Delayed-matching-to-sample by marsh tits and great tits

The ability of two species of tits to remember the location and/or features of an object was tested in a delayed-matching-to-sample procedure. Three values of retention interval between presentation of the sample stimulus and the choice--30 sec, 5 min, and 15 min--were used. Both species performed at above-chance level at all retention intervals, and there was no significant decline in accuracy with increasing interval. A pool of 100 stimulus objects was used, but the results of control trials indicated that the birds responded primarily to location rather than stimulus features of the object itseif. Although the food-storing marsh tit tended to perform at a higher level than the non-storing great tit, the only significant difference between the species was in the first 50 trials of the first treatment, when the birds were acquiring the task. The results are discussed in relation to the hypothesized special memory capacity of food-storing birds.     

The impact of enhanced incentives on vocational rehabilitation outcomes for dually diagnosed veterans

This study evaluated the efficacy of adding contingency management techniques to vocational rehabilitation (VR) to improve treatment outcome as measured by entry into competitive employment. Nineteen dually diagnosed veterans who entered VR in the Veterans' Administration's compensated work therapy (CWT) program were randomly assigned to CWT (n = 8) or to CWT with enhanced incentives (n = 11). Over the first 16 weeks of rehabilitation, those in the incentives condition could earn up to dollar 1,006 in cash for meeting two sets of clinical goals: (a) remaining abstinent from drugs and alcohol and (b) taking steps to obtain and maintain a competitive job. Results indicate that relative to participants in the CWT-only group, those in the incentives condition engaged in more job-search activities, were more likely to remain abstinent from drugs and alcohol, were more likely to obtain competitive employment, and earned an average of 68% more in wages. These results suggest that rehabilitation outcomes may be enhanced by restructuring traditional work-for-pay contingencies to include direct financial rewards for meeting clinical goals.     

Toward a more pragmatic approach to morality: a critical evaluation of Kohlberg's model

In this article, the authors evaluate L. Kohlberg's (1984) cognitive- developmental approach to morality, find it wanting, and introduce a more pragmatic approach. They review research designed to evaluate Kohlberg's model, describe how they revised the model to accommodate discrepant findings, and explain why they concluded that it is poorly equipped to account for the ways in which people make moral decisions in their everyday lives. The authors outline in 11 propositions a framework for a new approach that is more attentive to the purposes that people use morality to achieve. People make moral judgments and engage in moral behaviors to induce themselves and others to uphold systems of cooperative exchange that help them achieve their goals and advance their interests.     

The Role of Executive Control of Attention and Selective Encoding for Preschoolers' Learning

Selectivity in encoding, aspects of attentional control and their contribution to learning performance were explored in a sample of preschoolers. While the children are performing a learning task, their encoding of relevant and attention towards irrelevant information was recorded through an eye‐tracking device. Recognition of target items was used as measure of learning outcome, and individual differences in resistance to interference and inhibition of attention to task‐irrelevant stimuli (i.e. distractibility) were used as measures of executive control of attention. Results indicated well‐developed selectivity during encoding in young children. Recognition performance was related to selective encoding and aspects of attentional control, explaining individual differences in learning. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effects of modifying interpretation bias on worry in generalized anxiety disorder

This study investigated whether facilitating a benign interpretive bias decreases negative thought intrusions in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Clients were randomly allocated to an interpretation modification condition in which they repeatedly accessed benign meanings of emotionally ambiguous homographs and scenarios, or to a control condition in which they accessed threat and benign meanings with equal frequency. Worry frequency was assessed using a breathing focus task that involved categorising the valence of thought intrusions before and after an instructed worry period. Interpretation bias was assessed during the modification tasks, and on a different measure of interpretation bias (sentence completion) following a period of worry. The experimental procedure modified interpretations made during training, and in the later sentence completion task. Furthermore, compared to the control group, the benign group showed fewer negative thought intrusions during breathing focus (as rated by both participants and an assessor). These findings show that it is possible to induce a more benign interpretive bias in GAD clients and that this reduces negative thought intrusions.     

The effect of attention modification with explicit vs. minimal instructions on worry

In this experiment we investigated the effect of different instructions on the modification of attentional biases, and subsequently on worry persistence. Participants without excessive worry completed a modified dot-probe task, designed to train attention either to threat or neutral words. Half of each group was given explicit instructions regarding the relationship between word valence and target location, and half were given the more usual minimal instructions. Impact on worry persistence was assessed by categorizing the valence of thought intrusions before and after a period of instructed worry. Response latencies to test items on the dot-probe task showed that attention had been successfully manipulated in the expected direction, and explicit instructions led to more effective attention modification. Moreover, participants in the attend-threat group who received explicit instructions reported significantly more negative thought intrusions following instructed worry, as rated by an assessor, whereas participants in the attend-neutral group did not. These findings suggest that an attentional bias towards threatening information plays a role in worry persistence, and that explicit instructions may be helpful in modifying this bias.     

Spatial memory of four species of parus: Performance in an open-field analogue of a radial maze

The performance of four species of tit (marsh tit, Parus palustris; coal tit, P. ater; blue tit, P. caeruleus; and great tit, P. major) and one finch (greenfinch, Carduelis choris) was compared in an open field analogue of the radial maze. There were no differences between the tit species in either acquisition or asymptotic performance. The greenfinch showed less improvement with experience than the tits. When the retention interval between forced choice of four goal boxes and free choice of all eight was varied between 30 sec and 24 hr, performance declined with increasing interval. After 24 hr some individuals still performed above chance, and the food-storing tits combined (marsh and coal tit) were above chance, whilst the non-storers (blue and great tits) were not (this was primarily due to the poor performance of great tits). The results are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that food-storing tits have a specialized spatial memory.     

Applicability of two violence risk assessment tools in a psychiatric prison hospital population

The risk of violent behavior is known to be higher for patients who suffer from a severe mental disorder. However, specific prediction tools for clinical work in prison psychiatry are lacking. In this single-center study, two violence risk assessment tools (Forensic Psychiatry and Violence Tool, “FoVOx,” and Mental Illness and Violence Tool, “OxMIV”) were applied to a prison hospital population with a primary psychotic or bipolar disorder and subsequently compared. The required information on all items of both tools was obtained retrospectively for a total of 339 patients by evaluation of available patient files. We obtained the median and inter-quartile range for both FoVOx and OxMIV, and their rank correlation coefficient along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs)—for the full cohort, as well as for cohort subgroups. The two risk assessment tools were strongly positively correlated (Spearman correlation = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.80–0.86). Such a high correlation was independent of nationality, country of origin, type of detention, schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, previous violent crime and alcohol use disorder, where correlations were above 0.8. A lower correlation was seen with patients who were 30 years old or more, married, with affective disorder and with self-harm behavior, and also in patients without aggressive behavior and without drug use disorder. Both risk assessment tools are applicable as an adjunct to clinical decision making in prison psychiatry.     

Empathy and altruism.

The psychophysiological responses of 60 subjects were measured as they observed a performer play a roulette game. Half of the subjects were led to believe that they were similar to the performer in personality and values, and half were led to believe that they were dissimilar. Half of the subjects in each condition believed that the performer won money and experienced pain as he played the game, and half believed that he performed a cognitive and motor skill task. Subjects who observed a performer who ostensibly experienced pleasure and pain exhibited greater psychophysiological reactions than subjects who did not. Subjects who believed they were similar to the performer tended to react more strongly than subjects who believed they were different from him. Similar subjects also reported identifying most with the performer and feeling the worst while he waited to receive shocks. It was concluded that the similar subjects empathized most with the performer who appeared to experience pleasure and pain. When required to make a choice between helping themselves at a cost to the performer or helping the performer at a cost to themselves, the subjects who reacted most empathically behaved most altruistically. The results were interpreted as casting some light on century-old questions about the human capacity for altruism.