An evaluation of recollection and familiarity in Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment using receiver operating characteristics

There is a need to investigate exactly how memory breaks down in the course of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Examining what aspects of memorial processing remain relatively intact early in the disease process will allow us to develop behavioral interventions and possible drug therapies focused on these intact processes. Several recent studies have worked to understand the processes of recollection and familiarity in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and very mild AD. Although there is general agreement that these patient groups are relatively unable to use recollection to support veridical recognition decisions, there has been some question as to how well these patients can use familiarity. The current study used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and a depth of processing manipulation to understand the effect of MCI and AD on the estimates of recollection and familiarity. Results showed that patients with MCI and AD were impaired in both recollection and familiarity, regardless of the depth of encoding. These results are discussed in relation to disease pathology and in the context of recent conflicting evidence as to whether familiarity remains intact in patients with MCI. The authors highlight differences in stimuli type and task difficulty as possibly modulating the ability of these patients to successfully use familiarity in support of memorial decisions.     

Autonomic impairment in Borderline Personality Disorder: A laboratory investigation

Recent research suggests that emotional dysfunction in psychiatric disorders can be reflected in autonomic abnormalities. The present study examines sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic nervous system activity in individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) before, during, and following a social stressor task. Data were obtained from an analogue sample of participants screening positive for BPD (n = 12) and healthy controls (n = 28). In general, BPD participants exhibited increased sympathetic activity (indexed by Cardiac Sympathetic Index, CSI; Toichi et al., 1997) and decreased parasympathetic activity (indexed by Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia, RSA) compared to controls. During the stressful task, BPD and control participants exhibited different trajectories of sympathetic activation: estimates of sympathetic activity increased for BPD participants and decreased for controls. Furthermore, BPD participants reported the task (but not baseline or recovery phases) to be more frustrating than controls. Findings are interpreted in the context of Polyvagal theory.     

小学学习不良儿童言语交际策略理解水平及其发展特点

采用言语交际策略认知结构访谈故事情境,考察了小学3~6年级学习不良儿童言语交际策略理解水平的发展以及言语行为对其策略理解的影响。被试为两所普通小学儿童,其中学习不良117名,一般儿童124名。结果表明：学习不良儿童言语交际策略理解水平在总体发展上显著落后于一般儿童,但滞后仅存在于意图表达间接程度较高的暗示策略上。其次,在不同言语行为类别上发展趋势不同。对于礼貌请求策略,学习不良儿童不存在显著年级差异,而一般儿童则表现出随年级的增长而逐步提高的趋势;对于委婉应答策略,学习不良儿童存在显著的年级差异。     

Leadership and Organizational Culture: Linking CEO Characteristics to Cultural Values

Purpose  The purpose of this study was to empirically examine organizational culture theorists’ assertions about the linkages between leadership and the cultures that emerge in the organizations they lead. Specific hypotheses were developed and tested regarding relationships between chief executive officers’ (CEO’s) personality traits, and the cultural values that are shared among their organization’s members. Design/Methodology/Approach  Thirty-two CEOs completed measures of the Big-Five personality traits and personal values. A total of 467 employees across the 32 organizations completed a competing values measure of organizational culture. Findings  Results indicate support for several hypothesized relationships between CEO personality and cultural values. Exploratory analyses indicated that several CEO personal values were related to culture values. Implications  Organizations need to seriously consider the “fit” between the current or desired organizational culture and CEO characteristics. Organizations attempting to change fundamental aspects of its functioning may need significant behavioral—or personnel—changes at the top of the organization in order to achieve those changes. Originality/Value  This is the first empirical study to establish a link between specific CEO characteristics and the cultural values of their organizations. This study provides evidence that CEO characteristics are felt throughout the organization by impacting the norms that sanction or discourage member behavior and decision making, and the patterns of behavior and interaction among members.     

Skilled speechreading: A single-case study

In a case study the cognitive characteristics of a skilled visual speechreader (SJ) was examined and compared to a control group. SJ is a 56 year old woman, skilled in visual speechreading. She differs from most of the 119 individuals in the control group, as she uses a particular speechreading strategy in which she attempts to repeat overtly each spoken word as soon as it has been uttered, and to summarize and fill in missing pieces of information whenever it is possible (e.g., during pauses) during the conversation.
SJ outperformed the control group on three types of tasks; a reading span task, performance in the asymptote level in the serial position curve, and verbal inference-making. SJ's results were discussed with respect to (a) how they relate to the general case (i.e., models based on group-data) and to (b) her speechreading strategy. From a clinical perspective it was suggested that it might be possible to practice the strategy as such, but any possible improvement is dependent on the individual's capability to process information in this way.     

Reckless driving behaviour of youth: Does locus of control influence perceptions of situational characteristics and driving behaviour?

The current study examines driving behaviour of youth as a function of desirability, controllability and verifiability of this behaviour, in relation to locus of control. We expected that the occurrence of undesirable behaviour would increase when this behaviour was not visible to others, or could be ascribed to external circumstances. These mechanisms were expected to operate for externally oriented subjects, but less so for internally oriented subjects.A questionnaire was administered to 120 Dutch university students regarding their driving behaviour. The questionnaire described two scenarios in which desirability, verifiability, and controllability of behaviour were systematically manipulated. The primary dependent variable involved judgements on the likelihood that one would engage in a particular behaviour. The data were analysed using ANCOVA. The results supported our expectation that verifiability of behaviour would be more important for externally than for internally oriented subjects. For controllability of behaviour, no such effects were found. Implications and limitations are discussed.     

Behavioral Characteristics of DSM-IV ADHD Subtypes in a School-Based Population

From an ethnically diverse sample of 2,744 school children, 221 attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) [123 (4.5%) predominantly inattentive (IA), 47 (1.7%) predominantly hyperactive/impulsive (HI), and 51 (1.9%) combined type (C)] were identified using teacher ratings on a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) (DSM-IV) symptom checklist. Subjects were compared to 221 controls on teacher ratings of behavioral, academic, and social functioning. The results revealed relatively independent areas of impairment for each diagnostic group. The IA children were impaired in all areas, but were rated as displaying more appropriate behavior and fewer externalizing problems than HI or C children. The HI group displayed externalizing and social problems, but was rated as no different than controls in learning or internalizing problems. The C group demonstrated severe and pervasive difficulties across domains. These findings support the validity of the DSM-IV ADHD subtypes; all ADHD groups demonstrated impairment relative to controls, but show different patterns of behavioral characteristics.     

中小学教师的品质,行为特征及其相互关系的研究

本文经实验研究表明大多数教师属于积极性人格类型,即情绪稳定,社会适应性良好。另外表明Y－G测验的结果能够作为教师品质行为特征的指标之一。     

Self-reinforcement: An assessment of external influences

Two experiments were carried out in which low- and high-demand characteristics of self-reward were assessed in a multiple-baseline design across subjects. In the first experiment, arithmetic performance of four children was systematically assessed under no-reinforcement, self-reward/low-demand and self-reward/high-demand phases. In the second experiment, the performance of four children on a less meaningful task was assessed under the same conditions employed in Experiment 1. Results indicated that performance rates were relatively stable during the no-reinforcement phase but that these rates dropped markedly during the self-reward/low-demand phase for all eight subjects. Further, increased rates of performance were achieved under the self-reward/high-demand phase for all subjects. Results are discussed in terms of the assessment of the self-reinforcement procedure, current definitions of self-reinforcement, and the need to view self-reinforcement as existing on a continuum of external demand characteristics.This project was supported in whole by a faculty research grant awarded to the first author and completed while the second author was a visiting associate professor at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.     

Vocal indicators of facilitative interpersonal skills

The facilitative interpersonal skills (FIS) method uses simulations of difficult client moments as a test of helpers' ability to remain therapeutic in therapeutically stressful situations. A total of 135 participants completed the FIS task as part of a training in helping skills and provided verbal responses that were assessed by trained raters for interpersonal skills. Audio recordings of these verbal responses were then analysed acoustically for fundamental frequency (F0), spectral slope and F0 range. Mean F0 and F0 range were more highly associated with trained raters' ratings of FIS for female participants than for male participants, although F0 range was associated with FIS of both males and females. The results suggest that F0 is associated with FIS for females, especially the FIS items that are indicative of emotional expression and verbal fluency. Findings are discussed as possibly indicating that some expression of higher F0 in response to distressed client situations may be part of interpersonal skills, such that more skilled therapists respond to stressful client situations with a higher F0.