Effect of ventromedial hypothalamic procaine injections on feeding, lever pressing, and other behavior in rats.

Rats were given bilateral injections of 1-2 mul procaine HCl solution (50 mug/mul) in the region of the ventromedial hypothalamus. Normal-sized meals occurred reliably with a latency of 16-120 sec, indicating that this region has the function of inhibiting onset of eating, not just the function of stopping a meal. Food-rewarded fixed-ratio-of-one (FR 1; continuous reinforcement) lever pressing was elicited by 2-mul but not by 1-mul procaine. The FR 64 pressing appeared to be disrupted during a period of increased activity following procaine injection, although visual observations indicated that the pressing which did occur was normal in topography and was significantly associated in temporal sequence with approaches of the food magazine.     

Does Grit Influence Sport-Specific Engagement and Perceptual-Cognitive Expertise in Elite Youth Soccer?

We examined whether soccer players who score low and high on the personality trait grit can be differentiated based on their sport-specific engagement and perceptual-cognitive expertise. Findings revealed that grittier players accumulated significantly more time in sport-specific activities including competition, training, play, and indirect involvement. Moreover, there was a significant main effect for performance on the perceptual-cognitive skills tests across groups, with grittier players performing better than less gritty players on the assessments of decision making and situational probability. The findings are the first to demonstrate a potential link between grit, sport-specific engagement, and perceptual-cognitive expertise.     

Dangerous sports and recreational drug‐use: rationalizing and contextualizing risk

This article reports upon the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of a small number of semi‐structured interviews, conducted with persons engaging in either recreational drug‐use (primarily identified here as Ecstasy‐users) or dangerous sports (primarily identified here as bungee‐jumpers). Our analysis focuses upon the manner in which these participants make sense of their initiation and maintenance experiences, and the means by which they understand and make sense of risk. In particular, we draw attention to the distinctions between our participants' rational and contextual reconstructions of risky decisions. These distinctions indicate that our participants are able to draw upon a complex cultural and relational understanding of risk and pleasure, and are thus able to deal quite effectively with the contradictory experience of taking ‘non‐volitional’ action. This exploration of persons' strategies for displacing agency in relation to potentially negative outcomes may have implications for research and practice in related areas. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How prisoners and their partners experience the maintenance of their relationship during a prison sentence

Research shows that intimate relationships, and their maintenance via prison visits, have a positive impact on factors associated with prisoner well‐being and reduced likelihood of recidivism. It is therefore in the interest of corrections, government, and wider society to enable prisoners to maintain healthy relationships with their family and intimate partners throughout their prison sentence. Despite this evidence, little is known about how prisoners experience the maintenance of a significant intimate relationship in prison. This study aims to explore heterosexual couples' experiences in maintaining their well‐established intimate relationships, while the male partner is incarcerated. Four main themes were identified: how they experienced “having a special connection” that they were motivated to maintain; “coping with challenges and threats” to that connection; “developing reciprocal behaviours” to meet those challenges; and “maintaining a belief in the future.” Implications for how the relational context of rehabilitation can best be supported is considered.     

Evaluating cognitive–behavioral group counseling to improve elementary school students' self‐esteem,self‐control,and classroom behavior

The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive–behavioral group counseling provided to behaviorally disruptive elementary school children. Fifty‐two referred children received protocol‐based cognitive–behavioral group counseling provided by the first author, a school social worker. Students were randomly assigned to receive either immediate (IT) group counseling or delayed treatment (DT). The two groups were roughly equivalent on most demographic and outcome measures at the first assessment. Following group counseling, the IT groups' self‐esteem, perceived self‐control, teacher, and teacher aide grades of classroom comportment significantly improved, while similar measures of the DT children did not appreciably change. The DT children then received the same group program the IT group was exposed to three months earlier, and when group counseling was completed (third assessment) the IT groups' gains had been maintained, and the DT group gained improvements similar to those obtained by the IT group. In conclusion, cognitive–behavioral group work can be an effective intervention with behaviorally disruptive elementary school students. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Translation and preliminary validation of a Korean version of the parental reflective functioning questionnaire

This study aimed to explore the factor structure, reliability, and validity of a Korean translation of the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ). The PRFQ consists of three subscales: prementalizing modes, certainty about mental states, and interest and curiosity in mental states. A convenience sample of 163 Korean parents completed the K‐PRFQ. Exploratory factor analysis showed three factors mapped on to the original PRFQ factors, but items from the original prementalizing modes subscale clustered into two additional factors. Data from a subsample (n = 67) showed that the certainty about mental states and interest and curiosity in mental states subscales correlated positively with more optimal self‐reported parenting. We discuss the validity of using the PRFQ in collectivistic cultures.