Fear of the beast: a prospective study on the effects of negative information on childhood fear

The current study examined the effects of negative information on the enhancement of childhood fear. A large group of normal primary school children aged between 4 and 12 years (N=285) received either negative or positive information about an unknown, doglike animal, called 'the beast'. Children's fears were assessed at three points in time: before, directly after, and one week after the information about the beast was provided (i.e., pre-, post- and follow-up assessment). Results showed that type of information changed children's fear of the beast in the predicted direction with negative information increasing fear levels and positive information decreasing fear levels. This was not only the case directly after the experimental manipulation but also at one week follow-up. Furthermore, fear of the beast appeared to generalize, that is, children who became more fearful of the beast after receiving negative information, also became more apprehensive of other dogs and predators.     

Frequent frames as a cue for grammatical categories in child directed speech

This paper introduces the notion of frequent frames, distributional patterns based on co-occurrence patterns of words in sentences, then investigates the usefulness of this information in grammatical categorization. A frame is defined as two jointly occurring words with one word intervening. Qualitative and quantitative results from distributional analyses of six different corpora of child directed speech are presented in two experiments. In the analyses, words that were surrounded by the same frequent frame were categorized together. The results show that frequent frames yield very accurate categories. Furthermore, evidence from behavioral studies suggests that infants and adults are sensitive to frame-like units, and that adults use them to categorize words. This evidence, along with the success of frames in categorizing words, provides support for frames as a basis for the acquisition of grammatical categories.     

Sexually abused children suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder: assessment and treatment strategies

Child sexual abuse is a highly prevalent problem that frequently occasions the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder in the victimized youngster. This selective review addresses recent advances in the assessment and treatment of sexually abused children with post-traumatic stress disorder. Firstly, we outline the diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder and significant moderating variables in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder. Secondly, we address the clinical assessment of post-traumatic stress disorder in sexually abused children, recommending a developmentally sensitive, multi-informant approach. Thirdly, we consider a family-wide cognitive-behavioural treatment framework for sexually abused children with post-traumatic stress disorder that involves both child and non-offending caregivers. Fourthly, we examine the results of recent evaluation studies supportive of cognitive-behavioural therapy in the treatment of sexually abused children. Lastly, we consider conclusions for clinical practice and directions for future research.     

The representation of four personality disorders by the schedule for nonadaptive and adaptive personality dimensional model of personality

This study examined the relationships of the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP) model of personality to 4 targeted personality disorders (PDs) in a large multisite sample of patients. Data were examined from 529 patients, who were assigned 1 of 5 primary diagnoses: borderline, schizotypal, avoidant, and obsessive-compulsive PDs and major depression without PD. Patients were administered the SNAP questionnaire and results were compared among diagnostic groups and between patient groups and nonclinical norms. Results indicated that the dimensions of the model appear to have considerable promise in differentiating normal from abnormal personality, particularly in the propensity of individuals with PDs to manifest negative affects and interpersonal detachment. Furthermore, the model appeared to successfully distinguish specific PDs, a property that represents a particular challenge for dimensional models of personality.     

Prevalence of anxiety and depression in Australian adolescents: comparisons with worldwide data

Data from two Australian studies were combined so that the prevalence of anxiety and depression in a large, normative sample of Australian adolescents could be investigated. The combined sample comprised 1,299 adolescents randomly selected from metropolitan and country schools in Melbourne, a large Australian city. The data were examined in order to ascertain the percentages of adolescents who scored above the clinical cut-off on two self-report instruments--the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (C. R. Reynolds & B. O. Richmond, 1985) and the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale (W. M. Reynolds, 1986). The results of these analyses were then compared with previously reported prevalence rates from studies worldwide. This comparison revealed striking differences in the prevalence of anxiety and depression across different countries and cultures. Limitations attributable to different self-report measures and imposed-etic approaches are discussed. Issues pertaining to social and political climate are also raised.     

Fact and fantasy: The effects of internally generated events on the apparent frequency of externally generated events

As John Locke pointed out, there are at least two sources of the contents of the mind: events that occur in the world and events that originate in the mind. Memory, as a record of experience, should contain information from both sources. The present studies investigated memory for the frequency of externally and internally generated events. Individual items were presented to subjects varying numbers of times and tested varying numbers of times. Later, subjects were asked to estimate the frequency of both types of events. Experiment 1 showed that internally generated events influenced the judged frequency of externally generated events and vice versa. The first of these was called the IFE effect and the second the IFI effect. Experiment 2 indicated that the IFE effect was greater when tests consisted of overt, as compared to covert, recall trials. The results were discussed in terms of a model for storing and using occurrence information which would account for both our ability to discriminate between and our tendency to confuse internally and externally generated memory representations.     

Attention demands in balance recovery following lower limb amputation

The attention demands in balance control after damage to the peripheral sensorimotor system were studied in 12 persons with a recent lower limb amputation. The interference of an arithmetic task with two postural tasks of different complexity (quiet standing and active weight shifting) was examined several times during their rehabilitation while the subjects stood on a force platform. Control data were obtained from healthy subjects. For both postural tasks, persons with amputation performed worse than controls. Quiet standing, a relatively simple task, revealed clear dual-task interference only in the amputation group. Evidence was found for a reduction in dual-task interference as rehabilitation progressed. In contrast, voluntary (feedback-controlled) weight shifting, a more complex task, revealed an equal amount of dual-task interference in persons with amputation and in controls, without changes in interference over the period of rehabilitation. The results indicate that attentional mechanisms may be involved in postural control, depending on both the novelty and complexity of the task. Moreover a reduction in attention demands of quiet standing may reflect a central adaptation of the postural organization to the peripheral sensorimotor impairments caused by lower limb amputation.     

Neuropsychological,Cognitive, and Theoretical Considerations for Evaluation of Bilingual Individuals

As the number of bilinguals in the USA grows rapidly, it is increasingly important for neuropsychologists to be equipped and trained to address the unique challenges inherent in conducting ethical and competent neuropsychological evaluations with this population. Research on bilingualism has focused on two key cognitive mechanisms that introduce differences between bilinguals and monolinguals: (a) reduced frequency of language-specific use (weaker links), and (b) competition for selection within the language system in bilinguals (interference). Both mechanisms are needed to explain how bilingualism affects neuropsychological test performance, including the robust bilingual disadvantages found on verbal tasks, and more subtle bilingual advantages on some measures of cognitive control. These empirical results and theoretical claims can be used to derive a theoretically informed method for assessing cognitive status in bilinguals. We present specific considerations for measuring degree of bilingualism for both clients and examiners to aid in determinations of approaches to testing bilinguals, with practical guidelines for incorporating models of bilingualism and recent experimental data into neuropsychological evaluations. This integrated approach promises to provide improved clinical services for bilingual clients, and will also contribute to a program of research that will ultimately reveal the mechanisms underlying language processing and executive functioning in bilinguals and monolinguals alike.     

Incidental learning of abstract rules for non-dominant word orders

One way in which adult second language learners may acquire a word order that differs from their native language word order is through exposure-based incidental learning, but little is known about that process and what constrains it. The current studies examine whether a non-dominant word order can be learned incidentally, and if so, whether the rule can be generalized to new words not previously seen in the non-dominant order. Two studies examined the incidental learning of rules underlying the order of nouns and verbs in three-word strings. The self-timed reading speeds of native English speakers decreased as a result of practice with a non-dominant rule (words ordered either as “verb noun noun” or “noun noun verb”). The same pattern of results was also found for new words ordered according to the previously encountered rule, suggesting learning generalized beyond the specific instances encountered. A second experiment showed such rule learning could also occur when the nouns were replaced with pronounceable pseudowords. Learning was therefore possible in the absence of any pre-existing relationships between the items. Theoretical and educational implications are discussed. Gwen Schmidt is now with the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania. Tom Carr has returned to the Department of Psychology, Michigan State University. Ben Clegg’s contribution to this research was supported in part by Army Research Office Grant W9112NF-05-1-0153.     

Development and validation of a scale measuring attitudes toward smoking

The authors developed the Smoking Attitudes Scale (SAS) and administered it to 2 samples of U.S. students who were smokers or nonsmokers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with LISREL (K. G. J?reskog & D. S?rbom, 1989) methodology revealed that the SAS consists of 4 factors. The overall instrument possesses good internal consistency and adequate construct validity as well.