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Biomedical subjects

D J Madden

Publications and source records attributed to D J Madden.

71 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

The use of focused attention in visual search by young and old adults.

A deficit in focused attention has recently been suggested to underlie some of the cognitive decrements seen in the elderly. This hypothesis was tested in two visual search studies. Subjects had to decide whether or not a given target was present among an array of six digits, three of which were red, the rest black. For the "yes" trials, prior information regarding target color substantially reduced search time in comparison to warning signal that did not provide color information. This reduction in search time was equivalent in the young and the old, both at long (ad lib) and shorter (250-1000 msec) array durations. This result suggests that both age groups are equally proficient in focusing their attention on the digits of the relevant color. On the "no" trials, prior color-information was not effective in reducing search time. There was some evidence in experiment two that the older subjects were using a different search strategy on these trials.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Assaultive adolescents: family decision-making parameters.

This article presents the results of a pilot study that investigated the family decision-making styles of families with a violent adolescent (17) and families with a normal adolescent (12). The results, utilizing an unrevealed differences family interactional test, showed that families with an assaultive teenager when contrasted with normal families had: (a) less agreement when making choices as a group; (b) less agreement between mother and violent son when making choices about activities; (c) sons who had less influence in the families' choice of activities; and, (d) mothers who "dictated" the families' decisions more often. The meanings of these findings and others are discussed by the authors as they relate to the problem of assaultive youths.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Age differences and similarities in the improvement of controlled search.

An age-related slowing of performance has been previously reported for tasks that require controlled search, an attention-demanding stimulus comparison procedure. In contrast, older adults have been found to resemble the young in the ability to improve search performance through the development of automatic detection, a comparison procedure that does not depend on attentional control. The present experiments examined the ability of young and older adults to improve controlled search performance under conditions designed to vary the attentional demands of search, but prevent the use of automatic detection. In both a pure memory-search task (Experiment 1) and a hybrid memory-search/visual-search task (Experiment 2), the overall rate of search was slower for the older subjects than for the young. The two age groups were similar, however, in their ability to use a familiar stimulus dimension (e.g., letter/digit) as a means of improving the rate of controlled search. The opportunity for reducing the attentional demands of the search task, rather than the use of automatic detection per se, thus appears to be a critical variable in determining older individuals' level of performance.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Signal-detection analysis of hemispheric differences in visual recognition memory.

In the present experiment, subjects decided on each trial whether or not a unilaterally presented probe digit was a member of a previously memorized set of two, three, or four digits. The probe was presented at a near-threshold duration and followed by a visual pattern mask. Signal-detection estimates of detectability and response bias were obtained from subjects' confidence ratings regarding their decisions. The detectability of the probe in memory was significantly better when the probe was presented to the right visual field-left hemisphere than when presented to the left visual field-right hemisphere. The response criterion became significantly more lax as memory-set size increased, but only for probes presented to the left visual field-right hemisphere. The present results are consistent with reaction-time studies using verbal stimuli that indicate a left hemisphere advantage in the efficiency of memory comparison.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Battered parents: a new syndrome.

The authors identify a new syndrome of family violence--parent battering. Relevant dynamics include individual characteristics of the parent batterer, distortions in the generational authority hierarchy, the role of secrets and denial, and cultural influences. The authors conclude, on the basis of their clinical work with these families, that this subtype of family violence is distinct from child and spouse abuse.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Voluntary and involuntary treatment of aggressive patients.

The author describes his experiences in treating violent patients in group therapy. Problems include the divergent goals of therapist, patient, and society; the environmental limitations on incarcerated patients; countertransference issues; and magical expectations on the part of patients. Therapeutic goals must be somewhat limited with patients who are forced into therapy. It may be dangerous to "open up" such patients, especially when they face lengthy prison terms. The author suggests that distancing tactics be avoided with violent patients, who need to encounter another person who has dealt successfully with hatred, fear, and limitations.

Aggression↗
PubMed1976

Assaults on psychiatrists by patients.

The authors describe the results of a survey of 115 psychiatrists regarding assaults by patients. Forty-eight psychiatrists stated that they had been assaulted; a total of 68 assaults was reported. Psychiatrists were most often assaulted in the early stages of their career or while they were working in high-risk settings such as prisons or emergency rooms. Many reported retrospectively that they might have had a role in provoking the assault and that they could have anticipated it. The authors believe that psychiatrists avoid dealing with the issue of violence by patients for a variety of reasons, and they recommend that clinicians learn techniques for managing potentially assaultive patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

A violence clinic: three years' experience.

The authors describe a clinical facility established for the neuropsychiatric treatment of individuals with a variety of psychopathological disorders where the common management problem is one of aggressive behavior. The authors present case vignettes to illustrate the clinic's consultation with mental health workers about the management of violent patients, countertransference problems, ward problems, the role of organic factors, medication, and prediction of violence. They urge that the subject of violence be included in the psychiatrist's training.

Female↗
PubMedDate not supplied

From retina to response: contrast sensitivity and memory retrieval during visual word recognition.

Twenty-four young adults (M = 19.5 years) and 24 older adults (M = 68.4 years) performed a word/nonword classification task (i.e., lexical decision) in which a single letter-string was presented on each trial. Estimates were obtained of the time required to retrieve information regarding the orthography (pronounceability) and meaning of the letter-string. A measure of subjects' spatial resolution ability (contrast sensitivity) was also obtained. In the lexical decision task, the older adults' word recognition speed was slower than that of the young adults overall, but there was no age-related slowing associated specifically with the retrieval of either orthographic or semantic information. The similarity of the two age groups' retrieval estimates was independent of whether a manual or vocal response was required. An age-related change in the shape of the contrast sensitivity function was present. The age differences in the speed of word recognition, however, were not attributable to contrast sensitivity.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Adult age differences in the attentional capacity demands of letter matching.

The attentional demands of letter matching were assessed using a secondary task technique with three adult subject groups. The mean ages were: Group 1 = 19.9 years, Group 2 = 58.7 years, Group 3 = 68.9 years. The primary task was letter matching on the basis of physical identity (PI) or name identity (NI); the secondary task was speeded response to a tone. Relative to baseline (single-task) tone RTs, subjects at all ages responded more slowly in the dual-task condition to tones on name-match trials than on physical-match trials. Also, the proportional difference in tone RT between baseline and dual-task trials was significantly larger for Group 3 than Group 1, but this analysis did not reveal a larger age difference for NI than PI matching. However, a second analysis revealed that absolute differences in tone RT between baseline and dual-task trials increased with age, and the magnitude of this effect was larger for NI than PI matching. The implications of the findings for theories of age differences in attentional capacity, and for issues in the measurement of attentional demands, are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Adult age differences in long-term semantic priming.

Young and older adults were first asked to decide if a list of individually presented words were "living" (e.g., "tree") or "nonliving" (e.g., "store"). This was termed the "orienting task." Next, subjects performed a pronunciation task. Semantic priming for young and older adults was indexed by determining if semantic congruence between words in the orienting task and words in the pronunciation task improved performance on the pronunciation task relative to pronounced words from semantic categories not primed in the orienting task. The present data, from two different experiments, revealed that subjects pronounced high-dominance exemplars of the "living" words primed in the orienting task faster than words not primed in the orienting task. These data indicated that semantic priming for relatively long prime-target stimulus onset asynchronies can occur, and that such priming is at least as robust for older adults as for young adults. The results are discussed in terms of four current models of semantic priming.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hypertension affects neurobehavioral functioning.

This study compared the neurobehavioral performance of hypertensive and normotensive men and women using neuropsychological, information-processing, and psychometric assessments. One hundred subjects, including 68 hypertensive and 32 normotensive individuals, completed a test battery that yielded scores on measures of speed of information processing, verbal and figural memory, psychosocial functioning, Type A behavior, and locus of control. Results showed that, compared with the normotensive individuals, the hypertensives performed more poorly on a set of tasks that measure speed of information processing and short-term memory (Digit Symbol, Digit Span (Backwards), and Reaction Time (slope)). The hypertensives also reported higher levels of state anxiety relative to their normotensive counterparts. The effects of hypertension on neurobehavioral functioning could not be accounted for on the basis of age or education.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Family history of hypertension influences neurobehavioral function in hypertensive patients.

This study examined the influence of family history of hypertension on neurobehavioral performance. Sixty-two hypertensive men and women who reported a family history of hypertension (+FH) were compared with 28 hypertensive individuals without a family history (-FH) and 32 normotensive control subjects. A neurocognitive test battery that included tests of information processing, verbal memory, and figural memory was administered individually to each patient. Results showed that +FH, compared with -FH and normotensive control subjects, was associated with poorer performance on three tests of attention and short-term memory (Sternberg reaction time, Trails B, and Digit Span). There were no differences between the groups on tests of either verbal or figural memory. Other variables, including gender, ethnicity, age, years of education, blood pressure, state anxiety, depression, and Type A behavior did not account for these results. In addition, +FH hypertensive subjects reported greater levels of state anxiety and depression compared with -FH hypertensive subjects and normotensive control subjects. The findings suggest a genetic link to impaired cognitive abilities, as observed among hypertensive patients relative to their normotensive counterparts.

Adult↗