Effectiveness of computer-assisted attention training of schizophrenic patients

Rats experimentally infected with Taenia taeniaeformis were followed-up until 14 weeks post inoculation with eggs (PIE) by hepatic ultrasonographic (US) image and serum antibody response analyses. Parasitic cysts could be imaged as small (2 mm in diameter) anechoic areas with or without a parenthesis-like echogenic small line from two weeks PIE. Immunoblot analysis using antigens from oncospheres (TtO), 30-day-old (TtM-30) and 300-day-old metacestodes (TtM-300) revealed that: (1) these three different developmental stages showed their own unique patterns suggesting the presence of stage-specific antigens; (2) faint IgM antibody responses to some components of TtO and TtM-30 or TtM-300 could be detected from one and two weeks PIE, respectively, and (3) IgG responses to some major components of both TtO and TtM-300, and TtM-30 were easily detected from four and five weeks PIE onwards, respectively. Both TtO and TtM (especially TtM-300) appeared to be highly useful for detection of antibody responses in experimentally infected rats. Due to the easiness in preparation of antigens, fully developed metacestodes may be the best candidate antigens for serodiagnosis. These results strongly suggest that both US image and antibody analyses using antigens from fully developed metacestodes are useful for detection of the early stage of cysticercosis in laboratory animal model.     

Social competence and posthospital outcome among schizophrenic and nonschizophrenic psychiatric patients.

Although E. Zigler and L. Phillips (see 37:1 and 38:6) contend that an identical relationship between premorbid social competence and prognosis is found in both a schizophrenic and nonschizophrenic hospital population, supporting data are not presented. To test this hypothesis, the 3-yr posthospital outcomes of 81 schizophrenic and 85 nonschizophrenic previously hospitalized patients were separately related to the Zigler and Phillips' Social Competence Scale. The results indicate that among schizophrenics social competence is positively related to 2 out of 5 indexes of posthospital outcome: incidence (p     

Computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation for the treatment of patients with substance use disorders: A randomized clinical trial.

The purpose of this study was to examine the comparative efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation as an intervention for substance misuse. Patients with substance use disorders entering long-term residential care (N = 160) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (a) standard treatment plus computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation (CACR), which was designed to improve cognitive performance in areas such as problem solving, attention, memory, and information processing speed; and (b) an equally intensive attention control condition consisting of standard treatment plus a computer-assisted typing tutorial (CATT). Participants were assessed at baseline, during treatment, at treatment completion, and 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-up. Intent-to-treat analyses showed that, compared with those randomized to CATT, patients who received CACR were significantly more engaged in treatment (e.g., higher ratings of positive participation by treatment staff, higher ratings of therapeutic alliance), more committed to treatment (e.g., longer stays in residence) and reported better long-term outcomes (e.g., higher percentage of days abstinent after treatment). Mediational analyses revealed the positive comparative effect of CACR on abstinence during the year after treatment was mediated by treatment engagement and length of stay in residence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Postdiction of the outcome of somatic therapy from the Rorschach records of schizophrenic patients.

The Rorschach protocols of 60 schizophrenic patients previously hospitalized were presented to 3 psychologists with the instructions to differentiate the 30 patients who had improved from the 30 who had not. The 4 factors of Conflict, Control, Flexibility, and Strength of Drive were selected and defined by the investigators together with the psychologists. Each patient was rated on a 5-point scale with the content analysis approach used primarily. The accuracy of all 3 psychologists in differentiating between the 2 groups of patients on all 4 of the factors was found to be significant beyond the .01% level of confidence according to the chisquare values obtained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Computer-assisted evaluation of mammography images. Initial clinical experiences

Preceding studies have shown that a second independent reviewer of conventional mammographies increases the detection rate of features typical for malignancy by up to 15%. METHODS: In order to test a computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) system (ImageChecker, R2 Technology, USA) for the detection of pathologic criteria in conventional mammography, 96 mammographies were retrospectively evaluated using ImageChecker. Thirty-five of these mammographies had been diagnosed as not showing pathologies, and 61 had depicted histologically confirmed malignancy. RESULTS: Detecting 41 of 61 breast malignancies, ImageChecker showed a diagnostic sensitivity of 70.5%. All malignancies accompanied by microcalcifications were identified by ImageChecker, whereas 18 cases characterized by parenchymal opacity without microcalcifications were not marked. On the average, 1.95 markers per image were set, giving a total of 187 markers in this study. 63% of all markers showed normal tissue and were thus false positive. CONCLUSIONS: Pathologic parenchymal opacities in mammography are a well-known problem for all CAD systems in use. Despite this major drawback, even now ImageChecker can provide tremendous support in routine interpretation of conventional mammographies.     

Cognitive training and strategy behavior: comparative evaluation of 2 cognitive training programs

Combining a non-comparative with a comparative evaluation, two modern programs for fostering inductive reasoning, namely the German version of the "Cognitive training for children" by Klauer and Phye (1994; Klauer 1989), and the "DenkMit" by Sydow and Meincke (1994), are compared to each other and to a control program which intends to enhance aspects of memory instead of inductive reasoning. The programs were performed with N = 49 children between six and eight years who had been postponed from regular school because of various reasons or who had been selected as especially in need for particular interventions from first classes. Besides the psychometric test often used for assessing inductive reasoning, i.e. three subtests of the German form of the Culture Fair Test by Cattell (Weiss a. Osterland 1980), tasks of concept formation were applied for assessing changes in strategic behavior of children--a type of task which has been used in connection with inductive reasoning since many years. Counter to expectations, the children whose memory was trained, showed changes in performance in the psychometric test in a similar size as the children whose inductive reasoning was trained. These effects are interpreted in terms of special attention directed to the children during the intervention situation. Moreover, it was found that despite the authors claim to the opposite the DenkMit did not cause any changes in visual perception. In contrast to the author's intentions, the "Cognitive Training for Children" did cause some substantive changes in the area of visual perception. The pattern of results with the concept formation tasks, however, overall indicates that the reasoning programs caused some changes in strategic behaviors of the children. Although these changes are not very impressive, they cannot be attributed to extraneous factors such as special attention.     

Use of speech in the inhibitory control of motoric behavior of schizophrenic patients.

Investigated the conditions under which speech influences the speed of a tapping response in 48 schizophrenics and 48 nonschizophrenics. Ss verbalized 3 words ("goads") under varied pretask instructions (minimal and slow instructions) and 2 sources of delivery (self-delivered "internal" verbalizations and other-delivered "external" verbalizations). Results indicate that all groups inhibited speed of tapping for a slow instruction. The schizophrenics under the internal goad condition inhibited response as well as the control group; under the external goad condition these patients were less able to inhibit response. For the minimal instruction condition the schizophrenics responded to the meaning inherent in the goads faster and slower for the internal but not the external goad condition. The converse was true for the control group. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Computer-assisted cognitive behavioral therapy for child anxiety: Results of a randomized clinical trial.

Objective: This study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and effects of Camp Cope-A-Lot (CCAL), a computer-assisted cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety in youth. Method: Children (49; 33 males) ages 7–13 (M = 10.1 ± 1.6; 83.7% Caucasian, 14.2% African American, 2% Hispanic) with a principal anxiety disorder were randomly assigned to (a) CCAL, (b) individual CBT (ICBT), or (c) a computer-assisted education, support, and attention (CESA) condition. All therapists were from the community (school or counseling psychologists, clinical psychologist) or were PsyD or PhD trainees with no experience or training in CBT for child anxiety. Independent diagnostic interviews and self-report measures were completed at pre- and posttreatment and 3-month follow-up. Results: At posttreatment, ICBT or CCAL children showed significantly better gains than CESA children; 70%, 81%, and 19%, respectively, no longer met criteria for their principal anxiety diagnosis. Gains were maintained at follow-up, with no significant differences between ICBT and CCAL. Parents and children rated all treatments acceptable, with CCAL and ICBT children rating higher satisfaction than CESA children. Conclusions: Findings support the feasibility, acceptability and beneficial effects of CCAL for anxious youth. Discussion considers the potential of computer-assisted treatments in the dissemination of empirically supported treatments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A process of developing terminal competencies for an interdisciplinary training program

The thrombophilias are conditions characterized by an increased tendency to thrombosis. This paper aims at presenting the actual guidelines concerning the preventive attitudes in the thrombophilias that mainly expose to venous thromboembolism. The identification of these thrombophilias resides on one hand on the patients' and their family's history of venous thrombosis, and on the other hand on the diagnosis of disorders known to be associated with an increased risk of venous thrombosis. Heparin-associated thrombocytopenia of type II is a still too often underdiagnosed syndrome in which the prevention of thrombosis requires a specific approach. The authors discuss thoroughly the preventive attitudes for patients that do not require a long-term anticoagulation, for patients in whom a long-term anticoagulation is generally recommended, and for patients in whom it is sometimes recommended. The practical use of anticoagulation is described. Lastly, a special attention is paid to situations in which the thrombotic risk is increased, such as prolonged immobilization, surgery, traumas, pregnancy and postpartum, contraception and oestrogen therapy.     

Hypnotic susceptibility of schizophrenic patients.

Clinical lore and much of the previous literature has maintained that schizophrenics are far less susceptible to hypnosis than are normals. A few studies have reported success with hypnotizing schizophrenics, but have lacked a methodology which would permit comparison with normal Ss to be made. In this study, 26 Ss with a hospital diagnosis of schizophrenia were given the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale—a verbatim induction technique and rating scale for which data on a normal, standardization group is available. The Ss gave results much like the normal group. Reasons for the difference between this and previous findings are discussed, including the hypothesis that previous workers found schizophrenics to be different in hypnotizability from normals because they treated them differently than they would normals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An evaluation of microcounseling as an interviewer training tool.

Assigned 24 male 2nd-yr medical students to 1 of 2 interviewing training groups. The 12 microcounseling Ss received training in the use of attending behavior, open-ended questions, minimal activity responses, paraphrases, reflections of feeling, and summarization through the use of the microcounseling paradigm. The 12 comparison Ss received equivalent interview training. Pretraining and posttraining interviews with real patients were videotaped for each S. Data analysis reveals that both groups of Ss became better interviewers, but those receiving microcounseling training improved more than the comparison Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supplementing behavioral marital therapy with cognitive restructuring and emotional expressiveness training: An outcome investigation.

The current study investigated whether the effectiveness of behavioral marital therapy (BMT) would be increased by the addition of cognitive restructuring (CGR) and/or emotional expressiveness training (EET) for maritally distressed couples. Sixty such couples were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 therapists and 1 of 5 treatment conditions (BMT Alone, CGR?+?BMT, BMT?+?EET, CGR?+?BMT?+?EET, or waiting list) for 12 weeks of conjoint marital therapy. Within each treatment condition, couples typically improved on the variables focused on in treatment. However, comparisons among active treatment conditions showed few significant differences among treatments; the treatments were equally effective in increasing marital adjustment. Thus, the addition of CGR and EET did not appear to increase the overall effectiveness of treatment. Possible reasons for the current findings are provided, and suggestions for future marital outcome investigations are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Design and evaluation of an obedience training program for mothers of preschool children.

Conducted a training program in a clinic playroom to teach 24 mothers to use the principles of contingent social reinforcement to increase their preschool child's obedience. During the training, E relayed commands to the mother, cued her to reinforce her child, and reinforced the mother from behind a 1-way vision screen using a "bug-in-the-ear" device. As a group, the mothers' contingent use of maternal proximity and verbal reinforcement improved significantly as a result of the training program. Children's obedience to their mothers' verbal commands was improved as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heterogeneity in cognitive functioning of schizophrenic patients evaluated by a lexical decision task

Bone and joint infections are difficult to cure. The difficulty is related to the presence of bacteria adherent to foreign material in many cases and also to the limited activity of antibiotics in infected bones. Clinical trials are difficult to design because of the heterogeneity of the disease and the number of factors that could influence the therapeutic response. To control for these multiple variables, attempts have been made to develop reliable animal models of osteomyelitis and prosthetic joint infections that closely mimic the different infections seen in orthopedic surgery and that allow evaluation of the efficacy of surgical procedures as well as local or systemic antibiotic therapy. These models will continue to provide us information on the pathogenesis and management of such infections.     

Therapists' cognitive complexity: Review of theoretical models and development of an integrated approach for training.

Therapists' cognitive complexity can influence a variety of clinical and educational processes, from how they make decisions to their engagement in classes and supervision. To date, cognitive complexity models have not been adapted or advanced to meet the demands of clinical training. We provide a review and critique of the current cognitive complexity models and examine the measures typically associated with these models. We also introduce a new model, the Therapists' Cognitive Complexity Model, which includes three components of therapists' cognitive complexity: session thoughts, metacognition, and epistemic cognitions. Implications for therapist training and suggestions for future research are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of cognitive therapy and relaxation training for panic disorder.

Current approaches to the treatment of panic disorder (PD) include a treatment package consisting of relaxation training (REL), cognitive therapy (COG), and exposure-based components. In an examination of the separate effects of REL and COG without formally taught exposure of any form, 64 PD patients were assigned randomly to 1 of these treatment protocols or to a minimal-contact control (MCC) condition. Both REL and COG were superior to the MCC condition on a variety of measures pertaining to panic, global psychological functioning, agoraphobic fear, and other associated fears. A significantly greater percentage of patients were classified as treatment responders (based on a composite index) after COG (82%) and REL (68%), compared with the control group (36%). On measures of agoraphobic fear, COG patients fared slightly better than REL patients. Some support was demonstrated for specific cognitive changes after COG, although treatment specificity was not strongly supported overall. These results are discussed in light of current theories of PD and the presumed importance of exposure in its treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dichotic stimulation as a method of assessing disorder of attention in overinclusive schizophrenic patients.

Gave matched groups of 12 clinically overinclusive schizophrenics, 12 nonoverinclusive schizophrenics, and 12 normals Payne and Friedlander's standard battery of tests of overinclusive thinking. They also took part in 2 experiments in which they repeated verbal material presented through 1 earphone, while distracted through the other. Tests of overinclusive thinking intercorrelated significantly, as did the perceptual overinclusion scores derived from the amount of distracting material repeated. Overinclusive thinking did not correlate significantly with overinclusive perception, contrary to the hypothesis that both are due to some defective central filtering mechanism. Measures of both sorts of overinclusion discriminated significantly between the 2 schizophrenic groups, probably because the clinical definition of overinclusion included both thinking and perceptual distractibility. (29 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of an on-line computer for psychophysical testing with the up-and-down method.

Employed an IBM 1620, Model 1 computer associated with a 1710 control system for psychophysical testing. The test operations are divided into (a) acceptance of test parameters, (b) test programing, (c) stimulus presentation, (d) record keeping, (e) rest scheduling, (f) calculation, and (g) test termination. The computer was found to be versatile and flexible. "In the case of the up-and-down method with complementary concurrent series a good estimate exists for the standard error of the estimate of P.50. The on-line computer can use intertrial or interblock times to keep estimates of P.50 and its standard error up to date and terminate testing when the desired level of precision of measurement" is reached. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of electromyographic biofeedback to the relaxation training of schizophrenic, neurotic, and tension headache patients.

Examined the effects of EMG biofeedback on tension reduction by schizophrenic, neurotic, and tension headache patients. 14 patients (mean age 39 yrs) participated voluntarily in at least 10 weekly EMG biofeedback sessions at a public outpatient clinic. All had complained of chronic tension. Ss showed significant decreases in their muscle tension levels with successive biofeedback training sessions. No significant differences were found between the schizophrenic, neurotic, and tension headache groups. A further contribution is the finding that patients with diverse socioeconomic and educational levels benefited similarly from EMG biofeedback training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)