Are trauma victims susceptible to "false memories?"

Laboratory studies using word-list paradigms have provided evidence that nontraumatized individuals falsely recall or recognize events that never occurred. In the present study, H. L. Roediger and K. B. McDermott's false-memory paradigm (1995) was utilized to examine possible source monitoring deficits in individuals with PTSD. Traumatized individuals with PTSD were compared with traumatized individuals without PTSD and with nontraumatized control participants. Participants heard lists of related words (e.g., bed, night) that were associates of a critical nonpresented word (e.g., sleep) and were given immediate free recall and later recognition tests. Traumatized participants with and without PTSD generated more false recalls of critical nonpresented words than did nontraumatized participants. False recall was related to trait anxiety and PTSD severity. The results are consistent with a general source-monitoring deficit in trauma-exposed individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The frequency domain approach in virtual fatigue estimation of non-linear systems: The problem of non-Gaussian states of stress

The use of the frequency domain approach in the virtual estimation of mechanical component fatigue life under random loads is related to two conditions regarding the dynamic behaviour of components and the state of stress. The mechanical system must have linear behaviour and the probability density function of stress must be Gaussian, respectively. Obviously, these conditions are not independent, because there is a close tie between the transformations induced by the system to the random inputs and stress distribution.The rigorous procedure for the extension of these hypotheses is not available and only approximated approaches can be used: normally these are based on a corrective coefficient to the narrow-band formula.The main goal of this report is to suggest a separation of the effects on the corrective coefficient. In this manner, the global coefficient can be seen as the product between a partial coefficient related only to the wide-band effects of stress power spectral density function and another one dependent on non-normality indices of stress probability density function. A meaningful application has been investigated to validate the practical employment of this approach. By this example the authors also defined an original analytical expression of a corrective coefficient for Gaussian damage; however, the formulation has to be improved by other applications, because its validity is tested only on a too much limited domain of Kurtosis values. Moreover, the authors suggest that a modal approach to the stress recovery procedure of a flexible body might be an interesting way to the rapid identification of non-Gaussianity indices in the analysis of frequency and time domain dynamics. For this reason, they believe that the investigation of tying the stress non-Gaussianity to the non-Gaussianity of the component modal coordinates to be useful.     

The contribution of children’s self-regulation and classroom quality to children’s adaptive behaviors in the kindergarten classroom.

In this study, the authors examined the extent to which children’s self-regulation upon kindergarten entrance and classroom quality in kindergarten contributed to children’s adaptive classroom behavior. Children’s self-regulation was assessed using a direct assessment upon entrance into kindergarten. Classroom quality was measured on the basis of multiple classroom observations during the kindergarten year. Children’s adaptive classroom behavior in kindergarten was assessed through teacher report and classroom observations: Teachers rated children’s cognitive and behavioral self-control and work habits during the spring of the kindergarten year; observers rated children’s engagement and measured off-task behavior at 2-month intervals from November to May. Hierarchical linear models revealed that children’s self-regulation upon school entry in a direct assessment related to teachers’ report of behavioral self-control, cognitive self-control, and work habits in the spring of the kindergarten year. Classroom quality, particularly teachers’ effective classroom management, was linked to children’s greater behavioral and cognitive self-control, children’s higher behavioral engagement, and less time spent off-task in the classroom. Classroom quality did not moderate the relation between children’s self-regulation upon school entry and children’s adaptive classroom behaviors in kindergarten. The discussion considers the implications of classroom management for supporting children’s early development of behavioral skills that are important in school settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School readiness among children with varying histories of language difficulties.

This study tested the hypotheses that (a) persistent language difficulties during childhood would predict lower school readiness and (b) language difficulties present just prior to school entry would predict lower school readiness beyond any effects of persistence. The study involved examining indicators of school readiness collected at kindergarten for children exhibiting various histories of language ability based on language measures collected at 15, 24, 36, and 54 months by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Early Child Care Research Network. Children (N = 1,064) were classified according to whether they exhibited expressive or receptive language difficulties at each time point measured. The relation between persistence and timing of these difficulties to each kindergarten outcome was studied through a common factor approach for categorical outcomes. Persistence of language difficulties was not generally related to kindergarten outcomes. However, a robust effect was found for timing of language difficulties: Children who exhibited language difficulties at 54 months exhibited significantly depressed performance on measures of school readiness. Findings are discussed in terms of current policy and research concerning kindergarten readiness for children exhibiting risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictive model for inactivation of Campylobacter spp. by heat and high hydrostatic pressure

Campylobacter represents one of the leading causes of foodborne enteritis. Poultry and its products frequently transmit the pathogen. The objective of the present study was to model predictively the short-term inactivation of Campylobacter in a ready-to-eat poultry product to develop an economic high-pressure treatment. We inactivated baroresistant strains of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli, grown to stationary phase on nutrient agar and inoculated in poultry meat slurry, by heat and high hydrostatic pressure. Incubation at ambient pressure at 70 degrees C for 1 min and at 450 MPa at 15 degrees C for 30 s inactivated more than 6 log CFU of this foodborne pathogen per ml of poultry meat slurry. Thermal and pressure inactivation kinetics of C. coli and C. jejuni in poultry meat slurry were accurately described by a first-order kinetic model. A mathematical model was developed from 10 to 65 degrees C and from ambient to 500 MPa that predicts the reduction in numbers of Campylobacter in response to the combination of temperature, pressure, and treatment time. We suggest the high-pressure treatment of foods to avoid health risks caused by Campylobacter. The nonthermal short-term treatment of the examined food model system represents a successful step to an economic high-pressure procedure.     

Measuring avoidance in medical rehabilitation.

Objective: To establish psychometric properties of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ), a measure of avoidance, in medical rehabilitation populations. Study Design: Cross-sectional and longitudinal. Setting: Three acute, inpatient rehabilitation units. Participants: One hundred thirty-nine adults with spinal cord dysfunction, stroke, amputation, or orthopedic surgery. Measures: AAQ, Hope Scale, Spiritual Well-Being Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Scale, Brief Symptom Inventory, Hopkins Rehabilitation Engagement Rating Scale, Functional Independence Measure, Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique, Satisfaction with Life Scale. Results: The AAQ has adequate internal consistency (α = .70), is best understood with a two-factor solution, is positively correlated with depression (r = .36, p r = .41, p r = ?.51, p r = ?.33, p r = ?.32, p     

Evaluation of the thiamine dose-response relationship for lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) fry using an individual based model

Substantial natural reproduction of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) has not been achieved in the Great Lakes, except for Lake Superior and a few areas in Lake Huron, despite continued stocking efforts. Low thiamine levels in lake trout eggs, which can result in lethal and sublethal impacts (thiamine deficiency complex, TDC) on fry, may contribute to widespread recruitment failure in lake trout populations. We hypothesized that incorporation of sublethal impacts into dose-response curves would result in estimates of EC50s (median lethal concentrations) for fry greater than the estimates that rely only on acute mortality and that predation would exacerbate thiamine effects. To investigate the sublethal effects of TDC (prey capture success and predation mortality) on cohort growth and survival, we developed an individual-based model for lake trout fry. The model tracks daily activities, including consumption, respiration, growth, and mortality, of lake trout from hatch until fry reach a length of 33?mm when we assume fry feed naturally and thiamine effects are minimized. Model output with sublethal impacts resulted in an EC50 (7.3?nmol/g) that was greater than published studies that are limited to acute mortality (1.5?nmol/g). Furthermore, when we included interstitial and pelagic predation, the impact of sublethal effects shifted the EC50 values even higher (7.4–10?nmol/g). Simulation results indicate that low thiamine levels, in combination with moderate to high predation, can eliminate lake trout cohorts. Our simulations suggest that the sublethal effects of low thiamine can contribute to poor lake trout recruitment more than previously suspected.     

Words of wisdom: Language use over the life span.

Two projects explored the links between language use and aging. In the first project, written or spoken text samples from disclosure studies from over 3,000 research participants from 45 different studies representing 21 laboratories in 3 countries were analyzed to determine how people change in their use of 14 text dimensions as a function of age. A separate project analyzed the collected works of 10 well-known novelists, playwrights, and poets who lived over the last 500 years. Both projects found that with increasing age, individuals use more positive and fewer negative affect words, use fewer self-references, use more future-tense and fewer past-tense verbs, and demonstrate a general pattern of increasing cognitive complexity. Implications for using language as a marker of personality among current and historical texts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)