CAN SPATIAL TRAINING ERASE THE GENDER DIFFERENCES ON THE WATER-LEVEL TASK?

Spatial training has been only modestly effective at improving the performance of adolescents and adults on the water-level task. Based on previous findings with the task, a self-discovery training procedure was developed that involved having participants proceed from easier to more difficult problems along a dimension of increasingly greater competing perceptual cues. The training was effective in (a) eliminating the gender differences on the drawing task, and (b) significantly improving females' knowledge of the physical (invariance) principle, although not to the level of males. Training effects did not transfer to a related spatial task.     

Habituation of conditioned suppression

Habituation of a conditioned emotional response was investigated using a procedure which eliminated contaminating temporal discriminations. Three rats were trained to bar press on a random interval 60 sec schedule of milk reinforcement and variable duration tone-shock pairings were superimposed upon this baseline. Very little recovery from conditioned suppression was found over 60 sessions of testing and no systematic differences were found after a month's “vacation” from the procedure. Analysis of responding within the CS period showed uniform suppression. The data are discussed in terms of stimulus predictability.     

Effects of Concept Mapping on Creativity in Photo Stories

This research tested the use of concept map planning to support the development of creativity in photo stories, hypothesizing that skills taught to support organization would improve creativity. Concept maps are a type of graphic organizer, used to represent an ordering of ideas with nodes and linking words that form propositional statements. They were applied to story development under the assumption that the creative development of narrative elements requires organization. Undergraduate education students were randomly assigned to either concept map or text-based planning groups for the production of digital photo stories. Creativity was operationalized using dimensions of novelty, interest, clarity, and ability to be understood. A multivariate effect of planning method was found for these dimensions favoring the concept map group, due largely to greater clarity in the photo stories. Clarity in photo stories adds to their utility as creative products. This study represents first steps toward empirically assessing concept maps for a creative purpose, and further investigation, with a larger sample in an authentic context, over a longer period of planning time is recommended.     

Best Practices Start With Screening: A Closer Look at Screening,Brief Intervention,and Referral to Treatment in Adolescent,Military, and LGBTQ Populations

Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is a flexible, evidence‐based approach to assessing risk and providing brief interventions for individuals with alcohol use disorders. This article identifies 3 diverse populations that could benefit from universal screening—a foundation of SBIRT—and provides resources and support for implementation across a broad range of settings.     

Presymptomatic Genetic Testing with an APP Mutation in Early-Onset Alzheimer Disease: A Descriptive Study of Sibship Dynamics

Early-onset Alzheimer disease (AD) accounts for only 5% of all cases of Alzheimer disease. To date, mutations in three different genes, the Amyloid precursor protein (APP), Presenilin 1 (PS1), and Presenilin 2 (PS2), have been identified as causative in early-onset AD, making predictive testing possible. Predictive testing for early-onset Alzheimer disease is a relatively new phenomenon. This paper describes the process of identifying a new mutation in the APP gene associated with early-onset AD, notifying family members, and offering participation in research as well as predictive testing. The goal is to share the complexities of predictive testing in a sibship newly identified as being at risk for an adult-onset, incurable neurodegenerative disease.