Verbal Assessment Research Articles

Treatment of multiple sclerosis during pregnancy and lactation – Updated national treatment guidelines in Norway

L’atteinte des processus d’encodage et de consolidation en mémoire épisodique est précoce dans le syndrome démentiel de type Alzheimer. Or, il existe peu d’outils diagnostiques adaptés aux personnes âgées, en termes de facilité d’administration et de données normatives.Le but de cette étude était de développer une tâche évaluant la mémoire épisodique verbale chez les personnes âgées de 70 à 89 ans.La tâche (GERIA-12) est basée sur la même procédure que l’épreuve de rappel libre/rappel indicé à 16 items mais ne comporte que 12 items et 2 essais d’apprentissage. Afin d’évaluer les processus de consolidation, des rappels différés ont lieu après 20 minutes et 24 h. L’étalonnage a porté sur 220 personnes âgées de 70 à 89 ans, issues de 3 niveaux de scolarité différents.Les performances diminuent avec l’âge et augmentent avec le niveau scolaire. L’étalonnage a été effectué avec la méthode Barona pour les rappels libres, et sous forme de percentiles pour les rappels totaux, la reconnaissance et les indices (encodage, consolidation et récupération).Cette tâche évalue les processus d’encodage, de stockage et de récupération, et dispose de données normatives précises et d’une procédure plus adaptée aux personnes âgées (facilité d’administration en consultation).Early damage to episodic memory encoding and consolidation processes has been demonstrated in dementia of the Alzheimer type. However, in the domain of verbal episodic memory assessment, there are few diagnostic tools adapted to the old and oldest old as far as ease of administration and accuracy of normative data are concerned. Classic tasks are either too effortful (like the free recall/cued recall of 16 items), not sensitive enough (like the 5 words test), or insufficiently accurate for people above 70 years old in terms of normative data.The aim of this study was to develop a reduced task (in terms of number of items and number of trials) assessing verbal episodic memory in people aged between 70 and 89 years old.The task (GERIA-12) used the same procedure as the RL/RI-16 task but the list comprised only 12 words and there were only 2 learning trials. In order to assess consolidation processes, we included 2 delayed recall trials, one after 20 minutes and the other after 24 hours. We also calculated indexes adapted from the Item-Specific Deficit Approach developed by Wright et al., which has the advantage of providing measures specific to encoding, consolidation and retrieval processes. Standardization was done with data from 220 people aged between 70 and 89 years old and belonging to 3 education levels.We obtained a significant effect of age and education level: scores decrease with age and increase with education. Norms have thus been calculated taking those two variables into consideration. Concerning the standardization, Barona method has been used for free recall scores while percentiles have been used for all other scores (total recall, free recall, encoding, consolidation and retrieval indexes). Normative data are also provided for intrusions and perseverations.This new task allows encoding, consolidation and retrieval processes assessment in older people and has the following advantages: the procedure is more suitable (ease and time of administration), there are accurate normative data for old and oldest old people, and there are normative data for two delayed recalls (at 20 minutes and at 24 hours).

Advanced Social Communication Skills for Young Children with Autism: a Systematic Review of Single-Case Intervention Studies

The extant literature on social communication interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been well reviewed. However, current reviews of the literature indicate more research is needed on advanced social skills for young children with ASD. These more complex social skills, such as sustaining a conversation, showing empathy, or telling a joke, are critical for peer acceptance in the elementary school years. In the current paper, we reviewed the existing single-case literature on social communication interventions for advanced social skills for young (4–12-year-old) children with ASD. We define advanced social skills using the task analysis of the Social Behavior and Social Play—Level 3 subsection of the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP). Electronic database searches of Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Academic Search Premier, and PsycINFO were conducted. Results revealed a library of useful interventions for a specific set of social communication skills; however, some crucial skills for children with ASD were missing from the results. Directions for future research and practice are discussed.

Cervical cancer risk perceptions, sexual risk behaviors and sexually transmitted infections among Bivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccinated and non-vaccinated young women in Uganda - 5\xa0year follow up study

BackgroundPrevious studies were conflicting regarding the associations between HPV vaccination, cervical cancer risk perceptions, high-risk sexual behaviors and STIs. This study compared the HPV-vaccinated and non-vaccinated young women in Uganda regarding cervical cancer risk perceptions, high-risk sexual behaviors, syphilis and HIV infections 5 years after vaccine implementation.MethodsThis was a population-based comparative cross-sectional survey conducted in Uganda. The 438 participants were sexually active young women aged 15–24 years and mean age was 18.6 (SD 1.4). The majority (53.0%) were HPV-vaccinated in 2008 without assessment of sexual activity prior to HPV vaccination. Upon verbal assessment of sexual activity at the time of follow-up, data were collected using a questionnaire and laboratory testing of blood samples for syphilis and HIV infections.ResultsThere were no significant differences between the HPV-vaccinated and non-vaccinated groups regarding the prevalence of high-risk sexual behaviors, syphilis and HIV infections. Cervical cancer risk perceptions and age at sexual debut were nonetheless significantly lower among the vaccinated group compared to their non-vaccinated counterparts. However, HPV vaccination was not significantly associated to cervical cancer risk perceptions and early age at sexual debut in multivariate logistic regression analysis.ConclusionsWe found no associations between HPV vaccination, cervical cancer risk perceptions, high-risk sexual behaviors, syphilis and HIV infections among young women in Uganda 5 years after vaccine implementation. Young girls in the study population were found to be sexually active at a young age, affirming the importance of targeting girls of younger age for HPV vaccination.

Relation Between Caregivers' Burnout and Psychological and Verbal Abuse for Elderly Living in Geriatric Institutions

Elder abuse related to the unidentified crime that seniors are hesitant to speak about. Aim: To assess the relation between caregivers' burnout and psychological and verbal abuse for elderly living in geriatric institutions. Design: A descriptive correlational design was used. Setting: Om Kalthoumand Huda Talaat Harb geriatric institutions at Helwan District. Sample: Purposive sample including 60 elderly and 35 caregivers working in the above mentioned settings. Tools:1) Demographic interviewing sheet about the caregivers and elderly 2) Maslach Burnout Inventory for the caregivers 3) Psychological and verbal abuse assessment sheet for elderly. Results: Revealed statistically significant direct correlations concerning working hours/day and years of experience, and burnout and exhaustion scores(p<0.05). The elderly gender was the only significant predictor for psychological score. There were no statistically significant correlations between all caregivers' burnout items and elderly scores related to psychological and verbal abuse, and among caregivers' scores and each other's(p<0.05). Conclusion: There were direct positive correlations between caregivers' burnout (exhaustion) and psychological and verbal abuse for elderly. Recommendations: Training program for care providers and family members to improve their knowledge about needs and problems of the old age and factors that lead to elder abuse.

Postural And Cognitive Changes Observed During Re-Baseline Assessments

Baseline assessments are vital in the evaluation of concussion and are recommended for any person competing in organized athletics. Following a head injury, the same assessments are administered and results are directly compared to baseline scores. Previous literature has suggested re-baseline assessments be administered to all athletes who have sustained a concussion, as the longitudinal effects of a single concussion are not well understood. However, the clinical utility of re-baseline concussion assessments has not been well investigated. Limited literature exists examining clinical change when evaluating postural control and cognition from baseline to re-baseline assessment following a concussion. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in clinical postural control and cognition with the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) and the Standard Assessment for Concussion (SAC) in athletes who had previously sustained a concussion. METHODS: 34 NCAA athletes and cheerleaders (males = 13, females = 21) participated in this study. All athletes had previously been diagnosed with a concussion during the 2014-15’ and 2015-16’ athletic seasons. Pre-season concussion baselines (PRE) were administered before the first athletic season for each athlete and all athletes completed BESS and SAC evaluations. The same assessments were administered following full recovery from concussion (POST). A medical doctor confirmed the diagnosis and recovery of concussion. The SAC is a verbal assessment evaluating orientation, memory recall, and concentration. The BESS is a subjective evaluation used to identify balance impairments. One-way ANOVAs evaluated the scores on SAC and BESS between each time point. RESULTS: From PRE to POST no significant differences were observed with the BESS (PRE = 15.5 ± 7.34 errors, POST = 16.62 ± 8.04 errors; p =.468; Δ -2.12±8.69) and SAC (PRE = 26.79 ± 1.59 units, POST = 27.24 ± 2.24 units; p = .234, Δ 0.44±2.12). CONCLUSIONS: From PRE to POST assessment, scores on the SAC and BESS did not change significantly. This could suggest that re-baseline of the SAC and BESS has limited clinical utility. Future studies should include more sensitive assessments to adequately detect postural changes from baseline to re-baseline.

Low reliability of sighted-normed verbal assessment scores when administered to children with visual impairments.

The most common and advocated assessment approach when a child cannot access visual materials is to use the verbal subscales of a test the psychologist already has and is familiar with. However, previous research indicates that children with visual impairments experience atypical verbal development. This raises the question of whether verbal subscale scores retain their reliability and interpretation validity when given to children with visual impairments. To answer this question, we administered a vocabulary subscale from a common intelligence test along with several nonverbal subscales to 15 early-blind adolescents (onset of ≤2 years). Reliability of only the vocabulary test scores was insufficient for high-stakes testing. This finding points to the broader issue of difficulties in assessing populations of exceptional children who experience atypical development trajectories, possibly making their assessment with common tests inappropriate. (PsycINFO Database Record

N810 Audit of patient satisfaction with telephone reviews for inflammatory bowel disease

Background: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) require long term follow up. However, many patients attending routine clinic appointments are in remission and require only verbal assessment of their condition. It was noted that the nurse led IBD clinics were often overbooked and access to appointments when required was difficult. Telephone reviews for those with Coeliac disease were already being carried out successfully and it was felt that this may also be a suitable alternative to traditional face to face clinic appointments for patients with stable IBD. Methods: Over a three month period 50 patients scheduled to attend the nurse-led IBD clinic were invited to receive a telephone review rather than face to face consultation. Blood request forms were sent to patients along with the appointment letter notifying them of the time and telephone number they would be contacted on. They were asked to have the blood tests done 1–2 weeks prior to their review. Following the 3 month trial period all patients who had been invited to participate in the telephone clinic were sent a questionnaire to evaluate their satisfaction with the telephone reviews. Results: Of the 50 patients invited to have a telephone review, two had requested to be seen in clinic, of the remaining patients the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) had been unable to contact 3 patients. Two had normal blood results and returned answer phone messages to notify the CNS that they were symptomatically well. 32 questionnaires were returned (64%). There was a fairly even spread of patients in terms of duration of the disease with 16 having IBD for <10 years and 17 patients >10 years. Male and female ratio was also even with 16 male and 14 female (2 had not answered). Two patients who returned the questionnaire had not completed all sections as they had requested to be seen in clinic. Of the 30/32 patients who had received a telephone review general satisfaction was high and the majority would be happy to continue with this method of follow-up. 26 (87%) were happy to continue telephone reviews, 1 (3%) was undecided and 3 (10%) preferred to come in to clinic. In an overall rating for the telephone review 1–10 (1 being very poor) 24 (80%) rated it as 8 or above. Conclusions: The telephone reviews were well received by patients and offer an acceptable alternative to the traditional clinic follow up appointments for those with stable IBD. The level of satisfaction with all aspects of the telephone review was high. Offering telephone reviews meets the recommendations of the IBD Standards in terms of providing choice to patients and maintaining patient-centred care.

The Bay Area Verbal Learning Test (BAVLT): Normative Data and the Effects of Repeated Testing, Simulated Malingering, and Traumatic Brain Injury

Verbal learning tests (VLTs) are widely used to evaluate memory deficits in neuropsychiatric and developmental disorders. However, their validity has been called into question by studies showing significant differences in VLT scores obtained by different examiners. Here we describe the computerized Bay Area Verbal Learning Test (BAVLT), which minimizes inter-examiner differences by incorporating digital list presentation and automated scoring. In the 10-min BAVLT, a 12-word list is presented on three acquisition trials, followed by a distractor list, immediate recall of the first list, and, after a 30-min delay, delayed recall and recognition. In Experiment 1, we analyzed the performance of 195 participants ranging in age from 18 to 82 years. Acquisition trials showed strong primacy and recency effects, with scores improving over repetitions, particularly for mid-list words. Inter-word intervals (IWIs) increased with successive words recalled. Omnibus scores (summed over all trials except recognition) were influenced by age, education, and sex (women outperformed men). In Experiment 2, we examined BAVLT test-retest reliability in 29 participants tested with different word lists at weekly intervals. High intraclass correlation coefficients were seen for omnibus and acquisition scores, IWIs, and a categorization index reflecting semantic reorganization. Experiment 3 examined the performance of Experiment 2 participants when feigning symptoms of traumatic brain injury. Although 37% of simulated malingerers showed abnormal (p < 0.05) omnibus z-scores, z-score cutoffs were ineffective in discriminating abnormal malingerers from control participants with abnormal scores. In contrast, four malingering indices (recognition scores, primacy/recency effects, learning rate across acquisition trials, and IWIs) discriminated the two groups with 80% sensitivity and 80% specificity. Experiment 4 examined the performance of a small group of patients with mild or severe TBI. Overall, both patient groups performed within the normal range, although significant performance deficits were seen in some patients. The BAVLT improves the speed and replicability of verbal learning assessments while providing comprehensive measures of retrieval timing, semantic organization, and primacy/recency effects that clarify the nature of performance.

Enrolment of Schools Teachers in Heat Stress Management Plan Targeting Vulnerable Dubai Schooling Kids, An Exercise in Community Engagement, Empowerment and Mobilization

Background: Dubai has well recognized hot and humid weather during the period extended from May up to October (6) months out of each the year. Which put the entire population at the risk of exposure to heat stress when they are practicing outdoor activities during their routine work at their workplaces every day? Furthermore, the kids are most fragile segment of population borne to develop heat stress incidents if measures to avoid such exposure have not been put in place properly Objectives: To assess the capacity building module on heat stress among Dubai school’s teachers, to study assess the extent of trainee’s response to heat stress at their facilities. Methodology: Enrolment and follow up of trainee’s cohort from Dubai schools within capacity building module on heat stress management at workplace has been carried out on a total of 57 teachers and nurses working at Dubai private school’s physical education teachers and science teachers a long with school nurses. Well-developed capacity building module has been prepared and accredited by School Health department and public health department included theoretical part on heat stress and its related sequences in terms of mortalities and morbidities, as well as an approach to prevention and control, followed by practical demonstration and on life training sessions on steps of managements and levels of response. One full day training coverage along with initial written and verbal assessment and final written and verbal assessment based on scoring and scaling measurements. The training exercise has been standardized with the best practice training modules applied worldwide. Results: The study reflected that about 50.8% of the total contributors to the heat stress capacity building module were school’s teachers whom having direct supervision responsibilities with outdoor student’s activities, and 15% of the trainees were teachers of physical education, in total of 65% of the trainees were school teachers. The study showed that about 22% of the enrolment in capacity building was other school staff including administrators and other schools operating staff, the grant total of the trainees was 87.8%. The current study concludes that 7% of the total participant who are not ever limits outdoor activities which is in the coolest part of the day associated towards before capacity building program and 35.1% of the participants never carrying out a heat stress awareness program in your school, about 33.3% were un able to recognize and never seen a child with signs and symptoms of Heat stress in school. About 29.9% never received any training or awareness on heat stress, 5.3% never applied preventive measures/ procedures against heat stress in their schools.68.4% they were in favour of giving cold soda drinks to prevent heat and 61.4% were in favour of giving hot tea/coffee to prevent heat stress. The study showed improvement in heat stress management score among the participant in relation to (When children are playing outside in hot and humid weather the recommended drink to give). (I would call 999, if I see the child's body is recognition of high air temperature. If a child gets unconscious while playing outside, immediately give cold water) and recognition of signs of heat stress adequately). Conclusion: Workers have been suffering from illness related to heat because increasing heat exposure is becoming the challenges to them. However, the extreme hot environments are very dangerous to workers, who exposed to extreme heat. They are at high risked of the heat stress. The workers are unknown about heat exposer from the workplace and high influence of heat, so they are suffered from the underreporting of heat illnesses. Meanwhile, the lack of awareness about heat exposure associated with increase the risk of work- related injuries. Recommendations: As heat stress can be lethal and it is 100% preventable using common sense, thus developing competent school based heath stress prevention and management capacity building module at school’s

Restoration of emotional control ability in PTSD following symptom amelioration by EMDR therapy

IntroductionHyper-vigilance as well emotional hyper-reactivity to trauma-related cues are major facets of the emotional deficits frequently described as being part of the dysfunction causing aetiology and maintenance of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). ObjectiveWe aimed at exploring how the ability to control for emotional responses is altered in PTSD and it can be restored after a treatment suppressing core symptoms, the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. MethodsTwenty healthy controls and 19 PTSD patients were assessed on their abilities to control their emotions elicited by film excerpts inducing happiness, peacefulness, fear and sadness. Skin conductance (SC) and frowning activity were recorded while viewing the films before and after successful EMDR therapy. Verbal assessments on emotions were given after each excerpt. ResultsThe attempt to control for their emotions significantly enhanced SC responses to fearful and happy clips, in PTSD as compared to controls. In addition, it significantly increased frowning while watching to sad and fearful clips. Such differences disappeared after EMDR therapy. Patients initially were also less efficient at controlling all four emotions than healthy controls, but after EMDR, both groups rated similarly their controlling abilities. ConclusionThese results suggest a major effect of EMDR therapy to restore emotional processing in PTSD.

ЛІНГВОДИДАКТИЧНА КОНТРОЛЬНО-ОЦІНЮВАЛЬНА CТРАТЕГІЯ У ПРОЦЕСІ НАВЧАННЯ ЯК СПІЛКУВАННЯ

Background: The necessity to define the role and conceptual framework of evaluation and assessment in a pedagogical discourse has gained importance in the context of the on-going educational reform in Ukraine. This urges national educa­tionalists to explore the formative assessment and evaluation in secondary school from the standpoint of the strategic and communicative approaches. Purpose: The purpose of the article is to discuss the necessity and effectiveness of implementing the strategy of formative assessment and evaluation as a teaching-learning model based on English communication and suggest some methods and techniques of evaluation and assessment which will be tested empirically in the next phase of our research. Discussion: Assessment and evaluation are very challenging issues, since they require advanced skills of choosing the tasks, writing instructions and developing proper evaluation criteria. Only valid tasks can become an effective mechanism to put communication between a student and a teacher into effect. At school, there are two main types of assessment: formative and summative. According to the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, teachers are required to execute summative assessment twice a year through a direct test which assesses actual skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking). The assessment procedure – that mainly responds to accountability interests – relies on standardized evaluation criteria, and the results of assessment include information on a full range of tasks and activities completed. However, there are no specific criteria for formative assessment activities which aim at making judgement about the process of learning instead of its result. Results: The literature overview has enabled the authors to come up with the conclusion that only formative assessment and evaluation carried out on a frequent basis could be utilised as a communicative tool between a student and a teacher. The authors also claim that verbal assessment proved an effective technique of assessment for learning in the context of second­ary school education.

The Primacy Effect in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment: Associations with Hippocampal Functional Connectivity.

Background: The “primacy effect,” i.e., increased memory recall for the first items of a series compared to the following items, is reduced in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Memory task-fMRI studies demonstrated that primacy recall is associated with higher activation of the hippocampus and temporo-parietal and frontal cortical regions in healthy subjects. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at resting state revealed that hippocampus functional connectivity (FC) with neocortical brain areas, including regions of the default mode network (DMN), is altered in aMCI. The present study aimed to investigate whether resting state fMRI FC between the hippocampus and cortical brain regions, especially the DMN, is associated with primacy recall performance in aMCI.Methods: A number of 87 aMCI patients underwent resting state fMRI and verbal episodic memory assessment. FC between the left or right hippocampus, respectively, and all other voxels in gray matter was mapped voxel-wise and used in whole-brain regression analyses, testing whether FC values predicted delayed primacy recall score. The delayed primacy score was defined as the number of the first four words recalled on the California Verbal Learning Test. Additionally, a partial least squares (PLS) analysis was performed, using DMN regions as seeds to identify the association of their functional interactions with delayed primacy recall.Results: Voxel-based analyses indicated that delayed primacy recall was mainly (positively) associated with higher FC between the left and right hippocampus. Additionally, significant associations were found for higher FC between the left hippocampus and bilateral temporal cortex, frontal cortical regions, and for higher FC between the right hippocampus and right temporal cortex, right frontal cortical regions, left medial frontal cortex and right amygdala (p < 0.01, uncorr.). PLS analysis revealed positive associations of delayed primacy recall with FC between regions of the DMN, including the left and right hippocampus, as well as middle cingulate cortex and thalamus (p < 0.04). In conclusion, in the light of decreased hippocampus function in aMCI, inter-hemispheric hippocampus FC and hippocampal FC with brain regions predominantly included in the DMN may contribute to residual primacy recall in aMCI.

The Influence of Injected Volume on Discomfort During Administration of Digital Block.

Digital nerve block is associated with pain. In a search for methods to reduce the discomfort, we investigated how the volume of anaesthetic fluid influences pain during subcutaneous digital nerve block, and how it affects the success of the anaesthesia. A randomized blinded prospective study was performed on 36 healthy volunteers. The single injection subcutaneous digital block technique was used to anaesthetize the participants´ 4th digit on both hands. The same amount of lidocaine was used, but in two different volumes; 1 ml 2% lidocaine and 2ml 1% lidocaine. After each injection the participant was asked to estimate pain intensity on a visual analogue scale (VAS). The distribution of anaesthesia was then measured by using a Semmes-Weinstein 4.56 monofilament. Finally, participants gave a verbal assessment of which injection was least painful. In total, 72 blocks were performed. There were no statistically significant differences in pain intensity or preference between the two groups. Furthermore, the 1 ml injection gave poorer anaesthesia and had longer time to onset. Neither injection anaesthetized the dorsal aspect of the proximal phalanx. The two volumes cause the same degree of discomfort. Greater volume gives a greater area of distribution and more rapid onset of anaesthesia. It seems unreasonable to use a smaller volume of more concentrated anaesthetic when performing the subcutaneous technique.

Discrepancies between Physiological and Psychological Measures of Stress Associated with Indoor Temperature

To assess stress levels associated with thermal comfort, this study measured stress levels in different Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) conditions using verbal vote, electroencephalographic (EEG), and salivary α-amylase assessments. This study was conducted in a climate chamber to regulate and experimentally manipulate PMV conditions. Environmental factors were set to 7 different PMV levels, from −3 to +3 by units. EEGs were measured for each subject using 8 electrodes covering the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes, for 65 min for each PMV condition. Following EEG collection, saliva samples (for alpha (α)-amylase quantification) and a verbal report were gathered for each subject. The EEG and salivary α-amylase responses were similar, in that both tests showed the 0 to +2 conditions were relatively non-stressful compared to other conditions. On the other hand, the verbal reports indicated that the −1 to +1 conditions were relatively non-stressful.

The influence of Lidocaine temperature on pain during subcutaneous injection

Background: Injection of local anaesthetics is an uncomfortable procedure. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of lidocaine temperature on pain during subcutaneous injection.Methods: A randomised, double blind trial with 36 healthy volunteers was performed. Each subject received three injections of 4.5 ml 1% lidocaine subcutaneously on the abdomen; refrigerated (8 °C), at room temperature (21 °C), and warmed to body temperature (37 °C). By giving every subject injections of all three temperatures they served as their own controls. The participants were asked to evaluate the pain felt during the injection by placing a pencil mark on a 100 mm Visual Analogue Scale without intermediate markings immediately after every injection. They were told that the scale ranged from no pain to worst imaginable pain (0 = best; 100 = worst). Retrospectively the participants did a verbal assessment of the most and least painful injection.Results: The median VAS score for the heated lidocaine was 16 (range =11–28), lidocaine at room temperature 25 (13–40) and for the cold 24 (11–35). The VAS scores for the heated lidocaine was significantly lower than for lidocaine at room temperature (p = 0.004). Also, the verbal assessment of heated lidocaine being less painful than the injection at room temperature was statistically significant (p = 0.015).Conclusions: Injection with lidocaine heated to around body temperature was less painful than injection with lidocaine at room temperature. There was no statistically significant difference in verbal assessment or VAS scores between the cold lidocaine and that at room temperature.

Strong, but Wrong: Lay People’s and Police Officers’ Beliefs about Verbal and Nonverbal Cues to Deception

The present study investigated the beliefs of students and police officers about cues to deception. A total of 95 police officers and 104 undergraduate students filled out a questionnaire addressing beliefs about cues to deception. Twenty-eight verbal cues were included in the questionnaire, all extracted from verbal credibility assessment tools (i.e., CBCA, RM, and SCAN). We investigated to what extent beliefs about nonverbal and verbal cues of deception differed between lay people (students) and police officers, and whether these beliefs were in agreement with objective cues known from research. Both students and police officers believed the usual stereotypical, but non-diagnostic (nonverbal) cues such as gaze aversion and increased movement to be indicative of deception. Yet, participants were less inclined to overestimate the relationship between verbal cues and deception and their beliefs fitted better with what we know from research. The implications of these findings for practice are discussed.

Incorporating an internet-based voicemail drug information assessment in an introductory pharmacy practice course

ObjectivesTo examine the implementation and student perceptions of an innovative verbal drug information assessment. DesignThe drug information assignment in an introductory pharmacy practice course was redesigned and an assessment of a verbal response to a drug information request was added with the use of an internet-based voicemail (IBVM) system. AssessmentStudents performed well on both the verbal vs. written assessments. Most students strongly agreed or agreed that completing both assignments was a valuable experience; however, more students agreed that the verbal assignment was useful (90% vs. 83%). More students agreed that the verbal assignment helped prepare them as a pharmacist (97% vs. 85%) and that the verbal assignment increased their confidence (82% vs. 78%). Student comments echoed these results; additionally, many indicated that the verbal assessment was realistic. ConclusionThe IBVM assessment was successful, user-friendly, and this mode of assessment may be useful in other courses.

Scientific Content Analysis (SCAN) Cannot Distinguish Between Truthful and Fabricated Accounts of a Negative Event.

The Scientific Content Analysis (SCAN) is a verbal veracity assessment method that is currently used worldwide by investigative authorities. Yet, research investigating the accuracy of SCAN is scarce. The present study tested whether SCAN was able to accurately discriminate between true and fabricated statements. To this end, 117 participants were asked to write down one true and one fabricated statement about a recent negative event that happened in their lives. All statements were analyzed using 11 criteria derived from SCAN. Results indicated that SCAN was not able to correctly classify true and fabricated statements. Lacking empirical support, the application of SCAN in its current form should be discouraged.

The utility of standardized advance directives: the general practitioners' perspective.

Advance directives (AD) are written documents that give patients the opportunity to communicate their preferences regarding treatments they do or do not want to receive in case they become unable to make decisions. Commonly used pre-printed forms have different formats. Some offer space for patients to (a) appoint a surrogate decision maker, and/or (b) to determine future medical treatments and/or (c) give a statement of personal values. So far it is unknown which forms GPs preferably use and why they decide to do so. 23 semi-structured interviews with GPs were analysed using content analysis. Interviewees mainly use short templates (to appoint surrogate decision makers) and medium length templates with checkboxes to indicate patients’ preferences in regards to life prolonging measures. Especially when patients faced the progression of a disease, participants use the latter version. Only then, the interviewees remarked, patients are capable to rate concrete situations reliably. GPs also realize the importance of the verbal assessment of patients’ preferences; however they rarely keep a written form of the conversation. Some GPs hand out one or more templates and ask their patients to read and think about them at home with the option to talk to them about it later on, while others prefer their patients to fill them out alone at home. Regardless of template usage, most GPs emphasize that ADs require regular updates. GPs tend to see standardized advance directives mainly as a tool to start a conversation with their patients and to identify their real preferences and values. When the patient is still not facing the progression of an already existing disease it could be sufficient to only appoint a surrogate decision maker instead of creating a full AD. However, in all other situations, appointing a surrogate decision maker should be backed up by a written statement of a patient’s general values. Patients and their relatives should always have the opportunity to ask their GP for medical advice when drafting an AD. It is crucial to regularly verify and update existing ADs within the course of a disease.

Lothian Assessment for Screening Cognition in Aphasia (LASCA): A New Non Verbal Assessment of Cognition

Post stroke aphasia often results in cognitive dysfunction affecting the daily functioning of patients. At present there are no well established screening measures for evaluating the cognitive problems associated with aphasia. Vast Majority of the cognitive measures used in clinical settings are based on verbal language, which is affected in aphasia. Lothian Assessment for screening cognition in Aphasia (LASCA) is a newly developed non linguistic measure established by the Speech, Language, Occupational Therapists and Clinical Neuropsychologists of Lothian. The study aims to investigate a sample of healthy elderly people (N=70, Age = 50-92, M=68.23, SD=8.95) by adding previous sample (N=35) of Warren (2011) into the current sample (N=35) thus computing a combined analysis, comparing the efficacy of LASCA with commonly used ACER by calculating the convergent validity. In comparison to Warren (2011) the current study showed significant moderate correlations for all the subsets of LASCA and ACE-R except Attention/Orientation. Relationships of demographic variables like age, education, gender and pre-morbid intelligence with LASCA performance were also computed. Results indicated that performance of LASCA was significantly related with the age, level of education and pre-morbid intelligence of participants. Non significant gender differences were seen in the performance of LASCA. The study for the first time investigated the reliability and validity of LASCA. Although the results did not show very high estimates of Cronbach alpha due to variability of subscales in LASCA . The implications of results are discussed in the study.