Different effects of dual task demands on the speech of young and older adults

Young and older adults provided language samples in response to elicitation questions while concurrently performing 3 different tasks. The language samples were scored on three dimensions: fluency, grammatical complexity, and content. Previous research had suggested the hypothesis that the restricted speech register of older adults is buffered from the costs of dual task demands. This hypothesis was tested by comparing language samples collected during a baseline condition with those produced while the participants were performing the concurrent tasks. The results indicate that young and older adults adopt different strategies when confronted with dual task demands. Young adults shift to a restricted speech register when confronted with dual task demands. Older adults, who were already using a restricted speech register, became less fluent although the grammatical complexity and informational content of their speech was preserved. Hence, some but not all aspects of older adults' speech are buffered from dual task demands.     

Cognitive behaviour therapy for panic disorder: long-term follow-up

This paper describes a long-term follow-up of patients with panic disorder who received cognitive behaviour therapy within a randomized controlled trial. Of 89 patients eligible for follow-up, 28 (31.5%) were reassessed 6-8 years after commencement of treatment in the trial. No differences were found between those who were followed up and those lost to follow-up on most baseline measures including measures of panic-related psychopathology, or depression. Outcomes at long-term follow-up were significantly better than baseline measures of panic, avoidance and depression. In this sub-sample the effect of cognitive behaviour therapy for panic disorder appears to maintain over the long-term.     

Women's exposure to thin-and-beautiful media images: body image effects of media-ideal internalization and impact-reduction interventions

Exposure to media images of thin-and-beautiful women negatively affects the body image and mood states of young women. However, not all women are equally susceptible to these effects. The present experimental investigation with 123 young college women evaluated the moderating effects of the extent of internalization of media ideals. It also examined the preventative impact of two brief interventions (i.e., media literacy information with and without a dissonance-induction procedure). Results indicated that relative to a control group, the exposure to thin-and-beautiful media images adversely influenced the state body image of participants with high internalization levels. Media-literacy psychoeducation prior to the media exposure prevented this adverse effect. Adding a pre-exposure dissonance-induction procedure did not significantly enhance the preventative effects relative to psychoeducation alone. These results and their implications for the treatment and prevention of body image disturbances are discussed in the context of the empirical literature on the media's effects on body image.     

To have and to hold: on the experience of having an other

This paper reconsiders familiar concepts (such as internalization, object representation, and object constancy) in light of the notion of having, in order to facilitate creative thinking about how patients are or are not capable of experiencing analysts-and how analysts allow them to do so. The meaning of Other-having is examined from both a theoretical and a subjective point of view. The author suggests that the sense of having an Other results from positive real experiences, and that the ability to have an Other is the sine qua non, the building block, of all mental functions that require empathy.     

Dimensions of impulsivity and aggression associated with suicide attempts among bipolar patients: a preliminary study

Impulsivity and hostility are often thought to be interrelated among depressed patients with suicidal behavior, but few studies have examined this relationship empirically. In this study, we assessed trait impulsivity and hostility among 52 DSM-IV bipolar subjects with and without histories of suicide attempts. Impulsivity and hostility were correlated among attempters (r = .41, p = .03) but not non-attempters (r = .22, p = .28). As compared to non-attempters, attempters had significantly higher levels of overall hostility, more extensive subcomponents of hostility, and a trend toward higher overall impulsivity. Associations between lifetime suicide attempts and overall hostility were significant while controlling for current depression severity and lifetime illness duration. Aggression and impulsivity appear linked among bipolar patients with lifetime suicide attempts but may be independent constructs among non-attempters. The presence of both factors may elevate risk for suicidal behavior.     

Genetic Cancer Risk Assessment and Counseling: Recommendations of the National Society of Genetic Counselors

These cancer genetic counseling recommendations describe the medical, psychosocial, and ethical ramifications of identifying at-risk individuals through cancer risk assessment with or without genetic testing. They were developed by members of the Practice Issues Subcommittee of the National Society of Genetic Counselors Cancer Genetic Counseling Special Interest Group. The information contained in this document is derived from extensive review of the current literature on cancer genetic risk assessment and counseling as well as the personal expertise of genetic counselors specializing in cancer genetics. The recommendations are intended to provide information about the process of genetic counseling and risk assessment for hereditary cancer disorders rather than specific information about individual syndromes. Key components include the intake (medical and family histories), psychosocial assessment (assessment of risk perception), cancer risk assessment (determination and communication of risk), molecular testing for hereditary cancer syndromes (regulations, informed consent, and counseling process), and follow-up considerations. These recommendations should not be construed as dictating an exclusive course of management, nor does use of such recommendations guarantee a particular outcome. These recommendations do not displace a health care provider's professional judgment based on the clinical circumstances of a client.     

A psychological model that integrates ethics in engineering education

Ethics has become an increasingly important issue within engineering as the profession has become progressively more complex. The need to integrate ethics into an engineering curriculum is well documented, as education does not often sufficiently prepare engineers for the ethical conflicts they experience. Recent research indicates that there is great diversity in the way institutions approach the problem of teaching ethics to undergraduate engineering students; some schools require students to take general ethics courses from philosophical or religious perspectives, while others integrate ethics in existing engineering courses. The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to implement the integration of ethics in engineering education that is pedagogically based on Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral development.     

Haptic processing of the location of a known property: does knowing what you've touched tell you where it is?

The relationship between knowing where a haptic property is located and knowing what it is was investigated using a haptic-search paradigm. Across trials, from one to six stimuli were presented simultaneously to varying combinations of the middle three fingertips of both hands. Participants reported the presence/absence of a target or its location for four perceptual dimensions: rough/smooth, edge/no edge, relative position (right/left), and relative orientation (right/left). Reaction time data were plotted as a function of set size. The slope data indicated no difference in processing load for location as compared to identity processing. However, the intercept data did reveal a cost associated with processing location information. Location information was not obtained for "free" when identity was processed. The data also supported a critical distinction between material and edge dimensions versus geometric dimensions, as the size of the cost associated with processing location was larger for spatial than for intensive stimuli.     

Semantic priming of different affective categories

The authors investigated affective semantic priming using a lexical decision task with 4 affective categories of related word pairs: neutral, happy, fearful, and sad. Results demonstrated a striking and reliable effect of affective category on semantic priming. Neutral and happy prime-targets yielded significant semantic priming. Fearful pairs showed no or modest priming facilitation, and sad primes slowed reactions to sad targets. A further experiment established that affective primes do not have generalized facilitatory-inhibitory effects. The results are interpreted as showing that the associative mechanisms that support semantic priming for neutral words are also shared by happy valence words but not for negative valence words. This may reflect increased vigilance necessary in adverse contexts or suggest that the associative mechanisms that bind negative valence words are distinct.