Reliability and validity of a twelve-minute walking test for coronary heart disease patients

This study examined the reliability and validity of a 12-min. walking test for coronary heart disease patients. CHD patients (28 men, 18 women) were recruited out of 86 CHD patients of the Martini Hospital Groningen, The Netherlands. 46 CHD patients (age M=66.0 yr., SD=6.8) participated in the reliability study and 24 (age M=62.0 yr., SD=9.2) in the validity study. A test-retest analysis showed a satisfactory Bland-Altman plot and an intraclass coefficient of .98. The Pearson correlation between the score on the test and the VO2 peak was .77. This test gives a reliable and valid assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness of CHD patients.     

Revisiting the factor structure of the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory

The original Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory, used to measure innovative (as opposed to adaptive) individual cognitive styles, has been reported to have three factors: Sufficiency of Originality, Efficiency, and Rule/Group Conformity. In exploring the construct validity of the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory, findings from a 2003 study by Im, Hu, and Toh showed the existence of two subdimensions of the Sufficiency of Originality factor-Idea Generation and Preference for Change. In this study, using a sample of 356 household participants, with an average age of 56.0 yr. (SD = 14.0), average income of dollar 39,700 (SD = dollar 19,200), and average of 15.0 yr. of education (SD = 2), from the Arkansas Household Research Panel, we conducted factor analyses. The results specific to our selected sample indicate that a four-factor model recognizing the two subdimensions of Sufficiency of Originality has a better fit than the original three-factor model.     

Intervention Groups for Adolescents With Conduct Problems: Is Aggregation Harmful or Helpful?

Past research has suggested that the aggregation of deviant peers during treatment may cause harmful effects (T. J. Dishion, J. McCord, & F. Poulin, 1999). This study compared the effectiveness of problem-solving skills training groups in which all members had conduct problems (pure group condition) with groups that consisted of adolescents with and without behavior problems (mixed group condition). Participants were 139 sixth- and seventh-graders (mean age = 12.7; 63% male; 55% White) enrolled at public middle schools. Pre-, post-, and 6-month follow-up data were collected, along with intervention process variables. Results showed that, contrary to the deviancy training hypothesis, adolescents in the pure-group condition engaged in more adaptive in-session behavior and received lower scores on the parent and teacher ratings of externalizing behavior at postintervention than those in the mixed-group condition. Mediation analyses showed that the deviancy training that occurred in the mixed-group condition accounted for their worse postintervention scores, findings consistent with the deviancy training hypothesis.     

Effects of attentional prioritisation on the temporal and spatial components of an interlimb circle-drawing task

This study aimed to examine the effects of directing attention to the spatial dimension of the circle-drawing task on interlimb coordination patterns across limbs. Eighteen participants performed a circle-drawing task involving in-phase and antiphase coordination modes under upper limb, contralateral and ipsilateral limb combinations. Results indicated that (a) coordination pattern stability co-varied with central cost when attentional focus was directed to the spatial dimensions of the interlimb circle-drawing task; (b) attentional focus on the spatial components modified the inherent performance asymmetries between the limbs; (c) finally, attention to the spatial components of the interlimb circle-drawing task modulated movement trajectories and at the same time the stability of temporal coordination.     

Whole-word phonological representations of disyllabic words in the Chinese lexicon: data from acquired dyslexia

This study addresses the issue of the existence of whole-word phonological representations of disyllabic and multisyllabic words in the Chinese mental lexicon. A Cantonese brain-injured dyslexic individual with semantic deficits, YKM, was assessed on his abilities to read aloud and to comprehend disyllabic words containing homographic heterophonous characters, the pronunciation of which can only be disambiguated in word context. Superior performance on reading to comprehension was found. YKM could produce the target phonological forms without understanding the words. The dissociation is taken as evidence for whole-word representations for these words at the phonological level. The claim is consistent with previous account for discrepancy of the frequencies of tonal errors between reading aloud and object naming in Cantonese reported of another case study of similar deficits. Theoretical arguments for whole-word form representations for all multisyllabic Chinese words are also discussed.     

To stay or to go, to speak or stay silent, to act or not to act: moral distress as experienced by psychologists

The moral distress of psychologists working in psychiatric and mental health care settings was explored in an interdisciplinary, hermeneutic phenomenological study situated at the University of Alberta, Canada. Moral distress is the state experienced when moral choices and actions are thwarted by constraints. Psychologists described specific incidents in which they felt their integrity had been compromised by such factors as institutional and interinstitutional demands, team conflicts, and interdisciplinary disputes. They described dealing with the resulting moral distress by such means as silence, taking a stance, acting secretively, sustaining themselves through work with clients, seeking support from colleagues, and exiting. Recognizing moral distress can lead to a significant shift in the way we perceive moral choices and understand the moral context of practice.     

Assessment and treatment of adult acute responses to traumatic stress following mass traumatic events

Assessment and treatment of acute responses to traumatic stress has received much attention since September 11, 2001. This article elucidates principles of early intervention with adults in the immediate (within 48 hours) and early recovery phase (within the first week). The principles have been drawn from research on risk and recover factors, stress and traumatic stress theory, and expert consensus recommendations. The debriefing model is discussed, and principle interventions of psychological first aid, pharmacology, and mass trauma systems are described. This article concludes with brief guidelines for longer-term interventions and recommendations for future research.     

A confirmatory model for depression among Japanese American and part-Japanese American adolescents

A confirmatory model integrating Japanese ethnicity, cultural identity, and depression was developed (N = 140). The model incorporated the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), Major Life Events Scale, and Japanese Cultural Scale. Japanese American adolescents scored higher on the Japanese Cultural Scale and reported fewer depressive symptoms on the CES-D total and on 2 of the 3 CES-D factors than part-Japanese American adolescents. Predictors for depression were being Japanese American vs. part-Japanese American, female gender, and culturally intensified events. A significant interaction of behavior by self-identification was noted. The model had good overall fit and suggested that the formation of cultural identity may contribute to depressive symptoms experienced by adolescents, particularly adolescents of mixed heritage.     

Intuition and autism: a possible role for Von Economo neurons

Von Economo neurons (VENs) are a recently evolved cell type which may be involved in the fast intuitive assessment of complex situations. As such, they could be part of the circuitry supporting human social networks. We propose that the VENs relay an output of fronto-insular and anterior cingulate cortex to the parts of frontal and temporal cortex associated with theory-of-mind, where fast intuitions are melded with slower, deliberative judgments. The VENs emerge mainly after birth and increase in number until age 4 yrs. We propose that in autism spectrum disorders the VENs fail to develop normally, and that this failure might be partially responsible for the associated social disabilities that result from faulty intuition.