Carbon dioxide narcosis modifies the patch leaving decision of foraging parasitoids

Gleaning information is a way for foragers to adjust their behavior in order to maximize their fitness. Information decreases the uncertainty about the environment and could help foragers to accurately estimate environmental characteristics. In a patchy resource, information sampled during previous patch visits is efficient only if it is retained in the memory and retrieved upon arrival in a new patch. In this study, we tested whether the braconid Asobara tabida, a parasitoid of Drosophila larvae, retains information gleaned on patch quality in the memory and adjusts its foraging behavior accordingly. Females were anesthetized with CO₂ after leaving a first patch containing a different number of hosts and were allowed to visit a second patch containing only kairomones. CO₂ is known to erase unconsolidated information from the memory. We show that in the absence of a short CO₂ narcosis, females responded according to their previous experience, whereas anesthetized females did not. The anesthetized females stayed a given time in the second patch irrespective of what they encountered before. CO₂ narcosis had no effect on the residence time of the non-experienced females in a patch containing hosts or only kairomones in comparison with the non-anesthetized females that had a previous foraging experience. We conclude that CO₂ narcosis erases the effect of the previous patch quality, perhaps due to a memory disruption. Direct information processing is likely to be involved in parasitoid decision making through retention of the information on the previous patch quality into a CO₂ sensitive memory.     

The impact of age at seizure onset on the likelihood of atypical language representation in children with intractable epilepsy

Studies have suggested that early postnatal lesions are associated with a greater likelihood of atypical speech representation than lesions acquired later in life. Comparison groups have been defined differently across studies, with age typically being treated as a dichotomous (i.e., early versus late lesion onset) rather than continuous variable. Thus, little is known about the age at which children become less likely to exhibit atypical representation following a brain insult. This study examined the likelihood of typical versus atypical speech representation in children with intractable epilepsy (n = 75). Age of seizure onset was treated as a continuous variable to examine whether there was a naturally occurring cut-off point after which the rate of atypical speech representation decreased. A much higher proportion of children with seizure onset prior to the fifth year showed atypical speech representation as compared to children whose seizures began after 5 years of age.     

Simultaneous Discrimination Learning in Pigeons: Value of S - Affects the Relative Value of its Associated S+

In a simple simultaneous discrimination involving a positive stimulus (S+) and a negative stimulus (S-), it has been hypothesized that positive value can transfer from the S+ to the S- (thus increasing the relative value of the S-) and also that negative value can transfer from the S- to the S+ (thus diminishing the relative value of the S+; Fersen, Wynne, Delius, & Staddon, 1991). Evidence for positive value transfer has been reported in pigeons (e.g. Zentall & Sherburne, 1994). The purpose of the present experiments was to determine, in a simultaneous discrimination, whether the S- diminishes the value of the S+ or the Sis contrasted with the S+ (thus enhancing the value of the S+). In twoexperiments, we found evidence for contrast, rather than value transfer, attributable to simultaneous discrimination training. Thus, not only does the S+ appear to enhance the value of the S-, but the S appears to enhance rather than reduce the value of the S+.     

Natural kind and entitative beliefs in relation to prejudice toward mental disorders

Mental health campaigns often promote biogenetic beliefs to reduce stigma, but their effectiveness may vary across disorders. Our study (N = 127) examined two components of essentialist beliefs—entitative (i.e., characterizing groupness) and natural kinds (i.e., biogenetic)—about two stigmatized mental disorders (schizophrenia, alcoholism) as well as a somatic disorder (Parkinson's disease), and their relation to prejudice. The three disorders significantly differed in natural kind beliefs (Parkinson's highest, then schizophrenia, and alcoholism lowest) and prejudice (alcoholism highest, then schizophrenia, and Parkinson's lowest), but not entitative beliefs. Entitative beliefs, however, was a stronger predictor of prejudice against schizophrenia than natural kind beliefs even after controlling for social dominance orientation and prior contact. Implications for anti‐stigma efforts and strategies are discussed.     

The Development and Initial Validation of the Adult Coping Inventory

There are few psychometrically sound measures of coping in adults. Widely used measures of coping have highly unstable sub-scale analyses, were developed on homogenous samples, and are outdated. The scarcity of empirically derived instruments is concerning given that coping skills are linked to a variety of positive and negative physical and mental health outcomes (e.g., substance use, depression). Thus, the aim of the current study was to develop a psychometrically sound measure of coping in adults: the Adult Coping Inventory (ACI). The study consisted of three phases: The aim of Phase 1 was to generate an initial item pool. After eliminating redundant items, 124 items remained. The purpose of Phase 2 was to eliminate items based on item frequency and factor loadings. A diverse sample of 526 adults participated in the study. Following item generation and elimination, an exploratory factor analysis produced a 57-item, five-factor model of coping which included the following subscales: Problem Solving, Mindfulness, Maladaptive Coping, Social Support, and Avoidance. Overall, reliability of the ACI was excellent and the internal consistency of the factors ranged from adequate to excellent. Evidence of convergent, concurrent, and incremental validity of the questionnaire was also established. Results provide initial support for the psychometric properties of the ACI.

     

The Influence of Race and Income on Community Mothers’ Acceptance of Child Management Methods

The consideration of diverse family factors on parents’ acceptance of behavioral parent training (BPT) components aids in the development and delivery of culturally sensitive parenting programs. Perceptions of acceptability are particularly important to investigate among low-income and racial-minority families, as they are less likely to engage in nonadapted BPT programs. Therefore, the current study examines the synergistic effects of race and income on mothers’ acceptance of five common child management methods relevant to BPT. The relationship between mothers’ acceptability ratings and self-reported parenting practices was also explored. Participants were 106 White and Black mothers from different income levels who completed measures related to the acceptability of response cost, positive reinforcement, time-out, spanking, and medication. The results indicated that mothers from varying backgrounds differed in their acceptance of child management methods, particularly with regard to corporal punishment. Additionally, a relationship was found between parents’ acceptability ratings and their self-reported parenting behavior. The findings support the consideration of parents’ perceptions of child discipline methods when recommending and delivering BPT programs to diverse parents.     

汉语儿童英语口语发展及口语任务的影响作用

本研究选取小学二、四、六年级共96名学生,通过自我介绍、被试主动发问、看图说话和角色扮演四种任务对其英语口语产出的流利性、精确性和复杂性进行了测查,研究结果发现:(1)流利性在自我介绍、主动发问和看图说话任务上,年级发展趋势不显著,但是在角色扮演任务上,随着年级的增长,流利性随之增加;精确性的年级发展趋势不显著;复杂性随着年级的升高而升高;(2)小学儿童的口语流利性在四个任务上从高到低为角色扮演、主动发问、自我介绍和看图说话;在对话任务上的精确性显著高于独白任务的精确性,并且看图说话任务的精确性最低;英语口语的复杂性在自我介绍任务上最高,其次是主动发问,角色扮演与看图说话任务的口语复杂性最低。     

Cognitive therapy for irritable bowel syndrome is associated with reduced limbic activity, GI symptoms, and anxiety

This study sought to identify brain regions that underlie symptom changes in severely affected IBS patients undergoing cognitive therapy (CT). Five healthy controls and 6 Rome II diagnosed IBS patients underwent psychological testing followed by rectal balloon distention while brain neural activity was measured with O-15 water positron emission tomography (PET) before and after a brief regimen of CT. Pre-treatment resting state scans, without distention, were compared to post-treatment scans using statistical parametric mapping (SPM). Neural activity in the parahippocampal gyrus and inferior portion of the right cortex cingulate were reduced in the post-treatment scan, compared to pre-treatment (x, y, z coordinates in MNI standard space were -30, -12, -30, P=0.017; 6, 34, -8, P=0.023, respectively). Blood flow values at these two sites in the controls were intermediate between those in the pre- and post-treatment IBS patients. Limbic activity changes were accompanied by significant improvements in GI symptoms (e.g., pain, bowel dysfunction) and psychological functioning (e.g., anxiety, worry). The left pons (-2, -26, -28, P=0.04) showed decreased neural activity which was correlated with post-treatment anxiety scores. Changes in neural activity of cortical-limbic regions that subserve hypervigilance and emotion regulation may represent biologically oriented change mechanisms that mediate symptom improvement of CT for IBS.