Fabrication of delusional thinking in normals.

Tested a learning model for paranoid development by requiring Ss in the laboratory to fabricate ideation under conditions approximating those thought to be conducive to actual clinical delusions. Measures used on the 92 male undergraduate Ss included the Parent Attitude Research Instrument, the Parent–Child Interaction Rating Scales, and the Adjective Check List. Ss proposed to be susceptible to paranoid ideation, that is, late-adolescent males who have adopted an open style of adapting to the aversive-maternal-control experience, demonstrated the proposed signs of delusional thinking in their belief systems. Ss were required to formulate a rationale for the view that they believed others held concerning them. The open-style group, relative to control groups, provided beliefs that were more extensive, less credible, more concerned with negative information, and, for the more extended beliefs, better integrated and more presumptive of outside social influence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Delusions and delusional reasoning.

In 2 studies, delusional participants assigned higher probabilities to narratives of actual delusions than participants with no history of delusions; previously delusional participants did not differ significantly from delusional participants or participants with no history of delusions. In Study 2, the authors found that this reasoning bias was specific to delusions and did not generalize to "neutral" text. Familiarity with the content of the delusional narratives played a mediating role in the estimation of their probability, but delusional status also had a significant, independent effect. These findings are consistent with the Bayesian model of delusion formation proposed by D. R. Hemsley and P. A. Garety (1986), and with R. P. Bentall, P. Kinderman, and S. Kaney's (1994) concept of "emotional saliency." A productive area of future research might be to further determine the elements of "emotional saliency" and their impact on the individual steps of the Bayesian model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Measurement and modification of delusional beliefs.

It has been proposed that delusional thinking may be on a continuum with normal behavior and can be assessed by taking account of factors such as the client's degree of belief conviction or the extent of preoccupation with the belief. In our research a number of measures were used to assess the delusional thinking of people diagnosed as schizophrenic. Two interventions were used: (a) a structured verbal challenge and (b) a reality test in which the belief was subject to an empirical test. We used a multiple baseline, across-subjects design. Of the 6 clients, 2 completely rejected their beliefs, and 3 others significantly reduced their belief conviction. Maintenance was good, and there was evidence that the intervention had enabled 5 of the 6 clients to effectively regulate their delusional thinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Critical interstimulus interval in delusional schizophrenics and normals.

The critical interstimulus interval, the minimum interval between presentation of a test and mask stimulus at which the mask no longer interferes with processing of the test stimulus, was calculated for 10 schizophrenics with delusional symptoms and 10 normal college students. All Ss had previous experience with the masking procedure. Each S's critical interstimulus interval was obtained 4 times in 4 separate sessions. Results indicate a larger critical interstimulus inteval for the schizophrenics. All Ss also showed less masking with practice. Results are consistent with A. J. Yates's (see record 1966-05514-001) hypothesis of a schizophrenic deficit prior to cortical levels of information processing but were inconsistent with A. J. Yates and P. Korboot's (see record 1971-06730-001) findings that slow information processing is unique to chronic nonparanoid schizophrenics. Post hoc analysis suggests the possibility of an additional schizophrenic deficit in preattentive filtering. Directions for future research are discussed. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electrodermal lability in delusional schizophrenics following personalized stimuli.

Presented a series of phrases to 10 male hospitalized paranoid schizophrenics and 10 male alcoholic controls while their electrodermal responses were recorded. The topics of the phrases were delusion-related, alcohol-related, or neutral. No main effect difference between the groups was found. However, the topic of the phrases affected the groups differently: Delusion-related and neutral stimuli produced greater lability in schizophrenics than in alcoholics. Results suggest that these schizophrenics responded to significant stimuli much like nonschizophrenics but differed from nonschizophrenics as to which stimuli they found significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coding of far and near space during walking in neglect patients.

Previous studies have shown that far space can be remapped as near when reached by a stick that artificially prolongs the participants' personal space. In the present study, the authors asked whether a similar remapping occurs when far space is reached not by using a toot but by locomotion. Neglect patients showed more severe neglect in far than in near space in bisection tasks executed from different distances either by pointing to a target line with a projection light pen or by walking across the line. A kinematic study of the walking performance of one of those neglect patients showed that, contrary to the prediction of remapping during locomotion, the walking trajectories were rectilinear. The authors interpreted these results as evidence that in their patients-at least for short, linear trajectories-no remapping of space took place during locomotion. The location of far objects was coded at the beginning of the movement, and the error in the bisection computation was generated within the 1st representation that was activated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological investigations of cognitive deficit in elderly psychiatric patients.

"An attempt has been made to review the experimental literature to date on intellectual and learning impairment in elderly psychiatric patients. Certain consistent relationships emerge from these studies indicative of possible links between learning ability and that differential cognitive impairment which is to be found in at least the early stages of senile deterioration. The neuropsychological theory propounded by Hebb seems to provide a convenient conceptual framework for the relations so far established." 83-item bibliography. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proverb word counts as a measure of overinclusiveness in delusional schizophrenics.

A partial replication was conducted of Payne's (1964) report concerning the relationship between delusions and overinclusive thinking as measured by proverbs word counts. Word counts were made of Gorham Proverbs Test responses given by age and intelligence-matched groups of 21 delusional schizophrenics, 21 nondelusional schizophrenics, and 21 nonschizophrenic, nondelusional psychiatric in-patients. 23 paranoid, 23 nonparanoid, and 23 nonschizophrenic control Ss, similarly matched, from the same population, were also compared. No significant differences in proverb word counts were found among the groups. Although the possibility of increased irrelevant side remarks could not be excluded, paranoid or delusional schizophrenics do not produce higher proverb relevant word counts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Environmental input and cognitive growth: a study using time-period comparisons

In this study, we examined the relation of input to cognitive growth in a single population of children. We studied 4 domains: Language, Spatial Operations, Concepts, and Associative Memory. Four groups of children drawn from the same population were tested in October of kindergarten, April of kindergarten, October of first grade, and April of first grade. These time points are 6 months apart, but they span periods that differ in amount of school input children receive. Much greater growth was found over time periods with greater amounts of school input (October to April) than over time periods with less school input (April to October) for Language, Spatial Operations, and Concepts, but not for Associative Memory. These findings suggest that amount of input is causally related to cognitive growth in particular domains.     

Multidimensional input in equity theory.

Multiple dimensions of input, which are typical of equity judgments in practical situations, may be handled in 2 ways. Input integration transforms the multidimensional stimulus field into a 1-dimensional value of input that mediates the equity division. The alternative assumption of equity integration implies a reverse order of processing: First, the ratio model is applied to make an implicit equity division along each separate input dimension; the resulting equity ratios are then averaged to yield a final judgment. The difference in processing order implies different patterns of interaction that thus serve to test the 2 assumptions. Results of 2 experiments with 55 undergraduates agree with the hypothesized rule of equity integration when the input dimensions were dissimilar. When the input dimensions were similar, the results agree moderately well with the hypothesized rule of input integration, although there were small discrepancies. Results support a cognitive algebra of equity. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cognitive load on semantic priming in patients with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenic and control participants received 2 blocks of trials in each experiment. In 1 block they were exposed to regular priming trials (doctor–nurse), and in another block a nonlexical probe was presented at prime onset for 40 ms. Regardless of stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA), the schizophrenic patients showed hyperpriming when no distractor was present. Paying attention to the distracting stimulus reduced priming in the patient group irrespective of SOA. Under certain situations, the reduction in priming appeared even when participants were asked to ignore the distracting stimulus. Thus, even a nonsemantic distractor may be detrimental to schizophrenic patients' language processing. That SOA did not modulate the reduction in priming effect is consistent with the suggestion that attentional resources are required even with short prime–target intervals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rapid cognitive screening of patients with substance use disorders.

To date, there has not been a time-efficient and resource-conscious way to identify cognitive impairment in patients with substance use disorders (SUDs). In this study, we assessed the validity, accuracy, and clinical utility of a brief (10-min) screening instrument, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), in identifying cognitive impairment among patients with SUDs. The Neuropsychological Assessment Battery—Screening Module, a 45-min battery with known sensitivity to the mild to moderate deficits observed in patients with SUDs, was used as the reference criterion for determining agreement, rates of correct and incorrect decision classifications, and criterion-related validity for the MoCA. Classification accuracy of the MoCA, based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, was strong, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.86, 95% confidence interval [0.75, 0.97]. The MoCA also showed acceptable sensitivity (83.3%) and specificity (72.9%) for the identification of cognitive impairment. Using a cutoff of 25 on the MoCA, the overall agreement was 75.0%; chance-corrected agreement (kappa) was 41.9%. These findings indicate that the MoCA provides a time-efficient and resource-conscious way to identify patients with SUDs and neuropsychological impairment, thus addressing a critical need in the addiction treatment research community. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coding subjects in repeated measures designs.

Presents a method for coding Ss in repeated measures designs when the data are subjected to a multiple regression analysis. Instead of having to use a multitude of vectors to code Ss, a single vector is used. The method is illustrated for randomized blocks and split plot designs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cerebral lateralization and cognitive functioning in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

A battery of tests was administered to 17 patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and 17 normal controls to investigate the effect of prenatal androgen exposure on cerebral lateralization and cognitive performance. Individuals were compared on measures of hand preference, verbal and performance IQ, and temporal processing asymmetry. A higher incidence of left-handedness was found among CAH participants. CAH individuals exhibited higher performance IQs as opposed to verbal IQs. Temporal processing asymmetries were investigated using an auditory gap detection task. Measures of reaction time and response error revealed a right-ear, therefore left-hemisphere, advantage for gap detection. This right-ear advantage did not differ between CAH individuals and controls. Results partially support the hypothesis that prenatal androgen exposure causes a shift in cerebral lateralization toward right-hemisphere dominance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduces overgeneral autobiographical memory in formerly depressed patients.

Previous research on depressed and suicidal patients and those with posttraumatic stress disorder has shown that patients' memory for the past is overgeneral (i.e., patients retrieve generic summaries of past events rather than specific events). This study investigated whether autobiographical memory could be affected by psychological treatment. Recovered depressed patients were randomly allocated to receive either treatment as usual or treatment designed to reduce risk of relapse. Whereas control patients showed no change in specificity of memories recalled in response to cue words, the treatment group showed a significantly reduced number of generic memories. Although such a memory deficit may arise from long-standing tendencies to encode and retrieve events generically, such a style is open to modification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dangerousness of persons with delusional jealousy

Delusional jealousy is an important subject for forensic psychiatry because of its well-known association with violence, especially as directed toward spouses. In this article, we report a study of 20 individuals who suffered from delusional jealousy. Important biopsychosocial parameters, the relation between jealousy and aggression, and directions for future study are explored.     

Role of the input in visual hemispheric asymmetries.

Because the nature of the input is one of the most important variables in determining how the brain will process information, findings from tachistoscopic studies aimed at assessing hemispheric lateralization of functions are examined in terms of the characteristics of the incoming information either available or required for processing. The basic features of tachistoscopic experiments are analyzed with a special emphasis on methodology. Variables determining the quality of the input are investigated as a function of the properties of the human visual system. Exposure duration, luminance, retinal eccentricity, and stimulus size all contribute to the efficiency of the hemispheres and interact in complex ways in the emergence of visual-field superiorities. Task demands are also examined in terms of the information necessary for efficient processing. The present review suggests that in tachistoscopic experiments, the factors determining the quality of the input must be controlled if this technique is to prove a reliable source of information for assessing hemispheric asymmetries. (5 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stress-related cognitive interference predicts cognitive function in old age.

Both subjective distress and cognitive interference have been proposed as mechanisms underlying the negative effects of stress on cognition. Studies of aging have shown that distress is associated with lower cognitive performance, but none have examined the effects of cognitive interference. One hundred eleven older adults (Mage=80) completed measures of working memory, processing speed, and episodic memory as well as self-report measures of subjective distress and cognitive interference. Cognitive interference was strongly associated with poorer performance on all 3 cognitive constructs, whereas distress was only modestly associated with lower working memory. The results suggest that cognitive process related to stress is an important predictor of cognitive function in advanced age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)