Towards a mathematical model of within-session operant responding

Operant response rate changes within the course of a typical free-operant experimental session. These changes are orderly, and reliably demonstrated with subjects from different species, responding under different experimental conditions. Killeen (1995) postulated that the response rate changes are a function of the interplay between arousal and satiation and offered a mathematical model for this hypothesis. Here we analyze Killeen's model, demonstrating that, although solid in its principles, it presents some flaws in its implementation. Then, based on the same principles, we build and test a new model of within-session motivation dynamics. We also demonstrate that, by representing arousal as a variable that ranges between 0 and 1, we can obtain a surprisingly simple model of free-operant response rate.     

Opioid mechanisms are involved in the disruption of arcaine-induced amnesia by context pre-exposure

Previous exposure to the training context disrupts glutamatergic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAr) antagonist-induced amnesia, indicating that novelty is necessary for such an amnestic effect. While there are reports that novelty-related release of opioids cause amnesia, no study has addressed whether the amnestic effect of NMDAr antagonists involve opioid mechanisms. In this study we investigated whether pharmacological manipulation of the opioid system immediately after context pre-exposure alters the amnestic effect of arcaine, a NMDAr antagonist. Adult male Wistar rats were habituated (pre-exposed) to a fear conditioning training apparatus or to a different context (open field). Immediately after pre-exposure, animals were injected with saline or naloxone (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) or anti-beta-endorphin antibody (1:500, i.c.v.). Forty eight hours after pre-exposure session, all animals were subjected to fear conditioning acquisition protocol and saline or arcaine (30 mg/kg, i.p.) was administered immediately after training. Testing was carried out 24 h later, and freezing responses due to re-exposure to the training apparatus were recorded. Pre-exposure to the training apparatus prevented the impairment of memory induced by post-training arcaine. Administration of naloxone or anti-beta-endorphin antibody, immediately after pre-exposure to the training apparatus, reinstated the amnesic effect of post-training arcaine. The results suggest that endogenous opioid mechanisms are involved in the pre-exposure-induced loss of the amnestic effect of arcaine.     

Husserl on Geometry and Spatial Representation

Husserl left many unpublished drafts explaining (or trying to) his views on spatial representation and geometry, such as, particularly, those collected in the second part of Studien zur Arithmetik und Geometrie (Hua XXI), but no completely articulate work on the subject. In this paper, I put forward an interpretation of what those views might have been. Husserl, I claim, distinguished among different conceptions of space, the space of perception (constituted from sensorial data by intentionally motivated psychic functions), that of physical geometry (or idealized perceptual space), the space of the mathematical science of physical nature (in which science, not only raw perception has a word) and the abstract spaces of mathematics (free creations of the mathematical mind), each of them with its peculiar geometrical structure. Perceptual space is proto-Euclidean and the space of physical geometry Euclidean, but mathematical physics, Husserl allowed, may find it convenient to represent physical space with a non-Euclidean structure. Mathematical spaces, on their turn, can be endowed, he thinks, with any geometry mathematicians may find interesting. Many other related questions are addressed here, in particular those concerning the a priori or a posteriori character of the many geometric features of perceptual space (bearing in mind that there are at least two different notions of a priori in Husserl, which we may call the conceptual and the transcendental a priori). I conclude with an overview of Weyl’s ideas on the matter, since his philosophical conceptions are often traceable back to his former master, Husserl.     

Can We Identify Emotion Over‐regulation in Infancy? Associations with Avoidant Attachment,Dyadic Emotional Interaction and Temperament

Emotion over‐regulation in infancy has seldom been the focus of empirical research. This study analysed the specificities of over‐regulation when compared with under‐regulation (maladaptive) and adaptive regulation by testing its association with attachment, dyadic emotional interaction, and temperament. The sample consisted of 52 low‐risk mother–infant dyads. During a home visit, dyadic emotional interaction was assessed in the daily routines and free play of 10‐month‐old infants. The infant's emotion regulation was assessed using the Shape Sorter Task, and a temperament questionnaire was completed by the mother. Attachment was assessed at 12 or 16 months using the Strange Situation. As hypothesized, (i) emotion over‐regulation (versus adaptive regulation) was predicted by a lower quality of dyadic emotional interaction and marginally by avoidant attachment; (ii) over‐regulation (versus under‐regulation) was predicted by avoidant attachment; and (iii) the predictive role of avoidant attachment was substantiated after controlling for another measure of mother–infant interaction. Contrary to expectations, temperament did not distinguish between emotion regulation styles. The link between over‐regulation and lower quality of mother–infant emotional interaction and avoidant attachment was demonstrated. There is empirical support to the claim that it is possible to identify emotion over‐regulation in infancy and that it is a maladaptive style of emotion regulation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A novel argument for the Universality of Parsing principles

Previous work on Relative Clause attachment has overlooked a crucial grammatical distinction across both the languages and structures tested: the selective availability of Pseudo Relatives. We reconsider the literature in light of this observation and argue that, all else being equal, local attachment is found with genuine Relative Clauses and that non-local attachment emerges when their surface identical imposters, Pseudo Relatives, are available. Hence, apparent cross-linguistic variation in parsing preferences is reducible to grammatical factors. The results from two novel experiments in Italian are presented in support of these conclusions.     

The size of an attentional window affects working memory guidance

We ask whether attentional guidance from working memory (WM) is influenced by the size of an attentional window. Participants adopted either a focused or a diffuse attentional window when responding to a search display. Prior to the search display an initial cue had to be held in memory (Experiment 1A, visual WM; Experiment 1C, verbal WM) or merely identified (Experiment 1B, identification). In all cases, search performance was affected by the re-presentation of the cue in the search display, with the cuing effects (either cost or benefit) being larger when the cue was held in memory than when it was merely identified. Critically, the magnitude of the cuing benefit increased when participants adopted a diffuse attentional window. This held for effects that are based on items held in WM and for effects that are based only on item priming. The results suggest that variations in the size of an attentional window modulate top-down (both WM conditions) as well as bottom-up guidance of attention (identification condition).     

The antisocial phenomenon in adolescence: What is literature telling us?

Our paper offers a reflection on the state of the art of antisocial behaviors in adolescence, seeking to review and synthesize relevant conclusions from developmental investigation on this subject. We begin by identifying the peculiarities of the antisocial phenomenon in adolescence, with particular focus on social and family aspects that may influence social behaviors at this stage, as well as on individual variables that undergo considerable development in adolescence and may play an important role in risk behaviors, such as psychosocial competence, personality, self-concept, and intelligence. The general conclusion points out questions that remain unanswered. Therefore, work seeking to address some of those questions is presented.     

Law and grace in Saint Augustine: a fresh perspective on mindfulness and spirituality in behaviour therapy

The secular, acceptance-based philosophy of third wave behaviour therapy has easily absorbed the notion of mindfulness that originated in Eastern spirituality, entailing a secularised approach to transcendence. The present article seeks to connect mindfulness with existing efforts to integrate the Western client's spirituality into psychotherapy. For that purpose, we show how Christian grace theology and mindfulness theory overlap in the way they construe transcendence and self. Both approaches enhance openness to experience and deemphasise verbal control as a tool for personal progress. It is argued that awareness of this overlap can make it easier for the therapist to understand and appreciate the client's religious perspective. It can also help turn a client's spirituality into a relevant personal strength for therapy. Finally, explaining the overlap can enhance the credibility of mindfulness interventions with traditional Christian clients and make these interventions relevant to their spiritual concerns.     

El asma bronquial. Consideraciones clínicas,ideológicas y terapéuticas

RESUMEN

En los últimos años se viene observando la importancia creciente de la práctica e investigación psicológica en un campo poco tratado, la medicina. Hoy en día, gracias al desarrollo de la investigación psicofisiológica, ya nadie pone en duda que las influencias psicológicas actúan como mecanismos agravantes o desencadenantes cuando no, en muchos casos, como factores etiológicos muy delimitados. El objetivo de este trabajo es, precisamente, el de analizar algunos de los aspectos psicológicos en un trastorno psicofiológico bien caracterizado: el asma bronquial. Se presenta una breve caracterización de dicho trastorno, las aproximaciones terapéuticas, tanto fisiológicas como psicofisiológicas, el análisis funcional del trastorno y las técnicas y procedimientos terapéuticos dentro de la modificación de conducta.     

Psychoanalysis and Epistemology: The Interrelation Between Clinical Work,Culture and Metapsychology

The paradigmatic theory of modern epistemology holds psychoanalysis in its scientific statute. Even if there is no explicit epistemology in the Freudian writings, it is undeniable that the genesis of psychoanalysis has a rigorous dialetic between theorization and clinical observation. Metapsychology is an organized and consistent set of concepts, capable of explaining and coordinating the analytical experience. It is through metapsychology that clinical work encounters the possibility of universalization, while metapsychology finds the possibility of fulfillment in clinical work. Clinical experience also confirms the interrelation between psychopathology and culture. Modern times have brought about new versions for psychopathological symptoms, which, in turn, have special effects on the narcisistic personalities and the manifestations of anxiety, giving place to different neurotic configurations.