Screening batteries for the adult and children's versions of the Luria Nebraska Neuropsychological Batteries.

Conducted a study to develop screening batteries, which would usefully predict whether the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB) or the children's battery (LNNB—C) would show abnormalities in a given patient. Using a criterion of overall test raw score, 15 items were selected from each battery in a sample of 526 patients (aged 12–75 yrs) for the adult battery and 360 patients (aged 8–22 yrs) for the child battery. These screening batteries were shown to be highly accurate in predicting the total raw scores and the number of scales above critical levels in both the original and cross validation populations. It is emphasized that the new screening tests do not predict whether a patient is "organic" but whether the LNNB or LNNB—C would be likely to show signs of possible brain dysfunction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional, behavioral, and physiological effects of chronic stress at Three Mile Island.

38 Three Mile Island (TMI) residents (mean age 33.3 yrs) were compared with 32 people (mean age 35.8 yrs) living near an undamaged nuclear power plant, 24 people (mean age 34.1 yrs) living near a traditional coal-fired power plant, and 27 people (mean age 30.9 yrs) living in an area more than 20 miles from any power plant. A number of self-report measures of psychological stress were evaluated by administering the Symptom Checklist-90 and the Beck Depression Inventory more than 1 yr after the nuclear accident. Two behavioral measures of stress were obtained: performances on a proofreading task and an embedded-figures task. Urinary catecholamine levels were assayed to examine chronic stress-related sympathetic arousal. Results indicate that Ss in the TMI area exhibited more symptoms of stress more than 1 yr after the nuclear accident than did Ss living under different circumstances. Although the intensity of these problems appears to be subclinical, the persistence of stress may be cause for some concern. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The I-E Scale: Control of what?

66 undergraduates listed all the events that they thought would happen to them or that they would engage in (a) over the next weekend, (b) over the next summer, (c) 5 yrs from now, or (d) 20 yrs from now and whether each event would be personally or externally controlled. Data indicate that internals and externals differ not only in the degree of control they perceive their actions exerting over the corresponding reinforcement but also in the degree of control over the behavior itself. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social support for the bereaved: Recipients' and providers' perspectives on what is helpful.

Interviewed 40 people (mean age 44 yrs) who had lost a spouse and 54 people (mean age 42 yrs) who had lost a child in a motor vehicle accident 4–7 yrs earlier to gather information concerning support attempts from others that were helpful and unhelpful. Support attempts most frequently mentioned as helpful were contact with a similar other and opportunity to express feelings; those most frequently mentioned as unhelpful were giving advice and encouraging recovery. To understand better the unhelpful support attempts, comparisons were made with 100 control Ss' reports of what they would do or say to help a bereaved person. The possibility that unhelpful support attempts occur because people do not know what to say to bereaved persons seems implausible in view of the enlightened responses given by controls. The close correspondence between bereaved Ss' reports of how recovered they felt and control respondents' estimates of how recovered the bereaved would be suggests that unhelpful support attempts are not based on misconceptions about recovery. These findings indicate that factors inherent in the transaction between the bereaved and potential supporters should be addressed in future research concerned with understanding support attempts that fail. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infants' mother–stranger discrimination at 3 months as a predictor of cognitive development at 3 and 5 years.

Utilized differential vocal response (DVR) to an interactive mother vs an interactive stranger to classify 12 3-mo-old male firstborn infants into either a high or low DVR group. The high DVR group responded significantly above base rate to stimulation by the mother and significantly below base rate to stimulation by the stranger, whereas the low DVR group responded at base rate to both mother and stranger. The high DVR group subsequently performed significantly better on both the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale at age 3 yrs and the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities at 5 yrs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some preliminary data on the psychological characteristics of Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorders.

There appears to be a high incidence of posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSDs) among Vietnam combat veterans; yet, there is little information available on the utility of traditional psychological inventories for assessment of this disorder. The present study examined whether responses on a variety of standardized psychological inventories (the MMPI, Self-Rating Depression Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Fear Survey Schedule–II) would distinguish 3 carefully matched groups of Vietnam veterans: (a) 12 Ss (mean age 34 yrs) with an exclusive diagnosis of PTSD, (b) 12 Ss (mean age 35 yrs) with other nonpsychotic psychological diagnoses, and (c) 12 Ss (mean age 34 yrs) with combat experience who are currently well-adjusted. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses indicated that the assessment battery was able to discriminate with good success Vietnam combat veterans with PTSD from relevant comparison groups. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of semantic context by patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Used semantic-priming procedures to examine limitations in the use of semantic context by 18 patients (mean age 68.9 yrs) with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to determine whether any such contextual effects were mediated solely through automatic processes or whether attentional processes were also involved. Three tasks were applied to examine the effect of semantic context on the performance of 18 normal elderly Ss (mean age 67.2 yrs), 18 normal young Ss (mean age 24.1 yrs), and the AD Ss. When normal and AD Ss were asked to decide whether a given item was a member of a certain category, their response times were equally affected by the item's dominance in the category. The time that AD Ss took to recognize a word was actually affected more by the semantic context provided by a priming sentence than was that of normal Ss. When asked to generate the final word of an incomplete sentence, AD Ss performed very poorly unless potential responses were highly constrained by sentence context. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adults' conceptions of intelligence across the adult life span.

To examine whether young, middle-aged, and older adults view the concept of intelligent person as similar or different during adulthood, 140 adults of various ages rated how likely it would be for individuals of average and exceptional intelligence at 30, 50, and 70 yrs of age to be engaged in behaviors previously identified by adults as characterizing adult intelligence. Adults perceived more similarity between exceptionally intelligent prototypes of closer ages (i.e., 30 and 50 yrs; 50 and 70 yrs). Intelligence was perceived to consist of interest and ability to deal with novelty, everyday competence, and verbal competence (dimensions that were perceived to be differentially important for different-aged prototypes and by individuals of different ages). Participants' conceptions also included the idea that intelligence is malleable and that abilities differentially increase or decrease across the life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of locus of desired control in two samples of elderly persons: Community residents and hospitalized patients.

Describes the correlates of a new measure of desired control in 2 groups of elderly persons. Study 1 examined the desired control correlates for 88 elderly community residents (mean age 75 yrs). As predicted, desired control was significantly negatively correlated with depression and positively correlated with health, knowledge of services for the elderly, and use of services for the elderly. Study 2 examined the correlates of desired control for 77 male patients in a chronic care hospital ward (mean age 72 yrs). Desired control was significantly correlated with 4 of 5 indices of psychological adjustment. The 2 studies together indicate the breadth of relationships of desired control to diverse aspects of psychological well-being, including a measure of subjective senescence. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Late psychosocial improvement in a case of severe head injury with bilateral fronto-orbital lesions.

Describes the results of a 19-yr follow-up study of a head-injured female patient. At age 17 yrs, the S sustained a blunt head trauma with bilateral fronto-orbital lesions verified by late regional cerebral blood flow. The S presented an extreme state of regression for many months after injury. During the first posttraumatic years no behavioral disorders were reported, but after the 5th yr lack of control, including sexual disinhibition, and lack of motivation became severe problems. More than 10 yrs after the accident, a partner applied a simple program of behavioral modification to the S. After 2 yrs of rigid training, an unexpected improvement in psychosocial adaptation took place. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of geographic region upon Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale results: A Hawaii–mainland United States comparison.

Investigated geographic differences in WAIS results by comparing 60 Hawaiian and 60 US mainland psychiatric outpatients, equated in terms of age (16–20 yrs vs 30–66 yrs), education (high school vs college), and Performance IQ. The influence of pidgin English, a widely used local dialect in Hawaii, led to expectations that the Hawaiian Ss would have significantly lower WAIS Verbal scores than the mainland Ss. Data support these expectations. Results have implications for those geographic regions where, like Hawaii, the language patterns deviate significantly from the general norm. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gambling, substance use, and impulsivity during adolescence.

This study tested whether problem gambling and substance use in adolescents are related and whether they could have a common link with impulsivity. A community sample of 765 adolescents participated. Gambling and substance use were assessed when adolescents were 17 yrs old. Impulsivity and impulsivity-related behaviors were assessed when adolescents were 12, 13, and 14 yrs old. Groups of gamblers and groups of substance users were formed, A comorbid group was also formed. Results indicated that problem gamblers were more at risk of also being problem substance users and vice versa than nonproblem participants. In addition, comorbid participants were more impulsive than problem gamblers only or problem substance users only. These findings are discussed in light of the possibility that problem gambling and substance use develop simultaneously during adolescence and share a common impulse-control deficits origin. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Echoic memory processes in good and poor readers.

Conducted 4 experiments to determine whether echoic memory plays a role in differences between good and poor readers. In Exp I, with 9 poor (mean age 11.05 yrs) and 9 good (mean age 10.9 yrs) readers, and Exp II, with 12 poor (mean age 10.85 yrs) and 12 good (mean age 10.7 yrs) readers, a suffix procedure was used in which the S was read a list of digits with either a tone control or the word go appended to the list. For lists that exceeded the length of the Ss' memory span by 1 digit (i.e., that avoided ceiling effects), poor readers showed a larger decrement in the suffix condition than did good readers. In Exp III, with 14 poor (mean age 10.64 yrs) and 14 good (mean age 10.83 yrs) readers, Ss shadowed words presented to 1 ear at a rate determined to give 75–85% shadowing accuracy. The item presented to the nonattended ear were words and an occasional digit. At various intervals after the presentation of the digit, a light signaled that the S was to cease shadowing and attempt to recall any digit that had occurred in the nonattended ear recently. Whereas good and poor readers recalled the digit equally if tested immediately after presentation, poor readers showed a faster decline in recall of the digit as retention interval increased. In Exp IV, using Ss from Exp II, bursts of white noise were separated by 9–400 msec of silence, and the S was to say whether there were 1 or 2 sounds presented. There were no differences in detectability functions for good and poor readers. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Traumatic spinal cord injury, alcohol, and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

Investigated whether use of selected Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) scales can identify personality characteristics in male patients with traumatic spinal cord injury and a positive blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at the time of injury. 20 males (aged 16–53 yrs) with a positive and 9 age-matched males with a negative BAC and 101 normal control males (aged 20–29 yrs) were contrasted on the MMPI Hysteria, Psychopathic Deviate, and Mania clinical scales and derived subscales reflecting traits such as rebelliousness and impulsivity. Results indicate that the average BAC when Ss arrived at the emergency room was 1,507 μg/ml. 75% of the positive BAC group had BAC concentrations above the legally defined limit of 1,000 μg/ml. Except for the MacAndrews Alcoholism Scale, none of the MMPI clinical scales or their corresponding derived subscales were significantly different between groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of college counseling: A follow-up study.

Conducted a longitudinal study of 100 college students who had sought counseling and 100 who had not, 7 yrs subsequent to an earlier study and 4 yrs after graduation (or the time when graduation would have been expected). Results indicate that several differences between the 2 groups in the original study were largely attenuated with the passage of time. Ss who had sought counseling had significantly improved their former status on several measures. Implications are made concerning both student development research and the impact of counseling. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality-based hardiness as a buffer for discrimination-related stress in members of Toronto's Chinese community.

Hypothesized that experiencing discrimination would be associated with higher levels of psychological symptoms reflecting difficulties in optimal functioning and that the relationship between experienced discrimination and psychological symptoms would be notably stronger among respondents low in hardiness than in those high in hardiness. 184 members (aged 18 yrs and older) of Toronto's Chinese community responded to questionnaires that measured hardiness in terms of a composite of perceived personal control and self-esteem. Both hypotheses were supported. Hardiness was associated with several background dimensions likely to facilitate successful coping and adaptation to Toronto, such as a higher level of education, an occupation with higher SES, and a greater reported proficiency with English. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of causal attributions in counseling shy subjects.

Investigated effects of differing counselor causal attribution frameworks in an analog study designed to simulate the initial phases of counseling. 36 self-referred, shy Ss (24 males, 12 females 18–44 yrs old; university graduates, undergraduates, and staff) participated in 2 structured 50-min counseling sessions. Two attribution treatments (cognitive/behavioral and analytic) were used along with a counseling control treatment that did not convey a theoretical or causal framework. It was hypothesized that the 2 causal treatments, despite vastly differing views as to the locus and stability of the source of the S's problem, would not differ significantly in effectiveness and would both be superior to the control treatment. Selected outcome measures were conceptually related to attribution theory and were in the areas of expectancy, motivation, helpfulness, and utilization of counseling material. Significant results, favoring the attribution treatments, were found on 3 out of 4 of the expectancy and motivation measures and on 2 out of 3 of the helpfulness and utilization measures. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cantharidin production in a blister beetle

A case-control study was carried out in Nottingham Health District, to establish whether children under five years of age admitted to hospital after a accidental injury were more likely to have previously attended the accident and emergency (A & E) department than community controls. The subjects were 342 case-control pairs matched on sex and date of birth, consisting of children under five years resident in the Health District, and the main exposure measures were attendance at the A & E department before the case's first admission, type of injury and number of earlier attendances. It was found that, after adjusting for social deprivation score and proximity to hospital, children who had been admitted after an accidental injury were twice as likely to have attended the A & E department than community controls, and were more likely to have had more than one earlier attendance. Odds ratios were significantly raised for soft-tissue injuries and lacerations. It is concluded that accidental injuries in pre-school children that require attendance at the A & E department predict accidental injuries requiring admission. Making attendances at A & E departments notifiable to health visitors would facilitate the undertaking of accident prevention work.     

Age differences in self-perceptions of Type A traits.

Examined whether self-perceptions of Type A (coronary prone) behavior changed during adulthood in 211 Ss from 4 age groups (30–39, 40–49, 50–59, and 60–69 yrs) who completed a Type A scale derived from the Adjective Checklist. Ss were asked to provide both concurrent and retrospective self-assessments of Type A behaviors. It was found that age and self-rated Type A traits were not significantly related. However, changes in self-perceptions of Type A traits did appear to be age-related: Ss aged 30–39 yrs perceived themselves as becoming more Type A, while Ss aged 40+ yrs perceived themselves as becoming less Type A. This shift in Type A self-perception was most prominent in Ss aged 60+ yrs. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)