External audio for IBM-compatible computers

Numerous applications benefit from the presentation of computer-generated auditory stimuli at points discontiguous with the computer itself. Modification of an IBM-compatible computer for use of an external speaker is relatively easy but not intuitive. This modification is briefly described.     

Analyzing the path of responding in maze-solving and other tasks

Response time and accuracy are sensitive measures of overall performance but may mask underlying response strategies. For example, analysis of latency and accuracy measures produced in a computerized-maze task does not reveal whether rhesus monkeys really “solve a maze” or simply move as much as is possible toward the target, negotiating barriers through trial and error as they encounter them. Regression procedures are described for analyzing response path against several hypothetical response curves, and analyses of response path for rhesus monkeys’ performance on the computerized MAZE task are presented as an illustration. The data suggest that rhesus monkeys do invoke a response strategy of solving the maze, because the observed response topography is significantly associated with the optimal path of responding. Many experimental paradigms should similarly benefit from analysis of the response paths that subjects exhibit.     

Opioid regulation of spinal cord plasticity: evidence the kappa-2 opioid receptor agonist GR89696 inhibits learning within the rat spinal cord

Spinal cord neurons can support a simple form of instrumental learning. In this paradigm, rats completely transected at the second thoracic vertebra learn to minimize shock exposure by maintaining a hindlimb in a flexed position. Prior exposure to uncontrollable shock (shock independent of leg position) disrupts this learning. This learning deficit lasts for at least 24h and depends on the NMDA receptor. Intrathecal application of an opioid antagonist blocks the expression, but not the induction, of the learning deficit. A comparison of selective opioid antagonists implicated the kappa-opioid receptor. The present experiments further explore how opioids affect spinal instrumental learning using selective opioid agonists. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were given an intrathecal injection (30 nmol) of a kappa-1 (U69593), a kappa-2 (GR89696), a mu (DAMGO), or a delta opioid receptor agonist (DPDPE) 10 min prior to instrumental testing. Only the kappa-2 opioid receptor agonist GR89696 inhibited acquisition (Experiment 1). GR89696 inhibited learning in a dose-dependent fashion (Experiment 2), but had no effect on instrumental performance in previously trained subjects (Experiment 3). Pretreatment with an opioid antagonist (naltrexone) blocked the GR89696-induced learning deficit (Experiment 4). Administration of GR89696 did not produce a lasting impairment (Experiment 5) and a moderate dose of GR89696 (6 nmol) reduced the adverse consequences of uncontrollable nociceptive stimulation (Experiment 6). The results suggest that a kappa-2 opioid agonist inhibits neural modifications within the spinal cord.     

Disconnect in concept learning by rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta): judgment of relations and relations-between-relations

The authors investigated the role that entropy measures, discriminative cues, and symbolic knowledge play for rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) in the acquisition of the concepts of same and different for use in a computerized relational matching-to-sample task. After repeatedly failing to perceive relations between pairs of stimuli in a 2-choice discrimination paradigm, monkeys rapidly learned to discriminate between 8-element arrays. Subsequent tests with smaller arrays, however, suggested that, although important for the initial acquisition of the concept, entropy is not a variable on which monkeys are dependent. Not only do monkeys choose a corresponding relational pair in the presence of a cue, but they also choose the cue itself in the presence of the relational pair--in essence, labeling those relations. Subsequent failure in the judgment of relations-between-relations, however, suggests that perhaps a qualitatively different cognitive component exists that prevents monkeys from behaving analogically.     

Moderators and Predictors of Response After 36 Weeks of Treatment in the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS)

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - This study investigated pretreatment variables associated with depression severity in adolescents following maintenance treatment for major...     

Psychologists’ Leadership Roles and Leadership Training Needs in Academic Health Centers

Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - Psychologists are increasingly called upon to become more involved in academic health centers (AHCs) as leaders across a range of leadership...     

Vagueness as closeness

This paper presents and defends a definition of vagueness, compares it favourably with alternative definitions, and draws out some consequences of accepting this definition for the project of offering a substantive theory of vagueness. The definition is roughly this: a predicate ‘F’ is vague just in case for any objects a and b, if a and b are very close in respects relevant to the possession of F, then ‘Fa’ and ‘Fb’ are very close in respect of truth. The definition is extended to cover vagueness of many-place predicates, of properties and relations, and of objects. Some of the most important advantages of the definition are that it captures the intuitions which motivate the thought that vague predicates are tolerant, without leading to contradiction, and that it yields a clear understanding of the relationships between higher-order vagueness, sorites susceptibility, blurred boundaries, and borderline cases. The most notable consequence of the definition is that the correct theory of vagueness must countenance degrees of truth.     

Lana Chimpanzee Learns to Count by “Numath”: A Summary of a Videotaped Experimental Report

This paper summarizes a videotaped presentation (Rumbaugh, Savage-Rumbaugh, Hopkins, Washburn, & Runfeldt, 1987) of computerized training programs whereby an adult female chimpanzee, Lana (Pan troglodytes), learned to use a joystick to remove from a screen the number of boxes appropriate to the value of a randomly selected Arabic numeral 1, 2, or 3. Initial training provided a variety of cues, both numeric and otherwise, to support correct performance. Across software programs, all cues other than numeric ones were deleted. In the final test, Lana was correct on over 80% of trials in which there was no residual feedback of intratrial events and where only her memory of those events could provide the cue to indicate that she had removed boxes in accordance with the value of the target numbers and should terminate the trial. The tape is narrated and consists of video recordings of Lana's performance on each software program.     

Toward a new outlook on primate learning and behavior: complex learning and emergent processes in comparative perspective

Primate research of the 20th century has established the validity of Darwin's postulation of psychological as well as biological continuity between humans and other primates, notably the great apes. Its data make clear that Descartes' view of animals as unfeeling "beast-machines" is invalid and should be discarded. Traditional behavioristic frameworks--that emphasize the concepts of stimulus, response, and reinforcement and an "empty-organism" psychology--are in need of major revisions. Revised frameworks should incorporate the fact that, in contrast to the lifeless databases of the "hard" sciences, the database of psychology entails properties novel to life and its attendant phenomena. The contributions of research this century, achieved by field and laboratory researchers from around the world, have been substantial--indeed revolutionary. It is time to celebrate the progress of our field, to anticipate its significance, and to emphasize conservation of primates in their natural habitats.