Human–Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) reciprocity: a follow-up study

In a previous study (Péron et al. in Anim Cogn, doi:10.1007/s10071-012.05640, 2012), Grey parrots, working in dyads, took turns choosing one of four differently coloured cups with differing outcomes: empty (null, non-rewarding), selfish (keeping reward for oneself), share (sharing a divisible reward), or giving (donating reward to other). When the dyads involved three humans with different specific intentions (selfish, giving, or copying the bird’s behaviour), birds’ responses only tended towards consistency with human behaviour. Our dominant bird was willing to share a reward with a human who was willing to give up her reward, was selfish with the selfish human, and tended towards sharing with the copycat human; our subordinate bird tended slightly towards increased sharing with the generous human and selfishness with the selfish human, but did not clearly mirror the behaviour of the copycat. We theorized that the birds’ inability to understand the copycat condition fully—that they could potentially maximize reward by choosing to share—was a consequence of their viewing the copycat’s behaviour as erratic compared with the consistently selfish or giving humans and thus not realizing that they were indeed being mirrored. We suggested that copycat trials subsequently be performed as a separate experiment, without being contrasted with trials in which humans acted consistently, in order to determine if results might have differed. We have now performed that experiment, and shown that at least one Grey parrot—our dominant—responded in a manner suggesting that he deduced the appropriate contingencies.     

Enhancing Treatment Integrity Maintenance Through Fading with Indiscriminable Contingencies

School psychologists are often asked to develop treatment to remediate students’ academic skills or social behavior problems. When teachers implement treatment recommendations with high levels of treatment integrity, students benefit. Treatment integrity has been enhanced by use of direct training, performance feedback, and negative reinforcement procedures. Still, maintenance of treatment integrity has received limited systematic inquiry. This study investigated maintenance of treatment integrity over time by utilizing a systemic fading procedure with indiscriminable contingencies. The results showed that the teachers continued to implement treatment protocols at a high level after performance feedback was faded. Students also fared better when treatment integrity was high.     

Prevalence of the HOXB13 G84E Mutation Among Unaffected Men with a Family History of Prostate Cancer

HOXB13 (G84E) was reported to significantly increase risk for prostate cancer. The goal of the current analysis was to assess the prevalence of G84E in ethnically-diverse high-risk men undergoing prostate cancer screening and place the carrier frequency within the context of prevalence estimates from reported studies to gain insight into the future role of this mutation in genetic counseling. PRAP is a prostate cancer screening program for unaffected men ages 35–69 with a family history of prostate cancer or African descent. HOXB13 G84E was genotyped by pyrosequencing in 649 PRAP participants with available DNA. Prevalence of the mutation was calculated for PRAP and for reported studies and exact binomial confidence intervals were generated. Prevalence of the G84E mutation in non-African PRAP men was 0.73 %. When placed in context of the literature, this was higher than reported controls. One G84E mutation carrier was notably of Hispanic background. While the HOXB13 G84E mutation may be rare, there may be a future role in genetic testing for this mutation after further studies of clinical utility in assessing prostate cancer risk.     

Emotional suppression explains the link between early life stress and plasma oxytocin

Early life stress (ELS) has been found to be associated with lower concentrations of plasma oxytocin (OT) in adulthood. It is not yet clear, however, what mechanisms underlie this association. The goal of the present study was to test the role of emotional suppression as an intervening variable between ELS in childhood and plasma OT. In a nonclinical sample of 90 men, ELS, emotional suppression, and plasma OT were assessed. Emotional suppression was positively associated with ELS (r = 0.37, p < 0.001) and negatively associated with plasma OT concentrations (r = ?0.30, p < 0.01). In contrast, cognitive reappraisal – an alternative emotion regulation strategy – was not correlated with ELS or plasma OT concentrations. Cross-sectional regression analyses revealed that the ELS explained variance in plasma OT via emotional suppression. Moderation analyses revealed that the combination of high ELS and high emotional suppression was associated with the lowest concentrations of plasma oxytocin. These findings are consistent with the view that emotional suppression may be one pathway linking ELS and OT.     

Externalizing behavior challenges within primary care settings

Primary care providers encounter a substantial number of behavioral health concerns leading to the increasing provision of psychological interventions within medical settings. Externalizing disorders present a particular challenge to physicians and stand to benefit a great deal from early intervention. Providing behavioral health services in primary care can reduce barriers to treatment, stigma associated with mental health, and cost of service provision. Given these advantages, scholars have examined the provision of behavioral health interventions within primary care settings. This review provides a critical overview of the extant evidence base and offers suggestions for future efforts in this area.     

A phenomenological examination of dating attitudes in ultra-orthodox Jewish emerging adult women

The current study investigated the dating attitudes of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish women using a qualitative analysis. Interviews were conducted with eight Ultra-Orthodox Jewish young women. Themes reflected pressures associated with the dating process and the importance of dating for marriage. Additionally, respondents expressed satisfaction with the dating system due to its single-minded focus on finding a marriage partner and due to perceptions of alternative more Western systems.     

The Embodied Self. Movement and psychoanalysis

Increasing numbers of patients presenting problems with internet pornography have led to changes in the culture and practice of group analytic therapy at the Portman Clinic. The addictive element of this new form of artificial, sexual stimulation has to be recognised as part of the harm it produces. Group members spontaneously develop some of the principles and practice of established methods of addiction treatment, especially the 12-step programme, by helping each other manage their compulsion. This self-help function of the group coexists alongside the psychodynamic perspective, in which the meaning of harmful sexual behaviour is explored and understood. Certain individuals are more vulnerable to excessive use of pornography because of early developmental problems and current difficulties in their sexual relationships, resulting from internal conflicts about their sexuality. The group provides intimacy without sexualisation, primarily through a sibling transference. The therapist embodies an ability to think about the complexity of the sexual abuse that the pornography portrays. He or she works towards a truer perception of reality for group members, in which the false solutions of compulsive sexual behaviour are seen to be what they are: impediments to healthy development.     

The Metaphysics of Meaning: Hopkins on Wittgenstein

Abstract

Jim Hopkins (2012 Hopkins, Jim (2012) ‘Rules, Privacy, and Physicalism’, in Jonathan Ellis and Daniel Guevara (eds) Wittgenstein and the Philosophy of Mind, Oxford: Oxford University Press.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) defends a ‘straight’ (non-skeptical) response to Wittgenstein’s rule-following considerations, a response he ascribes to Wittgenstein himself. According to this response, what makes it the case that A means that P is that it is possible for another to (correctly) interpret A as meaning that P. Hopkins thus advances a form of interpretivist judgment-dependence about meaning. I argue that this response, as well as a variant, does not succeed.     

Objective measures of executive functioning are highly discrepant with parent-report in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the relationship between parent-report and objective measures of executive function in children diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The participants were a clinical sample of 551 children who completed 597 evaluations, including initial and re-evaluations. Participants were 6–16 years old, with a mean age of 10. Pearson correlations were used to determine the relationship between performance-based measures and parent-report measures of executive functioning. Relationships among the same types of measures, that is, performance based or parent report, were also evaluated. The data largely demonstrate low nonsignificant correlations between performance-based measures and parental report of executive function. Parent-report measures were internally consistent as were objective measures. It is possible that a third variable, for example, parental frustration, significantly influences parent reports. It is also likely that objective measures, which are administered in a controlled environment, do not fully capture children’s day-to-day functioning. That is, a child may have the executive function abilities (i.e., good performance on objective measures) but may be unable to deploy the appropriate skills in their daily lives, as evidenced by parental report. Children with FASD who have executive function abilities but not implementation skills likely require different interventions than children who lack abilities and skills.