Failure of acute and chronic administration of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol to affect the repeated acquisition of serial position responses in pigeons

Pigeons were trained to acquire a new four-response position sequence each day by pecking three response keys in a predetermined order. The key color varied after each correct response prior to food delivery. Acute administration of Γ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ⁹-THC) up to a dose that completely eliminated responding, had no effect on total acquisition errors, or on within session patterns of error elimination. Chronic administration of Δ⁹-THC (3–10 mg/kg/day), either before or after the session for 4–7 weeks, also did not affect these error measures, although rates of responding were markedly suppressed and at times no responding occurred Discontinuation of Δ⁹-THC administration for periods of 4–6 weeks also was without effect on errors. These experiments suggest that neither acute nor chronic Δ⁹-THC produce specific effects on the repeated acquisition of serial position responses in pigeons.     

PAST: Viewing the programming process

A software package called PAST (Programmer Assessment Software Tools) is described. PAST was designed as a research and diagnostic tool to analyze how programmers develop and test program code. PAST uses line changes between successive compiles to estimate a programmer’s cognitive processing. Line changes are highlighted and graphically presented between any two versions or compiles. Summary graphs and statistics across all versions also are provided. Applications of PAST for expanding our understanding of programming and applying it to research, teaching, and learning are discussed.     

Self-regulation and sexual restraint: dispositionally and temporarily poor self-regulatory abilities contribute to failures at restraining sexual behavior

Nonsexual deficiencies in self-control may contribute to inappropriate or objectionable sexual behaviors, as shown by survey questionnaires, autobiographical narratives, and experimental manipulations. People with low overall trait self-control and/or whose self-control strength had been depleted by recent, nonsexual acts were less likely than other people to stifle inappropriate sexual thoughts and to resist the temptation to engage in sexual activities with someone other than their primary relationship partner. They also engaged in more extensive sexual activity in the laboratory with their dating partner and they reported more undercontrolled or impulsive sexual behavior generally. Furthermore, there was some evidence that the effects of diminished self-control were strongest among those with the strongest sexual desires (men and sexually unrestricted individuals) and among couples with less sexual experience.     

Effects of pain acceptance and pain control strategies on physical impairment in individuals with chronic low back pain

Psychosocial treatments for chronic pain are effective. There is a need, however, to understand the processes involved in determining how these treatments contribute to behavior change. Control and acceptance strategies represent two potentially important processes involved in treatment, although they differ significantly in approach. Results from laboratory-based studies suggest that acceptance-oriented strategies significantly enhance pain tolerance and behavioral persistence, compared with control-oriented strategies. There is a need, however, to investigate processes of acceptance and control directly in clinical settings. The present study investigated the effects of three brief instructional sets (pain control, pain acceptance, continued practice) on demonstrated physical impairment in 74 individuals with chronic low back pain using an analogue experimental design. After controlling for baseline performance, the pain acceptance group demonstrated greater overall functioning on a set of 7 standardized physical tasks relative to the other two groups, which did not differ from one another. Further, the acceptance group exhibited a 16.3% improvement in impairment, whereas the pain control group worsened by 8.3% and the continued practice group improved by 2.5%. These results suggest that acceptance may be a key process involved in behavior change in individuals with chronic pain.     

The Predictive Utility of Narcissism among Childrenand Adolescents: Evidence for a Distinction betweenAdaptive and Maladaptive Narcissism

We examined the predictive utility of narcissism among a community sample of children and adolescents (N=98) longitudinally. Analyses focused on the differential utility between maladaptive and adaptive narcissism for predicting later delinquency. Maladaptive narcissism significantly predicted self-reported delinquency at one-, two-, and three-year follow-ups. This pattern held even when considering other intrapersonal risk factors for conduct problems (i.e., callous-unemotional traits, impulsivity), parenting practices, and when controlling for earlier conduct problems. In addition, adaptive narcissism was predictive of delinquency in the absence of positive parenting practices, with maladaptive narcissism being particularly predictive of delinquency in the presence of negative parenting. The implications for understanding delinquency in terms of the social and motivational characteristics that are the hallmark of maladaptive narcissism are discussed.     

Moral Relativism

Moral relativism comes in many varieties. One is a moral doctrine, according to which we ought to respect other cultures, and allow them to solve moral problems as they see fit. I will say nothing about this kind of moral relativism in the present context. Another kind of moral relativism is semantic moral relativism, according to which, when we pass moral judgements, we make an implicit reference to some system of morality (our own). According to this kind of moral relativism, when I say that a certain action is right, my statement is elliptic. What I am really saying is that, according to the system of morality in my culture, this action is right. I will reject this kind of relativism. According to yet another kind of moral relativism, which we may call epistemic, it is possible that, when one person (belonging to one culture) makes a certain moral judgement, such as that this action is right, and another person (belong to another culture) makes the judgement that the very same action is wrong, they may have just as good reasons for their respective judgements; it is even possible that, were they fully informed about all the facts, equally imaginative, and so forth, they would still hold on to their respective (conflicting) judgements. They are each fully justified in their belief in conflicting judgements. I will comment on this form of moral relativism in passing. Finally, however, there is a kind of moral relativism we could call ontological, according to which, when two persons pass conflicting moral verdicts on a certain action, they may both be right. The explanation is that they make their judgements from the perspective of different, socially constructed, moral universes. So while it is true in the first person's moral universe that a certain action is right, it is true in the second person's moral universe that the very same action is wrong. I explain and defend this version of ontological moral relativism.     

Evidenzbasierte Psychotherapie

Zusammenfassung Seit einiger Zeit wird auch in der Psychotherapie – so wie in anderen Bereichen der Medizin – eine intensive und kontroverse Diskussion über die wissenschaftlichen Standards und deren Praxisrelevanz geführt. Dabei nehmen Fragen der Qualitätssicherung und der Entwicklung von Leitlinien einen zunehmenden Raum ein. Von besonderer Bedeutung sind in diesem Zusammenhang die Evidence Based Medicine (EbM) und ihre methodischen Standards, in deren Mittelpunkt experimentelle Therapiestudien stehen. Im Beitrag wird das Konzept der Evidence Based Medicine im Kontext der Psychotherapie (Evidence based Psychotherapy) vorgestellt und unter methodischen und inhaltlichen Gesichtspunkten diskutiert. Eine zentrale Frage ist dabei die inhaltliche Aussagekraft und die Übertragbarkeit von wissenschaftlichen Befunden auf die klinische Praxis.      

A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface

The present model outlines the mechanisms underlying habitual control of responding and the ways in which habits interface with goals. Habits emerge from the gradual learning of associations between responses and the features of performance contexts that have historically covaried with them (e.g., physical settings, preceding actions). Once a habit is formed, perception of contexts triggers the associated response without a mediating goal. Nonetheless, habits interface with goals. Constraining this interface, habit associations accrue slowly and do not shift appreciably with current goal states or infrequent counterhabitual responses. Given these constraints, goals can (a) direct habits by motivating repetition that leads to habit formation and by promoting exposure to cues that trigger habits, (b) be inferred from habits, and (c) interact with habits in ways that preserve the learned habit associations. Finally, the authors outline the implications of the model for habit change, especially for the self-regulation of habit cuing.