Rats (Rattus norvegicus) encode the shape of an array of discrete objects

To navigate efficiently, a traveler must establish a heading using a frame of reference. A large body of evidence has indicated that humans and a variety of nonhuman animals utilize the geometry, or shape, of enclosed spaces as a frame of reference to determine their heading. An important and yet unresolved question is whether shape information from arrays of discrete objects and enclosed environments are represented, and utilized, in the same way. In the present study, rats were presented with a reference memory task in which they had to find water that was hidden in 1 of 4 discrete and unique objects placed at the vertices of a rectangle. The results indicate that rats could utilize both feature and geometry cues to locate the hidden goal. The rats' performance declined during transformation tests using a triangular array, indicating that the rats may have encoded the primary axis of the object array, rather than local cues, to direct their search.     

Parents' perceptions of pharmacological and cognitive-behavioral treatments for childhood anxiety disorders

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and pharmacotherapy are the most well-established treatments for childhood anxiety disorders. This study examined how parents (N=71) seeking treatment for their child's anxiety disorder perceive the acceptability, believability, and effectiveness of these treatments. While both treatments were perceived favorably, CBT was rated as more acceptable, believable, and effective in the short- and long-term. Children's treatment history influenced parents' perceptions of pharmacotherapy, with parents of children with no treatment history perceiving medication treatment as less acceptable and believable than parents of children with a history of medication alone or in combination with behavior therapy. No effect of treatment history was found for perceptions of CBT. Significant positive correlations emerged between parents' perceived acceptance and believability for pharmacotherapy and child age and level of dysfunction due to their child's anxiety, respectively. The level of the child's anxiety was not significantly correlated with parents' perceptions of either CBT or pharmacotherapy. Our results suggest that parents of anxious children prefer CBT to medication for the treatment of their child's anxiety disorder. Directions for future research are discussed.     

Body vigilance in nonclinical and anxiety disorder samples: structure, correlates, and prediction of health concerns

The Body Vigilance Scale (BVS) is a measure developed to assess one’s conscious attendance to internal cues. The present report investigated the structure, correlates, and predictive utility of the BVS in nonclinical (N = 442) and anxiety (N = 135) disorder samples. The findings of Study 1 suggest that the BVS is 1-dimensional in a nonclinical sample, and Study 2 replicated the factor structure of the BVS in an anxiety disorder sample. Correlations between the BVS and related (i.e., anxiety sensitivity) and unrelated (i.e., social anxiety) variables were consistent with predictions in both studies. Study 2 also showed that body vigilance is primarily elevated in patients with panic disorder relative to other anxiety disorders. Relative elevations in body vigilance were also observed for patients with hypochondriasis and generalized anxiety disorder. The BVS also demonstrated a specific association with medical utilization and health-related safety-seeking behaviors after controlling for related variables in nonclinical and anxiety disorder samples. The implications of our findings for the nature and measurement of body vigilance as a predictor of health concerns in anxiety disorders are considered.     

Specificity of disgust sensitivity in the prediction of behavioral avoidance in contamination fear

This study examined the specificity of disgust sensitivity in predicting contamination-related anxiety and behavioral avoidance. Participants high (n=26) and low (n=30) in contamination fear completed self-report measures of disgust sensitivity, contamination cognitions (overestimation of the likelihood and severity of contamination from everyday objects), anxiety, and depression. They then completed three randomly presented contamination-based behavioral avoidance tasks (BATs) that consisted of exposure to a used comb, a cookie on the floor, and a bedpan filled with toilet water. Results indicated that disgust sensitivity was significantly associated with anxious and avoidant responding to the contamination-related BATs. This association remained largely intact after controlling for gender, contamination fear group membership, anxiety, and depression. Contamination cognitions were also significantly related to BAT responses. However, this relationship was fully mediated by disgust sensitivity. These findings indicate that disgust sensitivity has a specific and robust association with contamination concerns commonly observed in obsessive compulsive disorder. The findings are discussed in the context of a disease-avoidance model.     

Sibling Conflict Resolution Skills: Assessment and Training

Sibling conflict can rise to the level of a clinical problem. In Phase 1 a lengthy behavioral role-play analog sampling child reactions to normal sibling conflicts was successfully shortened. In Phase 2 normal children who lacked sibling conflict resolution skills were randomly assigned to a Training or Measurement Only condition. Training consisted of five clinic sessions focusing on verbal reasoning, assertiveness, and acceptance skills. Trained children outperformed Measurement Only children on the shortened role-play test. Parents of trained children, but not untrained children, perceived improved social competence in the home. The project provides an empirical foundation for future research with aggressive siblings.     

Pigeons and people select efficient routes when solving a one-way "traveling salesperson" task

The authors presented people (Experiment 1) and pigeons (Experiments 2 and 3) with a large number of 1-way traveling salesperson problems that consisted of 3, 4, and 5 identical stimuli (nodes) on a computer monitor. The sequence of nodes that each traveler selected was recorded, and the distance of the route was subsequently determined. The routes the pigeons and people selected were reliably more efficient than those used by a Monte Carlo model given the same problems. The pigeons' routes were significantly less efficient than a nearest neighbor model of performance, however. In Experiment 3, pigeons were required to select a route that was within the top 33% of all possible solutions for a given problem. The pigeons' solutions were significantly more efficient than those observed in Experiment 2, in which the behavioral criterion was not imposed. The mechanisms that pigeons and people may have been using to solve the traveling salesperson problems are discussed.     

Managing Workplace Conflict in the United States and Hong Kong

We propose that managers have norms (standards of appropriate behavior) for resolving conflict, that these norms are culturally based, and that they explain cultural differences in conflict management outcomes. We confirm that the traditionally American norms of discussing parties' interests and synthesizing multiple issues were exhibited more strongly by American managers than by their Hong Kong Chinese counterparts. In addition, we confirm that the traditionally Chinese norms of concern for collective interests and concern for authority appeared more strongly among Hong Kong Chinese managers than among their American counterparts. American managers were more likely than Hong Kong Chinese managers, to resolve a greater number of issues and reach more integrative outcomes, while Hong Kong Chinese managers were more likely to involve higher management in conflict resolution. Culture had a significant effect on whether parties selected an integrative outcome rather than an outcome that involved distribution, compromise, higher management, or no resolution at all. Conflict norms explained the cultural differences that existed between reaching an integrative outcome and reaching an outcome involving distribution, compromise, or higher management; however, conflict norms did not fully explain the cultural differences that existed between reaching an integrative outcome and reaching no resolution.