Evidence for a motor mechanism of pain-induced aggression instigation in humans

The automatic skeletal motor responses of 20 male and 20 female student subjects (aged 20–36) receiving a painful stimulation (electric shock) were studied by examining voluntary concomitant extensions and flexions of the arm. These movements were either of long duration, allowing for an on-line control of their execution or, of short duration, requiring extensive pre-programming. Subjects were instructed either to push or to pull a lever upon receipt of an acoustic signal, which was paired or unpaired with an electric shock. Latencies for long duration movements (regardless of direction) were reduced by reception of painful stimulation. Latencies of short duration extensions and flexions were respectively reduced and increased by painful stimulation. Latencies of short duration movements were larger for females than males, regardless of movement direction. These data suggest that painful stimulation elicits automatic movements which affect programming of the termination of simultaneous voluntary movements. Implications of these findings for the study of aggressive behavior are discussed. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Sex differences in maternal behaviors of immature rats: The role of emotionality

Immature rats are able to give maternal care to pups and may increase their inclusive fitness by helping newborn siblings. Immature males are generally reported to be more maternal than females. In this research we studied sex differences and the extent to which they may be due to a different emotional response to novelty. We studied maternal response in two groups of immature rats of both sexes: in the naive group, juveniles aged from 18 to 30 days were given one test and showed clear-cut sex differences. The experience group was submitted to repeated tests from 18 to 30 days of age, thus eliminating the effects of novelty: as a result, all differences between sexes disappeared. A second experiment was designed in 24-day-old females to differentiate the effects of repeated handling and exposure to the test situation from that of repeated exposure to pups; moreover, the effects of an anxiety-reducing drug (diazepam) were studied. Exposure to pups is particularly efficient in facilitating maternal response. Diazepam injection was also effective, but its control showed that the injection per se was responsible for the effect. In conclusion, our results stress the importance of response to novelty and suggest that sex differences in maternal behavior of immature rats may be modulated by different emotional responses by males and females. In fact, emotionality competes with, and may exert an inhibitory effect on, the expression of a vast array of behaviors. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Variation in aggressive behavior and anatomo-physiological correlates generated by crowding without physical contact in the house mouse

Behavioral, physiological (i.e., endocrine), and anatomical consequences of crowding in mice were studied in a situation where animals were in auditory, visual, olfactory, and tactile contact but restrained from full physical interactions, to prevent overt aggression. Males that cohabited with females undisturbed by neighboring conspecifics showed greater propensity to attack same-sex intruders and had higher plasma testosterone levels than did their “crowded” counterparts, that is, males cohabiting with females and housed adjacent to other male/female pairs. In this respect, the latter animals resembled submissive males. However, a significant increase in weight of androgen-dependent target organs (i.e., seminal vesicles and preputial glands) was found in crowded males. These data indicate that despite the observed inhibition of social aggression these males are not physiologically comparable (homologous) to male mice that experienced defeat and the stress of submission during fighting. The intriguing possibility that different conversion pathway of testosterone are accelerated, as a result of social communication, in males living in these two environments and the behavioral implications of these possibilities are discussed. Finally, the parental behavior of crowded animals, although not freely interacting with each other, was disrupted, causing a marked decrease in reproductive success. In this situation a high incidence of infanticide of their offspring by both parents was observed, whereas this behavior was virtually absent in non-crowded male/female pairs.     

Remembrances of parental rejection are associated with loneliness as mediated by psychological maladjustment in young Bangladeshi men but not women

Loneliness is a significant public health issue that affects young adults. This investigation drew from interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory to understand how remembrances of parental rejection contributed to psychological maladjustment and loneliness in Bangladeshi college students (N = 300; 50% female). Students reported their remembrances of mothers' and fathers' acceptance-rejection, their current psychological maladjustment, and loneliness. Remembrances of rejection by parents in childhood were associated with psychological maladjustment (hostility/aggression, negative self-esteem, negative self-adequacy, emotional unresponsiveness, emotional instability, and negative worldview) for young adult men and women. Psychological maladjustment, in turn, was associated with feelings of loneliness in young adulthood for young men, but not women. Remembrances of parental rejection were also associated with greater hostility and aggression over and above general psychological functioning among both men and women. Findings are discussed in the context of different social and structural features of young adulthood for women and men in Bangladesh.     

Evaluating discrete trial teaching with instructive feedback delivered in a dyad arrangement via telehealth

Telehealth research in the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA) has focused on the training and supervision of others to implement various behavior analytic procedures. Current guidelines for practicing telehealth suggest that direct telehealth services may be appropriate for some individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, but more research is needed. This study evaluated the effects of discrete trial teaching with instructive feedback in a dyad arrangement delivered directly via telehealth to teach tact relations to 6 children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. All participants and the experimenter were located in different physical locations. All participants learned their primary and secondary targets, and 5 of the participants acquired the observational primary and secondary targets without direct teaching. Areas of future research and clinical implications are discussed in the context of telehealth service delivery.     

Synchronicity and “Being Endowed with Meaning”

Jung developed over 50?years a paradigmatic idea of an acausal principle, which he called synchronicity. His hypothesis on synchronicity states that, complementary to causality, there exists a further explanatory principle whose effects appear as acausal but meaningful events. Therewith Jung added to the triadic principles of space, time and causality a fourth principle: synchronicity. The experience of individual synchronicities points to a general acausal and meaningful orderedness in nature which apparently exists outside man. Jung published Answer to Job and Synchronicity at the same time, for he attempted to open up a new path to the “state of spiritualization” Beseeltheit of Matter by making the assumption that “being is endowed with meaning.” According to Jung there exists a latent meaning in the cosmos, which existed long before human consciousness developed. He believed that “on the organic level it might be possible to regard biological morphogenesis in the light of the synchronistic factor.” One of many examples in the biological evolution is a Cretaceous-Palaeogene worldwide catastrophe approx. 65 million years ago that resulted in the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. It is understood as the result of a meteorite impact. This catastrophe was a most meaningful chance from the point of view of the mammals, including modern man. We modern humans finally came into existence thanks to a series of cosmic happenings, which were based on causality and synchronicity. What is true for our personal individuation is also true for biological or historical developments: an acausal but meaningful principle is secretly at work.     

An empirically derived scoring system for intermale aggression in mice

Scoring systems used to assess intermale aggression have been characterized by arbitrary scales and wide variability in the behaviors selected for measurement. The use of such different systems severely limits the ability of investigators to make meaningful comparisons among studies and indicates that there is a need for a common, statistically derived evaluative system for intermale aggression. We measured the frequency and duration of five major components of agonistic behavior exhibited by intact males toward olfactory bulbectomized stimulus males and then analyzed the data using a number of univariate and multivariate procedures. The results were used to generate two statistically based scoring systems, one a short-form index and the other a composite index for more detailed studies of aggression. It is hoped that these statistically derived systems will be adopted by other investigators to increase methodological congruence in the field.     

Facilitating mother-infant communication: A treatment model for high-risk and developmentally-delayed infants

The relationship between mother-infant interaction and interactive communication competence in high-risk and developmentally-delayed children is examined and an inter vention program that attempts to optimize mother-infant interaction is described. Interaction patterns in populations with atypical infants are consistently found to be different from those in families with normally developing infants. The risk and delayed infants show fewer, less intense, and developmentally-delayed social responses and their mothers compensate with more frequent and often intensive forms of social interaction. An intervention model is presented that (1) evaluates the mother on a hierarchy of interaction styles that range from low to high levels of sensitivity and (2) modifies interaction style through the use of easy-to-learn techniques with the goal of moving the mother to an optimal level in the defined hierarchy of social behavior.