Memory Consolidation for Contextual and Auditory Fear Conditioning Is Dependent on Protein Synthesis, PKA, and MAP Kinase

Fear conditioning has received extensive experimental attention. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that underlie fear memory consolidation. Previous studies have shown that long-term potentiation (LTP) exists in pathways known to be relevant to fear conditioning and that fear conditioning modifies neural processing in these pathways in a manner similar to LTP induction. The present experiments examined whether inhibition of protein synthesis, PKA, and MAP kinase activity, treatments that block LTP, also interfere with the consolidation of fear conditioning. Rats were injected intraventricularly with Anisomycin (100 or 300 μg), Rp-cAMPS (90 or 180 μg), or PD098059 (1 or 3 μg) prior to conditioning and assessed for retention of contextual and auditory fear memory both within an hour and 24 hr later. Results indicated that injection of these compounds selectively interfered with long-term memory for contextual and auditory fear, while leaving short-term memory intact. Additional control groups indicated that this effect was likely due to impaired memory consolidation rather than to nonspecific effects of the drugs on fear expression. Results suggest that fear conditioning and LTP may share common molecular mechanisms.     

The functional interaction of visual-perceptual and response mechanisms during selective attention in young adults, young-old adults, and old-old adults

A response compatibility paradigm was employed to address how the perceptual and response activation processes functionally interact during selective attention and how they may be influenced by aging. The results showed that increasing the visual similarity of targets within response sets reduced the magnitude of the interference effect, but only with a narrow interletter distance. In a dissimilar condition, the magnitude of the interference effect did not vary with age. However, in a similar condition, the magnitude of the interference effect was larger for both young (18–30 years) and young-old adults (55–79 years) than for old-old adults (≥80 years). In contrast, all three groups showed similar facilitation effects. These results failed to provide support for the notion that enhanced spatial filtering of the target from the flankers produces a corresponding decrease in response competition. Rather, the decrease in the interference effect can be attributed to a functional interaction between the perceptual availability of partial information and the magnitude of response competition. The results also suggest that age does not impair response activation but that advanced age diminishes the availability of local, but not global, feature information.     

Sex-role attitudes,identities, and political ideology

This study examines whether sex-role identities and attitudes toward sex roles are part of a more general liberal—conservative dimension of political ideology. Survey data are analyzed from two independent random samples of Indiana University students in 1974–1975. Sex-role attitudes are measured by two scales, dealing with evaluations of the traditional sex-based division of labor and levels of sex-stereotyping of various tasks. The Bem Sex Role Inventory is used to measure respondents' sex-role identities. Those who score more liberal or flexible on each measure of sex-role attitudes are also very likely to hold liberal political attitudes. These correlations are strong and consistent enough to indicate that sex-role attitudes fit into a more general liberal—conservative ideology, at least among college students. Correlations between sex-role identities and political attitudes are much weaker. Among men, liberal political attitudes are associated with a more flexible (androgynous) sex-role identity; among women, in contrast, liberal political attitudes are related more consistently to a more traditionally masculine sex-role identity.We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Indiana University Women's Studies Program, Michael A. Maggiotto, Christine Williams, and especially Barbara Allen for her insightful comments and capable data analysis.     

Vernier acuity as affected by target length and separation

Vernier acuity was measured for vertical lines of different lengths; the threshold (about 4 sec of arc) was almost as good for the shortest stimuli (1 min 20 sec squares) as for the longest (21 min 20 sec × 1 min 20 sec rectangles) and did not change when two round dots were shown in positions corresponding to the squares. The threshold for the two dots measured in terms of minimum detectable lateral offset increased when the vertical separation between the dots increased, but, when replotted in terms of the angle of tilt between them with respect to vertical, the threshold improved with dot separation; moreover, at asymptote, the threshold was comparable to that obtained for detecting that an actual line was tilted out of vertical. Our data suggest that, in performing the vernier task, Ss do not extrapolate the edges of the vernier elements; instead, they judge the deviation of the inner ends of the stimuli from verticality. This hypothesis explains the effect of increasing separation between vernier elements and also accounts for other types of acuity, such as the detection of curvature.     

GROUP GUIDANCE IN AN EMPLOYMENT SERVICE SETTING

Since socialization is a learned process, it has been hypothesized that through a group experience individuals might be assisted to develop improved interpersonal relationships, improved self-confidence, and more relevant work attitudes and, thus, might be assisted to improve their employability. A questionnaire was devised in order to study the utilization and practice of group guidance in an Employment Service setting.     

Establishing Moral Education Programs: A Priority for Guidance

People accept the general idea that there should be “instruction in the schools that deals with morals and moral behavior.” The program described in this article presents one possible model for moral instruction. Counselors were not involved directly in the program because of funding limitations, but counselors can use the program to stimulate moral education activities.     

Preference for information about intensity of signaled tailshock

Three experiments are reported which were designed to demonstrate preference for signaled shock and to delineate the roles of the preparatory-response, information-seeking, and signaled-safety hypotheses of this phenomenon. Experiment 1 demonstrated a preference for a signal-tailshock condition over a tailshock-signal condition in a shuttlebox. In Experiment 3, rats were exposed to signaled tailshock of two intensities in both compartments of the shuttlebox, but in one compartment the signals provided information about the intensity of the impending tailshock, whereas in the other compartment the signals did not. The tailshock intensities were .6 and 1.3 mA for one group and .6 and 1.8 mA for a second group. Experiment 2 assured that even the smaller intensity difference was readily discriminable. For Group .6-1.8 a significant preference for the condition in which the signals predicted the intensity of the impending tailshocks was obtained, but no preference for either condition was found for Group .6-1.3. As signaled safety was equated in the two compartments of Experiment 3, the observed preference cannot be accounted for by the signaled-safety hypothesis. Information seeking cannot explain the lack of preference in Group .6-1.3 as the difference between those two intensities was proven discriminable in Experiment 2. Assuming that sufficient differences in shock intensity yield different preparatory responses, the present results are compatible with the preparatory-response hypothesis and suggest that preparatory responding plays a role in producing the preference for signaled shock.     

Mindfulness as a way to cope with COVID‐19‐related stress and anxiety

COVID‐19 brought significant challenges to college students in Spring 2020. Mindfulness‐based interventions might help students cope with COVID‐19‐related stressors in at least three ways: by cultivating attention that is self‐directed rather than reactive to a rapidly changing situation; by teaching the acceptance and regulation of negative thoughts and feelings; and by encouraging individuals to view adverse events non‐judgementally and as opportunities for growth. The purpose of our study was to determine whether Koru Mindfulness (KM), a four‐week, mindfulness‐based group therapy designed for emerging adults, could help students cope with COVID‐19‐related stress and anxiety. Students were assigned to either KM or waitlist at the beginning of the 2020 Spring semester. Assessment of students’ functioning occurred at baseline before the onset of COVID‐19, mid‐semester at the height of the COVID‐19 crisis on campus, and the end of the semester after students had returned home and transitioned to remote learning. After treatment, KM participants reported greater mindfulness and self‐compassion and less stress, anxiety and sleep problems than controls. KM participants also showed superior functioning on performance‐based measures of attention. Most gains were maintained over time. Increased mindfulness mediated the relationship between KM and reductions in stress and anxiety. KM can help students cope with academic and COVID‐19‐related stressors by improving mindfulness.