Understanding fish cognition: a review and appraisal of current practices

Animal Cognition - With over 30,000 recognized species, fishes exhibit an extraordinary variety of morphological, behavioural, and life-history traits. The field of fish cognition has grown...     

4.5-month-old infants’ learning, retention and use of object boundary information

4.5-month-old infants can use information learned from prior experience with objects to help determine the boundaries of objects in a complex visual scene (Needham, 1998; Needham, Dueker, & Lockhead, 2002). The present studies investigate the effect of delay (between prior experience and test) on infant use of such experiential knowledge. Results indicate that infants can use experience with an object to help them to parse a scene containing that object 24 (Experiment 1). Experiment 2 suggests that after 24 h infants have begun to forget some object attributes, and that this forgetting promotes generalization from one similar object to another. After a 72-h delay, infants did not show any beneficial effect of prior experience with one of the objects in the scene (Experiments 3A and B). However, prior experience with multiple objects, similar to an object in the scene, facilitated infant segregation of the scene 72 h later, suggesting that category information remains available in infant memory longer than experience with a single object. The results are discussed in terms of optimal infant benefit from prior experiences with objects.     

Changes in Pediatric Health-Related Quality of Life in Cystic Fibrosis After IV Antibiotic Treatment for Pulmonary Exacerbations

Intravenous (IV) antibiotic therapy for pulmonary exacerbations (PE) has been shown to improve pulmonary functioning for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF); however, little is known about its effects on pediatric health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This prospective study assessed the impact of IV treatment of a PE on generic and CF-specific HRQOL for children and adolescents with CF. Participants included 52 children and adolescents with CF experiencing a PE (M _age = 13.6 years; 54% males; M_\textFEV1% M_{{{\text{FEV}}_{1\% } }} predicted = 58.8%). HRQOL, pulmonary functioning, and body mass index were assessed before and after IV antibiotic treatment. Results of this prospective, observational study indicated significant improvements on CFQ-R Respiratory (M _{change score} = 11.7; 95% CI = 6.3–17.1; p < .0001) and Weight (M _{change score} = 15.9; 95% CI = 7.9–23.8; p < .0001) scales. The CF-specific measure was more sensitive to changes in HRQOL than the generic instrument. These data suggest that CF-specific HRQOL improves with treatment for a PE with IV antibiotics. The noted statistically and clinically significant changes in the CFQ-respiratory scale indicate that the measure may be beneficial to pulmonary health care teams.     

The fine line between interrogation and retribution

The use of harsh interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects is typically justified on utilitarian grounds. The present research suggests, however, that those who support such techniques are fuelled by retributive motives. An experimental study conducted with a broad national sample of US residents found that the desire for harsh interrogation is largely isomorphic with the desire to punish, and that both effects are mediated by the perceived moral status of the target, but not the perceived effectiveness of the interrogation. Results are discussed with regard to retributive justice and the national policy on interrogation and torture.