Isoform specificity of protein kinase Cs in synaptic plasticity

Protein kinase Cs (PKCs) are implicated in many forms of synaptic plasticity. However, the specific isoform(s) of PKC that underlie(s) these events are often not known. We have used Aplysia as a model system in order to investigate the isoform specificity of PKC actions due to the presence of fewer isoforms and a large number of documented physiological roles for PKC in synaptic plasticity in this system. In particular, we have shown that distinct isoforms mediate distinct types of synaptic plasticity induced by the same neurotransmitter: The novel calcium-independent PKC Apl II is required for actions mediated by serotonin (5-HT) alone, while the classical calcium-dependent PKC Apl I is required for actions mediated when 5-HT is coupled to activity. We will discuss the reasons for PKC isoform specificity, assess the tools used to uncover isoform specificity, and discuss the implications of isoform specificity for understanding the roles of PKC in regulating synaptic plasticity.     

Effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy in a Community Mental Health Center

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has been shown to be effective in randomized controlled trials with women with borderline personality disorder and histories of chronic self-inflicted injury including suicide attempts. The present study is a pre-post replication of a comprehensive DBT program in a community mental health center for individuals who chronically injure themselves and/or have experienced multiple treatment failures. Twenty-four subjects were given the Treatment History Interview to obtain information regarding medically treated self-inflicted injuries and the use of crisis services. After 1 year of treatment, DBT showed a significant reduction in the number and severity of self-inflicted injuries, psychiatric-related emergency room visits, psychiatric inpatient admissions and days, and the number of crisis treatment systems engaged. Results are compared to benchmarks from 3 other clinical trials of DBT. While this pre-post comparison has threats to internal validity, it supports the feasibility of DBT when fully implemented in a community mental health clinic.     

Visual and Auditory Message Framing Effects on Tobacco Smoking1

Persuasive health messages can be framed to emphasize the benefits of adopting a health behavior (gains) or the risks of not adopting it (losses). This study examined the effects of message framing on beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors relevant to cigarette smoking. In video presentations about tobacco smoking, visual images and auditory voiceover content were framed either as gains or losses, yielding 4 message conditions. Undergraduates (N= 437) attending a public university in New England were assigned randomly to view one of these messages. Gain‐framed messages about smoking in visual and auditory modalities shifted smoking‐related beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors in the direction of avoidance and cessation. Health‐communication experts, when promoting prevention behaviors like smoking avoidance or cessation, may wish to diverge from the tradition of using loss‐framed messages and fear appeals in this domain, and instead consider using gain‐framed appeals that present the advantages of not smoking.     

Intervention Effects on Stage of Change Membership and Transitions among Adolescent Energy Balance Behaviors

The transition from childhood to adolescence is a crucial period for the development of healthy behaviors to be sustained later in life. With obesity a leading public health problem, the promotion of healthy behaviors has the potential to make a huge impact. The current study evaluated Stage of Change progression in a large (N = 4158) computer-delivered, Transtheoretical Model-tailored intervention focusing on physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption (FV). Markov models were used to explore stage transitions and patterns of discrete change from sixth to ninth grade. Nested model comparisons examined the consistency of these patterns across time and intervention condition. Major findings supported models in which participants were free to transition forward and backward to any of the stages, but higher probabilities were observed for remaining in the same stage or for transitioning one or two stages forward. Participants in the intervention group had higher probabilities of transitioning toward Maintenance, with more change occurring relative to the comparison group during transitions from grades six to eight but not for grades eight to nine.     

Got Resources? A Multi-Sample Constructive Replication of Perceived Resource Availability’s Role in Work Passion–Job Outcomes Relationships

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate the moderating effect of perceived resource availability on the relationship between work passion and employee well-being (i.e., job satisfaction and job tension) and performance (i.e., job performance and citizenship behaviors) using self-determination theory.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were obtained through surveys distributed via an online platform (Sample 1) and to employees of three professional organizations: a municipal agency (Sample 2), an engineering firm (Sample 3), and an advertising organization (Sample 4).

Findings

The interaction between employees’ work passion and their perceptions of available resources was associated with employees’ well-being and performance, such that greater work passion was associated with positive outcomes when resources were perceived as available. Conversely, heightened work passion was associated with job tension and fewer positive benefits when perceived available resources were low.

Implications

Work passion is often touted by employers as a valuable characteristic for employees, but, as these findings suggest, there are conditions that must be met in order for employees to experience positive well-being and performance outcomes. This information will likely prove invaluable for those employers seeking to best support their passionate employees.

Originality/Value

Research into the area of work passion is small but growing, and this study provides valuable insight into a key boundary condition for the effectiveness of passion: perceived resource availability. Additionally, this study identifies circumstances in which passionate employees actually experience a negative work outcome. Further, the multiple samples and constructive replication employed help provide confidence and a strong empirical foundation for the results.

     

Cognitive Load Theory,Element Interactivity,and the Testing and Reverse Testing Effects

Summary: The testing effect arises when learners who are tested rather than relearning material obtain superior scores on a final test than those who relearn. Based on cognitive load theory, six experiments examined whether the effect was evident under low or high element interactivity (a measure of complexity) conditions. Students learning to write types of text were participants. In all experiments, effects on a final common test of two presentations were compared with a single presentation followed by a preliminary test. The testing effect on immediate tests was larger and more likely using lower element interactivity materials. A reverse testing effect was likely on immediate tests tapping higher element interactivity material but possibly eliminated by using a delayed test. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Developing and demonstrating inhibitory stimulus control over repetitive behavior

Developing inhibitory stimulus control over repetitive behavior minimizes the social and learning disruptions caused by this behavior while allowing individuals to continue to access this source of reinforcement at nonproblematic times. These procedures involve allowing repetitive behaviors to occur in some stimulus conditions (S+) and blocking the repetitive behavior in order to disrupt the response–reinforcer relation in other stimulus conditions (S‐) such that the onset of the S‐ period results in rapid and sustained reductions in repetitive behavior. However, the demonstration of stimulus control exerted by the S‐ has often been confounded with participants' exposure to programmed reductive contingencies (i.e., behavior is reduced due to direct contact with contingencies rather than the programmed antecedent stimuli). The current study both developed and demonstrated the suppressive effects of S‐ presentation upon repetitive behavior with two children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. These demonstration techniques involved (a) introducing the S‐ into novel environments without the programmed contingencies that we used to establish discriminative control, (b) evaluating the reductive effects of programmed contingencies with and without the associated discriminative stimuli, and (c) evaluating latencies to the onset of repetitive behavior given S+ and S‐ presentations.