Mechanisms of verbal memory impairment in four neurodevelopmental disorders

Profiles of verbal learning and memory performance were compared for typically developing children and for four developmental disorders characterized by different patterns of language functioning: specific language impairment, early focal brain damage, Williams Syndrome, and Down Syndrome. A list-learning task was used that allowed a detailed examination of the process of verbal learning, recall, and recognition (California Verbal Learning Test--Children's Version). Distinct patterns of performance characterized the four disorders. These patterns were consistent with the language deficits typically seen in the disorders, with the exception of a dissociation seen in Williams Syndrome.     

A comprehensive and concise assessment of suicide risk

Because suicide is one of the few fatal consequences of psychiatric illness and is a source of extraordinary stress for loved ones and the clinician, accurate assessment of suicidal risk is an essential aspect of the mental health profession. Innumerable individual differences, along with the low base rate of suicide, make assessment a challenging task in clinical practice that is both delicate and time consuming. In this article, the authors recommend examining and incorporating each patient's personal characteristics, dispositional factors, situational factors, and current presentation of symptoms into a unique individual picture of suicidal risk. This portrait of potential for suicidal behavior can, in turn, be used to evaluate risk and design a course of action. This thorough yet concise approach will likely reduce omissions in assessment, and hopefully lead to fewer false negatives and fewer deaths of suicidal patients.     

Legal issues of professional negligence in suicide cases

Suicide is the eleventh leading cause of death, accounting for almost 30,000 deaths each year in the United States. The loss of a patient to suicide is the most feared outcome among mental health professionals, while the fear of litigation and liability after such suicide may be a close second. This article will familiarize mental health professionals with the legal issues of professional negligence in suicide cases. We begin with an introduction to malpractice liability for suicidal patients, followed by an explanation of the essential elements of professional negligence and relevant legal terminology. We then discuss general theories of liability involving suicide, and provide illustrative legal case examples. We conclude with a discussion of risk management procedures that can substantially reduce one's exposure to malpractice liability.     

The effects of family, school, and classroom ecologies on changes in children's social competence and emotional and behavioral problems in first grade

This study tested the independent and interactive influences of classroom (concentrations of peer prosocial behaviors and victimization), family (household moves, mothers' education), and school (proportion of students receiving income assistance) ecologies on changes in children's social competence (e.g., interpersonal skills, leadership abilities), emotional problems (e.g., anxious, withdrawn behaviors), and behavioral problems (e.g., disruptiveness, aggressiveness) in first grade. Higher classroom concentrations of prosocial behaviors and victimization predicted increases in social competence, and greater school disadvantage predicted decreases. Multiple household moves and greater school disadvantage predicted increases in behavioral problems. Multiple household moves and low levels of mothers' education predicted increases in emotional problems for children in classrooms with few prosocial behaviors. Greater school disadvantage predicted increases in emotional problems for children in classrooms with low prosocial behaviors and high victimization. Policy implications of these findings are considered.     

Friendships of aggressive youth: considering the influences of being disliked and of being perceived as popular

Past research provides conflicting evidence regarding whether aggressive youth have problems in the domain of friendship. The current study tested whether being disliked by peers exacerbates the negative effects of aggression on friendship and whether being perceived as popular by peers mitigates these damaging effects. Participants were 607 third-, fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-grade students. Support for the hypothesis that being disliked or being perceived as popular would moderate relations between aggression and friendship adjustment was found for the association between relational aggression and friendship conflict. Specifically, relational aggression was associated with having conflictual friendships for youth who were disliked but not for youth who were perceived as popular. In addition, similarity between friends was found in terms of how aggressive youth were as well as in terms of how disliked they were and how popular they were perceived to be. Implications for the well-being and development of aggressive youth are discussed.     

The role of oculomotor information in the learning of sequential aiming movements

With their eyes initially on either the home, midline, or final end position, 30 participants practiced a 2-target aiming movement. After 120 acquisition trials, participants performed a retention test and were then transferred to each of the other 2 eye conditions. During acquisition, all groups improved over practice, but the home group showed the greatest improvement. The temporal improvement was most pronounced in the times spent after peak velocity. Retention and transfer tests indicated that participants performed best under eye-movement conditions that were the same as the 1 they had practiced in. There was also positive transfer of training between conditions in which the oculomotor information was similar. Thus, to optimize learning, one should practice under the same afferent and oculomotor conditions that will be required for the final performance.     

Marriage and personality: a genetic analysis

There is substantial evidence that married people fare better than their unmarried peers on many life outcome variables. The authors asked whether self-selection might partially explain these benefits through genetic influences on personality contributing to propensity to marry. Using a population-based sample of 4,225 women and 2,869 men that included 2,527 complete twin pairs, the authors investigated the phenotypic associations between personality and propensity to marry, the heritability of propensity to marry, and the extent of genetic influence on the link between personality and propensity to marry. The results suggest that propensity to marry is heritable and that the phenotypic link between personality and propensity to marry is genetically influenced.     

Older adults' motivated choice for technological innovation: evidence for benefit-driven selectivity

This study examined older adults' motivation to adopt technological innovation. Sixty-eight older e-mail users and nonusers discussed the use of e-mail and of traditional communication methods in 18 focus groups. The results show older adults' benefit-driven approach to new communication technology. Regardless of whether their decision about the new technology was positive or negative and irrespective of their e-mail experience, participants focused on benefits rather than costs. For traditional media, both costs and benefits were important. Results contradict the common belief that barriers such as usability problems determine whether older people use new technology and indicate the decisive role of perceived benefits for successful innovation.     

Flicker-induced color and form: interdependencies and relation to stimulation frequency and phase

Our understanding of human visual perception generally rests on the assumption that conscious visual states represent the interaction of spatial structures in the environment and our nervous system. This assumption is questioned by circumstances where conscious visual states can be triggered by external stimulation which is not primarily spatially defined. Here, subjective colors and forms are evoked by flickering light while the precise nature of those experiences varies over flicker frequency and phase. What's more, the occurrence of one subjective experience appears to be associated with the occurrence of others. While these data indicate that conscious visual experience may be evoked directly by particular variations in the flow of spatially unstructured light over time, it must be assumed that the systems responsible are essentially temporal in character and capable of representing a variety of visual forms and colors, coded in different frequencies or at different phases of the same processing rhythm.