Visual and auditory attention performance in hyperactive children: Competence or compliance

The effect of self-control and compliance on the attentional performance of hyperactive children was assessed. Visual and auditory attention tasks were presented in conditions in which the experimenter was either absent and therefore not imposing external control, or present and therefore imposing some degree of control. There was no difference in performance between hyperactives and controls when the experimenter was present, but the hyperactives' performance showed a greater deterioration than controls when the experimenter was absent. The amount of movement displayed during the tasks was greater for hyperactives and increased more for this group during experimenter-absent conditions. The results support the contention that noncompliance is a major contributor to the poor performance of hyperactive children, which can be seen as an application deficit rather than an ability deficit. These findings have relevance for the current debate on the association between hyperactivity and conduct disorder, and from an applied perspective they serve to stress the importance of situational contributors to the problem behaviors of hyperactive children.     

Out of the frying pan into the goalbox

Using heat as a negative reinforcer was shown to be highly efficient in producing a discriminative response in Long-Evans rats. Heat failed to generate the emotional responses usually associated with shock as an aversive stimulus. In a separate study, using the heat-training procedure, age differences in the learning facility of Swiss/ICR (Ha) mice were detected.     

Social influence matters: We follow pandemic guidelines most when our close circle does

Why do we adopt new rules, such as social distancing? Although human sciences research stresses the key role of social influence in behaviour change, most COVID-19 campaigns emphasize the disease’s medical threat. In a global data set (n = 6,675), we investigated how social influences predict people’s adherence to distancing rules during the pandemic. Bayesian regression analyses controlling for stringency of local measures showed that people distanced most when they thought their close social circle did. Such social influence mattered more than people thinking distancing was the right thing to do. People’s adherence also aligned with their fellow citizens, but only if they felt deeply bonded with their country. Self-vulnerability to the disease predicted distancing more for people with larger social circles. Collective efficacy and collectivism also significantly predicted distancing. To achieve behavioural change during crises, policymakers must emphasize shared values and harness the social influence of close friends and family.     

Inhibitory control and set shifting describe different pathways from behavioral inhibition to socially anxious behavior

Individuals with a behaviorally inhibited (BI) temperament are more likely to develop social anxiety. However, the mechanisms by which socially anxious behavior emerges from BI are unclear. Variation in different forms of top‐down control, specifically executive functions (EF), may play distinct roles and characterize differential pathways to social anxiety. Here 291 children were assessed for BI in toddlerhood (ages 2 and 3), parent‐reported inhibitory control and set shifting during middle childhood (age 7), and multidimensional assessment of socially anxious behavior completed during late childhood and early adolescence (ages 9 and 12). Structural equation modeling revealed that early variation in BI predicted the development of socially anxious behavior through either higher levels of parent‐reported inhibitory control or lower levels of parent‐reported set shifting. These data reinforce the notion that top‐down control does not uniformly influence relations between temperament and socially anxious behavior. These data suggest novel approaches to thinking about the role of EFs and social anxiety outcomes as children approach adolescence.     

From “4Rs and 2Ss” to “Amaka Amasanyufu” (Happy Families): Adapting a U.S.-based Evidence-Based Intervention to the Uganda Context

In Uganda, one in five children presents mental health challenges, including disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs). DBDs can persist through adulthood and result in negative outcomes. Effective interventions for DBDs have been developed and tested in high-poverty communities in developed countries. Yet, most African countries, such as Uganda, lack such interventions. This paper describes the adaptation process of an evidence-based intervention of U.S. origin to optimize fit to context with intervention fidelity, as part of a randomized trial conducted with youth that exhibit behavioral challenges and their caregivers in 30 schools in Uganda. The process involved: initial meetings with headteachers and teachers to introduce the study and the main concepts of the intervention; initial manual review focusing on 4Rs and 2Ss content by the Uganda team; engagement of community stakeholders for additional feedback on content and cultural relevance; final revision of the manual; and collection of children’s drawings for the illustration of the manual. This paper describes both similarities and differences between the original and adapted intervention content and methods of delivery. The findings also highlight the importance of involving community stakeholders in the adaptation process.     

Emergence of a cue strategy preference on the water maze task in aged C57B6 x SJL F1 hybrid mice

The effects of age on cue learning, spatial reference memory, and strategy preference were assessed in B6 × SJL F1 mice by using the Morris water maze. This mouse strain is of particular interest because it is the background strain for a common transgenic model of Alzheimer's disease, the Tg2576 mouse, which develops plaques and other neurobiological markers of pathology beginning at 8 mo and increasing in severity with advanced age. In the current study, 12- and 23-mo-old C57B6 × SJL F1 mice were serially trained in cue and place versions of the Morris water maze task. At the completion of training, mice received a strategy probe test in which place (hidden) and cue (visible) strategies were in competition. Cue and spatial learning ability was maintained between 12 and 23 mo of age; however, on the strategy preference probe test, the 23-mo-old mice exhibited a significant bias toward the selection of a cue strategy. There was no relationship between strategy preference in the probe test and spatial learning ability, but the 23-mo-old mice did exhibit a strong trend toward shorter latencies during visible platform training, possibly reflecting the enhanced function of striatal-based neural systems in aging. These data demonstrate that 23-mo-old C57B6 × SJL F1 mice are capable of effective place learning, but if a place strategy is pitted against the use of a cue strategy, the use of a cue strategy predominates in the aged mice. The strategy preference observed here may reflect an emergence of differential processing in underlying brain circuitry with age in the B6 × SJL F1 mouse strain.     

The Relationship of Imperatives and Self-Efficacy to Indices of Social Anxiety

Seventy-three college students participated in a study to assess the role of self-efficacy and imperatives in social anxiety. The students were asked to speak in front of a small group of their peers and their anxiety and length of time talking were measured. Neither lower self-efficacy nor higher levels of imperative thinking at Baseline were correlated with higher levels of anxiety. The critical finding was that subjects who showed higher levels of imperative thinking at Baseline spoke for a significantly shorter period of time. This suggests that the participant's anxiety was moderated by the performance of an instrumental response, in this situation by choosing to limit the amount of time spent talking. The results suggest the centrality of imperative thinking in shaping behavior in the domain of social anxiety.     

Distress tolerance but not impulsivity predicts outcome in concurrent treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorder (SUD) commonly co-occur. Emerging research suggests that both distress tolerance and impulsivity may underlie this comorbidity. However, to our knowledge no studies have examined whether these 2 constructs predict outcome in PTSD-SUD treatment. The current study investigated whether pretreatment distress tolerance and impulsivity predicted posttreatment PTSD and cravings severity in a sample of 70 Veterans receiving concurrent treatment for PTSD and SUD in a residential day treatment program. Veterans completed measures of symptom severity before and after treatment. Results demonstrated that pretreatment distress tolerance predicted posttreatment PTSD severity while controlling for pretreatment PTSD. By contrast, pretreatment impulsivity was not predictive of posttreatment PTSD while controlling for pretreatment values. Neither distress tolerance nor impulsivity predicted posttreatment cravings severity. The findings support the notion that distress tolerance may help to explain the co-occurrence of PTSD and SUD and suggest that targeting this construct in PTSD-SUD treatment may be important for successful outcomes.     

Preattentive Processing,Poststimulus Elaboration,and Memory for Emotionally Arousing Stimuli

A Monte-Carlo simulation was conducted to assess the extent that a correlation estimate can be inflated when an average-based measure is used in a commonly employed correlational design. The results from the simulation reveal that the inflation of the correlation estimate can be substantial, up to 76%. Additionally, data was re-analyzed from two previously published studies to determine the extent that the correlation estimate was inflated due to the use of an averaged based measure. The re-analyses reveal that correlation estimates had been inflated by just over 50% in both studies. Although these findings are disconcerting, we are somewhat comforted by the fact that there is a simple and easy analysis that can be employed to prevent the inflation of the correlation estimate that we have simulated and observed.