A stop-signal task for sheep: introduction and validation of a direct measure for the stop-signal reaction time

Huntington’s disease (HD) patients show reduced flexibility in inhibiting an already-started response. This can be quantified by the stop-signal task. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a sheep version of the stop-signal task that would be suitable for monitoring the progression of cognitive decline in a transgenic sheep model of HD. Using a semi-automated operant system, sheep were trained to perform in a two-choice discrimination task. In 22% of the trials, a stop-signal was presented. Upon the stop-signal presentation, the sheep had to inhibit their already-started response. The stopping behaviour was captured using an accelerometer mounted on the back of the sheep. This set-up provided a direct read-out of the individual stop-signal reaction time (SSRT). We also estimated the SSRT using the conventional approach of subtracting the stop-signal delay (i.e., time after which the stop-signal is presented) from the ranked reaction time during a trial without a stop-signal. We found that all sheep could inhibit an already-started response in 91% of the stop-trials. The directly measured SSRT (0.974 ± 0.04 s) was not significantly different from the estimated SSRT (0.938 ± 0.04 s). The sheep version of the stop-signal task adds to the repertoire of tests suitable for investigating both cognitive dysfunction and efficacy of therapeutic agents in sheep models of neurodegenerative disease such as HD, as well as neurological conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.     

ICTs and Family Functioning: A Study on Portuguese Families with Adolescents and Emerging Adults

Nowadays, information and communication technologies (ICTs) represent an integral part of contemporary family life, introducing changes in families’ functioning. Positive, negative, and mixed aspects of this influence were identified. The present study intends to understand the relationship between ICTs and family functioning among participants from two different family life cycle stages. A total of 157 Portuguese families (307 participants from 97 families with emerging adult children and 169 from 60 families with adolescents) completed measures about the use of ICTs (an adaptation of SEFT/ETEF©) and family functioning (SCORE-15). The number of ICTs and problems related to their use were higher in families with adolescent children. The use of a higher number of ICTs was related to a better level of family functioning in both family groups. However, according to the multiple regression model, the problematic situations related to ICTs use only seem to predict a worse level of family functioning in families with adolescent children. Also, parents and children of each group differed in the number of ICTs used. Some limitations, implications for family therapy, and future research directions are discussed.     

Effectiveness of follow‐up reminiscence therapy on autobiographical memory in pathological ageing

The objective is to examine the effects of reminiscence therapy (RT) on total, episodic and semantic autobiographical memory in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) groups, testing the effects of RT on different stages of autobiographical memory, and its effectiveness at follow‐up. A sample composed of 43 aMCI (27 treatments, 16 controls) and 30 AD (15 treatments, 15 controls) subjects were evaluated with the Autobiographical Memory Interview (AMI) test. The RT consisted of 10 sessions lasting 60 minutes each. Both groups, aMCI and AD, showed significant effects on overall autobiographical memory; aMCI showed significant main effects on episodic and semantic autobiographical memory in the treatment group, increasing scores in both cases. For AD, significant effects were observed on autobiographical episodic memory, showing an increase in the treatment group from Time 1 to follow‐up; semantic memory showed a decrease in the control group from Time 1 to follow‐up. Results show that RT implementation and follow‐up are effective in increasing autobiographical memory in subjects with aMCI and AD.     

New Professional Roles and Advocacy Strategies for School Counselors: A Multicultural/Social Justice Perspective to Move Beyond the Nice Counselor Syndrome

The transformed role of school counselors as advocates is key in reducing the academic achievement gap. Redefining the school counselors' role requires culturally competent practitioners, social justice advocates, and organizational/social change agents. A major obstacle to implementing culturally responsive social justice advocacy and change in schools is referred to as the nice counselor syndrome (NCS). This article discusses the insidious effects of NCS and outlines a set of recommendations designed to assist school counselors in moving beyond this syndrome.     

The educational theorists, the teachers, and their history of education

The following contribution expands the current discussion on the status and function of the history of education at the methodological, or epistemological, level by introducing the perspective of a history of educational knowledge. This opens up a theoretical option for educational historiography that avoids the identification of history of education with history of a discipline, or the institutionalized knowledge of education and teaching. As a consequence, some history of education topoi – as the history of a discipline – can be called into question and practiced historically rather than educationally or morally.     

Revisiting the California Southeast Asian Mental Health Needs Assessment Data: An Examination of Refugee Ethnic and Gender Differences

This study examined the ethnic and gender differences in the levels and predictors of distress among Vietnamese (N = 867), Cambodian (N = 590) and Laotian (N = 723) refugees. The findings showed that for all 3 groups, refugee women reported a significantly higher level of psychological distress than their male counterparts. Although there were similarities in the predictors of distress among refugee women and men, the results also found significant gender differences within and between the different cultural groups. Implications for counseling practice and research are discussed in light of the findings.     

Driving Under the Influence (of Stress): Evidence of a Regional Increase in Impaired Driving and Traffic Fatalities After the September 11 Terrorist Attacks

ABSTRACT— Did the September 11 terrorist attacks elicit a subsequent increase in traffic fatalities? Gigerenzer (2004) argued that decreases in flying and increases in driving in the 3 months after the attacks led to 353 "surplus" traffic fatalities. We applied a more systematic analysis to the same data and found no evidence of a significant increase in miles driven or of a significant increase in traffic fatalities. However, we did find evidence for a regional effect of the attacks on driving behaviors. We hypothesized that geographic proximity to the attacks increased stress, which in turn decreased driving quality. Our analyses revealed that in the last 3 months of 2001, the Northeast exhibited a significant increase in traffic fatalities, as well as a significant increase in fatal accidents involving an alcohol- or drug-related citation. Increased stress related to physical proximity to the attacks may explain the increase in traffic fatalities.     

On Measuring Forgiveness: Implications from Smallest Space Analysis of the Forgiveness Likelihood Scale

The structure of the Rye et al.’s Forgiveness Likelihood Scale was evaluated using the principal components analysis and Guttman’s Smallest Space Analysis. Participants (n = 98) were students in Introduction to Psychology classes. While the former suggested a one-factor solution, the latter suggested differentiating the items based on the facet of ease of forgiving with three subsets: easy, medium, and difficult items. Unexpectedly, the Total Forgiveness Likelihood Scale score and the subscale based on just difficult items correlated significantly with the Fantasy subscale of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. A mapping sentence is offered with four facets and their putative constituent elements as a way to conceptualize the development of new, or to improve upon current, forgiveness likelihood scales.     

Visual attention in adolescents: Facilitating effects of sport expertise and acute physical exercise

ObjectivesThis study investigated visual attention of adolescent orienteers and physically active adolescents non-practising orienteering both at rest and under acute sub-maximal exercise. It was verified whether the practice of orienteering facilitates the development of visual attentional abilities and whether orienteers, who are used to simultaneously handle physiological and cognitive-attentional loads, may better profit than non-orienteers from the beneficial effects of sub-maximal physical load on processing speed.MethodsBoth the focusing of attention at foveal and parafoveal locations and the orienting of attention at peripheral locations were investigated. In two discriminative reaction time (RT) experiments, a cue of varying size was presented centrally or peripherally and followed by a compound stimulus with local and global target features. The stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) varied between a short and a long interval.ResultsIn both experiments, adolescent orienteers and non-practisers showed different patterns of attentional effects. Adolescent orienteers were more similar to young adults in the attentional performance, being better able than non-practisers to perform complex attentional operations involving the intentional zooming of attention in the central visual field and the orienting of the attentional focus in the peripheral visual field. Also, both orienteers and non-orienteers speeded up their performance during exercise, but this facilitation effect was more pronounced for orienteers, who are probably skilled in directing the available resources to task demands.ConclusionsOur results suggest that cognitive expertise represents a key factor in sports that accelerates the development of visual attention and enhances the facilitating effects of physical exercise on attentional performance.