Context extinction following conditioning with delayed reward enhances subsequent instrumental responding

In Experiment 1, delayed reward generated low response rates relative to immediate reward delivered with the same frequency. Lister rats exposed to delayed reward subsequently responded at a higher rate in extinction if they received nonreinforced exposure to the conditioning context after instrumental training and prior to test, compared with animals that received home cage exposure. In Experiment 2, a signaled delay of reinforcement resulted in higher rates than an unsignaled delay. Nonreinforced exposure to the conditioning context elevated response rate for subjects in the unsignaled condition relative to a home cage group, but had no effect on response rates for subjects that had received the signaled delay. In Experiment 3, following an unsignaled reinforcement delay, groups receiving either no event or signaled food in the context responded faster in extinction than groups receiving no context exposure or unsignaled food.     

True intercorrelation among job components, time delay in rating, and rater intelligence as determinants of accuracy in performance ratings

Ninety subjects viewed one of three sets of videotapes which presented simulated work performances by five ratees. Subjects viewed videotapes where the true intercorrelation among the three job components was either high, moderate, or low. Half of the subjects completed ratings immediately after viewing all five ratees and again, 24 h later. The remaining subjects completed ratings only once, 24 h after viewing the videotapes. Rater intelligence was assessed via the Wesman Personnel Classification Test. Performance ratings for each ratee on each of the three job components were completed using a magnitude estimation scale. Subjects' ratings were compared to ratee true scores (based on objective worker output) to obtain four components of rater accuracy: elevation, differential elevation, stereotype accuracy, and differential accuracy as well as a measure of overall accuracy. Results indicated that subjects' ratings were more accurate with respect to overall accuracy and differential accuracy when the true intercorrelation among job components was high rather than low. Rater intelligence was significantly correlated with stereotype accuracy. In addition, rater intelligence was significantly related to overall accuracy, differential elevation, and elevation, but only when the true intercorrelation among job components was moderate or high. Also, there was a curvilinear component to the relationship between intelligence and both differential accuracy and stereotype accuracy such that the most intelligent raters tended to be less accurate than more moderately intelligent raters who were, in turn, more accurate than the least intelligent raters. Finally, subjects' immediate ratings were not more accurate than ratings provided by subjects who completed only delayed ratings. However, repeated measures analyses found that for subjects who completed both immediate and delayed ratings, delayed ratings were less accurate than immediate ratings with respect to overall accuracy, differential accuracy, and differential elevation.     

Intolerance of Uncertainty and Eating Disorder Symptoms Over the Course of Intensive Treatment

There is a critical need to identify processes that may influence outcome in existing treatments for eating disorders (EDs). Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), which refers to excessive distress regarding uncertain situations, is a well-established feature of anxiety disorders. Emerging work suggests that IU decreases over the course of cognitive-behavioral treatments and may relate to better treatment outcomes. As some literature has suggested IU may functionally maintain ED symptoms, testing whether changes in IU over treatment relate to outcome may result in the identification of novel treatment targets. This study aimed to build upon past work documenting links between IU and ED symptoms by exploring changes in IU over treatment and links between early change in IU (1-month) and discharge symptoms. Participants (N = 274) receiving partial hospitalization treatment completed the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory and Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale at admission, 1-month post-admission, and discharge. Results suggested that IU significantly reduced from admission to discharge and that reductions in IU scores from admission to 1-month related to cognitive restraint, dietary restriction, and body image at discharge. However, this pattern did not hold for exercise, binge eating, or purging. Altogether, these results replicate past work supporting IU as a common feature across ED diagnoses and provide initial data suggesting that targeting IU early in treatment may enhance treatment outcomes.     

The Influence of Indirect Knowledge of Previous Performance on Ratings of Present Performance: The Effects of Job Familiarity and Rater Training

In a 2 × 2 × 2 crossed factorial design, trained or untrained subjects viewed a videotape and evaluated performance on either a familiar (college lecturer) or unfamiliar (salesperson) job. Prior to viewing the videotape, some subjects reviewed positive information about the ratee's prior performance, whereas other subjects did not review any prior performance information. To determine whether assimilation or contrast effects occurred, we compared ratings provided by subjects who reviewed positive information about prior performance with ratings provided by subjects who did not review any prior performance information. A three-way interaction was obtained. Ratings of performance on the familiar job by untrained or trained subjects revealed only a small assimilation effect. However, when rating performance on the unfamiliar job, a large assimilation effect was observed among untrained subjects, whereas a large contrast effect was observed among trained subjects. The results indicate that rater error training may reverse, rather than reduce or eliminate, rating errors that arise from knowledge of a ratee's prior performance. Implications for further understanding and reducing assimilation and contrast effects are discussed.     

Analysis of systems influencing renal hemodynamics and sodium excretion. I. Biochemical systems theory

In this article we present a new methodology—Biochemical Systems Theory and Analysis—as an alternative to traditional parametric statistical procedures for investigating differences between risk groups in a population. We review the systems theory and how it can be used to represent a model of processes influencing renal hemodynamics and sodium (Na⁺) excretion. We also discuss the potential for new measures of the biology of common diseases that can emerge from a synergism between systems theory and population-based statistical approaches. This work was supported in part by grants from the Public Health Service, RO1-HL30428, R01-HL39107 and General Clinical Research Center Grant RR0585.     

Voice acoustical measurement of the severity of major depression

A number of empirical studies have documented the relationship between quantifiable and objective acoustical measures of voice and speech, and clinical subjective ratings of severity of Major Depression. To further explore this relationship, speech samples were extracted from videotape recordings of structured interviews made during the administration of the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS; ). Pilot data were obtained from seven subjects (five males, two females) from videotapes that have been used to train expert raters on the administration and scoring of the HDRS. Several speech samples were isolated for each subject and processed to obtain the acoustic measurements. Acoustic measures were selected on the basis that they were correlated with HDRS ratings of symptom severity as seen under ideal voice recording conditions in previous studies. Our findings corroborate earlier reports that speaking rate is well correlated (negatively) with HDRS scores, with a strong correlation and nearly significant trend seen for the measure of pitch variability. A moderate pairwise correlation between percent pause time and HDRS score was also revealed, although this relationship was not statistically significant. The results from this cross-sectional study further demonstrate the ability of voice and speech signal analyses to objectively track severity of depression. In the present case, it is suggested that this relationship is robust enough to be found despite the less than ideal recording conditions and equipment used during the original videotape recording. Voice acoustical analyses may provide a powerful compliment to the standard clinical interview for depression. Use of such measures increases the range of techniques that are available to explore the neurobiological substrates of Major Depression, its treatment, and the dynamic interplay of the systems that govern the motor, cognitive, and emotional aspects of speech production.     

Narrative Discourse in Children with Early Focal Brain Injury

Children with early brain damage, unlike adult stroke victims, often go on to develop nearly normal language. However, the route and extent of their linguistic development are still unclear, as is the relationship between lesion site and patterns of delay and recovery. Here we address these questions by examining narratives from children with early brain damage. Thirty children (ages 3;7–10;10) with pre- or perinatal unilateral focal brain damage and their matched controls participated in a storytelling task. Analyses focused on linguistic proficiency and narrative competence. Overall, children with brain damage scored significantly lower than their age-matched controls on both linguistic (morphological and syntactic) indices and those targeting broader narrative qualities. Rather than indicating that children with brain damage fully catch up, these data suggest that deficits in linguistic abilities reassert themselves as children face new linguistic challenges. Interestingly, after age 5, site of lesion does not appear to be a significant factor and the delays we have witnessed do not map onto the lesion profiles observed in adults with analogous brain injuries.