The inhibitory control of pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) weakens when previously learned environmental information becomes unpredictable

Animal Cognition - Inhibitory control (IC) is the ability to intentionally restrain initial, ineffective responses to a stimulus and instead exhibit an alternative behaviour that is not pre-potent...     

Systemic analysis of father-mother-baby interactions: The Lausanne triadic play

Taking on the study of triadic interactions necessitates a dual perspective—one focusing on the triad as a whole and the other on the organization of its parts. Our method associates the framework of systems theory with the ethological-microanalytical approach. We use it both as a clinical tool and to analyze thoroughly visible interactions in single cases, leading to the comparison of problematic and nonproblematic families in order to explore and generate hypotheses. To introduce our methodology, we first present the Lausanne triadic play exercise, which we designed for the observation of the triad as a whole while systematically varying the individual contributions. We then describe our method for analyz ing the triadic interactions on the upper body, lower body, and gaze levels. We illustrate it through the analysis of two contrasting families with 17-week-old babies which, on clinical grounds, represent key aspects of interaction found in our population.     

The analysis system COGITAT for the study of cognitive deficiencies in rodents

COGITAT is an automated hole board system that, following minimal experimental interventions, makes it possible to measure a variety of parameters associated with learning, memory, relearning, cognition, and cognitive shifts, but also changes in exploratory and sensorimotor performance in rodent models. The individual parameters—that is, overall exploratory activity, number of visits (deep in the hole) into or inspections of (at the upper surface) holes, number of baited, unbaited, or previously baited holes visited or inspected, reinspections of or revisits into any holes, number of pellets eaten, time to find pellets, serial order collection (without intermediate inspections or visits), and reference and working memory errors (visits, inspections, or total)—are obtained simultaneously, and the results are immediately available after the end of each experiment. The system appears to be well suited to neurophysiological, neuropharmacological, and gene-technological investigations in rodent models.     

Impact of Psychoeducational Interventions on Distressed Family Caregivers

This study compared the effectiveness of two active interventions to a waiting-list control condition to reduce depression and burden and increase use of adaptive coping strategies in family caregivers (N = 161) of physically and/or cognitively impaired older adults. Chi-square analysis of change in depression status from pre- to postintervention showed a higher percentage of improvement among participants in the increasing life satisfaction psychoeducational condition compared to the improvement rate in either the problem-solving psychoeducational class or the wait-list condition. Change in coping strategies and subjective level of burden also differed by group, with participants in the class conditions reporting more frequent use of cognitive or behavioral coping strategies, and less subjective burden, from pre- to postintervention. There was no change in either avoidant coping or perceived stress over time. Results show that intervention programs targeted to improve specific coping skills and psychological symptoms can have a significant impact on caregivers' distress.     

Developing Rapport with Children in Forensic Interviews: Systematic Review of Experimental Research

The vast majority of guidelines recommend that developing rapport with children is essential for successful forensic child interviewing; however, the question remains as to whether there is a sufficient body of scientific research to generate evidence-based guidelines for developing rapport with children in legal contexts. To answer this question, we conducted a systematic review of the literature to identify experimental studies of the effects of rapport-building methods on the reliability of children's reports. Independent raters applied 12 exclusion criteria to the 2,761 potentially relevant articles located by electronic and hand searches of the literature. Experimental studies were few. Although studies to date are a beginning, the overall scientific base is weak regarding even basic issues such as how to best define rapport and the efficacy of common rapport-building techniques. This systematic review highlights what we know, what we do not know, and how much more we need to know to create evidence-based best practice. Recommendations for reshaping the research agenda are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

FEMINIST APPROACHES TO RELIGION AND TORTURE

Feminists look critically at any infliction of pain on others, usually requiring that it be consensual, and often both consensual and for the benefit of the person afflicted. Most torture of women is not recognized under official definitions of torture because it is not performed by or with the consent of (government) officials. Women are, however, also victims of torture under official definitions as military or civilian prisoners or as members of defeated populations in war, and are more often subjected to sexual torture, which until recently has not been understood either as torture or even a war crime. Rape, especially serial gang rape, it is argued, should be understood as torture, as the essence of torture is the use of severe pain to obscure or obliterate the victim's sense of agency.