Data archiving in animal experimentation: Merits,challenges, and a case study

Electronic data archives may supplement the traditional peer-reviewed journal article. The merits of data archiving include public service, a more complete research project, overcoming barriers to limited-access research resources, and increasing the impact of a scientific project. A case study of chimpanzee timing performance in space is derived from the NASA Life Sciences Data Archive (http://lsda.jsc. nasa.gov). An analysis of the archived data suggests that the scalar property (a form of Weber’s law) applies to timed performance of a chimpanzee in orbit of the earth. Challenges associated with data archives are discussed. Although significant challenges are associated with archiving electronic data, these difficulties are outweighed by its merits.     

Data archiving for animal cognition research: report of an NIMH workshop

In July 2001, the National Institute of Mental Health sponsored a workshop titled "Data Archiving for Animal Cognition Research." Participants included scientists as well as experts in archiving, publishing, policy, and law. As is described in this report, the workshop resulted in a set of conclusions and recommendations concerning (A) the impact of data archiving on research, (B) how to incorporate data archiving into research practice, (C) contents of data archives, (D) technical and archival standards, and (E) organizational, financing, and policy issues. The animal cognition research community is encouraged to begin now to establish archives, deposit data and related materials, and make use of archived materials in new scientific projects.     

Measures of temporal discrimination in fixed-interval performance: a case study in archiving data.

The primary data of many experimental studies of animal learning and performance consist of the times at which stimuli and reinforcers were delivered, and the times at which responses occurred. The articles based on most of these studies report selected data, either from some sessions or some animals, or summary measures of the animals' behavior. The primary data are sufficient to produce any of the selected and summary measures, but the selected and summarized data cannot produce many of the measures used in other experimental reports. It is now feasible to archive the primary data from animal behavior experiments so that they are accessible for others to perform secondary analysis. The value of such secondary analysis of archived data is described with a case study in which rats were trained on three fixed-interval schedules of reinforcement. The full data set may be downloaded from www.psychonomic.org/archive/.     

Explaining own and others' behavior in a controversial issue: animal experimentation

The authors investigated how 2 groups with different attitudes toward animal experimentation-researchers who conducted animal experiments and members of animal welfare organizations who protested against animal experiments--made attributions for the behavior of the opposing group. The 2 groups showed an actor--observer effect, mentioning more internal causes for the opponents' behavior and more external causes for their own behavior. Both groups were able to take the other's perspective, resulting in a reversed actor-observer effect. The less involved participants followed the pattern of ratings of the group whose attitudes corresponded to their own. In particular, the participants with a negative attitude toward animal experimentation rated researchers' behavior as more internally caused than did those with a positive attitude. The results illustrated how the participants formed and defended attitudes in a social context.     

Measures of temporal discrimination in fixed-interval performance: A case study in archiving data

The primary data of many experimental studies of animal learning and performance consist of the times at which stimuli and reinforcers were delivered, and the times at which responses occurred. The articles based on most of these studies report selected data, either from some sessions or some animals, or summary measures of the animals’ behavior. The primary data are sufficient to produce any of the selected and summary measures, but the selected and summarized data cannot produce many of the measures used in other experimental reports. It is now feasible to archive the primary data from animal behavior experiments so that they are accessible for others to perform secondary analysis. The value of such secondary analysis of archived data is described with a case study in which rats were trained on three fixed-interval schedules of reinforcement. The full data set may be downloaded fromwww.psychonomic.org/archive/.     

Art, evolution, and history: a case study of paradigm change in anthropology.

An ethnological controversy over the origin and evolution of decorative art is documented for the period 1896-1904 and is used to test the relevance in anthropology of Thomas Kuhn's outline of the structure of scientific revolutions. Using a combination of archival materials and content analysis of professional periodicals, both the appropriateness and the limitations of Kuhn's scheme are explored. The conclusion is that paradigms and scientific revolutions are valid and useful concepts for use in the history of anthropology, but that for the particular period under study they are insufficient. Nonparadigmatic aspects of anthropology's supporting communities must also be considered, especially anthropology's "permeable boundaries".     

Awe and premature efaculation: a case study.

The analysis of a man suffering from premature ejaculation is described. As is typical of a large group of men who ejaculate prematurely, he was passive and masochistic in his marriage and obsessive-compulsive in his character. Analysis of his affect of awe led first to a deeper understnding of his self-representations and object relationships, and later, with the discovery of the specific unconscious fantasies associated with the feeling of awe, to the alleviation of his symptom of premature ejaculation.     

Visual agnosia and prosopagnosia in childhood: a prospective case study.

Selective impairments in visual processing are well documented in adults but rarely reported in children. The few childhood cases reported are mostly retrospective accounts with little attention paid to developmental, assessment or management issues. We report a prospective case study of a boy with prosopagnosia and visual processing deficits of presumed developmental origin. At the age of 4 years, AL presented with a range of cognitive and visual recognition deficits. Subsequent assessments revealed an evolving pattern in visual recognition and dissociations between developing skills. At the age of 7 AL has impairments in early perceptual analysis, visual organisation and in complex visual processing. Although he can identify facial features and match faces he is unable to recognise familiar faces. His reading and spelling are developing normally. The nature of his deficits and his progress are discussed within a cognitive neuropsychological framework.     

Childhood-onset multiple sclerosis and mood disorders: a case study.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is rare in children. Little research exists regarding emotional and behavioral disorders in childhood-onset MS, despite the occurrence of such problems in adults with MS. This paper describes the cognitive and behavioral characteristics of a boy diagnosed with MS at age 9 and mood disorder at age 10. He displayed no cognitive or behavioral problems prior to the onset of physical symptoms of MS. Three years after diagnosis, this child showed persistent problems with speed of processing, visual-motor skills, and parent and teacher-reported executive functioning. In addition, he had difficulties with emotional lability, behavioral disinhibition, depression, and social interaction. As with adults, children with MS may be at increased risk for mood disorder compared to their peers. Mood disorders in children with MS are likely to be multiply determined, although the specific causal mechanisms are unknown.     

Slowed lexical access in nonfluent aphasia: a case study.

A list priming paradigm (LPP) was used to examine the hypothesis that nonfluent aphasics are literally slowed down in automatic access to lexical information. In this paradigm, words are presented visually, and the subject's task is to make a lexical decision on each word as quickly as possible after its presentation. As soon as a lexical decision is made on one word, that word is removed and, after a predetermined interword interval, the next word is presented. In this way, a continuous "list" effect is obtained. Prior studies with both college-age and elderly subjects using the LPP have shown that, independently of age, on the LPP, priming obtains at interword delays of 500 to 800 msec, but not at either shorter or longer interword delays. In the study reported here, the LPP was used to examine delays at which priming obtained for LD, a nonfluent aphasic with a lesion primarily in the left frontal region. Examining interword delays ranging from 500 to 1800 msec, the subject showed priming only at a delay of 1500 msec, a considerably longer delay than that at which neurologically intact subjects have shown priming. Based on these results, it is argued that while automatic access is retained, that access is much slower in a nonfluent aphasic than in neurologically intact elderly subjects. These results are discussed in terms of how slowed lexical access might impact on discourse comprehension.     

Attachment, assessment, and psychological intervention: a case study of anorexia

Attachment patterns and personality dimensions have always been considered important to the development and adaptation of the individual. The first aim of this article was to address some basic questions about the place of attachment in a multimethod assessment when compiling a complete picture of the patient's personality functioning. The second aim was to present the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP; George & West, 2001) as a valid and productive assessment measure. Based on a single case study of an anorexic young woman, the article demonstrates how the AAP is integrated with the Rorschach Comprehensive System (Exner, 1991, 1993) and other assessment tools in both the assessment and in developing a treatment plan.     

Taking personality selection bias seriously in animal cognition research: a case study in capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella)

In most experimental work on animal cognition, researchers attempt to control for multiple interacting variables by training subjects prior to testing, allowing subjects to participate voluntarily, and providing subjects with food rewards. However, do such methods encourage selection bias from subjects’ personalities? In this study, we trained eighteen zoo-housed capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella) for two experiments, under conditions of positive reinforcement (i.e. food rewards) and free-choice participation. Using a combination of behavioral and rater-based methods, we identified and validated five personality dimensions in these capuchins (Assertiveness, Openness, Neuroticism, Sociability, and Attentiveness). Scores on Openness were positively related to individual differences in monkey task participation, reflecting previous work showing that such individuals are often more active, curious, and willing to engage in testing. We also found a negative relationship between scores on Assertiveness and performance on tasks, which may reflect the trade-offs between speed and accuracy in these animals’ decision-making. Highly Assertive individuals (the most sociable within monkey groups) may also prioritize social interactions over engaging in research. Lastly, monkeys that consistently participated and performed well on both tasks showed significantly higher Openness and lower Assertiveness compared to others, mirroring relationships found between personality, participation, and performance among all participants. Participation and performance during training was clearly biased toward individuals with particular personalities (i.e. high Openness, low Assertiveness). Results are discussed in light of the need for careful interpretation of comparative data on animal cognition and the need for researchers to take personality selection bias more seriously.     

Multi-component behavioral treatment of trichotillomania: a case study.

A 21-year-old female with a 13-year history of compulsive hair pulling was treated via a multi-component behavioral intervention strategy. Dependent variables included both quasi-direct behavioral frequency counts (i.e., number of hairs pulled) and physical trace, natural erosion measures (i.e. size of bald areas). Results indicated dramatic decrease in number of hairs pulled from treatment through 40 weeks post-initiation of baseline. These findings were discussed with regard to situational-specificity of trichotillomania and reliance upon experimenter-derived rather than subject-controlled data collection sources.     

Chaplaincy research: a case study

The authors report the pragmatic elements of conducting an empirical chaplaincy research project. The article offers the step-by-step process of implementing, coordinating, and completing a sound quantitative research project. The authors offer a definitive answer to the question, "Can a staff chaplain integrate providing pastoral care and doing a quantitative research project as principle investigator"?     

Incapable sex: a case study

Although it is well known that intimacy and sexual expression are an important part of being human and of healthy living, facilities such as nursing homes, adult group homes, or assisted living residences commonly struggle with knowing how to balance supporting residents who are incapable to have sexual lives with their duty to protect them from foreseeable harm. This article presents a challenging case and uses the British Columbia Supporting Sexual Health and Intimacy in Care Facility Guidelines to determine what should be done.