Effects of losing and testosterone upon subsequent behavior in male and female S3 (Tryon Maze Dull) rats

Attempts were made to determine whether modification of agonistic behavior by experience differs in the sexes and if so, whether testosterone is involved in this response. Gonadectomized male and female CPB-S3 (Tryon Maze Dull) rats were treated with testosterone propionate (TP, 250 μg) or vehicle and subjected to tests in which they became either winners or losers. S3 males and females were tested against Long Evans rats to become losers or against Wistar rats to become winners. Subsequently, S3 winners were tested against losers. In addition, winners and losers were tested against naive S3 opponents of the same sex. After varied agonistic experiences, all animals were tested for social preference in a situation in which they could choose between their respective opponents without the possibility of social interaction. Thereafter, they were also exposed to a two-choice passive avoidance learning procedure to see if the behavioral effects of aggressive interactions generalized to nonsocial learning. Males and females reacted differently to winning or losing, the presence of testosterone being a critical factor in the manifestation of this sex difference. Relatively permanent effects on aggressive and other behaviors were only established in TP-treated males. Losing experiences in the social-preference test generally led to a slight preference for naive, less aggressive animals. Testosterone-treated male losers, the group expected to be most vulnerable to generalized inhibition and impairment of learning, did not differ from other categories in the two-choice passive avoidance procedure, although marked differences were observed between the sexes and between testosterone and oil-treated animals.     

Personal Publication Assistant: Abstract recommendations by a cognitive model

This paper discusses an analysis of how scientists select relevant publications, and an application that can assist scientists in this information selection task. The application, called the Personal Publication Assistant, is based on the assumption that successful information selection is driven by recognizing familiar terms. To adapt itself to a researcher’s interests, the system takes into account what words have been used in a particular researcher’s abstracts, and when these words have been used. The user model underlying the Personal Publication Assistant is based on a rational analysis of memory, and takes the form of a model of declarative memory as developed for the cognitive architecture ACT-R. We discuss an experiment testing the assumptions of this model and present a user study that validates the implementation of the Personal Publication Assistant. The user study shows that the Personal Publication Assistant can successfully make an initial selection of relevant papers from a large collection of scientific literature.     

Effects of Symptoms of ADHD, ODD, and Cognitive Functioning on Social Acceptance and the Positive Illusory Bias in Children

Objective: To examine the effects of symptoms of ADHD and ODD and cognitive functioning on social acceptance and positive bias in children. Method: The sample consisted of 86 children (49 girls) between 7 and 13 years old, recruited to reflect a wide range of ADHD symptoms. Parents and teachers reported on ADHD and ODD symptoms and social acceptance. Children reported on social acceptance and were given tasks measuring working memory, inhibition and reaction-time variability. A discrepancy score between child and adult reports of social acceptance was used as a measure of positive bias. Results: Inattention independently explained variance in social acceptance. The cognitive factors were related to social acceptance and the positive bias, but not beyond the ADHD and ODD symptoms. Conclusion: It is primarily disruptive behavior that contributes to external reports of children's social acceptance.