Assessment of learning goals in university students from the perspective of ‘person-situation interaction’: the Situated Goals Questionnaire (SGQ-U) / Evaluación de las metas de aprendizaje en estudiantes universitarios desde la perspectiva de la ‘interacción persona-situación’: el Cuestionario de Metas Situadas (CMS-U)

Academic behaviour takes place in a context in which the nature of class activities and interactions can influence the student’s motivation to learn. So, in order to study this influence, it is necessary to assess not only the personal variables that can motivate academic behaviour, but also the degree to which students are sensitive to different situational or task characteristics. In this case, the interaction person-situation is analysed using a new tool, the ‘situated-goal questionnaire’ for university students. Data of 770 students were analysed using confirmatory techniques, as well as Anova and regression techniques. According to results, the questionnaire has good psychometric characteristics. Besides, they showed the effect of the kinds of situation on the degree to which students declare the pursuit of different goals, as suggested by the person/situation interaction model, as well as the validity of both goals and sensitivity to situations for predicting engagement and self-estimated mean grade.     

ERK1/2 activation is necessary for BDNF to increase dendritic spine density in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a potent modulator of synaptic transmission and plasticity in the CNS, acting both pre- and postsynaptically. We demonstrated recently that BDNF/TrkB signaling increases dendritic spine density in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons. Here, we tested whether activation of the prominent ERK (MAPK) signaling pathway was responsible for BDNF's effects on spine growth. Slice cultures were transfected with enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (eYFP) by particle-mediated gene transfer, and CA1 pyramidal neurons were imaged by laser-scanning confocal microscopy. We confirmed that BDNF (24 h) increases spine density in apical dendrites of CA1 neurons. The MEK (ERK kinase) inhibitors PD98059 and U0126 completely prevented the increase in spine density induced by BDNF, without having an effect on spine density by themselves. In contrast to its actions on cortical pyramidal neurons, BDNF had minor and rather localized effects on dendritic complexity in hippocampal pyramidal neurons, increasing the total length, but not the branching of apical dendrites within CA1 stratum radiatum, without affecting basal dendrites in stratum oriens. Our results support the hypothesis that the ERK-signaling pathway not only mediates long-term synaptic plasticity and hippocampal-dependent learning, but it is also involved in the structural remodeling of excitatory spine synapses triggered by neurotrophins.     

Dialectical behaviour therapy skills training compared to standard group therapy in borderline personality disorder: A 3-month randomised controlled clinical trial

Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) has proven to be an effective treatment in borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, the effectiveness in BPD of DBT skills training (DBT-ST) alone is not known. This study aimed at comparing the efficacy of DBT-ST and standard group therapy (SGT) for outpatients with BPD. Sixty patients meeting the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for BPD, as assessed by two semi-structured diagnostic interviews, were included in a 3-month, single-blind randomised controlled trial. A total of 13 weekly group psychotherapy sessions of 120 min of either SGT or DBT-ST were conducted. Assessments were carried out every 2 weeks by two blinded evaluators. Observer-rater, self-report scales and behavioural reports were used as outcome measures. DBT-ST was associated with lower dropout rates, 34.5% compared to 63.4% with SGT. It was superior to SGT in improving several mood and emotion areas, such as: depression, anxiety, irritability, anger and affect instability. A reduction in general psychiatric symptoms was also observed. Three-months weekly DBT-ST proved useful. This therapy was associated with greater clinical improvements and lower dropout rates than SGT. DBT-ST seems to play a role in the overall improvement of BPD seen with standard DBT intervention. It allows straightforward implementation in a wide range of mental health settings and provides the additional advantage that it is cost effective.     

EFFECTS OF AN INDEPENDENT GROUP CONTINGENCY SPECIAL ACTIVITY PROGRAM ON INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR IN A RESIDENTIAL SETTING

Group contingencies targeting inappropriate behavior may be especially useful in residential settings where the staff to client ratio makes individualized behavior plan implementation difficult. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate an independent group contingency on inappropriate behavior in a secure residential facility for offenders with disabilities. The independent group contingency involved differential reinforcement of low rate and differential reinforcement of other behavior via access to a special activity (a catered weekly lunch). The group contingency was alternated with non‐activity weeks for a total of 48 weeks. Results were analyzed across and within residents and showed lower overall rates of inappropriate behavior on activity weeks than non‐activity weeks for the majority of residents. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of acute,subchronic and intermittent MDMA (‘ECSTASY’) administration on agonistic interactions between male mice

Recent studies suggest that acute administration of 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), an amphetamine derivative popularly known as “ecstasy,” produces an antiaggressive effect in male mice. However, there is no evidence with respect to the development of tolerance or sensitization after its subchronic or intermittent administration. In this study, we examined the action of low to moderate doses of MDMA (1.25, 2.5 and 5 mg/kg, i.p), administered acutely, subchronically (for 7 days) or intermittently, on agonistic behavior elicited by isolation in male mice. Individually housed mice were exposed to anosmic “standard opponents” 30 minutes after the drug administration, and the encounters were videotaped and evaluated using an ethologically based analysis. Acute treatment with MDMA provoked a significant reduction of aggressive behaviors, without altering immobility. However, this action was only selective at 1.25 mg/kg. With the intermediate (2.5 mg/kg) and the highest doses (5 mg/kg) of the drug, it was observed a significant decrease of offensive behaviors, accompanied by an increase of exploration from a distance, avoidance/flee and defense/submission behaviors. This ethopharmacological profile could indicate the existence of an anxiogenic‐like effect of MDMA. The overall picture of the effects of MDMA was very similar in the acutely, intermittently and daily treated animals. No tolerance or sensitization to the actions of the drug was developed after its repeated or intermittent administration.     

Effect of schedule and magnitude of reinforcement on instrumental learning in the toad, Bufo arenarum

Extinction after training with continuous (CR) or 50% partial (PR) reinforcement, and with different magnitudes of reward, was studied in the amphibian Bufo arenarum, in a runway situation. In Experiment 1, a group of toads received massed-trial, CR training with access to water as the reward. Performance improved during acquisition, including an improvement on the first trial of each session. Extinction was rapid and there was evidence for spontaneous recovery of the running response. In Experiment 2, groups of toads received PR or CR training at a rate of one trial per day. PR impaired acquisition and resulted in poor responding during extinction, compared to CR. Experiment 3 factorially studied the effects of schedule (PR vs CR) and distribution of practice (15 s vs 300 s intertrial interval). Acquisition was impaired by PR training but had little effect on extinction performance. Different magnitudes of water reinforcement were used in Experiment 4 in a one-trial-per-day situation. Terminal acquisition performance was a monotonic function of reward magnitude, but there were no differences in extinction performance across groups. The results are discussed in relation to comparative and developmental data on the paradoxical effects of reward.     

Hemispheric asymmetry in recognition memory: effects of retention level on the recognition of Portuguese words

Early findings from Broca and Wernicke led to the classical view of hemispheric specialization, where the main idea relates to left-hemisphere language capabilities compared to right-hemisphere visual capabilities. Federmeier and Benjamin (2005) have suggested that semantic encoding for verbal information in the right hemisphere can be more effective when memory demands are higher. In light of this, our main goal was to study the effect of retention level of verbal information on hemispheric processes. However, regarding the cross-linguistic differences in orthography and their subsequent effects on word recognition (Frost, Katz, & Bentin, 1987), our intent was also to test prior predictions of Federmeier and Benjamin (2005) for a "shallow" orthography language, where words have a clear correspondence between graphemes and phonemes, as opposed to English, which is a "deep" orthography language. Portuguese concrete nouns were selected. The participants were submitted to a visual half-field word presentation using a continuous recognition memory paradigm. The retention level included 1, 2, 4, 8, 20 or 40 words. Results showed that recognition accuracy was higher for words studied in the right visual field, compared to those studied in the left visual field, when the retention interval included 2, 4, or 20 words. No significant differences were found for the remaining intervals. Further analysis on accuracy data for intermediate retention levels showed that recognition accuracy was higher for the 2 words retention level than for the levels including 4, 8, or 20 words; it was higher for left-hemisphere encoding as well. Our results also indicated that reaction times were slower for left-hemisphere encoding and for the 40 words retention level when compared to that of 20 words. In summary, the current results are in partial agreement with those of Federmeier and Benjamin (2005) and suggest different hemispheric memory strategies for the semantic encoding of verbal information.     

Do violent video games impair the effectiveness of in-game advertisements? The impact of gaming environment on brand recall, brand attitude, and purchase intention

The present study examined whether a violent video game impairs the effectiveness of in-game advertisements compared to a nonviolent video game. Participants recalled and evaluated in-game ads after navigating identical violent or nonviolent game scenarios. Participants' brand recall, recognition, and attitudes were comparatively lower after navigating the violent video game. Also, females in the violent game condition reported lower brand attitudes in comparison to males in the violent game condition, thus suggesting that the effects of gaming environment interacts with participants' gender. The findings supported the predictions of the limited capacity model of attention and cognitive priming effects. The results also extend previous studies on how violent media impair advertising effectiveness and provide practical implications for researchers and practitioners.     

Failure mechanism in porous materials under compression: crackling noise in mesoporous SiO2

The failure mechanism of porous materials under uniaxial stress has been investigated experimentally. Microporous SiO₂, Vycor, has been subjected to slowly increasing compressive uniaxial stress with stress rates between 0.2 and 12.2?kPa/s. With increasing stress the strain changes stepwise with acoustic emission correlated with each volume collapse. The acoustic emission followed the characteristics of ‘crackling noise’ with a power law distribution over an exceptionally large interval of 6 decades at the slowest stress rate. The power law exponent is ?1.39. Possible applications in mining industry and others are discussed.     

Persons with acquired brain injury and multiple disabilities access stimulation independently through microswitch-based technology

The possibility of enabling two adults with acquired brain injury and profound multiple disabilities to use microswitch-based technology to attain preferred environmental stimuli on their own was assessed. Each of the participants was provided with two microswitches that could be activated by right and left head-turning or head-bending responses. The microswitches were introduced sequentially according to a multiple probe design across microswitches (responses) and allowed access to different sets of auditory or visual stimuli. Eventually, the two microswitches were made available simultaneously. Sessions lasted 5 min. Each participant learned to use the two microswitches successfully and maintained consistent levels of responding when they were simultaneously available. During this phase, both participants showed large within-session variations in their right and left response frequencies, with one of them showing an overall prevalence of the left-side response. The importance of assistive technology within programs for persons with acquired brain injury and multiple disabilities is discussed.