摘要:

This paper describes a new theoretical model of subliminal psychodynamic activation (SPA) effects. The model conceptualizes subliminal-supraliminal differences in SPA effects as being due to differences in subjects' attributions for the changes in anxiety level that are produced by subliminal versus supraliminal SPA stimuli. Changes in anxiety level produced by supraliminal SPA stimuli can be attributed by subjects to the experimental procedures, diminishing the impact of these messages on subjects' responses. In contrast, subjects cannot attribute changes in anxiety level produced by subliminal SPA stimuli to the experimental procedures. Therefore, no “discounting” (i.e., situational) attributions for sublimmafly induced changes in anxiety levels are available to subjects, and subliminal SPA messages produce significantly stronger effects on responding than do supraliminal SPA messages. The attributional model of SPA effects is discussed in the context of other long-term research programs investigating subliminal phenomena. The implications of this model for clinical treatment and empirical research utilizing the SPA paradigm are discussed.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Beck's cognitive theory of depression postulates several types of cognitive bias among depressed patients. Empirical studies supporting this hypothesis have usually used questionnaire “endorsement” measures of cognition, which may suggest responses to subjects. We used the articulated thoughts during simulated situations (ATSS) method of cognitive assessment in comparing cognitive processes of 15 outpatients with major depression with those of 15 nondepressed psychiatric outpatients in three simulated situations. Depressed patients exceeded nondepressed patients in cognitive bias only in the negative (not the neutral or positive) simulated situation. Discussion centered on the possible utility of ATSS for research on cognition in stressful situations.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This paper utilizes an ontogenetically validated personality test, the Meta-Contrast Technique (MCT). The instrument focuses on the microdevelopment of perception (percept genesis) reflecting the process of individual adaptation to and construction of reality. Empirical evidence for the adequacy of the MCT paradigm in neuropsychological personality research is presented. In all, 45 patients were tested; thirty-three patients with various forms of supra-tentorial brain tumors were examined and compared with a group of 12 cerebrovascular disease (CVD) patients. Without the examiner's knowledge of degree of tumor malignancy, the MCT results allowed differentiation among tumors of various histological types. Uninformed of the final diagnosis, patients with highly malignant gliomas showed panic-related anxiety and schizoid-like regressions, in contrast both to patients with low and nonmalignant brain tumors and to the group of CVD patients.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The scores of attention/information-processing measures derived from neuropsychological testing of 34 chronic psychotic, primarily schizophrenic patients were subjected to a principal components analysis. Measures were chosen a priori on the basis of a previous factor-analytic study by A.F. Mirsky (1987, Behavioral and psychophysiological markers of disordered attention,Environmental Health Perspectives74:191–199). The factor pattern in the present study was strikingly similar to that reported by Mirsky on a largely nonpsychotic sample. In both studies, four factors emerged that may be identified as: a) perceptual motor speed; b) mental control (numerical-mnemonic); c) flexibility; and d) vigilance. This replication provides support for previously postulated types of attention and suggests that schizophrenic and other psychotic disorders are not associated with atypical organization of attention/information-1 processing dimensions. The authors discuss questions raised by Mirsky's previous results in light of the present findings. In particular, it was concluded that the flexibility factor requires further clarification. Implications of the findings for clinical evaluation and research in schizophrenia are discussed as well.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Person identification disturbances in Alzheimer's disease (AD) add to the suffering of both patients and caregivers. We assessed the prevalence of person identification disturbances in the records of 217 outpatients with AD. These disturbances occurred in 25.4% (N= 55) and included transient misidentifications of familiar persons (N= 34), the Capgras syndrome (N= 11), misidentification of themselves in mirrors (N= 5), prosopagnosia (N= 3), misidentification of unfamiliar persons as familiar (N= 1), and misidentiflcation of another person as oneself (N= 1). Transient misidentifications were easily corrected misperceptions, and the Capgras syndrome and mirror difficulties were associated with suspiciousness/paranoia and delusions. In AD, these findings suggest that misidentifications of familiar persons result from misinterpretations due to cognitive impairments, and the Capgras syndrome and mirror difficulties ensue when these misinterpretations are elaborated by paranoid delusions.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Forty nonconsumers (subjects with pain lasting for more than 1 year who had not consulted a doctor because of it during the preceding year) were compared with 46 chronic patients at a pain clinic. The mean duration of the nonconsumers1 pain was twice as long as that of the patients‘. Although their pain intensity, as assessed with pain diaries, did not differ, their estimated pain intensity was less than that of the pain patients; they took fewer analgesics, were less functionally impaired, made less use of coping strategies associated with poor adjustment, were less depressed, and expected less help from external resources. The “non-consumer attitude” appears to be independent of the duration of the pain complaints.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This paper describes the development and initial testing of the Treatment Services Review (TSR). The TSR is a 5-minute, technician-administered interview that provides a quantitative profile of the number and types of treatment services received by patients during alcohol and drag abuse rehabilitation. Test-retest studies indicated satisfactory reliability administered either in person or over the phone. Tests of concurrent validity showed the ability to discriminate different levels of treatment services and good correspondence with independent measures of treatment provided. While additional studies are still needed with this instrument, the data collected thus far suggest that the TSR may serve two types of needs. First, at the programmatic level, the TSR may prove useful in describing and comparing programs in terms, of the nature and number of services actually delivered to patients. At the individual patient level, the TSR may offer a means of evaluating the “match” between a patient's needs and the services actually provided.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

There are no valid and reliable cross-cultural instruments capable of measuring torture, trauma, and trauma-related symptoms associated with the DSM-III-R diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Generating such standardized instruments for patients from non-Western cultures involves particular methodological challenges. This study describes the development and validation of three Indochinese versions of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ), a simple and reliable screening instrument that is well received by refugee patients and bicultural staff. It identifies for the first time trauma symptoms related to the Indochinese refugee experience that are associated with PTSD criteria. The HTQ's cultural sensitivity may make it useful for assessing other highly traumatized non-Western populations.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Koro epidemics, characterized by panic due to fear of genital retraction, involving more than 2000 victims, mainly young men, occurred in Hainan Island and Leizhou Peninsula of Guangdong Province, China, in 1984–85 and 1987. A questionnaire survey of 214 victims of these epidemics was conducted in 1988. The survey focused on symptom manifestation, personality profile, life problems, and folk belief. The results of the “koro” group were compared with those of a “clinic” group with minor psychiatric disorder and a “control” group from the non-clinical, non-koro episode population in the epidemic area. The results revealed that the victims of the koro epidemics were characterized by low intellectual endowment and strong acceptance of koro-related folk beliefs. The results support the hypotheses that: a) a koro attack is a psychologically induced anxiety-panic condition; b) the presence of an intensive belief in the culturally related concept of koro makes the subject vulnerable to the attack; and c) social crisis or tension serves as a trigger for the occurrence of the epidemic.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Scores for 112 children aged 6 to 12 years, with well-controlled seizures and of average or higher IQ, were compared for problem behavior with established norms. As assessed on the Conners' Teacher Rating Scale, the group with seizures was comparable to the normative group on two subscales and superior on two others. In contrast, parents of children in the seizure group rated them as significantly worse on all six subscales of the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist. In a larger group of 133 children with seizures, from which this sample was selected, the relationship of age, sex, and seizure type to behavior problems was examined. Subjects with partial seizures were rated as slightly more aggressive and antisocial than those with generalized seizures. Findings were discussed in regard to differences in perception of behavior by parents and teachers and the possible relevance of seizure type to the expression of behavior problems.

ISSN:0022-3018    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1992

数据来源: OVID