Phosphorylation of ERK/MAP kinase is required for long-term potentiation in anatomically restricted regions of the lateral amygdala in vivo

We have previously shown that the extracellular signal-regulated kinase/mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK/ MAPK) is transiently activated in anatomically restricted regions of the lateral amygdala (LA) following Pavlovian fear conditioning and that blockade of ERK/MAPK activation in the LA impairs both fear memory consolidation and long-term potentiation (LTP) in the amygdala, in vitro. The present experiments evaluated the role of the ERK/MAPK signaling cascade in LTP at thalamo-LA input synapses, in vivo. We first show that ERK/MAPK is transiently activated/phosphorylated in the LA at 5 min, but not 15 or 60 min, after high-frequency, but not low-frequency, stimulation of the auditory thalamus. ERK activation induced by LTP-inducing stimulation was anatomically restricted to the same regions of the LA previously shown to exhibit ERK regulation following fear conditioning. We next show that intra-LA infusion of U0126, an inhibitor of ERK/MAPK activation, impairs LTP at thalamo-LA input synapses. Collectively, results demonstrate that ERK/MAPK activation is necessary for synaptic plasticity in anatomically defined regions of the LA, in vivo.     

Validation of a Portuguese version of the multidimensional measure of employability

This study describes the validity and reliability evidence of the multidimensional measure of employability (MME) based on the internal structure and relations to career self-efficacy and career success. Two hundred forty seven Portuguese persons (75.7% women) aged from 21–73 years old (M = 39.9, SD = 10.9) participated. Confirmatory factor analysis suggested adequate fit in the correlational and hierarchical models. Measurement reliability was good for total score and each factor. Correlations with the additional measures provided evidence of validity. MME provides a tool for research and career counseling, enabling comprehensive employability assessment and personalized interventions, while recognising the interplay between employability dimensions.     

Social cognitive predictors of well-being in African college students

Lent and Brown's (2006, 2008) social cognitive model of work well-being was tested in two samples of African college students, one from Angola (N = 241) and one from Mozambique (N = 425). Participants completed domain-specific measures of academic self-efficacy, environmental support, goal progress, and satisfaction, along with measures of global positive affect and life satisfaction. Path analyses indicated that the model fit the data well overall, both in the full sample and in separate sub-samples by country and gender. Contrary to expectations, however, self-efficacy predicted academic satisfaction only indirectly, via goal progress; and goal progress predicted life satisfaction only indirectly, via academic satisfaction. The predictors accounted for substantial portions of the variance in both academic domain satisfaction and life satisfaction. Implications for research and practice involving the social cognitive model are considered.     

Moral Injury,Chaplaincy and Mental Health Provider Approaches to Treatment: A Scoping Review

Journal of Religion and Health - The aim of this research was to describe the evidence examining the approaches taken by mental health providers (MHPs) and chaplains to address symptoms related to...     

Social Identity and Social Exchange: Identification, Support, and Withdrawal From the Job

Integrating insights from the social exchange perspective and the social identity perspective, we propose that evaluations of support received from the organization and its representatives and organizational identification interact to predict withdrawal from the job. The relationship of support with withdrawal is proposed to be weaker the more strongly employees identify with the organization. This prediction was confirmed in 2 samples focusing on different operationalizations of support and withdrawal. Study 1 explored the interaction between organizational support and organizational identification in predicting turnover intention; Study 2 investigated the link between supervisor support and organizational identification and absenteeism. The present study thus yields evidence that may lay the groundwork for further integration of social exchange and social identity analyses of organizational behavior.     

The development of intergroup bias in childhood: how social norms can shape children's racial behaviours

The present research examined the developmental course of racial behaviours in childhood. It tested the hypothesis that White children's expressions of racial prejudice do not necessarily decline in middle childhood due to the development of particular cognitive skills but that instead, as argued by the socio-normative approach, children older than seven will go on expressing prejudiced attitudes under appropriate conditions. This would be explained by the presence of an anti-racism norm, along with the existence of values promoting equal rights, which impede blatant expressions of racism. In the first study 283 White children aged 6-7 and 9-10 years performed a task of resource allocation to White and Black target children in conditions of high (White interviewer was present) or low (White interviewer was absent) salience of the anti-racist norm. The 6- to 7-year-old children discriminated against the Black target in both conditions whereas older children discriminated against the Black child only when the anti-racist norm was not salient. In Study 2, 187 White children aged 6-7 and 9-10 years performed the same resource allocation task in conditions of explicit activation of similarity vs dissimilarity or egalitarian vs merit-based norms regarding race relations. Supporting the hypothesis of the role of racist or anti-racist norms on the expression of intergroup discrimination, results have again shown that 6- to 7-year-old children discriminated against the Black target in both conditions while older children presented significantly different prejudiced/nonprejudiced behaviours consistent with the activated norms. These results were discussed in terms of the need for a reanalysis of the assumptions and research results of the cognitive-developmental theory and of further developments in the socio-normative approach regarding the development of prejudice in childhood.     

MOTIVATIONAL FORCES OF COGNITIVE DISSONANCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL REACTANCE1

Etude expérimentale des effets de dissonance et de réactance sous trois conditions : (1) choix et restriction partielle de liberté; (2) aucun choix et restriction partielle de liberté; (3) aucun choix et restriction totale de liberté. Selon L'hypothèse principale, une fois la décision prise, et pour des Ss qui sont libres de choisir entre les possibilités existantes, les mécanismes de réduction de la dissonance prédomineraient sur les effets de réactance provoqués par la restriction de liberté. Les résultats confirment cette hypothèse. L'expérience a également pour but de vérifier dans un milieu culturel différent les assertions de ces deux théories de la motivation. Les résultats confirment les prédictions, pertinentes pour la situation expérimentale, de la théorie de dissonance, et donnent, pour la condition (2) (aucun choix et restriction partielle de liberté), quelques preuves de réactance psychologique.     

Response–reinforcer dependency and resistance to change

The effects of the response–reinforcer dependency on resistance to change were studied in three experiments with rats. In Experiment 1, lever pressing produced reinforcers at similar rates after variable interreinforcer intervals in each component of a two‐component multiple schedule. Across conditions, in the fixed component, all reinforcers were response‐dependent; in the alternative component, the percentage of response‐dependent reinforcers was 100, 50 (i.e., 50% response‐dependent and 50% response‐independent) or 10% (i.e., 10% response‐dependent and 90% response‐independent). Resistance to extinction was greater in the alternative than in the fixed component when the dependency in the former was 10%, but was similar between components when this dependency was 100 or 50%. In Experiment 2, a three‐component multiple schedule was used. The dependency was 100% in one component and 10% in the other two. The 10% components differed on how reinforcers were programmed. In one component, as in Experiment 1, a reinforcer had to be collected before the scheduling of other response‐dependent or independent reinforcers. In the other component, response‐dependent and ‐independent reinforcers were programmed by superimposing a variable‐time schedule on an independent variable‐interval schedule. Regardless of the procedure used to program the dependency, resistance to extinction was greater in the 10% components than in the 100% component. These results were replicated in Experiment 3 in which, instead of extinction, VT schedules replaced the baseline schedules in each multiple‐schedule component during the test. We argue that the relative change in dependency from Baseline to Test, which is greater when baseline dependencies are high rather than low, could account for the differential resistance to change in the present experiments. The inconsistencies in results across the present and previous experiments suggest that the effects of dependency on resistance to change are not well understood. Additional systematic analyses are important to further understand the effects of the response–reinforcer relation on resistance to change and to the development of a more comprehensive theory of behavioral persistence.     

Argentine validation of the Purpose in Life Test / Validación argentina del Test de Propósito en la Vida

Despite the fact that the Purpose in Life Test developed by James Crumbaugh and Leonard Maholick in the 1960s is considered to be one of the most commonly used measures in positive psychology, there are no validations of it into the Argentine context. This paper aims to assess the psychometric properties of PIL in a sample of 336 university students residing in Buenos Aires. The results suggest that PIL has adequate psychometric properties for the Argentine context. The confirmatory factor analysis presents a good fit of the data as proposed by the authors. These results favour the assessment of psychological well-being in this local context. Future studies should use different samples in order to provide more robust support to the construct.