Self-concepts of hospitalized and day-care psychiatric patients

The authors administered questionnaires to 44 hospitalized and 55 day-care psychiatric patients in Hong Kong. The groups were similar in sex, age, and education. The hospitalized participants, compared with the day-care participants, showed significantly higher self-concepts in general as well as in the particular aspects of social and personal aspirations. The findings indicate that support at the community level is important to help the psychiatric patients' transition from hospital care to day care.     

Preliminary identification of nonlinear correlations for spatial tests and reaction-time tasks

Scores on three spatial tests (mental rotation, embedded figures, and gestalt completion) were significantly correlated with four same-different reaction-time tasks in a sample of 48 female university students. Scores on the Vandenberg-Kuse mental rotation test correlated best with a one-different-all-different task, embedded figures with a one-different-all-same task, and the gestalt completion with a one-same-all-same task, suggesting that the strategies subjects employ for each spatial test are similar to the strategies they use in each of the same-different tasks with which their scores correlate best. Present results support the position that stronger correlations than previously noted between scores on spatial tests and reaction-time tasks are observed when matching the tests and tasks in terms of hypothesized underlying processes.     

Competitive worries, sport confidence, and performance ratings for young swimmers

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among competitive worries, sport confidence, and performance of young athletes. Participants were 143 young swimmers aged 11 to 12 years. The athletes completed trait and state questionnaires (competitive worries and sport confidence) in noncompetitive and competitive conditions, respectively. The results indicated: (a) significant relationships among trait and state characteristics and between trait General Self-confidence and performance ratings in both races as well as between performance ratings in Races 1 and 2; (b) significant differences in state variables among athletes with moderate or high and low scores on the trait variables; (c) significant differences in performance among athletes with moderate or high and low scores on the trait General Self-confidence and trait Positive Thinking in Race 1 and on variables trait General Self-confidence, state General Self confidence, and state Positive Thinking Race 2; and (d) trait General Self-confidence and trait Confidence in Unfavorable Situations were the most important predictors of young swimmers' performances. These results may be useful in application to competitive sports for young athletes. They may help in psychodiagnostic procedures and may be used for both the content and the direction of individual programs for psychological preparation of young athletes.     

A model of dual attitudes

When an attitude changes from A1 to A2, what happens to A1? Most theories assume, at least implicitly, that the new attitude replaces the former one. The authors argue that a new attitude can override, but not replace, the old one, resulting in dual attitudes. Dual attitudes are defined as different evaluations of the same attitude object: an automatic, implicit attitude and an explicit attitude. The attitude that people endorse depends on whether they have the cognitive capacity to retrieve the explicit attitude and whether this overrides their implicit attitude. A number of literatures consistent with these hypotheses are reviewed, and the implications of the dual-attitude model for attitude theory and measurement are discussed. For example, by including only explicit measures, previous studies may have exaggerated the ease with which people change their attitudes. Even if an explicit attitude changes, an implicit attitude can remain the same.     

Varying intertrial interval reveals temporally defined memory deficits and enhancements in NTAN1-deficient mice

The N-end rule is one ubiquitin-proteolytic pathway that relates the in vivo half-life of a protein to the identity of its N-terminal residue. NTAN1 deamidates N-terminal asparagine to aspartate, which is conjugated to arginine by ATE1. An N-terminal arginine-bearing substrate protein is recognized, ubiquitylated by UBR1/E3α, and subsequently degraded by 26S proteasomes. Previous research showed that NTAN1-deficient mice exhibited impaired long-term memory in the Lashley III maze. Therefore, a series of studies, designed to assess the role of NTAN1 in short- and intermediate-term memory processes, was undertaken. Two hundred sixty mice (126 −/−; 134 +/ +) received Lashley III maze training with intertrial intervals ranging from 2–180 min. Results indicated that inactivation of NTAN1 amidase differentially affects short-, intermediate-, and long-term memory.     

Methodological issues in pediatric neuroimaging

The emergence of new technologies to study brain function in vivo has resulted in an explosion of interest in cognitive neuroscience within the last ten years. While most research in functional neuroimaging has been geared toward adult normal volunteers, the development of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has made it possible to study neural development in normal children, as well as those with developmental disorders. This technology provides an unprecedented opportunity to expand our knowledge of brain function throughout childhood. A variety of technological, experimental, and practical difficulties are amplified when imaging children. This paper reviews some of the more challenging theoretical and practical concerns and provides suggestions for their management.     

Tests for linkage of multiple cohorts in an accelerated longitudinal design

In accelerated longitudinal design, one samples multiple age cohorts and then collects longitudinal data on members of each cohort. The aim is to study age-outcome trajectories over a broad age span during a study of short duration. A threat to valid inference is the Age x Cohort interaction effect. S. W. Raudenbush and W. S. Chan (1993) developed a test for such interactions in the context of 2 cohorts by using a hierarchical model. The current article extends this approach to include any number of cohorts. Using the National Youth Survey, the authors combine data collected on 7 cohorts over 5 years to approximate change in antisocial attitudes between 11 and 21 years of age. They show how to test for cohort differences in trajectories, how to calculate the power of the test, and how to use graphical procedures to aid understanding. The approach allows unbalanced designs and the clustering of participants within families, neighborhoods, or other social units.     

Effects of glucose on scopolamine-induced learning deficits in rats performing the Morris water maze task

In order to assess the effects of glucose on drug-induced spatial learning deficits, three experiments were conducted using the Morris water maze. Scopolamine and glucose were injected ip at various stages of training. Rats of Wistar strain served as subjects. In Experiment 1, scopolamine (0.4 mg/kg) and 10, 100, or 500 mg/kg of glucose were administered every day from the start of training, and the effect on acquisition was evaluated. In Experiment 2, scopolamine and 100 or 500 mg/kg of glucose were administered after 6 days of training, and the effect on performance was assessed. In Experiment 3, scopolamine and 500 mg/kg of glucose were injected after 2 days of training, and the effect on the following trial was tested. In all experiments, scopolamine impaired acquisition/performance of the task. Glucose at 500 mg/kg showed a significant enhancing effect on acquisition regardless of scopolamine injection only when injected daily from the start of training (Experiment 1). Glucose injected after the performance has reached asymptote (Experiment 2) did not affect performance, and glucose in the middle of training showed a slight but insignificant enhancing effect (Experiment 3). These results may suggest that the effect of glucose changes as a function of the degree of learning of the spatial learning task. The possibility of task specificity of the glucose effect was also discussed in relation to the cholinergic systems and local cerebral glucose utilization.     

Measurement and structural models for children's problem behaviors

This article considers an analytic strategy for measuring and modeling child and adolescent problem behaviors. The strategy embeds an item response model within a hierarchical model to define an interval scale for the outcomes, to assess dimensionality, and to study how individual and contextual factors relate to multiple dimensions of problem behaviors. To illustrate, the authors analyze data from the primary caregiver ratings of 2,177 children aged 9-15 in 79 urban neighborhoods on externalizing behavior problems using the Child Behavior Checklist 4-18 (T. M. Achenbach, 1991a). Two subscales, Aggression and Delinquency, are highly correlated, and yet unidimensionality must be rejected because these subscales have different associations with key theoretically related covariates.     

Dyskinesias differentiate autistic disorder from catatonia

Autistic disorder and catatonia are neuropsychiatric syndromes defined by impairments in social interaction, communication, and restricted, stereotypical motor routines. Assessments of children with these disorders are typically restricted in scope by the patients' limited ability to comprehend directions. The authors performed systematic assessments of dyskinesias on six prepubertal boys with autistic disorder and mental retardation and on one adolescent male with catatonia to determine if this type of information could be routinely obtained. The boys with autistic disorder had more stereotypies and tics, a greater degree of akathisia and hyperactivity, and more compulsions than the adolescent with catatonia. Catatonia was associated with catalepsy and dystonic postures. The authors conclude that the diagnostic accuracy and specificity of neuropsychiatric syndromes may be enhanced by the systematic assessment of the dyskinesias associated with each condition.