Matching theory and induction explain operant performance

Matching theory is a general framework for understanding allocation of behavior among activities. It applies to choice in concurrent schedules and was extended to single schedules by assuming that other unrecorded behavior competes with operant behavior. Baum and Davison (2014) found that the competing activities apparently are induced by the “reinforcers” (phylogenetically important events, e.g., food) according to power functions. Combined with power-function induction, matching theory provides new equations with greater explanatory power. Four pigeons were exposed to conditions in which 7 different schedules of food delivery were presented within each experimental session. We replicated earlier results with variable-interval schedules: (a) a negatively accelerated increase of peck rate as food rate increased in the low range of food rates; (b) an upturn in pecking at higher rates; and (c) a downturn in pecking at extremely high food rates. When the contingency between pecking and food was removed, the food continued to induce pecking, even after 20 sessions with no contingency. A ratio schedule inserted in place of 1 variable-interval schedule maintained peck rates comparable to peck rates maintained by short interval schedules. We explained the results by fitting equations that combined matching theory, competition, and induction.     

Collusive induction in perverse relating: Perverse enactments and bastions as a camouflage for death anxiety

The author argues that one of the main functions of perverse relatedness is to induce the analyst into becoming the patient's unconscious accomplice in a “perverse pact” against the analytic work aimed at disavowing intolerable aspects of reality. The intense power of collusive induction in perverse relating leads the analyst to participate in transference‐countertransference enactments and to the crystallization of a silent and chronic unconscious collusion between the patient and analyst in the analytic field, stagnating the process (bastion; Baranger and Baranger). The author claims that analysis of perverse pathology should not be limited to interpretation of the patient's intrapsychic functioning but should also focus on the information obtained by the analyst through his participation in collusive enactments; the analyst should also take a “second look” at the analytic “field” to detect underlying bastions. The author reviews the main psychoanalytic contributions that have clarified the phenomenon of collusive induction in perverse relating and as an illustration, describes the analysis of a man with a perverse character; in this patient, one of the main functions of his perverse relatedness was to induce the analyst to become an accomplice in his disavowal of his terror of death. The author highlights the influence of death anxiety in the bastions that develop in the treatment of perverse patients.     

术前右美托咪定滴鼻对全麻诱导期的影响

观察新型α2肾上腺素受体激动剂右美托咪定(Dex)对全麻诱导期NTI及应激反应的影响.择期全麻手术患者40例,ASA Ⅰ级～Ⅱ级,随机分为两组,D组(n=20):患者入室后Dex1μg/kg滴鼻;C组(n=20)作为对照组,滴入相同容积的生理盐水.30min后进行诱导,观察NTI、改良清醒镇静评分(MOAA/S)、平均动脉压(MAP)、心率(HR)、血氧饱和度(SpO2),记录给药前(T0),给药后10min(T1),给药后20min(T2),给药后30min(T3),插管前(T4),插管即刻(T5)各项值变化.D组T1～T3与T0比较,NTI值、MOAA/S逐渐降低(P＜0.05)且显著低于C组(P＜0.05);D组T2、T3与T0比较,HR明显减慢(P＜0.05);麻醉诱导期间,C组T5与T4比较,MAP、HR均显著升高(P＜0.05),D组T5与T4比较,MAP、HR虽有所升高,但差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05).Dex以1μg/kg滴鼻可明显镇静,使NTI值降低,诱导期血流动力学更加稳定,减少插管时应激反应.     

术前右美托咪定滴鼻对全麻诱导期的影响

观察新型α2肾上腺素受体激动剂右美托咪定（Dex）对全麻诱导期NTI及应激反应的影响.择期全麻手术患者40例,ASA Ⅰ级～Ⅱ级,随机分为两组,D组（n=20）：患者入室后Dex1μg/kg滴鼻;C组（n=20）作为对照组,滴入相同容积的生理盐水.30min后进行诱导,观察NTI、改良清醒镇静评分（MOAA/S）、平均动脉压（MAP）、心率（HR）、血氧饱和度（SpO2）,记录给药前（T0）,给药后10min（T1）,给药后20min（T2）,给药后30min（T3）,插管前（T4）,插管即刻（T5）各项值变化.D组T1～T3与T0比较,NTI值、MOAA/S逐渐降低（P＜0.05）且显著低于C组（P＜0.05）;D组T2、T3与T0比较,HR明显减慢（P＜0.05）;麻醉诱导期间,C组T5与T4比较,MAP、HR均显著升高（P＜0.05）,D组T5与T4比较,MAP、HR虽有所升高,但差异无统计学意义（P＞0.05）.Dex以1μg/kg滴鼻可明显镇静,使NTI值降低,诱导期血流动力学更加稳定,减少插管时应激反应.     

Properties of hypothesis testing techniques and (Bayesian) model selection for exploration‐based and theory‐based (order‐restricted) hypotheses

In this paper, the performance of six types of techniques for comparisons of means is examined. These six emerge from the distinction between the method employed (hypothesis testing, model selection using information criteria, or Bayesian model selection) and the set of hypotheses that is investigated (a classical, exploration‐based set of hypotheses containing equality constraints on the means, or a theory‐based limited set of hypotheses with equality and/or order restrictions). A simulation study is conducted to examine the performance of these techniques. We demonstrate that, if one has specific, a priori specified hypotheses, confirmation (i.e., investigating theory‐based hypotheses) has advantages over exploration (i.e., examining all possible equality‐constrained hypotheses). Furthermore, examining reasonable order‐restricted hypotheses has more power to detect the true effect/non‐null hypothesis than evaluating only equality restrictions. Additionally, when investigating more than one theory‐based hypothesis, model selection is preferred over hypothesis testing. Because of the first two results, we further examine the techniques that are able to evaluate order restrictions in a confirmatory fashion by examining their performance when the homogeneity of variance assumption is violated. Results show that the techniques are robust to heterogeneity when the sample sizes are equal. When the sample sizes are unequal, the performance is affected by heterogeneity. The size and direction of the deviations from the baseline, where there is no heterogeneity, depend on the effect size (of the means) and on the trend in the group variances with respect to the ordering of the group sizes. Importantly, the deviations are less pronounced when the group variances and sizes exhibit the same trend (e.g., are both increasing with group number).     

情绪音乐影像库的初步编制与评定

音乐表演影像材料的情绪诱发功能有音乐和影像的共同优势,但目前缺乏以音乐表演为内容的情绪音乐影像库。试图建立可供相关研究使用的情绪音乐影像系统。根据前期研究使用过的材料、相关研究结果及音乐专业人士的建议,收集分别表达愤怒、恐惧、悲伤和开心的音乐,包括歌剧、交响乐、民乐等,剪辑为30秒左右的片段,非音乐专业被试对材料的情绪类型和强度进行评定,最终筛选出能有效诱发目标情绪的64条音乐影像材料。未来可在测量指标的客观性和审美性及被试和音乐材料的样本量两方面改进。     

Anxious mood narrows attention in feature space

Spatial attention can operate like a spotlight whose scope can vary depending on task demands. Emotional states contribute to the spatial extent of attentional selection, with the spotlight focused more narrowly during anxious moods and more broadly during happy moods. In addition to visual space, attention can also operate over features, and we show here that mood states may also influence attentional scope in feature space. After anxious or happy mood inductions, participants focused their attention to identify a central target while ignoring flanking items. Flankers were sometimes coloured differently than targets, so focusing attention on target colour should lead to relatively less interference. Compared to happy and neutral moods, when anxious, participants showed reduced interference when colour isolated targets from flankers, but showed more interference when flankers and targets were the same colour. This pattern reveals that the anxious mood caused these individuals to attend to the irrelevant feature in both cases, regardless of its benefit or detriment. In contrast, participants showed no effect of colour on interference when happy, suggesting that positive mood did not influence attention in feature space. These mood effects on feature-based attention provide a theoretical bridge between previous findings concerning spatial and conceptual attention.     

Mental state decoding in past major depression: Effect of sad versus happy mood induction

Individuals with mild depression show an enhanced ability to read or “decode” others' mental states. The goal of the present study was to investigate whether this pattern of performance is related specifically to the pathology of depression or whether it is simply a feature of the transient dysphoric state. Forty-one undergraduates with a previous episode of major depression and 52 undergraduates with no depression history participated in a mental state decoding task following a sad versus happy mood induction. Previously depressed participants were significantly more accurate in their mental state judgements than were the never-depressed participants, suggesting that enhanced mental state decoding may be a specific feature of depression in remission. Furthermore, previously depressed participants whose positive mood increased in response to the happy mood induction showed a poorer level of performance on the task, similar to that observed in the never-depressed group. Thus, a happy mood may have induced a somewhat less accurate, but perhaps more adaptive, approach to processing social information. These findings were robust after controlling for current level of depression and anxiety symptoms, intensity of response to the mood induction, response times, and performance on a control task.