Cognitive-behavior therapy for depressed cancer patients in a medical care setting

Major depression is the most common psychiatric disorder among cancer patients and is associated with decreased quality of life, significant deterioration in recreational and physical activities, relationship difficulties, sleep problems, more rapidly progressing cancer symptoms, and more metastasis and pain relative to nondepressed cancer patients. Although some research has explored the utility of psychological interventions with cancer patients, only one study to date has explored the potential benefits of cognitive-behavior therapy among cancer patients with well-diagnosed depression. Addressing this gap in the literature, this study represents an open clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of a brief Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for Depression (CBTD) among depressed cancer patients in a medical care setting. Results revealed strong treatment integrity, good patient compliance, excellent patient satisfaction with the CBTD protocol, and significant pre-post treatment gains across a breadth of outcome measures assessing depression, anxiety, quality of life, and medical outcomes. These gains also were associated with strong effect sizes and generally maintained at 3-month follow-up. Behavioral activation interventions, especially when paired with cognitive techniques, may represent a practical medical care treatment that may improve psychological outcomes and quality of life among cancer patients. Study limitations and future research directions are discussed.     

Sources of variability in working memory in early childhood: A consideration of age, temperament, language, and brain electrical activity

This study investigated age-related differences in working memory and inhibitory control (WMIC) in -, 4-, and -year-olds and how these differences were associated with differences in regulatory aspects of temperament, language comprehension, and brain electrical activity. A series of cognitive control tasks was administered to measure WMIC ability, including the Stroop-like day–night and the yes–no tasks. Baseline and task electroencephalographic data were collected. The Children's Behavior Questionnaire was used to assess caregiver perceptions of temperament with a particular interest in the effortful control and surgency factors, and language comprehension was measured with the Peabody-Picture Vocabulary Test-III. The results of this study demonstrated differential temperament-cognition relations for the three age groups, as positive associations were found between WMIC and effortful control for the - and 4-year-olds and negative associations were found between WMIC and surgency for the -year-olds. An increasingly robust relation between WMIC and language comprehension was demonstrated across the three age groups, as well as differential patterns of task-related brain electrical activity.     

"What if…": The Use of Conceptual Simulations in Scientific Reasoning

The term conceptual simulation refers to a type of everyday reasoning strategy commonly called "what if" reasoning. It has been suggested in a number of contexts that this type of reasoning plays an important role in scientific discovery; however, little direct evidence exists to support this claim. This article proposes that conceptual simulation is likely to be used in situations of informational uncertainty, and may be used to help scientists resolve that uncertainty. We conducted two studies to investigate the relationship between conceptual simulation and informational uncertainty. Study 1 was an in vivo study of expert scientists; the results suggest that scientists do use conceptual simulation in situations of informational uncertainty, and that they use conceptual simulation to make inferences from their data using the analogical reasoning process of alignment by similarity detection. Study 2 experimentally manipulated experts' level of uncertainty and provides further support for the hypothesis that conceptual simulation is more likely to be used in situations of informational uncertainty. Finally, we discuss the relationship between conceptual simulation and other types of reasoning using qualitative mental models.     

VARIATIONS IN HELP-SEEKING, BATTERED WOMEN'S RELATIONSHIP COURSE, EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING, AND EXPERIENCES OF ABUSE OVER TIME

Despite assumptions that leaving the batterer offers the best chance for improvement in battered women's lives, few studies provide conclusive data on this issue. Although many women eventually reunite with partners, also unexamined is the influence of relationship course over time. Five waves of data from 206 low-income, largely Black, help-seeking battered women revealed minimal differences in emotional well-being either initially or over time for women following different relationship trajectories during the course of 1 year. Consistency in relationship status (completely apart, completely together) tended to be associated with sharper drops in violence during the year; abuse tended to decrease most slowly among women who were in and out of their relationship over time. Findings suggest that the act of leaving is not necessarily associated with improvements for victims—how the process of leaving occurs may be more influential. Challenging common assumptions, women remaining with partners may sometimes fare better than women who leave.     

Failure to find a distance effect in pigeon choice: Manipulating amount and delay of reinforcement

The choice behavior of primates, including humans, displays a distance effect: Latency to choose between alternatives appears to increase with smaller differences in value. There is, so far, no demonstration of this effect in birds. Tests of distance effects in birds have been conducted in binary choice situations with a dominant alternative, where one alternative is superior to the other in all aspects that meaningfully contribute to value (e.g., provides access to the same reinforcer, but with a shorter delay). The present study considers the possibility that including dominant alternatives in choice tests precludes distance effects. Four pigeons were presented with binary choices between alternatives that varied in amount and delay. Some choices had a dominant alternative (smaller–sooner or larger–later vs. smaller–later) and some did not (smaller–sooner vs. larger–later). Across phases, only the delay to the smaller–sooner reinforcer varied. Distance effects were expected to be expressed as longer latencies as choice between smaller–sooner and larger–later reinforcers approached indifference. Despite the sensitivity of choice to differences in amount and delay, no distance effect was observed. Alternative explanations for the failure to find a distance effect in pigeon choice, including the Sequential Choice Model (SCM), are discussed.     

Restoration of Firearm Rights in New York

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 encouraged states to create processes by which individuals who have lost their rights to firearm possession for mental-illness-related reasons could receive relief from restrictions. Over 20 states have created relief processes for this sub-group, but there still exists considerable state-by-state heterogeneity. The spectrum ranges from states that require a physician's opinion regarding appropriateness for restoration to those that rely solely on judicial proceedings without input from psychiatrists or other mental health professionals. This article reviews the restoration process in New York State, a model in which psychiatrists participate in the process of assessing whether an individual's firearm rights can be restored. It discusses the legislative background of these regulations, the specific policies and procedures governing the restoration process, and clinical considerations for the forensic evaluation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.