Lesions of the rat nucleus basalis magnocellularis disrupt appetitive-to-aversive transfer learning

Rats with selective lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) and sham-lesion control animals were tested in an operant appetitive-to-aversive transfer task. We hypothesized that NBM lesions would not affect performance in the appetitive phase, but that performance would be impaired during subsequent transfer to the aversive phase of the task. Additional groups of NBM lesion and control rats were tested in the avoidance condition only, where we hypothesized that NBM lesions would not disrupt performance. These hypotheses were based, on the argument that the NBM is not necessary for simple association learning that does not tax attention. Both the appetitive phase of the transfer task and the avoidance only task depend only on simple associative learning and are argued not to tax attention. Consequently, performance in these tasks was predicted to be spared following NBM lesions. Complex, attention-demanding associative learning, however, is argued to depend on the NBM. Performance, in the aversive phase of the transfer task is both attentionally demanding and associatively more complex than in either the appetitive or aversive tasks alone; thus, avoidance performance in the NBM lesion group was predicted to be impaired following transfer from prior appetitive conditioning. Results supported our hypotheses, with the NBM lesion group acquiring the appetitive response normally, but showing impaired performance following transfer to the aversive conditioning phase of the transfer task. Impairments were not attributable to disrupted avoidance learning per se, as avoidance behavior was normal in the NBM lesion group tested in the avoidance condition only.     

Determining the Place of Religion: Native American Traditions and the WWW

Examples of Native American websites reveal great differences in those created by Native and non-Native people. Most often of central concern for non-Indian people is Native American ‘spirituality’. In contrast, Native people rarely discuss religion as a topic distinct from political, economic or material concerns. This disparity highlights the contentious nature of ‘religion’ between Indigenous and Immigrant cultural contexts. It also reveals some features of the relationships between the cultural phenomenon of ‘whiteness’ and religion.     

Reciprocal relationships between job resources, personal resources, and work engagement

This study examined longitudinal relationships between job resources, personal resources, and work engagement. On the basis of Conservation of Resources theory, we hypothesized that job resources, personal resources, and work engagement are reciprocal over time. The study was conducted among 163 employees, who were followed-up over a period of 18 months on average. Results of structural equation modeling analyses supported our hypotheses. Specifically, we found that T1 job and personal resources related positively to T2 work engagement. Additionally, T1 work engagement related positively to T2 job and personal resources. The model that fit best was the reciprocal model, which showed that not only resources and work engagement but also job and personal resources were mutually related. These findings support the assumption of Conservation of Resources theory that various types of resources and well-being evolve into a cycle that determines employees’ successful adaptation to their work environments.     

How well can the theory of planned behavior account for occupational intentions?

We tested the capacity of an extended version of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to account for intentions to work for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) as a nurse, physiotherapist or radiographer amongst three groups: professionally unqualified (N = 507), in professional training (N = 244), and professionally qualified (N = 227). We found strong support for the three core TPB variables attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control as predictors of behavioral intention, and limited support for two additional variables: moral obligation and identification. There were some differences in the relative importance of TPB variables between groups. We conclude that the TPB has utility for more complex behaviors as well as simpler ones that are more frequently researched. However, more attention should be paid to differences in people’s circumstances, particularly regarding past vocational decisions and behavior, and to obstacles to implementing an intention.     

Forgetting of prior remembering in persons reporting recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse

Case studies of individuals reporting recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse suggest that some overestimate their prior forgetting of the abuse. People reporting recovered or continuous memories of childhood sexual abuse and control subjects reporting no history of abuse participated in two experiments examining this "forgot it all along" phenomenon. Participants in Experiment 1 were more likely to forget that they had previously recalled a studied item if they were cued to think of it differently on two recall tests than if they were cued to think of it in the same way on the two tests. This effect was stronger for recovered-memory participants than for continuous-memory and control participants. In Experiment 2, participants recalled autobiographical events three times over a period of 4 months. Much as in Experiment 1, they underestimated prior remembering when the events had been recalled in a different emotional frame (positive vs. negative) on the previous occasion. This underestimation was more pronounced for recovered-memory participants than for continuous-memory and control participants.     

Effect of selected psychological characteristics upon choice-shift patterns found within hierarchical groups of public accountants

The goals of this study were to examine, first, the relationship between choice shift and three psychological variables (social desirability, locus of control, and moral reasoning) and, second, the influence of these and subjects' employment position on the choice-shift phenomenon within the context of a professional accounting setting. The sample of 60 subjects (four auditors per group, each holding different employment ranks within their firms, yielding 15 groups, each from a different small to medium size CPA firm), participated in three group decision-making tasks related to common accounting and auditing risk-assessment issues. The exercise consisted of three iterations of a standard choice-shift exercise followed by three standardized tests to mcasure the selected psychological characteristics. Analysis indicated that choice shifts were not significantly affected by subjects' psychological characteristics. Instead, subjects' position in an organization influenced choice shift, and the higher the position, the less absolute shift shown.     

Free recall enhances subsequent learning

Testing, or retrieval practice, has become a central topic in memory research. One potentially important effect of retrieval practice has received little attention, however: It may enhance, or potentiate, subsequent learning. We introduce a paradigm that can measure the indirect, potentiating effect of free recall tests on subsequent learning, and then test a hypothesis for why tests may have this potentiating effect. In two experiments, the benefit of a restudy trial was enhanced when prior free recall tests had been taken. The results from a third, correlational study suggested that this effect might be mediated by the effect of testing on organization. Not only do encoding conditions affect later retrievability, but also retrieval attempts affect subsequent encoding effectiveness.     

Migration: Vocational perspectives on a complex and diverse transition

This paper outlines the origins of this special issue: a UK Economic and Social Research Council supported seminar series on ‘Careers and Migration’. The series elucidated a number of salient (though under-researched) issues: migration as a diverse and complex process; the loss, recovery and reconstruction of career capital as central in the migration experience; insecurity, security and their dynamic interplay; the salience of relationships with family, compatriots and communities in migrants' career development; and the appropriateness of creative approaches in researching migrants' careers. The seven articles, written by interdisciplinary authorial teams (sometimes working in different occupational sectors) contribute to our understandings of these pressing concerns.