Rapid automatized naming (RAN) in children with ADHD: An ex-Gaussian analysis

Children with ADHD demonstrate increased frequent “lapses” in performance on tasks in which the stimulus presentation rate is externally controlled, leading to increased variability in response times. It is less clear whether these lapses are also evident during performance on self-paced tasks, e.g., rapid automatized naming (RAN), or whether RAN inter-item pause time variability uniquely predicts reading performance. A total of 80 children aged 9 to 14 years—45 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 35 typically developing (TD) children—completed RAN and reading fluency measures. RAN responses were digitally recorded for analyses. Inter-stimulus pause time distributions (excluding between-row pauses) were analyzed using traditional (mean, standard deviation [SD], coefficient of variation [CV]) and ex-Gaussian (mu, sigma, tau) methods. Children with ADHD were found to be significantly slower than TD children (p < .05) on RAN letter naming mean response time as well as on oral and silent reading fluency. RAN response time distributions were also significantly more variable (SD, tau) in children with ADHD. Hierarchical regression revealed that the exponential component (tau) of the letter-naming response time distribution uniquely predicted reading fluency in children with ADHD (p < .001, ΔR² = .16), even after controlling for IQ, basic reading, ADHD symptom severity and age. The findings suggest that children with ADHD (without word-level reading difficulties) manifest slowed performance on tasks of reading fluency; however, this “slowing” may be due in part to lapses from ongoing performance that can be assessed directly using ex-Gaussian methods that capture excessively long response times.     

Anchoring effects on early autobiographical memories

Studies of childhood memory typically show that our earliest memories come from between three and four years of age. This finding is not universal, however. The age estimate varies across cultures and is affected by social influences. Research from the judgments and decision-making literature suggests that these estimates might also involve a judgment under uncertainty. Therefore, they might be susceptible to less social influences such as heuristics and biases. To investigate this possibility, we conducted two experiments that used anchoring paradigms to influence participants’ estimates of their age during early autobiographical memories. In Experiment 1, participants answered either a high-anchor or a low-anchor question, and were warned that the anchor was uninformative; they went on to estimate their age during their earliest autobiographical memory. In Experiment 2, we replicated Experiment 1 and extended the design to examine additional early autobiographical memories. In both experiments, participants in the low-anchor condition gave earlier age estimates than those in the high-anchor condition. These results provide new insights into the methods used to investigate autobiographical memory. Moreover, they show that reports of early autobiographical memories can be influenced by a relatively light touch – a change to a single digit in a single question.     

Earliest memories in Israeli kibbutz upbringing: it is parental engagement that makes a difference

Culture and parenting shape the ability to recall early childhood experiences. This research focused on the unique context of upbringing in the Israeli kibbutz and examined how cultural orientation and experiences of parental engagement in Kibbutz and non-Kibbutz settings shaped adults’ earliest memories. Participants were 108 women (study 1) and 75 women and men (study 2) who were raised in traditional kibbutz upbringing or in a non-kibbutz family setting. In addition to reporting their earliest memory and age at earliest memory, participants estimated retrospectively the amount of daily time spent in interaction with parents, caregivers, and other children during the time of earliest memory. Overall, upbringing-related variations in cultural orientation were evident in the content of memories. A prediction of later age at earliest memory due to limited opportunities for parent–child interaction characteristic of traditional kibbutz upbringing was not supported. Rather, in both studies, age at earliest memory was linked to retrospective estimation of parental engagement, after controlling for childhood ecology. Study 2 revealed also a link of age at earliest memory to retrospective estimation of involvement with non-parental caregivers. These findings are congruent with the social-interaction model’s claims about the importance of interaction with caregiving adults to autobiographical memory’s development.     

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Early Psychosis: A Case Series

Persons with psychosis often report high levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, which render them more vulnerable to relapse, symptom exacerbation, and reduced well-being. However, less is known about how to adequately accommodate the needs of persons recovering from a first episode of psychosis, presenting with PTSD. Further, the existing evidence-based interventions for PTSD seem less equipped to deal with serious mental disorder and comorbid conditions. This study aimed to assess the efficacy, acceptability, and safety of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for persons suffering from PTSD with comorbid trauma and psychosis. Three consecutively referred participants meeting ICD-10 criteria for PTSD and a first-episode nonaffective psychotic disorder were treated in an outpatient service within a case-series analysis. A manual-guided ACT intervention of 12 sessions showed clinically relevant improvement on self-report measures of PTSD symptoms and emotional distress. These initial findings are promising and appear to justify a more controlled evaluation of this brief intervention.     

Spirituality and humour: making connections for early childhood education

In looking at the relations between children’s spirituality and children’s expressions of humour, this paper explores the connections between the findings and theoretical implications and contributions of two separate empirical studies carried out with children between the ages of 5 and 6, in Cyprus and the US. Findings from the phenomenological study in the US point to joy (joyfulness and delight), concern for others (kindness, compassion and caring), relationships (importance and value of friends and family) and imagination (use and exploration in play), as observed expressions of children’s spirituality. Initial links between these findings and findings from the study completed in Cyprus, using the theoretical framework of The Theory of the Absurd and the Empowerment Theory, point at the importance of children’s story productions and the use of their imagination, as an expression of both their spiritual and humourous selves. Educational implications point to teachers allowing for kindergarteners to participate in story telling including incongruity, humourous symbols, violation of rules and violence, to convey humour, mixing these elements with expressions of imagination, joy and concern, through nurturing relationships with others, to express aspects of their spirituality. Other connections between the findings in these studies point at the potential importance of engaging children in story telling to create spiritual meaning and understanding, and overall nurture children’s spirituality.     

Building seven bridges with young asylum seekers living in exile in the UK (Part 1)

This first paper focuses on the key themes that emerge in work with young asylum seekers and refugees and on our assessment of the needs of individual young asylum seekers, alongside the ways in which we meet the needs of these young people given the holistic, integrated and developmental approach of the Baobab Centre. The fact that psychotherapeutic methods are useful in this context and the need to have flexible approach to psychotherapy in our context are two ideas explored here. This paper will explore how we can slowly build sturdy and protective connections during and after the developmental years following experiences of sequential violence. This means building bridges and links within the internal worlds of these young people between: (1) different aspects of themselves that emerge after violence and loss; (2) themselves and their peers; (3) listening adults; (4) various social influences; (5) cultural influences; (6) their past, present and future lives; (7) links with local, national and international communities all of which are addressed via a ‘Transitional Non-Residential Therapeutic Community’. A case example will illustrate how this work may take place.     

Maternal Childhood Sexual Trauma and Early Parenting: Prenatal and Postnatal Associations

Existing research suggests that approximately 19% of females experience childhood sexual trauma (CST). Little is known, however, about the parenting behaviour of mothers who have experienced CST. Using propensity‐matched controls, the present study examines prenatal psychosocial distress, postnatal depressive symptomatology, and caregiving behaviours of women reporting CST at or before the age of 14. Data for these analyses were obtained from mother reports and from observational protocols from a longitudinal study of low‐income, rural families. Propensity score methodology was used to create a contrast group matched on family of origin variables in an effort to isolate and examine the long‐term associations of CST beyond the effects of other childhood adversities such as poverty. Study findings provide evidence that women with CST histories report greater prenatal psychosocial distress compared to women without trauma histories. Findings further provide evidence for a spillover process from prenatal distress to the broader caregiving system including less sensitive parenting through postnatal depressive symptoms for women with CST histories. These results highlight the importance of screening for CST and psychosocial distress and depression prenatally. Interventions for women with CST histories and directions for future study are proposed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

产后抑郁的预测因素及神经生理机制

产后抑郁是产后时期出现的抑郁症状,对女性及其后代甚至家人都会造成严重的负面影响。产后抑郁稳定的预测因素是遗传基因、依恋风格、童年负性生活经历和激素水平的变化;涉及的脑区和神经网络集中在前额叶皮层、扣带回、杏仁核和海马等脑区及相应神经网络。未来应在探索综合的预测模型、男性伴侣的对照试验和基于大脑可塑性特征的干预模式等方面展开深入研究。     

Psychic phenomena and early emotional states

This paper examines the relationship between severe early trauma and the development of psychic intuition. A case presentation with extensive dream work helps to illustrate this connection by exploring the psychological meaning of one patient's acute receptivity to unconscious communications. The paper includes a historical overview of Freud's attitudes toward occultism, as distinct from later psychoanalytic views, including those of Wilfred Bion. Many of Bion's views have more in common with Jung's perspective than with Freud's, with particular reference made to spiritual and religious differences. Bion clearly states that Freud and psychoanalysts have focused on phenomena, not on noumena, which Bion considers to be the essence of the psychoanalytic point of view.     

Reasoning about complex probabilistic concepts in childhood

The competencies of children, particularly their understanding of the more complex probabilistic concepts, have not been thoroughly investigated. In the present study participants were required to choose the more likely of two events, a single event, and a joint event (conjunctive or disjunctive). It was predicted that the operation of the representativeness heuristic would result in erroneous judgements when children compared an unlikely component event with a likely-unlikely conjunction (the conjunction fallacy) and when a likely component event was compared to a likely-unlikely disjunction. The results supported the first prediction with both older children aged between 9 and 10 years and younger children aged between 4 and 5 committing the conjunction fallacy. However, the second prediction was not confirmed. It is proposed that the basis of representativeness judgements may differ between the conjunctive and disjunctive cases with absolute frequency information possibly playing a differential role.