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Biomedical subjects

J D Gfeller

Publications and source records attributed to J D Gfeller.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Reminiscence, personality, and psychological functioning in older adults.

PURPOSE: The present study examined the relationships between the frequency and functions of reminiscence, personality styles, and psychological functioning. There is little research on the psychological factors that correlate with reminiscence, especially in relationship to clinical constructs such as depression and anxiety. Research in the area of reminiscence functions may facilitate a better understanding of the factors affecting change in reminiscence therapies. DESIGN AND METHODS: Seventy-seven healthy older adults completed the following self-report scales: Reminiscence Functions Scale, NEO Five Factor Personality Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Templer-McMordie Death Anxiety Scale. RESULTS: Using canonical correlation techniques, results indicated that individuals with negative psychological functioning frequently reminisce as a way to refresh bitter memories, reduce boredom, and prepare for death. IMPLICATIONS: The present study provides implications for both researchers and clinicians. Contrary to previous studies, results indicate that depressed and anxious older adults commonly use reminiscence and therefore may be appropriate candidates for reminiscence treatments.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Detecting feigned neuropsychological impairment with the Seashore Rhythm Test.

Sixty undergraduate subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups and completed the Seashore Rhythm Test (SRT) as part of an investigation regarding simulated neuropsychological impairment. A sophisticated simulator group was instructed to feign impairment and was provided information regarding traumatic brain injury (TBI) sequelae. A naive simulator group was instructed to feign impairment, but was given no such information. A control group was instructed to perform optimally. Additionally, SRT scores for 20 TBI subjects who completed neuropsychological evaluations were analyzed. Mean SRT scores for the sophisticated and naive simulators did not differ but were significantly lower when compared to control subjects and TBI subjects. A discriminate function analysis cutting score correctly classified 79% of subjects, while classification rates obtained with two previously investigated cutting scores were 64% and 72%. Implications of using these cutting scores are discussed. The findings indicate the SRT is a useful indicator of feigned neurological impairment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Detecting simulated memory impairment with the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test: implications of base rates and study generalizability.

The accuracy of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) for detecting simulated neuropsychological impairment was investigated using discriminant function analyses and cross-validation procedures. In Study 1, a discriminant function analysis, using six RAVLT variables, correctly classified 80% of 50 simulating and 50 non-simulating participants. Base rates were changed and this discriminant function was tested in Study 2 with a 33% base rate of simulation. The discriminant function correctly classified 75% of 20 simulators and 90% of 40 non-simulators, yielding an overall classification rate of 85%. To determine the generalizability of this discriminant function to a clinical sample, Study 3 compared the RAVLT performance of 20 simulating participants to that of 40 motor vehicle accident (MVA) patients. The discriminant function from Study 1 incorrectly classified 60% of the MVA patients and yielded an overall correct classification rate of 48%. The limitations associated with generalizing from analog research and the implications of varying base rates on classification accuracy are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Construct validity of the computerized version of the Category Test.

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the construct validity of the computer version of the Category Test (CT) in relation to the standard version. As part of a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment, outpatient rehabilitation clients completed either the standard CT (n = 49) or the computerized version (n = 56). Two principal component factor analyses were performed and the factor structures compared to a solution reported previously in the literature. Inspection of the factor loadings revealed a similarity between the computerized CT and standard CT groups as well as with the previously reported analysis. The results of this study suggest that regardless of the mode of administration the CT loads on a "spatial abilities", factor and provides support for the construct validity of the computerized CT as part of a comprehensive neuropsychological testing battery.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

The East Boston Memory Test: a clinical screening measure for memory impairment in the elderly.

Comparisons between the East Boston Memory Test (EBMT), a brief verbal memory measure used in epidemiological studies with dementia, selected Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) subtests, and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were investigated with 23 geriatric patients diagnosed with dementia. Significant correlations between the EBMT and WMS-R verbal subtests were predicted and occurred (r = .42 to .64). A five minute EBMT recall correlated most highly with the WMS-R Logical Memory subtests. The sensitivity of the EBMT in detecting cognitive impairment was investigated and compared with the sensitivity of the MMSE. The EBMT correctly classified 78% of subjects, compared to a 70% correct classification rate with the MMSE. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research directions are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

The impact of constructional impairment on the WMS-R Visual Reproduction subtests.

The present study investigated the impact of constructional impairment on performance on the WMS-R Visual Reproduction subtests that measure memory for visual material. Thirteen subjects with constructional impairment had lower scores on the immediate and half-hour delayed Visual Reproduction subtests, relative to a cognitively comparable group of subjects without constructional impairment. However, the two groups did not differ with respect to their performance on the WMS-R Logical Memory subtests, which measure verbal memory. The implications of these modality specific findings among subjects with constructional impairment are discussed, and recommendations for clinicians who utilize the WMS-R are provided.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Relationship between social desirability and self-report in chronic pain patients.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between social desirability and self-report in data collected from chronic pain patients. SETTING: A multidisciplinary pain management center located in a major university medical center. PATIENTS: Two hundred persons presenting with chronic pain, including low back, head/neck, and extremity pain. MEASURES: Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, Beck Depression Inventory--Short Form, Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory, Psychosomatic Symptom Checklist, McGill Pain Questionnaire, Pain Disability Index, Quality of Life Scale, Pain Drawing. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Correlations showed that patients with greater social desirability response bias reported less depression and anxiety but higher levels of pain severity. When depression effects were controlled in a regression analysis, social desirability correlated positively with self-reported disability. These results show systematic response patterns associated with social desirability, suggesting that social desirability response biases should be considered in both research and clinical assessments of chronic pain patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Hypnotizability enhancement: clinical implications of empirical findings.

While some conceptualize hypnotizability as a stable attribute of the individual, there is a growing body of literature that indicates hypnotizability may be characterized as a constellation of potentially modifiable attitudes and skills that are strongly influenced by contextual factors. In this article I briefly review representative studies from the hypnotizability-enhancement literature and highlight several controversial issues that have emerged. Although the empirical debate regarding hypnotizability and its enhancement will continue, this literature review has produced findings that are of value to hypnotherapists who wish to facilitate optimal hypnotic responding and positive outcomes with their patients. Several of these findings and their implications for the clinical application of hypnosis are discussed.

Humans↗
PubMed1994

Postconcussion symptoms and cognitive functioning in posttraumatic headache patients.

Forty-two patients with posttraumatic headache of at least three months duration following motor vehicle accident completed the Postconcussion Syndrome Checklist which assessed their experience of 10 commonly reported cognitive, emotional, and physical symptoms. The patients also completed the Beck Depression Inventory and a brief battery of neuropsychological tests. Results indicated that postconcussion symptoms remained quite prevalent among these subjects. More pronounced postconcussion symptomatology was associated with significantly greater impairment on 6 of 13 measures of neuropsychological functioning. Neither severity of subjects' postconcussion symptoms nor neuropsychological test performance were affected by litigation status. However, depressed subjects reported more severe cognitive and emotional symptoms than did nondepressed subjects. Additional information about postconcussion symptom prevalence and a description of the relationship between self-reported symptoms, cognitive functioning on neuropsychological tests, and depression is provided. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed1993

Efficacy of progressive muscle relaxation for reducing state anxiety among elderly adults on memory tasks.

Cognitively intact anxious elderly subjects were randomly assigned to either a progressive muscle relaxation-training condition or control condition (ns = 15) and then completed selected subtests from the Wechsler Memory Scale--Revised. Despite significant reductions in state anxiety in the relaxation group, no significant differences were detected between the two groups on memory measures. These results are discussed within the context of previous research, and suggestions for further research are made.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

A double-blind comparison of the effects of temazepam and triazolam on residual, daytime performance in elderly insomniacs.

Benzodiazepine hypnotic medications are widely prescribed for elderly patients, but there is a paucity of information available concerning the residual cognitive and psychomotor (the morning-after) effects of these drugs. We compared two commonly used hypnotics--temazepam and triazolam--in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-dose study with community-dwelling healthy elderly with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of primary insomnia. Forty-five subjects over the age of 65 (mean age 72.23, SD = 4.44) qualified for the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of five treatment groups (placebo, triazolam 0.125 mg., triazolam 0.25 mg., temazepam 15 mg., and temazepam 30 mg.). Neuropsychological testing was completed at baseline and 12-14 hours after the dosing. Patients were evaluated with a variety of tests that measured attention, concentration, motor speed, immediate memory, and learning of new information. Separate repeated measured analyses of variance were performed to assess the significant changes among the five treatment groups. We found improved performance or no change in all the measures for all medication groups except for impairment of performance on a serial learning task for both high-dose medication groups. The significance of these results and the need for further research in elderly insomniacs is discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

The effect of a single low dose of trihexyphenidyl on memory functioning in the healthy elderly.

Medications with anticholinergic properties, when taken at therapeutic doses, are known to adversely affect memory functioning in young adults and the elderly. However, their impact at lower doses in geriatric persons has been less thoroughly studied. We investigated the impact of a single 2-mg dose of trihexyphenidyl on memory functioning in 20 healthy elderly subjects using a within-subjects, double-blind comparison with a placebo. Memory functioning was evaluated using subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale. Subjects also rated the perceived impact of medication on their performance following memory testing. Results indicated that the single 2-mg dose of trihexyphenidyl produced impaired performance on measures of immediate and half-hour delayed recall of complex verbal and visual material when compared to the placebo condition. However, differences were not found on several other memory measures, including general orientation, attention-concentration, and learning of word associations. The significance of these selective memory deficits and suggestions regarding future research are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1991

The WAIS-R profile as a cognitive marker of Alzheimer's disease: a misguided venture?

The utility of a pattern on WAIS-R subtest performance (Fuld profile) in differentiating between dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) and multi-infarct dementia (MID) was investigated. The Fuld profile was neither sensitive nor specific to DAT, as similar numbers of DAT subjects (15%) and MID subjects (12%) obtained a positive profile. No relationship between presence of the profile and level of education was detected. However, a positive profile in DAT subjects was associated with less severe neuropsychological impairment. Implications of this finding as well as the value of searching for a cognitive marker for DAT are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1990

WAIS-R performance in dementia with and without depression.

A lower mean WAIS-R Performance IQ and lower mean scores on the Arithmetic and Picture Arrangement subtests for dementia patients with affective disorder (n = 22) versus dementia patients without affective disorder (n = 10) are presented. Implications of these findings and suggestions for further research are tendered.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

The sensitivity of the Bender-Gestalt Test as a screening instrument for neuropsychological impairment in older adults.

We investigated the sensitivity of the Bender (1938) Visual-Motor Gestalt Test (BGT) using the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery (HRB) as the criterion for cortical dysfunction. We studied 95 subjects over age 55 who had been diagnosed as having dementia or pseudodementia. Subjects were classified as mild, moderately, or severely impaired on the HRB and as impaired or unimpaired on the BGT. The results indicated that the BGT is less sensitive (36%) than was expected when used on an impaired geriatric population. The data further indicated that false negatives occurred more frequently with the BGT when individuals had mild neuropsychological impairment. Less frequent misclassifications occurred as the severity of impairment on HRB indices increased.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Enhancing hypnotic susceptibility: interpersonal and rapport factors.

This research supported the hypothesis that hypnosis can be thought of as a set of potentially modifiable social-cognitive skills and attitudes. A low-interpersonal-training treatment devised by Gorassini and Spanos (1986) was compared with a treatment designed to modify not only cognitive factors but also to augment rapport with the trainer and diminish resistance to responding (high-interpersonal training). Fifty percent of the initially unhypnotizable subjects in the high-interpersonal condition tested as being highly susceptible to hypnosis (high susceptibles) at posttest on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (Shor & Orne, 1962); 25% of the unhypnotizable subjects in the low-interpersonal condition responded comparably. Eighty-three percent of the medium-susceptibility (medium susceptibles) subjects tested as being highly susceptible at posttest in both conditions. Practice-alone control subjects' performance was stable across testings. The study was the first to demonstrate that treatment gains generalize to a battery of novel, demanding suggestions (generalization index) that have been found to differentiate highly susceptible subjects from unhypnotizable simulating subjects. The importance of rapport was evidenced by the finding that rapport ratings paralleled group differences in hypnotic responding and that rapport correlated substantially with susceptibility scores at posttest and with the generalization index. Whereas initial hypnotizability scores correlated significantly with retest susceptibility scores, initial hypnotizability failed to correlate significantly with the generalization index.

Attitude↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Measuring anxiety states in the elderly using the State-trait Anxiety Inventory for Children.

Healthy elderly persons aged 60 to 95 years were administered the Children's State version of the State-trait Anxiety Inventory (STAIC-S), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Minimental State Examination (MMSE) in order to establish descriptive data on the STAIC-S for use with a geriatric population. The STAIC-S was found to be internally consistent and temporally stable over an average of 11 days. In addition, factor analysis and correlations with the GDS and MMSE are presented. The authors suggest that the STAIC-S is both reliable and valid when used with an elderly population.

Aged↗