Diversity and General Student Scholarship Recipient Essays: 2010 National Society of Genetic Counselors Membership Committee

In an effort to increase the diversity of the membership of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC), the Membership Committee provided two $500 scholarships to genetic counseling students planning to attend the NSGC AEC meeting in Dallas, Texas in October 2010. Requirements for applicants of both scholarships included enrollment in the fall of 2010, good standing at an accredited genetic counseling training program, and NSGC membership or plans to join in 2011. Students who are from communities underrepresented in the NSGC, including, but not limited to, those of minority cultural/ethnic backgrounds and those with disabilities were eligible to apply for the “Diversity” scholarship. Students from all backgrounds who have an interest in diversity issues were eligible to apply for the “General” scholarship. Applicants wrote essays 1000 words or less answering the following questions: How has your identity as a member of a group underrepresented in the genetic counseling profession affected your pursuit of this career? What do you feel is lacking in genetic counseling to address the issues of underrepresented groups? What strategies do you recommend for addressing these issues and/or increasing diversity? Why do you think diversity is an important issue for the field of genetic counseling? What strategies do you recommend to attract and retain students, especially those from underrepresented populations, into the field of genetic counseling? How do you envision contributing to these strategies? The essays by the award recipients elucidated interesting perspectives and ideas for increasing diversity in the genetic counseling profession.     

Daily patterns of communication and contact between Italian early adolescents and their friends

The goal of the present study was to explore patterns of communication between adolescents and their friends across both "online" and "in-person" contexts. The participants were adolescents (n?=?727) aged 11-16 years attending middle schools in urban and rural areas of Italy. Participants completed daily logs of their in-person and online contacts with friends for 20 consecutive school days. Girls reported more total contacts with their friends than did boys as well as friendships that were closer and more intimate. However, boys indicated more contact than girls via electronic communication and online. Contacts with peers in general were less frequent among the older participants, perhaps because of increasing academic demands. Participants who complemented in-person contact with friends with electronic contact were less lonely than their counterparts who were less versatile in accessing different modalities of making contact with friends.     

Disentangling the adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder endophenotype: parametric measurement of attention

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) persists frequently into adulthood. The decomposition of endophenotypes by means of experimental neuro-cognitive assessment has the potential to improve diagnostic assessment, evaluation of treatment response, and disentanglement of genetic and environmental influences. We assessed four parameters of attentional capacity and selectivity derived from simple psychophysical tasks (verbal report of briefly presented letter displays) and based on a "theory of visual attention." These parameters are mathematically independent, quantitative measures, and previous studies have shown that they are highly sensitive for subtle attention deficits. Potential reductions of attentional capacity, that is, of perceptual processing speed and working memory storage capacity, were assessed with a whole report paradigm. Furthermore, possible pathologies of attentional selectivity, that is, selection of task-relevant information and bias in the spatial distribution of attention, were measured with a partial report paradigm. A group of 30 unmedicated adult ADHD patients and a group of 30 demographically matched healthy controls were tested. ADHD patients showed significant reductions of working memory storage capacity of a moderate to large effect size. Perceptual processing speed, task-based, and spatial selection were unaffected. The results imply a working memory deficit as an important source of behavioral impairments. The theory of visual attention parameter working memory storage capacity might constitute a quantifiable and testable endophenotype of ADHD.     

Relations among conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge, and procedural flexibility in two samples differing in prior knowledge

Competence in many domains rests on children developing conceptual and procedural knowledge, as well as procedural flexibility. However, research on the developmental relations between these different types of knowledge has yielded unclear results, in part because little attention has been paid to the validity of the measures or to the effects of prior knowledge on the relations. To overcome these problems, we modeled the three constructs in the domain of equation solving as latent factors and tested (a) whether the predictive relations between conceptual and procedural knowledge were bidirectional, (b) whether these interrelations were moderated by prior knowledge, and (c) how both constructs contributed to procedural flexibility. We analyzed data from 2 measurement points each from two samples (Ns = 228 and 304) of middle school students who differed in prior knowledge. Conceptual and procedural knowledge had stable bidirectional relations that were not moderated by prior knowledge. Both kinds of knowledge contributed independently to procedural flexibility. The results demonstrate how changes in complex knowledge structures contribute to competence development.     

A memory-based model of Hick's law

We propose and evaluate a memory-based model of Hick’s law, the approximately linear increase in choice reaction time with the logarithm of set size (the number of stimulus–response alternatives). According to the model, Hick’s law reflects a combination of associative interference during retrieval from declarative memory and occasional savings for stimulus–response repetitions due to non-retrieval. Fits to existing data sets show that the model accounts for the basic set-size effect, changes in the set-size effect with practice, and stimulus–response-repetition effects that challenge the information-theoretic view of Hick’s law. We derive the model’s prediction of an interaction between set size, stimulus fan (the number of responses associated with a particular stimulus), and stimulus–response transition, which is subsequently tested and confirmed in two experiments. Collectively, the results support the core structure of the model and its explanation of Hick’s law in terms of basic memory effects.     

Evidenzbasierte Psychotherapie der Depression

Depressive disorders are among the most frequent reasons for utilizing the health care system. Despite the availability of efficacious treatments and further advances throughout the last years, there is still a need for improving diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. A promising approach is the implementation of evidence- and consensus-based guidelines. The German “Nationale VersorgungsLeitlinie Unipolare Depression” are evidence- and consensus-based clinical practise guidelines for patients with unipolar depression. All relevant stakeholders have been involved in its development and have passed the final version at the end of 2009 to foster compliance throughout. The available evidence allows the derivation of differentiated treatment recommendations, also with regard to concomitant antidepressant medication or as alternative treatment options. In acute therapy watchful waiting over 14 days is recommended for mild depression and psychotherapy after persistence of symptoms. In cases of moderate depression, psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy are equally recommended, in cases of severe depression a combination of both is recommended.     

Berufliche Leistungsfähigkeit

In different fields of law the assessment of capability of performance is important and often poses a particular challenge for medical or psychological experts. The present article introduces a model for the assessment of capability of performance developed on the background of a multicenter and interdisciplinary research project. This approach of assessment assumes that the performance capability of a person with psychiatric or psychosomatic disorders does not arise from symptomatology alone; instead, it is also a consequence of interactions between coping processes of the individual and environmental factors. The presented model of the assessment of performance capability is mainly oriented to the “International Classification of Functioning” (ICF; WHO) whose central diagnostic categories are, in addition to the disorder and the somatic and psychiatric functions, the levels of activity and participation. The different assessing levels are operationalized in the assessment model. In this article the various diagnostic levels and their interactions and the criteria which have been formulated are described. The process of decision-making is explored as well. This assessment model aims to make a more reliable, valid and transparent process of expert decision-making in order to increase the objectivity and justice of the assessment procedure.     

Das Leugnen der Tat bei der Entscheidung über die Aussetzung der Reststrafe

The article is about the question whether or not a convicted person can be released on probation even though they are denying their offence. According to German Criminal Law, release on probation must be considered (by a special chamber of the court, “Chamber of Execution”; same question for any kind of Parole Board in other countries) in every case as soon as two thirds of the sentence are served, regardless the convicted person does or does not confess their offence. Using a case example, the article will show as to how the convict’s denial becomes a meaningful fact in the decision-making process. Besides referring to certain conclusions about criminal prognosis following from denying – which of course is a main issue with the decision about release, often valued by the help of expert testimony –, the focus will be set on the judicial framework around this question: Does the law give provisions on how to deal with denial, and how does the principle “nemo tenetur” (nobody has to charge themselves, harm their defence, nor give evidence against themselves) impact the considerations?     

Has someone moved my plate? The immediate and persistent effects of object location changes on gaze allocation during natural scene viewing

In this study, we investigated the immediate and persisting effects of object location changes on gaze control during scene viewing. Participants repeatedly inspected a randomized set of naturalistic scenes for later questioning. On the seventh presentation, an object was shown at a new location, whereas the change was reversed for all subsequent presentations of the scene. We tested whether deviations from stored scene representations would modify eye movements to the changed regions and whether these effects would persist. We found that changed objects were looked at longer and more often, regardless of change reportability. These effects were most pronounced immediately after the change occurred and quickly leveled off once a scene remained unchanged. However, participants continued to perform short validation checks to changed scene regions, which implies a persistent modulation of eye movement control beyond the occurrence of object location changes.