Neighborhood crime as a predictor of individual differences in emotional processing and regulation

Emerging research suggests that early exposure to environmental adversity has important implications for the development of brain regions associated with emotion regulation, yet little is known about how such adversity translates into observable differences in children's emotion‐related behavior. The present study examines the relationship between geocoded neighborhood crime and urban pre‐adolescents' emotional attention, appraisal, and response. Results indicate that living in a high‐crime neighborhood is associated with greater selective attention toward negatively valenced emotional stimuli on a dot probe task, less biased appraisal of fear on a facial identification task, and lower rates of teacher‐reported internalizing behaviors in the classroom. These findings suggest that children facing particularly high levels of environmental threat may develop different regulatory processes (e.g. greater use of emotional suppression) than their peers from low‐crime neighborhoods in order to manage the unique stressors and social demands of their communities.     

Sensitivity analysis in connectionist modeling

The application of sensitivity analysis methodology to connectionist modeling is discussed. Sensitivity analysis examines the functional relationship of parameters in dynamic systems to specify the interactions of parameters and the boundary conditions of dynamic system models. Sensitivity analysis is contrasted with parameter estimation. Reasons to favor sensitivity analysis in connectionist modeling are discussed. Six steps for sensitivity analysis are detailed with examples from the modeling of short- and long-term memory retrieval.     

An interactive graphics approach to dimensional analysis

This paper describes an interactive approach to dimensional analysis. This approach permits the researcher and student to inspect alternative spatial representations along with a wide range of rotations. Some understanding of problems inherent in multidimensional sealing is presented to help provide an appreciation of the utility of the method.     

Is that a “No”? The Interpretation of Responses to Unwanted Sexual Attention

In this study, we used an interactive perspective to address the issue of responses to sexual harassment. We examined the effect of the consistency across time, consistency across types of advances, and assertiveness of a rejecting response on its perceived effectiveness. Participants were presented with scenarios that described responses to unwanted sexual attention and were required to rate the effectiveness of the responses for their clarity, content, and estimated effect on the future behavior of the perpetrator. The results show significant effects of consistency across time, consistency across types of advances, and assertiveness on perceived effectiveness of the response. As expected, an assertive response that was consistent across time and types of advances was perceived to be the most effective. This effect was found to be stronger for women than for men.     

Primärversorgung von psychischen und psychosomatischen Patienten

Zusammenfassung Der Erstkontakt psychisch und psychosomatisch Erkrankter findet im deutschen Gesundheitssystem meist unter der Präsentation von körperlichen Störungen in einer Hausarztpraxis statt. Aufgrund der speziellen äußeren Strukturen der hausärztlichen Praxisführung und einem besonders dem Hausarzt eigenen pragmatischen lösungsorientierten Umgang mit seinen Patienten begegnet er den Patienten mit psychischen und psychosomatischen Krankheiten in anderer Weise, als es der Psychotherapeut für adäquat hält. Der vorliegende Text will das gegenseitige Verständnis für die unterschiedlichen Typen der Therapeut-Patienten-Interaktionen zwischen den Hausärzten und den Psychotherapeuten fördern. Die psychotherapeutischen Leser werden zu neuen Kooperations- und Kommunikationsformen mit Hausärzten ermutigt, dem hausärztlichen Leser werden Fallstricke im therapeutischen Kontakt zu psychisch und psychosomatisch Erkrankten aufgezeigt, und er wird ermuntert, strukturierter und kompetenter als bisher mit diesen schwierigen Patienten zum Wohle dieser Patienten umzugehen.