Bidimensional measurement of acculturation in a multiethnic community sample of first-generation immigrants.

Despite the rapid growth of the acculturation research literature in recent years, few studies have examined acculturation among community samples of immigrants in Canada. The present study used a bidimensional approach to examine acculturation among Anglophone Caribbean (n = 109), Vietnamese (n = 97), and Filipino (n = 109) first-generation immigrant adults living in a diverse urban community in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Heritage and mainstream cultural orientations were independently assessed in 3 domains of acculturation: loyalty, behaviour, and situated identity. Across the 3 domains and the 3 groups, the 2 cultural orientations were largely independent, though in the Vietnamese and Filipino samples heritage group loyalty was positively related to mainstream group loyalty. Overall, results support a bidimensional model of acculturation and suggest the value of separately assessing different acculturation domains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Obituary: Dalbir Bindra (1922-1980).

Presents an obituary for Dalbir Bindra (1922-1980), who used all his theoretical and experimental skills to examine the concomitance of neural and behavioral events. As a psychologist in the classic tradition, he was interested not only in sensation, perception, cognition, motivation, and emotion, but also in how the processes in these various domains relate and interact one with another. Eventually, his research interests expanded to include psychopharmacology and neuropsychology. Throughout his career, Bindra was active in psychology in Canada and played an important role in its growth. One of his interests was financial support for research in psychology, a topic on which he wrote reports and published articles. In addition, he was a well respected teacher and enjoyed a rich and textured life. His sudden death at the age of 58 was a misfortune to the discipline of psychology as well as to family and friends. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuropsychology of Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Meta-Analytic Review.

A comprehensive, empirically based review of the published studies addressing neuropsychological performance in adults diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was conducted to identify patterns of performance deficits. Findings from 33 published studies were submitted to a meta-analytic procedure producing sample-size-weighted mean effect sizes across test measures. Results suggest that neuropsychological deficits are expressed in adults with ADHD across multiple domains of functioning, with notable impairments in attention, behavioral inhibition, and memory, whereas normal performance is noted in simple reaction time. Theoretical and developmental considerations are discussed, including the role of behavioral inhibition and working memory impairment. Future directions for research based on these findings are highlighted, including further exploration of specific impairments and an emphasis on particular tests and testing conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral profile of a heterozygous mutant mouse model for EGF-like domain neuregulin 1.

Human genetic studies have demonstrated that the neuregulin 1 gene (NRG1) is involved in the development of schizophrenia. Alternative splicing of NRG1 results in at least 15 distinct isoforms and all contain an extracellular epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domain, which is sufficient for Nrg1's biological activity. Here, we characterize a heterozygous mutant model for mouse EGF-like domain neuregulin 1 (Nrg1) regarding schizophrenia-related behavioral domains. A comprehensive, multitiered phenotyping strategy was used to investigate locomotion, exploration, anxiety-related behaviors, and sensorimotor gating. Nrg1 mutant mice exhibited a hyper-locomotive phenotype and an improved ability to habituate to a new environment. Extensive analysis of anxiety-related behaviors revealed a wild type-like phenotype in this domain. However, a moderate impairment in sensorimotor gating was found after pharmacological challenge using psychoactive substances. Our study adds to the increasing behavioral data available from a variety of animal models for Nrg1 isoforms. We suggest a standardized and comprehensive behavioral phenotyping approach to distinguish between the different models and to clarify their relevance for schizophrenia research. Future behavioral investigations will focus on the negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioural medicine: Preview of an emerging field.

Attempts to define the field of behavioral medicine, using examples of possible research problems, past research, and presently funded projects in the US and Canada to expand the definition. (French summary) (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The application of virtual reality technology in rehabilitation.

Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging technology with a variety of potential benefits for many aspects of rehabilitation assessment, treatment, and research. Through its capacity to allow the creation and control of dynamic 3-dimensional, ecologically valid stimulus environments within which behavioral responding can be recorded and measured, VR offers clinical assessment and rehabilitation options that are not available with traditional methods. Initial applications of VR in other aspects of medicine and psychology have yielded encouraging results, but continued research and understanding of this evolving technology will be crucial for its effective integration into rehabilitation. This article provides a brief introduction to VR technology, examines the specific benefits VR offers consumers and providers of rehabilitation services and discusses potential areas of application and important considerations in applying this technology. Finally, 2 examples of current Vr applications are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Challenges for delivering healthcare education through telematics

Within the context of the education of professional healthcare providers, the authors give an overview of the challenges faced by those wishing to introduce telematics as both a mechanism for content delivery and as subject content itself. After presenting a brief overview of the current state of telematics applications to healthcare education, focusing on the European sphere, the authors outline the challenges before discussing the collaborative and communicative issues in detail. The authors conclude by suggesting that, while the authors believe that telematics is a necessary direction for the future development of healthcare education for professionals, the collaboration and communication challenges are of greater importance than the technical and policy challenges and that there is a need to educate the majority of educators, based in the experiences of the enthusiasts.     

Review of Strangers at the gate: The "boat people's" first ten years in Canada.

Reviews the book, Strangers at the gate: The "boat people's" first ten years in Canada by Morton Beiser (1999). This book chronicles 10 years of research on the "boat people" since the arrival of 60,000 refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia circa 1980. The data upon which most of the monograph is based are drawn from the Refugee Resettlement Project, which is a longitudinal study of a representative sample of 1,358 refugees. This book and the data it reports serve to challenge a number of popular misconceptions including: (1) Immigrants and refugees cause unemployment; (2) Immigrants and refugees overuse and put tremendous strain on the social welfare net; and (3) Immigrants and refugees bring crime and disease to Canada. The book also fairly examines important facts about Canada's racist immigration and social policies, past and present. This is an important book that warrants consideration in any efforts to explore the psychological aspects of Canadian culture and immigration studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral intervention for stress management in sports.

This article covers stress management for athletes beginning with a brief behavioral conceptualization of athletic performance and analysis of stress. Examples of external and internal stressors are offered, as well as of stress responses from autonomic, somatic, and cognitive domains. Further discussed are specific types of stress management approaches used with athletes, and associated with external vs. internal sources of stress, and with the 3 stress response domains. Although the article focuses on the author's own conceptualization and experiences with sport interventions, relevant research results from the current literature are cited to provide a broader context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal Contagion: Perceiving Is for Pursuing.

Six studies examined the goal contagion hypothesis, which claims that individuals may automatically adopt and pursue a goal that is implied by another person's behavior. Participants were briefly exposed to behavioral information implying a specific goal and were then given the opportunity to act on the goal in a different way and context. Studies 1-3 established the goal contagion phenomenon by showing that the behavioral consequences of goal contagion possess features of goal directedness: (a) They are affected by goal strength, (b) they have the quality of goal appropriateness, and (c) they are characterized by persistence. Studies 4-6 show that people do not automatically adopt goals when the observed goal pursuit is conducted in an unacceptable manner, because the goal will then be perceived as unattractive. The results are discussed in the context of recent research on automatic goal pursuits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synaptic organization of the human striatum: a postmortem ultrastructural study

Converging with psycho-social research findings, animal and human laboratory studies indicate that behavioral alternatives are important determinants of drug-taking. To investigate associations between how early adolescents spend their time, i.e. their behavioral repertoire and drug use (use of marijuana, crack/cocaine or inhalants), we analyzed data from an epidemiological sample of 1516 urban middle-school students who had completed private interviews in spring 1993. The interview included a 36-item questionnaire to assess how frequently the youth engaged in different activities; history of drug-taking was assessed separately. Multiple logistic regression was used to estimate associations between drug use and each of seven behavioral domains as well as sex, age and racial-ethnic status. Youths spending a great deal of time working for pay and assuming other adult-like roles were more likely to have initiated drug use (estimated odds ratio, OR = 3.49; p = 0.002). Those who spent much time in religious activities were less likely (OR = 0.2, p <0.001). An exploratory search for interactions disclosed other associations that merit attention in future research. These results corroborate evidence on the potential etiological significance of behavioral repertoire in relation to risk of drug use.     

Psychological control of essential hypertension: Review of the literature and methodological critique.

Reviews recent studies (1971–1978) that investigated psychological approaches to the treatment of essential hypertension. 20 studies that use techniques of biofeedback, relaxation, and meditation training are summarized in table form. They are subjected to a detailed methodological critique, and suggestions for methodological improvements and directions for future research are proposed. Most experiments demonstrated blood pressure reductions too small to be of clinical significance. A combination of biofeedback and relaxation/meditation with other behavioral techniques appears most promising, and suggestions for a more comprehensive approach to assessment and training are made. Although studies comparing biofeedback and relaxation/meditation were inconclusive, relaxation/meditation is suggested to hold more promise because it requires no sophisticated technology and has been reported to simultaneously reduce other stress-related complaints. (3? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multivariate assessment of sexual dysfunction.

Reviews assessment techniques used by clinicians and researchers to evaluate male, female, and couple sexual dysfunction. Assessment by self-report includes evaluation by interview, questionnaire, and behavioral records. Various methods for the physiological assessment of male impotence and female arousal deficiency are also reviewed. Relations among measures derived from the psychological, behavioral, and physiological domains showed considerable disagreement. However, because sexual dysfunctioning derives its meaning from all 3 contexts, measures from one should not be considered theoretically more or less valid than those from another. Conceptual issues involved in assessment using measures and techniques from all 3 domains are discussed. The differentiation of psychogenic and organic sexual dysfunction and the use of assessment outcomes to plan treatment are discussed. (72 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of methylphenidate in the classroom: What dosage, for which children, for what problems?

In this study the authors conducted single-case analyses of the dosage and time-course effects of methylphenidate (MPH; Ritalin) on disruptive classroom behavior, math and reading performance, and social engagement. Clear individual differences were demonstrated (a) across children (aged 7 yrs) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); (b) across academic, behavioral, and social domains of functioning; (c) for dose-response effects; and (d) in the onset and duration of effects. These results are in contrast to the majority of group studies that suggest a generally positive and linear dose-response effect for MPH across both children and domains of functioning. No particular dose-response relationship between disruptive behavior and academic performance was indicated. However, an increasing dosage of MPH was associated with increasing social withdrawal for 2 of the 3 participants. Implications for school-based medication evaluations and for designing optimal comprehensive interventions for children who receive MPH are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual and empirical bases of conjoint behavioral consultation.

This article describes "conjoint behavioral consultation," a model of service delivery that addresses the shared responsibility among school personnel, families, and other important systems in educational problem solving. In conjoint behavioral consultation parents and teachers are joined to work together to address the academic, social, or behavioral needs of a child for whom both parties bear some responsibility. The conceptual background (incorporating ecological-systems and behavioral theories) and important features of the model are reviewed briefly. Findings from a number of empirical studies, including outcome studies, case studies, process research, and acceptability research, are reviewed. Directions for future research are also explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leading us not into temptation: Momentary allurements elicit overriding goal activation.

The present research explored the nature of automatic associations formed between short-term motives (temptations) and the overriding goals with which they interfere. Five experimental studies, encompassing several self-regulatory domains, found that temptations tend to activate such higher priority goals, whereas the latter tend to inhibit the temptations. These activation patterns occurred outside of participants' conscious awareness and did not appear to tax their mental resources. Moreover, they varied as a function of subjective goal importance and were more pronounced for successful versus unsuccessful self-regulators in a given domain. Finally, priming by temptation stimuli was found not only to influence the activation of overriding goals but also to affect goal-congruent behavioral choices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Behavioral treatment of childhood obesity": Correction to Epstein and Wing.

Reports an error in "Behavioral treatment of childhood obesity" by Leonard H. Epstein and Rena R. Wing (Psychological Bulletin, 1987[May], Vol 101[3], 331-342). Tables 1 and 2 contain several errors. The correct data is provided in the erratum. These errors do not influence any of the main points or conclusions in this article. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1987-25951-001.) Obesity is a common problem in children and is associated with an increased risk of adult obesity. Twenty-four studies on the behavioral treatment of childhood obesity are reviewed. Studies involving comparisons of behavioral treatment with no treatment or placebos have shown the superiority of behavioral treatment. In addition, the effects of a number of treatment factors on outcome are suggested. These factors include parental involvement, the arrangement of treatment contingencies, and exercise. Several directions for future research are presented, including selecting which children to treat, individualizing treatment, prevention, community programs, and the side effects of weight control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dual specificity of Src homology 2 domains for phosphotyrosine peptide ligands

SH2 domains mediate protein-protein interactions and are involved in a wide range of intracellular signaling events. SH2 domains are 100-amino acid stretches of protein that bind to other proteins containing phosphotyrosine residues. A current major research goal is formulation of the structural principles which govern peptide-binding specificity in SH2 domains. Several structures (both X-ray and NMR) of SH2 domains have now been determined. Short peptide fragments on the carboxyl-terminal side of the phosphotyrosine residue carry the sequence specific information for SH2 recognition. The bound peptides are held in an extended conformation. However, for the GRB2 SH2 domain, the peptide adopts a beta-turn as the motif for recognition [Rahuel, J., et al. (1996) Nat. Struct. Biol. 3, 586-589]. Our SAR data and molecular modeling studies suggest that many SH2 domains, such as the SH2 domains of Lck, Src, and p85, can interact with high affinity with short peptide sequences at least in two ways which are sequence-dependent. The peptide forms either an extended chain across the D-strand of SH2 domains with anchors at pY and pY+3 or, as in the case of GRB2 SH2, a beta-turn with anchors at pY and pY+2. Due to a bulky tryptophan in its EF1 loop, GRB2 SH2 cannot bind peptide conformations such as the extended chain and thus has a unique specificity.     

The use of genetic "knockout" mice in behavioral endocrinology research

The production of mice with specific deletion of targeted genes (knockouts) has provided a useful tool in understanding the mechanisms underlying behavior. There are many opportunities with this new tool for behavioral neuroendocrinology, specifically, and behavioral biology, generally. Although this genetic technique offers new opportunities to study the mechanisms of behavior, as with all behavioral techniques there are some potential limitations. For example, the products of many genes are essential to normal function, and inactivating the gene may prove lethal or induce gross morphological or physiological abnormalities that can complicate interpretation of discrete behavioral effects. Unexpected compensatory or redundancy mechanisms might be activated when a gene is missing and cloud interpretation of the normal contribution of the gene to behavior. Behavioral tests study the effects of the missing gene (and gene product), not the effects of the gene directly. This conceptual shortcoming can be overcome in the same way that it is overcome in other types of ablation studies, by collecting converging evidence using a variety of pharmacological, lesion, and genetic manipulations. Finally, because mammalian genome mapping is currently focused on mice (Mus musculus), standardized behavioral testing of mice should be adopted. Against those disadvantages are several important advantages to using knockout mice in behavioral research: (1) disabling a gene is often a very precise and "clean" ablation, (2) the effects of the gene product can be abolished without the side-effects of drugs, and (3) genetic manipulations may be the only way to determine the precise role of many endogenous factors on behavior. The use of new inducible knockouts, in which the timing and placement of the targeted gene disruption can be controlled, will be an extremely important tool in behavioral endocrinology research.     

Covariance structure of neuroticism and agreeableness: A twin and molecular genetic analysis of the role of the serotonin transporter gene.

The Revised NEO Personality Inventory domains of Neuroticism and Agreeableness are considered factorially distinct despite several intercorrelations between these domains. The genetic correlation, an index of the degree to which these intercorrelations are caused by genetic influences, was estimated using data from 913 monozygotic and 562 dizygotic volunteer twin pairs from Canada, Germany, and Japan. The serotonin transporter gene, 5-HTTLPR, was assayed in a sample of 388 nontwin sibling pairs from the US to determine the contribution of the serotonin transporter locus to the covariation between the Neuroticism and Agreeableness scales. In all four samples, genetic influences contributed to the covariance of Neuroticism and Agreeableness, with the serotonin transporter gene accounting for 10% of the relationship between these domains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)