Imitative learning in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) depends on the motivational state of the observer quail at the time of observation

The 2-action method was used to examine whether imitative learning in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) depends on the motivational state of the observer quail at the time of observation of the demonstrated behavior. Two groups of observers were fed before observation (satiated groups), whereas 2 other groups of observers were deprived of food before observation (hungry groups). Quail were tested either immediately following observation or after a 30-min delay. Results indicated that quail in the hungry groups imitated, whereas those in the satiated groups did not, regardless of whether their test was immediate or delayed. The results suggest that observer quail may not learn (through observation) behavior that leads to a reinforcer for which they are unmotivated at the time of test. In addition, the results show that quail are able to delay the performance of a response acquired through observation (i.e., they show deferred imitation).     

Toward an empirical taxonomy of suicide ideation: a cluster analysis of the youth risk behavior survey

In this study we examined adolescent risk behaviors, giving special attention to suicide ideation. Cluster analysis was used to classify adolescents (N = 2,730) on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Six clusters of adolescent risk behavior were identified. Although each risk cluster was distinct, some clusters shared overlapping risk behaviors. Suicide ideation was central to two clusters: the Silent Suicide cluster and the Multiple Risk cluster. The findings demonstrate that suicide ideation is both a unique risk behavior for some adolescents and part of a generalized risk syndrome for other adolescents. A multiple subgroup framework is recommended for understanding adolescent risk behaviors.     

Effects of reward and nonreward on frustration and attention in attention deficit disorder

The effects of reward schedule (100%, 50%, and 30%) and termination of rewards (extinction) on 30 attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADD-H) and 30 normal children were studied using measures of frustration (speed/strength of lever pulling) and attention (reaction time to a light signal). ADD-Hs pulled harder on the lever than controls during extinction and on the lowest (30%) partial schedule, providing empirical evidence that they respond with greater frustration than normals when expected rewards fail to appear. The groups did not differ on the attentional measure on 100% reward. However, the partial schedules appeared to have an alerting or motivating effect on the controls, so that they responded more quickly and consistently than ADD-Hs on the partial schedules. Findings are discussed with reference to opposing theories regarding the nature of the abnormal response of ADD-Hs to reward.This research was supported by grant MA 11252 from the Medical Research Council of Canada.     

Family Interaction and Individual Psychological Health

Two studies explored the relationships between individual psychological health (PH) status and perceptions of family interaction and family climate variables as perceived by young adults. Psychological health was defined within inter- and intrapersonal domains, represented by social interest and psychological hardiness. Scores on social interest and hardiness instruments were standardized and added to put the construct of psychological health into practice. Family interaction variables were measured with Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales-III (FACES-III), the Children's Report of Parent Behavior Inventory-30 (CRPBI-30), Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (PAC), Family Satisfaction Scale (FSS), and the Family Environment Scale (FES). Multivariate analyses indicated that PH status was associated with several family variables, with cohesion emerging as a key dimension. Implications for counseling are discussed.     

Negative priming effects that are bigger than a breadbox: Attention to distractors does not eliminate negative priming, it enhances it

In a series of experiments, we examined the effect of requiring subjects to attend to distractors in a test of negative priming. This was accomplished by using a referent size-selection task in which subjects were instructed to name the larger animal and to ignore the smaller animal in a word pair. The result was a quadrupling of the standard negative priming effect, suggesting that negative priming not only occurs for attended distractors, it is actually enhanced. We demonstrated that this enhancement of the effect was not due solely to increased latencies in the referent size-selection task, because neither decreasing base response times in other referent size-selection tasks nor increasing base response times in typical color-selection tasks substantially affected the respective negative priming effects. Although these findings can be accommodated within current theories of negative priming, they challenge the basic assumption that the negative priming effect arises because the critical item was ignored or not attended to on the prime trial.     

Phrasing influences the recognition of melodies

One critical step in the processing of complex auditory information (i.e., language and music) involves organizing such information into hierarchical units, such as phrases. In this study, musically trained and untrained listeners' recognition memory for short, naturalistic melodies varying in their phrase structure was tested. For musically trained subjects, memory for information preceding a phrase boundary was disrupted and memory for information subsequent to a phrase boundary was enhanced relative to memory in similar temporal locations for excerpts not containing a phrase boundary. Musically untrained listeners, in contrast, showed no such differences as a function of the phrasing of the melody. These findings conform with previous results in both psycholinguistics and musical cognition and suggest that the phrase serves as a functional unit in musical processing, guiding the parsing of musical sequences during perception, along with the structuring of memory for musical passages.     

Real-time examinations of lexical processing in aphasics

We argue that the lesion localizing value of disruptions to modular information processing systems emerges most clearly from on-line analyses of processing. In this respect we seek to show that left anterior (but not left posterior) damage causes slowed information access and we discuss the manner in which this slowing might yield some of the specific syntactic limitations charted in Broca's aphasia. The general possibility we raise is that the cortical area implicated in Broca's aphasia is not necessarily the locus of syntactic representations, but rather sustains particular time-based operating characteristics that in turn sustain normal real-time parsing.This research was supported in part by NIH grants NS11408 and NS06209 to Boston University School of Medicine and by the Research Service of the Veterans Administration.     

Vicarious Victims of a Maritime Disaster

A group of 24 cross-channel ferry workers were referred to the Folkestone Mental Health Team in the months following the capsize of the 'Herald of Free Enterprise' at Zeebrugge in March 1987. They presented with symptoms of Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder and severe anxiety about working at sea. 17 had no direct connection with the Zeebrugge disaster, but appeared to be vicarious or peripheral victims. It is recommended that in cases of major transport accidents, off-duty crew members be screened for evidence of post-traumatic stress.     

Perinatal indicators of sudden infant death syndrome: A study of 34 Rhode Island Cases

Pre- and perinatal characteristics of 34 victims of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) were compared with those controls matched for sex, race, birthdate, and hospital. Data were collected retrospectively from hospital records. Factors which reliably differentiated the SIDS group from controls included low birth-weight, short second stage of labor, fewer years of maternal schooling, and maternal anemia during pregnancy. The constellation of findings was interpreted as reflecting the interaction of physiological predispositions and environmental “setting conditions”, culminating in sudden and unexpected death. The efficacy of a previously established SIDS risk scale was assessed for these cases. Some issues concerning prediction of outcome from perinatal variables are discussed.