Impulsive and callous traits are more strongly associated with delinquent behavior in higher risk neighborhoods among boys and girls

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the effect of impulsive and callous personality traits on delinquent behavior varied across neighborhood context in a population-based, statewide sample of 85,000 Iowa schoolchildren ages 10-19. Two previous studies examining the association between impulsivity and delinquency across disadvantaged and affluent neighborhoods have yielded contrasting findings. Results of the present study suggested a robust moderating effect of neighborhood context on personality risk for delinquency. The relation between impulsivity and delinquency was greater in neighborhoods low in collective efficacy compared to neighborhoods high in collective efficacy. A similar interaction was found for callous personality traits, indicating the consistency of the moderating effect of neighborhood context on personality risk for delinquency. Gender differences were also examined, and results were replicated in a holdout sample.     

Frames of reference for the light-from-above prior in visual search and shape judgements

Faced with highly complex and ambiguous visual input, human observers must rely on prior knowledge and assumptions to efficiently determine the structure of their surroundings. One of these assumptions is the 'light-from-above' prior. In the absence of explicit light-source information, the visual system assumes that the light-source is roughly overhead. A simple, low-cost strategy would place this 'light-from-above' prior in a retinal frame of reference. A more complex, but optimal strategy would be to assume that the light-source is gravitationally up, and compensate for observer orientation. Evidence to support one or other strategy from psychophysics and neurophysiology has been mixed. This paper pits the gravitational and retinal frames against each other in two different visual tasks that relate to the light-from-above prior. In the first task, observers had to report the presence or absence of a target where distractors and target were defined purely by shading. In the second task, observers made explicit shape judgements of similar stimuli. The orientation of the stimuli varied across trials and the observer's head was fixed at 0, +/-45 or +/-60 degrees . In both tasks the retinal frame of reference dominated. Visual search behaviour with shape-from-shading stimuli (SFS) was modulated purely by stimulus orientation relative to the retina. However, the gravitational frame of reference had a significant effect on shape judgements, with a 30% correction for observer orientation. In other words, shading information is processed quite differently depending on the demands of the current task. When a 'quick and dirty' representation is required to drive fast, efficient search, that is what the visual system provides. In contrast, when the task is to explicitly estimate shape, extra processing to compensate for head orientation precedes the perceptual judgment. These results are consistent with current neurophysiological data on SFS if we re-frame compensation for observer orientation as a cue-combination problem.     

Attendance Rates in A Workplace Predict Subsequent Outcome of Employment-Based Reinforcement of Cocaine Abstinence in Methadone Patients

This study assessed whether attendance rates in a workplace predicted subsequent outcome of employment-based reinforcement of cocaine abstinence. Unemployed adults in Baltimore methadone programs who used cocaine (N  =  111) could work in a workplace for 4 hr every weekday and earn $10.00 per hour in vouchers for 26 weeks. During an induction period, participants provided urine samples but could work independent of their urinalysis results. After the induction period, participants had to provide urinalysis evidence of cocaine abstinence to work and maintain maximum pay. A multiple regression analysis showed that induction period attendance was independently associated with urinalysis evidence of cocaine abstinence under the employment-based abstinence reinforcement contingency. Induction period attendance may measure the reinforcing value of employment and could be used to guide the improvement of employment-based abstinence reinforcement.     

Contrasting effects of motor and visual spatial learning tasks on dendritic arborization and spine density in rats

Rats were trained in four different learning tasks including the Morris-water task, a T-maze delayed nonmatch-to-sample task, a skilled unilateral reaching task, and a skilled bilateral string-pulling task. At the end of training the brains were harvested and stained using a Golgi-Cox procedure. Learning the spatial navigation task produced increased dendritic length and branching as well as decreased spine density in layer III pyramidal cells in occipital cortex. Learning the T-maze task increased dendritic branching in layer III medial but not orbital frontal cortex pyramidal cells and increased spine density in both regions. The motor learning tasks produced increased dendritic length and branching in layer V pyramidal cells in the forelimb cortex in the hemisphere contralateral to the trained limb in the unilateral skilled reaching task and in both limbs in the bilateral skilled pulling task. There were no changes in spine density in layer V in the motor tasks, but there was a decrease in spine density in layer III in the unilateral reaching task. Spatial and motor learning thus produce different patterns of change in layer III cortical pyramidal neurons. Furthermore, changes in spine density and dendritic length and branching are not tightly correlated and can increase and/or decrease independently of one another in learning tasks.     

对构建我国艾滋病防治督导与评估预期框架的探讨

根据艾滋病防治督导与评估框架具有的功能及构建框架的原则,提出了构建我国艾滋病防治督导与评估预期框架的思路。该预期框架包括总框架和组织管理与协调、指标体系和数据管理三个分框架。通过对构建预期框架的探讨,为制定我国艾滋病防治督导与评估方案提供参考。     

The Unrecognized Stereotyping and Discrimination Against Singles

ABSTRACT— A widespread form of bias has slipped under our cultural and academic radar. People who are single are targets of singlism : negative stereotypes and discrimination. Compared to married or coupled people, who are often described in very positive terms, singles are assumed to be immature, maladjusted, and self-centered. Although the perceived differences between people who have and have not married are large, the actual differences are not. Moreover, there is currently scant recognition that singlism exists, and when singlism is acknowledged, it is often accepted as legitimate.     

对应急体系中开展志愿服务的理性思考

民间组织和志愿者在突然事件的前期救援和事后重建中,往往都起着不可或缺的作用。分析了应急体系中开展志愿服务的必要性和可行性,讨论了开展志愿服务存在的问题,探讨了解决这些问题的途径。     

医疗保险费用控制的临床路径研究——胰腺炎医疗保险费用结算标准的确定

临床路径是现代医院管理的前沿技术之一,对于提高医疗服务质量和降低医疗费用具有现实意义。通过对急性胰腺炎病人的临床路径研究,探讨了我国临床实践中临床路径的实施方法,并在此基础上进一步研究了该疾病医疗保险费用结算标准的分类标准。     

A comparative effectiveness trial of functional behavioral assessment methods

Clinicians report primarily using functional behavioral assessment (FBA) methods that do not include functional analyses. However, studies examining the correspondence between functional analyses and other types of FBAs have produced inconsistent results. In addition, although functional analyses are considered the gold standard, their contribution toward successful treatment compared with other FBA methods remains unclear. This comparative effectiveness study, conducted with 57 young children with autism spectrum disorder, evaluated the results of FBAs that did (n = 26) and did not (n = 31) include a functional analysis. Results of FBAs with and without functional analyses showed modest correspondence. All participants who completed functional communication training achieved successful outcomes regardless of the type of FBA conducted.     

Further Analysis of the Discriminate Validity of the Parenting Scale

The psychometric properties of the Parenting Scale (PS), a measure employed to identify use of dysfunctional strategies for managing child misbehavior, were examined. Parents of 75 children ages 2 to 12 (45 in the clinic-referred and 30 in the community sample group) completed the PS and a measure of child misbehavior. Mean scores were significantly higher for parents in the clinic-referred group on the PS Total, Laxness, and Overreactivity scales. However, there were no between-group differences in the number of parents who scored at or above a cutoff score designed to identify “clinical significance” on any PS scale. Reported parenting strategies were associated with reported child misbehavior regardless of group status; associations were not stronger depending on referral status. Results support the ability of the PS to discriminate between referred and community sample families. However, the PS scales were not precise in identifying clinically significant variations in parenting practices. Portions of this work were presented at the 2004 convention for the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, New Orleans, LA.