The Internal and External Validity of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and its Relation with DSM–IV ADHD

Studies of subtypes of DSM-IV attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have provided inconsistent support for the discriminant validity of the combined type (ADHD-C) and predominantly inattentive type (ADHD-I). A large sample of children and adolescents with ADHD (N?=?410) and a comparison group without ADHD (N?=?311) were used to test the internal and external validity of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT), a dimension characterized by low energy and sleepy and sluggish behavior. SCT scores were then incorporated in analyses of ADHD subtypes to test whether the discriminant validity of ADHD-C and ADHD-I could be improved by including SCT symptoms as part of the criteria for ADHD-I. Factor analyses of parent and teacher ratings indicated that six SCT items loaded on a factor separate from symptoms of ADHD and other psychopathology, providing important support for the internal validity of SCT. The external validity of SCT was supported by significant associations between SCT and measures of functional impairment and neuropsychological functioning when symptoms of ADHD and other psychopathology were controlled. However, contrary to initial predictions, high levels of SCT did not identify a subgroup of ADHD-I that was clearly distinct from ADHD-C. Instead, the current results suggest that DSM-IV inattention and SCT are separate but correlated symptom dimensions that are each independently associated with important aspects of functional impairment and neuropsychological functioning.     

Rethinking parafoveal processing in reading: Serial-attention models can explain semantic preview benefit and N+2 preview effects

During reading, some information about the word to the right of fixation in the parafovea is typically acquired prior to that word being fixated. Although some degree parafoveal processing is uncontroversial, its precise nature and extent are unclear. For example, can it advance up to the level of semantic processing? Additionally, can it extend across more than two spatially adjacent words? Affirmative answers to either of these questions would seemingly be problematic for serial-attention models of eye-movement control in reading, which maintain that attention is allocated to only one word at a time (see Reichle, 2011). However, in this paper we report simulation results using one such model, E-Z Reader (Reichle, Pollatsek, Fisher, & Rayner, 1998), to examine the two preceding questions. These results suggest the existence of both semantic preview and N+2 preview effects, indicating that they are not incompatible with serial-attention models. We discuss the implications of these findings for models of eye-movement control in reading and provide a new theoretical framework for conceptualizing parafoveal processing during reading and its influence on eye movement behaviour.     

Innovative behaviour in fish: Atlantic cod can learn to use an external tag to manipulate a self-feeder

This study describes how three individual fish, Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.), developed a novel behaviour and learnt to use a dorsally attached external tag to activate a self-feeder. This behaviour was repeated up to several hundred times, and over time these fish fine-tuned the behaviour and made a series of goal-directed coordinated movements needed to attach the feeder’s pull string to the tag and stretch the string until the feeder was activated. These observations demonstrate a capacity in cod to develop a novel behaviour utilizing an attached tag as a tool to achieve a goal. This may be seen as one of the very few observed examples of innovation and tool use in fish.     

Discrete-Trial Functional Analysis and Functional Communication Training with Three Adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Problem Behavior

We conducted a sequence of two studies on the use of discrete-trial functional analysis and functional communication training. First, we used discrete-trial functional analysis (DTFA) to identify the function of problem behavior in three adults with intellectual disabilities and problem behavior. Results indicated clear patterns of problem behavior for each participant. Second, we used a modified multiple baseline design across participants to assess the effectiveness of functional communication training (FCT) on the acquisition of a replacement communicative response. We conducted postacquisition discrimination probes to evaluate the discriminated use of the new response. Results indicated that FCT was effective in producing acquisition and discriminated use of the replacement response for all participants. The study has relevance because of the empirical evidence of DTFA and its applicability to adults with intellectual disabilities.     

DISCRIMINATION LEARNING IN ADULTS WITH NEUROCOGNITIVE DISORDERS

Alzheimer's disease is the most commonly known neurocognitive disorder characterized by deterioration in areas such as memory, attention, and activities of daily living. From a behavioral perspective, memory and attentional deficits may be described as deterioration of stimulus control. This paper provides a case study of discrimination behavior in a patient with neurocognitive disorder. The purpose of the current study was twofold: (i) to study the effect of using presumed familiar pictures in arbitrary matching‐to‐sample tasks and (ii) to study variables that affect stimulus control in a patient diagnosed with vascular dementia. There were 12 conditional discrimination experimental conditions with various types of stimuli, from familiar pictures to identity matching. The results showed that the participant's responses were not in accord with experimenter‐defined stimulus classes when using familiar pictures. However, intact stimulus control by sample stimulus was established following systematic procedural changes in the conditional discrimination tasks. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of Training Structure and the Passage of Time on Trained and Derived Performance

The Psychological Record - Conditional discriminations established using a linear series training structure were shown in a previous study to be intact when unreinforced trials assessing such...     

Christian versus Muslim employment in Mandatory Palestine

During the British Mandate in Palestine, there existed among the majority Muslim Arab population a perception that the British favoured Christian Arabs for administrative positions. While such a preference was arguably justifiable during the early years of the Mandate, inasmuch as Christian Arabs were initially more qualified from an educational standpoint, over the ensuing years, the number of Muslim youths with a suitable, secular-based education very quickly increased. There nonetheless persisted a perception of Christian favouritism – that is, that Christians still enjoyed preferential treatment with respect to government employment – and this soon came to define a significant Muslim grievance, one that would periodically prove divisive between Muslim and Christian Arabs, not least within the context of the Palestinian nationalist movement. This article seeks to ascertain whether, on the basis of a statistical analysis of the actual numbers of Muslim and Christian Arabs employed by the British Mandatory government and their respective educational qualifications, Christian Arabs did in fact constitute a privileged group. Also considered (in light of certain sociological concepts regarding group and national identity) are the ramifications of such a perception – regardless of whether reflective of the actual reality – with respect to Muslim–Christian unity, the shaping of Palestinian Arab national identity and the relationship between Arab national identity and Islam.