Single Session Psychology Clinic for Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Feasibility Study

Children are being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at much higher rates than in the past, with the increasing rates arising primarily from the broadened diagnostic criteria and increased public and professional awareness of the disorder. In turn, this has resulted in increased demands for psychological services, which many service providers struggle to meet. Single session clinics are an innovative form of intervention which can facilitate quick access to psychological services, without the burden of lengthy waiting times. This feasibility study examined the nature of presenting problems, attendance rates and parental satisfaction with a single session clinic for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. The service offers short one-to-one consultation with a psychologist and sessions can be booked up to one month in advance. The single session clinic was developed to provide individual intervention to families within the constraints of an overwhelmed service. Good attendance rates and relatively high satisfaction suggest the single-session consultation for parents of children with autism spectrum disorder is an acceptable form of service. Limitations include the a need for more detailed evaluation of the impact of the sessions on both parental anxiety and child outcomes, and to identify more clearly who may benefit most from this model.     

Taiwanese members' report of verbal interactions and their relations to demographic variables in the group counseling process

The purpose was to examine differences in verbal interactions during the group counseling process and the relationship between perceived verbal interactions and members' demographic variables. 42 participants were recruited and randomly assigned to one of four counseling groups. Based on the Hill Interaction Matrix, Quadrant 4 verbal interactions, consisting of Speculative and Confrontative verbal behaviors in Personal and Relationship levels, were perceived significantly more often at the closing stage than at the initial stage. Furthermore, the perceived verbal interactions were related to the demographic variables of sex, educational level, and group experience, but not acquaintanceship. The findings suggested that the higher ratings of perceived Speculative and Confrontative verbal behaviors and the lower ratings of Assertive and Silence verbal interactions must be interpreted cautiously from a cross-cultural perspective, especially in Asian cultures.     

Maintenence of improvement in agoraphobic patients treated by behavioural methods—a four-year follow-up

Fifty-six agoraphobic patients who had shown clinical improvement when treated by behavioural methods were followed-up between 3.0 and 6.3 yr (mean 4.3 yr) later. Comparison of pre- and post-treatment and follow-up self-assessment data showed that improvement had been maintained on all the variables assessed—main symptom, other phobias, depression, social relationships and disruption at work. Only one patient reported the emergence of new psychological symptoms. However, only 10 (18%) of the sample described themselves as completely symptom-free, although most of the remainder reported that their symptoms caused them only slight distress, and little disruption in their lives.     

Cooperative problem solving in giant otters (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pteronura brasiliensis</Emphasis>) and Asian small-clawed otters (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Aonyx cinerea</Emphasis>)

Cooperative problem solving has gained a lot of attention over the past two decades, but the range of species studied is still small. This limits the possibility of understanding the evolution of the socio-cognitive underpinnings of cooperation. Lutrinae show significant variations in socio-ecology, but their cognitive abilities are not well studied. In the first experimental study of otter social cognition, we presented two species—giant otters and Asian small-clawed otters—with a cooperative problem-solving task. The loose string task requires two individuals to simultaneously pull on either end of a rope in order to access food. This task has been used with a larger number of species (for the most part primates and birds) and thus allows for wider cross-species comparison. We found no differences in performance between species. Both giant otters and Asian small-clawed otters were able to solve the task successfully when the coordination requirements were minimal. However, when the temporal coordination demands were increased, performance decreased either due to a lack of understanding of the role of a partner or due to difficulty inhibiting action. In conclusion, two species of otters show some ability to cooperate, quite similar to most other species presented with the same task. However, to draw further conclusions and more nuanced comparisons between the two otter species, further studies with varied methodologies will be necessary.