Experimental components analysis of brief theory-based HIV/AIDS risk-reduction counseling for sexually transmitted infection patients.

An experimental components analysis of brief HIV risk-reduction counseling based on the information-motivation-behavioral skills (IMB) model was conducted with 432 men and 193 women receiving sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinic services. Following baseline assessments, participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 90-min risk-reduction counseling sessions that deconstructed the IMB model within a full factorial design. Participants were followed for 9 months, with STI diagnoses monitored over 12 months. Men who received the full IMB session evidenced relatively greater use of risk-reduction behavioral skills and relatively lower rates of unprotected intercourse over 6-months follow-up and had fewer new STIs. For women, however, the motivational counseling demonstrated the most positive outcomes. Results suggest that brief single-exposure HIV prevention counseling can reduce HIV transmission risks.     

The Effects of Hippocampal and Area Parahippocampalis Lesions in Pigeons: I. Delayed Matching to Sample

Four experiments were conducted to determine the effects of bilateral damage to the hippocampus and area parahippocampalis (Hp-APH) on visual memory in pigeons using the delayed matching-to-sample (DMS) procedure. In Experiment 1, we generated visual retention gradients with delays of 0, 1.5, 3, 6, and 12 sec both preoperatively and postoperatively in three pigeons with considerable preoperative visual DMS experience. Bilateral Hp-APH lesions had no effect whatsoever on visual retention. In Experiment 2, we examined the effects of Hp-APH lesions on both the acquisition of a visual DMS task with a 0-sec delay, and the subsequent retention performance with delays of 0, 3, 6, 12, and 24 sec. There was no difference between unoperated control pigeons and Hp-APH pigeons either in terms of the number of sessions required to learn the visual DMS task or in terms of their subsequent visual retention performance levels. In Experiments 3 and 4, we examined whether Hp-APH pigeons might be more sensitive than control pigeons to the effects of proactive interference (by reducing the duration of the intertrial interval) and retroactive interference (by introducing delay-interval illumination). Although reducing the duration of the intertrial interval and increasing the level of delay-interval illumination both resulted in lower performance levels on the visual DMS task, there was no indication that the Hp-APH pigeons were any more affected by the changes in interference levels than were unoperated control pigeons. These findings support the view that the Hp-APH in pigeons plays little role in the processing and retention of purely visual information.