The impact of graduation from psychoanalytic training

To examine candidates' experience of graduation from psychoanalytic training, 1997-2001 graduates of the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research were sent a confidential questionnaire about their first year after analytic training. Of this group, 72 percent (23/32) returned the survey. Questions focused on the impact of graduation on time availability, net income, professional advancement, and sense of personal and professional autonomy. Graduates from analytic training were found to have more income in their first postgraduate year, a mean increase of 30,000 dollars, and more available time, a mean increase of sixteen hours. Increased earnings came primarily from seeing more patients during the time made available with the end of classes. In addition, graduates did not terminate their control cases or stop supervision. Graduates most valued their sense of professional accomplishment and ability to spend more time with their families. Although graduates also experienced relief from evaluation pressure, they did not rank this high in importance. For candidates, graduation profoundly impacts the structure of professional and personal life, but does not mean an end to learning.     

She Needs to See it to be it: The Importance of Same-Gender Athletic Role Models

Sex Roles - In four studies, we examined the importance of gender-matched athletic role models for women. Although both women and men may benefit most from exposure to high profile athletes in...     

Six-year-olds' perception of home literacy environment and its influence on children's literacy enjoyment,frequency, and early literacy skills

Home literacy environment (HLE) makes an important contribution to children's reading acquisition in early years. Even though some research on children's perception exists, children's reports about HLE have been neglected. The present study focuses on N = 281 six-year-old's reports about HLE and its influences on literacy enjoyment, frequency, and early literacy skills. Parents' educational background was expected to predict children-perceived HLE. A positive impact of active HLE on literacy enjoyment and frequency were found. HLE also mediates the relation between parents' background and enjoyment. The importance of children's perspective on HLE regarding family literacy programs is discussed.     

Context controls access to working and reference memory in the pigeon (Columba livia)

The interaction between working and reference memory systems was examined under conditions in which salient contextual cues were presented during memory retrieval. Ambient colored lights (red or green) bathed the operant chamber during the presentation of comparison stimuli in delayed matching‐to‐sample training (working memory) and during the presentation of the comparison stimuli as S+ and S‐ cues in discrimination training (reference memory). Strong competition between memory systems appeared when the same contextual cue appeared during working and reference memory training. When different contextual cues were used, however, working memory was completely protected from reference memory interference.     

Cumulative neurological factors associated with long-term outcomes in adult survivors of childhood brain tumors

Prior research has demonstrated the reliability and validity of the Neurological Predictor Scale (NPS) in relation to childhood brain tumor survivor outcomes; however, its use has not been examined in adult long-term survivors. The current study examines the concurrent validity of the NPS with long-term intellectual and adaptive outcomes in adult survivors of childhood brain tumors relative to individual variables alone. A total of 68 adult survivors of childhood brain tumors (M = 24 years old, SD = 4) almost 16 years post diagnosis (SD = 6) completed intellectual evaluations using the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI). Survivors’ adaptive functioning skills were assessed via informant structured clinical interviews (SIB-R). NPS scores were computed from data acquired from medical records. The NPS was significantly associated with intellectual (R² = 0.208, p < .05) and adaptive outcomes (R² = 0.30, p < .05) over and above individual risk factors. Approximately 18% of long-term survivors were identified as impaired in intellectual outcomes, and 29% were identified as impaired in adaptive functioning in everyday life skills. The NPS quantifies the cumulative effects of treatment and neurological sequelae experienced by both short- and long-term survivors of childhood brain tumors. It is a useful and easy measure to employ in clinical research that focuses on quantifying the neurological risk factors associated with long-term intellectual and adaptive functioning outcomes in adult survivors of childhood brain tumors.     

Visual Attention to Pictorial Food Stimuli in Individuals With Night Eating Syndrome: An Eye-Tracking Study

Night eating syndrome (NES) is characterized by excessive evening and/or nocturnal eating episodes. Studies indicate an attentional bias towards food in other eating disorders. For NES, however, evidence of attentional food processing is lacking. Attention towards food and non-food stimuli was compared using eye-tracking in 19 participants with NES and 19 matched controls without eating disorders during a free exploration paradigm and a visual search task. In the free exploration paradigm, groups did not differ in initial fixation position or gaze duration. However, a significant orienting bias to food compared to non-food was found within the NES group, but not in controls. A significant attentional maintenance bias to non-food compared to food was found in both groups. Detection times did not differ between groups in the search task. Only in NES, attention to and faster detection of non-food stimuli were related to higher BMI and more evening eating episodes. The results might indicate an attentional approach-avoidance pattern towards food in NES. However, further studies should clarify the implications of attentional mechanisms for the etiology and maintenance of NES.     

Switching between goals mediates the attentional blink effect

Humans are fundamentally limited in processing information from the outside world. This is particularly evident in the attentional blink (AB), the impaired ability to identify the second of two targets presented in close succession. We report findings from three experiments showing that the AB is significantly reduced when observers are set to achieve one single goal (reporting combinations of the two targets) instead of separate goals (reporting the two targets). This finding raises questions about the nature of AB, and suggests that processes involved in goal-switching must be taken into account by theories of the AB phenomenon.     

Co-Occurring Youth Profiles of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Protective Factors: Associations with Health,Resilience, and Racial Disparities

It is important to understand racial/ethnic differences in adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), given their relationship to long-term physical and mental health, and the public health cost of the significant disparities that exist. Moreover, in order to inform interventions and promote resilience, it is critical to examine protective factors that mitigate the relationship between adversity and poor health. The current study utilized latent transition analyses (LTA) to examine co-occurring profiles of ACEs and protective factors (from school, family, and community contexts) and links to health outcomes among 30,668 Black (10.4%), Latinx (12.3%), and White youth (77.3%) ages 12–17 (52.5% male) who participated in the 2011–12 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH). Results suggested that greater adversity was associated with worse health, while more access to protective factors was associated with better health. White youth had consistently lower endorsement of ACEs, greater access to protective factors, and better health compared to their Black and Latinx counterparts. Efforts to improve child health and racial/ethnic disparities in research and practice must consider adversity, protective factors, and the systemic inequities faced by racial/ethnic minority youth in the United States.