Sequential dependencies in the lexical decision task

Two experiments addressed whether response latency in a trial of the lexical decision task is independent of the lexical status of the item presented in the previous trial. In Exp. 1, it was found that both word and nonword responses were significantly slower when the previous trial had involved a nonword than when it had involved a word. In Exp. 2, which employed a different list composition, it was found that responses to nonwords and pseudohomophones were significantly slower when the previous trial had involved a nonword or a pseudohomophone than when it had involved a word. However, responses to words were not influenced by the nature of the previous trial. We concluded that sequential dependencies exist across consecutive trials in the lexical decision task even when there is no semantic, morphological, phonological, or orthographic relationship between the items presented during those trials.     

Physique Contrast Effect: Adverse Impact of Idealized Body Images for Women

Adherence to an attractiveness ideal was considered as a possible mediator of a physique contrast effect among Caucasian women. Following exposure to photographs of models typifying idealized thin physiques, women displayed decreased self-esteem and increased self-consciousness, social physique anxiety, and body dissatisfaction. Although women with low adherence to an attractiveness ideal seemed to be advantaged by having greater self-esteem, less self-consciousness, and lower physique anxiety or dissatisfaction than their high adherence counterparts, these women did not display any unique resistance to the contrast effect. High affirmation of an attractiveness ideal was associated with exceptionally high potential for disordered eating. Eating disorder potential did not show influence of the contrast effect, but long-term implications were considered.     

A renaissance in residential behavior analysis? A historical perspective and a better way to help people with challenging behavior

After a slow start, the popularity of applied behavior analysis for people with severe behavior problems peaked in the 1970s and was then battered down by the effects of methodological behaviorism, the aversives controversy, overregulation, and the inherent limitations of congregate living. Despite the ethical, technical, and conceptual advancements in behavior analysis, many people with challenging behavior live in futile environments in which the behavior analyst can only tinker. A radically behavioristic approach has become available that has the power to change these conditions, to restore the reciprocity necessary for new learning, and to bring residential behavior analysts more in contact with the contingencies of helping and teaching. The approach is consistent with alternatives that behaviorists have suggested for years to improve the image and effectiveness of applied behavior analysis, although it will take the behaviorist far from the usual patterns of practice. Finally, the approach promotes its own survival by promoting access to interlocking organizational contingencies, but its antithetical nature presents many conceptual and practical challenges to agency adoption.     

International publication trends in the experimental analysis of behavior

The present paper assessed international publication trends in the experimental analysis of behavior by recording the geographical origin of the first authors of articles in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB), the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA), and The Behavior Analyst (TBA). Five international categories were identified: Australasia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America. A cooperative category was also employed to assess the number of publications with authors from different international categories. First, the percentage and number of international articles published in JEAB, JABA, and TBA are presented. Second, a more detailed analysis of the publication rates within the international categories is presented. The number and rate at which new authors from the categories appeared and the percentage of articles published by different authors are also presented. Some limitations of the review and suggestions for increasing international participation in behavior analysis are outlined.     

Sexuality education and young people's sexual behavior: a review of studies

Sexuality education for children and young adults is one of the most heavily debated issues facing policy-makers, national AIDS program planners, and educators, provoking arguments over how explicit education materials should be, how much of it there should be, how often it should be given, and at what age instruction should commence. In this context, the World Health Organization's Global Program on AIDS' Office of Intervention Development and Support commissioned a comprehensive literature review to assess the effects of HIV/AIDS and sexuality education upon young people's sexual behavior. 52 reports culled from a search of 12 literature databases were reviewed. The main purpose of the review is to inform policy-makers, program planners, and educators about the impact of HIV and/or sexuality education upon the sexual behavior of youth as described in the published literature. Of 47 studies which evaluated interventions, 25 reported that HIV/AIDS and sexuality education neither increased nor decreased sexual activity and attendant rates of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). 17 reported that HIV and/or sexuality education delayed the onset of sexual activity, reduced the number of sex partners, or reduced unplanned pregnancy and STD rates Only 3 studies found increases in sexual behavior associated with sexuality education. Inadequacies in study design, analytic techniques, outcome indicators, and the reporting of statistics are discussed.     

Hippocampal synaptic plasticity during instrumental learning

present research examined the role of hippocampal NMDA-dependent synaptic potentiation on appetitive instrumental conditioning under a continuous reinforcement schedule. In the first experiment, low (.025 mg.kg) or moderate (.05 mg/kg) dosages of the NMDA receptor antagonist, MK801, failed to increase the number of training days required to reach acquisition criterion; number of training days required to reach criterion for extinction were also unaffected. In the second experiment, a higher dosage (.10 mg/kg) of MK801 or induction of long-term potentiation failed to alter the number of responses occurring during acquisition. These data suggest that hippocampal synaptic potentiation does not play a prominent role in instrumental learning with simple contingency conditions. It is suggested that hippocampal LTP reflects a perceptual process that contributes differentially to spatial cognition, classical and instrumental conditioning.     

Construct validity and test-retest reliability of a date rape decision-latency measure

In two studies, the construct (convergent and discriminant) validity and test-retest reliability of a date rape decision-latency measure was examined. In Study 1, 174 college men completed measures related to sexual aggression and listened to an audiotaped simulation of a date rape, during which cues of nonconsent and force gradually escalated over time. Participants were instructed to respond, by pressing a button which recorded the latency of their decisions in seconds, if and when they believed the man depicted in the scenario should stop his sexual advances. Results demonstrated positive associations between prolonged decision latencies and sexually aggressive behavior, calloused sexual beliefs, acceptance of interpersonal violence, and sexual promiscuity. In Study 2, initial results were cross-validated in a sample of 102 college men, and discriminant validity was established as decision latencies were unassociated with measures of social desirability, alcohol consumption and drug use. Test-retest reliability assessed over a 2-week interval was .87.The authors wish to thank Alan Gross and Brian Marx for providing the audiotaped stimulus materials, Richard Marsh for writing the decision-latency computer program, Jason Hicks for assisting with programming, and the undergraduate research assistants for serving as experimenters.     

OTHER FOLKS' THEORIES OF MIND AND BEHAVIOR

Our everyday, basic understanding of people's mental stales and behaviors has recently been a lively topic of debate m the social science. This article addresses whether some aspects of our. European-American theory of mind are universal, by examining ethnographic and experimental reports of cultural variation. Implications of the variation for nativist theories of development are discussed and research strategies to augment our understanding are proposed.