Face engagement during infancy predicts later face recognition ability in younger siblings of children with autism

Face recognition difficulties are frequently documented in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It has been hypothesized that these difficulties result from a reduced interest in faces early in life, leading to decreased cortical specialization and atypical development of the neural circuitry for face processing. However, a recent study by our lab demonstrated that infants at increased familial risk for ASD, irrespective of their diagnostic status at 3 years, exhibit a clear orienting response to faces. The present study was conducted as a follow‐up on the same cohort to investigate how measures of early engagement with faces relate to face‐processing abilities later in life. We also investigated whether face recognition difficulties are specifically related to an ASD diagnosis, or whether they are present at a higher rate in all those at familial risk. At 3 years we found a reduced ability to recognize unfamiliar faces in the high‐risk group that was not specific to those children who received an ASD diagnosis, consistent with face recognition difficulties being an endophenotype of the disorder. Furthermore, we found that longer looking at faces at 7 months was associated with poorer performance on the face recognition task at 3 years in the high‐risk group. These findings suggest that longer looking at faces in infants at risk for ASD might reflect early face‐processing difficulties and predicts difficulties with recognizing faces later in life.     

Encounter with death: The thought of Robert Jay Lifton

Robert Jay Lifton begins his work in the psychosocial framework that he takes over from Erik Erikson. Lifton's thought is based upon a central paradigm—death and the continuity of life. Lifton makes important contributions with his five modes of symbolic immortality and with his investigation of the psychological themes in survivors. The origins and limits of Lifton's thought are critically examined.     

课堂教学效果的心理学评价方法

本项研究把课堂教学看成一个动态系统。在广泛收集资料和运用特尔斐法进行调查的基础上,又经两次因子分析处理,得出问卷量表。用此量表在62名初中数学教师所教的1937名学生中取得数据。经多因素统计分析,提出课堂教学的五个子系统和二十五项心理因素的可靠性;突破了以往研究的局限性;探讨了课堂教学结构心理因素的数量化和预测教学效果的可能性;增强了评议课堂教学质量的客观性。     

The funeral meal: A significant funerary ritual

Historically, a meal in association with funerary ritual has been a reality in many cultural and religious settings. Our society has experienced a gradual demise of formal funerary ritual, with an accompanying psychological and social impoverishment. Both the immediate bereaved and the larger social community can benefit from a funeral meal which functions as a group experience that focuses on the needs of the living. It can be a shared experience in a familiar structured setting which enables the living to do significant grief work. Practical implications and potential problems will need to be, taken into consideration.     

Prenatal Testing for Adult-Onset Conditions: the Position of the National Society of Genetic Counselors

Advances in genetic testing and the availability of such testing in pregnancy allows prospective parents to test their future child for adult-onset conditions. This ability raises several complex ethical issues. Prospective parents have reproductive rights to obtain information about their fetus. This information may or may not alter pregnancy management. These rights can be in conflict with the rights of the future individual, who will be denied the right to elect or decline testing. This paper highlights the complexity of these issues, details discussions that went into the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) Public Policy Task Force’s development of the Prenatal testing for Adult-Onset Conditions position statement adopted in November 2014, and cites relevant literature on this topic through December 2015. Issues addressed include parental rights and autonomy, rights of the future child, the right not to know, possible adverse effects on childhood and the need for genetic counseling. This paper will serve as a reference to genetic counselors and healthcare professionals when faced with this situation in clinical practice.