Heart rate responses to induced challenge situations in greylag geese (Anser anser)

Adequate short-term responses to stressors are of great importance for the health and well-being of individuals and factors modulating the physiological stress response (e.g., controllability, suddenness, familiarity) of a stimulus are well described under laboratory conditions. In the present study we aimed at investigating the stress response in greylag geese (Anser anser) in the field, confronting individuals with naturally occurring stressors. We measured beat-to-beat heart rate (HR) via fully implanted transmitters during three different experimental challenges: (1) catching and holding, (2) confrontation with a model predator, and (3) approach by different humans. We compared this to a control period and HR during agonistic encounters, a naturally occurring stressor. All three experimental situations evoked a HR increase. Highest HR responses were elicited by catching and holding the animals. In the third experiment, HR responses were greatest when the geese were approached by a human stranger (i.e., somebody the geese have never seen before). Hence, geese discriminated between different kinds of stressors and adjusted their physiological response depending on the type of stressor. Our results show that geese were able to discriminate between individual humans. In line with a number of lab studies, we suggest that particularly the controllability of certain situation determines the intensity of the HR response, also in a natural setting in the field.     

Event-based prospective remembering in a virtual world

Most laboratory-based prospective memory (PM) paradigms pose problems that are very different from those encountered in the real world. Several PM studies have reported conflicting results when comparing laboratory- with naturalistic-based studies (e.g., Bailey, Henry, Rendell, Phillips, & Kliegel, 2010 ). One key contrast is that for the former, how and when the PM cue is encountered typically is determined by the experimenter, whereas in the latter case, cue availability is determined by participant actions. However, participant-driven access to the cue has not been examined in laboratory studies focused on healthy young adults, and its relationship with planned intentions is poorly understood. Here we report a study of PM performance in a controlled, laboratory setting, but with participant-driven actions leading to the availability of the PM cue. This uses a novel PM methodology based upon analysis of participant movements as they attempted a series of errands in a large virtual building on the computer screen. A PM failure was identified as a situation in which a participant entered and exited the "cue" area outside an errand related room without performing the required errand whilst still successfully remembering that errand post test. Additional individual difference measures assessed retrospective and working memory capacity, planning ability and PM. Multiple regression analysis showed that the independent measures of verbal working memory span, planning ability, and PM were significant predictors of PM failure. Correlational analyses with measures of planning suggest that sticking with an original plan (good or bad) is related to better overall PM performance.     

Does the A-not-B error in adult pet dogs indicate sensitivity to human communication?

Recent dog-infant comparisons have indicated that the experimenter's communicative signals in object hide-and-search tasks increase the probability of perseverative (A-not-B) errors in both species (Topál et al. 2009). These behaviourally similar results, however, might reflect different mechanisms in dogs and in children. Similar errors may occur if the motor response of retrieving the object during the A trials cannot be inhibited in the B trials or if the experimenter's movements and signals toward the A hiding place in the B trials ('sham-baiting') distract the dogs' attention. In order to test these hypotheses, we tested dogs similarly to Topál et al. (2009) but eliminated the motor search in the A trials and 'sham-baiting' in the B trials. We found that neither an inability to inhibit previously rewarded motor response nor insufficiencies in their working memory and/or attention skills can explain dogs' erroneous choices. Further, we replicated the finding that dogs have a strong tendency to commit the A-not-B error after ostensive-communicative hiding and demonstrated the crucial effect of socio-communicative cues as the A-not-B error diminishes when location B is ostensively enhanced. These findings further support the hypothesis that the dogs' A-not-B error may reflect a special sensitivity to human communicative cues. Such object-hiding and search tasks provide a typical case for how susceptibility to human social signals could (mis)lead domestic dogs.     

Marital interaction of agoraphobic women: a controlled,behavioral observation study

Married couples with a female agoraphobic spouse (n = 22) were compared with demographically similar community control couples (n = 21) on self-report and observational measures of marital interaction. Consistent with hypotheses, husbands of agoraphobic women were more critical of their wives than were control husbands, and clinical couples were less likely to engage in positive problem solution than control couples. Contrary to hypothesis, clinical husbands were not less supportive than control husbands. Where general measures of marital distress were concerned, clinical couples, relative to control couples, evinced more distress by self-report, by their higher rate of negative nonverbal behavior, and by their longer sequences of negative exchanges.     

Sleep-dependent hippocampal slow activity correlates with waking memory performance in humans

The positive effect of postlearning sleep on memory consolidation as well as the relationship between sleep-related memory processes and the hippocampal formation are increasingly clarified topics in neurobiology. However, the possibility of a stable relationship between waking mnemonic performance and sleep-dependent hippocampal electric activity is unexplored. Here we report a correlative analysis between sleep-dependent parahippocampal-hippocampal (pHip-Hip) electric activity recorded by foramen ovale (FO) electrodes and different types of memory performances in epileptic patients. Psychological testing was performed days or weeks before electrophysiological recordings. The relative spectral power of the slow activity (below 1.25 Hz) during deep non-REM (NREM) sleep at the right pHip-Hip region correlated positively with the visual memory performance according to Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCFT). Along the posterior-anterior direction of the hippocampal formation a linear increasing of correlations was observed. The relative power of the activity below 1.25 Hz at the left pHip-Hip during phasic REM sleep correlated positively with verbal learning performance and mnemonic retention values according to ROCFT. It is concluded that the pHip-Hip structures' capacity of producing high amplitude and synchronized slow (< 1 Hz) oscillation during deep NREM sleep is related to the functional power of these structures. We hypothesize that the asymmetric (side-specific) propagation of ponto-geniculo-occipital (PGO) activity to the pHip-Hip region is related to the memory correlates of phasic REM sleep.     

Dependency,impulsivity, and self-harm: traits hypothesized to underlie the association between cluster B personality and substance use disorders

Cluster B personality disorders (PDs) (i.e., antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic) typically show a high degree of comorbidity with substance use disorders (SUDs). Previous research suggests that the broad-based personality domains of Disinhibition and Negative Temperament/Neuroticism may be common factors to both types of disorders. Using a two-phase process (i.e., screening and follow-up), this study examined three lower-order personality traits (i.e., dependency, impulsivity, and self-harm) that fall within the Disinhibition and Neuroticism domains. The study evaluated the hypotheses that these traits (a) are related both to cluster B PDs and to SUDs; and (b) underlie the association between the two types of disorders. Results indicate that impulsivity and self-harm play a significant role in cluster B PDs and SUDs, as well as in their association with each other. However, dependency was not associated with either type of disorder. These results indicate that sets of individual traits can be of significant utility in understanding the comorbidity between PDs and SUDs.     

Locus of inhibition in the masked priming of response alternatives

Masked prime stimuli presented immediately before target stimuli in a choice reaction task give rise to behavioral costs when the primes and the target stimuli are mapped to the same response and result in benefits when they are mapped to opposite responses. Researchers assume that this negative compatibility effect reflects inhibitory processes in the control of perceptuomotor links. The authors investigated whether the inhibition operates at the level of abstract central codes or at effector-specific motor stages. In 2 experiments (N = 8 participants in each), left or right hand or foot responses were required to target stimuli that were preceded by masked arrow primes mapped to the same response side as the target stimuli in compatible trials and to the opposite response side in incompatible trials; the primes were irrelevant in neutral trials. In Experiment 1, when the masked primes determined both response side and modality, there was no transfer of negative compatibility effects across response modalities. That finding is inconsistent with a central abstract locus of inhibition and suggests that inhibition operates at effector-specific motor stages. In Experiment 2, primes conveyed only response side information but left response modality uncertain, and negative compatibility effects were elicited for both hand and foot responses, suggesting that partially informative masked primes can trigger a parallel activation and subsequent inhibition of response processes within separate effector systems.     

Do Middle-Class Students Perceive Poor Women and Poor Men Differently?

In this study, we examined attitudes toward poor women, stereotypes about them, attributions for their poverty, and whether these thoughts and feelings differ from those about poor men. In our Midwestern college students sample (n = 206), attitudes toward poor women were significantly more positive than attitudes toward poor men. In addition, stereotypes of poor women were both more positive and more consistent with gender stereotypes than were those of poor men. Participants endorsed internal attributions for the poverty of both women and men more strongly than external or cultural attributions. However, the content of these attributions was different for the two target groups. Poor women were held responsible for nontraditional familial and reproductive patterns, whereas poor men were held responsible for lack of initiative and self-improvement. For poor men, all types of attributions included references to ability or willingness to work. The three types of attributions were more conceptually distinct for poor women.     

Psychometric properties and concurrent validity of two exercise addiction measures: A population wide study

ObjectivesThe existence of exercise addiction has been examined in numerous studies. However, none of the measures developed for exercise addiction assessment have been validated on representative samples. Furthermore, estimates of exercise addiction prevalence in the general population are not available. The objective of the present study was to validate the Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI; Terry, Szabo, & Griffiths, 2004), and the Exercise Dependence Scale (EDS; Hausenblas & Downs, 2002b), and to estimate the prevalence of exercise addiction in general population.DesignExercise addiction was assessed within the framework of the National Survey on Addiction Problems in Hungary (NSAPH), a national representative study for the population aged 18–64 years (N = 2710).Method474 people in the sample (57% males; mean age 33.2 years) who reported to exercise at least once a week were asked to complete the two questionnaires (EAI, EDS).ResultsConfirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) indicated good fit both in the case of EAI (CFI = 0.971; TLI = 0.952; RMSEA = 0.052) and EDS (CFI = 0.938; TLI = 0.922; RMSEA = 0.049); and confirmed the factor structure of the two scales. The correlation between the two measures was high (r = 0.79). Results showed that 6.2% (EDS) and 10.1% (EAI) of the population were characterized as nondependent-symptomatic exercisers, while the proportion of the at-risk exercisers were 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.ConclusionsBoth EAI and EDS proved to be a reliable assessment tool for exercise addiction, a phenomenon that is present in the 0.3–0.5% of the adult general population.     

BIS and BAS correlates with psychophysiological and cortical response systems during aversive and appetitive emotional stimuli processing

The present research intended first to confirm psychophysiological and cortical responses to valence- and arousal-manipulated stimuli and second to show how the BIS and BAS (Behavioural Inhibition and Activation System) personality characteristics correlated with these psychophysiological and cortical responses. Multiple measures were recorded, such as psychophysiological (skin conductance response, heart rate, and electromyography) and ERPs (event-related potentials) responses, during viewing IAPS figures, that varied in terms of pleasantness (appetitive vs. aversive) and arousing power (high vs. low intensity). Autonomic variables and two ERP positive deflections (P3 and LPP ERP effects) were found to be modulated by valence and arousal rating, with an increased response for high arousing and negative or positive stimuli in comparison with low arousing and neutral stimuli. Moreover, high BAS subjects were more responsive to positive than negative emotions, whereas high BIS subjects responded in greater measure to negative and arousing emotions. Findings were discussed in light of biphasic model of emotion comprehension.