Multifactorial assessment of reading disability: identifying the best predictors

A multifactorial diagnostic assessment battery was evaluated using data obtained from 105 reading-disabled children and their matched controls (total N = 210). A stepwise discriminant function analysis selected five nonreading measures from among 16 as the best diagnostic predictors of reading disability. These measures included WISC-R Information and Digit Span, self-reported family histories of reading problems, and tests of symbol-processing speed and letter fluency.     

The Social Psychology of Caregiving: Physical and Psychological Costs of Providing Support to the Disabled1

The emphasis of much of the existing research on social support-health relationships has been on the availability and impact of support on the recipient, but social psychologists have paid little attention to the costs to the caregiver of providing that support. In an earlier study (Schulz & Decker, 1985), we found that the long-term coping of individuals experiencing chronic disability as a result of spinal-cord injury was facilitated by the availability of a primary support person, or caregiver. In this study we examined the determinants of well-being of the primary caregiver of the middle-aged and elderly spinal-cord-injured persons. Psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and depression were the dependent measures. The availability of social support, social contact, and feelings of control over one's life were important determinants of caregiver well-being, even after controlling for health and income. In addition, the amount of time spent each day assisting the disabled person was a strong independent correlate of depression, and the extent to which the caregiver felt burdened by the victim was significantly and negatively related to life satisfaction. These results are discussed in the context of a comprehensive stress-coping model. Since data were available from both disabled individuals and their primary support persons, we had the unique opportunity to compare the perspectives of both those giving and receiving daily care. We found no relationship in levels of psychological well-being and depression reported by the disabled person and caregiver; however, caregivers attributed to the victims affective levels similar to their own.     

Construct validity of the Bender-Gestalt II: comparison with Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III

This study investigated the relationships of visuomotor constructs as measured by the Bender-Gestalt II with the subtests of the WISC-III. A factor analysis included the standardized Copy and Recall scores of the Bender-Gestalt II and subtest scores of the WISC-III. The Copy score was predicted to load on measures of visual and spatial thinking and the Recall score on a short-term memory factor. The results of a principal components analysis suggest a four-factor solution with the Bender-Gestalt II Copy score loading on a visual and spatial thinking factor primarily with WISC-III Perceptual Organization subtests. The Recall score loaded on a visual and spatial thinking factor as well as a short-term memory factor with the WISC-III Digit Span subtest. The results suggest the Bender-Gestalt II Copy subtest shared commonality with the visual and spatial tasks given the similarity in the visuomotor demands of each test and was less influenced by processing speed or cultural knowledge than other tests on the visual and spatial thinking factor. Also, results suggest Bender-Gestalt II Recall measures elements of both visual and spatial thinking as well as aspects of short-term memory and memory retrieval. Clinical guidelines for co-administration and underlying processing demands are discussed.     

視、听語文材料同时識記的干扰与相对优势

問題識記时若有两种或多种感觉通道同时活动,可能彼此助长,也可能相互干扰。这对于了解識記时神經中枢各部分的活动与相互影响可能有一定的启发意义。视、听两种感觉通道在学习时最常应用,两种感觉通道可以同时或先后接受同一的刺激物,也可接受不同的刺激物。以往关于比較視、听材料識記效果的研究較多,結果指出,两种感觉材料的識記效果一般难分高低,主要决定于材料的性貭与被試的經驗等条件。     

体育馆比赛厅观众席距离与视觉辨认的关系

問題 深入地探討体育館內观众席的视觉效果問題,是保証观众“看得好”的首要因素,是合理分布观众席、决定比賽厅平面形式(如圓形、椭圓形、方形、矩形等)的必备前提。决定观众席视觉效果的两大因素是观察距离及观察方位。关于这两个問題,国內外先后都进行过研究,但距离、方位与观众席分区方法的关系等問題,一般多局限在理論方面的討論,不能完全符合于实际情况。要对这些問題进行更深入的探討,必需进行视知觉心理学方面的实驗和研究,非仅靠建筑学知識所能解决,本研究卽试图通过知觉心理学的研究方法,对体育館比賽厅观众席距場地距离与視觉辨认的关系进行一些探索。     

Risk of suicidal ideation in adolescents with both self-asphyxial risk-taking behavior and non-suicidal self-injury

This study examined adolescent participation in self-asphyxial risk-taking behaviors (SAB), sometimes known as the "choking game," and its relationship with other adolescent risk behaviors, including non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Researchers proposed that participation in SAB and NSSI would be associated with suicidal behavior, disordered eating, and substance use. Using a large community-based sample, results revealed preliminary associations between SAB and other risk-taking behaviors. Adolescents who had engaged in both SAB and NSSI reported more concurrent risk behaviors than adolescents who participated in only one of the behaviors or neither behavior. Results indicate that greater awareness of SAB is important, and continued research can evaluate the possible link between the behavior and risk for suicide.     

Phases of Organ Integration and Conflict in a Transplant Recipient: A Longitudinal Study Using a Diary

In this paper the results from a research project on self-perception and psychological processing following transplantation of solid organs are presented. A diary at the individual case level was introduced to generate a longitudinal analysis. In the following paper we describe an evaluation of the entries of a single patient following a living donor kidney transplant. Conflicts in the relationship between the transplant recipient and the donor, who is also his wife, are clearly evident, and these are interpreted as incorporation conflicts in light of current psychoanalytic theory.