Cultural Sensitivity in Conventional Psychotherapy: A Comment On Martínez-Taboas (2005).

A. Martínez-Taboas (2005) presents a compelling case of a woman with psychogenic seizures treated with a combination of cognitive therapy and an affirmation of espiritismo, the belief among some Latino individuals in spiritual possession and intercession (see record 2005-03040-003). Martínez-Taboas's sensitivity to the cultural beliefs of the patient is commendable; however, integrating cultural sensitivity with more conventional treatment approaches offers the potential for an effective, more generalizable model of intervention. In this article, the author argues for a greater appreciation of culture-bound syndromes in clinical presentation. In addition, the utility of more culturally sensitive adaptations of existing treatment models is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of a computer-based instructional package about eating disorders

This study examined the effect of a computer-based instruction package on college students’ knowledge about eating disorders, and how level of active participation during instruction influenced learning and satisfaction. Interactivity (the amount the participant actively responded to the computer-based instructional program) varied in three conditions: 0%, 50%, and 100%. Overall, the instructional package increased knowledge about eating disorders, and the 100% condition resulted in worse performance than 0% or 50% condition, and the 50% interactivity condition was worse than 0%. Participants in the interactive conditions reported being less satisfied with aspects of the instruction. The effects of interactivity, a unique aspect of computer-based instruction, are not as simple and direct as might be expected.     

Review of Cognitive-behavioral therapy for impulsive children.

Reviews the book, Cognitive-behavioral therapy for impulsive children by Phillip C. Kendall and Lauren Braswell (see record 1985-97646-000). In the book's preface, the authors summarize its content in the following statement: "The program tries to teach impulsive kids to stop and think before they act." Although the volume's focus is specific to non-self-controlled children, it is also a clinical resource for professionals working with children with conduct disorders. The authors succeed at demonstrating the use of cognitive-behavioral self-control therapy by offering a conceptual framework aided by clinical material. Case vignettes not only demonstrate correct and successful applications of cognitive-behavioral therapy but also illustrate areas where difficulties arise, and recommendations are provided on how to handle them. Although the authors recommend that these techniques need to be individualized, the manual provides excellent clinical guidelines for the use of cognitive-behavioral self-control therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

红曲及其生理活性物质的研究与应用

对红曲霉及其发酵产物红曲，红曲色素，红曲生理活性物质的开发研究现状和进展做了全面论述     

Review of Obsessional experience and compulsive behaviour: A cognitive-structural approach.

Reviews the book, Obsessional experience and compulsive behaviour: A cognitive-structural approach by G. F. Reed (1985). Reed's book is well worth reading by those interested in obsessive-compulsive disorders, particularly those unfamiliar with a phenomenological (or cognitive-structural) approach. In his discussion of definitional and diagnostic issues, Reed is thorough and he makes his thinking on the matter quite clean. His repeated case illustrations (both in this section and throughout the book) are very helpful, as is his distinction between the form, content, and modes of obsessional experiences. These observations will certainly help the novice in understanding these bewildering problems, and make the experienced researcher or clinician familiar with an alternative conceptualization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental Computation and Language Breakdown: Clarifications, Extensions, and Responses

This paper is a response to commentaries on my target paper for Computational Intelligence, "Control and Cross-Domain Mental Computation: Evidence from Language Breakdown." In this response, I acknowledge certain errors in my initial construal of control and dismiss unwarranted criticisms. I then reexamine both control and certain language disorders in light of the explicitness of cross-domain communication and the visibility of representations to each other. In the end, I reassert the validity of the logic/control (visibility) distinction in mental computation and argue that the contrasts between Specific Language Impairment and Williams syndrome parallel this distinction.     

Dorothea Jameson and Leo Hurvich: Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award.

Recognizes the receipt of the American Psychological Association's 1972 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award by Dorothea Jameson and Leo Hurvich. The award citation reads: "The research team of Dorothea Jameson and Leo Hurvich has significantly advanced our knowledge of color vision through a broadly based program of conceptually sophisticated and rigorously conducted experiments. Their research has provided basic data which are essential to theory and at the same time provide a quantitative framework for physiological investigations. Their very unusual scholarship, technical skill, untiring motivation, and contagious enthusiasm for scientific discovery have set new standards of excellence against which future experimenters and theorists will be judged." Biographies and listings of the awardees' scientific writings are included. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrative Psychotherapy in Addictive Disorders.

In most countries, addictive disorders have increased considerably in the recent years, becoming a main problem of public health for governments. One approach toward the rehabilitation of people with addictive disorders is in Chile's Therapeutic Communities. In such communities, recovering addicts actively collaborate in the rehabilitation of people in treatment. The characteristics of the rehabilitation process are presented from the perspective of the supraparadigmatic integrative model proposed by R. Opazo (1997). The application of an integrative clinical evaluation record (Ficha de Evaluacion Clinica Integral) helps one to understand, through the different subsystems of the model, the presenting problems of persons entering rehabilitation, the etiological role of each subsystem, and the modification that takes place during treatment. Biological predisposing factors such as extraversion and neurological immaturity are resistant to treatment modification; however, alterations acquired during the addictive process, in all the subsystems of the model, are modifiable after 9 months of integrative psychotherapy. On the basis of the authors' observations and on the supraparadigmatic integrative model, an etiological approach of addictive disorders is suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child Psychopharmacology: How School Psychologists Can Contribute to Effective Outcomes.

Psychopharmacological treatments have been used with increased frequency to treat a variety of internalizing and externalizing disorders in children. Given the potential impact that medication has on children's school performance, school psychologists should be involved in helping physicians and families make effective decisions by assisting with (a) diagnostic decision-making and determining the need for medication; (b) evaluating medication effects and determining optimal dosage; and (c) integrating medical, psychosocial, and educational interventions. Potential barriers to the adoption of these roles are discussed as well as clinical, ethical, training, and legal implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facial distribution of subcutaneous fat in women

Transparency of the skin is an important keyword that is frequently used in questionnaires related to the female skin condition and skin consciousness, as well as an index for 'before and after' comparisons of the effect of cosmetics. However, the concept of 'transparency' has not been concretely defined. In the present study, we investigated the importance of 'transparent skin' and the relationship between transparency and other expressions for skin condition comparing the young with middle-aged and elderly women. Furthermore, we also analyzed the correlation between the subjective assessment score of transparency of panels made by evaluators and the skin physiological parameters of those panels, and compared the difference of their relationship when the young and middle-aged and elderly women were employed as evaluators. Regarding the consciousness of the young women, the importance of 'transparent skin' was ranked in the top position while 'skin roughness' was the chief worry of the middle-aged and elderly women. On the other hand, both age groups indicated that transparent skin is a complex concept composed of skin texture, color, and moisture. Analysis of the relationship between the subjective assessment and the skin physiological parameters showed that the uneven dispersion of b in the skin color (standard deviation), the water content of stratum corneum, and the skin surface configuration (depth of furrows, amount of furrows) closely correlated with the judgment of skin transparency in the young group, in contrast to the uneven dispersion of L and a in the skin color (standard deviation) in the middle-aged and elderly women. These results suggest that there may be no differences between the different age groups in the linguistic concept of transparency, while there may be differences in the physiological characteristics of skin that are utilized in making the judgment of transparency.