Children's judgments of body size and distortion

Body size estimates of 69 children aged 5–13 years were obtained using a TV video methodology. Tasks included an adjustment procedure where children manipulated the width of their body image on a TV, and a discrete task, where they judged the accuracy of their TV image which was presented as either normal or distorted, that is, too wide or too thin. On the continuous task, judgments were more accurate on ascending trials where children had to increase the width of the image. On the discrete task, a signal detection analysis revealed older children were better in detecting size distortion in their images and that the differences were due to differences in the biological sensory system and not due to a bias to report that they were too fat or too thin. However, there were response bias differences between genders. Females were more likely to report size distortion with increasing age while males were less likely.     

Psychotherapy with families of psychosomatic patients

Paradigmatic complexes in family psychotherapy have been indicating a revolutionary change and the creation of new paradigms for the past thirty years. Starting with the application of the general systems theory and the development of those concepts that have been emerging regarding psychosomatic illnesses we discuss the epistemological confusion created, the methodological problems and the dissociation between theory and practice. We suggest a double process of investigation of the family structure using a knowledge of the basic attitudes and the development of a psychotherapy programme within the family of the psychosomatic patient.     

Effect of a total smoking ban in a maximum security psychiatric hospital

An archival study was performed in a maximum security forensic hospital to evaluate the effects of a total ban on smoking and all tobacco products. One hundred and forty patients were characterized as nonsmokers or light, moderate or heavy smokers. Patient records for the four weeks prior to the ban were compared with their records for the four weeks subsequent to the ban. Numbers of sick calls, total disruptive behaviors and verbal aggression declined markedly and significantly following the ban in those patients previously classified as moderate or heavy smokers. Weight increased significantly, but almost equally regardless of previous smoking status. Patients, and eventually staff, tolerated the smoking ban without significant negative effects. Patients relied very little on treatment modalities to alleviate nicotine withdrawal. Pre-ban apprehension by staff and patients dissipated with time after the smoking ban started.     

Concurrent validity of the Personality Assessment Inventory Alcohol Problems (ALC) Scale in a college student sample

The concurrent validity of the Alcohol Problems scale (ALC) was investigated in a college student sample (N = 200). The relationships between the ALC and associated features of alcohol problems (e.g., consumption patterns, expectancies, maladaptive coping, and stress) were examined. The validity of the ALC for identifying clinically significant alcohol problems (assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for the fourth edition ofthe Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) was also examined. The ALC was related to the associated features and was a valid indicator of alcohol problems. T scores of 80, 85, and 90 had superior hit rates for alcohol abuse; and scores of 80, 85, and 90 had superior hit rates for alcohol dependence.     

Recommendations for the Treatment of Hypochondriac Patients

Hypochondriasis is a debilitating condition in which patients are persistently preoccupied with the possibility of being seriously ill. Its is a costly problem for the health care system whose treatment has not received systematic attention until recently. Although based on few controlled studies, results indicated that various brief cognitive-behavioral techniques produce significant changes in illness fears and attitudes. A list of therapeutic questions that require further study is presented and some indications for both therapists and patients are given.     

Latent inhibition disruption by MK-801 in a conditioned taste-aversion paradigm

N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors appear to be involved in CS processing and memory consolidation. The present paper analyzed the effect of the non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist Dizocilpine maleate (MK-801) on Latent Inhibition (LI)-retarded learning of a CS-US association after to-be-CS preexposures at time of testing, using Wistar rats as experimental subjects. If NMDA receptors are involved in CS processing, MK-801 administration should affect LI. In fact, previous experiments revealed that a 2.0mg/kg MK-801 dose, administered 20 h before preexposure and conditioning, abolished LI in a conditioned taste-aversion paradigm. In the present paper, MK-801 (0.2 mg/kg) was either injected after preexposure, after conditioning, or after both preexposure and conditioning stages. LI was abolished when MK-801 was injected after preexposure, but not when it was injected after conditioning. These results support the role of NMDA receptors in CS processing and memory consolidation.     

Pavlov in America: a heterodox approach to the study of his influence

This work presents a critical analysis of Pavlov's influence that goes beyond the conventional view: that which reduces his influence in American psychology to the behaviorism of Watson and Hull. In order to understand the nature of the Russian physiologist's influence in American psychology, we propose a distinction between three approaches to it: 1) the symbolic approach, on representing a model of the possibility of constructing an objective psychology; 2) the methodological approach, given the importance of the technique of conditional reflexes; and 3) the theoretical approach, which is derived from his theory of higher nervous activity. This perspective permits us to suggest that most of Pavlov's influence on behaviorism was of a symbolic and methodological nature--though the methodological influence also reached other authors that did not belong to the behaviorist traditions, as was the case of Mateer. As far as the theoretical influence is concerned, our work proposes that it is more visible in authors such as Gantt and Liddell, or even in authors such as Boldirev, Director of the Pavlovian Laboratory at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan. The case of Gantt is especially interesting because, in addition to his important contributions, he played an essential role in the foundation of the Pavlovian Society, and the journal Conditional Reflex. What our work proposes is that to understand the nature of Pavlov's influence in American psychology it is necessary to take into account the very characteristics of that psychology: its pragmatic interests, its methodological rigor, the dominant systems of neo-behavioral theory and the changes that occurred after the Second World War.     

Using the structural analysis of social behavior (SASB) to differentiate young adults with borderline personality disorder features.

The present experiment investigated the ability of the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB) Intrex questionnaires to differentiate nonclinical samples of young adults with features of either borderline personality disorder (BPD), schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), or no personality disorder (no PD). A number of significant differences were demonstrated on the SASB Intrex questionnaires when comparisons were made between the BPD and no PD samples. These results are consistent with those reported in an earlier investigation of BPD using SASB in a clinical sample. Few differences were found between the SPD features sample and the other two samples. These results are not consistent with previous findings that have differentiated BPD and SPD in clinical samples. The results are discussed in terms of the possible implications for SASB to differentiate BPD, the use of nonclinical samples in personality disorder research, and dimensional models for conceptualizing personality disorders.     

Executive function in Parkinson’s disease: contributions of the dorsal frontostriatal pathways to action and motivation

Disruption of the dorsal frontostriatal pathways in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is associated with impairments in motivation, as well as in executive function. The goal of this study was to investigate whether these impairments are related and, if so, whether the disruption of frontostriatal pathways compromises the ability to process the motivational aspects of feedback in such tasks. In Experiment 1, informative feedback improved the performance of young, healthy participants in a task-switching paradigm. This task-switching paradigm was then used in Experiment 2 to test whether feedback would improve the performance of 17 PD patients and age-matched controls. The PD group benefitted from feedback to the same degree as control participants; however, depression scores on the Beck Depression Inventory were significantly related to feedback usage, especially when response selection demands were high. Regardless of feedback, PD patients were more impaired when response demands were high than in an equally difficult condition with low action demands. These results suggest that response selection is a core impairment of insufficient dopamine to the dorsal frontal striatal pathways.