Chicks' responses to familiar stimuli in unfamiliar environments

The aim of the present experiments was to find out how imprinted chicks respond to familiar figures in unfamiliar settings. Experiment I showed that chicks individually imprinted with a coloured stationary disc did not readily approach it when later confronted with it in a larger pen—a confirmation of an earlier finding. Experiment II showed a similar disruptive effect when the chicks were individually presented with a stationary object (a ball) in a pen differing in colour from the original one. Experiment III, however, in which chicks were imprinted to a moving ball, showed unattenuated imprinting when testing took place in a strange environment. It was concluded that the disruptive effect of neophobia can be overcome when a high degree of figure salience ensures powerful imprinting.     

Localization of targets by strabismic subjects: Contrasting patterns in constant and alternating suppressors

Strabismic subjects in whom vision in one eye is constantly suppressed localized targets at different points in space when using each eye. Whether they were esotropes or exotropes determined the relation between the two locations and the angle of their vergence error correlated with the magnitude of the interocular discrepancy. These relationships suggest that constant suppressors utilize information about posture of the dominant eye in reaching toward targets presented to the normally suppressed eye. Neither orthotropes nor strabismics in whom vision in each eye is alternately suppressed showed this anomaly. These results were attributed to differences in the way in which visual space is represented, an outcome of the pattern of use of the eyes during early development.     

医学教育中的动机:理论如何指导实践

教育研究者和心理学家认为,满足需要、强化行为、体现个性、减少不适,以及获得个人的发展和实现是学习和行为改变的动因。基于回报的价值和对回报期望值的不同,人们对动机作了种种解释。Ｂａｎｄｕｒａ把动机形成与刺激联系在一起。他断言,所有的人天生便能选择他认为有价...     

Teaching multiply controlled intraverbals to children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

Reciprocal conversations, instructional activities, and other social interactions are replete with multiply controlled intraverbals, examples of which have been conceptualized in terms of conditional discriminations. Although the acquisition of conditional discriminations has been examined extensively in the behavior‐analytic literature, little research has evaluated procedures to establish multiply controlled intraverbals. Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of procedures based on conditional discrimination training on the acquisition of multiply controlled intraverbals with 7 participants who had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. We evaluated the effects of prompt delay with error correction, a differential observing response (DOR), and a DOR plus blocked trials on the acquisition of intraverbals using a multiple baseline design. Accuracy of intraverbal performance increased for at least 1 set of stimuli for all participants under prompt delay with error correction conditions; however, 4 participants required additional teaching (i.e., DOR, modified DOR, modified prompt delay with error correction). Based on these findings, when prompt delay with error correction is not sufficient to establish multiply controlled intraverbals, prompted DORs may be an effective alternative.     

Please be Honest and Provide Evidence: Deterrents of Deception in an Online Insurance Fraud Context

The present experiment examined whether people could be deterred from lying in an online insurance claim setting. A total of 96 participants were asked to submit a theft insurance claim. Reflecting real life, submitting a claim that went beyond the actual costs of the stolen items was associated with advantages and disadvantages. Two deterrence factors were introduced: asking claimants to provide evidence that they actually owned the stolen items (Evidence Instruction, often used by insurers) and asking participants to read out before starting to submit the claim that they will be truthful (Honesty Statement, not often used by insurers). We also examined at what stage of the interview claimants embedded their lies in their otherwise truthful stories. The honesty statement but not the evidence instruction made claimants more honest, and participants lied more as the interview progressed. © 2016 The Authors Applied Cognitive Psychology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Using the Model Statement to Elicit Information and Cues to Deceit from Native Speakers,Non‐native Speakers and Those Talking Through an Interpreter

We examined how the presence of an interpreter during an interview affects eliciting information and cues to deceit, whilst using a method that encourages interviewees to provide more detail (model statement, MS). Sixty native English speakers were interviewed in English, and 186 non‐native English speakers were interviewed in English or through an interpreter. Interviewees either lied or told the truth about a mock security meeting, which they reported twice: in an initial free recall and after listening to the MS. The MS resulted in the native English speakers and those interviewed with an interpreter providing more reminiscences (additional detail) than the non‐native English speakers interviewed without an interpreter. As a result, those interviewed through an interpreter provided more detail than the non‐native English speakers, but only after the MS. Native English participants were most detailed in both recalls. No difference was found in the amount of reminiscences provided by liars and truth tellers. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Short Measure of Transformational Leadership

This study reports the development of a short measure of transformational leadership: the Global Transformational Leadership scale (GTL). The study sample was 1,440 subordinates who assessed the leader behaviour of 695 branch managers in a large Australian financial organisation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed that the GTL measured a single construct of leadership and had satisfactory reliability. Evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity is presented. We conclude that the GTL has a number of potential uses as an assessment and selection tool and in leadership research.     

Learning under stress: A role for the neural cell adhesion molecule NCAM

Stress is known to be a potent modulator of brain function and cognition. While prolonged and/or excessive stress generally exerts negative effects on learning and memory processes, acute stress can have differential effects on memory function depending on a number of factors (such as stress duration, stress intensity, timing and the source of the stress, as well as the learning type under study). Here, we have focused on the effects of ‘acute’ stress, and examined the literature attending to whether the “source of stress” is ‘intrinsic’ (i.e., when stress is originated by the cognitive task) or ‘extrinsic’ (i.e., when stress is induced by elements not related to the cognitive task). We have questioned here whether the neural cell adhesion molecule of the immunoglobulin superfamily (NCAM) contributes to the neurobiological mechanisms that translate the effects of these two different stress sources into the different behavioral and cognitive outcomes. NCAM is a cell adhesion macromolecule known to play a critical role in development and plasticity of the nervous system. NCAM and its post-translational modified form PSA-NCAM are critically involved in mechanisms of learning and memory and their expression levels are known to be highly susceptible to modulation by stress. Whereas available data are insufficient to conclude as to whether NCAM mediates extrinsic stress effects on learning and memory processes, we present systematic evidence supporting a key mediating role for both NCAM and PSA-NCAM in the facilitation of memory consolidation induced by intrinsic stress. Furthermore, NCAM is suggested to participate in some of the bidirectional effects of stress on memory processes, with its enhanced synaptic expression involved in facilitating stress actions while its reduced expression being related to impairing effects of stress on memory function.     

The road user behaviour of New Zealand adolescents

The present study aimed to describe the road user behaviour of New Zealand adolescents and to investigate the applicability of the Adolescent Road user Behaviour Questionnaire (ARBQ) to New Zealand adolescents. In total 944 adolescents were surveyed in the North and South islands of New Zealand. Factor analysis of the scale produced three factors which had acceptable internal reliability and were very similar to those found in the original research. The three factors were “unsafe crossing behaviour”, “playing on the road” and “planned protective behaviour”. This research also found that males and those who were at least part Maori were more likely to put themselves at risk by playing on the road. Furthermore, those who identified themselves as being part Maori also engaged in unsafe road crossing behaviour more often than Caucasian and Asian adolescents. Interestingly, only the interaction effect between age and sex was significantly related to engagement in planned protective behaviour. However, despite differences between New Zealand and England, and differences in the sample characteristics, the scale appeared to be measuring the same latent variables. Therefore, this research confirmed that the ARBQ is a useful tool for investigating the behaviour of adolescents on the road.     

Consumption After a Diet Violation: Disinhibition or Compensation?

ABSTRACT— Previous research, restricted to the laboratory, has found that restrained eaters overeat after they violate their diet. However, there has been no evidence showing that this same process occurs outside the lab. We hypothesized that outside of this artificial setting, restrained eaters would be able to control their eating. In Study 1 , 127 participants reported hourly on their diet violations and eating over 2 days. In Study 2 , 89 participants tracked their intake for 8 days, and 50 of these participants consumed a milk shake (a diet violation) on Day 7, as part of an ostensibly unrelated study. As hypothesized, dieters did not overeat following violations of their diet in either study. These findings are in contrast with those of previous lab studies and dispel the widely held belief that diet violations lead to overeating in everyday life.