A technique for converting from intravenous drug self-administration to liquid reinforcement

A rapid inexpensive technique for changing from intravenous drug self-administration (DSA) to liquid reinforcement is described. Utilizing a standard peristaltic-type infusion pump typically used in DSA experiments and a specially designed drinking cup, the changeover from intravenous DSA to liquid reinforcement can be accomplished in a few minutes at a cost of less than $10.     

Entrepreneurship,professionalism, leadership: A framework and measure for understanding boundaryless careers

We propose a person-centered framework for conceptualizing subjective careers in an increasingly boundaryless work context. Specifically, we argue that entrepreneurship, professionalism, and leadership (EPL) can serve as three key dimensions of subjective career space. We relate this framework to earlier macro-level national and organizational career models proposed by Kanter (1989) and Schein (1978). Our empirical study involving 10,326 Singaporean university students demonstrated that entrepreneurial, professional, and leadership career aspirations (including motivations, efficacies, and intentions) can be measured independently, that these career dimensions are independent of vocational interests, and that they are to some degree viewed as competing career alternatives. We also show that EPL motivation profiles can operationalize the boundaryless and protean career concepts. Individuals concurrently high in entrepreneurial, professional, and leadership career motivations, and those high in entrepreneurial and leadership motivations are highest in boundaryless and self-directed career attitudes, while those primarily motivated for professional careers hold the most traditional career attitudes. We conclude by discussing the potential of the framework for understanding human resource issues at organizational and national levels and for enhancing the study of entrepreneurship, professionalism, and leadership.     

Additive effects of social and non‐social attention during infancy relate to later autism spectrum disorder

Emerging findings from studies with infants at familial high risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), owing to an older sibling with a diagnosis, suggest that those who go on to develop ASD show early impairments in the processing of stimuli with both social and non‐social content. Although ASD is defined by social‐communication impairments and restricted and repetitive behaviours, the majority of cognitive theories of ASD posit a single underlying factor, which over development has secondary effects across domains. This is the first high‐risk study to statistically differentiate theoretical models of the development of ASD in high‐risk siblings using multiple risk factors. We examined the prediction of ASD outcome by attention to social and non‐social stimuli: gaze following and attentional disengagement assessed at 13 months in low‐risk controls and high‐risk ASD infants (who were subsequently diagnosed with ASD at 3 years). When included in the same regression model, these 13‐month measures independently predicted ASD outcome at 3 years of age. The data were best described by an additive model, suggesting that non‐social attention, disengagement, and social attention as evidenced by gaze following, have a cumulative impact on ASD risk. These data argue against cognitive theories of ASD which propose that a single underlying factor has cascading effects across early development leading to an ASD outcome, and support multiple impairment models of ASD that are more consistent with recent genetic and neurobiological evidence.     

From early markers to neuro-developmental mechanisms of autism

A fast growing field, the study of infants at risk because of having an older sibling with autism (i.e. infant sibs) aims to identify the earliest signs of this disorder, which would allow for earlier diagnosis and intervention. More importantly, we argue, these studies offer the opportunity to validate existing neuro-developmental models of autism against experimental evidence. Although autism is mainly seen as a disorder of social interaction and communication, emerging early markers do not exclusively reflect impairments of the “social brain”. Evidence for atypical development of sensory and attentional systems highlight the need to move away from localized deficits to models suggesting brain-wide involvement in autism pathology. We discuss the implications infant sibs findings have for future work into the biology of autism and the development of interventions.     

Mystery of the anti-McCollough effect

The McCollough Effect (ME) is a complex perceptual aftereffect that remains of interest half a century after its discovery. It is argued that a recently reported variant, dubbed the anti-McCollough effect, is not the reverse of the ME, with aftereffect colors in the same direction as the inducing stimuli. A red-horizontal stimulus leads to a reddish aftereffect not because of red-horizontal parings, but despite them. The anti-ME is a weak standard-direction ME produced by complementary afterimage colors (afterimage green with horizontal), rather than by environmental colors, first shown decades ago. It is not a new type of contingent aftereffect. The red-horizontal pair does not interfere with the afterimage green-horizontal pair it produces because a single color-orientation pairing provides more ambiguous input than does the standard two orientation-color pairings (red-horizontal, green-vertical) of the ME. It is also argued that not even one orientation-contingent color aftereffect is convincingly shown in the "anti"-ME, let alone, as has previously been suggested, two simultaneous orientation-contingent color aftereffects in opposite directions at different levels of the visual system, in which the higher-level effect suppresses the downstream effect from reaching consciousness. The "anti"-ME can be explained by existing theories of contingent aftereffects, including perceptual-learning theory.     

Personal disturbance scale: factor structure confirmed in a large nonclinical sample

The two-component structure of anxiety and depression items of the short form Personal Disturbance Scale, reported in an earlier clinical study of 480 adult psychiatric patients, was substantially replicated in a large nonclinical sample of 758 adults.     

Keeping perception accurate

Perception should change if an error in perception is detected. Yet how can information that comes through the senses ever indicate that those very senses aren't accurate? Knowledge of objects that arises independently of sensory experience can be used to check the sensory information for errors. For instance, an a priori constraint that one object cannot be in two places at the same time would lead to error detection if the sensory systems suggest that one object is in two places. Variants on the classic prism-adaptation phenomenon have revealed new rules about changes in space perception. These variants involve specifying new unusual mappings between visual space and motor (proprioceptive) space, and testing for generalization to novel untrained locations. The research has suggested that there is a preference for changes in space perception that shift space rigidly everywhere, that shrink or expand space uniformly, and that preserve the one-to-one relationship between modalities. Finally, this review discusses the issue that perception must change to remain accurate in the face of childhood growth and adult drift.     

A low-force swivel connector for infusing liquids into unrestrained animals

A swivel connector for infusing liquids into catheterized animals is described. The connector turns so freely that restraints and strain relief for the catheter are unnecessary. A cylindrical acrylic body and nylon cap screw hold a rubber O ring in place, and a length of needle tubing rotates within the O ring. The only friction in the swivel is between the needle tubing and the interior of the O ring. Construction time is about 1 h. Swivels of this design have provided trouble-free service for 3 years.     

Examining Links Between Infant Parasympathetic Regulation during the Still-Face Paradigm and Later Callous-Unemotional Traits

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Although research suggests that callous-unemotional (CU) traits are underpinned by deficits in social affiliation and reduced sensitivity to...