Left-hemisphere activation and deficient response modulation in psychopaths

Psychopathic offenders have difficulty processing contextual or secondary cues once they have initiated goal-directed behavior or allocated attention to a primary task. To test the hypothesis that this deficit in response modulation is specific to conditions in which psychopaths' left-hemisphere resources are engaged, we administered a serial recall task to 21 incarcerated psychopaths and 21 control subjects. Subjects were instructed to memorize eight words that were presented one at a time, each in one of the four corners of the visual display. Subjects' primary task was to recall the words in serial order. Then, without forewarning, they were asked to recall the words' locations. As predicted, psychopaths performed as well as control subjects in recalling words from the left and right spatial fields, but recalled significantly fewer locations from the right spatial field. Thus, psychopaths' deficient response modulation was specific to conditions in which their left-hemisphere resources were actively engaged.     

Attentional requirements for object-location priming

The purpose of the present experiments was to investigate whether a verbal and a spatial secondary task would disrupt priming for object-location associations. Symbols were placed one at a time in one of nine locations in a rectangle. Implicit memory was tested with a reaction time (RT) task. All symbols were placed in the same location of the rectangle across 10 trial blocks; then, all their locations were changed. Responses were made on the numeric keypad, which corresponded to the spatial locations used in the rectangle. A decrease in RTs across the first 10 trial blocks followed by an increase in RTs when the symbols changed locations would indicate priming for the associations. The results were that implicit memory for object-location associations was obtained under single-, but not under dual-task conditions. We have interpreted the results in terms of a working memory model that posits that implicit memory will suffer when cognitive resources are limited.     

Priming effects for affective vs. neutral faces

Affective and Neutral Tasks (faces with negative or neutral content, with different lighting and orientation) requiring reaction time judgments of poser identity were administered to 32 participants. Speed and accuracy were better for the Affective than Neutral Task, consistent with literature suggesting facilitation of performance by affective content. Priming effects were significant for the Affective but not Neutral Task. An Explicit Post-Test indicated no conscious knowledge of the stimulus frequency that was associated with performance facilitation. Faster performance by female vs. male participants, and differential speeds and susceptibility to priming of different emotions were also found. Anger and shock were responded to most rapidly and accurately in several conditions, showed no gender differences, and showed significant priming for both RT and accuracy. Fear and pain were responded to least accurately, were associated with faster female than male reaction time, and the accuracy data showed a kind of reverse priming.     

Evidence-based practice in stuttering: Some questions to consider

A recent forum in JFD (28/3, 2003) evaluated the status of evidence-based practice in fluency disorders, and offered recommendations for improvement. This article re-evaluates the level of support available for some popular approaches to stuttering therapy and questions the relative value placed on some types of programs endorsed by the forum. Evidence-based practice is discussed within the context of emerging concerns over its application to non-medical interventions and suggestions are made for grounding fluency interventions by reference to empirically supported principles of change. A popular, evidence-based intervention for stuttering in young children (the Lidcombe program) is evaluated within the suggested parameters. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: After reading this article, the reader will be able to: (1) evaluate the status of evidence-based practice in fluency disorders; (2) list concerns about the impact of narrow interpretation of EBP on research and practice in the field of fluency disorders and other non-medical domains; (3) articulate the role of theory and basic research in selecting among and evaluating therapy approach options.     

Nonword repetition abilities of children who stutter: an exploratory study

Past research has suggested that children who stutter (CWS) may have less well-developed language skills than fluent children, and that such relative linguistic deficiencies may play a role in precipitating their disfluencies. However, data to support this position are primarily derived from results of standardized diagnostic inventories, which are originally designed to identify frank language impairment. Nonword repetition has emerged as a more sensitive measure of children's linguistic abilities. In this exploratory study, eight CWS (mean age 5:10, range 4:3-8:4) were compared to eight normally developing children (ND) (mean age 5:9, range 4:1-8:4) in their ability to repeat the nonwords of the Children's Test of Nonword Repetition. CWS performed more poorly than NS on measures of Number of Words Correct and Number of Phoneme Errors at all nonword lengths, although statistical differences were observed only for 3-syllable nonwords. When lexical stress of the nonwords was varied to a non-English stress pattern, all participants repeated the stimuli with less accuracy, and the CWS again exhibited more errors than NS. Fluency for the CWS group did not change systematically with increasing nonword length. These preliminary findings are interpreted in light of a number of extant theories of the underlying deficit in childhood stuttering. We conclude that children who stutter may have diminished ability to remember and/or reproduce novel phonological sequences, and that further investigation into this possibility may shed light on the emergence and characteristics of childhood stuttering. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: After completing this activity, the learner will: (1) be able to evaluate the research support for a linguistic component to stuttering; (2) describe the use of nonword repetition as an experimental and assessment device with children with SLI and children who stutter; (3) suggest future directions for research to further refine the potential role that linguistic encoding plays in the etiology and persistence of stuttering.     

Gender Differences in the Process of Occupational Integration of Immigrant Physicians in Israel

The immigration of more than 13,000 physicians,over half of whom were women, from the former SovietUnion to Israel during the first half of the 1990's,provided an opportunity to investigate genderdifferences in the occupational integration of a largegroup of professionals. The present paper presentsfindings from a three-stage cohort study of 333 formerSoviet physicians covering their first five years in Israel, and from in-depth interviews withtwenty-three immigrant physicians. After two andone-half years in Israel (Stage 2), male respondentswere more likely to be working in their profession thanfemale respondents, who were more likely to beunemployed. After five years (Stage 3), men and womenwere equally likely to be working as physicians, but themen were significantly more likely to be in residency programs to attain specialty status, while thewomen were more likely to be working as generalpractitioners. The narratives suggest that genderdifferences in professional behavior were intricatelyrelated to traditional gender-related family normswhich persisted throughout the Communist era. Thetendency for some of the women to delay resuming theircareer in Israel is seen as adaptive in the context of migration, because it provides continuity ofself-identity and family norms. Furthermore, women whochose to work as general practitioners saw this work asa continuation of their work in the USSR. After five years in Israel, there were no genderdifferences in work satisfaction, self-esteem, mood andgeneral adaptation to life in Israel.     

Reconstructing the Brothers Grimm: new tales for step-family life

Step-families are situated within the sociopolitical context of family change and are examined as a prototype of the "post-modern" family. This essay looks at the cultural construction of step-family life and proposes a model for collaboratively reconstructing stories that liberate step-relationships from the legacy of the Brothers Grimm, deconstructing the stories of failure, insufficiency, and neglect. Building on narrative and social constructionist ways of thinking about families, the concept of side-shadowing (a hermeneutic approach from literary/historical criticism) is introduced to elucidate how therapists can help family members discover ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving that are both more personally satisfying and more congruent with the changed context of family life. Two therapeutic challenges are high-lighted: reconceptualizing what it means to be a step-family and coming to terms with differential attachment in relationships while working with step-families. The essay ends with a fairy tale for the 21st century.     

The genesis and use of exemplar vs. prototype knowledge in abstract category learning

Accurate classification of new exemplars in an abstraction paradigm may be due to their similarity to old exemplars rather than to abstract category (or prototype) knowledge. In the present study, subjects received initial training on a two-category problem before being transferred to a task in which half of the exemplar-response pairs had their responses reversed while the remaining half of the pairs were unchanged. When transfer occurred with no delay and involved old exemplars, more errors occurred for changed than for unchanged pairs. This result implies the use of exemplar-specific rather than abstract category knowledge. However, when transfer was delayed by 24 or 72 h, errors occurred equally often for changed and unchanged pairs. This result suggests that exemplar-specific knowledge is no longer used. Since subjects were still able to accurately classify exemplars prior to the transfer task at these delays, some form of abstract category knowledge is implicated.     

Lawyer and pastoral counselor: A team for divorce counseling

Conclusion The dull thud of the gavel ends a way of life. At the same time, a new status that is both easier and more difficult is created. Gone is the strain of an unhappy home full of bitterness, recriminations, and unhappy memories that can be recalled and repeated like peeling off the layers of an onion. On the horizon is a new way life, full of optimism and aspirations. Yet this new life is not without its own hazards. Life is like a river that may run smooth for a while but that ultimately will face rapids. We can almost hear the rapids in the distance and know they are there. We don't know now exactly what form they will take and exactly how they can be overcome.When spouses face a divorce, they are intimately involved in unfamiliar territory. With the help of a qualified pastoral counselor and an attorney functioning as an interdisciplinary team, they can face divorce and post-divorce problems bravely, in an informed manner, with proper perspective and realistically. Each should be prepared to discuss and evaluate the future relationship of the parties and their children in the areas of future finances, credit, the second marriage, visitation, relationship to the children, and their insurance estates. Then there are few surprises. The new life can begin with an increased awareness that prepares each party for future contingencies. Also, the lawyer and pastoral counselor become a supportive team who are available both now and in the future.