Quantitative EEG Assessment During Neuropsychological Task Performance in Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

This study evaluated the neuropsychological performance of adults with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) during the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: Computerized Version 3 (WCST), and the Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (IVA). Quantitative electroencephalographic (QEEG) data were also collected during task performance to examine differences in cortical activity between groups and tasks. Results suggest that adults with ADHD demonstrated lower levels of performance on the PASAT and IVA, tasks that involve working memory and processing speed, and sustained attention, respectively. Adults with ADHD also had more upper alpha activity during the IVA. Lastly, for the ADHD group, an increased theta/beta ratio during the IVA was significantly related to poorer attentional performance. The current results support reinforcing specific types of cortical activity though EEG operant conditioning (neurofeedback) as a treatment option in adults with ADHD. This paper is based largely in part on a dissertation by J. Noland White in partial fulfillment of the requirements of his doctoral program at The University of Tennessee. Portions of this study have been presented in summary form at several professional conferences.     

Body Dissatisfaction in College Women and Their Mothers: Cohort Effects, Developmental Effects, and the Influences of Body Size, Sexism, and the Thin Body Ideal

A study of body dissatisfaction, as measured by the Figure Rating Scale (Stunkard, Sorenson, & Schlusinger, 1983) and the Body Esteem Scale (Franzoi & Shields, 1984), in 75 college women and their mothers indicated that both daughters and mothers experienced body dissatisfaction. When body size was statistically controlled, either no difference was found between the groups or daughters were found to have greater body dissatisfaction than mothers. The results supported the hypotheses that (1) there are generational differences in body dissatisfaction, (2) both cohort and developmental effects contribute to these differences, and (3) that a developmental effect (mothers' greater body size) may obscure a cohort effect (daughters' greater exposure to the thin body ideal). Body dissatisfaction measures based on the mothers' retrospective ratings of how they felt at their daughters' age were consistent with these hypotheses. Relationships between body dissatisfaction and the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire (Heinberg, Thompson, & Stormer, 1995) were stronger and more frequent for daughters than for mothers and for the Internalization Scale than for the Awareness Scale. Relationships between the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (Glick & Fiske, 2001) and body dissatisfaction were stronger for mothers than for daughters and for Benevolent Sexism than for Hostile Sexism.     

退步原来是向前

从契此的“手把青苗插满田,低头便见水中天,六根清净方为道,退步原来是向前”偈中,反映了退让并不是完全的消极,有时反而是一种积极的进取,从而揭示出丰富的人生哲理。     

An Examination of the Individual‐Difference Approach to the Role of Norms in the Theory of Reasoned Action1

The relationship between subjective norm and behavioral intentions is the weakest link of the theory of reasoned action. Numerous approaches have addressed this issue, including the assertion that the weak contribution is a result of a small number of individuals who are under normative control. The present research examines this individual‐difference approach in the domain of health behaviors. Respondents were 287 students who rated their intentions, attitudes, and subjective norms in relation to 32 health behaviors and 5 substance‐use behaviors. Regression analyses, between subjects and within subjects, demonstrated that both behaviors and people can be under attitudinal or normative control. Support for an individual‐difference approach was less conclusive when findings were examined separately for specific health behaviors.     

An Examination of Gender Differences in Adolescent Adjustment: The Effect of Competence on Gender Role Differences in Symptoms of Psychopathology

Numerous studies have documented gender differences in psychopathology; girls generally report more internalizing symptoms and boys generally report more externalizing symptoms. These gender differences are partially accounted for by the gender-typed personality characteristics of boys and girls. This study was designed to investigate how gender roles influence symptoms of psychopathology by examining the mediating effects of self- and peer-rated competencies. Using a multiple regression approach to path analysis with a sample of primarily White, middle-class high school students, gender roles significantly predicted symptoms of psychopathology and mediated the gender differences in those symptoms. In addition, the adolescents' self- and peer-rated competence in various domains helped to explain the effect of gender roles on symptoms of psychopathology. Specifically, self-rated social attractiveness and global self-worth fully mediated the relation between instrumentality (i.e., masculinity) and internalizing symptoms. Global self-worth and both self- and peer-rated achievement/conduct partially mediated the relation between expressivity (i.e., femininity) and externalizing symptoms. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Parental Morality and Family Processes as Predictors of Adolescent Morality

This study investigated the extent to which parents' moral thought and family processes are involved in the socialization of adolescent moral thought. Olson et al's (1992) Circumplex Model and White's (2000) Family Socialization Model provided the conceptual framework for predicting that families high in cohesion, adaptability and communication would facilitate the transmission of moral values between parents and adolescents more effectively than families low in these family processes. Results involving 218 adolescent-parent dyads revealed that perceived family cohesion and communication moderated the father-adolescent moral thought relationship; that several facets of both parents' morality significantly predicted adolescents' morality; and that all three family processes significantly predicted certain aspects of adolescent morality. Therefore the extent to which parents' socialize adolescent moral values will vary according to each parent's moral view, the strength of family processes and the content of moral thought being transmitted.     

How semantic categorization influences inhibitory processing in middle-childhood: an Event Related Potentials study

Throughout middle-childhood, inhibitory processes, which underlie many higher order cognitive tasks, are developing. Little is known about how inhibitory processes change as a task becomes conceptually more difficult during these important years. In adults, as Go/NoGo tasks become more difficult there is a systematic decrease in the P3NoGo response, indicating the use of effective inhibitory strategies (Maguire et al., 2009). This paper investigates the age at which children employ similar inhibitory strategies by studying behavioral and Event Related Potential (ERP) measures of response inhibition for three Go/NoGo tasks. Seventeen 7-8 year-olds and twenty 10-11-year-olds completed three Go/NoGo tasks that differed in the level of categorization necessary to respond. Both age groups displayed slower reaction times as the tasks became more difficult. Further, both groups displayed the predicted Go vs. NoGo P3 amplitude differences in the two simplest tasks, but no significant P3 differences for the most complex task. The reason for this pattern of responses was different in the different age groups. Similar to adults in previous work, the oldest children showed an attenuation of the P3 NoGo response with task difficulty, and no corresponding changes in the Go amplitude. The younger children displayed the opposite pattern, a significant increase in the Go amplitude with task difficulty, and no changes in the NoGo response. These response patterns indicate that efficient inhibitory strategies are developing throughout middle-childhood.     

苏辙“示疾而病”的禅学思想

＂多病则与学道者宜,多难则与学禅者宜＂,苏辙却因有＂喜汝因病悟,或免终身著＂的示疾而病的禅学思想。＂示疾而病＂的苏辙以维摩自喻,在深层意义上,是他借维摩诘而表现其忧以天下、以乐天下的人格理想。     

Conceptual similarity promotes generalization of higher order fear learning

We tested the hypothesis that conceptual similarity promotes generalization of conditioned fear. Using a sensory preconditioning procedure, three groups of subjects learned an association between two cues that were conceptually similar, unrelated, or mismatched. Next, one of the cues was paired with a shock. The other cue was then reintroduced to test for fear generalization, as measured by the skin conductance response. Results showed enhanced fear generalization that correlated with trait anxiety levels in the group that learned an association between conceptually similar stimuli. These findings suggest that conceptual representations of conditional stimuli influence human fear learning processes.