Cued repetition of self-directed behaviors in macaques (Macaca nemestrina)

Two macaques (Macaca nemestrina) were trained to perform 3 self-directed behaviors on signal and to repeat behaviors after a 'repeat' signal. The cognitive processes underlying the monkeys' repeat performance were evaluated via multiple repetitions of the repeat signal, extended delay periods between target behavior and repeat signal, and by transferring the repeat signal to novel behaviors. The monkeys seemed to use representations of their own past behaviors as a basis for repetition performance, but they mostly failed to correctly repeat target behaviors after extended delays and during transfer tasks. Implications for episodic memory abilities are discussed.     

Prem Baby Triple P a new parenting intervention for parents of infants born very preterm: acceptability and barriers

Over 10% of preterm infants develop major disabilities, 50% develop behavioural problems and 40% need special education ( [Huddy et al., 2001] and [0185] ). Prem Baby Triple P is a new variant of the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) adapted specifically for parents of very preterm infants. The aim of this study is to assess the acceptability of Prem Baby Triple P to parents of infants born preterm and to test whether parental attributions and parental perception of infant health/developmental status are barriers to intervention acceptability. One hundred and twenty-three parents of preterm infants participated, 83 parents of very preterm infants and 40 parents of preterm infants. In addition, 32 parents of term infants participated as a comparison group. The acceptability of Prem Baby Triple P was moderately high and did not differ significantly across the three groups. Parental attributions were not found to be barriers to intervention acceptability and parental perceptions that their infant is less healthy/developmentally delayed facilitated Prem Baby Triple P acceptance in parents of infants born very preterm. This suggests that the planned Prem Baby Triple P content is acceptable to parents of infants born very preterm and sensitised to medical and developmental issues. These findings, as social validation data, will contribute towards the further development of Prem Baby Triple P and a future randomised controlled trial.     

Temporal dynamics of information use in learning and retention of predator-related information in tadpoles

Due to the high variability in predation risk through space and time, prey have to continuously update information about the risk level posed by predators. Despite numerous studies focusing on temporal risk assessment, we know very little about how individuals deal with information regarding changes in risk level of a given predator through time. In this study, we conditioned tadpoles to recognize a predator as a high or low risk twice 2 weeks apart, in a 2 × 2 design. We tested the responses of the tadpoles 1 and 11 days after each conditioning event. Prey showed responses to the predator 1 day after the first conditioning, but the low-risk group failed to respond to the predator after 11 days. However, we found that information learned during the first conditioning affected the response to the predator after the second conditioning, indicating that prey do not ‘forget’ old information, but simply ignore it. Moreover, tadpoles were able to assess their change in vulnerability over the 2-week period and further extrapolate the risk level of the predator through time to display adaptive threat-sensitive antipredator responses. Our study highlights the complex decision-making that prey use to assess temporal fluctuation in predation risk.     

Exploring the Time Preferences by Procrastinators: Night or Day,Which is the One?

In study 1, trait procrastinators compared to nonprocrastinators claimed they were ‘night persons’, individuals who are most alert and active in the late afternoon and evening hours. However, there were no significant individual differences in time preference for a set of social and individual activities considered pleasurable. In study 2, participants kept daily records for six straight days of when they had engaged in activities. Proneness toward behavioral (but not decisional) procrastination was significantly related to number of activities performed in the evening. Together, these studies suggest that procrastinators may be ‘late starters’ who prefer to engage in daily activities later in the day than early in the morning. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Career Adapt-Abilities Scale-Italian Form: Psychometric properties and relationships to breadth of interests,quality of life,and perceived barriers

The Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS)-Italian Form consists of four 6-item scales, which measure concern, control, curiosity, and confidence as psychosocial resources for managing occupational transitions, developmental tasks, and work traumas. The 24-item CAAS-Italian Form is identical to the International Form 2.0. The factor structure was similar to the one computed for combined data from 13 countries. Internal consistency estimate for the four subscale and total scores was good. Concurrent validity evidence was collected on perceived internal and external barriers, breadth of interests, and quality of life. Correlations resulted as predicted and showed adaptability related negatively to perceived barriers and positively to breadth of interests and quality of life. As expected, analyses of variance showed that adolescents with higher adaptability perceive fewer barriers, express a broader range of interests, and report a higher quality of life.     

Understanding the role of uncertainty on learning and retention of predator information

Due to the highly variable nature of predation risk, prey animals need to continuously collect information regarding the risk posed by predators. One question that ensues is how long to use this information for? An adaptive framework of predator-related information use predicted that certainty should influence the duration for which information regarding the threatening nature of a species is used in decision-making. It predicts that uncertainty contributes to the reduction in the duration of information use, due to the cost of displaying antipredator behaviours towards non-threatening species. Here, we test this prediction using repetition of conditioning events as a way to increase the certainty associated with the predatory nature of a novel salamander for woodfrog tadpoles. Tadpoles were conditioned 1, 2 or 4 times to recognize a novel salamander as a predator and subsequently tested for their response to the salamander 1?day or 11?days post-conditioning. We found that conditioning repetition did not affect the intensity with which tadpoles learned to respond to the salamander after 1?day. However, after 11?days, tadpoles with fewer conditionings responded to the salamander with a weaker intensity than those that received more conditionings. Our results provide support for the model prediction that an increase in the certainty associated with correctly identifying a predator leads to longer retention of the threat.