Primary prevention in aircraft disasters: Integrating research and practice.

The integration of rigorous scientific research with program development and implementation is essential in new areas of psychological practice, such as primary prevention for aircraft disaster victims. Research on primary prevention for air disasters can provide practical information on how to help victims cope with traumatic events, as well as contributing to theoretical understanding about the role of trauma in the development of psychopathology. Both epidemiological research on the mental health effects of disasters and practitioner experiences are used in this article to identify high risk groups and types of primary prevention interventions for air disasters. Practical suggestions are provided for research in this area, including discussions of design issues, access to victims, selection of instruments, and issues involved in obtaining funding. Implications of media attention and litigation also are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancies for counseling in relation to premature termination.

Expectations about counseling may be one process variable which influences early premature termination. Expectations About Counseling questionnaire (EAC) scores of clients who continued in counseling to a mutually agreed-upon termination point were compared with those of clients who terminated therapy after one session without counselor agreement. Groups were equivalent in sex ratios and matched for problem type. There were no differences in precounseling expectations for premature versus appropriate terminations regardless of problem type. Results are discussed in terms of suggestions for further research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rumination and psychological distress among bereaved partners.

Recently bereaved men who evidenced more negative ruminative thoughts in free-response interviews showed greater psychological distress on several outcome measures both 1 month and 12 months after their loss and less increase in positive morale over this 12-month period. Men who engaged in more analysis of themselves and the meaning of their loss reported greater positive morale 1 month after their loss but showed more persistent depression and absence of positive states of mind over the 12 months following their loss. Finally, men who reported more social friction also evidenced more enduring depressive symptoms over the year than did men who reported less social friction. These results are generally consistent with other studies that have shown that self-reflective, ruminative coping with negative emotions and social friction are associated with longer and more severe periods of depressed mood following stressful events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determination of the country of origin of pistachio nuts by DSC and HPLC

The laboratories of the U.S. Customs Service frequently encounter the major analytical problem of determining the country of origin of imported commodities. This is particularly challenging with natural products. This paper will describe the process for one such commodity —pistachio nuts. Two approaches were taken, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). It was found that the results of these two techniques were complimentary and confirmatory. The HPLC data was obtained on the petroleum ether soluble fraction of the pistachio nuts while the DSC runs evaluated both this fraction and the whole nut. The HPLC results were further investigated by collecting fractions from the eluting peaks, derivatizing them to form the methyl ester of the fatty acids, and profiling by gas chromatography to confirm the triglycerides originally present. The U.S. Customs Service is currently using DSC area ratios to screen imported pistachio nuts for country of origin.     

Why faces are and are not special: An effect of expertise.

Conducted 4 experiments to demonstrate that faces are not unique with regard to vulnerability to inversion (i.e., impairment of recognition memory with inverted presentation) and to isolate the source of the inversion effect. In Exp I, with 16 undergraduates, use of stimuli (landscapes) in which spatial relations among elements are potentially important distinguishing features was shown not to guarantee a large inversion effect. Exps II and III (with 64 undergraduates, 16 dog experts [aged 29–58 yrs], and 16 dog experts [aged 42–77 yrs]) showed that for dog experts sufficiently knowledgeable to individuate dogs of the same breed, memory for photographs of dogs of that breed was as disrupted by inversion as face recognition. Exp IV, with 19 undergraduates, indicated that the effect of orientation on memory for faces did not depend on inability to identify single features of these stimuli upside down. Findings are consistent with the view that experts represent items in memory in terms of distinguishing features of a different kind than do novices. Speculations as to the type of feature used and neuropsychological and developmental implications of this accomplishment are offered. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning of physiological responses: II. Classical conditioning of the baroreflex.

The baroreflex can be classically conditioned. In neuromuscular blocked (NMB) rats, electrical stimulation of the aortic depressor nerve (ADN) and dopamine-produced blood pressure rise were effective unconditioned stimuli (UCS) for auditory discriminative classical conditioning. The conditioned response (CR) pattern (bradycardia, vasodilatation, and hypotension > 10 torr) closely resembled that of the unconditioned baroreflex. Conditioned stimulus (CS) specificity was demonstrated by discrimination of baroreflex-associated and nonassociated auditory stimuli, and also by elaborating depressor and pressor CRs to auditory CSs, which respectively had been associated with either baro-afferent (depressor) or tail-shock (pressor) UCSs. The conditioned baroreflex-magnitude increased with trials. These findings support quantitative models in which CRs interact with and calibrate the gain and dynamic properties of natural reflexes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Constructions of survival and coping by women who have survived childhood sexual abuse.

This qualitative study investigated personal constructs of survival and coping by 11 women who have survived childhood sexual abuse. In-depth interviews, a 10-week focus group, documentary evidence, and follow-up participant checks and collaborative analysis were used. Over 160 individual strategies were coded and analyzed, and a theoretical model was developed describing (a) causal conditions that underlie the development of survival and coping strategies, (b) phenomena that arose from those causal conditions, (c) context that influenced strategy development, (d) intervening conditions that influenced strategy development, (e) actual survival and coping strategies, and (f) consequences of those strategies. Subcategories of each component of the theoretical model were identified and are illustrated by narrative data. Implications for counseling psychology research and practice are addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)