Temporal regulation of children with autism spectrum disorder exposed to a differential-reinforcement-of low-rates schedule

This study investigated temporal adjustment of children with autism spectrum disorder under a differential-reinforcement-of-low-rates (DRL) schedule. Sixteen participants, aged 3.2 to 7 years, were exposed to two conditions, DRL 5 s and DRL 20 s. Children participated in 7 sessions in each condition, except for 1 participant who attained the adjustment criteria in the DRL 5-s schedule. Temporal adjustment was measured with the proportion of reinforced interresponse times (IRTs) and the mean IRT. The operant response was a press on a touch screen and the reinforcers were cartoons. IQ and receptive language were measured prior to the DRL sessions. Results showed that the mean proportion of reinforced IRTs was slightly higher in the DRL 5-s schedule. The mean IRT was above the IRT requirement in both conditions. However, substantial individual variability was observed. Children with higher IQ and receptive language scores presented a greater proportion of reinforced IRTs in both conditions. Moreover, participants who adjusted their responses to the DRL 5-s schedule were more likely to adjust responding to the DRL 20-s schedule. This suggests that some children might be more sensitive to reinforcement contingencies than others. This study points at future research in the field of timing in children.     

Addressing the Challenge of Community Reentry Among Released Inmates with Serious Mental Illness

The purpose of the paper is to discuss the formidable challenges to community reentry and reintegration faced by U.S. prison inmates with serious mental illness and to describe various strategies for improving transitional services for these individuals. We review epidemiologic data supporting the high prevalence of severe mental illness in U.S. prisons as well as the historical factors underlying the criminalization of the mentally ill. The importance and challenges of providing adequate psychiatric care for mentally ill prisoners during their incarceration are discussed. We also review the numerous psychosocial and economic challenges confronting these individuals upon their release from prison, such as unemployment and vulnerability to homelessness, as well as specific barriers they may encounter in attempting to access community-based mental health services. We follow with a discussion of some of the more promising strategies for improving the transition of the mentally ill from prison to the community. In the final sections, we review the evidence for a relationship between serious mental illness and recidivism and briefly discuss emerging alternatives to incarceration of the mentally ill.     

Comparing the magnitude of two fractions with common components: Which representations are used by 10- and 12-year-olds?

This study tested whether 10- and 12-year-olds who can correctly compare the magnitudes of fractions with common components access the magnitudes of the whole fractions rather than only compare the magnitudes of their components. Time for comparing two fractions was predicted by the numerical distance between the whole fractions, suggesting an access to their magnitude. In addition, we tested whether the relative magnitude of the denominator interferes with the processing of the fraction magnitude and, thus, needs to be inhibited. Response times were slower for fractions with common numerators than for fractions with common denominators, indicating an interference of the magnitude of the denominators with the selection of the larger fraction. A negative priming effect was shown for the comparison of natural numbers primed by fractions with common numerators, suggesting an inhibition of the selection of the larger denominator during the comparison of fractions. In conclusion, children who can correctly compare fractions with common components can access the magnitude of the whole fractions but remain sensitive to the interference of the relative magnitude of the denominators. This study highlights the fact that beyond the interference of natural number knowledge at the conceptual level (called the “whole number bias” by Ni & Zhou, 2005), children need to manage the interference of the magnitude of the denominators (Stroop-like effect).     

Perceived Men’s Feminization and Attitudes Toward Homosexuality: Heterosexual Men’s Reactions to the Decline of the Anti-Femininity Norm of Masculinity

Sex Roles - One of the central dimensions of traditional masculinity is men’s renunciation of the feminine (i.e., the anti-femininity norm), and men’s endorsement of this norm...     

The effect of early life stress on the cognitive phenotype of children with an extra X chromosome (47,XXY/47,XXX)

Studies on gene–environment interactions suggest that some individuals may be more susceptible to life adversities than others due to their genetic profile. This study assesses whether or not children with an extra X chromosome are more vulnerable to the negative impact of early life stress on cognitive functioning than typically-developing children.

A total of 50 children with an extra X chromosome and 103 non-clinical controls aged 9 to 18 years participated in the study. Cognitive functioning in domains of language, social cognition and executive functioning were assessed. Early life stress was measured with the Questionnaire of Life Events. High levels of early life stress were found to be associated with compromised executive functioning in the areas of mental flexibility and inhibitory control, irrespective of group membership. In contrast, the children with an extra X chromosome were found to be disproportionally vulnerable to deficits in social cognition on top of executive dysfunction, as compared to typically-developing children. Within the extra X group the number of negative life events is significantly correlated with more problems in inhibition, mental flexibility and social cognition. It is concluded that children with an extra X chromosome are vulnerable to adverse life events, with social cognition being particularly impacted in addition to the negative effects on executive functioning. The findings that developmental outcome is codependent on early environmental factors in genetically vulnerable children also underscores opportunities for training and support to positively influence the course of development.     

Joint attention,shared goals,and social bonding

There has recently been interest in the ways in which coordinated movements encourage coactors to feel socially closer to one another, but this has generally overlooked the importance of necessary precursors to this joint action. Here we target two low‐level behaviours involved in social coordination that may mediate a relationship between joint actions and social bonding, namely joint attention and shared goals. Participants engaged in a simple reaction time task while sitting next to a partner performing the same task. In a joint attention condition, both participants attended to stimuli presented on the same half of a computer screen, while in a control condition, they attended to opposite sides of the computer screen. Shared goals were manipulated by giving participants the instruction to keep below a threshold score for both individual response times and accuracy (individual goal), or their joint mean response time and accuracy (i.e., averaging their mean response time and accuracy with that of their partner: shared goal). Attending to the same side of the screen led to higher ratings on a composite social bonding index directed towards a partner, while shared goals did not cause any effects on partner ratings. Joint attention was sufficient to encourage social closeness with an interaction partner, which suggests that any activities which encourage attending to the same point in space could have some influence on how connected coactors feel about one another.