Validity and internal consistency reliability of a computerized test to assess prone extension in children ages four to six years

The objective of this study was to develop a computerized test of prone extension to measure performance of prone extension in children 4 to 6 years of age. The participants were selected from kindergartens, comprising 132 boys and 107 girls with a mean age of 5 yr. 2 mo. (SD = 6 mo.). Sensitivity and specificity of the computerized test of prone extension were assessed by comparison with the judgments of an expert, an occupational therapist with more than 20 yr. of pediatric experience, as the criterion standard. The computerized test of prone extension identified children with poor outcomes with a sensitivity of 0.83, a specificity of 0.88, and an accuracy of 0.87. The internal reliability index was 0.81. The computerized test of prone extension could be of value in detecting problems of antigravity posture in prone extension and permitting early intervention to correct it.     

Sex differences in investigatory and grooming behaviors of laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus) following exposure to novelty

Prior research suggested that during exposure to novel stimuli, rodent investigation and self-grooming behaviors may be sexually dimorphic and interact with ambient illumination. To test this notion we compared the behavior of adult male and female groups of Long-Evans hooded rats in normal room lighting (860 lx) and in very dim, red light (0.2 lx) following exposure to a novel juvenile conspecific. Illuminance level had little or no effect, but investigatory and subsequent self-grooming behaviors of males were substantially greater than those of females, and females engaged in greater ambulatory activity than did males. In a second experiment adult males and females were exposed to a novel inanimate object. No reliable sex differences were observed. We conclude that social novelty, as provided by exposure to a juvenile conspecific, stimulates greater investigation and postinvestigatory self-grooming than exposure to a novel inanimate object and that exposure to novel conspecifics presents a useful method for the investigation of sex differences, gonadal hormone effects, and interactions of hormones with neurotransmitter systems governing motor control systems.     

Serotonin, the superior colliculus, and grooming behavior in cats with neocortical lesions.

Previous studies of cats with pontile lesions indicate that a serotonergic deficit exists in the superior colliculi and that this deficit is involved in the genesis of an abnormal grooming behavior. Cats with frontal neocortical lesions exhibit the same serotonergic deficit and the same abnormal grooming behavior. The present study established that the serotonergic deficit is involved in the mediation of the abnormal grooming behavior in cats with frontal neocortical lesions. Microinjections of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) into the superior colliculi abolished or signigicantly reduced the abnormal behavior in cats with frontal neocortical lesions, whereas no effects of 5-HTP were observed after injections into the cerebrospinal fluid above the superior colliculi, into the tegmentum beneath the superior colliculi, or into the medial dorsal nucleus rostral to the superior colliculi. Other substances (tryptophan, noradrenaline, and gamma-amino-butyric acid) had no effect on the abnormal behavior when injected into the superior colliculi. Further evidence implicating a serotonergic deficit in the mediation of the abnormal behavior was obtained by systemic injections: The abnormal behavior was abolished with 5-HTP in cats with frontal neocortical lesions and in adrenalectomized cats that were previously treated with p-chlorophenylalanine.. The present study also demonstrated that the abnormal grooming behavior is induced by frontal neocortical lesions and not by more caudal lesions of the neocortex. The anatomical relations between the frontal neocortex and the superior colliculus and the role of these structures in grooming behavior are discussed.     

Sugar consumption,locomotion, task orientation,and learning in preschool children

A challenge design was employed to investigate the effect of sucrose consumption on the behavior of 12 preschool children. On separate experimental days, subjects were tested individually with either a challenge sucrose drink (2 gm/kg body weight) or a placebo drink sweetened with aspartame. Fifteenminute observations of each child during free play were made at 15, 45, and 75 minutes after ingestion of the drink. Assessment with a paired- associate learning task was made before ingestion and at 30, 60, and 90 minutes after ingestion. This study was a partial replication and extension of one of the few studies in the literature that has found an effect of sucrose on the behavior of normal children. On all dependent measures (locomotion, task orientation, and learning), the study failed to obtain significant differences between the two conditions.     

Thermoregulatory behavior in infant Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) and Syrian golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus): arousal,orientation, and locomotion

The responses of 2- and 8-day-old rats (Rattus norvegicus) and hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) to thermal stimulation were assessed in 4 experiments. In Experiment 1, the surface underlying the pup was cooled, and the latency to escape to a region of warmth was measured. Experiment 2 required pups to locomote farther to gain access to warmth. Experiment 3 was similar to Experiment 1 except the underlying surface was heated. Finally, in Experiment 4, locomotor behavior was assessed during isothermal cooling in which there was no possibility for escape. In general, hamsters exhibited more rapid and robust responses to thermal stimulation than rats. A framework for interpreting these results is presented emphasizing how differences in locomotor and thermogenic capabilities influence thermoregulatory behavior under different task conditions.     

Brain transections selectively alter ingestion and behavioral activation in neonatal rats

Food-deprived neonatal rats actively ingest milk that is infused into their mouths through intraoral cannulas. This ingestion is accompanied by behavioral activation. The involvement of various brain regions in ingestion and activation was examined by making transections along the neuraxis from the olfactory bulbs to the anterior pons in 2-day-old rats. Following a 24-hr deprivation period, a series of oral milk infusions was given, and milk intake and activity were measured. Intake was severely reduced only in animals with diencephalic transections. Cuts in front of or behind the diencephalon resulted in normal or slightly decreased intake. In contrast, activity tended to decline as the level of the transection became more caudal. Thus ingestion and its accompanying behavioral activation could be separated neuroanatomically. These results suggest that two brain mechanisms are involved in the ingestive response of the infant rat, one in the diencephalon and another caudal to the mesencephalon. However, behavioral activation appears less discretely organized, involving most of the neuraxis.     

Washing, drying, and anointing in adult humans (Homo sapiens): commonalities with grooming sequences in rodents.

Very few behavioral patterns generalize across human and nonhuman species. We describe washing, drying, and anointing sequences in humans (Homo sapiens) that may have analogies with other species. The rank ordering of washing, drying, and anointing body parts was obtained over 3 successive days for 37 men and 60 women. Variation in rank ordering of body parts was nonrandom, and a cephalocaudal progression was evident for each behavior. Reliability of the behaviors as well as the correlations across rankings were highly significant, which indicates a generalized cephalocaudal progression for all 3 behaviors. Women's anointing was most variable, which suggests a more specific function. The cephalocaudal action pattern described for humans is similar to that for Mongolian gerbils and laboratory rats. Cross-species functions, such as these, may add to our understanding of common developmental and learning processes.     

Sequencing of behaviors in Aplysia fasciata: integration of feeding, reproduction, and locomotion.

To begin studying the neural basis of higher-order decision-making in Aplysia fasciata, we examined individual bouts of behavior in various conditions of access to food and/or mates. We then determined rules governing transitions between bouts. The data indicate that a single intermediate condition, moving in place, may be centrally related to transitions between behaviors. In all conditions, over 85% of all transitions between behaviors were via moving in place. Moving in place tended to precede and follow other categories of activity (crawling, swimming, immobile), and feeding. Also, moving in place apparently represents a fixed proportion of all bouts of behavior. In each condition, moving in place represented approximately 40% of all bouts, while the number of bouts of other behaviors varied markedly. After a bout of moving in place there was a strong tendency for the animal to return to the behavior performed before moving in place. Additional preferred sequences of behavior were also seen. Courtship tended to precede mating, and crawling preceded swimming.     

Correlations between behavior of mice in Porsolt's swim test and in tests of anxiety, locomotion, and exploration

This study examined whether the behavior of male NIH Swiss mice in a putative animal model of depression, Porsolt's swim test, is related to that in other behavioral tests. The other tests were the plus-maze test of anxiety, the holeboard test of exploration and locomotor activity, and a test of seizure threshold to bicuculline. The immobility of the mice in the swim test did not correlate with their behavior in any of the other tests used. The only significant correlations found occurred between individual measures in the holeboard and plus-maze tests. The data suggest that immobility in the swim test is not related to behavior in the tests of anxiety, directed exploration, locomotor activity, or seizure threshold.     

Daily variation of multiple behaviors in Aplysia fasciata: integration of feeding, reproduction, and locomotion

Daily variations in feeding, reproductive behaviors, and activity level were examined under three conditions: (1) animals had access to food and mates; (2) there was access only to food; (3) neither food nor mates were present. Behaviors differed in amplitude of variations from their daily mean value. Egg-laying had the strongest tendency to be clustered. Amplitude of variations in courtship and swimming was larger than those of immobility, crawling, and feeding, while moving in place was the least clustered behavior. Changes in state affected the tendency to be clustered. When food and mates were present, amplitude of variations became progressively larger for immobility, moving in place, crawling, and swimming. Behaviors differed in the degree to which variations were patterned as a 1/day oscillation. Relatively little of the variability in crawling, moving in place, courtship, and egg-laying was due to a 1/day oscillation under any condition. By contrast, a large proportion of the variability of immobility, swimming, mating, and eating was modulated by a 1/day oscillation in at least one condition. The contribution of a 1/day oscillation to variability differed in the conditions examined. For immobility and swimming, when food and mates were present, the 1/day component of variability became smaller. By contrast, presence of mates led to an increase in the 1/day component of variability modulating feeding. Daily peaks of swimming and feeding were in phase with one another, and out of phase with mating and feeding. The ratio of locomotion to inactivity is constant, independent of change in external conditions. However, this ratio varied throughout the day. When food and mates were absent, variations of immobility and swimming were strongly related to variations in the inactivity ratio. When food and mates were added, this tendency decreased. The data suggest that daily variations in occurrence of behaviors can be accounted for by interactions between oscillators affecting Aplysia behavior and motivational variables. A 1/day oscillator has strong effects on mating, swimming, and immobility. The effect of the oscillator is modified by changes in motivational state.     

Affect, Social Behavior, and the Brain in Williams Syndrome

ABSTRACT— Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by intellectual impairment and a distinctive physical and neuropsychological profile. Relative to their level of intellectual functioning, individuals with WS exhibit strengths in language and face recognition, with deficits in visual-spatial cognition. A heightened appetitive drive toward social interaction is a strong behavioral feature. Relative to other neurodevelopmental disorders, WS has a clearly defined genetic basis, together with a consistent neurocognitive profile of strengths and deficits. Thus, this disorder offers unique opportunities for elucidating gene–brain–behavior relationships. We focus on manifestations of the unusual social profile in WS, by examining data within and across levels of cognition, brain, and molecular genetics.     

The interactions of courtship, feeding, and locomotion in the behavioral hierarchy of the snail Helix aspersa

Starvation both increased the number of snails that exhibited feeding (i.e., increased feeding proclivity) and decreased the latencies of response to a food stimulus (i.e., increased food arousal). Feeding inhibited locomotion, although starvation itself had no effect. Sexual arousal (the intensity of courtship) increased locomotion, but only in the absence of a mating partner. Sexual proclivity (the likelihood of a snail to court with conspecifics) had no effect on locomotion. In general, proclivity and arousal had different effects on behavior. Food deprivation did not alter the preference of sexually aroused snails for sexual stimuli over food stimuli Both starved and fed courting pairs responded to a food stimulus only during periods of low sexual arousal, although when not sexually aroused, starved snails usually increased the amount of time they spent in contact with a food stimulus. These results suggest that courtship can suppress feeding and that the expression of feeding behavior is dependent upon the occurrence of low levels of sexual arousal (time sharing).     

Attention,spatial integration,and the tail of response time distributions in Stroop task performance

A few studies have examined selective attention in Stroop task performance through ex-Gaussian analyses of response time (RT) distributions. It has remained unclear whether the tail of the RT distribution in vocal responding reflects spatial integration of relevant and irrelevant attributes, as suggested by Spieler, Balota, and Faust (2000 Spieler, D. H., Balota, D. A. and Faust, M. E. 2000. Levels of selective attention revealed through analyses of reaction time distributions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 26: 506–526. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Here, two colour–word Stroop experiments with vocal responding are reported in which the spatial relation between colour and word was manipulated. Participants named colours (e.g., green; say “green”) while trying to ignore distractors that were incongruent or congruent words (e.g., red or green), or neutral series of Xs. The vocal RT was measured. Colour words in colour, white words superimposed onto colour rectangles (Experiment 1), and colour rectangles combined with auditory words (Experiment 2) yielded Stroop effects in both the leading edge and the tail of the RT distributions. These results indicate that spatial integration is not necessary for effects in the tail to occur in vocal responding. It is argued that the findings are compatible with an association of the tail effects with task conflict.     

Attention, spatial integration, and the tail of response time distributions in Stroop task performance

A few studies have examined selective attention in Stroop task performance through ex-Gaussian analyses of response time (RT) distributions. It has remained unclear whether the tail of the RT distribution in vocal responding reflects spatial integration of relevant and irrelevant attributes, as suggested by Spieler, Balota, and Faust (2000). Here, two colour-word Stroop experiments with vocal responding are reported in which the spatial relation between colour and word was manipulated. Participants named colours (e.g., green; say "green") while trying to ignore distractors that were incongruent or congruent words (e.g., red or green), or neutral series of Xs. The vocal RT was measured. Colour words in colour, white words superimposed onto colour rectangles (Experiment 1), and colour rectangles combined with auditory words (Experiment 2) yielded Stroop effects in both the leading edge and the tail of the RT distributions. These results indicate that spatial integration is not necessary for effects in the tail to occur in vocal responding. It is argued that the findings are compatible with an association of the tail effects with task conflict.     

Effects of food and mates on time budget in Aplysia fasciata: integration of feeding, reproduction, and locomotion

This study examines the time budgeted to different behaviors in Aplysia fasciata under three conditions: (1) animals have constant access to food and mates: (2) there is access to food, but not to mates; (3) neither food nor mates are present. The data suggest a number of rules underlying behavioral integration: (1) Feeding, reproductive behaviors, and activity seem to be natural categories for behavioral choice. Feeding and reproductive behaviors are controlled in tandem by a common arousal mechanism, while time left over after animals feed and reproduce is distributed in a fixed ratio between locomotion (crawling and swimming) and inactivity (immobility and movement in place). (2) Relative distribution between different forms of locomotion and inactivity is modified by changes in motivational state. More time is spent swimming than crawling when feeding and/or mating is prevented, while more time is spent moving in place than immobile when the arousal level is increased. (3) Feedback control of feeding and reproduction is asymmetric. Satiation of feeding inhibits the common arousal. In the absence of food, time spent on reproductive behaviors increases due to disinhibition of the common arousal. By contrast, positive feedback arising from sexual behavior excites the common arousal. When mating is prevented by removing potential mates, time spent feeding decreases. (4) Generally, animals choose between performing the three main categories of behavior. Although Aplysia simultaneously can feed and mate, or locomote and mate, they do so infrequently. By contrast, different types of reproductive behaviors (male mating, female mating, egg-laying) are commonly performed simultaneously.     

Child care in rural areas: Needs,attitudes, and preferences

The purpose of this research was to assess the needs and preferences for child care services in rural areas. We examined data from interviews with 525 mothers of children up to 12 years of age in two southeastern states. Results indicated that, while rural mothers expressed a desire for more child care services, many were ambivalent about other-than-mother care. On the one hand, they had limited knowledge about and experience with a variety of child care arrangements; on the other hand, they could identify their preferences for types and specific features of day care they desired. These preferences were summarized to form a hypothetical "ideal type" of child care for rural mothers.