A Family Art Evaluation

A two-hour family art evaluation session has been designed by an art therapist and a clinical child psychologist. It has been used in a child guidance center for the past four years by the authors and other staff. All family members are asked to engage in three tasks: (a) individually developing a scribble into a picture; (b) individually creating a family portrait, and (c) jointly deciding upon and executing a mural. Each task is followed by individual and group discussion of products, associations, and feelings aroused. Occasional “free” art products are collected during the session. The procedure is discussed and illustrated in terms of the rationale for selection of tasks; the sources of data available on individuals, family characteristics, and family interaction patterns; the relationship of the projective and behavioral data to diagnostic conclusions and treatment recommendations; and the implementation and modifications of the technique within the clinic.     

Preferential looking: A sudden shift in visual fixation pattern at 32 months of age

Observations of eye movements of young children in a modified preferential looking task suggest a change in the visual looking pattern taking place during a very brief time between 32 and 33 months of age. In the younger children, a grating stimulus elicited eye movements towards the target followed by a few seconds of focused attention; in the older children a visual avoidance behavior was observed where subjects looked consistently in the opposite direction of the target. An analysis of video recordings suggests that this avoidance pattern was a composite of a very brief initial target-directed eyemovement which was quickly arrested, and followed by eye movements in the opposite direction, initiating a search of the visual scene.     

Effects of presence of mother versus preschool teacher on the behaviour of infants in a strange situation

Seventeen infants (10–24 months of age) were observed twice in a strange situation, once accompanied by mother and once in the company of a familiar preschool teacher. On basis of video-tape recordings a total of 13 behaviour items relevant to infant attachment were scored. The results failed to demonstrate definite differential effects of mother vs. preschool teacher on the infants' behaviors in this situation. In particular, the infants were just as ready to separate themselves from their companions and explore into an adjoining room when attended by the preschool teachers as when accompanied by their mothers. Implications for Ainsworth's and Bowlby's theory of infant attachment are briefly discussed.     

Temporal brightness and darkness enhancement; further evidence for asymmetry

Abstract.— Previous studies by the authors on brightness and darkness enhancement during flicker indicate a sizeable and consistent difference in magnitude between the two effects, as defined in terms of log matching luminance. To explore whether this difference is an artifact of the logluminance representation of the perceptual effects, a psychophysical scaling experiment was performed and results from present and former flicker experiments were replotted in terms of subjective units. When the depth of luminance modulation of the flicker stimulus exceeded 50%, the difference in magnitude of temporal brightness and darkness enhancement was somewhat smaller expressed in subjective units compared to a log-luminance representation. On the whole, however, the two plots gave essentially similar results. The results are discussed with reference to the neurophysiological theory of the B- and D-systems.     

The behavior of young children in a strange situation

Abstract. The social behavior of young children was assessed in a strange situation which was to become increasingly more stressful. The strange-situation procedure reported by Ainsworth & Wittig (1969) was repeated as closely as possible. Children between 1 and 1¹/₂ years were accompanied by their mothers or by a female stranger in various combinations, or were alone, according to a prearranged sequence. The data were subjected to a commonality analysis (Masters & Wellman, 1974). Common changes in the frequencies of 20 behavior items were noted across the different episodes. The physicaldistance relationship between the child and its companion, the exploratory behavior of the child, and individual differences among the children were analyzed in light of Bowlby's attachment theory. The results gave some support to the findings reported by Ainsworth and her group, but also pointed to functional differences between the behavior items examined. The results on crying were compared with those of Ainsworth & Wittig (1969), showing a fair degree of agreement. Finally, the subjects were divided into groups according to an operationalization of the criteria given by Ainsworth et al. (1971). Often children, only three could unequivocally be placed in one of eight groups. This suggests that it may be difficult to use the group characterization proposed by Ainsworth et al.     

The perception of flicker: Theoretical note on the relation between brightness and darkness enhancement

A reexamination of experiments on the brightness and darkness enhancement of flickering lights suggests that the mechanism responsible for the asymmetry of the effects (darkness enhancement being a stronger effect than brightness enhancement) is independent and central to the mechanism responsible for the frequency-dependent brightness and darkness variations.     

Autism and receptive dysphasia: Evaluation of comparative studies

Ten different studies comparing children with autism and receptive dysphasia are reviewed. Most of the studies aimed to characterize autism as a language disorder. The representativity of the samples are discussed according to heterogeneity of the autistic and dysphatic populations, and sex and social class distributions. Group differences and similarities are listed and discussed according to sample selection and matching procedures, age and sex distribution, social class membership, and the defining criteria of the two illnesses. It is concluded that the studies do not fullfill their aim, and that the project of comparing dysphatic and autistic children seems unfruitful. Group differences which seem unconnected with methodological difficulties, selection procedure, or group defining criteria, were found in parental background, use of gestures, articulation, and reading.     

Executive working memory processes in dyslexia: Behavioral and fMRI evidence

Beneventi, H., Tønnessen, F. E., Ersland, L. & Hugdahl, K. (2010). Executive working memory processes in dyslexia: Behavioral and fMRI evidence. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 192–202. Dyslexia is an impairment in learning to read and write, primarily associated with a phonological core deficit. However, the manifestation of symptoms in dyslexia also includes impaired working memory (WM). The aim of this study was to investigate cortical activation related to verbal WM in dyslexic and normal readers aged around 13 years, controlling for phonological awareness processing. We used a modified WM n‐back task where the participants remembered the first or last speech segment (phonemes) of the names of common objects shown as pictures. Dyslexic readers were impaired compared with the control group. Compared with the dyslexic readers, controls showed increased fMRI activation in the left superior parietal lobule and the right inferior prefrontal gyrus. Unlike controls, dyslexics did not show a significant increase in activation in WM areas with increased memory load. These findings provide support for a specific working memory deficit in dyslexic individuals.     

The validity of aphasic subtypes

The validity of aphasic subtypes derived by the Norwegian Basic Aphasia Assessment, NBAA, is discussed. 193 aphasic patients were reclassified according to the criteria of classification used by the Western Aphasia Battery. 85% agreement was established with mixed cases held apart, Wernicke's and Counduction aphasia being the least stable groups. Cluster analysis produced 9 clusters, of which 8 proved statistically valid through discriminant analysis and clinically valid through inspection of the derived test profiles. These were: Global, Broca's, Wernicke's and Anomic aphasia, each separated in a major and a minor impaired group. Accepting unclassifiable cases and specifying the desired domain of validity when classifying aphasia, are discussed.