Cance and luck are not the same

In the mind of many people chance and luck act as real but different causes of events. Even in strictly defined situations as casino gambling, people may perceive influences of luck that help to overcome the negative expectancy defined by the rules of chance. Interviews with gamblers in casinos confirmed this idea. In two experiments it was established that the distinction between chance and luck are also made by ordinary subjects in everyday situations. The results revealed that chance is perceived to operate when an event is surprising, an unexpected coincidence. Luck is perceived when an event implies the escape from negative consequences, or the achievement of something that is important and difficult. The distinction between chance and luck can explain why people are trapped by the illusion of control, even when it is clear that they have no influence on the physical causation determining the outcomes of events. They cannot change the outcome of the roulette wheel, but they can employ their luck, which helps them to place their bets on the winning number.     

Parallel distributed processing and neuropsychology: A neural network model of Wisconsin card sorting and verbal fluency

Neural networks can be used as a tool in the explanation of neuropsychological data. Using the Hebbian Learning Rule and other such principles as competition and modifiable interlevel feedback, researchers have successfully modeled a widely used neuropsychological test, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. One of these models is reviewed here and extended to a qualitative analysis of how verbal fluency might be modeled, which demonstrates the importance of accounting for the attentional components of both tests. Difficulties remain in programming sequential cognitive processes within a parallel distributed processing (PDP) framework and integrating exceedingly complex neuropsychological tests such as Proverbs. PDP neural network methodology offers neuropsychologists co-validation procedures within narrowly defined areas of reliability and validity.     

HIV infection--psychological coping and political reality

The authors warn against a trivialization of the AIDS problem and against the call for state control. Since sexuality is ultimately uncontrollable, they plead instead for the greater clarification of the conflicts which those who are infected with HIV and those who are not infected experience in dealing with each other. The continuing mystification of these conflicts would result in mutual jeopardy through acting-out.     

Effects of neonatal forebrain noradrenaline depletion on recovery from brain damage: performance on a spatial navigation task as a function of age of surgery and postsurgical housing

The experiments examined the contributions of forebrain noradrenaline and environmental enrichment to recovery of place navigation ability in rats after hemidecortication in infancy or adulthood. Noradrenaline depletion did not affect recovery from neonatal hemidecortication, although the early hemidecortications did allow sparing of function relative to adult operates. Noradrenaline depletion also failed to attenuate the positive effects of enriched housing on otherwise normal rats. Noradrenaline depletion did retard recovery of adult hemidecorticate rats housed in standard laboratory cages, but it did not retard recovery of adult hemidecorticate rats housed in enriched environments. The results suggest that noradrenaline is importantly involved in enhancing recovery from brain damage when other sources of compensation (e.g., neonatal injury, enriched environment) are absent.     

Sex differences in the effects of gonadectomy on amphetamine-induced rotational behavior in rats

The effects of gonadectomy on amphetamine-induced rotational behavior were studied in male and female rats. Different systemic doses were used to produce equivalent brain concentrations of the drug in each group, thereby controlling for sex differences in the metabolism of amphetamine. Ovariectomy of female rats significantly attenuated amphetamine-induced rotation, whereas castration of males was without effect. The results support the idea that in females, the endogenous gonadal hormones facilitate functional activity in the mesostriatal dopamine system.