Combined stimulus control over time allocation in response-independent schedules

Rats were exposed to concurrent schedules in which reinforcers occurred independently of behavior. In Experiment 1, rats could control time spent in the following conditions: (1) a light, (2) white noise, and (3) the absence of both light and noise. Response-independent reinforcers occurred at the same rate during the light and the noise and at either a higher rate or not at all in the absence of both stimuli. In subsequent tests, the rats spent more time in a light and noise compound than in either light or noise alone after the absence of both stimuli had signaled no reinforcers. When the absence of both stimuli had signaled a higher rate of reinforcement, however, the rats typically spent less time in the compound than in light or noise alone. In Experiment 2, rats could control time spent in the presence of a light and of a buzzer. The reinforcement rate in the light was twice that in the buzzer. In a later test, the rats spent more time in a light and buzzer compound than in the buzzer, but less time in the compound than in the light. The results show that additive summation, suppressive summation, and stimulus averaging of time allocation occur and that response rate differences between training stimuli are not necessary for these phenomena.     

Adaptation of the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (AEQ-A): A short version for use among 13-year-olds in Norway

An adaptation of a Norwegian modified short version of Christiansen & Goldman's Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire for Adolescents (AEQ-A) was examined in this survey. Subjects were 924 Norwegian seventh graders, with an average age of 13.3 years. From the original 90 items, 27 items representing all seven original scales were used in this study. Factor analysis did not create any preferred new factor solution compared to Christiansen & Goldman's original factors. Internal consistency of the seven AEQ-A scales ranged from 0.37 to 0.72 on Cronbach's alpha. All seven AEQ-A scales correlated significantly with self-reported alcohol use as was expected, and this study also replicated the relative importance of the social enhancement scale. This was the first study using AEQ-A in a non-English-speaking culture. The generalizability of alcohol outcome expectancies was strongly supported.
The present study indicates that the Norwegian version of AEQ-A possesses a level of concurrent validity and internal reliability that is acceptable compared to the original scales, and can serve as a useful instrument in behavioral research on alcohol use among Norwegian adolescents in the years to come.     

Adolescents'' alcohol use related to perceived norms

A questionnaire survey was carried out among 898 Norwegian adolescents age twelve to twenty. The study focused on the relation between adolescents' alcohol use on one side and estimated drinking norms (peers' drinking) together with attributed opinion norms (parents' and friends' acceptance of adolescents' alcohol use) on the other. On average, 5% of students in 7th, 8th, and 9th grade reported weekly alcohol use. They overestimated the number of fellow students using alcohol every week seven-fold. Students' estimates were significantly related to self-reported alcohol use. Even in high-school (10th, 11th and 12th grade) where 29% reported weekly alcohol use, students overestimated number of weekly drinkers among friends and fellow students by two-fold. Contrary to the results from a previous study conducted in Norway, in this study opinions attributed to both friends and parents about adolescents' alcohol use were significantly related to the students' own alcohol use. Estimated behavior norms and attributed opinion norms explained 46% of the observed variance in students' self-reported frequency of drinking. In a health promotion context, these results point to the importance of correcting student misconceptions about how often friends and fellow students drink alcohol.     

Effects of Alcohol Intoxication on Parenting Behavior in Interactions With Child Confederates Exhibiting Normal or Deviant Behaviors

Experimental analogue methods were used to study how acute alcohol intoxication in parents influences their perceptions of and reactions to child behaviors, as well as their strategies for management of those behaviors. All participating parents had a grade school-aged son, but in half the cases this target child had a diagnosed externalizing disorder, whereas for the remaining half neither the target son nor any other offspring of the parents evidenced any psychopathology. Equal numbers of married fathers, married mothers, and single mothers from each of these groups received either alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages prior to videotaped interactions with male child confederates who, depending on condition, enacted behaviors characteristic of either normal boys or boys with attention deficit hyperactivity/conduct/oppositional defiant disorders (ADHD/CD/ODD). Results indicated that intoxicated parents rated their ADHD/CD/ODD child partners as less deviant than did sober parents. Alcohol intoxication caused all participant groups to exhibit less attention and productive work and more commands, indulgences, and off-task talk in the interactions. Implications for better understanding of the role of psychosocial factors in the correlation between adult drinking problems and childhood behavior disorders are discussed.     

警惕心理学研究中的统计误用

正确地使用统计方法对心理学研究至关重要。但心理学研究中存在着诸多统计误用现象。该着重分析了心理学研究中常见的一些统计误用现象：小或有偏样本的使用、在概率的理解上存在偏差、显性检验问题、夸大的统计图、相关分析的误用等等,并在此基础上提出了提高研究自身的统计素养、强调理论在心理学研究中的重要性、运用多样化的研究方法等应对之策。     

Varenicline ameliorates ethanol-induced deficits in learning in C57BL/6 mice

Ethanol is a frequently abused drug that impairs cognitive processes such as learning. Varenicline, an α4β2 nicotinic receptor partial agonist and α7 nicotinic receptor full agonist prescribed for smoking cessation, has been shown to decrease ethanol consumption. The current study investigated whether varenicline could ameliorate ethanol-induced deficits in learning and whether varenicline alters blood alcohol concentration in C57BL/6 mice. Conditioning consisted of two auditory conditioned stimulus (CS; 30 s, 85 dB white noise)—foot shock unconditioned stimulus (US; 2 s, 0.57 mA) pairings. For all studies, saline or ethanol (1.0, 1.5, 2.0 g/kg i.p.) was administered 15 min before training, and saline or varenicline (0.05, 0.1, 0.2 mg/kg i.p.) was administered 60 min before either training or testing. For blood alcohol analysis, saline or varenicline (0.1 mg/kg) was administered 60 min before collection, and saline or ethanol (1.0, 1.5, 2.0 g/kg) was administered 15 min before collection. Varenicline dose-dependently ameliorated ethanol-induced conditioning deficits for all three doses of ethanol when administered before training but not when administered 24 h later, before testing. In addition, varenicline did not alter blood alcohol concentration. The smoking cessation aid varenicline may have therapeutic uses for treating ethanol-associated disruptions in cognitive processes.     

A message in a bottle: Extrapharmacological effects of alcohol on aggression

The physiological and expectancy effects of alcohol consumption on the aggressive behavior of 116 general-population males aged 18-45 years were analyzed separately in a naturalistic field experiment using a 3 × 3 Balanced Placebo Design (BPD). Participants were given a non-alcoholic drink, a drink targeting a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of .05%, or a drink targeting a BAC of .1%. Within these three groups, three expectancy levels were induced regarding the quantity of alcohol ingested. Aggressive behavior was measured as retaliation against an aggressive confederate, in the form of amounts of hot sauce and salt administered in a taste test. Expectancies significantly increased aggressive behavior, whereas actual quantity of alcohol ingested was unrelated to aggression. Aggressive dispositions also predicted aggressive behavior.     

Creation as transformation: Parenting as a turning point in drug users’ lives

This paper is drawn from a narrative inquiry into how ex‐drug users understand the connection between childhood trauma and their subsequent drug misuse. The research was commissioned by a community drugs project. Eight participants were selected from respondents to an advertisement in a counselling journal, five of whom are qualified psychological therapists. The particular focus of this paper is on the interconnection of childhood trauma/abuse, drug misuse and parenting, by showing participants’ own experience of being parented and how the experience of becoming a parent helped them to transform their relationship with drugs. The paper draws attention to the therapeutic value of recognising the complex contextual factors that influence the parenting abilities of problematic drug users, and of building upon the positive attitudes, hopes, values and capabilities that underscore the ‘good parenting’ found in their stories. The work suggests that drug rehabilitation, treatment or counselling might usefully focus on parent–child relationships, which can become a turning point for identity transformation.     

The relationship between viewing US-produced television programs and intentions to drink alcohol among a group of Norwegian adolescents

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of exposure to US-produced television programs and family rules prohibiting alcohol use on the development of normative beliefs, expectancies, and intentions to drink alcohol in the next 12 months among a group of Norwegian adolescents who reported that they had not previously consumed alcohol. Data were collected via a survey administered to 622 eighth and ninth graders enrolled at ten junior highs in southeastern Norway. To examine these relationships we tested the fit of a structural equation model which was based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1988). Data from the non-drinkers (n= 392, 63% of the respondents) were used. To control for the influence of peer drinking on behavioral intentions, our model was tested under two group conditions: (1) those subjects reporting that they have no friends who drink alcohol and (2) those subjects reporting that they have one or more friends who drink. The findings indicate that the influence of TV exposure was a significant predictor (directly) of normative beliefs, expectancies (indirectly) and intentions to drink (both directly and indirectly) only for those subjects who reported having no friends who drink. For the group with non-drinking friends, family rules constrain intentions only indirectly by influencing normative beliefs. For those with friends who drink, however, family rules have a direct (inverse) effect on intentions. It is concluded that exposure to US-produced television programs functions as a limited knowledge source only for those subjects who had little or no personal experience with alcohol while the presence of family rules have limited impact on behavioral intentions.