Crossed dextral aphasia: A clinical radiological correlation

Three lifelong right-handed patients with clinically and radiologically well-defined right-hemispheric infarctions became aphasic. Their language functions in the rehabilitative, subacute phase of their illness were characterized by fluent, literal paraphasic output, dyslexia, and dysgraphia. Auditory comprehension was fair for contextual conversation, and the combination of language abilities enabled them to reach a “functional communication” stage. This study was unable to determine why these three patients had crossed dextral aphasias resulting from their otherwise typical clinical and radiological right-hemispheric infarcts. Of interest, the radiologically well-defined lesions, aside from being ipsilateral, fitted well the “posterior” fluency localization in two of the three patients, but was more extensive in the third.     

Developmental differences in subjects' associative-learning strategies and performance: Assessing a hypothesis

Fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-grade (11-, 13-, and 15-year-old) subjects were presented with a list of paired associates to learn and were interviewed about the strategies used to learn them. Although a majority of fifth graders reported simply rehearsing the pairs in order to remember them, very few ninth graders relied exclusively on rehearsal. Consistent with a hypothesis advanced by Rohwer (1973), the number of subjects who elaborated some or all of the pairs increased with age. Paired-associate performance increased with age, but the level of paired-associate learning was much more related to the type of strategy reported by the subject than to the age of the subject per se.     

Psychotherapie der Posttraumatischen Belastungsstörung

Zusammenfassung Die Posttraumatische Belastungsst?rung (PTBS) ist ein h?ufiges Krankheitsbild und mit einer Standardtherapie, die die spezifische Problematik der St?rung unberücksichtigt l?sst, nur eingeschr?nkt behandelbar. Der Beitrag geht auf aktuelle diagnostische Kriterien sowie spezifische Risikofaktoren für die Ausbildung chronischer und komplexer PTBS-Symptome ein. Verschiedene Behandlungsans?tze – Konfrontationstherapie, Kognitive Restrukturierung, EMDR, psychodynamische Therapie, angeleitetes Schreiben – werden auf der Basis validierter Therapiestudien vorgestellt. Ausführlicher berücksichtigt werden Behandlungsm?glichkeiten für sexuell traumatisierte Frauen mit chronischer PTBS und komorbiden Beschwerden.      

Alternate antagonism with paradoxical translation behavior in two bilingual aphasic patients

Two patients presenting a pattern of recovery yet unreported in the literature were observed, one in Paris, the other in Montreal. Both patients alternately suffered severe word-finding difficulties in one language while remaining relatively fluent in the other. They retained good comprehension in both of their languages at all times. They were able to translate correctly and without hesitation from the language they could speak well at the time into the language unavailable for spontaneous use, but were unable to translate from their temporarily poor language (which they understood well) into the language which they could speak quite well at the time.     

Some further tests of the brief confinement effect and the SSDR account of flooding

Although brief confinement in novel or fearful places may occasionally produce flooding-like effects with regard to hastening avoidance response extinction, the results of the three experiments reported here indicate that this is not as robust a phenomenon as is flooding. Experiments 1 and 2 found that any tendency for a brief confinement effect to occur is likely to result from the use of a procedure where extinction is started on the grid floor as opposed to on the ledge of a jump-up box. Experiment 3 found no evidence at all that confinement in either a novel or a fearful place can hasten the extinction of a more well-learned jump-up response than that studied in previous experiments, even when the grids extinction procedure was used. Overall these results do not support the SSDR account of flooding, which has derived its chief support from experiments demonstrating a brief confinement effect.     

Associative and categorical hypotheses of organization in the free recall of adults and children

Associative and categorical explanations for the organization children and adults display in free recall were tested. It was expected that young children would show output clustering as a function of associations between individual items within categories rather than relationship to the taxonomy itself. Kindergarten, fourth-grade, and tenth-grade subjects were presented with pictures representing the four factorial combinations of high and low interitem association and high and low category relatedness. Each set of pictures could be divided into four taxonomic categories of six items each. Kindergarteners displayed greater category clustering of highly associated items than weak associates. Older subjects showed sensitivity to both organizational dimensions. These data support a hypothesis that young children cluster in recall as a function of associations while older individuals show organizational flexibility which serves to facilitate greater recall.     

Availability and accessibility of information in the semantic memory of retarded and nonretarded adolescents

The availability of semantic information in storage and the accessibility of that information for retrieval were studied in retarded and nonretarded adolescents. In Experiment 1, 40 normal and 40 CA-equivalent (mean, 15 years) retarded subjects were required to retrieve information from semantic categories as well as to judge whether specific items were members of a given category. The results showed large IQ group differences on the retrieval task which could not be wholly accounted for by the items available in storage. Experiment 2 was designed as an attempt to remediate this retrieval deficit by introducing an organized retrieval plan consisting of subcategory cues. This organization facilitated retrieval as long as it was experimentally provided. Retrieval returned to its original level, however, when the cues were withdrawn. It was concluded that retarded persons had an accessibility deficit in addition to an availability deficit; one aspect of this accessibility deficit involved the failure to use spontaneously mnemonic strategies that were consistent with the semantic organization.     

Self-esteem,race, and job satisfaction

The present study investigated relationships between self-esteem (SE) and job satisfaction among black and white employees. The sample consisted of 523 (45% black) employees of a large, urban school system. There was a positive relationship between SE and job satisfaction for members of both racial groups. In addition, the correlation between need satisfaction and job satisfaction was stronger for high SE persons than for low SE persons. The relationships between two social reference variables (the perceived satisfaction of other employees and improved standard of living) and job satisfaction were, as predicted, stronger for low SE whites than for high SE whites. Among blacks, however, the social reference variables were strongly related to job satisfaction regardless of level of SE.