Explaining retrospective reports of symptoms in patients undergoing chemotherapy: anxiety, initial symptom experience, and posttreatment symptoms.

This study evaluated different perspectives on the relationship of trait anxiety to symptom report. Baseline trait anxiety was related to (a) initial symptoms reported 2 days after beginning chemotherapy, (b) posttreatment symptoms reported 2 days after cessation of medication, and (c) retrospective reports of initial symptoms (made concurrently with posttreatment reports). Associations were significant for vague psychophysiological symptoms but not for concrete visible symptoms. Path models indicated that the relationship of anxiety to retrospective report of vague symptoms was due to both enhanced encoding and facilitated recall of symptoms. Further analyses revealed, however, that this relationship reflects symptoms stability rather than anxiety-related differences in attention. Anxious and nonanxious patients appear to be equally accurate in their retrospective report of symptoms.     

Modal rationalism and the demonstrative reply to the scrutability argument against physicalism

According to the scrutability argument against physicalism, an a priori gap between the physical and conscious experience entails a lack of necessitation and the falsity of physicalism. This paper investigates the crucial premise of the scrutability argument: the inference from an a priori gap to a lack of necessitation. This premise gets its support from modal rationalism, according to which there are important, potentially constitutive, connections between a priori justification and metaphysical modality. I argue against the strong form of modal rationalism that underwrites the scrutability argument and suggest a more moderate rationalist view. I offer a novel demonstrative reply to the scrutability argument, according to which demonstratives play a vital role in the generation of meaning for our representations of conscious experience. This connection between conscious experience and demonstratives, rather than a metaphysical gap generated by the truth of dualism, is the source of the epistemic gap between consciousness and the physical.

     

Memory Conformity for New and Old Items with Immediate and Delayed Testing

Memory conformity for images was examined using a mixed factorial design. Participants were presented with 50 images then later completed an old/new recognition test on these plus 50 fillers. Some received post‐event information (PEI) attributed to a co‐witness that was introduced either soon after the original 50 images were presented or 2 days later. The memory test was either soon after the co‐witness PEI was shown or 2 days later. When the memory test was 2 days after receiving PEI, the PEI had no effect. PEI had a large effect when presented just before testing. The memory conformity effect was largest when PEI was presented, and the when memory test was completed 2 days after the initial presentation. Memory conformity effects were larger for new items than for old when PEI immediately preceded the test. Thus, the PEI affected the false alarm rate more than the hit rate. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Emerging narrative discourse skills 18 months after traumatic brain injury in early childhood

This study examined the longer term effect of traumatic brain injury (TBI), approximately 18 months post-injury, on emerging narrative discourse skills of 85 children with orthopaedic injury (OI), 43 children with moderate TBI, and 19 children with severe TBI who were between 3 years and 6 years 11 months at injury. Children with TBI performed worse than children with OI on most discourse indices. Children with severe TBI were less proficient than children with moderate TBI at identifying unimportant story information. Age and pragmatic skills were predictors of discourse performance.     

Hostility and distraction have differential influences on cardiovascular recovery from anger recall in women.

This study investigated the relation of dispositional hostility to cardiovascular reactivity during an anger-recall task and of hostility and distraction to posttask recovery in 80 healthy women (ages 18-30). Half were randomly assigned to distraction during recovery. Hostility predicted slower systolic blood pressure and preejection period during recovery. Distraction was related to faster cardiac recovery, higher high-frequency (HF) power, lower low-frequency (LF) power and LF:HF ratios, and lower state anger and rumination during recovery. These results indicate deleterious influences of hostility on cardiovascular recovery but not during anger recall. The findings also show beneficial effects of distraction in expediting cardiovascular recovery, possibly through reducing rumination and anger.     

Mobile phone use while driving: An investigation of the beliefs influencing drivers’ hands-free and hand-held mobile phone use

This study explored the psychological influences of hands-free and hand-held mobile phone use while driving. Participants were 796 Australian drivers aged 17–76 years who owned mobile phones. A cross-sectional survey assessed frequency of calling and text messaging while driving (overall, hands-free, hand-held) as well as drivers’ behavioural, normative, and control beliefs relating to mobile phone use while driving. Irrespective of handset type, 43% of drivers reported answering calls while driving on a daily basis, followed by making calls (36%), reading text messages (27%), and sending text messages (18%). In total, 63.9% of drivers did not own hands-free kits and, of the drivers that owned hand-free kits, 32% did not use it most or all of the time. Significant differences were found in the behavioural, normative, and control beliefs of frequent and infrequent users of both types of handset while driving. As expected, frequent users reported more advantages of, more approval from others for, and fewer barriers that would prevent them from, using either a hands-free or a hand-held mobile phone while driving than infrequent users. Campaigns to reduce mobile phone use while driving should attempt to minimise the perceived benefits of the behaviour and highlight the risks of this unsafe driving practice.     

Conceptualization of disease timeline predicts posttreatment distress in breast cancer patients.

A sample of 69 breast cancer patients was assessed before and after cessation of treatment to determine the predictors of posttreatment distress. Patients were assessed approximately 6 weeks before completing chemotherapy treatment, 1 month after completing treatment, and 3 months after completing treatment. Results indicate that timeline beliefs are related to distress: Patients who conceptualize their cancer as a chronic or cyclic illness are more anxious, depressed, and worried about a recurrence than patients who conceptualize their cancer as an acute illness. These findings hold true even while controlling for disease stage. The way patients conceptualize their illness appears to be more influential in determining levels of posttreatment distress than objective indicators of the likelihood of recurrence.     

A web-based family problem-solving intervention for families of children with traumatic brain injury.

We developed a Web-based intervention for pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) and examined its feasibility for participants with limited computer experience. Six families, including parents, siblings, and children with TBI, were given computers, Web cameras, and high-speed Internet access. Weekly videoconferences with the therapist were conducted after participants completed on-line interactive experiences on problem solving, communication, and TBI-specific behavior management. Families were assigned to videoconference with NetMeeting (iBOT cameras) or ViaVideo. Participants ranked the Web site and videoconferences as moderately to very easy to use. ViaVideo participants rated videoconferencing significantly more favorably relative to face-to-face meetings than did NetMeeting participants. Both the Web site and videoconferencing were rated as very helpful. All families demonstrated improved outcomes on one or more target behaviors, including increased understanding of the injury and improved parent-child relationships. All parents and siblings and all but 1 child with TBI said they would recommend the program to others. We conclude that a face-to-face intervention can be successfully adapted to the Web for families with varied computer experience.