Training attentional control in older adults

ABSTRACT

Recent research has demonstrated benefits for older adults from training attentional control using a variable priority strategy, but the construct validity of the training task and the degree to which benefits of training transfer to other contexts are unclear. The goal of this study was to characterize baseline performance on the training task in a sample of 105 healthy older adults and to test for transfer of training in a subset (n?=?21). Training gains after 5 days and extent of transfer was compared to another subset (n?=?20) that served as a control group. Baseline performance on the training task was characterized by a two-factor model of working memory and processing speed. Processing speed correlated with the training task. Training gains in speed and accuracy were reliable and robust (ps <.001, η²?=?.57 to .90). Transfer to an analogous task was observed (ps <.05, η²?=?.10 to .17). The beneficial effect of training did not translate to improved performance on related measures of processing speed. This study highlights the robust effect of training and transfer to a similar context using a variable priority training task. Although processing speed is an important aspect of the training task, training benefit is either related to an untested aspect of the training task or transfer of training is limited to the training context.     

Training service providers working with traumatized children in South Africa: The navigations of a trainer

In South Africa, counselling training poses two related difficulties: working in a situation of ubiquitous, ongoing violence, and offering training to people who have minimal or no qualifications and are often overwhelmed by enormous workload. In this context, there is a temptation either to give up hope in the face of the enormity of the task, or defensively to package counselling as a set of techniques which can be taught without much self-reflection. In this article we discuss, by contrast, an intervention which used psychodynamic principles to develop learner-centred training drawing on trainees' own experiences. We consider the benefits of this approach even in a context of violence and meagre resources.     

A Review of the Nurtured Heart Approach to Parenting: Evaluation of its Theoretical and Empirical Foundations

The Nurtured Heart Approach to parenting (NHA; Glasser & Easley, 2008) is summarized and evaluated in terms of its alignment with current theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence in family studies and developmental science. Originally conceived and promoted as a behavior management approach for parents of difficult children (i.e., with behavior disorders), NHA is increasingly offered as a valuable strategy for parents of any children, despite a lack of published empirical support. Parents using NHA are trained to minimize attention to undesired behaviors, provide positive attention and praise for compliance with rules, help children be successful by scaffolding and shaping desired behavior, and establish a set of clear rules and consequences. Many elements of the approach have strong support in the theoretical and empirical literature; however, some of the assumptions are more questionable, such as that negative child behavior can always be attributed to unintentional positive reinforcement by parents responding with negative attention. On balance, NHA appears to promote effective and validated parenting practices, but its effectiveness now needs to be tested empirically.     

Two Routes to Expertise in Mental Rotation

The ability to imagine objects undergoing rotation (mental rotation) improves markedly with practice, but an explanation of this plasticity remains controversial. Some researchers propose that practice speeds up the rate of a general‐purpose rotation algorithm. Others maintain that performance improvements arise through the adoption of a new cognitive strategy—repeated exposure leads to rapid retrieval from memory of the required response to familiar mental rotation stimuli. In two experiments we provide support for an integrated explanation of practice effects in mental rotation by combining behavioral and EEG measures in a way that provides more rigorous inference than is available from either measure alone. Before practice, participants displayed two well‐established signatures of mental rotation: Both response time and EEG negativity increased linearly with rotation angle. After extensive practice with a small set of stimuli, both signatures of mental rotation had all but disappeared. In contrast, after the same amount of practice with a much larger set both signatures remained, even though performance improved markedly. Taken together, these results constitute a reversed association, which cannot arise from variation in a single cause, and so they provide compelling evidence for the existence of two routes to expertise in mental rotation. We also found novel evidence that practice with the large but not the small stimulus set increased the magnitude of an early visual evoked potential, suggesting increased rotation speed is enabled by improved efficiency in extracting three‐dimensional information from two‐dimensional stimuli.     

Adaptation of parent-child interaction therapy for Puerto Rican families: a preliminary study

This study examines how parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) was adapted for Puerto Rican parents of children aged 4-6 with hyperactivity and other significant behavior problems. Four steps were followed: (1) translation and preliminary adaptation of the treatment manual, (2) application of the treatment to 9 families as part of an exploratory study using repeated measures, (3) treatment revision and refinement, and (4) in-depth interviews with parents (n=15) and clinical psychologists (n=5) from Puerto Rico who provided feedback on treatment process and components. Throughout this process, cultural elements and modifications were recommended to be incorporated into the treatment protocol. Both quantitative and qualitative results suggest that PCIT seems to be an acceptable intervention for this population, with some minor changes. Parents reported a high level of satisfaction, a significant reduction in children's externalizing behavior problems, and reduction of parenting stress and improvement in their parenting practices. Psychologists also evaluated positively the treatment protocol and recommended its use. Results from this study may inform clinicians and researchers who work with Latino families about relevant issues to be considered to promote their participation in behavioral family interventions and to enhance their acceptability and effectiveness.     

The Initial Efficacy of Stand-Alone DBT Skills Training for Treating Impulsivity Among Individuals With Alcohol and Other Substance Use Disorders

Impulsivity is considered a core feature of substance use disorders (SUDs), including personological (i.e., negative urgency, positive urgency, lack of premeditation) and neuropsychological (i.e., cognitive and motor disinhibition, impulsive choice) dimensions. Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training (DBT-ST) as a stand-alone treatment is an effective intervention for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and other SUDs. However, there are no studies that have investigated changes in impulsivity levels during a DBT-ST program, especially testing the therapeutic effects of DBT skills. Twenty-nine patients with AUD and other SUDs were admitted to a 3-month DBT-ST program. Self-report (i.e., UPPS-P) and computerized neuropsychological (i.e., Attentional Network test; Go/No-Go task; Iowa Gambling Task) measures of impulsivity were administered at the beginning and end of the DBT-ST. Distress tolerance (DTS), mindfulness (MAAS, FFMQ) and emotion regulation (DERS) were also assessed pre- and post-intervention. The study included two age- and gender-matched control groups: (a) untreated patients with SUDs (N = 29); (b) healthy controls (HCs) (N = 29). Twenty-four (82.7%) patients concluded the DBT-ST program. Emotion-based forms of impulsivity significantly improved during the program. At the end of treatment, impulsivity levels were significantly lower than those of untreated patients with SUDs and they were not significantly different from HCs. Cognitive disinhibition significantly decreased during the treatment. The improvement in impulsivity was explained by pre- posttreatment changes in distress tolerance, mindfulness and emotion regulation. Motor disinhibition did not improve during the treatment. These findings supported the initial efficacy of the DBT-ST program for addressing different features of impulsivity among individuals with AUD and other SUDs. Future follow-up studies should demonstrate the role of impulsivity domains in long-term relapse prevention.     

A re-evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Basic Character Inventory

The aim of this study was to re-evaluate the psychometric properties of the Basic Character Inventory (BCI). In a rather large sample of 503 subjects (323 women and 180 men, 88 non-psychotic psychiatric inpatients and 415 non-patients) factor analysis resulted in three factors with personality traits almost identical with the BCI Oral, Obsessive and Hysterical scales. BCI seems to be a fruitful and reliable assessment instrument for personality traits and character types as outlined in psychoanalytic theory. However, some of the trait subscales ought to be scrutinized in future psychometric re-evaluative studies of BCI on new, large samples. Another factor analysis showed that the BCI Oral scale, together with all the ten subscales of the psychiatric Symptom Check-list 90 (SCL-90), loaded on the first factor, and the BCI Obsessive and Hysterical scales loaded on the second factor, but with different signs. Orality seems to be related to psychopathology.     

学校心理学专业化

本文扼要介绍由联合国教科文组织和国际教育局于1948年召开的第一次有关学校心理学的会议,此作为学校心理学始倡,以及会议分发给世界各国政府的问卷节要,讨论了学校心理学的不同任务,特别是普通教育系统中特殊教育的随班就读的各项任务。本文还概述了学校心理学在智力甑别、社会适应、教学咨询和职业指导方面的作用;尝试性地提出了以前忽略学校心理学的问题,指出它在我国将来发展的前景。