In-session change in emotionally focused therapy.

Presents 3 different studies of in-session changes in emotionally focused couples therapy (EFT). Studies of in-session conflict events demonstrate both that couples' conflict interaction at the end of treatment is more affiliative and interdependent than at the beginning of treatment, and that peak session conflict interaction is deeper in level of experience and more affiliative than the interaction in poor session conflict episodes. In addition, events beginning with intimate, affective self-disclosure by one partner were found to involve greater affiliation in spouses' responses to the self-disclosure than in a control event not involving self-disclosure. The possible change processes in EFT are discussed in light of these results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relative importance of infochemicals from first and second trophic level in long-range host location by the larval parasitoidCotesia glomerata

Recently parasitoids were hypothesized to encounter a reliability-detectability problem relating to chemical stimuli from the first and second trophic level, when searching for hosts. The relative role of infochemicals originating from the host,Pieris brassicae (second trophic level), and its food plant, cabbage (first trophic level), have been investigated with respect to long-range host location by the larval parasitoidCotesia glomerata. Flight-chamber dual choice tests showed that uninfested cabbage plants are least attractive to female wasps. Host larvae and their feces were more attractive than clean plants but far less attractive than artificially damaged and herbivore-damaged plants. The plant-host complex, with host larvae actively feeding on the plant, was the most attractive odor source for the parasitoids. The data indicate that one of the solutionsC. glomerata uses to solve the reliability-detectability problem is to respond to infochemicals that are emitted from herbivore-damaged plants. Whether these infochemicals are herbivore-induced synomones that are produced by the plant remains to be demonstrated. Infochemicals emitted by the herbivore or its by-products are of little importance in the foraging behavior ofC. glomerata.     

Ruminative coping with depressed mood following loss.

In a longitudinal study of 253 bereaved adults, people with poorer social support, more concurrent stressors, and higher levels of postloss depression reported more rumination than people with better social support, fewer stressors, and lower initial depression levels. Women reported more rumination than men. People with a ruminative style at 1 month were more likely to have a pessimistic outlook at 1 month, which was associated with higher depression levels at 6 months. People with a more ruminative style were more depressed at 6 months, even after controlling for initial depression levels, social support, concurrent stressors, gender, and pessimism. Additional stressors and high depression scores at 1 month were also associated with higher levels of depression at 6 months. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aspect graphs and their use in object recognition

Previous researchers have described several different approaches to 3-D object recognition based on using an iterative technique to control the matching of features from the 2-D projection of a 3-D model to observed image features. The major problem encountered with such approaches is how to automatically choose starting parameter estimates in a manner which both avoids recognition errors due to local minima and is still reasonably efficient. This paper investigates the use of theaspect graph to address this problem. The basic idea is quite simple — an iterative solution is generated for each of a set of candidate aspects and the best of these is chosen as the recognized view. Two assumptions are required in order for this approach to be valid: (1) the iterative search for the correct candidate aspect must converge to the correct answer, and (2) the solution found for the correct aspect must be better than that found for any of the incorrect candidate aspects. In order to explore the validity of these assumptions, a simple aspect graph-based recognition system was implemented. Experiments were carried out using both real and simulated data. The results indicate that the underlying assumptions are generally valid, and that this approach has advantages over previous techniques which incorporated an iterative search.This work was supported by Air Force Office of Scientific Research grants AFOSR-87-0316 and AFOSR-89-0036 and by National Science Foundation grants IRI-8817776.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the IEEE 1988 International Conference on Computer Vision, Tarpon Springs, Florida.     

A reliable sociometric measure for preschool children.

Examined the reliability of a rating-scale sociometric technique with 19 4-yr-old children. The test–retest reliability of scores Ss received over a 4-wk interval was high compared to the stability of the traditional positive and negative nomination scores. This preschool sociometric measure has applications for the study of the behavioral correlates of early peer acceptance and for research on the effects of social skill training on children's acceptance by peers. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Court testimony of child sexual abuse victims: Emerging issues in clinical assessments.

Presents a case study of a 15-yr-old female witness in a sexual abuse trial and describes how testimony during cross-examination was improved after S's mental age was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised (WISC—R) and after she was coached during a mock trial. Clinical criteria should be developed for assessing children's competency to give testimony, and the needs of child sexual abuse victims should be recognized. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sol-Gel Derived Hydroxylapatite Coatings for Biomedical Applications

This paper presents the preliminary findings of a novel coating technique for the deposition of hydroxylapatite coatings on ceramic substrates. Through the use of sol-gel methods crystalline coatings of hydroxylapatite on substrates of vycor glass, polycrystal line alumina and single crystal magnesia have been successfully produced. The production of sol-gel solutions, coatings and their analysis was examined by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Results thus far indicate that high quality hydroxylapatite coatings can be produced on ceramic substrates, with coatings deposited in this manner offering a number of benefits over other coating methods.     

Mothers and two-year-olds: A study of sex-differentiated aspects of verbal interaction.

12 White, upper-middle-class, English-speaking mothers and their 2-yr-old children (6 male, 6 female) were studied in a spontaneous play situation. The mean differences for mother-male compared with mother-female dyads on 12 measures of quantitative and qualitative aspects of speech showed mothers of female children talked more, asked more questions, repeated their children's utterances more often, and used longer utterances compared with mothers of male children. Mothers of male children used more directives compared with mothers of female children. Results suggest a continuity of a similar pattern of greater verbal quantity and responsivity for mother-female compared with mother-male dyads. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)