Prognosis in primarily pure absence epilepsy

17 patients out of a total of 93 treated for primarily pure absence-epilepsy experienced secondary grand mal-seizures and eeg of 8 patients showed a grand mal-disposition (irregular s-w). These 25 patients, compared with the remaining 68 patients, attended more frequently a special school for mentally retarded children, their marks were worse, they left school in a lower form, and their vocational education was less qualified. 8 patients out of 65, who were primarily treated with Suxilep and without additional grand mal-remedy, experienced secondary grand mal-seizures (relative frequency 0.12). The question of the necessity of primary grand mal-prophylaxis is beeing discussed.     

Color preferences, extraversion, and neuroticism of art students.

Color preferences of 190 art students (G?tz & G?tz, 1974, 1975) were compared with the corresponding scores on extraversion (E) and neuroticism (N). It was found that the preferences of a group of 27 highly gifted young artists were different from preferences of average and less gifted Ss who had little or no artistic practice. In the latter group extraverts and ambiverts mainly preferred primary and secondary colors (light clear and dark clear tones included), while introverts preferred tertiary colors (earth colors) and achromatics. However, in the group of highly gifted Ss no significant differences between positive and negative rankings in both color categories were found. Neuroticism had no effect on color preferences; this holds for introverts and extraverts and for each single color.     

Color preferences of art students: surface colors: II.

In a previous study (G?tz & G?tz, 1974b) the preferences of 14 surface colors were analyzed. While this set contained only one red, one blue, one yellow, etc., the color set of the present investigation was extended, and the preferences of 5 different reds, blues, yellow, etc. were analyzed. Between the five variations of red and yellow, respectively, the greatest affective differences were found, while the opposite was true for the 5 oranges, pinks, and grays. The most preferred colors are 2 reds, 2 blues, and 2 yellows; least preferred are a greenish yellow, a penetrating red-violet, and all 5 pinks. Significant sex differences were found for 8 colors.     

Pathological visual field and brain tumor]

The general relationships between an operatively or autoptically localized tumor and the visual field determined by means of ikineticer perimetry are investigated, the patient stock being a total of 1756 neurosurgical brain-tumor inpatients. Examination of the visual field was possible with four fifths of the brain-tumor patients. Hemianopic, quadrantanopsic, or scotomatous defects of a topically localizable nature could be found in almost one third of the total patient stock available for examination. The clinically particularly interesting criteria of localization of homonymous-hemianopsia defects such as macular sparing and incongruence/congruence of visual field changes should be of no importance to the localization within the visual pathway of brain-tumor patients.     

Relations between pneumoencephalographic and electroencephalographic findings in childhood]

During simultaneous testing of electro-encephalograms and pneumoencephalograms in 200 children of various ages a proven correlation of statistics between both test procedures emerged as a well-defined parameter for evaluation. When making a statement about the correlation in findings between E.E.G. and P.E.G. the age of development in a child must be taken into consideration. Thus it emerged that in infants pronounced enlargement of the ventricular system correlates with active tension E.E.G. at increased inter-cranial pressure, while the coincidence of focal changes in E.E.G. and P.E.G. with advancing years becomes at first more pronounced after the tenth year of life (or puberty) but afterwards lessens.     

Tolerance of pain as a measure of fear

Fear thresholds were measured in four experiments by exposing rats to electric shock in order to determine the maximal intensity rats would tolerate rather than enter a fear-arousing box and/or stop freezing. Increasing fear raised these thresholds. They were greater for rats having to escape shock to a fear-arousing box than for rats having to escape shock and fear to a neutral box. The forgetting functions for the latter two groups differed: the first group yielded a monotonic decay function, whereas the second group yielded an inverted U-shaped function. These thresholds decreased as a function of an avoidance learning procedure. Rats that had to escape shock to a fear arousing box did not do so immediately, although they had stopped freezing. An avoidance-avoidance conflict explanation for immobility was not found to be valid. A theoretical formulation based on the following two hypotheses was suggested to explain these results: the fear-aroused freezing (immobility) is an unlearned response; finding a way to escape the source of fear starts another unlearned response, withdrawal.     

Information-theoretical error analysis of a form-comparison test]

An attempt has been made to make an error analysis, by both the conventional and information theoretical mode of evaluation, of the results of a forms comparison test used for diagnosing the sensory and optical capacity of differentiating. A total of 423 test subjects were available for this program. Data for the standardization of this test and for the evaluation of test results was derived from the results of this investigation.     

Comparative assessment of a coping model for school adolescents

Four brief, interpersonal coping courses were conducted in a junior high school setting for early adolescent students who volunteered for the experience. Two of the classes (N=24) consisted of students who regularly utilized school guidance personnel; the remaining two classes (N=19) consisted of adolescents from the general school population. Course objectives included higher self-esteem and increased ability to perceive, interpret, and express nonverbal communication and feeling. Session tape recordings provided verbal data for analysis by the Hill Interaction Matrix (HIM) procedure. Results showed that the intervention had significant impact on students' patterns of interaction: interactions were fewer, but longer; conventional interactions decreased, while speculative ones increased; and personal and relationship content increased. Generally, the two class types exhibited similar patterns and changes, although some specific differences were detected. Social class background, stressful life events, and the intensity of the problems experienced by the two types of student were postulated as the sources of this variability. When coupled with ancillary postcourse data, these results support the conclusion that students' interpersonal coping skills were improved by the experience.