An Evaluation of the Relative Effectiveness of Function-Based Consequent and Antecedent Interventions in a Preschool Setting

Although there is substantial functional behavioral assessment (FBA) literature suggesting that function-based interventions are effective for improving problem behavior, only a limited number of studies have examined the effectiveness of function-based antecedent versus consequent interventions. Additionally, although there has been a recent increase in the number of studies conducted in the K–12 school setting, only a limited number of studies have included children in the preschool setting. The present study extends existing literature by examining the effectiveness of function-based antecedent versus consequent interventions for reducing problem behavior and increasing appropriately engaged behavior for preschool children without cognitive disabilities. Following an FBA of 4 children, the effectiveness of a function-based antecedent (i.e., noncontingent reinforcement [NCR]) was compared with a function-based consequent (i.e., differential reinforcement of alternative behavior [DRA]) intervention using an alternating treatments design. Results indicated that both function-based NCR and DRA were effective for decreasing problem behavior and increasing appropriately engaged behavior, with function-based NCR being more effective than DRA for 2 of 4 participants.     

Selection of macroreference frames in spatial memory

Spatial memories are often hierarchically organized with different regions of space represented in unique clusters within the hierarchy. Each cluster is thought to be organized around its own microreference frame selected during learning, whereas relationships between clusters are organized by a macroreference frame. Two experiments were conducted in order to better understand important characteristics of macroreference frames. Participants learned overlapping spatial layouts of objects within a room-sized environment before performing a perspective-taking task from memory. Of critical importance were between-layout judgments thought to reflect the macroreference frame. The results indicate that (1) macroreference frames characterize overlapping spatial layouts, (2) macroreference frames are used even when microreference frames are aligned with one another, and (3) macroreference frame selection depends on an interaction between the global macroaxis (defined by characteristics of the layout of all learned objects), the relational macroaxis (defined by characteristics of the two layouts being related on a perspective-taking trial), and the learning view. These results refine the current understanding of macroreference frames and document their broad role in spatial memory.     

Playing with fire: effects of negative mood induction and working memory on vocabulary acquisition

We investigated the impact of emotions on learning vocabulary in an unfamiliar language to better understand affective influences in foreign language acquisition. Seventy native English speakers learned new vocabulary in either a negative or a neutral emotional state. Participants also completed two sets of working memory tasks to examine the potential mediating role of working memory. Results revealed that participants exposed to negative stimuli exhibited difficulty in retrieving and correctly pairing English words with Indonesian words, as reflected in a lower performance on the prompted recall tests and the free recall measure. Emotional induction did not change working memory scores from pre to post manipulation. This suggests working memory could not explain the reduced vocabulary learning in the negative group. We argue that negative mood can adversely affect language learning by suppressing aspects of native-language processing and impeding form-meaning mapping with second language words.     

Mentally walking through doorways causes forgetting: The location updating effect and imagination

Researchers have documented an intriguing phenomenon whereby simply walking through a doorway causes forgetting (the location updating effect). The Event Horizon Model is the most commonly cited theory to explain these data. Importantly, this model explains the effect without invoking the importance or reliance upon perceptual information (i.e., seeing oneself pass through the doorway). This generates the intriguing hypothesis that the effect may be demonstrated in participants who simply imagine walking through a doorway. Across two experiments, we explicitly test this hypothesis. Participants familiarised themselves with both real (Experiment 1) and virtual (Experiment 2) environments which served as the setting for their mental walk. They were then provided with an image to remember and were instructed to imagine themselves walking through the previously presented space. In both experiments, when the mental walk required participants to pass through a doorway, more forgetting occurred, consistent with the predictions laid out in the Event Horizon Model.     

Factors Influencing Clinical Correlates of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE): a Review

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neuropathologically defined disease reportedly linked to a history of repetitive brain trauma. As such, retired collision sport athletes are likely at heightened risk for developing CTE. Researchers have described distinct pathological features of CTE as well a wide range of clinical symptom presentations, recently termed traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES). These clinical symptoms are highly variable, non-specific to individuals described as having CTE pathology in case reports, and are often associated with many other factors. This review describes the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral changes associated with 1) developmental and demographic factors, 2) neurodevelopmental disorders, 3) normal aging, 4) adjusting to retirement, 5) drug and alcohol abuse, 6) surgeries and anesthesia, and 7) sleep difficulties, as well as the relationship between these factors and risk for developing dementia-related neurodegenerative disease. We discuss why some professional athletes may be particularly susceptible to many of these effects and the importance of choosing appropriate controls groups when designing research protocols. We conclude that these factors should be considered as modifiers predominantly of the clinical outcomes associated with repetitive brain trauma within a broader biopsychosocial framework when interpreting and attributing symptom development, though also note potential effects on neuropathological outcomes. Importantly, this could have significant treatment implications for improving quality of life.     

Distress Tolerance and Social Support in Adolescence: Predicting Risk for Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms Following a Natural Disaster

The purpose of the multi-measure, multi-wave, longitudinal study was to examine the interactive relation between behavioral distress tolerance (DT) and perceived social support (PSS) in 352 tornado-exposed adolescents aged 12–17 years (M = 14.44; SD = 1.74). At baseline, adolescents completed a computer-based task for DT, and self-report measures of PSS, depressed mood, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use, and interpersonal conflict. Symptoms also were assessed 4 and 12 months after baseline. Findings showed that lower levels of DT together with lower levels of PSS conferred risk for elevated symptoms of prospective depression (t(262) = ?2.04, p = .04; r_{effect size} = 0.13) and PTSD (t(195) = ?2.08, p = .04; r_{effect size} = 0.15) following a tornado. However, only PSS was significant in substance use t(139) = 2.20, p = .03; r_{effect size=}0.18) and conflict (t(138) = ?4.05, p < .0001; r_{effect size=}0.33) in our sample. Implications regarding adolescent DT, the transdiagnostic nature of PSS, and the clinical applications of our findings in the aftermath of a natural disaster are discussed.     

Entitativity and social identity complexity: The relationship between group characteristics and personal characteristics on group identification

The current study extends previous works on group identification by focusing on how social identity complexity and entitativity interact to impact group identification. The purpose of the current study is to test the hypothesis that people with a simple social identity identify more strongly with a highly entitative group and people with complex social identity identify more strongly with a group low in entitativity. Participants’ social identity complexity and entitativity about a group were manipulated, and with that group was measured. Results demonstrated that participants primed with a simple social identity identified more strongly with a more highly entitative group, whereas identification with the high and low entitativity groups did not differ for participants primed with a complex social identity.     

Modulation of taxonomic (versus thematic) similarity judgments and product choices by inducing local and global processing

Perceived similarity is influenced by both taxonomic and thematic relations. Assessing taxonomic relations requires comparing individual features of objects whereas assessing thematic relations requires exploring how objects functionally interact. These processes appear to relate to different thinking styles: abstract thinking and a global focus may be required to explore functional interactions whereas attention to detail and a local focus may be required to compare specific features. In four experiments we explored this idea by assessing whether a preference for taxonomic or thematic relations could be created by inducing a local or global perceptual processing style. Experiments 1–3 primed processing style via a perceptual task and used a choice task to examine preference for taxonomic (versus thematic) relations. Experiment 4 induced processing style and examined the effect on similarity ratings for pairs of taxonomic and thematically related items. In all cases processing style influenced preference for taxonomic/thematic relations.     

Spiritual Interventions in Veterans with PTSD: A Systematic Review

Journal of Religion and Health - This article reports the results of a systematic review on the effectiveness of religious/spiritually (R/S)-based interventions in veterans with post-traumatic...