Motor proficiency and emotional/behavioural disturbance in autism and Asperger's disorder: another piece of the neurological puzzle?

The relationship of motor proficiency with emotional/behavioural disturbance, autistic symptoms and communication disturbance was investigated in children diagnosed with autism and Asperger's disorder (AD). The Movement Assessment Battery for Children was used as a measure of motor impairment, and the Developmental Behavioural Checklist was used as a measure of emotional/behavioural disturbance in the following groups: AD (n?=?22), high functioning autism (HFA) (n?=?23), LFA (n?=?8) and typically developing children (n?=?20). The HFA group had more difficulty with motor items, such as ball skills and balance, than did the AD group. There were significant positive correlations between impairments in motor proficiency (in particular ball skills and balance) and emotional/behavioural disturbance, autistic symptoms and communication disturbance. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that there are qualitative and quantitative differences in the motor profile between autism and AD. In addition, the association between motor proficiency impairment and emotional/behavioural disturbance in autism and AD emphasizes the importance for screening of co-occurring emotional/behavioural symptoms in individuals with motor difficulties. These findings have implications for the potential use of adjunct motor measures in the diagnosis and definition of autism spectrum disorders.     

Transitional and steady-state choice behavior under an adjusting-delay schedule

Twelve rats made repeated choices on an adjusting-delay schedule between a smaller reinforcer (A) that was delivered immediately after a response and a larger reinforcer (B) that was delivered after a delay which increased or decreased by 20% depending on the subject's choices in successive blocks of trials. In two phases of the experiment (100 sessions and 40 sessions), reinforcer sizes were selected which enabled theoretical parameters expressing the rate of delay discounting and sensitivity to reinforcer size to be estimated from the ratio of the indifference delays obtained in the two phases. Indifference delays, calculated from adjusting delays in the last 10 sessions of each phase, were shorter when the sizes of A and B were 14 and 25 μl of a 0.6 M sucrose solution than when they were 25 and 100 μl of the same solution. The ratio of the indifference delays was significantly smaller than that predicted on the basis of an assumed linear relation between reinforcer size and instantaneous reinforcer value, consistent with a previous proposal that this relation may be hyperbolic in form. Estimates of the rate of delay discounting based on the ratio of the two indifference delays (mean, 0.08 s(-1)) were similar to values obtained previously using different intertemporal choice protocols. Estimates of the size-sensitivity parameter (mean 113 μl) were similar to estimates recently derived from performance on progressive-ratio schedules. In both phases of the experiment, adjusting delays in successive blocks of trials were analyzed using the Fourier transform. The power spectrum obtained from individual rats had a dominant frequency that corresponded to a period of oscillation of the adjusting delay between 30 and 100 trial blocks (mean, 78). Power in the dominant frequency band was highest in the early sessions of the first phase and declined with extended training. It is suggested that this experimental protocol may have utility in neurobehavioral studies of intertemporal choice.     

Corporeal awareness and proprioceptive sense of the phantom

Phantom limb perception almost invariably follows limb amputation, and can be characterized by various corporeal and proprioceptive qualities. We report a study of 283 amputees, which administered a structured questionnaire to systematically determine the relative frequency and nature of various bodily aspects of phantom limb perception. These include the size, shape, posture, and telescoping of the phantom; exteroceptive sensations of itch, touch, pressure, vibration, temperature, and ‘electric’ sensations; and prosthesis embodiment. Phantom limbs were generally found to be characterized by properties that parallel those of the intact body, although with anatomically impossible configurations sometimes being perceived. We suggest that both the internal limb image and limb schemata play a significant role in the continued perception of phantom limbs.     

Examining classroom influences on student perceptions of school climate: The role of classroom management and exclusionary discipline strategies

There is growing emphasis on the use of positive behavior supports rather than exclusionary discipline strategies to promote a positive classroom environment. Yet, there has been limited research examining the association between these two different approaches to classroom management and students' perceptions of school climate. Data from 1902 students within 93 classrooms that were nested within 37 elementary schools were examined using multilevel structural equation modeling procedures to investigate the association between two different classroom management strategies (i.e., exclusionary discipline strategies and the use of positive behavior supports) and student ratings of school climate (i.e., fairness, order and discipline, student–teacher relationship, and academic motivation). The analyses indicated that greater use of exclusionary discipline strategies was associated with lower order and discipline scores, whereas greater use of classroom-based positive behavior supports was associated with higher scores on order and discipline, fairness, and student–teacher relationship. These findings suggest that pre-service training and professional development activities should promote teachers' use of positive behavior support strategies and encourage reduced reliance on exclusionary discipline strategies in order to enhance the school climate and conditions for learning.     

Surviving as a personality disorder service

Personality disorder services working along psychotherapeutic lines gained appeal with Health Care Commissioners following the publication of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for Borderline & Antisocial Personality Disorders and the emerging successful application of psychoanalytically derived approaches. In parallel to this creative development, the economic downturn has faced the National Health Service (NHS) with considerable challenges in its ongoing survival. The potential for creative pursuit often then sits in competition, juxtaposed with the need to survive. We examine the impact of this dynamic upon the therapeutic efforts of a newly established personality disorder service. We suggest that both conscious and unconscious aspects stirred up within such encounters are demanding of the need for development of a capacity within each to bear contact with unfamiliar experiences. Through attention to that development, both patient and clinician may further enliven and enrich individual and collective identities, such that the potential to survive creatively is actualized.     

Performance of humans in variable-interval avoidance schedules programmed singly, and concurrently with variable-interval schedules of positive reinforcement

Performance maintained under single variable-interval avoidance schedules, single variable-interval schedules of positive reinforcement, and concurrent schedules consisting of a variable-interval avoidance component and a variable-interval positive reinforcement component, was studied in three human subjects, using points exchangeable for money as the reinforcer. Response rate in the single variable-interval avoidance schedules was an increasing function of the frequency of monetary loss avoidance. Response rate in the single variable-interval positive reinforcement schedules was an increasing function of the frequency of obtained monetary reinforcement. In the concurrent avoidance/reinforcement schedules, the rate of responding in the avoidance component increased, and the rate of responding in the positive reinforcement schedule decreased (with one exception) as a function of the frequency of loss avoidance in the avoidance component. The logarithms of the ratios of the response rates in the two components, and the logarithms of the ratios of the times spent in the two components, were linearly related to the logarithms of the ratios of the frequency of loss avoidance in the avoidance component to the frequency of reinforcement in the positive reinforcement component. All three subjects exhibited marked undermatching of response rate ratios to reinforcement frequency ratios. The results are discussed in the context of Herrnstein's quantitative model of operant performance.     

A simple device for the preparation of exactly aligned dichotic tapes

A system is described involving three tape recorders and a control device whereby dichotic tapes can be prepared with onset alignment accurate to a few milliseconds, or to a measured asynchrony if required. No modifications of any sort are necessary for the three tape recorders. The two channels are separately recorded in the speaker’s own time, the only requirement being that the separate words be spoken with an interword interval of 350 msec or more, to provide sufficient time for starting and stopping the system. A tone burst is placed directly on tape on another channel ahead of each word, the latter being delayed by recording in tandem through two tape recorders. The first recorder is set to the delay (echo, NAB) facility, while the tone is recorded directly on the second. Subsequently, when this is done for each item on the two speech channels, the device, described below. utilizes the tone bursts to align the two input recorders. It then rerecords each pair of words on to the third (output or dichotic) machine, to the desired synchrony/asynchrony, and interitem interval. The system can be left to align the two channels automatically. A maximum repetition rate of two dichotic pairs every 1.3 sec can be achieved with Revox A77 tape recorders.