A new look at pelvic relaxation

The concept is presented that most cystoceles and/or urethroceles result from insolated defects in the connective tissue supports of the anterior quadrant of the pelvis. Four areas in which defects have been found to occur are identified. Sixty patients are presented who were found to have isolated defects in the endopelvic fascia at the lateral sidewall of the pelvis with significant cystourethroceles and stress urinary incontinence. The surgical treatment consisted only of a direct approach to and closure of the isolated defect. The operative results at 3 to 48 months were excellent in 91.7 per cent, improved in 5 per cent, and failed in 3.3 per cent. Discussion is offered of the possibility of the study of the pelvic floor from the viewpoint of a mechanical engineer.     

A new look at British graduate students.

Discusses findings of a survey of British graduate students in psychology conducted in late 1972 and 1973. Responses were obtained from 34 of the 89 British departments offering advanced courses or supervision for research leading to the PhD in psychology or one of its subspecialties. The total enrollment of all postbaccalaureate students in psychology was 1,112, but only 277 of these were in PhD programs; the number is almost 8 times higher in the US. UK postgraduate training in psychology seems to be conducted on a much smaller scale than in the US, the students enter doctoral training at an earlier age than American students, and females and non-White minority students are well represented in UK doctoral training programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new look at vigilance and defense.

2 hypotheses were tested: (a) "Threatening tachistocopic stimuli are recognized at thresholds both higher and lower than thresholds for matched control words. The extent of deviation is related to degree of anxiety induced by the threat"; and (b) "When the associated anxiety is removed, then threshold deviations diminish. The degree of reduction is related to the decrease in anxiety." 22 adults of mixed sexes served as Ss. 2 matched lists of words were presented in an anagram-solving exercise. One list was constructed to produce failure. When all words were presented tachistoscopically for a second time, it was found that anxiety aroused by the failure correlated significantly with the absolute difference between recognition thresholds for failure and control words. This relationship persisted even after the artificial nature of the anxiety had been explained. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A closer look at new kinds of intelligence tests

Comments on R. J. Sternberg's (see record 1997-30052-012) article concerning intelligence and lifelong learning. The author posits that Sternberg was inaccurate when he suggested that the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children and the Cognitive Assessment System were both designed to reflect A. R. Luria's (1973) conceptualization of 3 functional units. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new look at the effects of noise: A rejoinder.

Outlines a composite theory to account for the effects of noise upon performance. The 4 main determinants are (a) masking, both of acoustic cues and of inner speech; (b) distraction; (c) a beneficial increase in arousal when the noise begins, which gradually lessens and falls below normal to produce a decrement in performance when the noise stops; and (d) positive and negative transfer from noise to quiet. Positive transfer results from the more effective learning of the task in noise under the influence of the increase in arousal. Negative transfer results from the techniques of performance used in noise to counteract the masking or distraction, when they are not appropriate in quiet. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Polycystic ovarian disease: a new look at an old subject

We report a 2-day-old neonate with incontinentia pigmenti combined with destructive encephalopathy. Generalized seizures developed soon after birth; characteristic papulovesicles and hyperpigmented linear streaks appeared several days later. The brain CT scan showed multiple low density areas with cortical atrophy and ventricular enlargement. Histopathological examination favored the diagnosis of incontinentia pigmenti. Although a series of microbiological examinations failed to identify any infectious agent, the patient was still treated vigorously with anticonvulsants, systemic antibiotics, and acyclovir from the beginning of hospitalization. However, the seizures persisted, and the patient died 26 days after birth. Our report suggests that incontinentia pigmenti with encephalopathy may have a fatal prognosis.     

Rorschach revisited: A new look at an old test.

Two control samples (21 and 27 college students) and a sample of 21 short-term psychiatric patients (aged 21-26 yrs) scaled all pairs of Rorschach inkblots for perceived similarity. Data were analyzed using J. D. Carroll and C. C. Chang's individual scaling (INDSCAL) model, which resulted in a good fit in 2 dimensions. These 2 dimensions were interpreted as a dimension of color and 1 of form ("twoness"), and empirically validated in a 2nd study, using 2 groups of controls (20 and 33 college students) and 6 short-term schizophrenic patients. It was also found that the saliences estimated by INDSCAL for each S formed 3 virtually nonoverlapping distributions. This implies a possible use of the method within a diagnostic context. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peekaboo: A new look at infants' perception of emotion expressions.

Infants' responsiveness to others' affective expressions was investigated in the context of a peekaboo game. Forty 4-month-olds participated in a peekaboo game in which the typical happy/surprised expression was systematically replaced with a different emotion, depending on group assignment. Infants viewed three typical peekaboo trials followed by a change (anger, fear, or sadness) or no-change (happiness/surprise) trial, repeated over two blocks. Infants' looking time and affective responsiveness were measured. Results revealed differential patterns of visual attention and affective responsiveness to each emotion. These results underscore the importance of contextual information for facilitating recognition of emotion expressions as well as the efficacy of using converging measures to assess such understanding. Infants as young as 4 months appear to discriminate and respond in meaningful ways to others' emotion expressions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increasing severity of psychopathology at counseling centers: A new look.

University counseling center staff and directors have argued that there has been an increase in severity of psychological concerns among university counseling center clients (R. P. Gallagher, B. Zhang, & R. Taylor, 2004; G. L. Stone, K. M. Vespia, & J. E. Kanz, (see record 2000-02442-010)). A body of literature exists to support this perception; however, this research has been criticized for focusing solely on therapist or client perceptions of psychopathology, rather than on objective data (B. S. Sharkin & L. P. Coulter (see record 2005-14332-008)). In this investigation, the authors explored changes in severity among a random sample of 827 university counseling center clients over the course of 7 years (1999-2005) by concurrently measuring client self-report on the Outcome Questionnaire-45, number of prior treatments, and urgency of concern, as well as psychologist reports of Axis I diagnosis, diagnosis severity rating, and Global Assessment of Functioning score. No meaningful trend increases in severity of psychopathology were found over time. Practice implications of these findings are presented, and possible explanations for the impression that severity is increasing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new look at the consequences of attitude certainty: The amplification hypothesis.

It is well established that increasing attitude certainty makes attitudes more resistant to attack and more predictive of behavior. This finding has been interpreted as indicating that attitude certainty crystallizes attitudes, making them more durable and impactful. The current research challenges this crystallization hypothesis and proposes an amplification hypothesis, which suggests that instead of invariably strengthening an attitude, attitude certainty amplifies the dominant effect of the attitude on thought, judgment, and behavior. In 3 experiments, the authors test these competing hypotheses by comparing the effects of attitude certainty manipulations on univalent versus ambivalent attitudes. Across experiments, it is demonstrated that increasing attitude certainty strengthens attitudes (e.g., increases their resistance to persuasion) when attitudes are univalent but weakens attitudes (e.g., decreases their resistance to persuasion) when attitudes are ambivalent. These results are consistent with the amplification hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cholesterol reduction yields clinical benefit. A new look at old data

BACKGROUND: There has been a continuing debate about the overall benefit of cholesterol lowering. We performed a novel meta-analysis of all randomized trials of more than 2 years' duration (n = 35 trials) to describe how coronary-heart-disease (CHD), non-CHD, and total mortality are related to cholesterol lowering and to type of intervention. METHODS AND RESULTS: The analytic approach was designed to separate the effects of cholesterol lowering itself from the other effects of the different types of intervention used. For every 10 percentage points of cholesterol lowering, CHD mortality was reduced by 13% (P < .002) and total mortality by 10% (P < .03). Cholesterol lowering had no effect on non-CHD mortality. Certain types of intervention had specific effects independent of cholesterol lowering. Fibrates (clofibrates, 7 trials; gemfibrozil, 2 trials) increased non-CHD mortality by about 30% (P < .01) and total mortality by about 17% (P < .02). Hormones (estrogen, 2 trials; dextrothyroxin, 2 trials) increased CHD mortality in men by about 27% (P < .04), non-CHD mortality by about 55% (P < .03), and total mortality by about 33% (P < .01). No specific effects independent of cholesterol lowering were found due to diet (n = 11) or other interventions (resins, 5; niacin, 3; statins, 2; partial ileal bypass, 1). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that cholesterol lowering itself is beneficial but that specific adverse effects of fibrates and hormones increase the risk of CHD (hormones only), non-CHD, and total mortality.