Resurgence Following Higher or Lower Quality Alternative Reinforcement

Resurgence is a temporary increase in a previously suppressed target behavior following a worsening in reinforcement conditions. Previous studies have examined how higher rates or magnitudes of alternative reinforcement affect suppression of the target behavior and subsequent resurgence. However, there has been no investigation of the effects of higher versus lower qualities of alternative reinforcement on resurgence. Using a three-phase resurgence preparation with rats, the present experiments examined the effects of an alternative reinforcer that was of higher (Experiment 1) or lower (Experiment 2) quality than the reinforcer that had previously maintained the target behavior. The results of both experiments showed greater reductions in target behavior with a higher quality alternative reinforcer and larger increases in target responding when a higher quality alternative reinforcer was removed. Along with prior findings with higher rates and magnitudes of alternative reinforcement, these findings suggest that variations in reinforcer dimensions that increase the efficacy of alternative reinforcement also tend to increase resurgence when alternative reinforcement is removed. The results are discussed in terms of the resurgence as choice in context model and in terms of potential clinical implications.     

Relating different perspectives on how outcomes of behavior influence behavior

Many researchers have tackled the question of how behavior is influenced by its outcomes. Some have adopted a nonmechanistic (functional) perspective that attempts to describe the influence of outcomes on behavior. Others have adopted a mechanistic (cognitive) perspective that attempts to explain the influence of outcomes on behavior. Orthogonal to this distinction, some have focused on the influence of outcomes that a behavior had in the past, whereas others also consider the influence of outcomes that a behavior might have in the future. In this article, we relate these different perspectives with the goal of reducing misunderstandings and fostering collaborations between researchers who adopt different perspectives on the common question of how behavior is influenced by its outcomes.     

The rubber hand illusion depends on a congruent mapping between real and artificial fingers

The rubber hand illusion (RHI), in which a visible artificial hand is touched (or moves) synchronously with the participant's unseen own hand, indicates that body representations can undergo rapid changes. While several constraints for this illusion have been described, some reports highlight a remarkable flexibility of body representations, even contradicting a priori assumptions regarding body appearance and anatomy (e.g., the subjective embodiment of a third arm).     

Coercive and precocious sexuality as a fundamental aspect of psychopathy

Sexual behavior is closely associated with delinquency and crime. Although psychopaths, by definition, have many short-term sexual relationships, it has not been shown that sexuality is a core aspect of psychopathy. A Darwinian view of psychopathy led to the hypothesis that psychopaths have a unique sexuality involving early, frequent, and coercive sex. Our subjects were 512 sex offenders assessed on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R). Five variables reflecting early, frequent, and coercive sex loaded on the same principal component in exploratory factor analysis on a subset of the sample, whereas PCL-R items pertaining to adult sexual behavior did not. Confirmatory factor analysis of the remaining subjects yielded a measurement model containing three inter-correlated factors - the traditional two PCL-R factors, and coercive and precocious sexuality. Taxometric analyses gave evidence of a natural discontinuity underlying coercive and precocious sexuality. Coercive and precocious sexuality yielded statistically significant associations with other study variables predicted by the Darwinian hypothesis. The present findings are consistent with prior empirical findings and support the hypothesis that psychopathy has been a nonpathological, reproductively viable, alternate life history strategy.     

Transferring the technology,policy, and management concept from the Netherlands to China

The literature on policy transfer between countries and organization has seen rapid growth. Whether framed in terms of policy transfer, institutional transplantation, imitation and emulation or copying policy models and ideas, a sizeable number of determinants for success have been identified to understand why such conceptual or institutional transfers grow out to become successes or failures in their countries or organizations of adoption. What is much less common is to describe such a process through the lens of participants inside this transfer. This paper is an attempt to do just that. It will tell the story of the higher-educational concept of Technology, Policy and Management from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands to Harbin Institute of Technology in China, studied by means of participatory observation. The keys and clues for successful transplantation from the literature will subsequently be compared with the experiences from this case, and additional lessons, some of which are specific to Western-Chinese mutual learning, are formulated. Martin de Jong is associate professor of policy, organization and management at the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management of Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. He publishes and lectures mainly on subjects of cross-national policy transfer, cross-cultural management and transport infrastructure policy. He is also responsible for the international master program Engineering and Policy Analysis, for which he has helped to set up a Chinese counterpart with the same name. Xi Bao is professor of public management and real estate management at the School of Management and the National Centre of Technology, Policy and Management of Harbin Institute of Technology, People’s Republic of China. He is also a co-director of the National Centre of TPM in China and lectures and publishes mainly on real estate management and infrastructure policy.     

The Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory: Psychometric Properties and Associations with Distress and Deficits in Cognitive Self-management

Two studies were conducted to examine the psychometric properties and correlates of the Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory (PCI) when administered to clinical samples. The PCI is a 25-item measure of automatic thoughts with themes involving perfectionism and beliefs that perfection should be attained. Analyses indicated that the PCI is unidimensional and it has adequate internal consistency. Correlational analyses confirmed that the PCI is associated with psychological distress and deficits in cognitive self-management, including lack of self-reinforcement, lack of a positive self-focus, and perfectionistic inflexibility. Moreover, tests of incremental validity revealed that the PCI accounts for unique variance in levels of anxiety and depression symptoms after removing variance attributable to trait perfectionism dimensions. Overall, the findings suggest that automatic thoughts involving perfectionistic themes can be assessed in a reliable and valid manner in clinical samples. Moreover, it is important to assess perfectionism cognitions as a supplement to trait perfectionism measures when evaluating the role of perfectionism in psychological distress and associated deficits in cognitive self-control. This research was supported by major research grants from Health Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada to the first two authors, and a Canada Research Chair in Personality & Health awarded to the first author. The fourth author, Thomas Martin, is now deceased and this paper is dedicated to his memory.     

Testosterone reduces conscious detection of signals serving social correction: implications for antisocial behavior

Elevated levels of testosterone have repeatedly been associated with antisocial behavior, but the psychobiological mechanisms underlying this effect are unknown. However, testosterone is evidently capable of altering the processing of facial threat, and facial signals of fear and anger serve sociality through their higher-level empathy-provoking and socially corrective properties. We investigated the hypothesis that testosterone predisposes people to antisocial behavior by reducing conscious recognition of facial threat. In a within-subjects design, testosterone (0.5 mg) or placebo was administered to 16 female volunteers. Afterward, a task with morphed stimuli indexed their sensitivity for consciously recognizing the facial expressions of threat (disgust, fear, and anger) and nonthreat (surprise, sadness, and happiness). Testosterone induced a significant reduction in the conscious recognition of facial threat overall. Separate analyses for the three categories of threat faces indicated that this effect was reliable for angry facial expressions exclusively. This testosterone-induced impairment in the conscious detection of the socially corrective facial signal of anger may predispose individuals to antisocial behavior.     

Career transitions in times of social change. His and her story

Drawing on data collected from two longitudinal Cohort Studies following the lives of over 20,000 individuals born in the United Kingdom 12 years apart in 1958 and 1970, respectively, this paper examines antecedents and outcomes of educational and occupational aspirations of young men and women, covering the transition from dependent childhood into independent adulthood. Two analytical models, a Social Reproduction Model and a Developmental-Contextual Model are tested to assess the processes by which family background and the wider socio-historical context influence work and family related careers. The findings demonstrate the persistent role of gender, social origin and individual agency processes as well as the influence of a changing socio-historical context on career development. Results are interpreted with regard to biographical agency processes linking individual lives with social contexts across the life course.