Guard dogs of perception: the corporate takeover of science

The belief that science is "a driver of growth in the knowledge economy" has led in recent decades to increasing encouragement by government of the involvement of industry and of commerce in the sponsorship and direction of research in universities, and to the increasing influence of industrial representatives on advisory panels associated with the publicly funded scientific research councils. By extending the doctrine of commercial confidentiality into university laboratories, inconvenient findings have been suppressed, and both free endeavour and free speech undermined. This has narrowed our scientific horizons and compromised government advisors. It is argued that scientific freedom is a guarantor of our wider liberties. Science, which tells us who we are and how we can live better, is being distorted so twisting our understanding of the ways in which we might progress, shutting off alternatives to existing models of development. Business now stands as a guard dog at the gates of perception. Only the inquiries which suit its needs are allowed to pass.     

Ecological Factors Impacting Provider Attitudes Towards Human Service Delivery Reform

Although reform efforts are substantially altering the structural operations and guiding ideological framework of the human service delivery system, little empirical work has been done to systematically examine these transformations. This study examines providers' attitudes regarding two reform elements that are being widely implemented: an increased emphasis on inter-agency collaboration and a shift from a medical model service delivery philosophy, that focuses on client deficits, to one that emphasizes consumer strengths. Through survey data collected from 186 providers from 32 human service agencies in one county, the relationship between providers' perceptions of contextual support for human service delivery reform and providers' attitudes towards these initiatives is explored. The findings from this study support the importance of attending to the ecology in which we initiate system reform efforts. For both reform elements, working within contexts that are perceived as providing ideological and functional support for change was associated with positive provider attitudes towards those changes. Staffs' perceptions of the external environment played the most critical role in shaping staff attitudes. Interestingly, unique aspects of providers' work environments were related to positive attitudes towards the two different reforms. The implications of these findings for the success of human service delivery reform are discussed.     

Leaving patches: effects of economy, deprivation, and session duration

Three pigeons pecked keys for food reinforcers in a laboratory analogue of foraging in patches. Half the patches contained food (were prey patches). In prey patches, pecks to one key occasionally produced a reinforcer, followed by a fixed travel time and then the start of a new patch. Pecks to another key were exit responses, and immediately produced travel time and then a new patch. Travel time was varied from 0.25 to 16 s at each of three session durations: 1, 4, and 23.5 hr. This part of the experiment arranged a closed economy, in that the only source of food was reinforcers obtained in prey patches. In another part, food deprivation was manipulated by varying postsession feeding so as to maintain the subjects' body weights at percentages ranging from 85% to 95% of their ad lib weights, in 1-hr sessions with a travel time of 12 s. This was an open economy. Patch residence time, defined as the time between the start of a patch and an exit response, increased with increasing travel time, and consistently exceeded times predicted by an optimal foraging model, supporting previously published results. However, residence times also increased with increasing session duration and, in longer sessions, consistently exceeded previously reported residence times in comparable open-economy conditions. Residence times were not systematically affected by deprivation levels. In sum, the results show that the long residence times obtained in long closed-economy sessions should probably be attributed to session duration rather than to economy or deprivation. This conclusion is hard to reconcile with previous interpretations of longer-than-optimal residence times but is consistent with, in economic terms, a predicted shift in consumption towards a preferred commodity when income is increased.     

A TOKEN SYSTEM FOR A CLASS OF UNDERACHIEVING HYPERACTIVE CHILDREN

Using a BAB design, a token system requiring cooperative interaction was used to change the reading and vocabulary performance of an 18-member class of third-grade hyperactive boys. Four different colored tokens, which could be exchanged for 15 minutes of play on electrovideo games, were earned by successful completion of two tasks that involved learning to read and to use new vocabulary words in sentences, and two tasks in which the student served as a proctor to a student who had not yet completed those tasks. The mean number of tasks completed during the intervention periods rose to over nine times the number completed during reversal. Additionally, the average completion rate for the school district's standardized weekly reading level examinations rose from four to eight fold during the token conditions. All 18 students responded to the token program by increasing their academic performance.     

A METHOD FOR INTEGRATING AN AUTISTIC CHILD INTO A NORMAL PUBLIC-SCHOOL CLASSROOM1

This study investigated the feasibility of using behavioral techniques to integrate an autistic child into a normal public-school class with one teacher and 20 to 30 normal children. The results showed: (1) that during treatment by a therapist in the classroom, the child's appropriate verbal and social behaviors increased, and autistic mannerisms decreased; and (2) training teachers in behavioral techniques was apparently sufficient to maintain the child's appropriate school behaviors throughout kindergarten and the first grade.     

INCREASED PEER-TEACHING WITH GROUP-ORIENTED CONTINGENCIES FOR ARITHMETIC PERFORMANCE IN BEHAVIOR-DISORDERED ADOLESCENTS1

Group-oriented contingencies were applied to increase the arithmetic problem-solving rates of four behavior-disordered adolescent residents in a psychiatric hospital. The experiment followed an ABAC reversal design consisting of baseline conditions (A₁ and A₂), and cumulative (B) and mixed (C) interdependent group-oriented contingency conditions. Under the cumulative arrangement, the subjects earned five cents for every correctly solved multiplication problem. The same conditions were in effect with the mixed contingency, except that each subject was required to work at least three problems before any subject could earn money. The results indicated consistent increases in the subjects' arithmetic computation rates as a function of the group-oriented contingencies. Concurrent observations were made across the four conditions of the experiment on four categories of the subjects' verbalizations: antecedent peer-teaching, consequent peer-teaching, positive statements, and negative statements. The subjects' rates of antecedent peer-teaching verbalizations covaried with the group-contingency-induced increases in their levels of computation behavior. The majority of the verbalization involved answers to number fact questions or redirecting peers to engage in on-task activities. The three other categories of the subjects' verbalizations that were observed—consequent peer-teaching, positive statements, and negative statements—were not found to covary with the subjects' altered rates of computation behavior.     

The relationship between feeding rate and patch choice.

Rats in a laboratory foraging simulation searched for sequential opportunities to feed in two patches that differed in the rate at which food pellets were delivered (controlled by fixed-interval schedules) and in the size of the pellets. The profitability of feeding in each patch was calculated in terms of time (grams per minute) and in terms of effort (grams per bar press). These values were the result of the imposed fixed interval, the size of the pellets, and the rate at which the rats pressed the bar in each condition. The rats ate more food and larger meals, but not more frequent meals, at the patch offering the higher rate of food consumption, calculated as grams per minute. The relative intake at any patch was a function of the relative rate of intake during meals at that patch compared to the other patch. Rats respond to explicit manipulations of feeding time in the same manner as they respond to manipulations of feeding effort.     

Caregiver perspectives of risk and protective factors influencing early childhood development in low-income,urban settings: A social ecological perspective

This qualitative study explored caregivers' perceptions of factors influencing early childhood development in low-income, urban South African settings, from a social ecological perspective. Individual interviews were conducted with 15 caregivers of 3–5-year-old children; a reflexive thematic analysis approach was adopted. In the family and home context, caregivers spoke about their role in developing, nurturing, providing, protecting and disciplining their children. Risks included low socioeconomic status, dysfunctional relationships and caregiver mental health; resources related to early learning and social support. In the preschool/school context, caregivers discussed the value of early learning, and priorities for selecting early childhood care and education settings. Community risks included violence and crime; resources mentioned were social support, community programmes and infrastructure. The social ecological model provides a holistic and contextually relevant perspective for understanding multiple factors (risks and protective factors) influencing early childhood development in low-income South African settings.     

Reciprocal Prospective Effects of Momentary Cognitions and Affect in Daily Life and Mood Reactivity Toward Daily Events in Remitted Recurrent Depression

Major depressive disorder is a recurrent condition. Potential risk factors for future episodes are maladaptive cognitions, such as rumination and unfavorable reactivity toward negative daily events. Positive thoughts and positive daily events, in contrast, could act as a buffer against mood deterioration. The aim of the present study is to (a) examine differences in daily affect and cognitions in remitted depressed patients with a history of recurrent episodes (rMDD) and healthy controls, (b) analyze reciprocal prospective effects of momentary cognitions and affect, and (c) investigate effects of daily events on affect and cognitions in both groups. A sample of N = 102 participants underwent an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) phase of 5 consecutive days, where rMDD patients (n = 51) and healthy controls (n = 51) indicated their momentary rumination, positive thoughts, affect, and the occurrence of daily events 10 times per day. Via multilevel lag models, we found higher rumination to predict a decrease of positive affect (PA) in the rMDD group, but no effect of rumination on subsequent negative affect (NA) in either group. Higher positive thoughts predicted an increase in PA and a decrease in NA, similarly strong in both groups. Regarding daily events, rMDD patients reported a stronger increase in NA and rumination following negative daily events compared to controls, whereas an observed subsequent decrease of PA and positive thoughts was not moderated by group. Following positive daily events, rMDD patients showed a stronger increase in PA and positive thoughts and a stronger decrease in NA and rumination than controls. For interventions targeting relapse prevention, our results indicate the implementation of strategies fostering the responsiveness to positive events and the up-regulation of positive affect.     

放弃治疗:ICU决策的经济影响力

对ＩＣＵ放弃治疗的决策,经济因素不应是主要的。人们完全能够在尊重科学和理性、尊重生命末期价值和意义以及追求社会资源公正分配和有效利用基础上对脑死、植物状态或临终病人的放弃治疗达成共识。目前,重要的是需要制定相关政策和法律,保障ＩＣＵ放弃治疗的合理实施。