The relationship between psychopathy and the Full Range Leadership Model

While emerging research suggests psychopathic traits and leadership behaviors may be linked, this proposition requires further empirical investigation. This study aims to examine the relationship between psychopathic traits and the Full Range Leadership Model which includes transformational, transactional, and passive leadership styles. Using a cross-sectional design, survey data was collected from 115 students who reported having management experience. Measures included the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-Revised. A four-factor structure of psychopathy positively correlated with passive leadership behavior, namely passive-management-by-exception and laissez-faire, but negatively correlated with individual consideration. This study addresses a research need, and is one of the first to empirically examine the relationship between psychopathic traits and the Full Range Leadership Model. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Effects of nitric oxide inhibition on avoidance learning in the chick are lateralized and localized

Bilateral administration of nitric oxide synthase inhibitors into the intermediate medial hyperstriatal (IMHV) region of the chick brain impairs memory formation for an avoidance task. The aim of the current study was to determine whether this effect was restricted to a particular location in the brain, and whether inhibition was equally effective in both hemispheres. White Leghorn x black Australorp chicks were administered 0.5 mM N(omega)-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester bilaterally into the lobus parolfactorius (LPO), or unilaterally into the IMHV. Injections into the LPO between 5 min pre-training and 40 min post-training had no effect on retention. In contrast, unilateral injections into the IMHV impaired retention and memory loss occurred from 40 min post-training. The effective administration time was hemisphere-dependent, requiring left hemisphere administration around the time of training and right hemisphere administration between 15 and 25 min post-training. These data suggest that localized nitric oxide activity in each hemisphere of the chick brain is necessary for the consolidation of memory for this task.     

How known constructions influence the acquisition of other constructions: the german passive and future constructions

This article suggests evidence for and reasons why prior acquisition may either facilitate or inhibit acquisition of a new construction. It investigates acquisition of the German passive and future constructions which contain a lexical verb with either the auxiliary sein "to be" or werden "to become", and are related through these to potential supporting constructions. We predicted that a supported construction should be acquired earlier, faster, and unusually rapidly. An inhibited construction should show an extended depressed usage. We analyzed a dense corpus of a German boy between 2;0 and 5;0. He acquired the sein- before the werden-passive. The former was supported by his prior acquisition of the sein copula, whereas the werden-passive itself supported one werden copula construction. He acquired the werden-future extremely slowly due to the hindrance of a semantically identical construction. These results fit with an emergentist approach in which apparently "sudden" acquisition is still due to gradual learning mechanisms.     

Exploring the benefits of conversing with a digital voice assistant during automated driving: A parametric duration model of takeover time

Vehicle automation allows drivers to disengage from driving causing a potential decline in their alertness. One of the major challenges of highly automated vehicles is to ensure a timely (with respect to safety and situation awareness) takeover in such conditions. For this purpose, the current study investigated the role of an in-vehicle digital voice-assistant (VA) in conditionally automated vehicles, offering spoken discourse relating specifically to contextual factors, such as the traffic situation and road environment. The study involved twenty-four participants, each taking two drives (counterbalanced): with VA and without VA, in a driving simulator. Participants were required to takeover vehicle control following the issuance of a takeover request (TOR) near the end of each drive. A parametric duration model was adopted to find the key factors determining takeover time (TOT). Paired comparisons showed higher alertness and higher active workload (mean NASA-TLX rating) during automation when accompanied by the VA. Paired t-test comparison of gaze behavior prior to takeover showed significantly higher instances of checking traffic signal, roadside objects, and the roadway during the drive with VA, indicating higher situation awareness. The parametric model indicated that the VA increased the likelihood of making a timely takeover by 39%. There was also some evidence suggesting that male drivers are likely to resume control 1.21 times earlier than female drivers. The study findings highlight the benefits of adopting a digital voice assistant to keep the drivers alert and aware about the recent traffic environment in partially automated vehicles.     

语义信息复杂度对二语者英语被动句加工的影响

采用英语所独有且非常重要的句法结构——被动语态作为语言材料,选取某些可以在句子中的词汇顺序基本没有变化的情况下转换为汉语句式（汉语“被”字句）的“直译型”被动句以及必须根据其意义进行句式转换方能形成相应的汉语句式（汉语主动句）的“意译型”被动句作为实验材料,探讨了在动词语义复杂条件下二语熟练度（包括晚期中等熟练者和高熟练者）对被动句加工过程的影响。结果表明：高熟练者正确率均高于中等熟练者,说明在动词语义复杂的情况下熟练度依然可以预测英语被动句实时加工的程度和水平。此时,语义违例的正确率最高、反应时最短,句法违例句则与之相反。双违例引发的N400效应显著,正确句和句法违例均未引发负向的N400;高熟练者P600的波幅明显高于中等熟练者,句法违例和双违例引发的P600效应最显著。行为指标支持语言间句法加工相似性效应——直译句反应快、正确率高。ERP数据则得出了与之相反的结果：直译句比意译句诱发出更大的N400效应,意译句则引发了较大的P600。上述结果进一步说明二语熟练度对语言间句法加工相似性效应具有很强的调节作用。     

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors of the ventral tegmental area are involved in mediating morphine-state-dependent learning

In the present study, the possible role of nicotinic acetylcholine (nACh) receptors of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) on morphine-state-dependent learning was studied in adult male Wistar rats. As a model of memory, a step-through type passive avoidance task was used. All animals were bilaterally implanted with chronic cannulae in the VTA, trained using a 1 mA foot shock, and tested 24 h after training to measure step-through latency. Post-training subcutaneous (s.c.) injection of morphine (0.5–5 mg/kg) dose-dependently reduced the step-through latency, showing morphine-induced amnesia. Amnesia induced by post-training morphine was significantly reversed by pre-test administration of morphine (2.5–5 mg/kg, s.c.) and induced morphine-state-dependent learning. Pre-test injection of nicotine (0.25–1 μg/rat) into the VTA plus an ineffective dose of morphine (0.5 mg/kg) significantly restored the memory retrieval. It should be noted that pre-test intra-VTA injection of the same doses of nicotine (0.25–1 μg/rat) alone cannot affect memory retention. Furthermore, pre-test intra-VTA injection of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist, mecamylamine (1–3 μg/rat) 5 min before the administration of morphine (5 mg/kg, s.c.) dose-dependently inhibited morphine-state-dependent learning. Pre-test injection of the higher dose of mecamylamine (3 μg/rat) into the VTA by itself decreased the step-through latency and induced amnesia. On the other hand, mecamylamine (0.5 and 1 μg/rat, intra-VTA) reversed the effect of nicotine on morphine response. The results indicate that nACh receptors in the VTA participate in the modulation of morphine-induced recovery of memory, on the test day.     

Withdrawal Aversion and the Equivalence Test

If a doctor is trying to decide whether or not to provide a medical treatment, does it matter ethically whether that treatment has already been started? Health professionals sometimes find it harder to stop a treatment (withdraw) than to refrain from starting the treatment (withhold). But does that feeling correspond to an ethical difference? In this article, we defend equivalence—the view that withholding and withdrawal of treatment are ethically equivalent when all other factors are equal. We argue that preference for withholding over withdrawal could represent a form of cognitive bias—withdrawal aversion. Nevertheless, we consider whether there could be circumstances in which there is a moral difference. We identify four examples of conditional nonequivalence. Finally, we reflect on the moral significance of diverging intuitions and the implications for policy. We propose a set of practical strategies for helping to reduce bias in end-of-life decision making, including the equivalence test.     

Temperament, executive functions, and the allocation of attention to punishment feedback in passive avoidance learning

Several theories have been proposed to account for the apparent non-responsiveness to punishment cues or aversive events demonstrated by members of some disinhibited groups. Included among these theories are those that emphasize individual differences in temperament, temperament-related biases associated with the allocation of attentional resources, and impairments in executive functions. This study examined the relative contribution of each of these variables to the prediction of passive avoidance errors (PAEs, or failures to inhibit responding to punishment cues) during a computerized go/no-go task. Variations in temperament, attentional allocation to punishment feedback, and executive functions were found to independently and additively contribute to the prediction of PAEs in a mixed sample of men and women recruited at a university campus (n=145). Results from this study, therefore, support multiple theoretical perspectives on PAEs as assessed by the go/no-go experimental paradigm.     

The ameliorating effect of oroxylin A on scopolamine-induced memory impairment in mice

Oroxylin A is a flavonoid and was originally isolated from the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi., one of the most important medicinal herbs in traditional Chinese medicine. The aim of this study was to investigate the ameliorating effects of oroxylin A on memory impairment using the passive avoidance test, the Y-maze test, and the Morris water maze test in mice. Drug-induced amnesia was induced by administering scopolamine (1 mg/kg, i.p.) or diazepam (1 mg/kg, i.p.). Oroxylin A (5 mg/kg) significantly reversed cognitive impairments in mice by passive avoidance and the Y-maze testing (P<.05). Oroxylin A also improved escape latencies in training trials and increased swimming times and distances within the target zone of the Morris water maze (P<.05). Moreover, the ameliorating effects of oroxylin A were antagonized by both muscimol and diazepam (0.25 mg/kg, i.p., respectively), which are GABA(A) receptor agonists. Furthermore, oroxylin A (100 microM) was found to inhibit GABA-induced inward Cl(-) current in a single cortical neuron. These results suggest that oroxylin A may be useful for the treatment of cognitive impairments induced by cholinergic dysfunction via the GABAergic nervous system.     

Husserl’s appropriation of the psychological concepts of apperception and attention

In the sixth Logical Investigation, Husserl thematizes the surplus (Überschuß) of the perceptual intention whereby the intending goes beyond the partial givenness of a perceptual object to the object as a whole. This surplus is an apperceptive surplus that transcends the purely perceptual substance (Gehalt) or sensed content (empfundene Inhalt) available to a perceiver at any one time. This surplus can be described on the one hand as a synthetic link to future, possible, active experience; to intend an object is to intend it as it would appear if we were to have an exhaustively synthetic explication of it. This perceptual apperceptive surplus is, on the other hand, distinguished from the surplus that categorial form represents over the perceptual sense data. In this paper I show how the apperceptive surplus can also be understood as a synthetic link to past experience that is passively operative in any present perception. The synthetic link to both past and possible experience is a link to non-actual perceptions. Links to non-actual experience are despite their non-actuality nevertheless genuinely intentional in that they enter into the sense of any actively constituted object understood as a unity of sense. Key to this interpretation is an explanation of how Husserl appropriated the key concepts of attention and apperception from psychologists of his day, such as Stumpf and Wundt.