Using differential reinforcement of a discard response to treat pica

Previous research on the treatment of pica (i.e., the ingestion of inedible objects) is limited compared to research on the treatment of other types of severe problem behavior. This study involved the use of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, with a discard response as the alternative behavior, to treat pica presented by a 13‐year‐old girl with an autism spectrum disorder. We extended previous research by thinning the schedule of reinforcement for the alternative response. Substantial reductions in pica were obtained. Limitations and future directions in the treatment of pica are discussed.     

Brain activation upon ideal-body media exposure and peer feedback in late adolescent girls

Media’s prevailing thin-body ideal plays a vital role in adolescent girls’ body image development, but the co-occurring impact of peer feedback is understudied. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test media imagery and peer feedback combinations on neural activity related to thin-body ideals. Twenty-four healthy female late adolescents rated precategorized body sizes of bikini models (too thin or normal), directly followed by ostensible peer feedback (too thin or normal). Consistent with prior studies on social feedback processing, results showed increased brain activity in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC)/anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and bilateral insula in incongruent situations: when participants rated media models’ body size as normal while peer feedback indicated the models as too thin (or vice versa). This effect was stronger for girls with lower self-esteem. A subsequent behavioral study (N = 34 female late adolescents, separate sample) demonstrated that participants changed behavior in the direction of the peer feedback: precategorized normal sized models were rated as too thin more often after receiving too thin peer feedback. This suggests that the neural responses upon peer feedback may influence subsequent choice. Our results show that media-by-peer interactions have pronounced effects on girls’ body ideals.     

Self‐regulation principles underlying risk perception and decision making within the context of genomic testing

Advances in theory and research on self‐regulation and decision‐making processes have yielded important insights into how cognitive, emotional, and social processes shape risk perceptions and risk‐related decisions. We examine how self‐regulation theory can be applied to inform our understanding of decision‐making processes within the context of genomic testing, a clinical arena in which individuals face complex risk information and potentially life‐altering decisions. After presenting key principles of self‐regulation, we present a genomic testing case example to illustrate how principles related to risk representations, approach and avoidance motivations, emotion regulation, defensive responses, temporal construals, and capacities such as numeric abilities can shape decisions and psychological responses during the genomic testing process. We conclude with implications for using self‐regulation theory to advance science within genomic testing and opportunities for how this research can inform further developments in self‐regulation theory.     

Characteristics of Repetitive Thought Associated with Borderline Personality Features: A Multimodal Investigation of Ruminative Content and Style

Increased ruminative style of thought has been well documented in borderline personality disorder (BPD); however, less is known about how the content of rumination relates to domains of BPD features. Relationships between forms of rumination and BPD features were examined in an undergraduate sample with a wide range of BPD features. Participants completed self-report measures of rumination and a free-writing task about their repetitive thought. Rumination on specific themes, including anger rumination, depressive brooding, rumination on interpersonal situations, anxious rumination, and stress-reactive rumination were significantly associated with most BPD features after controlling for general rumination. Coded writing samples suggested that BPD features are associated with repetitive thought that is negative in valence, difficult to control, prolonged, unhelpful, and unresolved. Although rumination is often described as a form of self-focused attention, BPD relationship difficulties were correlated with greater other-focus in the writing samples, which may reflect more interpersonal themes. Across both self-reports and the writing task, the BPD feature of self-destructive behavior was associated specifically with anger and hostility, suggesting this content may play a particularly important role in fueling impulsive behavior. These findings suggest that both the style and the content of repetitive thought may play a role in BPD features.     

TECHNO‐SECULARISM,RELIGION, AND THE CREATED CO‐CREATOR

Abstract. I take up the challenge posed by John Caiazza (2005) to face down the religiously vacuous ethics of techno‐secularism. Techno‐secularism is not enough for human fulfillment let alone human flowering. Yet, communities of faith based on the Bible have a positive responsibility to employ science and technology toward divinely appointed ends. We should study God's world through science and press technology into the service of transforming our world and our selves in light of our vision of God's promised new creation. This warrants invocation of the concept of the human being as the created co‐creator developed in the theology of Philip Hefner.     

Behavioral profile of L‐655,708, a selective ligand for the benzodiazepine site of GABA‐A receptors which contain the α5 subunit,in social encounters between male mice

GABA‐A receptor is a transmembrane hetero‐oligomeric protein which consists of five subunits, the combination of which confers unique pharmacological properties to the receptor. It is well‐known that the GABAergic system is involved in the modulation of aggression. However, the role of α5/GABA‐A receptors has not been explored. In this study, we examined the effect of L‐655,708 (0.625‐5 mg/kg), a selective ligand for the benzodiazepine site of GABA‐A receptors which contain the α5 subunit, on agonistic behavior elicited by isolation in male mice. Individually housed mice were exposed to an anosmic “standard opponent” 30 min after drug administration, and the encounters were videotaped and evaluated using an ethologically based analysis. L‐655,708 (5 mg/kg) exhibited an ethopharmacological profile characterized by a marked reduction of the time spent in offensive behavior (threat and attack) without affecting immobility, accompanied by a significant increase of avoidance/flee and nonsocial exploration behaviors, suggesting that the antiaggressive effect of the drug is unselective. Overall, this behavioral profile might indicate the existence of an anxiogenic‐like activity of L‐655,708 in mice. Aggr. Behav. 30:319–325, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Borderline personality traits in nonclinical young adults

The main purpose of this study was to explore the dimensionality of the borderline personality disorder in nonclinical young adults by means of the Borderline Personality Questionnaire (BPQ; Poreh et al., 2006). We also studied the phenotypic expression of the borderline personality traits as a function of participants' gender and age, and the relationship between BPQ subscales and measures of depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress, hallucinatory predisposition, and paranoid ideation. The sample comprised 809 young adults, 562 (69.5%) were women, with a mean age of 20.2 years (SD = 2.9). The results indicate that the BPQ self-report has adequate psychometric properties. The levels of internal consistency for the BPQ subscales ranged between .78 and .93. Analysis of the internal structure of the BPQ subscales yielded a one-dimensional solution. In contrast, second-order principal components analysis at the item level yielded a five-dimensional solution. Likewise, statistically significant differences in the mean scores of the borderline personality traits as a function of participants' gender and age were found. The BPQ subscales correlated significantly with measures of depression, anxiety, stress, paranoid ideation, and hallucinatory predisposition. These results help to improve our understanding of the dimensional structure of the borderline personality in the general population. Future research should continue to identify participants who are at risk for the development of borderline personality disorder and facilitating the development of early detection and prevention programs.     

A Theory of Tragic Experience According to Hegel

Abstract: Hegel's theory of tragedy is often considered to be primarily a theory of the objective powers involved in tragic conflicts—for Hegel, these are paradigmatically competing ethical notions—and of the rationality which underlies and drives such conflicts. Such a view follows naturally from a close reading of Hegel's discussion of classical Greek tragedy in his Lectures on Aesthetics. However, this view gives rise to the question of whether Hegel's theory of tragedy can account for the significance of tragic experience, in particular the experience of tragic suffering; it has been argued repeatedly that it cannot. In contrast, I want to suggest in this paper that a theory of tragic experience can be derived from Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. This Hegelian theory of tragic experience, I argue, should be understood as complementing rather than challenging Hegel's theory of objective tragic conflict.     

Cognitive Factors in Fibromyalgia: The Role of Self-Concept and Identity Related Conflicts

Fibromyalgia is a syndrome characterized by the presence of diffuse and chronic musculoskeletal pain of unknown etiology. Clinical diagnosis and the merely palliative treatments considerably affect the patient's experience and the chronic course of the disease. Therefore, several authors have emphasized the need to explore issues related to self in these patients. The repertory grid technique (RGT), derived from personal construct theory, is a method designed to assess the patient's construction of self and others. A group of women with fibromyalgia (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30) were assessed using RGT. Women with fibromyalgia also completed the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire and a visualanalogue scale for pain, and painful tender points were explored. Results suggest that these women had a higher present self-ideal self discrepancy and a lower perceived adequacy of others, and it was more likely to find implicative dilemmas among them compared to controls. These dilemmas are a type of cognitive conflict in which the symptom is construed as "enmeshed" with positive characteristics of the self. Finally, implications of these results for the psychological treatment of fibromyalgia are suggested to give a more central role to self-identity issues and to the related cognitive conflicts.