Assessing Adaptive Functioning in Death Penalty Cases after Hall and DSM-5.

DSM-5 and Hall v. Florida (2014) have dramatically refocused attention on the assessment of adaptive functioning in death penalty cases. In this article, we address strategies for assessing the adaptive functioning of defendants who seek exemption from capital punishment pursuant to Atkins v.

DSM-5: Challenging diagnostic testimony.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders' (DSM) 60-year evolution has not been particularly linear nor cumulative with respect to the process of its construction, its stated purpose, its framework, and inclusion of specific disorders. We consider DSM-5's stated purpose in light of the manual's explicit cautions and other complications encountered when presenting diagnoses in the course of psychological expert testimony under the applicable rules of evidence. This review considers the extent to which DSM-5 bears up under numerous criticisms when employed for forensic purposes and points out challenges that the expert should anticipate when offering diagnostic opinions underpinned by DSM-5 generally and by neurocognitive disorders in particular.

Family Intervention: Telephone Tracking (FITT): a pilot stroke outcome study.

Objective: The goal of this study was to preliminarily test the efficacy of a telephone intervention, Family Intervention: Telephone Tracking, designed to assist stroke survivors and their primary caregivers during the first 6 months after stroke.

Method: Forty-nine stroke survivors and their caregivers were randomly assigned to treatment as usual or treatment as usual plus the telephone intervention. Global outcomes are reported for health care utilization, family functioning, and general functioning.

The relationship between early life stress and microstructural integrity of the corpus callosum in a non-clinical population.

Background: Previous studies have examined the impact of early life stress (ELS) on the gross morphometry of brain regions, including the corpus callosum. However, studies have not examined the relationship between ELS and the microstructural integrity of the brain.

Methods: In the present study we evaluated this relationship in healthy non-clinical participants using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and self-reported history of ELS.

Assigning qualitative descriptions to test scores in neuropsychology: forensic implications.

Board-certified neuropsychologists were surveyed and asked to assign a descriptive label (e.g., superior, average, normal, impaired) to 12 different standard scores (SS), from 50 to 130, of a memory test based on a brief case scenario.

The public's misconception about traumatic brain injury: a follow up survey.

Two prior surveys from rural Louisiana, Canada, and New York [Arch. Clin. Neuropsychol.

Restoration of competency to stand trial: a training program for persons with mental retardation.

This article describes the development and use of a formal training tool for restoration of competency in clients with mental retardation who are incompetent to stand trial. The program was developed at Eleanor Slater Hospital within the Rhode Island Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals. This article describes the development of The Slater Method, the training tool format, the procedure for use of the Slater Method, and the duration of treatment to restore competency to stand trial in clients with mental retardation.

The Prevalence of Cigarette Smoking in an Acute Inpatient Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Population.

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of cigarette smoking among patients before and after discharge from an acute inpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation unit and to assess smokers' interest in and desire for smoking cessation. A consecutive sample of inpatients (n = 233) admitted over a 5-month period to a regional rehabilitation inpatient center for acute rehabilitation treatment was surveyed for their smoking patterns. Ten percent of patients admitted to rehabilitation were active smokers prior to their hospitalization.

Neurocognitive rehabilitation guidelines for therapists.

Establishing and implementing cognitive rehabilitation (CR) plans requ i re the efforts of al I rehabilitation staff members. In addition to clear expectations about therapists' roles and responsibilities, there are other issues that need to be considered when creating CR protocols. Specifically, the patient's insight into his or her deficits is a crucial consideration when establishing a CR plan.