Folic acid and the prevention of neural tube defects: A position paper of the national society of genetic counselors

Considerable scientific evidence demonstrates the reduction in risk for neural tube defects (NTDs) associated with maternal preconceptional folic acid supplementation. The National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) endorses the U.S. Public Health Service recommendations for folic acid supplementation at the 0.4 mg level for women in the general population and at the 4.0 mg level for women at high or increased risk for NTD pregnancies for at least 4 weeks prior to active pursuit of conception. We encourage targeted educational efforts and surveillance to assess results of this dietary supplementation. The NSGC further urges the Food and Drug Administration to fortify staple foodstuffs with folic acid for a population-based approach to minimize the number of NTD births.     

A motivational analysis of defensive pessimism and self-handicapping

Two studies examined motivational influences on and correlates of defensive pessimism and self-handicapping and investigated the relationship between these two cognitive strategies and performance attainment. The findings indicated that defensive pessimism and self-handicapping have similar motivational profiles, with the primary difference being that self-handicapping represents the absence of approach motivation in the achievement domain, as well as the presence of avoidance motivation. Self-handicapping, but not defensive pessimism, was shown to undermine performance-attainment, and performance-avoidance goals were validated as mediators of this negative relationship. Issues regarding the functional nature of the two cognitive strategies are discussed.     

Emilie du Châtelet on the Existence and Nature of God: An Examination of Her Arguments in Light of Their Sources

Many commentators have suggested that the metaphysical portions of Emilie du Châtelet's Institutions de physique are a mere retelling of Leibniz's views. I argue that a close reading of the text shows that du Châtelet's cosmological argument and discussion of God's nature contains both Lockean and Leibnizian elements. I discuss where she follows Locke in her arguments, what Leibnizian elements she brings in, and how this enables her to avoid some of the mistakes commonly attributed to Locke's formulation of the cosmological argument. I show that while du Châtelet accepts the causal principle ex nihilo nihil fit, she does not utilize Locke's stronger causal principle. I also discuss her use of the principle of sufficient reason in both improving the Lockean cosmological argument and in proving the attributes of God.     

Social Innovation: Enhancing Creative Performance Through Causal Analysis

ABSTRACT

Prior qualitative research has indicated that social innovation, the generation and implementation of new ideas about social relationships and social organization, requires active analysis of the causes operative in a social system. To provide some quantitative evidence bearing on this proposition, 180 undergraduates were presented with six social innovation problems drawn from the business and educational domains. Training in the analysis of causes was provided and manipulations were made to induce analysis through distancing and forecasting. It was found that induction of causal analysis through training and distancing contributed to the originality of obtained problem solutions especially in less familiar domains. The implications of these findings for understanding social innovation are discussed.     

The Role of Metalinguistic Awareness in the Reading Comprehension of Sixth and Seventh Graders

If reading is viewed as an active cognitive process, then the understanding and evaluation of written material may depend somewhat on the reader's cognitive ability. Furthermore, developmental changes in cognitive ability may be related to changes in reading behavior. This article provides a brief overview of Jean Piaget's theories of cognitive development; characteristics of the formal operational thought period (approximately ages 11‐14) are particularly emphasized. Finally, several studies which have attempted to determine the relationship between formal thought and reading behavior are described and discussed.     

Behavioral competition in a case of Rett syndrome

Major behavioral features of Rett syndrome are the loss of instrumental reaching and grasping and the presentation of some variant of hand-hand or hand-mouth stereotypy. As part of an experimental home intervention program, a 3-year-old girl with Rett syndrome was exposed to four types of contingency games designed to elicit instrumental reaching, kicking, vocalization, and eye movement, respectively. Parent and subject performance were videorecorded on seven occasions over the initial 2-month period. Evaluation of these records provided evidence of contingency learning in all but the vocalization games. Stereotypic hand clasping was examined in relation to the performance of instrumental behavior (reaching, kicking, looking). Coincidental (short-term mutual inhibition arising by chance co-occurrence), associative (short-term mutual inhibition arising by having elicitor in common), and foundational (long-term mutual inhibition arising by having neural network in common) forms of specific behavioral competition were defined and examined. Evidence for coincidental and foundational competition was found in the relation between reaching and hand clasping. Implications for the support of functional hand use are discussed.     

Individual differences in secondary task performance

The purpose of this research was to use secondary task performance as a predictor of performance on a difficult primary task. Reaction time (RT) to secondary probes that occurred during the rehearsal period of an easy memory task were used to measure spare capacity associated with the memory task. This measure was then correlated with performance on a harder version of the same memory task. Experiments 1-4 involved a paired associate memory task. Probe RT was sensitive to the difficulty of the paired associate task, and analysis of individual differences showed that probe RT during the easy version of the task was correlated with performance on a harder version of the task. Experiment 4 also utilized a spatial memory task. Probe RT was less sensitive to the demands of the spatial memory task, and in that case, the "easy-to-hard" prediction was not successful.     

Long-term sensitization training primes Aplysia for further learning

Repetitive, unilateral stimulation of Aplysia induces long-term sensitization (LTS) of ipsilaterally elicited siphon-withdrawal responses. Whereas some morphological effects of training appear only on ipsilateral sensory neurons, others appear bilaterally. We tested the possibility that contralateral morphological modifications may have functional significance. Therefore, we examined whether LTS training primes subsequent sensitization. Twenty-four hours after LTS training the effects of brief shock treatment (BST) were examined. BST failed to sensitize animals that had previously received either 4-d control treatment or 4-d ipsilateral LTS training. In contrast, BST did sensitize animals that had previously received 4-d contralateral LTS training, suggesting the presence of a latent trace that primes the animal for further learning.     

Community health nurses' knowledge of, attitudes toward, and involvement with adolescent contraceptive services

A national sample of community health nurses were surveyed to assess their knowledge of, attitudes toward, and involvement with reproductive health services. Results indicated that slightly more than half of the nurses provided or administered contraceptive services to adolescents, although 73% worked in settings where contraceptive services were provided to adolescents. However, only 3.6% indicated that adolescents were their primary client population. The majority (64.3%) stated that they felt as prepared to work with adolescents as they did with adult clients. While 98% were aware that most adolescents are sexually active before seeking family planning services, a minority correctly answered questions about pregnancy and contraception among adolescents. Ninety-five percent agreed that contraceptives should be available to adolescents, and 90% agreed that parental consent should not be required for adolescents seeking contraceptive services. Yet only 21.5% were aware of the implications of the Adolescent Family Life Act.     

Naturalistic memory in learning-disabled and skilled readers

Three experiments compared learning-disabled and skilled readers' performance on naturalistic memory measures, as well as investigated the relationship between memory performance on everyday and laboratory tasks. In Experiment 1, the laboratory task (sentence span task) and everyday memory measures were correlated moderately for both ability groups. Compared to skilled readers, disabled readers performed poorly on the sentence span task, and were less likely than skilled readers to remember information related to common objects and consequential events. Disabled readers were also less likely to rely on external prompts to help them recall everyday information. Experiment 2 extended the previous findings to older subjects and found that the majority of significant correlations between the laboratory (word span task) and everyday memory tasks were isolated to disabled readers. When compared to chronological-age-matched subjects, disabled readers were inferior in recency performance on the laboratory (word span) and natural serial recall (e.g., recall of U.S. presidents) tasks. Experiment 3 showed that under conditions that facilitate item accessibility, ability group differences in recall were comparable. Taken together, the findings indicate that disabled readers' memory deficits are pervasive across naturalistic and laboratory measures at the younger age, but these deficits diminish for older students. Further, the deficits that occur at the older age are due to problems in accessing knowledge.