Conditioned inhibition of cocaine seeking in rats

Despite its potential relevance to the treatment of drug abuse, conditioned inhibition of drug seeking has not been systematically investigated before. In this study, rats could self-administer cocaine by lever pressing whenever a click or tone was present. Responding was not reinforced when a light was present. The light was presented simultaneously with the click (i.e., in an excitatory context) in 1 group, but the light was always presented alone in another group. When it was later presented in compound with the tone, the light was a highly effective conditioned inhibitor, suppressing cocaine seeking by 92% in the former group and by 74% in the latter. These results suggest ways to improve cue-oriented behavioral treatments for drug abuse.     

Vocal behavior in the dyadic interactions of preadolescent and early adolescent friends and acquaintances

Conversational interactions of sixth-grade friends and acquaintances in mixed- and same-gender pairs were computer analyzed so that the individual and dyadic time patterns of their vocal behavior could be examined. A comparison of their time patterns revealed that the boy-boy pairs used more and longer segments of simultaneous speech with acquaintances than with friends whereas the girl-girl pairs did the opposite. In general, partners tended to coordinate the durations of their vocal behaviors with each other but, more specifically, the boys coordinated the timing of their speaking turns and switching pauses more when they were friends than when they were acquaintances, and the girls again did the opposite. Finally, the girls coordinated the durations of their pauses significantly more than did the boys regardless of whether they were with friends or acquaintances or in mixed- or same-gender pairs.     

Communication,conflict, and commitment: insights on the foundations of relationship success from a national survey

The key relationship dynamics of communication, conflict, and commitment were investigated using data from a randomly sampled, nationwide phone survey of adults in married, engaged, and cohabiting relationships. Findings on communication and conflict generally replicated those of studies using more indepth or objective measurement strategies. Negative interaction between partners was negatively associated with numerous measures of relationship quality and positively correlated with divorce potential (thinking or talking about divorce). Withdrawal during conflict by either or both partners, though quite common, was associated with more negativity and less positive connection in relationships. The most frequently reported issue that couples argue about in first marriages was money, and in re-marriages it was conflict about children. Overall, how couples argue was more related to divorce potential than was what they argue about, although couples who argue most about money tended to have higher levels of negative communication and conflict than other couples. Further, while the male divorce potential was more strongly linked to levels of negative interaction, the female was more strongly linked to lower positive connection in the relationship. Consistent with the commitment literature, higher reported commitment was associated with less alternative monitoring, less feeling trapped in the relationship, and greater relationship satisfaction.     

Decisions and the evolution of memory: multiple systems, multiple functions

Memory evolved to supply useful, timely information to the organism's decision-making systems. Therefore, decision rules, multiple memory systems, and the search engines that link them should have coevolved to mesh in a coadapted, functionally interlocking way. This adaptationist perspective suggested the scope hypothesis: When a generalization is retrieved from semantic memory, episodic memories that are inconsistent with it should be retrieved in tandem to place boundary conditions on the scope of the generalization. Using a priming paradigm and a decision task involving person memory, the authors tested and confirmed this hypothesis. The results support the view that priming is an evolved adaptation. They further show that dissociations between memory systems are not--and should not be--absolute: Independence exists for some tasks but not others.     

Commentary on Meehl and Waller's (2002) path analysis and verisimilitude

P. E. Meehl and N. G. Waller's (2002) proposed method may not yield unique solutions for model parameters nor unique solutions for model lack of fit. The author argues from a naturalistic-cognitive philosophy of science that science seeks objective knowledge and that hypothesis testing is central to achieving that goal. It is also argued that P. E. Meehl and N. G. Waller's proposal blurs the distinction between hypothesis testing and explorations of the data seeking an optimal model to serve as a prospective inductive generalization. But it is noted that inductive generalizations are never unique and must be tested to eliminate those that reflect subjective aspects of the researcher's methods and points of view.     

Does optimal recall performance in the adaptive memory paradigm require the encoding context to encourage thoughts about the environment of evolutionary adaptation?

This study examined whether encoding conditions that encourage thoughts about the environment of evolutionary adaptation (EEA) are necessary to produce optimal recall in the adaptive memory paradigm. Participants were asked to judge a list of words for their relevance to personal survival under two survival-based scenarios. In one condition, the EEA-relevant context was specified (i.e., you are trying to survive on the savannah/grasslands). In the other condition, no context was specified (i.e., you are simply trying to stay alive). The two tasks produced virtually identical recall despite participants in the former condition reporting significantly more EEA context-relevant thoughts (i.e., the savannah) than did participants in the latter condition (who reported virtually no EEA-related thoughts). The findings are discussed in terms of (1) survival as a target of natural selection and (2) the role of evolutionary theory in understanding memory in modern humans.     

Classifying Dating Couples: Gender as Reflected in Traits,Roles, and Resulting Behavior

A cluster analysis was conducted in an attempt to uncover a taxonomy of specific gender-related, trait-role constellations within a sample of 117 pairs of men and women involved in serious dating relationships. This taxonomy was then used in predicting the extent to which men and women reportedly gave (or failed to give) affection and respect to each other during the 2 weeks prior to the study. The cluster analysis revealed three distinct groups, which were labeled Respect-Giving Reversed (Group 1), Affectionate (Group 2), and Traditional (Group 3) Results of multivariate analyses of variance revealed that, overall, significant behavioral differences existed among the three groups. Group 1 was characterized by low reported giving of affection and respect among women. Group 2 was characterized by high reported giving of affection and respect among men and women, and Group 3 was characterized by low reported giving of affection and respect among men. Implications for the use of empirically derived taxonomies in the study of close relationships are discussed.     

Integrating the ivory tower and the treatment institution

Although the application of psychoanalysis to the clinical understanding of, and work with, psychotic and personality disordered patients has developed significantly over many years now, the presence of such an approach alongside other treatment modalities in many treatment settings can often be poor and sometimes absent. This in part reflects the complexity of developing both theoretical understanding and clinical technique in relation to these patients and in many settings a combination of interventions might well be the treatment programme of choice. In this paper, the author puts forward a view that in relation to recent developments in contemporary mental health services, specifically in the provision of care and treatment for forensic and anti-social personality disordered patients and offenders, the application of psychoanalysis might have a particularly important role to play. The experiences of staff working with patients and offenders who project their unprocessed internal anxieties and conflicts into the external environment can often be difficult and disturbing. The author argues that this dynamic needs to be understood as a representation of the patient's unmanageable internal world and, as such, careful attention has to be paid to this sometimes toxic impact on staff groups and care institutions. He argues that an application of psychoanalytic principles has a unique role in this reflective task which should be seen as a necessary and crucial part of the treatment process.