Prospective factors contribute little to within-session changes in responding

Five rats pressed levers for food delivered by a multiple variable interval 1-min variable interval 1-min schedule. In theunpredictable conditions, sessions were 20, 40, 60, 80, or 100 min long, determined randomly at the beginning of each session. In thepredictable conditions, each of these session durations was presented for 15 consecutive sessions. Rate of responding changed systematically within the session even when the end of the session was unpredictable. This implies that prospective factors related to anticipation of the end of the session are not necessary for producing withinsession changes in responding. Within-session patterns of responding were also similar for the predictable and unpredictable conditions. This suggests that prospective factors contributed little to the form of the within-session patterns under the present conditions.     

Development of a borderline personality disorder-relevant picture stimulus set

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) report erratic and poorly regulated emotional behavior. However, these abnormalities have not been confirmed in laboratory studies. This may be because the emotional stimuli employed have not been sufficiently relevant or evocative of psychological themes germane to BPD (e.g., threats to attachment). The aim of this study was to develop a picture stimulus set relevant to BPD that could be employed in research to examine emotion dysregulation thought to be central to BPD. Ninety pictures were initially selected from the International Affective Picture System that had putative interpersonal and social content across a range of pleasantness and intensity. The set was then rated by 19 clinical BPD research experts on two dimensions: How self-referential the picture would be to someone with BPD and the extent to which the picture represented an ideal-other to a prototypic BPD case. Two sets of pictures were generated for future research with BPD participants.     

The impact of the “Attachment and Biobehavioural Catch-Up” program on attachment related parent behavior—A systematic review

“Attachment and Biobehavioural Catch-Up” (ABC) is a 10 session home visiting program, grounded in attachment theory. It aims to improve child emotion regulation, attachment and behavioral outcomes through changing caregivers’ attachment related behaviors. There is increasing evidence with respect to the effectiveness of ABC in producing positive child outcomes, but the intervention's direct effect on parent outcomes remains unclear. This review examined the association of ABC with attachment related parent outcomes. The PubMed, EMBASE, PyschINFO and SCOPUS databases were searched for relevant studies in August 2021, and again in April 2022. The eligibility criteria for included studies were (1) infants aged 0–27 months at time of the ABC intervention, (2) “at risk” parents, (3) controlled trials published in peer-reviewed journals and (4) utilized a measure of attachment related parent outcomes. Eleven eligible studies were included. The findings showed ABC had a significant small to medium effect on a variety of attachment related parent outcomes among parents presenting with multiple psychosocial risk factors. “Sensitivity” was measured most frequently, with small to medium main effect sizes recorded at follow-up, compared to controls. Implications for the clinical effectiveness of the ABC program in community settings are discussed. Future research should clarify who ABC is most effective for and how it compares to similar interventions.     

Patterns of responding within sessions.

Rates of responding changed systematically across sessions for rats pressing levers and keys and for pigeons pressing treadles and pecking keys. A bitonic function in which response rates increased and then decreased across sessions was the most common finding, although an increase in responding also occurred alone. The change in response rate was usually large. The function relating responding to time in session had the following general characteristics: It appeared early in training, and further experience moved and reduced its peak; it was flatter for longer sessions; and it was flatter, more symmetrical, and peaked later for lower than for higher rates of reinforcement. Factors related to reinforcement exerted more control over the location of the peak rate of responding and the steepness of the decline in response rates than did factors related to responding. These within-session changes in response rates have fundamental theoretical and methodological implications.     

The cost of closure: logical realism,anti-exceptionalism,and theoretical equivalence

Philosophers of science often assume that logically equivalent theories are theoretically equivalent. I argue that two theses, anti-exceptionalism about logic (which says, roughly, that logic is not a priori, that it is revisable, and that it is not special or set apart from other human inquiry) and logical realism (which says, roughly, that differences in logic reflect genuine metaphysical differences in the world) make trouble for this commitment, as well as a closely related commitment to theories being closed under logical consequence. I provide three arguments. The first two show that anti-exceptionalism about logic provides an epistemic challenge to both the closure and the equivalence claims; the third shows that logical realism provides a metaphysical challenge to both the closure and the equivalence claims. Along the way, I show that there are important methodological upshots for metaphysicians and philosophers of logic, in particular, lessons about certain conceptions of naturalism as constraining the possibilities for metaphysics and the philosophy of logic.