Successive incrementing non-matching-to-samples in rats: An automated version of the odor span task

The odor span task is a procedure frequently used to study remembering of multiple stimuli in rodents. A large arena is used and odor stimuli are presented using scented cups. Selection of each odor is reinforced when first presented, but not on subsequent presentations; correct selections depend on remembering which stimuli were previously presented. The use of an arena setting with manual stimulus presentation makes the odor span task labor-intensive and limits experimental control; thus, an automated version of the task would be of value. The present study used an operant chamber equipped with an olfactometer and trained rats using successive conditional discrimination procedures under an incrementing non-matching-to-samples contingency. High rates of responding developed to odor stimuli when they were session-novel with low rates of responding to subsequent presentations of that odor. Additional experiments assessed variations of the procedure to determine the role of the frequency of odor presentation and the retention interval separating sample and comparison. Discrimination was impaired with long retention intervals suggesting the importance of this variable. These findings confirmed that rats differentiate between stimuli that are session-novel and those previously encountered and support the use of an automated procedure as an alternative to the odor span task.     

Neighborhood violent crime and adolescent relationship aggression

Research has shown that neighborhoods play a role in the etiology of violence. However, few adolescent relationship aggression (ARA) studies have objective measures of violent neighborhoods. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of youth, this study examines the association between ARA and local levels of violent crime (measured using geocoded Uniform Crime Report data from each of the youths’ residential neighborhoods). Study analyses are based on survey data from 723 youth (ages 10–18) in current or recent dating relationships (351 males and 372 females) in the Survey on Teen Relationships and Intimate Violence (STRiV), a national representative household panel survey exploring interpersonal violence and related aggression among adolescents. About 19% of the sample reported ARA victimization in their most recent dating relationship (ARA perpetration was 17%). Neighborhood violent crime in the study (males living in 86.9 and females 99.8) was slightly lower than the national average of 100. With a broad national sample, 40% non-Whites, hypotheses guided by theories of neighborhood influence were tested. The study did not find an association between neighborhood violent crime and ARA victimization and perpetration, controlling for key demographic factors. The results, for a broad range of high- and low-crime neighborhoods, suggest that neighborhood violence does not seem to affect individual rates of ARA. The results suggest the ARA victimization and perpetration are perhaps ubiquitous and found both in low and high violent crime neighborhoods, suggesting that addressing local violent crime rates alone does not seem to be a path to also reducing ARA.     

中国近二十年来教师人格研究述评

教师人格作为教师心理研究的重要内容之一,引起了我国心理学工作者的广泛关注。笔者以近二十年来我国教师人格研究的文献为基础,对教师人格的研究方法、优秀教师的人格特征、影响教师人格的因素、教师人格与学生发展的关系、教师人格与教师心理健康五个方面进行了回顾,在反思教师人格研究现状的基础上,对教师人格的研究内容、研究方法和成果应用三个方面进行了展望。     

提取干扰任务下价值导向记忆与元记忆的分离

采用3(价值:低价值,中价值,高价值)×2(提取干扰任务:无干扰,有干扰)的被试内实验设计,在选择性记忆任务中考察有、无提取干扰对价值导向记忆中的记忆与元记忆水平的影响。结果显示:有、无提取干扰条件下,被试对重要信息的回忆成绩差异显著,表现为无干扰条件下对中、高价值词的回忆成绩显著高于干扰条件; 被试的记忆选择性水平差异不显著。选择性记忆任务中在提取干扰条件下个体的记忆与元记忆水平发生分离现象,对重要信息的回忆成绩受提取干扰条件的影响,而个体的记忆选择性不受影响。     

俞琰易学的义理思想探微

俞琰是宋末元初著名的易学家和杰出的道教学者。其学以《易》为本,他"首读朱子《本义》,次读《程传》",后又获道教异人传授,于《参同契》多有发挥。其易学可分为义理易、象数易、道教易三个方面,本文着重探讨其义理易学思想。俞琰易学的义理之学源于其深厚的儒学修养,又以程、朱易学为本,多有发微,形成其富有特色的义理思想。其内容具体包括天道观、人性论、修养论三个不可割裂的部分,其天道观援"气"入"理",秉承儒家"至诚无息"、"天道好谦"、"天道好生"、"福善祸淫"的义理传统,是其人性论与修养论的前提和基础;其人性论则是法天道以立人道的表现;修养论则是其实现回复天道、止于至善的重要途径。     

Developmental changes in coping: Situational and methodological influences

Abstract

Previous studies on the development of coping have shown rather inconsistent findings regarding the developmental trajectories for different coping dimensions. The aim of this study is to search for possible influences that might explain these inconsistencies. The analysis focuses on methodological influences (longitudinal vs. cross-sectional assessments) and situational influences. Two samples of children were traced longitudinally with yearly assessments from grade 2 to 5 (sample 1, N =432) and from grade 4 to 7 (sample 2, N =366). A third sample (N =849) was added with cross-sectional assessments from grade 2 to 7. The assessed coping dimensions were related to (a) problem solving, (b) seeking social support, (c) palliative coping, (d) externalizing emotional coping, and (e) avoidant coping. The use of the coping strategies had to be assessed for six stress-evoking situations. The results show only small differences between the longitudinal and the cross-sectional coping assessments. There are, however, clear situational influences on the choice of the coping strategies and also on the resulting developmental trajectories.     

Sexual Abuse Litigation

Summary

Practicing psychologist Janet Sonne and attorney Julian Hubbard illuminate how the different aims and languages of psychotherapy and law can be either an asset or a liability in the emotionally-charged environment of sexual abuse litigation. Properly understood, these differences can optimize the ability of each professional to assist their common client, the sexual abuse survivor, in the litigation process and beyond. Dr. Sonne reviews the psychological and behavioral sequelae of childhood sexual abuse and identifies six elements of the client's psychological functioning key to the litigation process, as well as posing questions for the attorney's self-evaluation for the unique demands of sexual abuse litigation. Mr. Hubbard then addresses what survivors and therapists need to know about the litigation process, exploring dynamics of legal strategy that can exacerbate the client's psychological problems. In the final section, both offer tips to enhance professionals' focus on education and communication as a means to better serving the sexually abused client.     

Evaluation of the Delayed Discovery Case

Summary

In this chapter, practicing lawyer Michael S. Morey guides the reader through the complex legal and non-legal issues involved in evaluating whether legal action should be pursued on behalf of an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse. After analyzing how evaluation of sexual abuse cases differs from that in most other personal injury cases, he presents a model for non-suggestive yet thorough client interviewing and case evaluation to help both survivor and lawyer decide whether to pursue litigation. Viability of a case, determined by three critical legal issues, does not necessarily mean litigation ought to be pursued, and he explores how to make the initial interview a valuable resource to survivors, whether or not legal action is ultimately sought, with practical tips and a reproducible intake form.     

Dialectic of Pornographic Enlightenment

Abstract

This article introduces a dialectic of pornographic enlightenment through a reading of diaries written by the German avant-garde poet R. D. Brinkmann, and unfolds this basic pattern of modernity both systematically and historically with reference to Adorno and Horkheimer and the history of pornography. The framing of societal negotiations of pornography as a ceaseless shifting between the promise of liberation of and through sexuality and the fear of desensitization and loss of intimacy results in some comments on everyday life in "on/scenity" (Williams) and young people's identity politics ("Generation Porno") in pornographied pop cultures.