Protection from extinction in human fear conditioning

Two experiments examined the ability of an added stimulus to interfere with extinction of a target excitatory fear stimulus (a predictor of shock) in human autonomic conditioning. Both experiments demonstrated disruption of extinction when the added stimulus was inhibitory (a predictor of no shock, or safety signal). Subjects showed a return of fear when the target stimulus was tested alone, on both self-reported shock expectancy and skin conductance measures. The second experiment also demonstrated disruption of extinction when the added stimulus was excitatory. This results suggests that protection from extinction may occur even when the added stimulus is not inhibitory. Additional factors that may contribute to protection from extinction include context-specificity, occasion-setting and external inhibition. The results highlight the role that concurrent stimuli play in extinction, and emphasise the need to keep concurrent stimuli as similar as possible to the desired transfer context in practical applications of extinction such as exposure therapy for anxiety.     

Establishing stimulus control of vocal stereotypy displayed by young children with Autism

We examined the vocal stereotypy of three boys who were diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Results of functional analyses indicated that each participant's vocal stereotypy was maintained by non‐social consequences. For two participants, verbal reprimands were provided contingent on vocal stereotypy in the presence of a red card (RC). For the third participant, after verbal reprimands alone did not decrease vocal stereotypy, toys were withdrawn contingent on vocal stereotypy in the presence of the RC. For all three participants, vocal stereotypy was permitted without programmed consequences the presence of a green card (GC). The results showed that vocal stereotypy decreased in the presence of the RC for all three participants; however, vocal stereotypy came under inhibitory control of the RC for only one of the three participants. The potential utility of using punishment to develop stimulus control of automatically reinforced problem behavior in academic settings is briefly discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Women and Natural Hierarchy in Aristotle

In this paper, I examine the frame of reference in Aristotle's Politics within which he makes claims about women and their place in his conception of politics.     

‘The teachers put effort into teaching us about life,and what’s right and what’s wrong’: values and moral education in publicly-managed schools in Ireland

In light of cultural and demographic changes in the Republic of Ireland, there is an important and urgent need for research on the articulation of values education in Irish publicly-managed schools. This article reports the findings from a research project on the moral, religious and spiritual values and traditions of staff and students in publicly-managed schools. Data was collected from 18 second-level schools throughout the country, using a mixed methods approach involving the named values of participants’ school, as well as the policies and practices employed within the schools to support these named values. Findings show that both teachers and students identify positive values such as respect and well-being, equality and inclusion, and describe values education in practice. However, some differences emerging in the findings highlight the vacuum left by the lack of sectoral guidance. The implications of this vacuum are discussed, as it provides an opportunity for dialogue and consensus-building on values, and also for schools to develop their own context-relevant set of values.