International adoption: Issues of acknowledgement of adoption and birth culture

There has been a steady trend of adopting children from other countries. Families who adopt children internationally are faced with not only the acknowledgement of the adoption but the recognition of the birth culture. Thirty four families were surveyed to assess issues regarding the relevance, frequency, and means of acknowledgement of the adoption and birth culture. Findings are reported with suggestions for adoption professionals included.     

Gender differences in the initiation and attribution of tactile intimacy

Cultural norms may restrict the demonstration of intimacy between men, such that male adults are relatively unlikely (in comparison to females) to display affection in public by hugging or putting hands around one another's waists. Study 1 examined via a role playing technique how the gender composition of a dyad and types of friendship influence tactile greetings. Males displayed less physical intimacy with male friends than with female (platonic or dating) friends and less than females displayed with their same-sex friends. Study 2 examined subjects' perceptions of and attributions about reciprocal touch. Male-male behavior was rated as less normal as a function of the level of physical touch (going from no touch, hugging, to arms around the waist). The normalcy rating of opposite-sex pairs did not vary as a function of the touch manipulation, but female, same-sex pairs' behavior was rated as less normal in the arms around the waist than in either the no touch or hug conditions. In the male same-sex pairs, hugging was seen as more likely to reflect a sexual relationship than no touch, while arms around one another's waist was rated as even more likely to represent a sexual relationship. It was suggested that homophobia, the fear of appearing or being homosexual, may operate to inhibit physical intimacy between men.     

Assessing the Relationship Between Environmental Lead Concentrations and Adult Blood Lead Levels

This paper presents a model for predicting blood lead levels in adults who are exposed to elevated environmental levels of lead. The model assumes a baseline blood lead level based on average blood lead levels for adults described in two recent U.S. studies. The baseline blood lead level in adults arises primarily from exposure to lead in diet. Media-specific ingestion and absorption parameters are assessed for the adult population, and a biokinetic slope factor that relates uptake of lead into the body to blood lead levels is estimated. These parameters are applied to predict blood lead levels for adults exposed to a hypothetical site with elevated lead levels in soil, dust and air. Blood lead levels ranging from approximately 3-57 μg/dl are predicted, depending on the exposure scenarios and assumptions.     

On the Construction of Nearest–Neighbour Balanced Row–Column Designs

Nearest–neighbour balance is considered a desirable property for an experiment to possess in situations where experimental units are influenced by their neighbours. This paper introduces a measure of the degree of nearest–neighbour balance of a design. The measure is used in an algorithm which generates nearest–neighbour balanced designs and is readily modified to obtain designs with various types of nearest–neighbour balance. Nearest–neighbour balanced designs are produced for a wide class of parameter settings, and in particular for those settings for which such designs cannot be found by existing direct combinatorial methods. In addition, designs with unequal row and column sizes, and designs with border plots are constructed using the approach presented here.     

Burnout and Secondary Trauma Among Forensic Interviewers of Abused Children

This study examined factors associated with burnout and secondary trauma among forensic interviewers of abused children. Sixty-six forensic interviewers who are affiliated with advocacy centers across the United States completed an online survey. The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory and Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale were used to measure burnout and secondary trauma, respectively. Results indicate that organizational satisfaction has a moderate inverse relationship with burnout and a slight inverse relationship with secondary trauma. The number of forensic interviews conducted or length of employment in forensic interviewing did not have a strong relationship with either burnout or secondary trauma.     

Ethical questions in functional neuroimaging and cognitive enhancement

The new field of neuroethics has recently emerged following unprecedented developments in the neurosciences. Neuroimaging and cognitive enhancement in particular are demanding ethical debate. For example, neuroscientists are able to measure, with increasing accuracy, intimate personal biases and thoughts as they occur in the brain. “Smart drugs” are now available that can effectively and safely enhance mental functioning in both healthy and clinical populations. This article describes the scientific principles behind these technologies, and urges the development of ethical principles based on a clear understanding of them. Europe should take the United States’ lead in devoting resources specifically intended to examine neuroethical concerns within European healthcare and legal frameworks.

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Zusammenfassung Die zahlreichen Entwicklungen in den Neurowissenschaften haben kürzlich zur Entstehung des neuen Feldes der Neuroethik geführt. Vor allem die Möglichkeiten von Neuro-Bildgebung und kognitiver Leistungssteigerung machten eine ethische Debatte erforderlich. So sind Neurowissenschaftler heute in der Lage, mit zunehmender Genauigkeit intime persönliche Neigungen und Gedanken zu messen, sobald sie im Gehirn erscheinen. Zudem gibt es „Smart Drugs”, die mentale Funktionen sowohl in gesunden als auch in klinischen Populationen auf effektive und sichere Weise steigern können. In diesem Beitrag beschreiben wir die wissenschaftlichen Prinzipien hinter diesen Technologien und drängen auf die Entwicklung ethischer Prinzipien auf der Grundlage eines klaren Verständnisses besagter Technologien. Europa sollte dem Beispiel der Vereinigten Staaten folgen und Mittel zur Verfügung stellen, die spezifisch der Untersuchung neuroethischer Belange innerhalb des europäischen Gesundheitswesens und der Gesetzgebung in Europa dienen.

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Resume´ Des développements sans précédent dans les sciences neurologiques ont récemment débouché sur l’émergence du nouveau domaine de la neuro-éthique. La neuroimagerie et l’accroissement du rendement cognitif exigent en particulier un débat éthique. Par exemple, les neuroscientifiques sont en mesure aujourd’hui de mesurer avec une précision croissante les inclinaisons et les pensées intimes personnelles dès leur apparition dans le cerveau. Il existe à présent des « smart drugs », des molécules intelligentes, qui permettent de renforcer de manière efficace et sûre les fonctions mentales de populations saines comme cliniques. Le présent article décrit les principes scientifiques qui se cachent derrière ces technologies et considère qu’il est urgent de développer des principes éthiques fondés sur une compréhension claire de ces technologies. L’Europe devrait suivre l’exemple des États-Unis et consacrer des ressources spécialement destinées à étudier les questions de neuro-éthique au sein de la santé publique européenne et de ses cadres législatifs.

     

The Onset of Working Memory in Infants

We used an optimized configuration of the delayed‐response task to explore the ability of young infants to remember which of 2 locations was correct across 12 trials after a 1‐ to 2‐sec delay. Performance improved with age, particularly after 5.5 months. These findings suggest an onset of appreciable working memory for many infants in the middle of their 6th month.