Subjective memory loss in age-associated memory impairment: Family history and neuropsychological correlates

Abstract

Empiricist and rationalist approaches to data-quality control in meta-analyses are discussed, and a compromise approach advocated by Strube and Hartmann (1983) for theoretically driven meta-analyses is applied to Laver and Burke's (1993) data sets. When older adults' response times (RTs) and semantic priming effects (SPEs) are regressed on young adults' RTs and SPEs, the slopes of the regression lines are approximately 1.5 as long as the age difference is held constant and performance is reasonably accurate. Both increases and decreases in RTs following unrelated and related primes, relative to RTs following baseline primes, were analyzed. The results, like those regarding RTs and SPEs, support the hypothesis that, compared with young adults who are 50 years younger, older adults take approximately 50% longer to process lexical information     

Neuropsychological and neurophysiological effects of strengthening exercise for early dementia: A pilot study

ABSTRACT

Research demonstrates a positive effect of aerobic exercise on cognitive functioning in older adults. Unfortunately, aerobic exercise is often contraindicated for older adults due to cardiovascular and functional limitations. Low-intensity strengthening exercise may offer a practical alternative, but the neuropsychological benefits and potential neurophysiological mechanisms are less well understood. The current study evaluated the effects of a 10-week strengthening exercise intervention on cognitive functioning and EEG in a sample of 13 older adults with early dementia, and 9 normative controls. Results revealed beneficial effects of strengthening exercise on verbal memory coupled with frontal beta and delta power asymmetries and N200 amplitude asymmetry. Results point to increased cognitive efficiency following 10 weeks of strengthening exercise. The findings suggest it is feasible to conduct a strengthening intervention with early dementia patients, and to gather neuropsychological and neurophysiological data to evaluate outcomes. Strengthening exercise may serve as a useful alternative to aerobic exercise.     

Bringing actors together around large-scale water systems: Participatory modeling and other innovations

Conclusion The five areas of innovation found in the three case studies have brought actors together in new ways around water management strategies. We paid special attention to the role of participatory modeling, because it has been able to generate new policy options. For such complex and often deadlocked water management issues, new options are at a premium. The cases demonstrate that participatory modeling efforts are a key part of successfully addressing these major water management issues faced in the U.S. as well as elsewhere. Recent publications include Ecology, Engineering and Management: Reconciling Ecosystem Rehabilitation and Service Reliability (with Emery Roe; Oxford: Oxford University Press). Current research interest include the reliability of critical infrastructures (such as electricity, water, telecommunications and the internet) and the development of methods to recast the intractable policy issues. Since 1999, he has been a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley and Mills College, Oakland. where he teaches and directs research in the application of economic theory and systems analysis methods to the solution of environmental and regional water resources problems. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters, served on various committees of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, and was a U.S. member of an advisory committee for the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, Austria. Emery Roe has published widely on science, technology and environmental controversies, including the debates over large technical systems, sustainable development, and ecosystem management. His books include Narrative Policy Analysis (Duke University Press, 1994), Taking Complexity Seriously: Policy Analysis, Triangulation and Sustainable Development (Kluwer, 1998), Except-Africa: Remaking Development, Rethinking Power (Transaction, 1999), and Ecology, Engineering and Management: Reconciling Ecosystem Rehabilitation and Service Reliability (with Michel van Eeten; Oxford: Oxford University Press).     

Cross-fertilization versus transmission: Recommendations for developing a bidirectional approach to psychotherapy dissemination research

Psychotherapy researchers are increasingly engaged in collaborations with clinical practitioners and mental health administrators. Each party brings its own perspectives, values, and agendas to bear in these encounters. Viable research—practice collaborations depend on understanding and negotiating some of the tensions in these relationships. In this article, we discuss the contexts that prevail for various participants in a psychotherapy dissemination study as well as the values, goals, costs, and benefits related to research participation. This article is a collaboration among the researchers, mental health administrators, therapists, and clients involved in an ongoing treatment dissemination study. Our recommendations for research—practice collaborations are based on our experiences and dialogues over the course of this study.     

Predictors of Satisfaction Among College-Educated African American Women in Midlife

There has been little theorizing or empirical research on satisfaction among African American women at midlife. This study addresses this gap by examining predictors of satisfaction in 3 cohorts (N = 202) of midlife college-educated African American women. Specifically, 3 domains of satisfaction were examined: overall life satisfaction, personal satisfaction, and work satisfaction. Results revealed that the women were highly satisfied with their work situation, their personal life, and generally with how their life had turned out so far. Overall life satisfaction was predicted by the women's perceptions of personal control, role quality, household burden, and their cohort status. Work satisfaction was best predicted by the women's sense of personal control and role quality. Lastly, household burden and physical well-being emerged as significant predictors of personal satisfaction. Implications of the findings and recommendations for future research are offered.     

Rescuers and the Rescued

ABSTRACT: There is a fairly widespread but unverified belief that persons working on certain taboo areas may be similar to the population they serve and drawn to such work by their own personal problems in these areas. Two groups, 51 suicide prevention volunteers and 31 suicide attempters, were compared with respect to demographic characteristics and for psychological attitudes and experiences pertaining to suicide, death, and mental status by means of a death questionnaire developed by Shneidman. Comparative analysis revealed substantial differences between volunteers and clients. Demographically, the volunteers were older, better educated, more affluent, and contained a greater proportion of Protestants. Psychologically, the volunteers were distinctly different in regard to suicide. In contrast to their clients, the volunteers reported greater emotional stability, much less fantasy about suicide, almost no actual suicide attempts, and a disinclination to consider suicide as a justifiable problem-solving option.