Comparison of contingent and noncontingent access to therapy dogs during academic tasks in children with autism spectrum disorder

This study compared contingent and noncontingent access to therapy dogs during educational tasks for children with autism spectrum disorder using a multielement design. The experimenters assessed whether initial preference for the dog predicted reinforcer efficacy and how preference changed across time. A higher response rate during contingent dog sessions than baseline sessions occurred for 4 out of 5 participants, suggesting that the dog functioned as a reinforcer. One participant engaged in a high rate of responding in both contingent and noncontingent dog conditions. Preference assessments revealed idiosyncrasies, suggesting that further research is needed into the predictive nature of initial preference assessments with animals as part of the stimulus array. The experimenters also analyzed salivary cortisol before and after sessions to determine if learning about the upcoming interaction with a dog reduced salivary cortisol in children. Cortisol was variable across participants, with only some deriving a potential physiological benefit from expecting to interact with the dog.     

“Put a Little Love in Your Heart”: Acceptance of Paternalistic and Ally Political Discourses Both Predict Pro-Roma Solidarity Intentions Through Moral Inclusion

The way politicians talk about minorities institutes the normative context of intergroup relations. We investigated how endorsement of different political discourses predicts donation and collective action intentions by majority members toward the Roma in five European countries. The survey was conducted online using samples demographically similar to the populations of Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, France, and Ireland (N = 5,054). First, results showed that accepting paternalistic discourse versus discourse promoting allyship were not distinguishable; both promoted higher moral inclusion which in turn predicted higher prosocial intentions. Second, donations (i.e., immediate relief) and collective action (i.e., social change action) were driven by identical factors. Third, acceptance of openly hostile political discourse neither predicted moral exclusion, nor lower prosocial intentions. In summary, our research provides important evidence that when it comes to Roma—non-Roma relations, the previously established distinction between solidarity intentions that aim to solidify status relations versus bring about social change is completely blurred, presumably because of the social context in which any positive message communicates moral inclusion challenging the hostile status quo.     

Memory lapses during a pandemic: Differential associations between COVID-stress and daily memory lapses?

The policies related to COVID-19 pandemic such as stay at home orders and social distancing increased daily stress and associated impairments in mental health. This study examines the association between COVID-related stress and cognitive functioning by examining two different types of daily memory lapses, those related to prospective memory (i.e., memory for future plans) and retrospective memory (i.e., memory for past information) as well as the perceived emotional and functional consequences of daily memory problems. As part of a larger study, 58 adults (18 men; 22 ± 3 years) completed a web-based version of the daily inventory of stressful events including stress related to COVID-19 and positive/negative affect for eight consecutive days between 8 September 2020 and 11 November 2020. Findings showed that prospective lapses were positively correlated with COVID-19 stressors (r = 0.41, p = 0.002). At the within-person level, daily COVID-19 stressors were significantly associated with the number of prospective lapses (b = 0.088, SE = 0.040). COVID-19-related stressors were not significantly related to retrospective lapses (all ps > 0.05). Our findings suggested that more daily COVID-19 stressors were related to greater numbers of prospective lapses in daily life even among healthy younger adults. Thus, future research should address long term relations of COVID-19 stress and cognitive functioning in addition to the specific cognitive impairments related to COVID-19 infection.     

How Can Pictures be Propositions?

Wittgenstein's Picture Theory of language holds that one fact can represent another, and that propositions are pictures of states of affairs. What makes a fact into a picture of a given s tate of affairs are the correlations between picture elements and objects and the correlations between relations among picture elements and relations among objects. But a problem sometimes raised is that propositions can't be pictures, as pictures—unlike propositions—do not say anything. An interpretation (e.g. Anscombe's) holds that the above-mentioned correlations do make the picture into a proposition. But this neither handles the objection, nor is it Wittgenstein's view. Further, Wittgenstein's own account faces serious difficulties in addressing these issues, and the Anscombe-type interpretation obscures this fact.     

The effect of serving as a model of self-control on subsequent resistance to deviation in children

The effect of having a child serve as a rule-following model for other children on the model's own subsequent rule-following was investigated in a resistance to deviation situation. First- and second-grade boys (age range 73 to 94 months) who were told they would serve as self-controlling models for others and who actually served in this capacity touched prohibited toys less than did boys who were not told they would serve as models. Boys told they were to serve as models but who were prevented from performing deviated at a level between the models and boys given no responsibility. Having children serve as rule-following models for others is suggested as an effective, non-punitive technique to increase their self-control.     

Laboratory behavioral measures of impulsivity

Previous research and theory have conceptualized impulsivity as a multifaceted construct that requires multiple modes of measurement for accurate assessment. This article describes a software package that includes four paradigms for measuring multiple and unique aspects of impulsivity. Specifically, four tasks are described: (1) the two choice impulsivity paradigm, (2) the single key impulsivity paradigm, (3) the GoStop impulsivity paradigm, and (4) the time paradigm. These tasks measure processes related to the capacity to tolerate delay for reward, to inhibit an already initiated response, and to estimate the passage of time. These processes have been found to be important to the understanding of impulsive behaviors. The programs are flexible and allow the experimenter to manipulate a number of parameters related to delay-reward contingencies, timing, performance feedback/payment, and data output variables. Manipulation of these parameters makes the paradigms scalable to a wide range of ability levels and appropriate for samples ranging from children to adults. The four paradigms in this software package are available at no cost and can be obtained by contacting the corresponding author.