Place learning in scopolamine-treated rats: the roles of distal cues and catecholaminergic mediation

Experiments 1 and 2 tested the hypothesis that cholinergic receptor antagonists impair place learning in a water maze by interfering with the processing of distal, visual cues. Extramaze cues were offered to rats in the form of geometrical patterns arranged on the inner circumference of a curtain surrounding the water maze. In Experiment 1 the animals were offered both the distal cues and proximal cues in the form of pingpong balls in fixed positions on the surface of the water while only distal cues were present in Experiment 2. Animals were injected with either scopolamine (0.5 mg/kg body wt) or saline 20 min prior to the daily place learning sessions. Upon reaching criterion level performance the animals were tested on "rotation" sessions on which the distal cues were displaced. The outcome of such "rotations" demonstrated that-regardless of the presence or absence of proximal cues-scopolamine-treated rats relied at least as much as normal animals on the distal cues. The acquisition phase of both Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated an almost complete lack of scopolamine-associated impairment in acquisition and performance of the place learning task. In Experiment 3 (when scopolamine was no longer administered) the subjects of Experiment 2 were exposed to a series of pharmacological "challenges" of their place learning performance and eventually to surgical ablation of the anteromedial prefrontal cortex. The outcome of the pharmacological challenges and the postoperative test of task performance demonstrated that the place learning performance of animals which had acquired the task under scopolamine was mediated by a neural substrate dissimilar to the substrate of task performance in normal animals. Rats acquiring the task while deprived of the cholinergic system demonstrated above-normal contributions to task mediation from catecholaminergic-probably dopaminergic-mechanisms and tentative results pointed to a "shift" toward prefrontal task mediation.     

The function of wisdom dimensions in ego‐identity development among Chinese university students

This study investigates the relationship between wisdom and ego‐identity among university students in China. Using Marcia's ego‐identity statuses and Ardelt's wisdom dimensions as the theoretical and conceptual framework, the study investigates 356 university students in China. After exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, four factors from wisdom and five factors from ego‐identity were retrieved. A structural equation model was then conducted to analyse the relationships. The findings were: (1) among wisdom dimensions, cognitive, and reflective wisdom, especially perspective‐taking best predicted achievement, (2) all three dimensions of wisdom predicted moratorium, but reflective wisdom was the most pronounced predictor, (3) all three dimensions of wisdom predicted diffusion, but resentment items from reflective wisdom were the most pronounced predictors, and (4) gender was a significant predictor of ego‐identity achievement and diffusion. These findings suggest that efforts to build reflective wisdom might contribute to healthier ego‐identity formation.     

Perception of threat and safety at work among employees in the Norwegian ministries after the 2011 Oslo bombing

Background and objectives: Terrorism can heighten fears and undermine the feeling of safety. Little is known, however, about the factors that influence threat and safety perception after terrorism. The aim of the present study was to explore how proximity to terror and posttraumatic stress reactions are associated with perceived threat and safety after a workplace terrorist attack. Design and methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was administered to employees in 14 of 17 Norwegian ministries 9–10 months after the 2011 bombing of the government headquarters in Oslo (n = 3520). Results: About 198 of 1881 employees completing the survey were at work when the bomb exploded. Regression analysis showed that this high-exposed group had elevated perceived threat (β = 0.36; 95% CI = 0.19 to 0.53) and reduced perceived safety (β = ?0.42; 95% CI = ?0.62 to ?0.23) compared to a reference group of employees not at work. After adjusting for posttraumatic stress reactions, however, proximity to the explosion no longer mattered, whereas posttraumatic stress was associated with both high perceived threat (β = 0.55; 95% CI = 0.48 to 0.63) and low perceived safety (β = ?0.71; 95% CI, ?0.80 to ?0.63). Conclusion: Terror-exposed employees feel more threatened and less safe after a workplace terrorist attack, and this is closely linked to elevated levels of posttraumatic stress reactions.     

Similarity effects in visual working memory

Perceptual similarity is an important property of multiple stimuli. Its computation supports a wide range of cognitive functions, including reasoning, categorization, and memory recognition. It is important, therefore, to determine why previous research has found conflicting effects of inter-item similarity on visual working memory. Studies reporting a similarity advantage have used simple stimuli whose similarity varied along a featural continuum. Studies reporting a similarity disadvantage have used complex stimuli from either a single or multiple categories. To elucidate stimulus conditions for similarity effects in visual working memory, we tested memory for complex stimuli (faces) whose similarity varied along a morph continuum. Participants encoded 3 morphs generated from a single face identity in the similar condition, or 3 morphs generated from different face identities in the dissimilar condition. After a brief delay, a test face appeared at one of the encoding locations for participants to make a same/different judgment. Two experiments showed that similarity enhanced memory accuracy without changing the response criterion. These findings support previous computational models that incorporate featural variance as a component of working memory load. They delineate limitations of models that emphasize cortical resources or response decisions.     

The Launching and Ensnaring Effects of Construing a Traumatic Event as Central to One's Identity and Life Story

Construing a traumatic event as central to one's life story and identity is associated with posttraumatic stress. The longitudinal relationship between centrality of event and trajectories of posttraumatic stress was examined. Data from ministerial employees were collected 10 months, 2 years, and 3 years after the 2011 Oslo bombing (N = 259). Using structural equation modeling, the launch and the snare hypotheses were tested. Support for the launch hypothesis was found; higher levels of event centrality 10 months after the attack were associated with higher levels of posttraumatic stress across time. Support for the snare hypothesis was also found; higher levels of centrality 10 months and 2 years after the bombing were related to higher levels of posttraumatic stress, beyond what could be anticipated based on the individual's general trajectory. This suggests that event centrality can influence the overall trajectory, and may also have additional time‐specific effects on posttraumatic stress.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Counselling psychology in South Korea

Counselling psychology (CP) in South Korea has grown tremendously as it establishes its unique niche in the mental health profession. Diverse practice under the roof of CP is a strength as well as a weakness. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of CP in South Korea in terms of history, credentialing, the service delivery system, organizations, training, distinctive features from other adjacent areas, core values, and the profession’s unique challenges and future directions. Future tasks include the establishment of clear professional identity, achievement of a governmental licensure system, a nationwide accreditation system, development of Korean-specific ways of counselling, protocols for trauma, and increased accessibility.     

To defer or to stand up? How offender formidability affects third party moral outrage

According to models of animal behavior, the relative formidability of conspecifics determines the utility of deferring versus aggressing in situations of conflict. Here we apply and extend these models by investigating how the formidability of exploiters shapes third party moral outrage in humans. Deciding whether to defer to or stand up against a formidable exploiter is a complicated decision as there is both much to lose (formidable individuals are able and prone to retaliate) and much to gain (formidable individuals pose a great future threat). An optimally designed outrage system should, therefore, be sensitive to these cost- benefit trade-offs. To test this argument, participants read scenarios containing exploitative acts (trivial vs. serious) and were presented with head-shot photos of the apparent exploiters (formidable vs. non-formidable). As predicted, results showed that, compared to the non- formidable exploiter, the formidable exploiter activated significantly more outrage in male participants when the exploitative act was serious. Conversely, when it was trivial, the formidable exploiter activated significantly less outrage in male participants. However, these findings were conditioned by the exploiters' perceived trustworthiness. Among female participants, the results showed that moral outrage was not modulated by exploiter formidability.     

Can a Happy Relationship Predict a Happy Life? A Population-Based Study of Maternal Well-Being During the Life Transition of Pregnancy,Infancy, and Toddlerhood

The association between overall life satisfaction (LS) and relationship satisfaction (RS) was investigated longitudinally among mothers (N=67,355), using data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Data were collected twice during pregnancy, and at 6 and 36 months postpartum. Satisfaction increased during pregnancy, with RS decreasing immediately following birth and LS showing an initial increase followed by a decrease postpartum. The results showed that LS and RS levels were quite stable over time (.46-.75), as was their cross-sectional associations (.42-.59). Structural equation modeling using a cross-lagged longitudinal model evidenced cross-concept cross-time effects for both LS and RS. The strengths of the cross-effects were asymmetrical and life-phase specific, with RS predicting change in LS more than LS predicted changes in RS during pregnancy and infancy. Having a satisfying romantic relationship is important for retaining and increasing future life satisfaction.     

“Celebrities to lean on!” Perceived celebrity support across two cultures—Iran and the United States

Though many people loathe celebrities and their lifestyles, celebrities can also be perceived as being available to provide community support. The purpose of this study was to establish the psychometric properties of the Perceived Celebrity Support Inventory. The scale was developed to capture three aspects of perceived celebrity support to the community: instrumental (i.e., providing tangible and concrete assistance), informational (i.e., advice, explanation, and information), and emotional (i.e., empathizing, encouraging, listening, and comforting) support. Factor and item analyses have revealed robust psychometric properties in samples drawn from the United States (US) and Iran. The US sample perceived higher community support from celebrities than the Iranian sample. In the Iranian sample, perceived celebrity support for the community was associated with more positive attitudes and less hatred of celebrity culture. In the US, perceived celebrity support was associated with negative attitudes and elevated hatred towards celebrities. The findings advance the literature by providing an instrument with which to measure positive aspects of celebrity influence across cultures.     

Analyses of Model Fit and Robustness. A New Look at the PISA Scaling Model Underlying Ranking of Countries According to Reading Literacy

This paper addresses methodological issues that concern the scaling model used in the international comparison of student attainment in the Programme for International Student Attainment (PISA), specifically with reference to whether PISA’s ranking of countries is confounded by model misfit and differential item functioning (DIF). To determine this, we reanalyzed the publicly accessible data on reading skills from the 2006 PISA survey. We also examined whether the ranking of countries is robust in relation to the errors of the scaling model. This was done by studying invariance across subscales, and by comparing ranks based on the scaling model and ranks based on models where some of the flaws of PISA’s scaling model are taken into account. Our analyses provide strong evidence of misfit of the PISA scaling model and very strong evidence of DIF. These findings do not support the claims that the country rankings reported by PISA are robust.