Psychopharmacology for children and adolescents: Commentary on current issues and future challenges.

Responds to some of the major issues raised by the American Psychological Association (1992) Division 16 Task Force and by R. T. Brown et al (see record 1994-34463-001), T. Kubiszyn (see record 1994-34489-001), and S. T. DeMers (see record 1994-34471-001) concerning the role of the school psychologist in practice and in facilitating research on psychopharmacology. It is concluded that the major issues confronting school psychology as a profession include increasing its role in research on child psychotherapy, and, within the context of intervention options, biological interventions as well. Carving out a role in psychopharmacology for the school psychologists should not overshadow training in broader areas of biomedical and psychosocial interventions, nor should it limit the focus of research efforts only in these areas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pain assessment and management in older adults: Conceptual issues and clinical challenges.

This article reviews clinical pain assessment and psychological pain management in older persons through the lens of a Communications Model of Pain (Craig, in press; Hadjistavropoulos & Craig, 2002; Hadjistavropoulos, Craig, & Fuchs-Lacelle, 2004; Prkachin & Craig, 1995). The Communications Model of Pain has the advantage of drawing attention to a variety of important factors that come into play when selecting assessment instruments and when making decisions concerning intervention. The authors examine a variety of assessment methodologies (including both self-report and observational approaches) that are suitable for older persons with and without dementia. The authors also review psychosocial pain management methods (e.g., cognitive behavior therapy and applications of behavioral approaches within long-term care facilities) that have potential applications with older persons. The role of psychological service providers is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonissues, real issues, and bias: Comments on C. Brooks Brenneis’s commentary.

The subject of memories of childhood abuse is complex, and there is much that is not yet known. The field does not need work that is replete with errors, missing information, misleading and subjective comments, or the creation of issues that are nonissues. What is needed is a revised conception of the relationship between psychological science and professional practice that emphasizes the reciprocity of the two. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Akedah, Oedipus, and Dr. Frankl.

Responds to criticism that V. E. Frankl's (1975) Logotherapy is a faith rather than a scientific therapeutic school. Recent work in the history of science suggests that such a distinction, strictly speaking, is unjustified, since modern science involves the Judaeo-Christian assumption of human autonomy as "knower" in the face of nature. It is the authority of this implicit presupposition that is evoked in Frankl's technique of Paradoxical Intention, already prefigured in the Hebrew Akedah, whose standpoint contrasts with that of the ethical naturalism that the figure of Oedipus represents. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

WF11899A, B and C, novel antifungal lipopeptides. II. Biological properties

WF11899A, B and C, novel water-soluble lipopeptides related to the echinocandins, possess potent anti-Candida activities. The IC50s of the compounds against four clinical isolates of Candida albicans ranged from 0.004 to 0.03 microgram/ml by microbroth dilution assay. These compounds mildly suppressed the growth of Aspergillus fumigatus and A. niger. WF11899A, B and C showed a potent in vivo anti-Candida activity. Particularly, WF11899A was superior to cilofungin, and equal to fluconazole. 1,3-beta-glucan synthase was inhibited by these compounds at the IC50s of 0.7, 0.7 and 1.8 micrograms/ml for WF11899A, B and C, respectively. However, they hemolysed mouse red blood cells in vitro at the concentration of 62 micrograms/ml.     

History, administrative experiences, and empirical issues.

We present a summary of the history and the significance of the American Psychological Association's (APA) contract with the Civilian Health and Medical Program for the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS), which helped develop and operate a national system of quality assurance involving peer review. We elaborate on the contributions of this early APA/CHAMPUS quality assurance system, including the definition and selection of psychologists peer reviewers, case selection, documentation, prospective review, confidentiality, timeliness, and centralized management. Limitations of aspects of the system, particularly the limitations of resources for education and administration, are discussed. A number of general suggestions are offered for administrative improvement in a national system of quality assurance involving third-party payers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling psychology research on sexual (orientation) minority issues: Conceptual and methodological challenges and opportunities.

This lead article of the special issue discusses conceptual and methodological considerations in studying sexual minority issues, particularly in research conducted by counseling psychologists (including the work represented in this special issue). First, the overarching challenge of conceptualizing and defining sexual minority populations is described. Second, the importance and value of scholarship about sexual minority issues are highlighted. Third, challenges in sexual minority research are outlined, using the articles in this special issue for illustrative purposes, and suggestions are offered for consideration in future research. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of the ways in which counseling psychologists are uniquely positioned to advance knowledge, practice, and social justice through research on sexual minority issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Causal attributions, sanctions, and normal mood variations.

Three experiments with a total of 288 undergraduates tested the causal-locus hypothesis (CLH), which asserts that persons making internal attributions for failure and external attributions for success experience more negative postoutcome moods than persons making the opposite attributions. Although outcomes consistently affected moods and attributions, attributions did not affect moods. Significant correlations consistent with the CLH were infrequently obtained. Another theory, the sanctioned-object hypothesis (SOH), was proposed for understanding how causal attributions lead to mood changes. The SOH asserts that the application of positive or negative sanctions to objects in the perceptual field is a central determinant of mood and that attributions affect mood when their content and salience activate sanctioning processes. Exp IV, with 96 undergraduates, evaluated the competing theories. Results support the SOH but not the CLH. Implications for understanding mood variations and the effects of moods on attributions and methodological alternatives are discussed. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Philosophic issues, Division 24, and the future.

Since the present condition of psychology as a theoretical science is chaotic, the overwhelming demand of the future will be for a massive onslaught of sophisticated theoretical-philosophic analysis and synthesis. It is also anticipated that the interaction of philosophy and science will involve the continual naturalization of philosophy. Intractable philosophic issues that may become more tractable as a result of empirical investigation include the problems of value, epistemology, and the nature of humankind and of mental illness. Those issues that will continue to remain intractable, at least for the near future, include free will vs determinism, the mind–body problem, and the problem of induction. Specific suggestions are made concerning how psychologists can upgrade the theoretical-philosophic expertise that will be needed in the future. Recommendations for action by Division 24 include division-sponsored postdoctoral workshops and introduction of annual convention innovations such as seminars-in-the-round and distinguished contribution awards in theory construction and philosophical analysis. (51 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overview no. 5: Fracture-mechanism maps for materials which cleave: F.C.C., B.C.C. and H.C.P. metals and ceramics

This is the second of two papers on fracture-mechanism maps. In it, a large body of published data is combined with our own observations to construct maps for a number of polycrystalline metals and ceramics: the refractory b.c.c. metals: tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, niobium and chromium: the h.c.p. metals and alloys: magnesium, Magnox-AL80, Magnox-ZR55, beryllium and rhenium; the high temperature ceramics: MgO, Al₂O₃, BeO, UO₂, SiC, Si₃N₄; the alkali halides NaCl, KCl, LiF, CaF₂; ice, H₂O; and the f.c.c. metal, irridium. Certain generalisations about fracture behaviour can be drawn from comparisons of the maps.     

Paradoxical interventions, gender issues, and interactional sequences.

Comments on work by E. L. Holloway et al (see record 1990-29009-001) on the use of paradoxical interventions (PIs) with couples. An alternative PI is proposed in which the female client's negative role would have been transformed into a more constructive position. The need for follow-up to confirm changes in behavioral interactions is stressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Epoxyquinomicins A, B, C and D, new antibiotics from Amycolatopsis. I. Taxonomy, fermentation, isolation and antimicrobial activities

A new structural class of the antibiotic, epoxyquinomicins A, B, C and D were isolated from the culture broth of the strain MK299-95F4, which was related to Amycolatopsis sulphurea. Antimicrobial activity of epoxyquinomicins A and B were weak against Gram-positive bacteria, and epoxyquinomicins C and D showed almost no antimicrobial activity and no cytotoxicity. All these antibiotics showed improvement of collagen induced arthritis in vivo.     

Strength and power assessment. Issues, controversies and challenges

Athletic strength and power refer to the forces or torques generated during sporting activity. Their assessment can be used for strength diagnosis or talent identification, to monitor the effects of training interventions and to estimate the relative significance of strength and power to particular athletic pursuits. However, strength and power assessment is a difficult task. Reasons for this include: the fledgling status of research within the area, our limited understanding of the mechanisms underpinning strength and power performance and development, and limitations associated with various forms of dynamometry. This article describes a frame work for the collection of data which may ultimately lead to recommendations for the assessment of strength and power in sporting contexts. Such a framework will be evolutionary and depends upon synergistic improvements in our understanding of: the physiological mechanisms underpinning strength and power development; the effect that various training regimens have upon the development of strength and power; and factors influencing the validity and reliability of dynamometry. Currently, isometric, isoinertial and isokinetic dynamometry are employed in assessment. Each form has its supporters and detractors. Basically, proponents and critics of isokinetic and isometric dynamometry emphasis their apparently high internal and apparently low external [corrected] validity respectively. While the converse applies for isoinertial dynamometry. It appears that all 3 modalities can have acceptable reliability, however this should be established rather than assumed, as the reliability of each can be threatened by a number of considerations (e.g. instruction for isometric tasks, the impact of weight used during weighted jumping tasks, and the effects of gravity and feedback on isokinetic performance). While reliability is a seminal issue in assessment, it is not the only critical issue. Specifically, there has been little research into the correlation between strength and power measures and athletic performance. This work is central to the use of such indices in talent identification. To date, this work has generally been limited to heterogeneous rather than homogeneous groups. More work is required in this area. Furthermore, not all modes of assessment are sensitive or similarly sensitive to various training interventions. This suggests that these modalities are measuring different neuromuscular qualities. How these qualities relate to performance requires more work, and will determine the contexts in which various strength and power assessment modalities and protocols are used.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Reading rate, readability, and variations in task-induced processing.

Tested the hypothesis that task variables account for previous findings that reading rate is unaffected by readability. In a study with 68 high school students, variations in a reading task were used to induce different processes during reading. When the S had to inspect a text to remember enough for a subsequent word match, easy texts were read faster than difficult texts. When word matching was attempted as the S read, easy texts were read no faster than difficult texts. Findings suggest that when appropriate reading tasks are chosen, reading rate can be used to infer underlying processes in reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motor skill: Feedback, knowledge, and structural issues.

Discusses feedback processing of and structural constraints on movement. From a review of the relevant research, it is argued that the time to process feedback has been generally overestimated for aiming movements of the hand and that visual information about the target and especially the hand is important, as is the rapid processing of kinesthetic feedback. It is proposed that skilled aiming movement is a product of tightly coupled efferent and afferent information within a sensorimotor system comprising the eyes, head, and hand. In consideration of the relationship between knowledge and movement, a review of the research suggests that production systems for motor skill should include constraints of musculoskeletal and neural structures as well as constraints of structure in environmental information. It is concluded that accounts of motor skills might profitably include movement dynamics (in physical terms), the skill-specific knowledge base through which objectives are defined, and the biological apparatus for realizing those objectives. (French abstract) (3? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Confidentiality in psychotherapy: History, issues, and research.

Discusses ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association regarding confidentiality in psychotherapy. Possible inconsistencies between these guidelines and privileged communication are explored. It is asserted that additional research is needed to determine the implications for psychotherapy of the ethical limitations to confidentiality and the legal restrictions on privileged communication. The relevance of moral philosophy to issues of confidentiality is considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Women, psychology, and public policy: Selected issues.

Asserts that the dramatic changes in women's work and family roles in recent decades have profound implications for employment and family policy. It is argued that the market forces used by economists to adjust salary levels do not counteract the forces that devalue women's contributions to the economy. Depressed wages and a benefit structure based on earnings increases the likelihood of poverty of women. Many employment issues, such as the assumption that workers and family members are physically and mentally able-bodied, disabled women's employment status, and the relationships among women's physical and mental health status and work and family roles, require psychological research. The slowness of public policies to reflect women's changing roles is discussed, and tools for meeting the challenges of change, including science and technology and educational equity, are presented. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)