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At least 937 records · Page 52Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

Thought-bubbles help children with autism acquire an alternative to a theory of mind.

Children with autism have specific difficulties understanding complex mental states like thought, belief, and false belief and their effects on behaviour. Such children benefit from focused teaching, where beliefs are likened to photographs-in-the-head. Here two studies, one with seven participants and one with 10, tested a picturein-the-head strategy for dealing with thoughts and behaviour by teaching children with autism about cartoon thought-bubbles as a device for representing such mental states. This prosthetic device led children with autism to pass not only false belief tests, but also related theory of mind tests. These results confirm earlier findings of the efficacy of picture-in-the-head teaching about mental states, but go further in showing that thought-bubble training more easily extends to children's understanding of thoughts (not just behaviour) and to enhanced performance on several transfer tasks. Thought-bubbles provide a theoretically interesting as well as an especially easy and effective teaching technique.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Theory of mind abilities in young siblings of children with autism.

Deficits in theory of mind (ToM), evident in most individuals with autism, have been suggested as a core deficit of autism. ToM difficulties in young siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) compared to siblings of typically developing children (SIBS-TD) would place the former within the broad phenotype. We examined ToM's possible associations with measures of language, cognition, and daily living skills. Participants comprised 24 SIBS-A and 24 matched SIBSTD aged 4.6 years. They completed the false belief and the strange stories tasks. We also collected measures of verbal and cognitive ability and daily living skills. Non-significant differences emerged between the groups on both ToM tasks. Differences did emerge in within-group associations between ToM ability and receptive language. The conclusion is that SIBS-A show resilience in ToM abilities. Possibly, these deficits are not genetically transferred to siblings, at least as measured in laboratory-based ToM tasks.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed2003

On crafting a cultural mind: a comparative assessment of some recent theories of 'internalization' in psychological anthropology.

This article reviews a number of recent publications in psychological anthropology that draw in varying degrees from psychoanalytic premises in order to theoretically address problems concerning the internalization of cultural meaning. The article begins with a discussion and critical comparison of Spiro's and Obeyesekere's perspectives on internalization that are in line with a number of classical formulations in anthropological and psychoanalytic theory, before turning to explore what appears to be an emerging new wave of perspectives in contemporary psychological anthropology that set out to discuss problems of internalization in the context of a complex modeling of psychological, social, and cultural processes. The article concludes with a brief discussion of where researchers may need to turn to further our understanding of 'internalization' in relation to those intrapsychic, interpsychic, and extrapsychic processes underpinning the crafting of cultural minds.

Acculturation↗
PubMed2006

Promotion of the feeding minds and fighting hunger initiative in selected rural schools in Andhra Pradesh, India.

BACKGROUND: Schoolchildren are good agents of change and need to be educated and sensitized to specific issues of hunger and malnutrition through a question-and-answer process. Feeding Minds and Fighting Hunger (FMFH), a global project initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization and partner organizations, attempts to help schoolchildren learn about these issues by introducing concepts in the prevention of hunger and malnutrition to teachers, and by facilitating transfer of knowledge to the children through a set of model lessons. OBJECTIVE: To test the feasibility of the FMFH approach to improve the nutrition knowledge of rural schoolchildren in three rural schools in Medak District of the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. METHODS: Participatory workshops for teachers were conducted to facilitate knowledge transfer to the children through interactive classroom teaching and other activities. The change in knowledge and thinking of children in the seventh and eighth grades was assessed by a ques- tionnaire administered before and after the intervention. The questionnaire also assessed, in part, the status of local food security based on the sources of different food items in the households. RESULTS: The responses to the questionnaire suggested that the children's knowledge of nutrients and their functions was not good initially but improved after the intervention. However, their understanding of the social factors responsible for hunger and malnutrition was fairly good prior to the intervention. Improvement in responses to the question of what should be done to combat malnutrition also occurred after intervention. The community had village-level food security for rice and maize but depended partially or fully on outside sources for pulses, fruits and vegetables, and animal products. CONCLUSIONS: The FMFH approach can be applied in rural schools where "the poorest of the poor" children can improve their understanding of balanced diets, better nutrition, the causes of malnutrition, and approaches to combat malnutrition.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

A theory of mind investigation into the appreciation of visual jokes in schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: There is evidence that groups of people with schizophrenia have deficits in Theory of Mind (ToM) capabilities. Previous studies have found these to be linked to psychotic symptoms (or psychotic symptom severity) particularly the presence of delusions and hallucinations. METHODS: A visual joke ToM paradigm was employed where subjects were asked to describe two types of cartoon images, those of a purely Physical nature and those requiring inferences of mental states for interpretation, and to grade them for humour and difficulty. Twenty individuals with a DSM-lV diagnosis of schizophrenia and 20 healthy matched controls were studied. Severity of current psychopathology was measured using the Krawiecka standardized scale of psychotic symptoms. IQ was estimated using the Ammons and Ammons quick test. RESULTS: Individuals with schizophrenia performed significantly worse than controls in both conditions, this difference being most marked in the ToM condition. No relationship was found for poor ToM performance and psychotic positive symptomatology, specifically delusions and hallucinations. CONCLUSION: There was evidence for a compromised ToM capability in the schizophrenia group on this visual joke task. In this instance this could not be linked to particular symptomatology.

Awareness↗
PubMed2004

The human HPLC column: "minds-on" neuroscience for the next generation.

Science education researchers have suggested that neuroscientists can play an important role in science education programs for adolescents by creating "minds-on" teaching and learning modules for scientists and teachers to use in classrooms. Effective educational partnerships between teachers and visiting scientists not only ignite student interest but also provide opportunities for scientist and teacher professional development. The aim of the present teaching module was threefold: (1) to introduce adolescents to the acute neurochemical effects of psychomotor stimulant drugs and their analysis using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), (2) to spur maturation of analytical reasoning skills among adolescents, and (3) to spark enthusiasm for science education.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Executive function and theory of mind in 2 year olds: a family affair?

Although numerous studies of preschoolers report robust associations between performance on tests of executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM), a lack of developmentally appropriate tasks so far has limited research on these cognitive skills in younger children. Here, we present new batteries of EF and ToM tasks that were administered to 140 two-year-olds from predominantly disadvantaged families, with analyses based on 129 children. Our results showed a strong association between EF and ToM, which remained significant when effects of verbal ability were controlled. Individual differences in EF and ToM were also examined in relation to both distal family factors (social disadvantage, number of siblings) and proximal family factors (quality of child's relationships with parents and siblings). Social disadvantage predicted significant variance in both EF and ToM but did not contribute to the association between these domains. Associations between positive parent-child relationships and both EF and ToM were nonsignificant when verbal ability was controlled. In contrast, positive sibling relationships predicted significant variance in ToM, even controlling for age, verbal ability, EF, social disadvantage, and parent-child relationships.

Affect↗
PubMed2005

The illusion of mental health: in the mind of which beholder?

We reference self-ratings and clinician ratings of childhood anxious symptoms to a third data source well delineated with regard to the pathophysiology of anxiety. A total of 36 children with anxiety disorders and other children were administered yohimbine, an alpha-sub-2-adrenoreceptor antagonist, in response to which anxiety-prone children have blunted output of growth hormone. We assessed neuroendocrine reactions. In general, participants who claimed anxiety that was unconfirmed by clinicians displayed anxiotypic neuroendocrine profiles, whereas those who denied anxiety detected by clinicians did not, suggesting self-report may have had the advantage over clinician ratings in some instances. Nuanced and contextualized conclusions in this area of work are needed. In response to the question "the illusion of mental health: in the mind of which beholder?," we answer "it depends on the sample and the syndrome under study."

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Mindfulness-based stress reduction lowers psychological distress in medical students.

BACKGROUND: Medical students confront significant academic, psychosocial, and existential stressors throughout their training. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an educational intervention designed to improve coping skills and reduce emotional distress. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the MBSR intervention in a prospective, nonrandomized, cohort-controlled study. METHODS: Second-year students (n = 140) elected to participate in a 10-week MBSR seminar. Controls (n = 162) participated in a didactic seminar on complementary medicine. Profile of Mood States (POMS) was administered preintervention and postintervention. RESULTS: Baseline total mood disturbance (TMD) was greater in the MBSR group compared with controls (38.7 +/- 33.3 vs. 28.0 +/- 31.2; p < .01). Despite this initial difference, the MBSR group scored significantly lower in TMD at the completion of the intervention period (31.8 +/- 33.8 vs. 38.6 +/- 32.8; p < .05). Significant effects were also observed on Tension-Anxiety, Confusion-Bewilderment, Fatigue-Inertia, and Vigor-Activity subscales. CONCLUSION: MBSR may be an effective stress management intervention for medical students.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Self-talk in distressed youth: states-of-mind and content specificity.

Tested hypotheses derived from a States-of-Mind (SOM) model in a sample of 542 children ages 7 to 15. SOM ratios were computed using empirically determined items. Support was found for the SOM model. Negative self-talk (but not positive) was consistently related to increasing levels of affective distress. Thus, children comorbid for anxiety and depression demonstrated the highest levels of negative self-talk (and most dysfunctional SOM ratios). Support for content specificity (specific cognitive content relating uniquely to affective conditions) was mixed. However, specificity was increased when attention was paid to more rationally derived content. Age was not a predictor of positive or negative self-talk. Discussion considers the use of the SOM model in child psychopathology and psychotherapy research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Surgery of the mind and mood: a mosaic of issues in time and evolution.

The prevalence and economic burden of neuropsychiatric disease are enormous. The surgical treatment of these psychiatric disorders, although potentially valuable, remains one of the most controversial subjects in medicine, as its concept and potential reality raises thorny issues of moral, ethical, and socioeconomic consequence. This article traces the roots of concept and surgical efforts in this turbulent area from prehistory to the 21st century. The details of the late 19th and 20th century evolution of approaches to the problem of intractable psychiatric diseases with scrutiny of the persona and contributions of the key individuals Gottlieb Burckhardt, John Fulton, Egas Moniz, Walter Freeman, James Watts, and William Scoville are presented as a foundation for the later, more logically refined approaches of Lars Leksell, Peter Lindstrom, Geoffrey Knight, Jean Talaraich, and Desmond Kelly. These refinements, characterized by progressive minimalism and founded on a better comprehension of underlying pathways of normal function and disease states, have been further explored with recent advances in imaging, which have allowed the emergence of less invasive and technology driven non-ablative surgical directives toward these problematical disorders of mind and mood. The application of therapies based on imaging comprehension of pathway and relay abnormalities, along with explorations of the notion of surgical minimalism, promise to serve as an impetus for revival of an active surgical effort in this key global health and socioeconomic problem. Eventual coupling of cellular and molecular biology and nanotechnology with surgical enterprise is on the horizon.

Europe↗
PubMed2005

Distinct roles for Mind bomb, Neuralized and Epsin in mediating DSL endocytosis and signaling in Drosophila.

Ligands of the Delta/Serrate/Lag2 (DSL) family must normally be endocytosed in signal-sending cells to activate Notch in signal-receiving cells. DSL internalization and signaling are promoted in zebrafish and Drosophila, respectively, by the ubiquitin ligases Mind bomb (Mib) and Neuralized (Neur). DSL signaling activity also depends on Epsin, a conserved endocytic adaptor thought to target mono-ubiquitinated membrane proteins for internalization. Here, we present evidence that the Drosophila ortholog of Mib (Dmib) is required for ubiquitination and signaling activity of DSL ligands in cells that normally do not express Neur, and can be functionally replaced by ectopically expressed Neur. Furthermore, we show that both Dmib and Epsin are required in these cells for some of the endocytic events that internalize DSL ligands, and that the two Drosophila DSL ligands Delta and Serrate differ in their utilization of these Dmib- and Epsin-dependent pathways: most Serrate is endocytosed via the actions of Dmib and Epsin, whereas most Delta enters by other pathways. Nevertheless, only those Serrate and Delta proteins that are internalized via the action of Dmib and Epsin can signal. These results support and extend our previous proposal that mono-ubiquitination of DSL ligands allows them to gain access to a select, Epsin-dependent, endocytic pathway that they must normally enter to activate Notch.

Adaptor Proteins, Vesicular Transport↗
PubMed2005

Mind bomb 1 is essential for generating functional Notch ligands to activate Notch.

The Delta-Notch signaling pathway is an evolutionarily conserved intercellular signaling mechanism essential for cell fate specification. Mind bomb 1 (Mib1) has been identified as a ubiquitin ligase that promotes the endocytosis of Delta. We now report that mice lacking Mib1 die prior to embryonic day 11.5, with pan-Notch defects in somitogenesis, neurogenesis, vasculogenesis and cardiogenesis. The Mib1-/- embryos exhibit reduced expression of Notch target genes Hes5, Hey1, Hey2 and Heyl, with the loss of N1icd generation. Interestingly, in the Mib1-/- mutants, Dll1 accumulated in the plasma membrane, while it was localized in the cytoplasm near the nucleus in the wild types, indicating that Mib1 is essential for the endocytosis of Notch ligand. In accordance with the pan-Notch defects in Mib1-/- embryos, Mib1 interacts with and regulates all of the Notch ligands, jagged 1 and jagged 2, as well as Dll1, Dll3 and Dll4. Our results show that Mib1 is an essential regulator, but not a potentiator, for generating functional Notch ligands to activate Notch signaling.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Evaluation of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program for caregivers of children with chronic conditions.

OBJECTIVES: Given the demands of caring for chronically ill children, it is not surprising that caregivers often experience high levels of chronic stress. A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program may offer relief to these caregivers by providing tools for self-care and heath promotion that otherwise may be lacking. METHODS: MBSR classes were offered without restriction to parents of children attending various clinics at a large urban children's medical centre. Caregivers completed the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and Symptoms of Stress Inventory (SOSI) both before and after program participation. RESULTS: Forty-four caregivers participated in one of seven group MBSR sessions that were offered between August 2001 and February 2004. Most were mothers of children with special needs and various chronic conditions, who had been diagnosed an average of 7 years previous. Prior to the intervention, caregivers reported very high levels of stress and mood disturbance. These decreased substantially over the 8-week program, with an overall reduction in stress symptoms of 32% (p < .001), and in total mood disturbance of 56% (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: This brief MBSR program for caregivers of chronically ill children was successful in significantly decreasing substantial stress symptoms and mood disturbance. Further studies would benefit from using more rigorous methodology and applying the program to other groups of chronically stressed caregivers.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Minding morale of institutional markets.

The definition of the term SOCIAL LIFE FEELING is offered to denote or connote a sentiment about the social world or an affect-state that comes from socializing in that world. A review of the literature in SOCIOLOGY indicates that there is an abundance of predilection among sociologists in measuring and assessing How People Feel About Society and Their Place in Society. The selection of TWELVE SOCIAL LIFE FEELING SCALES developed by Karl F. Schuessler is based on their established reliability, their ease of use, and their embodiment in covering concepts pertaining to both a person's outlook on society (cynical, pessimistic, fatalistic) and his or her frame of mind in society (demoralized, estranged, alienated). The present report is based on SLFS11 or FEELINGS OF DEMORALIZATION in Urban and Rural settings. This scale gives the subjects an opportunity to express whether they are marking time, finding it difficult to be optimistic, surmising the world as too complicated, viewing their physical condition to be good, or taking pleasure in their achievements, and so and so forth. A random sample of 398 students drawn from an urban and a rural campus was personally administered a questionnaire included in Appendix A. The data so obtained were subjected to statistical analyses through MINITAB software. High scores present a view of self as useless, helpless, aimless; low scores on the other hand, rules out such an admission of self as useless. It appears that this scale comes closest to approximating the concept of morale and its denotation of demoralization and despair. Persons of high morale have high hopes and great expectations and intend to persevere. Persons of low morale have little hope in their efforts being counted and would presumably stop trying. It is important to note that the items in this scale have principally determined the morale of older people. In this study we have attempted to find its utility in investigating undergraduate students representing the backbone of the American Society. From an empiricist's perspective, the MEAN scores for intergroup comparisons ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE for intragroup comparisons have been provided. Marketing implications of and the strategy development for the findings have been advanced.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Availability bias in clinical formulation: the first idea that comes to mind.

This study tested whether initial client formulations are based simply on the ideas that come most readily to mind, irrespective of the validity of these ideas. This phenomenon is known in decision theory literature as availability bias. The study tested the influence of two possible sources of availability bias in formulation: (a) theoretical orientation; and (b) a suggestion in a referral letter. Forty-four qualified and 20 trainee clinical psychologists participated in a procedure designed to reflect clinical practice. Clinical materials consisted of a fictional referral letter describing a client with adult attachment difficulties and post-traumatic stress disorder. Participants recalled information from the referral letter, described their areas of further interest and initial hypotheses. Results showed no evidence of an availability bias in clinical formulation as a result of theoretical orientation. Theoretical orientation towards attachment did appear to influence the availability of attachment ideas and predicted clinicians taking a stronger attachment focus when discussing the client. In particular, a self-report measure of theoretical orientation demonstrated high predictive validity. However, orientation towards attachment did not predict bias in the sense of selective recall of attachment information or neglect of alternative psychological frameworks. The study provided an inadequate test of availability bias as a result of a suggestion in the referral letter, possibly due to a ceiling effect, and no conclusions can be drawn as to clinical materials as a potential source of availability bias. The discussion addresses implications for further research and for a scientist-practitioner approach to individual case formulation.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Does performance on theory of mind tasks decline in old age?

In the first reported study of theory of mind (ToM; the ability to attribute mental states) in old age, Happe, Winner, and Brownell (1998) observed better performance on ToM tasks in older participants (mean age 73 years) than in young participants (mean age 21 years). We present two experiments exploring the generality of this finding. Experiment 1 compared young, young-old, and old-old age groups (mean ages 19, 67, and 81 years, respectively) on their understanding of ToM stories both with and without the need to remember the information, and control studies that did not require the ability to attribute mental states. For ToM stories with a memory load, the young group performed significantly better than both the young-old and old-old groups; without a memory load, the young and young-old groups performed significantly better than the old-old group. In Experiment 2, young and old-old age groups (mean ages 21 and 81 years, respectively) were compared on their understanding of ToM and control stories without the need to remember the information. Again, the young group performed significantly better than the old-old group on ToM stories. There were no significant age differences in performance on the control stories in either experiment. The age deficit on ToM stories remained significant after taking account of measures of vocabulary and processing speed (Experiments 1 and 2), and measures of executive functioning (Experiment 2).

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

The mind machine: a mass participation experiment into the possible existence of extra-sensory perception.

This paper describes a mass participation experiment examining the possible existence of extra-sensory perception (ESP). The Mind Machine consisted of a specially designed steel cabinet containing a multi-media computer and large touch-screen monitor. The computer presented participants with a series of videoclips that led them through the experiment. During the experiment, participants were asked to complete an ESP task that involved them guessing the outcome of four random electronic coin tosses. All of their data were stored by the computer during an 11-month tour of some of Britain's largest shopping centres, museums, and science festivals. A total of 27,856 participants contributed 110,959 trials, and thus, the final database had the statistical power to detect the possible existence of a very small ESP effect. However, the cumulated outcome of the trials was consistent with chance. The experiment also examined the possible relationship between participants' ESP scores and their gender, belief in psychic ability, and degree of predicted success. The results from all of these analyses were non-significant. Also, scoring on 'clairvoyance' trials (where the target was selected prior to the participant's choice) was not significantly different from 'precognitive' trials (where the target was chosen after the participants had made their choice). Competing interpretations of these findings are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.

Cognition↗