Selective Synaptic Plasticity within the Cerebellar Cortex Following Complex Motor Skill Learning

Complex motor skill learning, but not mere motor activity, leads to an increase in synapse number within the cerebellar cortex. The present experiment used quantitative electron microscopy to determine which synapse types were altered in number. Adult female rats were allocated to either an acrobatic condition (AC), a voluntary exercise condition (VX), or an inactive condition (IC). AC animals were trained to traverse an elevated obstacle course requiring substantial motor coordination to complete. VX animals were housed with unlimited access to running wheels and IC animals received no motor training but were handled briefly each day. Results showed the AC animals to have significantly more parallel fiber to Purkinje cell synapses than both the VX and IC animals. No other synapse type was significantly altered. Thus, the learning-dependent increase in synapse number observed within the cerebellar cortex is accomplished primarily through the addition of parallel fiber synapses.     

Sexual experimentation by adolescents while babysitting.

This paper deals with the sexual experiences an adolescent might have as a result of babysitting. The impact of babysitters in our culture has been ignored in the literature, and yet we find it practiced widely by teenagers in the United States. Parents and society in general have few guidelines in sitter selection and in recognizing the potential impact of the sitter on their children.     

Computer control of grating phase and movement

A method is presented which uses an on-line computer to control the spatial phase and movement of an electronically generated grating display for visual experiments. This technique minimizes CPU overhead and is inexpensive. The method is compared with several other schemes for controlling grating phase and movement.     

Grading distractor-identification tests

On distractor-identification tests students mark as many distractors as possible on each test item. A grading scale is developed for this type testing. The scale is optimal in that it is the unique scale giving an unbiased estimate of the student's true score, i.e., the score that would result if no guessing occurred. If the test is administered as a usual multiple choice test and graded using the usual correction for guessing scale, the expected item score is the same as for the distractor-identification testing using the optimal grading scale. However, the variance of the item score is shown to be less for distractor-identification testing than for usual multiple choice testing under certain conditions.     

Fixed vs. Flexible Neuropsychological Test Batteries Under the Daubert Standard for the Admissibility of Scientific Evidence

In Chapple v. Ganger, (1994), the Daubert standard was applied for the very first time to the use of fixed (standardized) versus flexible (nonstandardized) neuropsychological test batteries in the federal court. In this personal injury case the Chapple court gave far greater weight to the results obtained from a fixed battery than to the results obtained from two flexible neuropsychological test batteries. Significantly, under the Daubert standard the District Judge noted the lack of medical and scientific evidence to support the conclusions made by the Plaintiffs' two expert witnesses, a psychologist and a neuropsychologist, even though each had administered a comprehensive and flexible neuropsychological test battery and had based their conclusions on the test results. However, the Judge accepted as scientific evidence the objective test results obtained from the fixed Halstead–Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery for Older Children administered by the Defendants' expert witness Dr. Ralph Reitan and also accepted his scientific expert medical testimony which was closely derived from these data. Applying the Daubert standard to the neuropsychological test results and opinions of the expert witnesses, the District Judge held that the entire reasoning process and not simply part of the reasoning process upon which the expert witness derives a conclusion must reflect scientific methodology.     

Mapping Men's Mental Health

The central theme of this paper is that men are at one and the same time both damaged and damage-doing. The process of being damaged through the agency of masculinity predisposes men to exploit, dominate and abuse—not only as boys, as partners and fathers, but as priests, teachers, therapists, lawyers, nurses, psychologists and psychiatrists. Mental health services need to see both aspects of this male equation: a focus on male abuse alone leads to punishment, containment and, very likely, the continuation of abuse; a focus on male damagedness alone preserves the ideology of male unaccountability. However, evidence reviewed here suggests that most traditional psychiatric services fail to acknowledge the impact of inequalities on men's mental health as comprehensively as they fail to acknowledge the impact of these inequalities on the mental health of women. This is a significant problem, and we suggest ways that a gendered analysis of masculinity can be used to help address this deficit. This analysis is used to develop a map of men's mental health that not only accommodates traditional categories of mental health difficulty, but other important consequences of the close association between masculinity and sexuality inequality, especially the use of violence and the capacity to do harm. This analytical framework also invites consideration of the invisibility of male distress, the disallowing and desensitizing of ‘vulnerability, and their submersion in a kind of psychology of entitlement. Finally, we consider the implications of this mapping exercise for mental health services and for working with men.     

Reducing risk of head injury in youth soccer: An extension of behavioral skills training for heading

Recently, concerns regarding sport-related concussions have increased within the research literature, the media, and popular culture. One potential source of soccer-related concussions involves the purposeful striking of the ball with one's head (i.e., heading). There is currently limited research on an effective teaching method to improve safe heading technique. In the current study, Behavior Skills Training (BST) was evaluated as a method to teach correct heading techniques to youth soccer players. BST increased the percentage of correct steps for each player based on a task analysis of heading. Based on social validity questionnaires administered to players and the coach, BST was rated as an acceptable form of training. After the final training session, experienced coaches rated each player as having improved from baseline to training.