with the ghost of her father, find a way to confront the horrors of her own time, while cultivating a religious attitude.     

Adolescent predictors and associates of psychosocial functioning in young men and women: 11 year follow‐up findings from the Nord‐Trøndelag Health Study

The aim of this paper was to investigate whether psychosocial functioning in adulthood (e.g., friends support, cohabitation, community connectedness and work satisfaction) could be predicted by mental health, subjective well‐being, social relations and behavior problems in adolescence, and whether gender was a moderator in these associations. Data were obtained from a major population‐based Norwegian study, the Nord‐Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), in which 517 men and 819 women completed an extensive self‐report questionnaires at baseline (mean age 14.4 years) and at follow‐up (mean age 26.9 years). Community connectedness as well as work satisfaction were predicted by subjective well‐being. Cohabitation was predicted by male gender and frequency of meeting friends in adolescence, and friends support was predicted by frequency of meeting friends. Gender had a minor effect as a moderator. Frequency of meeting friends and subjective well‐being seemed to be the strongest adolescent predictors of psychosocial functioning in young adulthood. These findings may have implications both for prevention and intervention in adolescence, as well as for future research.     

Deleuze's Use of Kant's Argument from Incongruent Counterparts

The aim of this paper is to explore Deleuze's use of Kant's argument from incongruent counterparts, which Kant uses to show the existence of what he calls an “internal difference” within things. I want to explore how Deleuze draws out an important distinction between the concept and the Idea, and provides an incisive account of his relationship to both the Kantian and Leibnizian projects. First, I look at Kant's use of the argument to provide a refutation of the Leibnizian account of space, before showing how this criticism in fact rests on the question of the conceptual determination of object. Second, I show how Deleuze develops a taxonomy of difference on the basis of his reading of Kant's argument. Finally, I look at what Deleuze sees as the limitations in Kant's understanding of this concept and Deleuze's attempt to overcome these limitations through the introduction of the notion of the Idea, which will provide a genetic and nonconceptual account of the object. In doing so, I show why Deleuze takes the formulation of an adequate account of difference to be one of the central aims of his own metaphysics.     

The impact of prenatal serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) antidepressant exposure and maternal mood on mother–infant interactions at 3 months of age

Exposure to maternal depression increases risks for altered mother–infant interactions. Serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) antidepressants are increasingly prescribed to manage antenatal maternal illness. The impact of SRIs on early mother–infant interactions was unknown. Three-month-old infants of 32 depressed mothers treated with SRI medications during pregnancy and 43 non-medicated mothers were studied. Using an established face-to-face mother–infant interaction paradigm, dyad interactions were studied with and without a toy. Videotaped sessions yielded 4 measures: maternal sensitivity, dyadic organization, infant readiness to interact, and maternal interruptive behaviors. Even with prenatal SRI treatment, depressed mothers interrupted their infants more during toy play. In the absence of prenatal SRI treatment, maternal postnatal depression adversely influenced infant behavior. Higher levels of maternal depression symptoms at 3 months predicted poorer infant readiness to interact during the toy session. Conversely, in the SRI-exposed group, higher prenatal depression scores predicted greater infant readiness to interact at 3 months. Increased infant readiness with SRI exposure suggests a “fetal programming effect” whereby prenatal maternal mood disturbances shaped a future response to a postnatal depressed maternal environment.     

The Relationship Between Self-Control,Witnessing Domestic Violence,and Subsequent Violence

The notion that violence begets violence is well accepted. Less clear are the precise factors that link together child violence and adult violence in an individual's life course. This study examines the role that self-control has in linking together exposure to violence in a child's life and subsequent violence in that individual's life. A telephone survey with 375 residents in Southeastern Virginia was conducted. Attention is given to whether those who saw their parents fight are more likely to (1) have a low self-control and (2) report having experienced violence either as an offender or a victim. Results suggest that witnessing violence is not related to self-control, and those who witnessed violence were less likely to have subsequent experiences with partner abuse. Further, we found that low self-control has a link with partner abuse. Implications for theory, policy, and future research are provided.     

Understanding the Mental Health Travails of Custodial Grandparents

Grandcarers are at-risk of poor mental health outcomes. Current knowledge of the support needs of grandcarers is fragmented. To help fill this knowledge gap qualitative analysis was undertaken on 49 interviews conducted with custodial grandparents. The findings reveal that conflicted occupational roles coupled with the complexity of the stressors facing grandcarers both contribute to their social isolation and to their self-doubts about their ability to adequately attend to their grandchildren’s needs. Greater awareness among occupational therapists (OTs) of custodial grandparents’ mental health travails and an increased understanding of key occupational therapy (OT) practice initiatives are central to addressing grandcarers’ mental health travails.     

Nonjudgment as a moderator of the relationship between present-centered awareness and borderline features: Synergistic interactions in mindfulness assessment

The symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD) have been characterized as deficits in mindfulness. Mindfulness can be defined as nonjudgmental, present-centered awareness. The present study investigates the theory that, consistent with this conceptualization, the extent to which acting with awareness predicts reduced BPD features and related dysfunction depends upon levels of nonjudgment. In a sample of 223 undergraduates, we calculated the interaction between awareness-based and nonjudging-based mindfulness skills using subscales of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire. Regression analyses demonstrated a significant effect of the interaction on several difficulties that are common in BPD: problems with relationships, emotion-related impulsivity, and anger rumination. For acting with awareness to benefit individuals with these difficulties, a less judgmental stance toward internal experiences may be necessary. These findings have significant treatment implications and demonstrate the importance of assessing mindfulness as a multifaceted, synergistic construct.