Evaluation of the rate of problem behavior maintained by different reinforcers across preference assessments

The rates of problem behavior maintained by different reinforcers were evaluated across 3 preference assessment formats (i.e., paired stimulus, multiple-stimulus without replacement, and free operant). The experimenter administered each assessment format 5 times in a random order for 7 children with developmental disabilities whose problem behavior was maintained by attention, tangible items, or escape. Results demonstrated different effects related to the occurrence of problem behavior, suggesting an interaction between function of problem behavior and assessment format. Implications for practitioners are discussed with respect to assessing preferences of individuals with developmental disabilities who exhibit problem behavior.     

The Relation Between Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and DSM-IV ADHD

To test the relation between sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) and DSM-IV ADHD symptoms, parent and teacher ratings of the 18 DSM-IV ADHD items and five potential SCT items were obtained in a community sample of 8-18 year-old twins that was overselected for ADHD and learning disabilities (n = 296). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a three-factor model provided the best fit to the data for both parent and teacher ratings. DSM-IV inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms loaded on two factors consistent with the DSM-IV model, and five SCT symptoms loaded primarily on a third factor. The SCT and inattention factors were highly correlated, whereas SCT and hyperactivity-impulsivity were weakly related. Both raters indicated that children meeting symptom criteria for the combined and inattentive subtypes exhibited significantly more SCT symptoms than those meeting symptom criteria for hyperactive-impulsive type and the comparison group without ADHD. Children meeting symptom criteria for the inattentive type exhibited significantly more SCT symptoms than those meeting criteria for the combined type, based on teacher ratings. These results suggest that SCT is an internally consistent construct that is significantly associated with DSM-IV inattention.     

Culture-specific patterns in the prediction of life satisfaction: roles of emotion, relationship quality, and self-esteem

This study was conducted to explore the culture-specific roles of emotion, relationship quality, and self-esteem in determining life satisfaction. It was hypothesized that maintaining good interpersonal relationships would make individuals in collectivistic cultures not only feel good about their lives but also feel better about themselves. Furthermore, two emotion variables--emotional expression and emotion differentiation--were proposed as possible determinants of relationship quality. It was hypothesized that emotional expressiveness would be more important for maintaining good interpersonal relationships in individualistic societies but emotion differentiation would be more important in collectivistic cultures. These hypotheses were tested with Euro-American, Asian American, Korean, and Chinese groups using multigroup analyses in a structural equation model. Results supported all proposed hypotheses and indicated that emotion differentiation contributes to maintaining good interpersonal relationships in collectivistic cultures, which contributes to self-esteem and satisfaction with life.     

Young children are more likely to cheat after overhearing that a classmate is smart

Research on moral socialization has largely focused on the role of direct communication and has almost completely ignored a potentially rich source of social influence: evaluative comments that children overhear. We examined for the first time whether overheard comments can shape children's moral behavior. Three‐ and 5‐year‐old children (N = 200) participated in a guessing game in which they were instructed not to cheat by peeking. We randomly assigned children to a condition in which they overheard an experimenter tell another adult that a classmate who was no longer present is smart, or to a control condition in which the overheard conversation consisted of non‐social information. We found that 5‐year‐olds, but not 3‐year‐olds, cheated significantly more often if they overheard the classmate praised for being smart. These findings show that the effects of ability praise can spread far beyond the intended recipient to influence the behavior of children who are mere observers, and they suggest that overheard evaluative comments can be an important force in shaping moral development.     

Managing job seekers' organizational image beliefs: the role of media richness and media credibility

In this article, the authors assessed job seekers' organizational image beliefs before and after they experienced 3 recruitment media. The authors examined whether perceptions of media richness and credibility were related to improvements in the correspondence between job seekers' image beliefs and firms' projected images. Both media richness and credibility perceptions were associated with correspondence between job seekers' image beliefs and firms' projected images. However, results revealed that richness and credibility perceptions were likely to enhance job seekers' initial beliefs about firms' images when their beliefs were positive but did not diminish job seekers' beliefs about firms' images when their initial impressions were too positive.     

Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Common Psychopathologies of Childhood and Adolescence: A Study of Twins and Their Siblings

We report findings based on analyses of self-reports of six common adolescent psychopathologies (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, ADHD; conduct disorder, CD; oppositional defiant disorder, ODD; generalized anxiety disorder, GAD; separation anxiety disorder, SAD; and major depressive disorder, MDD) in a sample of 1,162 male and female adolescent (12–19 years) twin pairs and 426 siblings. Prevalence statistics for past year and lifetime reports confirm differences between genders for CD, GAD, SAD, and MDD, and a lack of differences between twins and their non-twin siblings. Biometrical modeling was conducted to ascertain the relative influences of genes, and shared and non-shared environments contributing to these disorders. A more robust estimate of these parameters was obtained by including non-twin siblings. Age-specific thresholds were integrated into the analyses to appropriately model the developmental patterns of behavior. We found evidence for both genetic and non-shared environmental influences for all disorders. Shared environmental influences also seem to be important for MDD and lifetime GAD.     

Reduction of caregiver burden in Alzheimer's disease by treatment with galantamine

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive condition characterized by a loss of cognition, altered behavior, and a loss of functional ability, such as bathing, dressing, toileting, and organizing finances. Family and friends provide nearly three quarters of all care for patients with Alzheimer's disease. This informal care results in significant burden to caregivers. Caregiver burden is the set of physical, psychological or emotional, social, and financial problems that family members may experience when caring for impaired older adults. Caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients report higher rates of physical symptoms, mortality, depression, and fatigue, as well as adverse effects on employment compared with those who are not caregivers for Alzheimer's disease patients. In many cases, the same family members are responsible for both out-of-pocket expenditures and caregiving duties. For this article, a MEDLINE search using the key words "caregiver and Alzheimer's disease" and "cost and Alzheimer's disease" was performed. The purpose of this article is to review the literature on caregiver burden, the components of caregiver burden, effects of caregiving on the health of caregivers, the cost of Alzheimer's disease on the caregiver and society, and the benefits attainable with treatment.     

Neuropsychological findings of extrapontine myelinolysis without central pontine myelinolysis

Central pontine myelinolysis (CPM) and extrapontine myelinolysis (EPM) are well recognized syndromes related to the rapid correction of hyponatremia, which are reported to show brain stem signs and various movement disorders. Cognitive dysfunction and neuropsychological findings, however, have seldom been reported. Cognitive manifestations in osmotic myelinolysis may have been underestimated due to the prominent brain stem symptoms and movement disorders. We report a case of EPM without CPM and describe the neuropsychological findings of EPM. The absence of CPM in this case made it possible to test neuropsychological function in the acute stage. Neuropsychological testing showed severe impairment of attention, verbal and visual memory, visuospatial function, and frontal/executive function. Language and language-related functions were normal except naming.     

Social transmission of disinhibition in young children

The present study examined whether young children's behaviors in the Dimensional Change Card Sorting task can be influenced by their observation of another person performing the task. Experiment 1 showed that after children watched an adult sorting cards according to one rule, although the children were instructed to sort the cards according to a new rule, most 3-year-olds made perseverative errors and used the observed, old rule to sort the cards instead of the new rule. However, only some 4-year-olds and few 5-year-olds made the same mistake. Experiments 2, 3 and 4 showed that the younger children took into consideration social pragmatic information displayed by the adult model when deciding to use the old rule or the new rule. When the model appeared to know that she sorted the cards incorrectly (Experiments 2 and 3), or was uncertain whether she sorted cards correctly (Experiment 4), most 3-year-olds no longer committed perseverative errors. When the adult model was confident about her sorting or oblivious to her sorting errors, most 3-year-olds made perseverative errors. These results taken together suggest that social observation can lead to disinhibitions. In other words, disinhibition can be transmitted socially from one person to another.