The effect of old age on the learning of supraspan sequences

Two experiments examined age-related differences in sequence learning using computerized versions of the D. O. Hebb (1961) paradigm. In this learning task, the participant executes immediate serial recall of 24 supraspan sequences. Without the participants' knowledge, 1 sequence is presented several times. Repetition leads to improved recall of this repeated sequence relative to random sequences. Results showed a dissociation in age-related learning deficits depending on the nature of the to-be-remembered material. The effect of repetition is similar for younger and older adults with familiar and unfamiliar verbal material (words and pseudowords) but is significantly reduced in older adults when learning is assessed with a visuospatial version of Hebb's supraspan learning task (P. M. Corsi, 1972).     

A new typology of fathering: defining and associated variables

Our goal was to identify different types of parenting based on self‐report measures of fathers' involvement and parental attitudes. The present investigation studied 468 two‐parent, French Canadian families with at least one child between 0 and 6 years of age, living in a disadvantaged environment. The study, conducted on a sample of fathers, revealed the presence of the three basic types of parenting identified by Baumrind (authoritarian, authoritative and permissive), and also of a new type of parenting (stimulative parenting). The fathers in this latter group provide more emotional support to children and are more stimulating, as is evidenced by the greater psychological presence of children in the father's cognitions and by the fact that they more frequently introduce their children to new activities. These fathers are characterized by more secure social relationships. The father's parental stress level was found to be the most important variable discriminating between different types of fathering. Authoritarian and authoritative fathers are more at risk of maltreating their children because their more favourable attitude towards the use of physical punishment is combined with greater parental stress, less parental involvement of mothers, and a larger number of children in the home. Authoritarian fathers are even more at risk of maltreating their children because of more difficult family socioeconomic conditions, particularly lower levels of maternal education and income. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The counselling and psychotherapy profession in Canada: regulatory processes and current status

ABSTRACT

Like the Canadian landscape and culture, the status of professional regulation for counselling and psychotherapy is a mosaic reflecting the unique cultural, linguistic and contextual realities of Canada. Statutory regulation in Canada is constitutionally a provincial/territorial matter. In the past five years, a major movement towards professional regulation has emerged. The authors describe the variable status of regulation, focusing on three provinces: Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario. They explore the federal Agreement of Internal Trade, designed to facilitate inter-provincial/territorial mobility of regulated professionals. Finally, the authors summarise national research and development activities of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association that enhance the pan-Canadian mobility of practitioners and support shared professional understandings. These activities range from bilingual, national validation of competencies, definitions, titles and scopes of practice to symposia and an entry-to-practice competency assessment.     

Immunity to proactive interference is not a property of the focus of attention in working memory

The Focus of Attention (FOA) is the latest incarnation of a limited capacity store in which a small number of items, in this case four, are deemed to be readily accessible and do not need to be retrieved. Thus a corollary of these ideas is that those items in the FOA are always immune to proactive interference. While there is empirical support for instances of immunity to PI in short-term retention tasks that involve memory for four-item lists, there are also many instances in which PI is observed with four-item lists as well as instances where PI and immunity to PI can be shown in the same experiment. In contrast to the FOA assumptions, an alternative cue-based account predicts both the presence of PI and immunity to PI as a function of the relation between the cues available and the particular test. Three experiments contrasted the FOA assumptions and the cue-based approach in a short-term cued recall task in which PI is manipulated by testing whether the presentation of previous, similar items would interfere with immediate recall of three list items. The results indicated that even with very short lists, both PI and immunity to PI could be observed. The PI effects observed in our experiment are at odds with the FOA approach and are more readily explained using the cueing account.     

Word length effects are not due to proactive interference.

In immediate serial recall short words are better recalled than long words. The word length effect has become pivotal in the development of short-term memory models. The current research tests one explanation of the word length effect; that it is related to proactive interference (PI). We report two experiments in which the relationship is directly tested. In the first experiment we show that word length effects can be observed over the first few trials in an experiment and that the effect shows itself primarily in the number of omissions made. In the second experiment we simultaneously test for PI and word length effects. Strong word length effects were present but there was little evidence for PI influencing either overall levels of recall or the word length effect. In short, no empirical support was found for PI as an explanation of the word length effect.     

Healthcare utilization following cognitive-behavioral treatment for panic disorder with agoraphobia

The aim of this study was to examine the overall changes in healthcare services utilization after providing an empirically supported cognitive-behavioral treatment for panic disorder with agoraphobia. Data on healthcare utilization were collected for a total of 84 adults meeting DSM-IV criteria. Participants were completers of a cognitive-behavioral treatment for panic disorder with agoraphobia. Data on utilization of healthcare services and medication were obtained from semi-structured interviews from baseline to 1-year after treatment. Results of the Friedman non-parametric analysis reveal a significant decrease in overall and mental health-related costs following treatment. This study shows a significant reduction in healthcare costs following cognitive behavior therapy for panic disorder with agoraphobia. More studies are needed to examine the potential long-term cost-offset effect of empirically supported treatments for panic disorder.     

The effects of familial risk, personality, and expectancies on alcohol use and abuse

This study tested a structural model of the association between familial risk, personality risk, alcohol expectancies, and alcohol abuse in a sample of 224 young adult offspring of alcoholics and 209 offspring of nonalcoholics. The results provided support for 2 personality-risk pathways, a social deviance proneness and an excitement/pleasure seeking path, that accounted for a significant portion of the association between a familial alcoholism and alcohol abuse. The path from familial alcoholism to social deviance proneness lead directly to alcohol problems. The path from familial alcoholism to excitement/pleasure seeking was associated with increased drinking, which, in turn, was associated with alcohol problems. Positive alcohol expectancies accounted for part of the association between excitement seeking and alcohol use. The results suggest 2 different biopsychosocial mechanisms that elevate risk for abuse in the offspring of alcoholics.