Recherche en santé et protection des données personnelles à l’heure du Règlement général relatif à la protection des données

France has a very rich legal framework, which defines the conditions of access and use of health data for scientific research purposes and ensures their protection. Currently, this legal framework is undergoing revision. The European regulation of April 27th 2016 on protection of natural persons in relation to the processing of personal data came into effect in EU member states since 25th May 2018 and substitute a rationale of administrative process for a rationale that empowers the researchers to document and prove compliance with the regulation (“accountability”). This regulation must be coordinated with the other regulation applicable to research in UE and with national law.     

Book Reviews

Scruton, Roger Modern Philosophy: An Introduction and Survey
Fraser, Nancy and Bartky, Sandra Lee (eds) Revaluing French Feminisms: Critical Essays on Difference, Agency and Culture
Friedman, Marilyn What are Friends For? Feminist Perspectives on Personal Relationships and Moral Theory     

Directions in Connectionist Research: Tractable Computations Without Syntactically Structured Representations

Should connectionists abandon the quest for tractably computable cognitive transition functions while retaining syntactically structured mental representations? We argue, in opposition to Horgan, that it should not. We argue that the case against tractably computable functions, based upon the claimed isotropic and Quinean character of cognition, fails since cognition is not as isotropic and Quinean as Fodor and Horgan contend. Moreover, we illustrate how current research in both connectionism and cognitive neuroscience suggests that tractability can be preserved through division of overall computations into modular sub-processes, each of which is tractable. As to syntactically structured representations, we argue that they are unneeded for most cognitive tasks organisms confront, and that when they are needed, they may be provided by external representational media such as natural language. Moreover, we note that increasingly cognitive linguistics has become the ally of connectionism and that the research program of cognitive linguistics suggests that abilities to use natural languages may be developed without requiring syntactically structured mental representations to exist prior to natural language.     

Observational assessment systems use for basic and applied research

Three observational assessment systems, the Time-Sample Behavioral Checklist, the Staff-Resident Interaction Chronograph, and the Clinical Frequencies Recording System, are shown to have remarkable utility for a wide range of basic and applied research questions. The assessment systems have already been employed to measure independent and dependent variables in a number of treatment outcome and staff training studies and as measures in more basic studies of environmental history effects for chronic mental patients. Current and planned investigations employing the observational measures are outlined. These include psychometric studies of the instruments themselves, investigations of various parameters of ongoing treatment programs, and empirical validations of proposed nosological diagnostic schemas. Finally, several metamethodological issues germaine to observational assessment, in general, are noted, including the observation vs. interpretation debate and the role of precise observational measurement in applied research contexts.The research reported in this article was supported, in part, by Public Health Service Grants MH-15553 and MH-25464 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and by grants from The Joyce Foundation, Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, and the Purdue Research Foundation.Based on a paper presented at the 87th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, New York City, September 1979, as part of a symposium New Assessment systems for residential treatment, management, research, and evaluation.     

Das-Naglieri认知评估系统（中文版）在学前儿童样本中的结构验证

本研究以246名5-6岁幼儿园儿童（男101名,女145名）为研究对象,考察基于智力PASS理论开发的Das-Naglieri 认知评估系统（5-7岁版）在中国学前儿童中的适用性,对评估系统中的12个任务进行了内在一致性信度评估,以幼儿早期数学能力测试作为参考评估其校标效度,并采用验证性因素分析对评估系统的结构效度进行评估。结果发现,该版本评估系统具有较好的信度和校标效度,并且很好地拟合了PASS模型。     

Attentional Capture by Emotional Stimuli: Manipulation of Emotional Valence by the Sample Pre‐rating Method

Eye movements directed at emotional and neutral pictures were investigated. Participants were instructed to fixate on a target and avoid looking at a non‐target. Results of trials consisting of emotional and neutral pictures were analyzed based on participants’ evaluations of the stimuli before the experiment. Results indicated that the number and duration of fixations were larger and longer for targets than for non‐targets. Further, the probability of first fixation was less for neutral targets than for emotional targets. This suggests that unpleasant pictures capture visual attention and that the attentional orienting is subject to automatic response. The possibility that top‐down processes of visual attention may be involved in attentional capture was also discussed.     

Using system dynamics modeling to understand the impact of social change initiatives

Community psychologists have a long history of interest in understanding social systems and how to bring about enduring positive change in these systems. However, the methods that community psychologists use to anticipate and evaluate the changes that result from system change efforts are less well developed. In the current paper, we introduce readers to system dynamics modeling, an action research approach to studying complex systems and the consequences of system change. We illustrate this approach by describing a system dynamics model of educational reform. We provide readers with an introduction to system dynamics modeling, as well as describe the strengths and limitations of the approach for application to community psychology.     

Factors Predicting Family Reunification for African American,Latino, Asian and White Families in the Child Welfare System

We examined child, family and system-related factors associated with reunification across African American, Latino, Asian and White families involved in the child welfare system in one large and ethnically diverse California County. Data were obtained from extensive reviews of child welfare case records and multivariate analysis was performed on a wide array of variables not found in previous research. Results indicated that when taking other factors into account, ethnicity was not a strong predictor of reunification. Factors that predicted reunification varied across ethnic groups, with none of the predictors being significant for the Asian group. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

Comparing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Systemic Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder: Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial (SOPHO-CBT/ST)

This randomized controlled trial (RCT) aimed to pilot the newly developed manualized and monitored systemic therapy (ST) for social anxiety disorder (SAD), as compared to manualized and monitored cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). We conducted a prospective multicenter, assessor-blind pilot RCT on 38 outpatients (ICD F40.1; Structured Clinical Interview for DSM (SCID); Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, LSAS-SR >30). The primary outcome was level of social anxiety (LSAS-SR) at the end of treatment. A total of 252 persons were screened, and 38 patients were randomized and started therapy (CBT: 20 patients; ST: 18 patients; age: M = 36 years, SD = 14). Within-group, simple-effect intent-to-treat analyses (ITT) showed significant reduction in LSAS-SR (CBT:d = 1.04; ST:d = 1.67), while ITT mixed-design ANOVA demonstrated the advantage of ST (d = 0.81). Per-protocol analyses supported these results. Remission based on reliable change indices also demonstrated significant difference (LSAS-SR: 15% in CBT; 39% in ST;h: 0.550), supported by blind diagnosticians’ ratings of those who completed therapy (SCID; 45% in CBT, 78% in ST,p = .083). No adverse events were reported. CBT and ST both reduced social anxiety, supporting patient improvement with the newly developed ST for SAD; this has yet to be verified in a subsequent confirmatory RCT.