FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF INAPPROPRIATE SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN STUDENTS WITH ASPERGER'S SYNDROME

We analyzed the inappropriate social interactions of 3 students with Asperger's syndrome whose behavior was maintained by social positive reinforcement. We tested whether inappropriate social behavior was sensitive to social positive reinforcement contingencies and whether such contingencies could be reversed to increase the probability of socially appropriate responding. Our results show that social positive reinforcers can be identified for inappropriate social interactions and that appropriate social behaviors can be sensitive to reinforcement contingency reversals.     

Constant vigilance: Heritage values and defensive pessimism in coping with severe acute respiratory syndrome in Singapore

The present study investigates the congruency of defensive pessimism in the Asian context and its role in coping with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis in Singapore. Data collected from 174 Singaporeans supported the hypothesized relationships among Chinese values, defensive pessimism, SARS-related fears, compliance to preventive health-related behaviors and negative outcomes. Path analysis revealed that individuals' endorsement of Chinese value clusters − prudence, industry, and civic harmony − positively predicted their levels of defensive pessimism. The results also indicated that defensive pessimism had a direct positive effect on SARS-related fears and, SARS-related fears, in turn, were directly related to direct preventive health-related behaviors but not related to indirect preventive behaviors. In addition to the indirect effect of Chinese values on direct preventive health-related behaviors, Chinese values had a direct positive effect on both direct and indirect preventive health-related behaviors. Consistent with our contention that defensive pessimism has the potential for leading to particular negative outcomes, defensive pessimism was found to influence negative outcomes but this relationship was partially mediated by SARS-related fears.     

Biases in the perceived prevalence and motives of severe acute respiratory syndrome prevention behaviors among Chinese high school students in Hong Kong

In two studies conducted in Hong Kong during and immediately after the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), participants displayed several social cognitive biases when they estimated the prevalence of and inferred the motives underlying SARS preventive behaviors. First, participants who practiced preventive behaviors (practicers) consistently estimated that more people practiced such behaviors than did non-practicers (false consensus bias). Second, for some preventive behaviors, participants believed that their own behaviors were more motivated by prosocial concerns (relative to self-interest) than were other practicers (pluralistic ignorance). Finally, non-practicers underestimated the importance of prosocial concerns underlying some preventive behaviors (actor-observer bias). We discussed the relevance of these social cognitive biases to health education and to Hong Kong people's psychological reactions to SARS.     

Coniunctio—in bodily and psychic modes: dissociation, devitalization and integration in a case of chronic fatigue syndrome

Three years of analytical psychotherapy with a professional woman in mid-life, suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), is described. Gradual recovery merged into mid-life changes; marriage, along with a new balance of maternal and paternal imagos, enabled her to trust enough to become pregnant— coniunctio in the most primal bodily and psychic modes.
Her life-long, schizoid type pattern, 'the pendulum of closeness and isolation', with its extreme of psycho-physical collapse and devitalization, was replayed in therapy. The analyst's symbolic attitude is emphasized, containing the patient's initial affective explosion and validating the physicality of her condition. Mirroring and steady rhythmic attunement became a new, pre-verbal, source of trust—vitalization; differentiation and separation replaced defensive splitting and dissociation. Then the overwhelmingly powerful bodily/maternal could be counterbalanced by the masculine, and a transitional space emerged for symbolic work.
Both the regressive and the dynamic aspects of CFS are located in the earliest undifferentiated, archetypal, bodily/psychic modes, when the frustration of primary needs evokes the defences of the self. It is argued that our psychodynamic understanding can contribute to the stalemate in seeing chronic fatigue syndrome as either an organic illness or depression, and that a new linking of the somatic and psychic calls for a new professional collaboration.     

What Predicts the Use of Genetic Counseling Services After the Birth of a Child with Down Syndrome?

In the state of Victoria, Australia, a government funded genetic counseling service exists to meet the needs of families. An audit showed that many families do not use this service after the birth of a child with a genetic problem. To investigate this we surveyed families of children born with Down syndrome over 2 years in Victoria. Questionnaires were completed by 74 mothers, of whom only 18 had received genetic counseling between the birth and the time of the study (mean 3.5 years). Of those not receiving genetic counseling, 71% said they were not offered or had not heard of it. Mothers who had genetic counseling were younger than those who had not, and were more likely to have attended University. Those who had genetic counseling indicated less satisfaction with care at the diagnosis and were more likely to perceive their child as unwell at birth than those who were aware of genetic counseling but did not have it. Of those who did not have genetic counseling, over half were unclear about what it is, although 74% agreed with the statement genetic counseling is most useful when planning to have another child. Of those who had heard of genetic counseling, 73% said they were not sure how it could help. Many families with children with Down syndrome are not aware of the existence or functions of genetic counseling. With greater awareness, some may still choose not to have genetic counseling, but others enunciated needs that could be met by this service if it were offered to them.     

心理咨询热线在突发性公共卫生事件中的应用分析

2003年SARS在中国一些地区的流行给社会公众在心理上带来了一定程度的影响,在SARS流行期间期间及时开通了面向公众的心理咨询热线,成为了广大公众寻求心理支持的有效途径,为缓解社会压力、促进社会正常秩序恢复起到了积极作用。该文结合中国科学院心理研究所“非典心理咨询热线”的统计数据,进一步探讨了心理咨询热线在应对突发性公共卫生事件中的作用和工作特点。     

Treatment of vocal tics in children with Tourette syndrome: investigating the efficacy of habit reversal

Habit reversal was used to treat vocal tics in 5 children with Tourette syndrome. Vocal tics were reduced in 4 of the 5 children, the untreated motor tics did not increase, and treatment was acceptable to the children's parents.     

Working memory impairment in people with Williams syndrome: Effects of delay, task and stimuli

Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with impaired visuospatial representations subserved by the dorsal stream and relatively strong object recognition abilities subserved by the ventral stream. There is conflicting evidence on whether this uneven pattern in WS extends to working memory (WM). The present studies provide a new perspective, testing WM for a single stimulus using a delayed recognition paradigm in individuals with WS and typically developing children matched for mental age (MA matches). In three experiments, participants judged whether a second stimulus ‘matched’ an initial sample, either in location or identity. We first examined memory for faces, houses and locations using a 5 s delay (Experiment 1) and a 2 s delay (Experiment 2). We then tested memory for human faces, houses, cat faces, and shoes with a 2 s delay using a new set of stimuli that were better controlled for expression, hairline and orientation (Experiment 3). With the 5 s delay (Experiment 1), the WS group was impaired overall compared to MA matches. While participants with WS tended to perform more poorly than MA matches with the 2 s delay, they also exhibited an uneven profile compared to MA matches. Face recognition was relatively preserved in WS with friendly faces (Experiment 2) but not when the faces had a neutral expression and were less natural looking (Experiment 3). Experiment 3 indicated that memory for object identity was relatively stronger than memory for location in WS. These findings reveal an overall WM impairment in WS that can be overcome under some conditions. Abnormalities in the parietal lobe/dorsal stream in WS may damage not only the representation of spatial location but may also impact WM for visual stimuli more generally.