Looming Responses to Obstacles and Apertures: The Role of Accretion and Deletion of Background Texture

The Development of Object Fitting: The Dynamics of Spatial Coordination

Fitting objects into apertures is an adaptive skill that is incorporated into the design of many tools. We match or align shapes with openings when we insert keys into locks, when we put lids atop containers, or when we align a screwdriver with the groove of a screw. Traditionally, the development of object fitting has focused on children's abilities to successfully complete shape sorter tasks (e.g., square peg through square hole). By measuring children's success in these tasks, investigators have determined that there is substantial development during the second year, but little research has addressed the processes children employ to solve object fitting challenges during this time period. Here, we provide a process based account of object fitting, which emphasizes how children coordinate information about spatial structure with action. We suggest that a process-based approach can illuminate the real-time dynamics of perceiving, acting, and thinking.

Faith-based and Secular Pathways to Hope and Optimism Subconstructs in Middle-aged and Older Cardiac Patients

This study was designed to fill gaps in the new field of positive psychology. Using data from two sequential interviews, this study examined the effect of faith-based and secular pathways to hope and optimism among 226 middle-aged and older patients facing a major medical crisis—cardiac surgery. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that religious faith factors contributed to the agency component of hope and dispositional optimism indirectly through the use of prayer as a coping strategy. Other sociodemographically resourcable factors affected both the agency and pathway components of hope as well as dispositional optimism and dispositional pessimism directly or indirectly through their effects on emotional distress.

Generic quality of life predicts all-cause mortality in the short term: evidence from British Household Panel Survey

BACKGROUND

Whether the quality of life (QOL) impacts longevity is an interesting research question that has been investigated only in the context of disease and health-related QOL. This paper aims to examine prospectively whether Control, Autonomy, Self-realisation, and Pleasure (CASP) scores, a measure of generic QOL, can predict mortality in the British Household Panel Survey sample during 2001-2006.

METHODS

The authors used data from the British Household Panel Survey wave 11 (2001-2002) when CASP was first presented to the participants in the survey. The authors selected all those who were interviewed directly and face to face and who were 40 years or older (N=10,291). The authors followed them for the next five waves (waves 12-16) and in this study primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Other covariates used were age, sex, socioeconomic position, household income, self-rated health, limiting long-standing illness and medical conditions.

RESULTS

Compared with a mortality of 12/1000 person-years in those having average QOL (CASP score 29.4-45.8), those with below-average QOL had more than twice (27/1000 person-years) and those above average had a third less (8/1000 person-years) mortality. This gradient was retained for the most part when age and sex strata were examined separately. Regression models adjusted for covariates confirmed the protective effect of QOL on mortality. Domain-specific analysis showed that only control and self-realisation had this effect.

CONCLUSION

CASP predicted 5-year all-cause mortality significantly. Improvement in the QOL reduced the probability of death.

Long-term Adjustment After Surviving Open Heart Surgery: The Effect of Using Prayer for Coping Replicated in a Prospective Design

PURPOSE

despite the growing evidence for effects of religious factors on cardiac health in general populations, findings are not always consistent in sicker and older populations. We previously demonstrated that short-term negative outcomes (depression and anxiety) among older adults following open heart surgery are partially alleviated when patients employ prayer as part of their coping strategy. The present study examines multifaceted effects of religious factors on long-term postoperative adjustment, extending our previous findings concerning prayer and coping with cardiac disease.

DESIGN AND METHODS

analyses capitalized on a preoperative survey and medical variables from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons' National Database of patients undergoing open heart surgery. The current participants completed a mailed survey 30 months after surgery. Two hierarchical regressions were performed to evaluate the extent to which religious factors predicted depression and anxiety, after controlling for key demographics, medical indices, and mental health.

RESULTS

predicting lower levels of depression at the follow-up were preoperative use of prayer for coping, optimism, and hope. Predicting lower levels of anxiety at the follow-up were subjective religiousness, marital status, and hope. Predicting poorer adjustment were reverence in religious contexts, preoperative mental health symptoms, and medical comorbidity. Including optimism and hope in the model did not eliminate effects of religious factors. Several other religious factors had no long-term influences. MPLICATIONS: the influence of religious factors on the long-term postoperative adjustment is independent and complex, with mediating factors yet to be determined. Future research should investigate mechanisms underlying religion-health relations.