The role of familiarity in daily well-being: Developmental and cultural variation.

The present study examined life stage and cultural differences in the degree to which familiarity of one's physical location and interaction partner is associated with daily well-being. Participants reported all the activities they engaged in and how they felt during these activities on a previous day using the Day Reconstruction Method (Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwarz, & Stone, 2004). Both Korean and American retirees were happier when in a familiar place than in an unfamiliar place, whereas the reverse was true for both Korean and American working adults. In addition, we found cultural differences in the role of familiarity of the interaction partner. Specifically, Koreans (both retirees and working adults) were substantially happier when they interacted with a familiar person than when they interacted with an unfamiliar person. In contrast, Americans (both retirees and working adults) were no happier with a familiar person than with an unfamiliar person. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A lower bound for computing Oja depth

Let S={s₁,…,sn} be a set of points in the plane. The Oja depth of a query point θ with respect to S is the sum of the areas of all triangles (θ,si,sj). This depth may be computed in O(nlogn) time in the RAM model of computation. We show that a matching lower bound holds in the algebraic decision tree model. This bound also applies to the computation of the Oja gradient, the Oja sign test, and to the problem of computing the sum of pairwise distances among points on a line.     

Traumatic brain injury and memory: The role of hippocampal atrophy.

In traumatically brain-injured (TBI) patients (n?=?83), memory performance was examined on the Warrington Recognition Memory Test, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure, and the Logical Memory and Visual Reproduction subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised in relationship to time postinjury and structural changes based on MRI volumetry, including hippocampus volume. Significant trauma-induced changes were observed, including hippocampal atrophy. Structure-function relationships generally became significant only after 90 days postinjury. Memory tended to relate more to the degree of hippocampal atrophy, particularly left hippocampus, than to nonspecific indicators such as the temporal horns or the ventricle-to-brain ratio. A stronger relationship with left versus right hippocampus was evident for measures of verbal and supposedly nonverbal memory. These results are discussed with regard to the role the hippocampus may play in a neural system of memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative effectiveness of guided mastery and exposure treatments for intractable phobias.

Compared the exposure model and the self-efficacy model by randomly assigning 32 18–76 yr old individuals with driving or height phobias to 1 of the treatment conditions or to a control condition. Results show that treatments were equivalent in duration of exposure and in degree of inducement to confront threats rapidly, but the self-efficacy (mastery) model was significantly more effective than exposure in restoring Ss' behavioral functioning and diminishing their anticipated anxiety and performance-related anxiety. Both treatments were more effective than the control condition. It is suggested that self-efficacy predicted therapeutic behavior change significantly better than did anxiety, exposure duration, or performance level achieved during treatment. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Local anesthetic treatment significantly attenuates acute pain responding but does not prevent the neonatal injury-induced reduction in adult spinal behavioral plasticity.

Recent findings indicate that neonatal injury results in decreased spinal plasticity in adult subjects (E. E. Young, K. M. Baumbauer, A. E. Elliot, & R. L. Joynes, 2007). Previous research has shown that acute manipulations of pain processing (i.e., administration of formalin, carrageenan, capsaicin) result in a loss of spinal behavioral plasticity (A. R. Ferguson, E. D. Crown, & J. W. Grau, 2006). Moreover, neonatal injury results in a lasting reduction in adult spinally mediated plasticity resembling the deficit seen following acute manipulations in adults (E. E. Young et al., 2007). The present study was designed to determine whether the effects of neonatal injury could be prevented by lidocaine administration during the initial healing period. Subjects (injured or uninjured) received lidocaine or saline on 1 of 4 administration schedules (preinjury only, postinjury only, for 24 hr postsurgery, or for 72 hr postsurgery). Results demonstrated that lidocaine administration did not prevent the hypersensitivity and reduced spinal plasticity associated with neonatal injury. This suggests that (a) the mechanisms underlying neonatal injury are independent of peripheral input in the initial healing period and (b) lidocaine is ineffective at preventing long-term spinal plasticity changes following neonatal injury. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neonatal hind-paw injury disrupts acquisition of an instrumental response in adult spinal rats.

The present study was designed to evaluate the impact of neonatal injury on adult spinal plasticity in rats. Subjects were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 experimental conditions: (a) hind-paw injury at Postnatal Day (PD) 2, (b) hind-paw injury at PD 5, (c) anesthesia exposure only on PD 2, or (d) anesthesia exposure only on PD 5. Subjects receiving a unilateral neonatal hind-paw injury showed decreased mechanical threshold (hyperalgesia) on the previously injured hind paw throughout development. This decrease in threshold survived spinal transection (at T2) at 12 weeks of age. Injured subjects also showed significant impairment in a spinal instrumental learning task performed by the previously injured hind paw. This disruption of learning indicates a disruption of spinal plasticity that may be due to induction of long-term changes in nociceptive processing within the spinal cord. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Movement abnormalities and the progression of prodromal symptomatology in adolescents at risk for psychotic disorders.

The link between movement abnormalities and psychotic disorders is presumed to reflect common neural mechanisms that influence both motor functions and vulnerability to psychosis. The prodromal period leading to psychotic disorders represents both a viable point for intervention and a developmental period that, if studied, could shed light on etiology; however, no published studies have examined the temporal progression of this link. A group with high levels of prodromal symptomatology (i.e., adolescents with schizotypal personality disorder [SPD]; n = 42) and both psychiatric controls (with other personality disorders or conduct disorder [OD]; n = 30) and nonpsychiatric controls ([NC]; n = 49) were recruited. Videotapes of structured psychiatric interviews were coded for movement abnormalities by raters blind to participants' diagnostic status, and follow-up assessments were conducted 1 year later. Controlling for psychotropic medications, the authors found that adolescents with SPD exhibited significantly more motor abnormalities in the face and upper body than did OD and NC controls. At baseline, movement abnormalities were positively correlated with the severity of positive, negative, and total prodromal symptoms. Within the SPD group, baseline movement abnormalities predicted symptom severity 1 year later. Movement abnormalities represent an early risk indicator that may be predictive of later symptom severity and potentially of psychosis onset. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Male gender role conflict and willingness to seek counseling: Testing a mediation model on college-aged men.

Men who experience negative consequences of their socialized gender roles--that is, have greater gender role conflict--report less positive attitudes and willingness to seeking counseling. Using structural equation modeling with data from 575 undergraduate men, the authors examined 3 mediators (self-stigma associated with seeking counseling, tendency to disclose distressing information, and attitudes toward seeking counseling) regarding the link between gender role conflict and willingness to seek counseling for psychological and interpersonal concerns. Results indicated that this link was partially mediated by these 3 factors. Men experiencing greater gender role conflict were more likely to self-stigmatize and less likely to self-disclose. High self-stigma and less disclosure then led to less positive attitudes and subsequently to less willingness to seek counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Robust dimensions of anxiety sensitivity: Development and initial validation of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3.

Accumulating evidence suggests that anxiety sensitivity (fear of arousal-related sensations) plays an important role in many clinical conditions, particularly anxiety disorders. Research has increasingly focused on how the basic dimensions of anxiety sensitivity are related to various forms of psychopathology. Such work has been hampered because the original measure--the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI)--was not designed to be multidimensional. Subsequently developed multidimensional measures have unstable factor structures or measure only a subset of the most widely replicated factors. Therefore, the authors developed, via factor analysis of responses from U.S. and Canadian nonclinical participants (n = 2,361), an 18-item measure, the ASI-3, which assesses the 3 factors best replicated in previous research: Physical, Cognitive, and Social Concerns. Factorial validity of the ASI-3 was supported by confirmatory factor analyses of 6 replication samples, including nonclinical samples from the United States and Canada, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Spain (n = 4,494) and a clinical sample from the United States and Canada (n = 390). The ASI-3 displayed generally good performance on other indices of reliability and validity, along with evidence of improved psychometric properties over the original ASI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavior of Am(V) in concentrated HNO<Subscript>3</Subscript> solutions containing potassium phosphotungstate K<Subscript>10</Subscript>P<Subscript>2</Subscript>W<Subscript>17</Subscript>O<Subscript>61</Subscript>

The Am(V) disproportionation in (2–10) × 10^?3 M K₁₀P₂W₁₇O₆₁ (KPW) solutions in 1–7 M HNO₃ was studied spectrophotometrically. Under the experimental conditions, Am(VI) and Am(III) are the final products of Am(V) transformation; the process is described by the rate equation of a reversible reaction. The direct reaction follows the first-order rate equation with respect to Am(V) concentration, and the reverse reaction, the zero-order equation.