Seeing how it’s done: matching conditions for observer rats (Rattus norvegicus) in the bidirectional control

In an attempt to increase the reliability of the demonstrator-consistent responding effect produced in the bidirectional control procedure, experiments 1–4 sought conditions that would magnify the matching effect. The aim was to produce a robust demonstrator-consistent responding effect in order that future analytic experiments could investigate the psychological processes responsible for this effect. The joystick responses of observer rats trained using the standard bidirectional control procedure parameters were compared with those of observers subject to conditions identified in the social learning literature as favourable for imitation. Unlike mice, observer rats in experiments 1 a and 1 b tended to push a joystick in the same direction as their demonstrators when the demonstrators were either familiar or unfamiliar males and females. Comparable demonstrator-consistent responding occurred following observation of a standard and a salient joystick response (experiment 2). Experiment 3 showed that the discriminative accuracy of a demonstrator’s responding was important for matching behaviour, and suggested that matching might be enhanced with more than the conventional single observation session. Experiment 4 confirmed that the bidirectional control effect is sensitive to the amount of observational experience; after six observation sessions, demonstrator-inconsistent responding occurs. The results of experiments 1–3 are, and those of experiment 4 are not, compatible with the hypothesis that demonstrator-consistent responding in the bidirectional control is caused by olfactory cues deposited by demonstrators on the joystick. Received: 29 May 2000 / Accepted after revision: 28 August 2000     

Equally Shared Parenting

Conventional images of motherhood and fatherhood, social interactions, and gender-based job pressures push couples toward unequal parenting. Equally sharing parents resist those pressures, and construct equality through everyday negotiations and ongoing decisions about family and work. They do not believe that mothers are more responsible for children, or more suited to care for them, than fathers. They avoid gender-based decisions about jobs that reinforce a gender-based division of labor at home. Qualitative research is necessary to unravel the complex interactions between work and family arrangements, and to show how economic, social, and ideological factors constrain family arrangements, but are also transformed in their creation.     

Social stories, written text cues, and video feedback: effects on social communication of children with autism.

This study investigated the effects of written text and pictorial cuing with supplemental video feedback on the social communication of 5 students with autism and social deficits. Two peers without disabilities participated as social partners with each child with autism to form five triads. Treatment was implemented twice per week and consisted of 10 min of systematic instruction using visual stimuli, 10 min of social interaction, and 10 min of self‐evaluation using video feedback. Results showed increases in targeted social communication skills when the treatment was implemented. Some generalized treatment effects were observed across untrained social behaviors, and 1 participant generalized improvements within the classroom. In addition, naive judges reported perceived improvements in the quality of reciprocal interactions. These findings support recommendations for using visually cued instruction to guide the social language development of young children with autism as they interact with peers without disabilities.     

仿真场景下类别空间关系判断中的注意分配

研究采用“提示-目标”的范式,并结合单、双任务的方法探讨仿真场景下类别空间关系判断中的空间注意分配。结果发现：提示影响类别空间关系判断效率,不同类型提示对类别空间关系判断的影响不同;类别空间关系判断还受到任务类型和判断类型的影响。由此得出以下结论：提示有助于注意资源的集中,提示越有效注意资源分配效率越高;注意分配受到第二任务要求的影响;决定注意分配策略的认知判断过程可能是持续存在的     

Maternal Acceptance and Consistency of Discipline as Buffers of Divorce Stressors on Children's Psychological Adjustment Problems

This study examines whether two aspects of mothering—acceptance and consistency of discipline—buffer the effect of divorce stressors on adjustment problems in 678 children, ages 8 to 15, whose families had divorced within the past 2 years. Children reported on divorce stressors; both mothers and children reported on mothering and internalizing and externalizing problems. Multiple regressions indicate that for maternal report of mothering, acceptance interacted with divorce stressors in predicting both dimensions of adjustment problems, with the pattern of findings supporting a stress-buffering effect. For child report of mothering, acceptance, consistency of discipline, and divorce stressors interacted in predicting adjustment problems. The relation between divorce stressors and internalizing and externalizing problems is stronger for children who report low acceptance and low consistency of discipline than for children who report either low acceptance and high consistency of discipline or high acceptance and low consistency of discipline. Children reporting high acceptance and high consistency of discipline have the lowest levels of adjustment problems. Implications of these results for understanding variability in children's postdivorce adjustment and interventions for divorced families are discussed.     

An assessment of the role of handling cues in "spontaneous recovery" after extinction

Three experiments examined the assertion that presession handling cues that accompany training with reinforcement might account for spontaneous recovery when they reoccur following extinction. In Experiment 1, after extensive training on a variable-interval schedule, key pecking in pigeons was extinguished following either normal or distinctively different handling and transportational cues. Those cues resulted in enhanced spontaneous recovery 24 hr later when normal cues were reinstated. In Experiment 2, however, subjects tested following the normal handling cues showed no more spontaneous recovery than did subjects that spent the entire extinction-test interval in the experimental chambers and thus were tested without handling cues altogether. In Experiment 3, a group whose test for recovery began 10 min after being placed in the chambers yielded as much spontaneous recovery as did a group tested normally. Furthermore, a group for which extinction began at mid-session and for which handling therefore could not be a discriminative cue for extinction showed no more spontaneous recovery than did the other two groups. Handling cues thus contributed to spontaneous recovery only after explicit discrimination training, as provided in Experiment 1.     

父母教养与MAOA基因rs6323多态性对学前儿童外化问题的共同作用

采用G×E交互作用的研究范式,以295名学前儿童（M=4.49）和其母亲、父亲作为研究对象,探讨母亲和父亲的教养方式与MAOA基因rs6323多态性对学前儿童外化问题行为的影响。结果发现：母亲、父亲教养方式和MAOA基因多态性对学前儿童外化问题行为的影响存在性别差异,预测男孩外化问题行为时,母亲和父亲教养方式的主效应显著,与MAOA基因多态性的交互作用不显著;在预测女孩外化问题行为时,父亲教养方式的主效应显著,母亲教养方式与MAOA基因多态性的交互作用显著,显著性区域分析发现,携带T等位基因的女孩更容易受到母亲消极教养的不利影响而产生更多外化问题行为,也更容易受到其积极教养的有利影响而减少外化问题行为,这一结果支持差别易感性理论模型。     

Effects of teacher-directed versus student-directed instruction and cues versus no cues for improving spelling performance

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TWOFOLD: to examine the effects of imitating children's spelling errors alone and in combination with visual and verbal cues on spelling accuracy and retention among poor spellers and to compare the effectiveness of student-directed versus teacher-directed spelling instruction on children's spelling accuracy and retention. Nine children received four alternating experimental treatments during a 16-week spelling program. Results indicated that student-directed instruction that incorporated visual and verbal cues was most effective in increasing children's spelling accuracy.     

Interference of Sentence and Picture Contexts on Learning Prepositions

The effects of extra stimulus cues, such as pictures and sentences, on learning of preposition words were examined in two experiments. A one-way repeated-measures design was applied in the study. The results show that both sentences and pictures interfered with and blocked the learning of these context-dependent words in the simultaneous presentations. The superiority of feedback presentations over simultaneous presentations indicate that feedback techniques neutralize the blocking effect. More interestingly, however, the prepositions were learned more quickly in the absence of any context cues and this suggested that it is better to teach basic preposition words either by the presentation of them alone or if extra stimulus cues are to be used they should be presented as feedback.     

Using Qualitative Methods to Develop Contextually Relevant Measures and Preventive Interventions: An Illustration

Qualitative methods were used to develop a contextually relevant quantitative measure of parenting stress and inform the design of family-focused interventions aimed at preventing adolescent mental and behavioral health problems. The study focused on the experiences of low-income one- and two-parent families representing three ethnic groups (Mexican, African, and European Americans) living in low-income neighborhoods in a large Southwestern city. This report describes the place of this study in a broader program of prevention research, the qualitative methods and data analysis procedures employed, and how the results were used to develop a new measure of parenting stress and inform future program design. The report also includes reflective comments on the methods used and lessons gained.