Enhancing challenged students' recognition of mathematical relations through differential outcomes training

Previous studies have reported that the differential outcomes procedure enhances learning and memory in special populations with cognitive deficits (see Goeters, Blakely, & Poling, 1992, for a review). In the present study we extend these findings to healthy adults who were asked to discriminate between the symbols " > " and " < " in mathematical statements. In Experiment 1, the performance of participants who showed difficulties in discriminating between these symbols was better (shorter response times) for the differential outcomes condition than for the nondifferential outcomes condition. In Experiment 2, the difficulty of the task was increased by using signed decimal numbers. Similar to Experiment 1, participants who initially had difficulties in discriminating between the symbols showed better performance (higher accuracy) for the differential outcomes condition than for the nondifferential outcomes condition, but only when both numbers were negative. These findings suggest that the differential outcomes procedure can be used to improve performance of challenged healthy adults on discrimination tasks with mathematical symbols and relations.     

The experience of male spouses in the context of breast cancer: a systematic review of the literature

The purpose of this systematic review is to look into how the experience of husbands of women treated for breast cancer is approached in the literature. Between July and August 2015, the databases of PubMed, SciELO and BIREME were searched for papers published in the period January 2005–July 2015; a final sample of 23 papers was defined. The studies listed several negative and positive aspects of the experience, such as financial difficulties, psychological distress, lack of coping skills among family members, social recognition of the role of caregiver, acquisition of new responsibilities and the maturing of family members.     

Activation of MAPK is necessary for long-term memory consolidation following food-reward conditioning

Although an important role for the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) has been established for memory consolidation in a variety of learning paradigms, it is not known if this pathway is also involved in appetitive classical conditioning. We address this question by using a single-trial food-reward conditioning paradigm in the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis. This learning paradigm induces protein synthesis-dependent long-term memory formation. Inhibition of MAPK phosphorylation blocked long-term memory consolidation without affecting the sensory and motor abilities of the snails. Thirty minutes after conditioning, levels of MAPK phosphorylation were increased in extracts from the buccal and cerebral ganglia. These ganglia are involved in the generation, modulation, and plasticity of the feeding behavior. We also detected an increase in levels of MAPK phosphorylation in the peripheral tissue around the mouth of the snails where chemoreceptors are located. Although an increase in MAPK phosphorylation was shown to be essential for food-reward conditioning, it was also detected in snails that were exposed to the conditioned stimulus (CS) or the unconditioned stimulus (US) alone, suggesting that phosphorylation of MAPK is necessary but not sufficient for learning to occur.     

Improvement in physiological and psychological parameters after 6 months of yoga practice

Yoga is believed to have beneficial effects on cognition, attenuation of emotional intensity and stress reduction. Previous studies were mainly performed on eastern experienced practitioners or unhealthy subjects undergoing concomitant conventional therapies. Further investigation is needed on the effects of yoga per se, as well as its possible preventive benefits on healthy subjects. We investigated the effects of yoga on memory and psychophysiological parameters related to stress, comparing yoga practice and conventional physical exercises in healthy men (previously yoga-naïve). Memory tests, salivary cortisol levels and stress, anxiety, and depression inventories were assessed before and after 6 months of practice. Yoga practitioners showed improvement of the memory performance, as well as improvements in psychophysiological parameters. The present results suggest that regular yoga practice can improve aspects of cognition and quality of life for healthy individuals. An indirect influence of emotional state on cognitive improvement promoted by yoga practice can be proposed.     

Theory of mind and its relationship with executive functions and emotion recognition in borderline personality disorder

Impaired social cognition has been claimed to be a mechanism underlying the development and maintenance of borderline personality disorder (BPD). One important aspect of social cognition is the theory of mind (ToM), a complex skill that seems to be influenced by more basic processes, such as executive functions (EF) and emotion recognition. Previous ToM studies in BPD have yielded inconsistent results. This study assessed the performance of BPD adults on ToM, emotion recognition, and EF tasks. We also examined whether EF and emotion recognition could predict the performance on ToM tasks. We evaluated 15 adults with BPD and 15 matched healthy controls using different tasks of EF, emotion recognition, and ToM. The results showed that BPD adults exhibited deficits in the three domains, which seem to be task‐dependent. Furthermore, we found that EF and emotion recognition predicted the performance on ToM. Our results suggest that tasks that involve real‐life social scenarios and contextual cues are more sensitive to detect ToM and emotion recognition deficits in BPD individuals. Our findings also indicate that (a) ToM variability in BPD is partially explained by individual differences on EF and emotion recognition; and (b) ToM deficits of BPD patients are partially explained by the capacity to integrate cues from face, prosody, gesture, and social context to identify the emotions and others' beliefs.     

Identity Problems,Ego Strengths,Perceived Stress,and Adjustment During Contextual Changes at University

We present a 2-year time-lag study in which Canadian and Spanish students’ perceptions of stress, identity problems, and psychosocial maturity (ego strengths) were examined in relation to academic, social, and personal-emotional adjustment to university under different conditions of macro-environmental disruption (i.e., academic and economic) and no disruption (stability). In the academic disturbance context, students reported increased stress and the economic disruption situation was associated with greater identity problems. The expected relationships were found among the variables in the study. Students reported greater social maladjustment at university related to economic disruption in comparison with the academic and no disruption contexts. Ego strengths moderated the relationship between perceived stress with academic and social adjustment, respectively. In other words, delayed psychosocial development in conjunction with high perceived stress was associated with deficient academic and social functioning at university. The findings are considered in terms of psychosocial development and the role of proximal and distal perception of stressors in the functional well-being of university students.     

Nonselective maternal bonding but pup recognition in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys pearsoni

This study characterizes the maternal behavior in the subterranean rodent Ctenomys pearsoni and determines whether lactating females develop a selective bonding to their own pups in addition to maternal responsiveness. Mother-litter interactions were observed daily for 2 months; during the 1st postpartum week, selectivity and preference tests for own or alien pups were performed. Lactating females exhibited all patterns of maternal behavior observed in other rodent species and equally responded with care-taking behaviors to their own and alien pups, although they were able to discriminate between them, showing preference for their own pups. Results are discussed, taking into account the possible role of this behavior in shaping different aspects of life underground in ctenomyid species.     

The Effect of Warnings to Timeout on Child Compliance to Parental Instructions

ABSTRACT

One common component of behavioral parent training packages is the use of a warning prior to implementation of a timeout following noncompliance to parental instructions. The primary purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of warnings on compliance. An alternating treatments design was used to evaluate compliance to warned versus unwarned timeouts with three typically developing children. All participants showed a significant increase in compliance upon implementation of the timeout package, either with or without a warning. However, compliance decreased over time in the Warning condition for two participants and increased in variability for a third. All participants had more timeouts in the No Warning condition. Results also showed preliminary evidence for parental preference of Warned timeouts. Implications are discussed.