Memory-enhancing characteristics of client-recalled important events in cognitive and experiential therapy: Integrating cognitive experimental and therapeutic psychology

In an attempt to encourage further integrative theorizing and experimental work across cognitive and therapeutic psychology, characteristics of therapeutic events that might contribute to their ‘memorableness’ were examined. Scales that rate five ‘information processing’ characteristics of therapeutic events were employed to score such characteristics of 55 client-identified important and 55 matched control events taken from actual therapeutic sessions of both cognitive and experiential psychotherapies. Results indicated that scales scoring the ‘depth’, ‘elaborateness’, and ‘conclusion-orientation’ of therapeutic dialogue during the events examined tended to discriminate reliably and as predicted between client-identified important and control events, particularly when ratings of therapist talking turns were examined. Limited support also was found for a second prediction based on Paivio's (1986) dual coding theory of memory concerning different patterns of results for cognitive versus experiential therapeutic events. Suggestions are offered for further research on human memory for specific events in therapeutic and other areas of applied psychology.     

Mentoring Among Women Lawyers1

Considerable controversy exists as to both the nature and efficacy of mentoring among women professionals. As noted by Wrightsman, this controversy persists largely because researchers have failed to use a common scientific definition of the concept. In the present research a survey of existing studies was used to set a more stringent criterion of mentoring than that usually employed. Data were then gathered from a sample of women lawyers in the State of Oregon. Results indicated that those meeting the more stringent criterion perceived themselves as more successful and satisfied in their careers than those not meeting it. Those women who said that they had mentors but who did not meet the criterion reported themselves as less successful and satisfied than those who claimed to have a mentor and met the criterion. These results are seen as demonstrating the value of the more stringent criterion as well as the possible value of true mentors to women professionals.     

A Comparative Evaluation of Police Suicide Rate Validity

The authors assessed sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of official police suicide rates and compared them to municipal workers. Deaths officially classified as suicide, accidental, and undetermined were submitted to a panel of medical examiners for validation. Six cases originally in the accident and undetermined rubric were reclassified as suicide. Official police suicide rates had less sensitivity (83.3% compared to 92.3%) of actual suicides than municipal worker rates. Police suicide rates also showed a lower negative proportion than municipal worker rates (86.2% compared to 98.7%). A generalizable sensitivity proportion equation for assessing suicide rates in other police groups is presented.     

Ipsilesional Arm Aiming Movements After Stroke: Influence of the Degree of Contralesional Impairment

The authors examined the effects of the degree of impairment of the contralesional upper limb and the side of the hemispheric damage on ipsilesional upper limb performance in chronic stroke individuals. Right- and left-side stroke resulting in mild-to-severe impairment and healthy participants took part in simple and choice reaction time tasks involving aiming movements. The stroke individuals performed the aiming movements with the ipsilesional upper limb using a digitizing tablet to ipsi- or contralateral targets presented in a monitor. The global performance of the group with severe right hemispheric damage was worse than that of the other groups, indicating that the side of hemispheric damage and degree of motor impairment can adversely affect aiming movement performance.     

Performance of Faller and Nonfaller Older Adults on a Motor–Motor Interference Task

Typically, falls in older adults occur when 2 tasks are performed simultaneously, due to the increased motor demand required to maintain stability and attention to perform the other task. The authors' purpose was to investigate walking while grasping, transporting, and placing a dowel on a predetermined target while manipulating difficulty levels of the manual task. Faller and nonfaller older adults performed a walking block (manual tasks combined with gait) and a stationary block (upright stance combined with manual tasks). The manual task involved grasping, transporting, and placing the dowel over a target. The results showed that fallers underperformed when compared with nonfallers in the task of placing the dowel over the target. The main difference observed between the groups was found in the condition that required allocation of attention between tasks and greater accuracy in the final placement of the object. Fallers showed gait stability similar to the nonfallers, but fallers were less accurate than nonfallers in the object placement task, especially for the highest level of difficulty. Thus, fallers seem to use a stability-first strategy. Fallers had problems in executing the manual tasks, which suggests a more global change in motor behavior rather than specific changes to balance control.     

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Symptoms in Children Adopted from Poland and their Atypical Association Patterns: a Bayesian Approach

Although high rates of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms have been observed among internationally adopted children, research on these symptoms in Polish adoptees is lacking. Therefore, we examined ADHD symptoms in Polish adoptees and their relationship to pre-adoptive risk factors, that is, time in institutional care, early deprivation, and prenatal alcohol exposure. We further compared the association patterns and gender distribution of ADHD symptoms in children adopted from Poland to those reported in the literature for ADHD symptoms in non-adopted children. Dutch adoptive parents of 121 Polish adoptees (52% boys; M _age = 10.9 years, range 6.2–15.6; M _ageadoption = 3.0 years, range 0.8–6.9) completed questionnaires regarding ADHD symptoms, pre-adoptive risk factors, attachment problems, conduct problems, and executive functioning deficits. Bayesian evaluation of informative hypotheses showed that Polish adoptees had increased levels of ADHD symptoms, compared to Dutch children in the general population. Time in institutional care, early deprivation, and prenatal alcohol exposure were not associated with ADHD symptoms. ADHD symptoms in Polish adoptees were more strongly associated with attachment problems and executive functioning deficits, but less strongly with conduct problems, compared to ADHD symptoms in non-adoptees. Furthermore, ADHD symptoms were more equally distributed among boys and girls than they are in non-adopted children. The findings indicate that Polish adoptees and their adoptive parents need special attention and support. The dissimilarities between ADHD symptoms in Polish adoptees and non-adoptees might indicate a different underlying causal mechanism, which may have important implications for clinical practice.