Schedule-induced defecation.

Excessive defecation, typically considered to be a concomitant of stress, was experimentally induced or eliminated under specific schedules of positive reinforcement of lever pressing by rats. The schedules were, by and large, those under which polydipsia is typically induced. In the first of three experiments, rats under fixed-interval 32-second schedules and variable interval 32-second schedules for food and water reinforcers defecated profusely, but not under fixed-interval one-second schedules or other small interval schedules. Somewhat higher rates of defecation were observed on variable interval 32-second schedules than on fixed-interval 32-second schedules. In a second experiment, fixed-ratio schedules were used, some of which resulted in responding such that reinforcement densities were similar to those on the interval schedules that induced defecation. Defecation was not systematically induced by these ratio schedules. In a third experiment, fixed-time schedules of food presentations were utilized. High rates of defecation were induced comparable to those induced by interval schedules of the same time parameter. No other behavior commonly termed "emotional" was observed in any of these experiments.     

Age-dependent glutamate induction of synaptic plasticity in cultured hippocampal neurons

A common denominator for the induction of morphological and functional plasticity in cultured hippocampal neurons involves the activation of excitatory synapses. We now demonstrate massive morphological plasticity in mature cultured hippocampal neurons caused by a brief exposure to glutamate. This plasticity involves a slow, 70%-80% increase in spine cross-section area associated with a significant reduction in the width of dendrites. These changes are age dependent and expressed only in cells >18 d in vitro (DIV). Activation of both NMDARs and AMPARs as well as a sustained rise of internal calcium levels are necessary for induction of this plasticity. On the other hand, blockade of network activity or mGluRs does not abolish the observed morphological plasticity. Electrophysiologically, a brief exposure to glutamate induces an increase in the magnitude of EPSCs evoked between pairs of neurons, as well as in mEPSC frequency and amplitude, in mature but not young cultures. These results demonstrate an age-dependent, rapid and robust morphological and functional change in cultured central neurons that may contribute to their ability to express long term synaptic plasticity.     

The "don't ask, don't tell" policy and military performance

This paper is a response to Schumm's 2004 critique of Belkin's 2003 article, dealing with the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the U.S. military. Schumm's critique specified four reasons for continuing to exclude homosexuals from military service: military effectiveness, sexual asymmetries, Christian soldiers' dilemma of "living a lie" and skewed opinions of policy makers and military elites. Each of these categories is analyzed and discussed.     

Coherent Odds and Subjective Probability

A well-known Dutch book, due to de Finetti, shows how violations of the additivity law of probability theory (Pr(A∪B)=Pr(A)+Pr(B)−Pr(A∩B)) open the door to a sequence of bets leading to a sure loss. In this paper we show that in a market environment, when bookies act strategically, it may well be optimal for them to post incoherent (nonadditive) odds. This is true even when the bookie's own preferences are expected utility, provided she plays against at least two nonexpected utility bettors.     

Assessing future possible selves by gender and socioeconomic status using the anticipated life history measure

This is a report from the first phase of a longitudinal study of the ways young adults imagine their future lives. The future possible selves of 223 18- and 19-year-old adults were examined using the Anticipated Life History measure (ALH), a psychological instrument prompting participants to describe their future life course from their 21st birthday until their death. When the ALH narratives were coded for presence/absence of life events, female participants were more likely to predict career choice, marriage, children, divorce, and death of spouse than their male counterparts; when coded for psychological qualities, female participants demonstrated greater psychological complexity and awareness of future life role choices and conflicts. Participants with lower SES wrote ALH narratives with fewer altruistic acts, less awareness of life role complexity, and fewer anticipated conflicts and their resolutions than those with higher SES.     

The role of a parent's illness in the emotional experience of a child evidence from Klein's Narrative of a child analysis

Abstract

The analysis of Richard, described by Melanie Klein in Narrative of a Child Analysis, gives us some insight into the effect on a child of threats to the health of his parents. His mother was involved in a road accident when Richard was 2; his father collapsed during the time of the analysis when he was 10. This paper links these events with disturbances in Richard's relation to his father and to his mother, as well as with threats to his own integrity, as demonstrated in the analysis. Richard's reversal of roles with his father and mother is discussed, as are Klein's reaction to Richard's report of finding his father ‘ill and nearly fainting’ and Richard's response to her behaviour. The paper draws attention to the way in which a child's reaction to the ill health of one parent can affect relations with both parents, as well as disturbing his sense of himself.     

Ayodhya and the Hindu resurgence

It is usually accepted that although cosmological references in the early Pali Buddhist texts refer metaphorically to meditative states of mind, they should at the same time be understood as referring in literal terms to an externally existent cosmos. Because the ontological status of the cosmos appears to be tangential to what the Buddha taught, however, it is not clear that this literal interpretation is appropriate. From a study of the early textual material, this paper suggests that an alternative understanding of the cosmos is more compatible with the Buddha's teachings.     

Hume's natural history of religion and the beginning of the social scientific study of religion

David Hume's The Natural History of Religion (1757) has rightly been considered a key work in the development of the social scientific study of religion. Compared with other pioneers in the field, Hume is precociously modern in many ways: (1) in his insistence on the distinction between the issue of origin and the issue of truth, (2) in his concentration on causes rather than reasons, (3) in his interest in the recurrent rather than the one‐time origin of religion, (4) in his search for a non‐religious rather than an irreducibly religious origin of religion, (5) in his comparative rather than particularistic approach, (6) in his inductive rather than deductive approach, (7) in his stress on the non‐rational rather than rational dimensions of religion, (8) in his focus on the effect as well as the origin of religion, (9) in his concern with the unintended rather than the intended effects of religion, and (10) in his separation of religion from ethics.