Tonic Activity Level in the Right Prefrontal Cortex Predicts Individuals' Risk Taking

ABSTRACT— Human risk taking is characterized by a large amount of individual heterogeneity. In this study, we applied resting-state electroencephalography, which captures stable individual differences in neural activity, before subjects performed a risk-taking task. Using a source-localization technique, we found that the baseline cortical activity in the right prefrontal cortex predicts individual risk-taking behavior. Individuals with higher baseline cortical activity in this brain area display more risk aversion than do other individuals. This finding demonstrates that neural characteristics that are stable over time can predict a highly complex behavior such as risk-taking behavior and furthermore suggests that hypoactivity in the right prefrontal cortex might serve as a dispositional indicator of lower regulatory abilities, which is expressed in greater risk-taking behavior.     

Argumentation and Explanation in Conceptual Change: Indications From Protocol Analyses of Peer-to-Peer Dialog

In this paper we attempt to identify which peer collaboration characteristics may be accountable for conceptual change through interaction. We focus on different socio-cognitive aspects of the peer dialog and relate these with learning gains on the dyadic as well as the individual level. The scientific topic that was used for this study concerns natural selection, a topic for which students' intuitive conceptions have been shown to be particularly robust. Learning tasks were designed according to the socio-cognitive conflict instructional paradigm. After receiving a short instructional intervention on natural selection, paired students were asked to collaboratively construct explanations for certain evolutionary phenomena while engaging in dialectical argumentation. Two quantitative coding schemes were developed, each with a different granularity. The first assessed discrete dialog moves that pertained to dialectical argumentation and to consensual explanation development. The second scheme characterized the dialog as a whole on a number of socio-cognitive dimensions. Results from analyses on the dyadic as well as the individual level revealed that the engagement in dialectical argumentation predicted conceptual learning gains, whereas consensual explanation development did not. These findings open up new venues for research on the mechanisms of learning in and from peer collaboration.     

Characteristics of ADHD Related to Executive Function: Differential Predictions for Creativity-Related Traits

Although the relationship between creativity and ADHD is uncertain, recent studies examining how dimensionally assessed characteristics of ADHD relate to creativity and divergent thinking in adults suggest an occasional positive, linear relationship between the constructs. However, the executive functions proposed to underlie characteristics of ADHD have not been examined in relation to creativity. This study was conducted to determine how different characteristics of ADHD related to executive functioning (as assessed by the Brown ADD Scales) predict different components of figural divergent thinking, intellectual risk-taking, and creative self-efficacy. Undergraduate engineering students (N = 60) completed the Brown ADD Scales, a figural divergent thinking task, and self-report measures of intellectual risk-taking and creative self-efficacy. A series of multivariate regression models demonstrated that several components of divergent thinking (i.e., fluency, originality, and resistance to closure) were predicted by different characteristics of ADHD. Although fluency was predicted by affect only and originality was predicted by activation only, resistance to closure was predicted by activation, effort, and attention. Additionally, intellectual risk-taking was predicted by memory, effort, and activation, whereas creative self-efficacy was predicted by effort. The implications of these results relating to the relationship between ADHD and creativity, as well as for engineering undergraduate education are discussed.     

The “religiosity gap” in a clinical setting: experiences of mental health care consumers and professionals

ABSTRACT

In Western countries, professionals in mental health care (“professionals”) tend to be less religious than “consumers”. This qualitative study explores the meaning of this “religiosity gap” for professionals and consumers in mental health care. Both a regular, secular and a Christian clinic in the Netherlands participated in this study. Content analysis was applied to 35 consumer interviews and 18 interviews with professionals. Consumers reported negative experiences (e.g., perceived disrespect and a lack of confidence) and/or negative expectations (e.g., misunderstanding and misinterpretation) related to a religiosity gap. They also mentioned advantages of a “religiosity match”, like safety and confidence and appreciated professionals’ religious/spiritual self-disclosure. Professionals in secular care setting tended to avoid religion and spirituality. In both clinics, they tended to neutralise religious/spiritual differences and be reticent in self-disclosure. Professionals are recommended to recognise the relevance of a religiosity gap and to consider different strategies in approaching religion/spirituality.     

The evaluation of an equine-assisted therapy programme with a group of boys in a youth care facility

The goal of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of an equine-assisted therapy programme aimed at improving the psychological well-being of boys in a custodial school of industry. Participants were 39 boys who live in a youth care facility for boys who display problem behaviour. They were from different cultural groups (Black, Coloured, and White) and aged between 14 and 18 years. Horses were utilised in the structured sessions to help the boys learn different coping skills through experiential learning. Data were collected on the boys’ level of coping and subjective well-being in order to assess the efficacy of the programme. The data were analysed using independent groups t-test comparisons. The results showed that the programme significantly improved the boys’ subjective well-being, problem focused coping, and emotion focused coping. However, their levels of dysfunctional coping were unchanged following the intervention. An equine-assisted therapy programme appears to show modest evidence of enhancing psychological well-being of adolescent boys in custodial care.     

Post-training disruption of Arc protein expression in the anterior cingulate cortex impairs long-term memory for inhibitory avoidance training

The activity-regulated-cytoskeletal-associated protein (Arc) has a well established role in memory consolidation and synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus and amygdala. However the role of Arc within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), an area of the brain involved in processing memory for pain, has yet to be examined. Here we sought to determine if Arc protein within neurons of the rat ACC is necessary for the consolidation of a single-trial, contextual inhibitory avoidance (IA) task. Immunohistochemistry and western blotting revealed an increase in Arc protein within the ACC following IA training in a shock-specific manner, suggesting that ACC Arc expression may play a critical role in the consolidation of the aversive task. To directly test this hypothesis, male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained on the IA task and given post-training intra-ACC infusions of Arc antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs), designed to suppress Arc translation, or control scrambled ODNs that do not suppress Arc translation. Memory retention was tested 48h after training. Arc antisense-induced disruption of Arc protein expression in the ACC impaired long-term memory for the IA task as compared to rats given intra-ACC infusions of the scrambled control ODNS, suggesting that Arc expression in the ACC is important for the consolidation of emotional memory. Results further indicate that knock down of Arc 6h after training impairs IA memory. This is consistent with time course findings indicating elevated Arc expression at 3 and 6h after IA training but not 12 or 48h. Taken together, these findings support the hypothesis that Arc expression in the ACC participates in synaptic plasticity that underlies long-term memory.     

Wirksamkeit bioenergetischer Psychotherapien bei Patienten mit bekannter ICD-10-Diagnose

In this study the efficacy of Bioenergetic Analysis and Therapy (BAT) was evaluated retrospectively by means of two questionnaires. Former patients from private practice with a known ICD-10 F group diagnosis participated in the study. The SCL-90-R was modified to allow assessment of the symptoms at the beginning as well as at the end of therapy. The second questionnaire was self-constructed and contained questions about the quality of the therapeutic work, body work in general, the relationship with the therapist, and the way the therapist worked. Both questionnaires were to be answered anonymously. Eight psychotherapists (medical doctors and psychologists) served as contacts to 103 former patients; 48 patients (46.6%) returned the questionnaires. Ten patients belonged to the F3 group, 26 to the F4, and 12 to the F6 groups. All data could therefore be interpreted for each of the F groups as well as for the sum of all patients. Bioenergetic analysis and therapy reduced the symptoms according to the SCL-90-R considerably in all three F groups. Analysis of the individual symptom scales on the SCL-90-R showed high to very high symptom reduction. These were not related to the F group diagnoses. Insight gained as a result of body work produced an even greater symptom reduction independent of the ICD-10 F group diagnosis. Patients receiving BAT rated their therapy favourably and judged the relationship with the therapist as very good. The efficacy of and the satisfaction with the therapy was rated high. The formulation of a therapeutic goal at the beginning of the therapy was possibly a prerequisite for a positive outcome of the therapy. The present study confirms and complements previous efficacy studies of BAT.     

Elective mutism in a first grader: The remediation of a complex behavioral problem

Teachers frequently deal with unusual and perplexing behavioral problems in their classes. This study demonstrates how spontaneous and prompted speech were produced in a six-year-old mute by a first-grade teacher and her aide. A reinforcement system for peer-prompted speech and spontaneous speech was employed in three separate school classes in a multiple-baseline fashion. The reinforcement system produced prompted and spontaneous speech in each situation. Postchecks in the second grade indicated the child was still speaking and conversing spontaneously with his peers. This study suggests a method that teachers can use in the classroom to deal with this severely handicapping condition.