One-trial conditioning of aerial respiratory behaviour in Lymnaea stagnalis

Repeated spaced training sessions of contingent tactile stimulation to the pneumostome as it opens are required to cause long-term memory (LTM) formation of aerial respiratory behaviour making if difficult to determine exactly when memory forms. We have devised a single-trial aversive operant conditioning training procedure in Lymnaea to be better able to elucidate the causal mechanisms of LTM formation. Observations of baseline breathing behaviour in hypoxia were first made. Twenty-four hours later the snails were trained using the single trial procedure, by placing them in a small Petri dish containing 4 ml of 25 mM KCl for 30-35s as soon as the first pneumostome opening in hypoxia was attempted. LTM was present if (1) breathing behaviour following training was significantly less than before; and (2) breathing behaviour post-training was significantly less in experimental groups than in yoked control groups. LTM persisted for 24 h but not 48 h. Yoked controls that received an aversive stimulus not contingent with pneumostome opening had no evidence of memory. Cooling directly after, but not at any other time, blocks LTM formation. LTM formation was also prevented by removal of the cell body of the neuron RPeD1 before training.     

Socioeconomic Status and Health: What is the role of Reserve Capacity?

ABSTRACT— A robust, linear association between socioeconomic status (SES) and health has been identified across many populations and health outcomes. This relationship is typically monotonic, so that each step down the SES hierarchy brings increased vulnerability to disease and premature mortality. Despite growing attention to health disparities, scientists and policymakers have made little progress toward confronting their causes and implementing effective solutions. Using the reserve capacity model ( Gallo & Matthews, 2003 ) as an organizing framework, the current article examines the contribution of resilient psychosocial resources to socioeconomic disparities in physical health. Findings suggest that deficient psychosocial resources, such as low perceptions of control and social support, may be one of many factors that connect low SES with poor health. Additional research is needed to test these relationships and their underlying mechanisms, to consider interventions to enhance reserve capacity, and to evaluate the efficacy of such efforts in fostering resilience to socioeconomic hardship.     

Assessing Dimensions of Parental Discipline

This study examines the advisability to distinguish dimensions of discipline, by evaluating the Dimensions of Discipline Inventory (DDI, Straus and Fauchier 2007) in a sample of Belgian undergraduate students (N = 371) who retrospectively reported on their mothers’ and fathers’ discipline behaviors aimed at correcting child misbehavior at age 10. First, confirmatory factor analyses showed that a model with nine factors fitted the data best, but also a model with four second-order factors was acceptable. Second, a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis with a Belgian and a U.S. sample (N = 633) provided additional evidence for the nine-factor structure. Correlations between DDI scales and other parenting related variables demonstrated meaningful relations. Additionally, some DDI subscales were associated with measures of current problem behavior. To conclude, the present study illustrated that it is both useful and possible to differentiate between discipline constructs.     

Gendered norms for family size, employment, and occupation: Are there personal costs for violating them?

The present study investigated gendered stereotypes involving women’s family size, employment, and occupation. Eleven ratings of targets’ social and personality characteristics were ascribed by 400 undergraduates to a hypothetical married woman described as voluntarily childfree or the mother of one, two, or eight children, and as nonemployed or employed either part or full time in either a gender-appropriate or gender-inappropriate occupation. Women employed in gender-atypical occupations were considered less expressive and were socially distanced, but this factor did not interact with family size. Two-children mothers were regarded favorably as was employment. Prior findings denigrating single-child mothers and glorifying eight-children mothers were not replicated—both groups were rated similar to normative, two-children mothers. Consistent with prior research, childfree women were evaluated least favorably. Findings suggest that norms regarding both family size (two children) and employment exist among contemporary college students. The authors thank Pauline Beres for her help with data collection and entry. This paper was presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association in New York in 1995.     

Auditory and visual memory in musicians and nonmusicians

Numerous studies have shown that musicians outperform nonmusicians on a variety of tasks. Here we provide the first evidence that musicians have superior auditory recognition memory for both musical and nonmusical stimuli, compared to nonmusicians. However, this advantage did not generalize to the visual domain. Previously, we showed that auditory recognition memory is inferior to visual recognition memory. Would this be true even for trained musicians? We compared auditory and visual memory in musicians and nonmusicians using familiar music, spoken English, and visual objects. For both groups, memory for the auditory stimuli was inferior to memory for the visual objects. Thus, although considerable musical training is associated with better musical and nonmusical auditory memory, it does not increase the ability to remember sounds to the levels found with visual stimuli. This suggests a fundamental capacity difference between auditory and visual recognition memory, with a persistent advantage for the visual domain.     

When categories collide: accumulation of information about multiple categories in rapid scene perception

Experiments have shown that people can rapidly determine if categories such as "animal" or "beach" are present in scenes that are presented for only a few milliseconds. Typically, observers in these experiments report on one prespecified category. For the first time, we show that observers can rapidly extract information about multiple categories. Moreover, we demonstrate task-dependent interactions between accumulating information about different categories in a scene. This interaction can be constructive or destructive, depending on whether the presence of one category can be taken as evidence for or against the presence of the other.     

Mother–Child Agreement on Reports of Internalizing Symptoms Among Children Referred for Evaluation of ADHD

The effects of maternal (bias), child (age, severity of behavior problems), and measurement characteristics (similarity of parent and child measures; types of internalizing symptoms) on mother–child agreement on reports of children's internalizing symptoms were examined for 65 children referred for evaluation of ADHD. Agreement was low and did not improve when parents and children completed parallel measures. Mothers and children were more likely to agree on severity of internalizing symptoms rated as behavioral than those rated as ideational. The majority of discordant reports were of the type that mothers, but not children, reported clinically elevated symptoms. This type of discordance appeared to be a function of maternal negative bias rather than underreporting of symptoms by children.     

Household responsibilities in middle-class couples: The contribution of demographic and personality variables

Data were obtained from 164 middle-class parents on a battery of self-report instruments that included a household activities questionnaire inquiring about the relative responsibility of husband and wife for routine domestic tasks traditionally assigned to women, maintenance tasks traditionally assigned to men, decision making, and child rearing. In the modal couple, child-rearing and decision-making responsibilities were shared approximately equally by husband and wife, but in most homes, everyday household tasks were divided along traditional gender lines. The battery also included questions about a number of demographic variables and two personality measures, one tapping cluster of gender-differentiating instrumental and expressive traits and the other tapping three achievement motives: mastery, work orientation, and interpersonal competitiveness. Several of the demographic factors, particularly the employment status of the wife, and several of the personality factors in the wives and in the husband account for significant portions of the variability among couples in degree of responsibility assumed by wife vs. husband for decision making and for feminine tasks.Preparation of this article was supported by National Science Foundation Grant BNS 78-08911 and National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH32066 (Janet T. Spence and Roberl L. Helmreich, Principal Investigators).     

POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION RESEARCH TO TREATMENTS FOR DRUG ABUSE, RELATED RISKY BEHAVIORS, AND OTHER PROBLEMS:

Abstract— This commentary highlights potential applications of behavioral decision research to treatments for substance abuse and related risky behaviors. Some research questions are suggested to help determine how risk information developed with behavioral decision methods could be used with maximal impact to treat and prevent substance use The relevance of behavioral decision research treatments for other problems such as anxiety is briefly discussed. The important and direct applicability of behavioral decision methods to informed consent far research participants also is noted.