Disorganization of attachment in relation to maternal alcohol consumption.

The relation between maternal alcohol consumption and infant attachment behavior at 1 year of age was investigated. Alcohol consumption was estimated by self-report questionnaires that were filled out by mothers over 30 years of age regarding the amount of alcohol they had consumed prior to, during, and following pregnancy. The attachment behavior of infants was observed using the Ainsworth "strange-situation" procedure. Infants were classified as secure (Group B); insecure–avoidant (Group A); or insecure–ambivalent/resistant (Group C). Additionally, a new classification of insecure–disorganized/disoriented (Group D), developed by Main and Solomon (1986), was used. The majority of infants of mothers who had consumed more alcohol were insecure in comparison with a minority of insecure infants of mothers who had been abstinent or light drinkers. The classification of infants as insecure–disorganized/disoriented helped to identify a large number of infants who were insecure in the group of heavy-drinking mothers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Abnormally rapid disengagement of covert attention to global and local stimulus levels may underlie the visuoperceptual impairment in Parkinson's patients.

Parkinson's disease (PD) patients were administered a divided attention task that involved the use of global-local stimuli. Across two consecutive trials, the target could appear at either the same global-local level or at the other level. When the target remained at the same level across two consecutive trials, the PD patients responded slower than normal controls to the second stimulus relative to the first. In addition, when the target changed levels across consecutive trials, the PD patients responded faster than normal controls to the second stimulus relative to the first. These results suggest that PD patients may show an abnormally rapid disengagement of attention. The PD patients' abnormal shifting of covert attention was significantly related to the number of perceptual errors they made in identifying target stimuli, suggesting that a deficiency in maintaining covert attention may underlie the visuoperceptual impairment in PD patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parallel multipole implementation of the generalized Helmholtz decomposition for solving viscous flow problems

The evaluation of a domain integral is the dominant bottleneck in the numerical solution of viscous flow problems by vorticity methods, which otherwise demonstrate distinct advantages over primitive variable methods. By applying a Barnes–Hut multipole acceleration technique, the operation count for the integration is reduced from O(N²) to O(NlogN), while the memory requirements are reduced from O(N²) to O(N). The algorithmic parameters that are necessary to achieve such scaling are described. The parallelization of the algorithm is crucial if the method is to be applied to realistic problems. A parallelization procedure which achieves almost perfect scaling is shown. Finally, numerical experiments on a driven cavity benchmark problem are performed. The actual increase in performance and reduction in storage requirements match theoretical predictions well, and the scalability of the procedure is very good. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.     

Relation of power and involvement to theoretical orientation in supervision: An analysis of discourse.

Power and involvement are two fundamental dimensions of primary relationships. We studied the relevance of these two dimensions in the supervisory relationship. A multiple-case-study approach was used to describe systematically the discourse of the five supervision interviews of the Goodyear (1982) series, Psychotherapy Supervision by Major Theorists; we compared these results with previous findings that have reported impressional characteristics of the interviews. The content-analysis scheme used to describe the discourse was developed by Penman (1980) and includes both manifest and latent levels of communication organized on the two dimensions of power and involvement. The sequences of verbal messages in each of the interviews were analyzed by using unidirectional and dominance sequential tests. The results indicate that although there was a primary pattern of teacher–learner interaction in all interviews, each interview exhibited a unique style with regard to the sequences of messages between supervisor and supervisee and the characteristics of power and involvement as defined by the Penman scheme. We discuss the characteristics of the interviews, as described by the results of the content and sequential analyses, in relation to the theoretical orientation of each supervisor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological profiles of violent and nonviolent maritally distressed couples.

Compared 42 couples seeking counseling who had equal levels of marital distress but different levels of violence. 32 couples had experienced at least 1 episode of physical assault in the last year. Measures included the Profile of Mood States, the Index of Self-Esteem, assessments of violence in family and peer milieus, and assessment of alcohol use. More violent males reported alcohol problems than distressed males. Women in violent couples were significantly more anxious, confused, fatigued, and marginally more depressed than maritally distressed women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response to "Roles of the psychologist on a traumatic brain injury rehabilitation team."

Asserts that the blend of talents suggested by P. Barry and J. O'Leary (see record 1990-02635-001) to be necessary for psychologists on a head injury rehabilitation team is an excellent outline but that the issues presented (e.g., team facilitation, behavior management) need to be more fully described. The present authors suggest that other elements, such as the development of a working model of personality, should be integrated into a comprehensive brain injury rehabilitation environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of prototypes on perceptions of prejudice.

Two studies examined the influence of cultural stereotypes and personal factors ( one's race, gender) on perceptions of racial and gender discrimination. Overall, the data suggest that our perceptions of prejudice are strongly influenced by specific expectations regarding who are the prototypic perpetrators and victims of prejudice. More general expectations regarding out-group conflict or regarding only the characteristics of the perpetrator appear to have less of an impact on such perceptions. Additionally, women were found to be more likely than men to perceive sexism directed against men and racism directed at African Americans and Caucasians. Also, African Americans were more likely than Caucasians to perceive racist events against Whites and Blacks. The implications of these data are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A female advantage in cognitive recovery from early cerebral insult.

Gender differences in cognitive outcome were examined in children born prematurely who had incurred early cerebral lesions and in a high-risk comparison group. The boys and girls, who had suffered perinatal intracranial hemorrhage (the most common neurological insult in the preterm infant) were similar in their antenatal, perinatal, and postnatal course, as well as in their sociofamilial attributes. After statistical adjustment to account for the extent of the insult, a significant gender difference in cognitive recovery was observed in the lesion group. Girls outperformed boys by about half a standard deviation on standardized intelligence tests. No gender differences were observed in the comparison group. The implications of the results for theories and empirical findings on gender differences in vulnerability to deviation from normal development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Help-seeking behavior of Native American Indian high school students.

A sample of 139 Zuni adolescents were surveyed to explore the relationships among their help-seeking behavior, psychological problems, and personal characteristics. No significant differences were found between the help-seeking behaviors of girls and boys. Students were most likely to seek help from a friend, parent, or relative for personal problems and to use professional help sources primarily for academic and career problems. Correlational analysis indicated that adolescents who experienced thoughts of suicide and global distress were more likely to seek help from a greater number of resources for their most serious problems. The implications of these findings for work with Native American Indian adolescents are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pregnancy planning and the impact on work climate, psychological well-being, and work effort in the military.

This study examined the joint effects of demographics and pregnancy planning and timing on work climate, psychological well-being, and work effort among 345 pregnant U.S. military women from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. Rank predicted both pregnancy planning and career timing. Pregnancy planning was positively associated with support from coworkers and supervisors and with enhanced work effort and psychological well-being. Pregnancy timing was positively associated with support from supervisors, reduced harassment, and increased psychological well-being. Rank interacted with the planning and timing measures. Junior officers and enlisted participants reported reduced command and pregnancy support and increased harassment in conjunction with poorly timed pregnancies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)