Age, exercise, and coding performance

We investigated the effects of exercise on the coding performance of young and older subjects. Hypotheses were tested that exercise either facilitates spatial localization or reduces susceptibility to distraction in older subjects. In a balanced design, we administered Digit Symbol and Symbol Digit coding tasks to exercisers and nonexercisers at two age levels under conditions of low or high within-task interference. The findings showed higher performance by the exercisers than by the nonexercisers only at the older age level and only with the Symbol Digit task. These findings support the hypothesis that exercise compensates for a loss of spatial localization skills with age. We found no evidence that susceptibility to distraction either increased with age or was affected by chronic exercise.     

Capturing Children's Response to Parental Conflict and Making Use of It

To read this article's abstract in both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, please visit the article's full-text page on Wiley InterScience ( http://interscience.wiley.com/journal/famp ).
The aim of our study is to examine the interface between children's physiological changes and the specificities of parental conflict, and to develop a procedure in which such information can be shared with the family for therapeutic change. Children from 20 families were exposed to parental conflict discussion (CD) while their arousals were measured through skin conductance and heart rate sensors. It was found that regardless of the subject of the argument, 80% of the time they were complaining about each other. Likewise, 80% of the time the children were responding to the parents' own interpersonal tension, including moments of silence. The protocol established for the study, consisting of CD and debriefing, was found to be a powerful tool in moving parents toward conflict resolution.     

Associations between Prenatal and Early Childhood Fish and Processed Food Intake,Conduct Problems,and Co-Occurring Difficulties

Little is known about early life diet as a risk factor for early-onset persistent conduct problems (EOP CP). To investigate this, we used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a UK-based prospective epidemiological birth cohort. 5727 mother-child pairs (49.9 % boys) monitored since pregnancy (delivery date between 1 April, 1991 and 31 December, 1992) reported intake of fish and processed foods at 32 weeks gestation and, for the child, at 3 years; EOP (n = 666) and Low conduct problem (Low CP, n = 5061) trajectories were measured from 4 to 13 years; hyperactivity and emotional difficulties were assessed in childhood (4–10 years) and early adolescence (12–13 years), in addition to potential confounding factors (family adversity, birth complications, income). Compared to Low CP, mothers of EOP children consumed less fish (p < 0.01) and more processed food (p < 0.05) prenatally, while EOP children consumed more processed food at 3 years (p < 0.05). For EOP, but not Low CP children, consuming less than two servings/week of fish (vs. two or more servings/week, p < 0.05), and one or more servings/day of processed food (vs. less than one serving/day, p < 0.01), was associated with higher emotional difficulties in early adolescence. Conclusions: Findings suggest that prenatal and postnatal diets high in processed food, and low in fish, associate with an EOP CP trajectory and co-occurring difficulties in early adolescence. As small effect size differences were found, further studies are needed to investigate the long-term impact of early unhealthy diet.     

Traumatization of group leaders in their work with displaced persons

Displaced persons are a special, threatened group of people, participants in this war, who were suddenly forced to abandon their homes. The majority of them were, overnight, left without anything they had, some even without their closest family. They all have one thing in common: they have all lost so much. Work with such people is directed toward overcoming their feelings of loss and abandonment and preventing psychical decompensation. Groups of displaced persons temporarily sheltered in the Rijeka region have been observed to be markedly regressed, with increased sensitivity, a low degree of tolerance, great demands on society and strongly expressed projective tendencies. Therapists suffer personal traumatization in working with displaced persons. This paper describes the reactions and feelings of group leaders caused by manifestations of group dynamics in different phases of exile.     

An investigation of some hypotheses concerning rape and murder

The study compared three groups of incarcerated criminals, including 40 men convicted of rape, 40 convicted of murder (of another male) and 40 sentenced for property offenses. A number of personality and attitude scales, behavioral records and a binocular rivalry test were used to test various hypotheses concerning rape and murder. Rapists and murderers did not differ on general control of aggressive behavior but both showed more control than convicted felons. In the binocular rivalry task rapists and murderers were less prone to perceive sexuality than property felons, but the three groups did not differ on perceived aggression toward women. Rapists and murderers were more prone to deny feminine traits than property felons. Rapists had heterosexual experience with more partners than property felons. The three groups did not differ on attitudes toward women or on disinhibition as a mode of sensation seeking. In general, rapists resemble murderers more than ordinary felons and the evidence does not support hypotheses that characterize them as significantly more hostile toward women than are other types of criminals.     

Conception and dream material during psychoanalysis

A dream announcing her conception and describing in symbolic terms physiological processes associated with the early stages of pregnancy was reported by a female analysand 4 days after she and her husband had engaged in intercourse for the purpose of procreation. The manifest content of the dream and the associations to it are described. The assumption that conception, ordinarily a subliminal stimulus, was a somatic stimulus in this situation is explored. It is suggested that three special factors—the patient's exceptional sensitivity to internal sensations, her strong motivation to conceive, and a contributory awakening stimulus— may have made it possible for her to perceive her conception.     

Removal of S6K1 and S6K2 leads to divergent alterations in learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity

Protein synthesis is required for the expression of enduring memories and long-lasting synaptic plasticity. During cellular proliferation and growth, S6 kinases (S6Ks) are activated and coordinate the synthesis of de novo proteins. We hypothesized that protein synthesis mediated by S6Ks is critical for the manifestation of learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity. We have tested this hypothesis with genetically engineered mice deficient for either S6K1 or S6K2. We have found that S6K1-deficient mice express an early-onset contextual fear memory deficit within one hour of training, a deficit in conditioned taste aversion (CTA), impaired Morris water maze acquisition, and hypoactive exploratory behavior. In contrast, S6K2-deficient mice exhibit decreased contextual fear memory seven days after training, a reduction in latent inhibition of CTA, and normal spatial learning in the Morris water maze. Surprisingly, neither S6K1- nor S6K2-deficient mice exhibited alterations in protein synthesis-dependent late-phase long-term potentiation (L-LTP). However, removal of S6K1, but not S6K2, compromised early-phase LTP expression. Furthermore, we observed that S6K1-deficient mice have elevated basal levels of Akt phosphorylation, which is further elevated following induction of L-LTP. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that removal of S6K1 leads to a distinct array of behavioral and synaptic plasticity phenotypes that are not mirrored by the removal of S6K2. Our observations suggest that neither gene by itself is required for L-LTP but instead may be required for other types of synaptic plasticity required for cognitive processing.     

Multidimensional assessment of the elderly via a microcomputer: the SENOTS program and battery

We compared the psychometric adequacy of a multidimensional self-report battery for use with cognitively able, elderly adults under conditions of microcomputer and interviewer administration. The SENOTS battery contains scales of Happiness/Depression, Financial Hardship, Physical Symptoms, Activity Limitation, and Activity Propensity. The SENOTS microcomputer program contains sequential phases intended to (a) select out respondents incapable of interacting adequately with the microcomputer, (b) train respondents to make appropriate keyboard responses. (c) administer the program, and (d) store and process the responses. The SENOTS battery was administered to 80 community residents and 80 institution residents by either a microcomputer or an interviewer. Results indicated a comparable psychometric adequacy to the SENOTS battery under both administration conditions. Internal consistencies were all at acceptable levels, and the scales differentiated the community residents from the institution residents.