Effects of medetomidine, an alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonist, and atipamezole, an alpha-2 antagonist, on spatial memory performance in adult and aged rats.

The effects of a novel, highly selective alpha-2 agonist, medetomidine, and its antagonist, atipamezole, were studied on the working memory of rats performing a spatial delayed alternation task. Testing was performed in two stages, at the age of 8.3 months (mean) and again when the rats were 17.6 months (mean). A low dose (3 micrograms/kg) and a high dose (30 micrograms/kg) of medetomidine improved the performance of the old rats in the memory task but had no effect on the young rats. The dose-response curve of medetomidine resembles that of guanfacine, another alpha-2 agonist. At the low dose of medetomidine (3 micrograms/kg) the animals showed no signs of sedation. Since medetomidine even at a low dose has a beneficial effect on the memory performance of old rats, it could be a good candidate for the treatment of age-associated memory dysfunction.     

Achieving incremental semantic interpretation through contextual representation.

While much work has been done investigating the role of context in the incremental processing of syntactic indeterminacies, relatively little is known about online semantic interpretation. The experiments in this article made use of the eye-tracking paradigm with spoken language and visual contexts in order to examine how, and when listeners make use of contextually-defined contrast in interpreting simple prenominal adjectives. Experiment 1 focused on intersective adjectives. Experiment 1A provided further evidence that intersective adjectives are processed incrementally. Experiment 1B compared response times to follow instructions such as 'Pick up the blue comb' under conditions where there were two blue objects (e.g. a blue pen and a blue comb), but only one of these objects had a contrasting member in the display. Responses were faster to objects with a contrasting member, establishing that the listeners initially assume a contrastive interpretation for intersective adjectives. Experiments 2 and 3 focused on vague scalar adjectives examining the time course with which listeners establish contrast for scalar adjectives such as tall using information provided by the head noun (e.g. glass) and information provided by the visual context. Use of head-based information was examined by manipulating the typicality of the target object (e.g. whether it was a good or poor example of a tall glass. Use of context-dependent contrast was examined by either having only a single glass in the display (the no contrast condition) or a contrasting object (e.g. a smaller glass). The pattern of results indicated that listeners interpreted the scalar adjective incrementally taking into account context-specific contrast prior to encountering the head. Moreover, the presence of a contrasting object, sharply reduced, and in some conditions completely eliminated, typicality effects. The results suggest a language processing system in which semantic interpretation, as well as syntactic processing, is conducted incrementally, with early integration of contextual information.     

Logic for dialogue games

The purpose of this paper is to work toward an explicit logic and semantics for a game theoretically inspired theory of action. The purpose of the logic is to explicate the conceptual machinery implicit in the dialogue-game model of rational discourse developed in Carlson (1983).A variety of ideas and techniques of modal and philosophical logic are used to define a model structure that generalizes the game theoretical notion of a game in extensive form (von Neumann and Morgenstern, 1944). Relative to this model structure, semantic characterizations are given to the action-theoretic notions oftime, possibility, belief, preference, ability, intention, action, andrationality. The unification of these characterizations under the game-theoretical paradigm leads to insights about the logical interdependences between these concepts.The resulting theory of rational interaction is applied to the explication of rational dialogue. The main benefit of the enterprise for a theory of rational dialogue is that concepts and results of game theory become accessible to the explication of dialogue. In particular, the task of proving the logical coherence of a discourse is reduced to the task of showing the rationality of strategy choices made in an associated dialogue game.     

Effects of situational aggression cues: a quantitative review

Meta-analytic procedures were used to assess the degree to which aggression-related cues present in the environment facilitate aggressive responding among negatively aroused subjects. The first study, which examined the so-called weapons effect, the effect of name-mediated cues, and other cue effects, showed clear evidence that aggression cues augment aggressive responses in negatively aroused subjects. This was true for the overall analysis and for name-mediated cues, but confirmation of the weapons effect was restricted to cases wherein subject sophistication and evaluation apprehension were low. A second study used partial correlation analysis to assess independently the effects of seven potential mediators of aggression cue effects. Of these, target-based facilitation and harm capacity of the aggressive response were found to mediate the magnitude of cue-facilitated aggression. A third study showed that these mediators augmented cue effects among neutral as well as negatively aroused subjects. These outcomes are interpreted as emphasizing the role of cognitive factors in the expression of both impulsive and nonimpulsive aggression.     

Effects of methylphenidate on the persistence of ADHD boys following failure experiences

We examined the effects of methylphenidate on the task persistence of 21 boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), after they had been exposed to both solvable and insolvable problems. The boys attempted to solve 10 different find-a-word puzzles on each of 4 days, involving the crossing of medication (placebo vs. 0.3 mg/kg) and prior task difficulty (solvable vs. insolvable). The results revealed that medication prevented the decrement in performance following the insolvable problems that was evident with the placebo days. In addition, on medication compared with placebo, the boys were more likely to make external attributions for failure and internal attributions for success. The results are discussed in terms of the impact of medication on ADHD boys' performance as medicated by cognitivemotivational state mechanisms.This study was undertaken in the 1989 Summer Treatment Program conducted at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. We thank the staff of the program for their cooperation, particularly Mary Vodde-Hamilton, Karen Greenslade, and Gary Vallano. The authors thank Monica Harris for her helpful comments.     

Gender-Related Effects in the Job-Design–Job-Satisfaction Relationship: An Interactional Approach

In this study, we took an interactional approach to understanding how ethic of care opportunity and self-actualization opportunity, two job design variables, are related to job satisfaction. Ethic of care opportunity in a job is theorized to result in satisfaction when job incumbents have high relational self-definition. Self-actualization opportunity in a job is theorized to result in satisfaction when incumbents have low relational self-definition. To the extent that women are likely to develop high relational self-definition, and men are likely to develop low relational self-definition, we hypothesized that the relationship between ethic of care opportunity and satisfaction would be strongest for women with high relational self-definition. We also hypothesized that the relationship between self-actualization opportunity and satisfaction would be strongest for men with low relational self-definition. Hypotheses were tested in a sample of women (n = 119) and men (n =115) with diverse job titles, and were supported. Results are discussed in terms of the strength of the job-design–job-satisfaction relationship for women and for men.     

Narcissism, Perfectionism, and Self-Termination from Treatment in Outpatient Cocaine Users

This study examines perfectionism in individuals with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV, Text Revised [American Psychiatric Association, 2000. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Text revision (DSM-TV-TR). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association] diagnosis of Narcissistic Personality Disorder and a coexisting diagnosis of cocaine abuse or dependence. Participating clients were treated in outpatient settings that provided cognitive-behavioral therapy. Clients were administered Hewitt and Flett's (1991b) [Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 456-470] Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale prior to treatment. Scores for dimensions of perfectionism were compared with those obtained from cocaine abusers in treatment with diagnoses of Antisocial Personality or Affective Disorder. Clients with Narcissistic Personality Disorder were characterized by relatively higher levels of other-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism. Survival analysis suggests that self-termination from treatment by cocaine-abusing clients with a diagnosis of Narcissistic Disorder is related to high levels of other-oriented perfectionism. The clinical implications and limits of this study are discussed.     

The Effectiveness of Couple and Individual Relationship Education: Distress as a Moderator

Current literature yields mixed results about the effectiveness of relationship education (RE) with low‐income participants and those who experience a high level of individual or relational distress. Scholars have called for research that examines whether initial levels of distress act as a moderator of RE outcomes. To test whether initial levels of relationship and/or individual distress moderate the effectiveness of RE, this study used two samples, one of couples who received couple‐oriented relationship education with their partner (n = 192 couples) and one of individuals in a relationship who received individual‐oriented RE by themselves (n = 60 individuals). We delivered RE in a community‐based setting serving primarily low‐income participants. For those attending with a partner, there was a significant interaction between gender, initial distress, and time. Findings indicate that women who were relationally distressed before RE reported the largest pre‐postgains. Those who attended an individual‐oriented RE program reported significant decreases in individual distress from pre to post, but no significant relationship gains. Findings also suggest that initial levels of distress did not moderate the effectiveness of individual‐oriented RE.