ABSTRACT
The performance of 53 healthy older adults (age 60-92) was examined on the Continuous Visual Memory Test (CVMT) and the Visual-Motor Integration Test (VMI). Subjects were divided into the following 3 groups: age 60-69, age 70-79, and age 80-92. Findings for the 60-69 and 80-92 age groups are considered tentative due to small sample size (n = 14 and 8 respectively). Preliminary data for the three age groups on the CVMT and the VMI are presented. On the CVMT, an unsatisfactorily large percentage of subjects were classified as impaired using the cutoffs provided in the CVMT manual, particularly on the delayed recognition measure and for all scores in the age 80-92 group. These preliminary findings suggest that the CVMT may not be an appropriate measure of nonverbal memory for older adults. The subjects' performance on the VMI suggests that this test is an adequate measure of graphomotor constructional ability in older adults and appears to be sensitive to aging effects. The VMI shows promise as an objective measure of graphomotor constructional ability in healthy older adults, and potentially, for individuals with neurological disease.
Subject(s)
Memory , Neuropsychological Tests , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Aging , Analysis of Variance , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Motor Skills , Pattern Recognition, Visual , Wechsler ScalesABSTRACT
The effects of phenothiazines and social skills training on a severely withdrawn schizophrenic were examined. Regulation of phenothiazine levels had the result that the patient became more receptive to behavioral interventions. Specific application of a token economy program effected a marked improvement in the assertive training was employed to improve the patient's repertoire of ininterpersonal responses. Prior to actual hospital discharge the patient was faded back into his natural environment during a job retraining phase at Goodwill Industries. Specific data on the patient's improved social functioning are presented in a multiple baseline analysis. Follow-up data document the patient's successful adaptation of his natural enviroment.
Subject(s)
Behavior Therapy , Benztropine/therapeutic use , Chlorpromazine/therapeutic use , Perphenazine/therapeutic use , Schizophrenia/therapy , Trifluoperazine/therapeutic use , Tropanes/therapeutic use , Adult , Feedback , Follow-Up Studies , Generalization, Psychological , Humans , Hygiene , Imitative Behavior , Male , Occupational Therapy , Schizophrenia/drug therapy , Set, Psychology , Social Behavior , Token Economy , Verbal BehaviorSubject(s)
Behavior Therapy , Imitative Behavior , Interpersonal Relations , Mental Disorders/therapy , Practice, Psychological , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Videotape RecordingABSTRACT
In two independent parent training projects (Kansas and Mississippi), mothers of deviant young children were observed to follow almost all child behaviors with attention. The mothers were then trained to use differential attention procedures to increase their child's appropriate behaviors and to decrease deviant behaviors. Contrary to expectations, the differential attention procedure produced substantial increases in deviant behavior for four of the children. This adverse effect was maintained over many sessions and was replicated in single organism, reversal designs. A fifth child showed no change. A sixth child showed some improvement. However, this effect was not recovered in a second application of differential attention, and the child became worse. The results underline the importance of subject generality in applied behavior analysis and strongly suggest that service programs using operant techniques must carefully evaluate their effects on behavior.
