Neurocognitive signs in prodromal Huntington disease.

Objective: PREDICT-HD is a large-scale international study of people with the Huntington disease (HD) CAG-repeat expansion who are not yet diagnosed with HD. The objective of this study was to determine the stage in the HD prodrome at which cognitive differences from CAG-normal controls can be reliably detected. Method: For each of 738 HD CAG-expanded participants, we computed estimated years to clinical diagnosis and probability of diagnosis in 5 years based on age and CAG-repeat expansion number (Langbehn, Brinkman, Falush, Paulsen, & Hayden, 2004). We then stratified the sample into groups: NEAR, estimated to be ≤9 years; MID, between 9 and 15 years; and FAR, ≥15 years. The control sample included 168 CAG-normal participants. Nineteen cognitive tasks were used to assess attention, working memory, psychomotor functions, episodic memory, language, recognition of facial emotion, sensory–perceptual functions, and executive functions. Results: Compared with the controls, the NEAR group showed significantly poorer performance on nearly all of the cognitive tests and the MID group on about half of the cognitive tests (p = .05, Cohen's d NEAR as large as ?1.17, MID as large as ?0.61). One test even revealed significantly poorer performance in the FAR group (Cohen's d = ?0.26). Individual tasks accounted for 0.2% to 9.7% of the variance in estimated proximity to diagnosis. Overall, the cognitive battery accounted for 34% of the variance; in comparison, the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale motor score accounted for 11.7%. Conclusions: Neurocognitive tests are robust clinical indicators of the disease process prior to reaching criteria for motor diagnosis of HD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent classroom goals, standards for performance, and academic achievement: An interactionist perspective.

In the 1st study, correlational results from 203 high school students suggest that achievement, as indexed by grade point average (GPA), is positively related to efforts to be a successful student, be dependable and responsible, understand things, do one's very best, and get things done on time, and negatively related to trying to have fun. Student GPAs were also related to the number of goals and the unique sets of goals that students try to achieve. In the 2nd study, with a subsample of 107 students, the motivational characteristics of students that predicted GPAs did not predict Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores. Findings of the 1st study suggest the potential relevance of motivation to achieve socially prescribed as well as cognitive outcomes for explaining academic performance in the classroom. The importance of studying motivation–performance relationships within context is suggested by the fact that the findings of Study 1 were not replicated when nonclassroom evaluations of performance were used as indices of academic achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shortage of expert system personnel in the UK — hype or reality?

Abstract: There is much conjecture in the press about the manpower shortage in the UK expert system field. Is it hype or reality? Presented here are the findings of a three-month study which investigated the availability of jobs in this field, the types of personnel sought by employers and whether demand is currently being met. The study involved identifying and analysing all national advertisements for expert system posts over a six-month period and undertaking follow-up surveys involving the agencies and employers who placed the advertisements. It was concluded that the shortage of expert system personnel in the UK is neither hype nor reality. The reason for this is that although there is not a sizeable demand for expert system personnel (only 134 posts were advertised) some employers are genuinely finding it hard to fill posts.     

Functional relations are not models: A note on covariation detection.

Reviews the main points made by the authors (1985) in their article on covariation judgment and argues that, while C. F. Surber's (see record 1986-16237-001) arguments about covariation detection models and about assessment of variable importance are essentially correct, they are inappropriately applied to the authors' analyses of functional relations. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development, microevolution, and social behavior.

The central questions of social development—from the roots of mother–infant attachment to the plasticity of aggressive behavior—pivot on the relations between genetic and ontogenetic sources of variance. It is proposed that (a) developmental, experiential, and microevolutionary processes typically collaborate, rather than compete, in achieving social adaptation; (b) social behavior patterns are mostly closed to modification in the course of development and across generations, but avenues of vulnerability exist in ontogeny and microevolution for dynamic, rapid, and reversible changes in key features; (c) a general avenue for change is delay or acceleration in the developmental onset of one or more features of the behavior pattern, which in turn modifies the functions and properties of the adaptive configuration; and (d) the features of social behavior that are open to rapid change in ontogeny should be open as well to rapid changes in microevolution, although different underlying processes may be involved. Empirical findings from the investigation of aggressive interactions are used to illustrate this proposal on the dual genesis and coincident adaptation of social behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between functional status and the capacity to regulate behavior among elderly persons following hip fracture.

Objective: To assess the relationship between behavioral self-regulation and functional status among older rehabilitation inpatients. Study Design: Prospective outcome study. Setting: Fourteen inpatient rehabilitation units and skilled nursing facilities. Participants: Two hundred twelve older adults following hip fracture or replacement. Measures: Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE), Geriatric Depression Scale, Behavioral Dyscontrol Scale (BDS), and nurse-rated functioning on activities of daily living (ADLs) and the Barthel Index. Results: Risk-adjusted analyses found the BDS to be strongly associated with all 11 ADLs and the Barthel Index. The MMSE made an additional contribution to 4 models. Conclusion: The results suggest that the ability to use intentions to guide purposeful behavior is an important contributor to functioning among older adults, affecting rehabilitation potential. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors influencing sources cited by scientists: A case study for Cuba

A collection of 1316 articles authored by Cuban scientists and published in the period 1950 to 1983 was assembled. The 18 991 bibliographic references in these papers were examined to identify factors that might influence the sources cited by Cuban scientists over the entire period. Degree of collaboration, place of publication and subject matter were among the factors considered. The major objective was to study the effect that the change in political alignment of Cuba (from Western bloc to Eastern bloc influence) has had on the sources cited. It was found that citation to Eastern bloc countries has greatly increased in the period since Castro assumed power. However, no corresponding decline in citation to Western bloc countries can be discerned.     

Teaching reading to poor readers in the intermediate grades: A comparison of text difficulty.

The authors compared the influence of text difficulty--reading-level matched or grade-level matched--on the growth of poor readers' reading ability over 18 weeks of 1-to-1 tutoring. Forty-six 3rd-5th graders, including 25 with disabilities, were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 tutoring approaches or a control condition. Significant differences favored tutored children. Between approaches, the only significant difference was oral reading fluency, which favored students who read material at their reading level. Students who began with lower fluency made stronger gains in text matched to reading level; students with higher fluency profited from both treatments. When the 3 groups were combined, fluency was the strongest contributor to reading comprehension outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and the church: An exemplar of psychologist–clergy collaboration.

Despite the increasing attention being given to clergy–psychologist collaboration, many psychologists may wonder what clergy–psychologist collaboration looks like in actual practice. The authors describe an example of clergy–psychologist collaboration involving a careful needs-assessment phase followed by the development of a wide spectrum of preventive, consultative, and direct services. Current challenges include funding, establishment of trust, and the integration of psychology and spirituality. Implications for professional psychologists are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in social support among retirees and workers: Findings from the Normative Aging Study.

Cross-sectional differences between retirees and workers in the importance of coworkers as a source of support, as well as in general quantitative support (social networks and frequency of interaction) and qualitative support (confidants and the perceived reliability of support) were examined. The sample consisted of 1,513 older men (mean age?=?61), participants in the Normative Aging Study. Half (56%) were working, and the rest were retired. Slightly fewer retirees than workers reported coworker friends, especially among those who were long-term retirees or who did not work at all in retirement. Whereas similar findings were seen with quantitative support, workers and retirees reported nearly identical levels of qualitative support. However, retirees almost never discussed personal problems with former coworkers. The relevance of these findings for the convoy construct is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)