Role of manual-guided training in the conduct and efficacy of interpersonal psychotherapy for depression.

This article reviews findings from manual-guided training programs in short-term interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for depression, an exploratory treatment that focuses on symptom reduction and improvement of social functioning. The literature revealed (a) that experienced, dynamically trained therapists were able to achieve a high level of competence in IPT after comparatively brief training and were able to maintain adherence to the manual over a lengthy study; (b) that general dimensions of the psychotherapy process, including therapist warmth and patient difficulty, were highly correlated with ratings of therapist competence in the performance of IPT; and (c) that therapists judged as performing IPT more competently tended to be more effective. Although definitive evidence on the effectiveness of manual-guided training is lacking, the use of manuals and systematic therapist training appear to be useful for the conduct of psychotherapy efficacy research. Findings showing that manual adherence is related to therapist efficacy suggest a role for these procedures in clinical training and competency determination. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social influences on children's problem solving.

Three studies examined the nature and limiting conditions of effects of peer interaction on children's problem solving. 150 children (4 to 11 years old) worked alone or with a same-age peer at a computer. Age, task complexity, and task familiarity were found to qualify effects of peer interaction on both motivation and learning. At all ages, except when the task was very complex or very familiar, working with a peer increased task engagement and positive affect. For younger preschool children, working with a peer had no effect on retention of simple or moderately complex tasks but had a negative effect on retention of more complex tasks. For older preschool children, peer interaction had a positive effect on retention of simple tasks, a neutral effect on retention of moderately complex tasks, and a negative effect on retention of more complex tasks. For elementary-school children, peer interaction had a positive effect on retention of even the most complex tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prosocial development in early adulthood: A longitudinal study.

Consistency of measures of a prosocial personality and prosocial moral judgment over time, and the interrelations among them, were examined. Participants' and friends' reports of prosocial characteristics were obtained at ages 21-22, 23-24, and 25-26 yrs. In addition, participants' prosocial judgment was assessed with interviews and with an objective measure of prosocial moral reasoning at several ages. Reports of prosocial behavior and empathy-related responding in childhood and observations of prosocial behavior in preschool also were obtained. There was interindividual consistency in prosocial dispositions, and prosocial dispositions in adulthood related to empathy/sympathy and prosocial behavior at much younger ages. Interview and objective measures of moral reasoning were substantially interrelated in late adolescence/early adulthood and correlated with participants' and friends' reports of a prosocial disposition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neuropsychological functioning in older insomniacs with or without obstructive sleep apnea.

The relationships between neuropsychological functioning and sleep loss, sleep apnea, and hypoxemia were examined. Forty-five older insomniacs (M age?=?64.6 yrs) with or without sleep apnea were administered neuropsychological tests after 1 night of nocturnal monitoring in a sleep laboratory. The results showed few differences on cognitive and psychomotor performance between individuals with sleep disruptions alone compared with those whose insomnia was associated with sleep apnea and hypoxemia. There were no significant relationships between nocturnal sleep and respiratory variables and daytime functioning. Furthermore, cognitive and psychomotor performance in older insomniacs with or without sleep apnea revealed minimal impairment compared with age-matched normative data. The results suggest that when the severity of sleep disruptions is controlled, there are minimal differences in neuropsychological functioning of older adults with mild to moderate sleep apnea compared with those without apnea. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learned resourcefulness as a moderator of burnout in a sample of rehabilitation providers.

Investigated learned resourcefulness, assessed by the Self-Control Schedule as a moderator of burnout, among 260 rehabilitation workers. It was hypothesized that learned resourcefulness would moderate a tendency for burnout to increase with years of experience. In regression analyses, the interaction of learned resourcefulness and years of experience significantly predicted scores on the Personal Accomplishment (PAC) scale but not the Emotional Exhaustion or Depersonalization scales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Years of experience were associated with slight decreases in PAC scores for low resourceful Ss and slight increases for high resourceful Ss. Findings support the theoretical utility of learned resourcefulness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reinforcement of verbal affect responses of normal subjects during the interview.

"Twenty-six normal individuals, hospitalized for a variety of physical complaints, were interviewed for a period of 30 minutes. Each interview consisted of a 10-minute operant level period, during which E asked questions necessary to maintain S's talk but did not otherwise respond to S's speech; 10 minutes of conditioning, during which E reinforced by agreement all self-referred affect statements; and 10 minutes of extinction, during which E withheld all reinforcement. Conditioning of the verbal response class of self-referred affect statements occurred, and normal Ss showed greater resistance to extinction than did schizophrenics." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fixation disparity: binocular vergence accuracy for a visual display at different positions relative to the eyes

Some observers do not fixate accurately at the point of regard: Their vergence angle (between the visual axes of the two eyes) may correspond to points slightly nearer or farther away. This vergence error, or fixation disparity, was measured with nonius (vernier) lines at six positions of a visual display relative to the eyes. At viewing distances of 40, 60, and 100 cm, the display was located either at eye level or at a downward inclination of gaze direction of -25 degrees relative to horizontal. Viewing conditions resembled typical office work. Lowering the screen induced a near shift in mean vergence response of 0.6 min arc, irrespective of viewing distance; the closer the screen, the more distant was the vergence response relative to the target (by 2.5 min arc on average). The slope of this proximity-fixation-disparity curve is an individual parameter of the vergence system. Actual or potential applications of this research include recommendations for the comfortable viewing distance of visual displays.     

Written in blood: 20th century art.

Contends that modern art has been essentially the product of avant-garde artists. While its underbelly was romantic, its trademark remains transgression although in its 1980s form, as Postmodernism, transgression may no longer apply to it in a meaningful way. Avant-garde artists operate from a position of alienation and detachment, but work with a passionate commitment to testify to what they have experienced as their life world. In the high period of high modernism Picasso's cubist images called attention to the dislocation of body and spirit in response to a radically changed life world. 20th-century art forms have continued to underscore the sense of the void that followed upon the destruction of a value system that had held the world together for 2 millenia. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of perceptual pretraining on children's concept performance with nonpreferred relevant dimensions: Evidence for the role of attentional strategies.

Two experiments investigated why perceptual pretraining (PPT) facilitates children's performance on concept problems involving a nonpreferred relevant dimension and preferred irrelevant dimensions. In Exp I, 5 groups of 15 kindergartners each received a concept problem in which their least preferred dimension was relevant and their most preferred dimensions were irelevant. One group received no PPT, whereas the others differed in the relationship between PPT stimuli and concept stimuli. Results indicated that concept performance was facilitated by PPT on dimensions that did not appear in the concept problem. In fact, no additional facilitation was obtained by including Ss' least preferred dimension among the PPT dimensions. Exp II, with 48 kindergartners, replicated the finding that concept performance was facilitated by PPT on 4 dimensions that were not involved in the concept problem. However, an equivalent amount of PPT involving only 1 dimension produced no significant facilitation. It is concluded that PPT facilitated concept performance by inducing a general strategy of switching attention among dimensions. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)