GENETIC AND SOCIAL CAUSES OF AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR IN MICE

L agerspetz , K irsti . Genetic and social causes of aggressive behaviour in mice. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1961, 2 , 167—-173.—Significant differences in the aggressiveness of mice selected for aggressiveness and non-aggressiveness have been found to occur in the 2nd and 3rd generation of selective breeding. In S _a, motor activity scores were significantly higher in mice of the aggressive than of the non-aggressive strain. Defecation and ambulation scores obtained both in a standardized open-field test and in connection with the aggression measurements showed that the S₃ descendants of the aggressive mice were emotionally less reactive than the members of the 3rd non-aggressive generation. Defeats tend to decrease, victories to increase the level of aggressiveness in mice, but the aggression scores tend to return to the original level after the termination of the experiments.     

The Interface Between Core Affects and the Challenge–Skill Relationship

Different models have been developed to describe human experiences. One of these models is the core affect model, which states that the core of emotional experience is a simple state of feeling good or bad, energized or drowsy. Another model is the experience fluctuation model (EFM), which has been developed to map how emotions and other experiences fluctuate along with the relationship between challenges and skills. In this study, we first mathematically refined the EFM. Second, we tested if fluctuations in core affect could be modeled with a continuous wave-like sine function (Study 1). Third, we applied the sine function to our own experience-sampling data, which we collected via mobile phones from 55 university students, and located each challenge–skill relationship in a two-dimensional core affect space (Study 2). The results were consistent in both studies and showed that fluctuations in core affect dimensions, measured as a function of the relationship between challenges and skills, can be modeled with the sine function. The results also indicated that there is a systematic link between challenge–skill relationships and core affect: High challenge–high skill situations were connected to a very active and pleasant core affect, whereas high challenge–low skill situations were connected to a quite active but unpleasant core affect, low challenge–low skill situations to a very passive and unpleasant core affect, and low challenge–high skill situations to a quite passive and pleasant core affect. Compared to previous studies, this study presents a more fine-grained and comprehensive level of information on the relationship between core affect and challenges and skills.     

Generalized Schedule Following in a Youth with Autism

Abstract

Photographic activity schedules were used to increase on-task behaviour in a youth with autism. The multiple probe design included baseline, training, tests for training effects, resequencing of photographs, generalization to new photographs, and maintenance. The results showed that the participant was able to carry out four different chains (photographic activity schedules) without any prompts from the staff, even when the photographs were resequenced, and new photographs were included. On the other hand, there was no reduction of training trials to reach criterion from the first to the fourth chain. The results are discussed with reference to different aspects of generalization.     

The decline of aggressiveness in male mice during group caging as determined by punishment delivered by the cage mates

Group-housed rodents are generally less aggressive than isolated counterparts. The present study examined the role of defeat by cage mates as a reason for this decline in aggressiveness. In Experiment I, highly aggressive isolated male mice were introduced into aggressive or nonaggressive resident groups. The intruder's level of aggressiveness directed toward a group-housed standard opponent declined more rapidly after daily exposure to the aggressive than to the nonaggressive groups. Intruders in the aggressive groups received more attacks from their cage mates, and delivered fewer attacks to them than did the intruders in the nonaggressive groups. In Experiment II, the intruders lived for seven days in small wire net cages in the middle of the group cages. Their level of aggressiveness toward standard opponents decreased little during the preexposure but after being put freely into the groups, their aggressiveness declined to a minimal level within a day. Experiment III showed that when the wire net protection in the middle of the cage was installed after the group caging experience, the aggressiveness of the intruders did not return to the isolation level as effectively as it did in isolation. This is explained by the aggression-inhibiting content that the cues from the cage mates have acquired during group caging. The decline of aggressiveness in male mice during group caging is determined by punishment delivered by the cage mates.     

The (Gendered) Construction of Diagnosis Interpretation of Medical Signs in Women Patients

Medicine maintains a distinction between the medical symptom -- the patient'ssubjective experience and expression, and the privileged medical sign -- the objective findings observable by the doctor. Although the distinction is not consistently applied, it becomes clearly visible in the undefined, medically unexplained disorders of women patients. Potential impacts of genderized interaction on the interpretation of medical signs are addressed by re-reading the diagnostic process as a matter of social construction, where diagnosis results from human interpretation within a sociopolitical context. The discussion is illustrated by a case story and empirical evidence of the gendering in the doctor-patient relationship. The theoretical analysis is supported by semiotic perspectives of bodily signs, feminist theory on experience, and Foucault'sideas about medical perception and gaze, and concludes that a medical diagnosis is seldom a biological fact, but the outcome of a process where biological, cultural and social elements are interwoven. Further deconstruction of the chain of signs from a feminist perspective, assigning validity to the voice of the woman patient, might broaden the understanding of women'shealth, illness and disease.     

NEUROCHEMICAL AND ENDOCRINOLOGICAL STUDIES OF MICE SELECTIVELY BRED FOR AGGRESSIVENESS

L agerspetz , K. Y. H., T irri , R. & L agerspetz , K. M. J. Neurochemical and endocrinological studies of mice selectively bred for aggressiveness. Scand.J. Psychol ., 1968, g, 157–160.—Several neurochemical and endocrinological variables were studied in male albino mice from two strains, selectively bred for aggressiveness and non-aggressiveness. Differences were found in the weight and the serotonin content of the forebrain, in the catecholamine contents of the brain stem and of the adrenal gland as well as in the weight of the testis. The results indicate that mice selectively bred for aggressiveness show physiological signs of higher orthosympathetic activity than the mice selectively bred for non-aggressiveness.     

THE EFFECTS OF SOCIALLY-INDUCED AGGRESSIVENESS OR NONAGGRESSIVENESS ON THE SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR OF INEXPERIENCED MALE MICE

H autojävi , S. & L agerspetz , K. The effects of socially-induced aggressiveness or nonaggressiveness on the sexual behaviour of inexperienced male mice. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1968, 9, 45–49.—High aggressiveness induced by repeated victories over another mouse was found to decrease sexual behaviour of male albino mice. Nonaggressiveness induced by defeats in fights did not affect the level of sexual activity as compared with that of the control animals.