The Flynn Effect and U.S. Policies: The Impact of Rising IQ Scores on American Society Via Mental Retardation Diagnoses.

Over the last century, IQ scores have been steadily rising, a phenomenon dubbed the Flynn effect. Because of the Flynn effect, IQ tests are periodically renormed, making them harder. Given that eligibility for mental retardation (MR) services relies heavily on IQ scores, renormed tests could have a significant impact on MR placements. In longitudinal IQ records from 9 sites around the country, students in the borderline and mild MR range lost an average of 5.6 points when retested on a renormed test and were more likely to be classified MR compared with peers retested on the same test. The magnitude of the effect is large and affects national policies on education, social security, the death penalty, and the military. This paper reports the perceptions of professionals as they relate to IQ score fluctuations in normal, borderline, and/or MR populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racial and ethnic identity: Developmental perspectives and research.

Developmental research is reviewed to evaluate how race, ethnicity, racial identity, and ethnic identity are defined and investigated for minority populations. First reviewed is how these terms are used in developmental and counseling research. Early practices limited these terms to their demographic denotations (e.g., heritage), but more recent practices have expanded to include socially constructed connotations. Second, developmental research was used to evaluate key assumptions in theories of racial and ethnic identity development, with an emphasis on recent longitudinal studies. Research supports some, but not all, of these developmental predictions. Longitudinal research supported the progressive nature of ethnic and racial identity development and that exposure to racism appears to stimulate further identity development during adolescence. In contrast, available evidence does not support the claims of a developmental hierarchy for racial ideologies and that identity crises are normative. Adjustment was not predicted by a single racial or ethnic identity ideology, but research suggested that the adolescent's sociocultural identity and socialization should be tailored to the nature of the racial and ethnic context for development. Implications for counseling research and practice are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Plateletapheresis with a next generation blood cell separator

Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases (BVMOs) are enzymes able to perform highly regio-plus steroselective nucleophilic and electrophilic biooxygenations on various substrates. The resultant chiral products (lactones and sulfoxides) can be valuable for the chemoenzymatic synthesis of a wide range of useful compounds. Recent studies have provided a number of alternative active-site models that attempt to explain the exquisite and unusual selectivity of BVMOs. This article reviews some of the established applications, and considers the merits of the various predictive models.     

News: Lung damage linked to combined fine-particle, ozone exposure in new toxicology study

Science.     

Attentional cues in chronic schizophrenia: Abnormal disengagement of attention.

M. I. Possner's 1980 reaction time (RT) paradigm was used to examine the engagement and disengagement operations of visual selective attention in patients with schizophrenia. In the 1st experiment 14 medicated, chronic schizophrenic Ss (diagnosed by criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM-I]), and 15 age-matched normal and control Ss made a speeded response to a target preceded by a valid, and invalid, or no cue. Control Ss showed the expected advantage and disadvantage in RT for valid and invalid cues, which suggests intact engagement and disengagement operations. For schizophrenic Ss, valid cues also enhanced RT, but invalid cues did not slow RT. Similar results were found in the 2nd experiment. The failure of unpredictable, invalid cues to inhibit RT in chronic schizophrenia may be related to an abnormality in the disengagement operation of selective attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do changes in cognitive factors influence outcome following multidisciplinary treatment for chronic pain? A cross-lagged panel analysis.

Changes in maladaptive cognitions may constitute therapeutic processes of multidisciplinary pain programs. A cross-lagged panel design was used to determine whether (a) early-treatment cognitive change predicted late-treatment outcome index change, but not vice versa; and (b) these effects remained significant with depression change controlled. Ninety chronic pain patients, in a 4-week multidisciplinary program, completed measures of catastrophizing, pain helplessness, depression, pain, interference, and activity level at pre-, mid-, and posttreatment. With depression changes controlled, early-treatment catastrophizing and pain helplessness changes predicted late-treatment outcome index changes, but not vice versa; early-treatment depression changes predicted late-treatment activity changes, but not vice versa. Findings advance understanding of pain treatment process and suggest that negative cognition changes may indeed affect improvements in treatment outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Color changes in cyanosis and the significance of congenital dichromasy and lighting

There are anecdotal reports of color vision deficient medical practitioners (particularly deuteranopes) having difficulty in recognizing cyanosis. An understanding of the color changes in oxygenated blood has led to a better understanding of the lighting needs for hospitals. Using the same database, this article investigates the propensity for color vision deficient observers to make mistakes with cyanotic patients. The possibilities for helping the observer with appropriate color of lighting are considered. The spectral reflectances of blood at varying oxygenation levels previously reported were used 7 ; 8 to calculate chromaticity and lightness. The direction of the chromaticity change was compared with the protanopic and deuteranopic confusion lines. An attempt was made to identify sources that enhanced color changes for the color deficient. The color change of blood oxygenation is closely aligned with the confusion lines of congenital dichromats (particularly protanopia) showing the potential for difficulty in making this decision. No source could be demonstrated to solve the problem or even reduce it significantly. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 32, 428–432, 2007     

Response–reinforcer associations after caudate-putamen lesions in the rat: Spatial discrimination and overshadowing–potentiation effects in instrumental learning.

Exp I, with 12 male hooded rats, demonstrated that Ss with caudate-putamen lesions exhibited an impairment in the acquisition and reversal of a spatial maze task when compared with unoperated control Ss. Exp II, with 24 Ss, investigated leverpress responding supported by a VI schedule in 3 groups of Ss: a group with caudate-putamen lesions, a group with lesions of the posterior cortex, and an unoperated control group. The presentation of a 0.5-sec, response-contingent light correlated with reinforcement generated an elevated response rate in the 2 operated groups but tended to suppress responding in the control group, perhaps by overshadowing the response–reinforcer relation. Only the group with cortical lesions maintained the elevated rate when the light was uncorrelated with food delivery. Exp III confirmed for these same Ss that caudate-putamen lesions produced a spatial learning deficit. No deficit was observed in the posterior cortex group. It is suggested that caudate-putamen lesions disrupt the mechanism underlying the response–reinforcer association on which spatial maze learning and free operant responding in part depend. (48 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tobacco craving predicts lapse to smoking among adolescent smokers in cessation treatment.

Previous research indicates that tobacco craving predicts relapse to smoking among adult smokers attempting to quit. We hypothesized a similar relationship between craving and lapse (any smoking following a period of abstinence) among adolescent smokers during the treatment phase of a clinical trial. A visit was considered a lapse visit if the participant reported smoking or had a carbon monoxide level of 7 ppm or greater subsequent to an abstinent visit. A total of 34 participants (mean age = 14.9 years [SD = 1.3]; mean cigarettes/day = 18.0 [SD = 7.6]; mean Fagerstr?m Test for Nicotine Dependence score = 6.8 [SD = 1.34]; 65% female), were included in the present analysis of 167 treatment visits. Logistic regression analyses showed a positive relationship between degree of craving, measured by the Questionnaire on Smoking Urges, and lapse during smoking cessation treatment (p = .013). Additionally, linear regression analyses demonstrated a strong positive association between cigarettes smoked per day and craving scores (p<.001). Taken together with other data, these findings suggest that degree of craving might influence tobacco abstinence for adolescent smokers. Thus monitoring and addressing craving appears useful to increase the success of adolescent smoking cessation.