The effect of type of behavior on behavior change caused by type of upcoming food substance

Previous research suggests that rats will decrease their consumption of a low-valued substance if a high-valued one will soon be available (anticipatory contrast), but will increase their rate of operant responding for a low-valued substance if a high-valued one will soon be available (positive induction). The present experiments tested whether rats would increase their operant rate of licking or lever pressing for 1% liquid-sucrose reinforcement when 32% sucrose reinforcement was upcoming in the same session. Results indicated that upcoming 32% sucrose increased rates of lever pressing for 1% sucrose, but did not produce similar increases in rates of licking. In fact, upcoming 32% sucrose significantly reduced lick rates in Experiment 2. The present results suggest that the different changes in behavior may be linked to the specific response that the subjects must engage in to obtain the reward (i.e., licking vs. lever pressing), and not to the function of the behavior (i.e., consummatory vs. operant) or to how frequently the substances are available (i.e., continuously vs. intermittently).     

Alberta's suicide prevention training programs: a retrospective comparison with Rothman's developmental research model

Developmental research is used to transform existing knowledge into applied programs. A social research and development (R&D) method, developed by Rothman for the human service professions, is compared with the method used to develop the Suicide Prevention Training Programs in Alberta, Canada. A retrospective review compares the development of these programs, which have since been implemented both nationally and internationally, with Rothman's model; discusses social R&D as a transformation methodology; and draws conclusions about the probable success of using developmental research methods in the human services. The review finds that the Alberta method closely paralleled the phases of Rothman's model. Results show that the transformation of knowledge about suicide into widely disseminated suicide prevention training programs can be attributed to the application of social R&D principles. The study concludes that the use of developmental research methods to establish human service programs should increase the probability of their success.     

The effects of music and task difficulty on performance at a visual vigilance task

Forty subjects performed a visual vigilance task in music or noise and when the task was difficult or easy. Response measures taken were: correct detections, commission errors, detection latencies and d' values. For the difficult version of the task a significant increase in detection latencies was found which music prevented. Broadly similar findings were obtained for correct detections. The results are compared with other studies of detection latency and task difficulty and are discussed in terms of arousal.     

Enhancing Capacity for Trauma‐informed Care in Child Welfare: Impact of a Statewide Systems Change Initiative

Youth involved in the child welfare system (CWS) are disproportionally impacted by the negative effects of exposure to trauma. While efforts to develop trauma‐informed CWSs are accelerating, little research is available about the effects of these efforts on system capacity to respond to the needs of youth exposed to trauma. No studies evaluate longer‐term effects of these efforts. In 2011, Connecticut implemented CONCEPT, a multi‐year initiative to enhance capacity of the state's CWS to provide trauma‐informed care. CONCEPT used a multi‐component approach including workforce development, deployment of trauma screening procedures, policy change, improved access to evidence‐based trauma‐focused treatments, and focused evaluation of program effects. Changes in system capacity to deliver trauma‐informed care were assessed using statewide stratified random samples of child welfare staff at three time points (Year 1: N = 223, Year 3: N = 231, Year 5: N = 188). Significant improvements across nearly all child welfare domains were observed during the first 3 years of implementation, demonstrating system‐wide improvements in capacity to provide trauma‐informed care. These gains were maintained through the final year of implementation, with continued improvements in ratings of collaboration between child welfare and behavioral health settings on trauma‐related issues observed. Responses documented familiarity with and involvement in many of the CONCEPT activities and initiatives. Staff reported greater familiarity with efforts to increase access to specific evidence‐based services (e.g., TF‐CBT) or to enhance trauma‐related policy and practice guidelines, but less familiarity with efforts to implement new practices (e.g., trauma screening) in various sectors. Staff also reflected on the contribution of these components to enhance system capacity for trauma‐informed care.     

The Historic Peace Churches and the Reformations

This contribution considers the broad historical and theological category of Reformation and Reformations in relation to the Historic Peace Churches before turning to a more detailed consideration of recent and contemporary meaning of Reformation(s) in selected settings and needs: Mennonites in Taiwan; Friends in East Africa, especially Tanzania; and the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria. Reformation insights of the 16th, 17th, and early 18th centuries continue to inform, inspire, and sustain Mennonite, Quaker, and Brethren communities in contexts quite different from those in which our communities arose and from one another.     

Holistic Information Integration in Child Decision Making

Weighted‐additive (WADD) strategies require decision makers to integrate multiple values weighted by their relevance. From what age can children make choices in line with such a WADD‐strategy? We compare multi‐attribute decisions of children (6–7; 8–10; 11–12‐year‐olds) with adults in an open information‐board environment without pre‐decisional information search. In two experiments, we classify decision strategies based on individual choice patterns and find that in all age groups the majority of participants are users of a WADD‐strategy. Simple decision heuristics such as lexicographic strategies were applied rarely by children and not at all by adults. In two additional follow‐up studies, we further investigate the underlying process of WADD‐application by analysing decision latencies in combination with a retrospective think‐aloud study. Results suggest that children did not apply WADD‐strategies in a deliberate fashion in our experiments. Overall, our findings demonstrate that the ability to make good and quick decisions by holistically integrating information is already present in young children. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

To what degree do situational influences explain spontaneous helping behaviour? A meta-analysis

Prosocial behaviour is an interdisciplinary topic, involving psychologists, philosophers, and educators. Based on experimental helping research, some moral philosophers have claimed that helping behaviour is entirely situationally determined. The dominance of situational factor experimentation gives the appearance that situational factors alone can explain helping behaviour. This meta-analysis investigated situational explanations of helping behaviour with 286 effects and 46,705 participants from experimental studies with non-manipulation control groups, and observed unilateral adult behavioural helping. Results indicated expected group differences in helping behaviour frequency among help encouraging or help discouraging experimental conditions and no-manipulation control conditions. Helping behaviour was also frequent in help discouraging and control conditions and far from universal in help encouraging conditions. Because helping occurred in control groups, situational factors cannot explain all observed helping. Because helping was not universal in help encouraging conditions, it raises the question of individual differences in responsiveness to helping cues.     

Structural Validation of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale

Despite the prolific use of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), there have been no prior studies using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to compare competing HDRS latent structures. The current study undertakes this task, examining CFAs on 397 older adults on the most stable latent models previously posited and a new rationally derived model by Cole and Motivala. CFAs were evaluated in their original first-order structure and in hierarchically related counterparts. All hierarchical models performed significantly better than their first-order counterparts. Moreover, the hierarchical Cole and Motivala model was significantly better on all comparative criteria than any of the other models. However, none of the tested models obtained sufficient fit with the data suggesting psychometric, scoring, or content limitations of the scale.