Aripiprazole-related tardive dyskinesia

The low prevalence of extrapyramidal symptoms associated with atypical antipsychotics has led to their widespread use during the past decade. Aripiprazole, the newest medication in this class, has been associated with extrapyramidal symptoms (eg, akathisia) and with improvement of tardive dyskinesia (TD), but to date it has not been associated with the development of TD. We report a case of TD associated with the use of aripiprazole 15 mg/day for 18 months for refractory depression. Symptoms of TD resolved within several weeks of discontinuation of aripiprazole.     

Analogue functional analysis of movements associated with tardive dyskinesia

We studied whether movements associated with tardive dyskinesia (TD) served operant functions in 2 men with developmental disabilities. We found that TD-related movements occurred more frequently in the alone and attention conditions and less frequently in control and demand conditions. Our findings suggest that TD-related movements may not be maintained by social reinforcers and that decreases in TD movements are possibly a result of engagement in activities that are incompatible with TD movements.     

Cocaine,neuroleptics, and tardive dyskinesia as paleocortical escape

Human orobuccolingual movement is reviewed in terms of stimulation and inhibition within the striatonigral pathways and its domination and control by motor area 4 and the inhibitory neocortex. Haloperidol, clozapine and cocaine are then compared in terms of the effects of each on the physiology and function within these areas under normal and certain pathological conditions. Theoretical models are then derived that formulate evidence that a unique, previously unreported, combination of two distinct neurological circumstances must occur simultaneously to satisfy the criteria for pathological orobuccolingual movement.     

Mood, memory, and motor performance and the severity of tardive dyskinesia

This study tested the hypothesis that the features of tardive dyskinesia were associated with motor slowing, memory impairment, and depressive apathy all of which are considered to characterize the so-called subcortical dementias. In a sample of 48 psychiatric patients all fulfilling research criteria for tardive dyskinesia and without other signs of organic illness age-independent correlations were observed between severity of orofacial dyskinesia and measures of memory, motor performance and mood providing some empirical support for the hypothesis.     

Functional analysis of tardive dyskinesia: implications for assessment and treatment

We conducted an analogue functional analysis contrasting motor tasks with varying types of social consequences for movements associated with tardive dyskinesia (TD) in 2 men who had been diagnosed with developmental disabilities and TD. Our findings suggest that TD-related movements were not a function of social reinforcement contingencies. However, motor-activation tasks decreased TD-related movements, suggesting a possible novel intervention.     

Stakes and risk: Incapacitative intent in sentencing decisions

Measures of seriousness of the conviction offense and prior criminal record are strong correlates of sentences. This is consistent with a desert orientation to sentencing. Competing sentencing theories emphasize concepts of risk and incapacitation, but their roles in sentencing decisions have received less attention. This study focused on judicial risk assessments and on the concept of stakes. Both variables plausibly are related to incapacitative intents of judges. Our hypotheses that the risk and stakes measures used are relatively independent and correlated with, and have an interaction effect on, decision outcomes were supported. Both judges' assessments of risk and our stakes scale accounted for substantial variation in the decision to incarcerate. Time actually served in confinement also was related substantially to stakes, risk, and their interaction. Implications of the stakes and risk concepts for future guidelines development and decision study in criminal justice are discussed.     

Mental illness, criminal risk factors and parole release decisions

Research has not examined whether higher rates of parole denial among inmates with mental illness (MI) are the result of the increased presence of criminal risk factors among this population. Employing a representative sample of inmates with (n = 219) and without (n = 184) MI receiving parole release decisions in 2007, this study tested whether the central eight risk factors for recidivism considered in parole release decisions intervened in the relationship between MI and parole release. MI was associated with possession of a substance use disorder, antisocial personality disorder and violent charges while incarcerated; however, these factors were not related to release decisions. MI was found to have neither a direct nor an indirect effect on release decisions. While results indicate that release decisions appear, to some extent, to be evidence-based, they also suggest considerable discretion is being implemented by parole board members in release decisions above and beyond consideration of criminal risk factors.     

Boundary effects of vague risk information on taxpayer decisions

In compliance decisions, the decision maker usually has only vague or ambiguous knowledge of the probability of being caught and the outcome (amount of penalty). An experiment is reported which extends work on effects of probability ambiguity by manipulating outcome ambiguity as well. When outcomes were limited to a bounded range and probabilities ranged between their natural boundaries [0, 1] in experimental tax decisions, symmetrical boundary effects were found in which vague estimates for both the probability and outcome dimensions caused vagueness aversion (and higher compliance) when the vague estimate was near the more favorable lower boundary of either dimension and vagueness seeking (and lower compliance) when the vague estimate was near the less favorable upper boundary. Probability and outcome vagueness effects were found to be independent of the vagueness of the other dimension, and vagueness effects were not systematically related to the level of the other dimension.The results suggest that a common cognitive process mediates the impact of vagueness on both dimensions. This may be a vagueness-adjustment process in which vague estimates are adjusted toward the middle of the bounded range, or a vagueness-preference process in which vague outcomes, and vague probabilities as well, are evaluated based on utility considerations, as though probability were a tangible commodity. For increasing compliance, the results suggest that risk information should be disseminated only when risks of punishment are relatively high. When risks are low, random enforcement techniques that enhance vagueness become more effective.     

Exploratory decisions of Trinidadian guppies when uncertain about predation risk

Animal Cognition - Animals can reduce their uncertainty of predation risk by gathering new information via exploration behaviour. However, a decision to explore may also be costly due to increased...     

A neural network model of foraging decisions made under predation risk

This article develops the cognitive—emotional forager (CEF) model, a novel application of a neural network to dynamical processes in foraging behavior. The CEF is based on a neural network known as the gated dipole, introduced by Grossberg, which is capable of representing short-term affective reactions in a manner similar to Solomon and Corbit’s (1974) opponent process theory. The model incorporates a trade-off between approach toward food and avoidance of predation under varying levels of motivation induced by hunger. The results of simulations in a simple patch selection paradigm, using a lifetime fitness criterion for comparison, indicate that the CEF model is capable of nearly optimal foraging and outperforms a run-of-luck rule-of-thumb model. Models such as the one presented here can illuminate the underlying cognitive and motivational components of animal decision making.     

How incidental values from the environment affect decisions about money, risk, and delay

How different are ￡0.50 and ￡1.50, "a small chance" and "a good chance," or "three months" and "nine months"? Our studies show that people behave as if the differences between these values are altered by incidental everyday experiences. Preference for a ￡1.50 lottery rather than a ￡0.50 lottery was stronger among individuals exposed to intermediate supermarket prices than among those exposed to lower or higher prices. Preference for "a good chance" rather than "a small chance" of winning a lottery was stronger among participants who predicted intermediate probabilities of rain than among those who predicted lower or higher chances of rain. Preference for consumption in "three months" rather than "nine months" was stronger among participants who planned for an intermediate birthday than among participants who planned for a sooner or later birthday. These fluctuations directly challenge economic accounts that translate monies, risks, and delays into subjective equivalents with stable functions. The decision-by-sampling model-in which subjective values are rank positions constructed from comparisons with samples-predicts these effects and indicates a primary role for sampling in decision making.     

Tardive dyskinesia and malpractice

Tardive dyskinesia is a potentially irreversible disorder of involuntary movement which may result from the prolonged use of neuroleptic medication in some patients. Its increase in prevalence in recent years has been accompanied by increased apprehension in the medical community regarding malpractice litigation. Following an update of current knowledge about tardive dyskinesia, several legal aspects of tardive dyskinesia are reviewed, including negligence, breach of contract, fraud, strict liability and informed consent. Despite considerable criticism of the doctrine of informed consent, it is suggested that it constitutes an inherent and indispensable component of long-term psychiatric treatment, where tardive dyskinesia is at issue.     

Consistent constructs in individuals’ risk taking in decisions from experience

The current research evaluates the consistency of different constructs affecting risk taking in individuals’ experiential decisions across different levels of risk. Specifically, we contrast three major views concerning the psychological constructs that underlie risk taking behavior. The first is the classical economic approach which views risk as the sensitivity to differences in variance. The second is the latent-components approach suggesting the importance of sensitivity to losses and diminishing sensitivity to marginal increases in payoffs. The third approach, risk acceptance, relates to the willingness to accept probable outcomes over certainty. The results of three studies indicate that (1) Individuals do not exhibit consistency in their sensitivity to variance. (2) Consistent diminishing sensitivity is found within the gain and loss domains, but across these domains individuals seem to be consistent only when deciding between constant versus probable outcomes, suggesting that they reliably differ in their risk acceptance. (3) Risk acceptance appears to entail different psychological constructs when the decision problem involves co-occurring gains and losses.     

Tardive dyskinesia and perceptual dysfunction

There is equivocal evidence for a relationship between neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia and central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction. Using the Bender-Gestalt test as the dependent measure, we hypothesized that a group of chronic schizophrenic patients with tardive dyskinesia would show more perceptual dysfunction than those without. Our results supported this hypothesis. CNS dysfunction is discussed in terms of a possible predisposition to tardive dyskinesia.     

The gap between medical and monetary choices under risk persists in decisions for others

Decisions under risk in the medical domain have been found to systematically diverge from decisions in the monetary domain. When making choices between monetary options, people commonly rely on a decision strategy that trades off outcomes with their probabilities; when making choices between medical options, people tend to neglect probability information. In two experimental studies, we tested to what extent differences between medical and monetary decisions also emerge when the decision outcomes affect another person. Using a risky choice paradigm for medical and monetary decisions, we compared hypothetical decisions that participants made for themselves to decisions for a socially distant other (Study 1) and to recommendations as financial advisor or doctor (Study 2). In addition, we examined people's information search in a condition in which information about payoff distributions had to be learned from experiential sampling. Formal modeling and analyses of search behavior revealed a similarly pronounced gap between medical and monetary decisions in decisions for others as in decisions for oneself. Our results suggest that when making medical decisions, people try to avoid the worst outcome while neglecting its probability—even when the outcomes affect others rather than themselves.     

Prospects behind bars: Analyzing decisions under risk in a prison population

Criminal activity often involves considerable risks. It is therefore not surprising that criminals have been speculated to differ from noncriminals in risk attitude. Yet, few data exist to support this assumption. Moreover, the psychological underpinnings of differences in risk attitude are currently little understood. We presented prisoners and controls with sets of risky decision tasks and modeled their responses using cumulative prospect theory (CPT). The two groups showed several differences. Prisoners were more risk seeking than nonprisoners in lotteries involving losses, but they were less risk seeking in lotteries involving high-probability gains. Bestfitting CPT parameters indicated a reduced sensitivity to outcomes, for both gains and losses, and a stronger loss aversion among prisoners. In addition, prisoners showed a diminished sensitivity to the probability of gains. Our results contribute to a better understanding of prisoners’ risk attitudes and the underlying mechanisms that distinguish prisoners from nonprisoners and may thus help improve interventions designed to prevent crime.     

Risk and rationality: the influence of decision domain and perceived outcome control on managers' high‐risk decisions

The issue of when managers will undertake different forms and amounts of risk in their new business creation decisions is still not fully understood. To address one facet of this issue, this paper advances the proposition that decision domain and perceived outcome control interact to impact managers' new‐product introduction decisions. Employing a causal method, a nested experimental design and indicators of risk's probability of loss and magnitude of loss elements, the study's results demonstrate that the manager's level of perceived outcome control combines with decision domain to determine subsequent levels of risk taking that are specific to each element of risk. Implications for theory, including prospect theory, and practice, especially firms wanting to pursue today's high‐risk new‐economy based initiatives, are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.