Response inhibition in adults and teenagers: spatiotemporal differences in the prefrontal cortex

Inhibition is a core executive function reliant on the frontal lobes that shows protracted maturation through to adulthood. We investigated the spatiotemporal characteristics of response inhibition during a visual go/no-go task in 14 teenagers and 14 adults using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and a contrast between two no-go experimental conditions designed to eliminate a common confound in earlier studies comparing go with no-go trials. Source analyses were performed using an event-related beamformer algorithm with co-registered individual structural MRIs. Performance was controlled to be similar across subjects. Analyses of MEG data revealed bilateral prefrontal activity in the inhibitory condition for both age groups, but with different spatiotemporal patterns: around 300ms after stimulus onset in middle frontal gyri in teenagers vs. around 260ms in inferior frontal gyri in adults. Moreover, the inhibition of a prepotent motor response showed a stronger recruitment of the left hemisphere in teenagers than in adults and of the right hemisphere in adults than in teenagers. These findings provide high-resolution temporal and spatial information regarding response inhibition in adolescents compared to adults, independent of motor components and performance differences.     

Behaviorally inhibited temperament is associated with severity of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and faster eyeblink conditioning in veterans

Prior studies have sometimes demonstrated facilitated acquisition of classically conditioned responses and/or resistance to extinction in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, it is unclear whether these behaviors are acquired as a result of PTSD or exposure to trauma, or reflect preexisting risk factors that confer vulnerability for PTSD. Here, we examined classical eyeblink conditioning and extinction in veterans self-assessed for current PTSD symptoms, exposure to combat, and the personality trait of behavioral inhibition (BI), a risk factor for PTSD. A total of 128 veterans were recruited (mean age 51.2 years; 13.3% female); 126 completed self-assessment, with 25.4% reporting a history of exposure to combat and 30.9% reporting current, severe PTSD symptoms (PTSS). The severity of PTSS was correlated with current BI (R(2) = 0.497) and PTSS status could be predicted based on current BI and combat history (80.2% correct classification). A subset of the veterans (n = 87) also completed the eyeblink conditioning study. Among veterans without PTSS, childhood BI was associated with faster acquisition; veterans with PTSS showed delayed extinction, under some conditions. These data demonstrate a relationship between current BI and PTSS, and indicate that the facilitated conditioning sometimes observed in patients with PTSD may partially reflect personality traits such as childhood BI that pre-date and contribute to vulnerability for PTSD.     

“It’s Not Like Judgment Day”: Public Understanding of and Reactions to Personalized Genomic Risk Information

The value of genomic risk assessment depends upon patients making appropriate behavioral changes in response to increased risk leading to disease prevention and early detection. To date, few studies have investigated consumers’ response to personalized genomic disease risk information. To address this gap, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 60 adults participating in the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative. The interviews took place after receiving results providing genomic and other risk information for up to eight common complex diseases. We found that participants were most likely to recall results which conferred an increased risk or those of particular personal interest. Participants understood the multi-factorial nature of common complex disease, and generally did not have negative emotional responses or overly deterministic perceptions of their results. Although most participants expressed a desire to use results to improve their health, a minority had actually taken action (behavior change or shared results with their doctor) at the time of the interview. These results suggest that participants have a reasonable understanding of genomic risk information and that provision of genomic risk information may motivate behavior change in some individuals; however additional work is needed to better understand the lack of change seen in the majority of participants.     

Expectancy and stimulus frequency: A comparative analysis in rats and humans

We examined whether expectancy, one of several factors influencing attention, is similarly affected in rats and humans by manipulation of relative stimulus frequency, A two-choice reaction time (RT) task was developed for rats, and an analogous task was used for humans. Errors, RTs, discriminability, and response bias were measured. Both rats and humans shifted their response bias to the more frequent stimulus, with no change in overall discriminability. As stimulus probability or stimulus repetition increased, RTs and errors decreased. These results illustrate the similarity of expectancy in rats and humans. This two-choice RT task for rats can be used in future studies to examine the neuronal mechanisms of expectancy and attention.     

中学生自主学习的教学指导模式研究

国内外业已开发出众多旨在培养中学生自主学习的教学模式,基于理论和教学经验分析,我们概括出中学生自主学习教学指导的一般模式,本研究以330名中学生为被试,分别在初中和高中的若干学科对这一教学模式进行检验。结果显示,自主学习的一般教学模式能够在一定程度上增强中学生的自主学习能力,提高中学生的学习成绩,能够为任课教师接受和掌握,具有广泛的适用性。     

地方政府间竞争:经济溢出和技术溢出视角

推进区域经济协调发展已成为国家战略的重要组成部分。本文在现有研究基础上,首次提出区域间经济溢出与技术溢出整合分析框架,以引资政策竞争为切入点,构建地方政府博弈模型,探讨区域竞争效应,并通过对模型推演得出一系列推论。研究发现,在追求自身利益最大化的条件下,地方政府会充分考虑其决策对其它地区的经济与技术溢出效应,透过对双重溢出效应相对大小的考量,并结合短期或长期利益追求以及自身所处客观环境条件而做出相应的战略选择,据此能够理解我国地方政府竞争与合作行为,特别是对现实中地方政府引资竞争中为何屡屡出现恶性竞争现象给予了符合逻辑的解读。技术溢出效应导致区域创新投入并不一定能够显著促进本区域经济的快速增长,特别是对短期经济目标的追求。所以,需要更高层面的政府打破行政区域限制,构建跨区域的创新平台,推动创新要素的流动和合理配置,扩大技术溢出效应,这也使得设计整体社会利益最大化追求机制成为可能。     

中学班级环境与学生学业成绩的关系

本文以<我的班级>为测量工具,对珠三角地区某三个初级中学365名学生为被试,探讨初中班级环境的特点及其与学生学业成绩的关系.结果表明:师生关系与语文、数学、英浯这三科的成绩呈显著的正相关;师生关系、同学关系对学生学业成绩有显著的正向预测作用;学习负担与学生学习成绩呈显著的负相关.     

幼儿不同交往类型的心理特征的比较研究

本研究综合运用社会测量法、访谈法和问卷评价法,探讨、比较了受欢迎型、被拒绝型、被忽视型和一般型四种基本同伴交往类型幼儿在心理特征上的异同。结果发现,各类型幼儿在行为、性格、情绪情感、交往积极主动性和交往技能、策略等特征上均存在非常显著的差异,各类型幼儿上述诸方面的表现均不相同。     

英国福利制度的伦理考量及启示

庇古的\"福利经济学\"理论、凯恩斯的国家干预主义、贝弗里奇报告是英国福利制度产生的理论依据.不仅其建立本身的立足点是道德的,而且国家对经济生活的干预也是道德的.英国福利制度理论的道德基础在于:英国福利制度追求社会公平,缩小贫富差距,消除贫困,保护弱势群体的价值诉求主要体现在如何对待老人、儿童、残疾人、单身母亲以及失业贫困人员等身上.从积极方面看,英国的福利制度是由国家立法而建立起来的比较完善的社会保障制度,是西方资本主义发展到一定阶段的产物;从消极方面看,其社会福利政策建立的初衷是为了社会公正,但结果却很可能造成新的不公正.尽管英国的福利政策和社会保障制度的实践存在许多问题,但也给我们提供了极为丰富的伦理启示:社会发展应当更加突出对弱势群体的关怀;社会福利制度在注意努力实现公平与效率的动态平衡时应更加注重公平;建立完善的福利制度有助于整个社会的道德进步与和谐.