Examining the sex- and circadian dependency of a learning phenotype in mice with glycine transporter 1 deletion in two Pavlovian conditioning paradigms

Behavioural characterisation of transgenic mice has been instrumental in search of therapeutic targets for the modulation of cognitive function. However, little effort has been devoted to phenotypic characterisation across environmental conditions and genomic differences such as sex and strain, which is essential to translational research. The present study is an effort in this direction. It scrutinised the stability and robustness of the phenotype of enhanced Pavlovian conditioning reported in mice with forebrain neuronal deletion of glycine transporter 1 by evaluating the possible presence of sex and circadian dependency, and its consistency across aversive and appetitive conditioning paradigms. The Pavlovian phenotype was essentially unaffected by the time of testing between the two circadian phases, but it was modified by sex in both conditioning paradigms. We observed that the effect size of the phenotype was strongest in female mice tested during the dark phase in the aversive paradigm. Critically, the presence of the phenotype in female mutants was accompanied by an increase in resistance to extinction. Similarly, enhanced conditioned responding once again emerged solely in female mutants in the appetitive conditioning experiment, which was again associated with an increased resistance to extinction across days, but male mutants exhibited an opposite trend towards facilitation of extinction. The present study has thus added hitherto unknown qualifications and specifications of a previously reported memory enhancing phenotype in this mouse line by identifying the determinants of the magnitude and direction of the expressed phenotype. This in-depth comparative approach is of value to the interpretation of behavioural findings in general.     

Selective inactivation of adenosine A(2A) receptors in striatal neurons enhances working memory and reversal learning

The adenosine A(2A) receptor (A(2A)R) is highly enriched in the striatum where it is uniquely positioned to integrate dopaminergic, glutamatergic, and other signals to modulate cognition. Although previous studies support the hypothesis that A(2A)R inactivation can be pro-cognitive, analyses of A(2A)R's effects on cognitive functions have been restricted to a small subset of cognitive domains. Furthermore, the relative contribution of A(2A)Rs in distinct brain regions remains largely unknown. Here, we studied the regulation of multiple memory processes by brain region-specific populations of A(2A)Rs. Specifically, we evaluated the cognitive impacts of conditional A(2A)R deletion restricted to either the entire forebrain (i.e., cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and striatum, fb-A(2A)R KO) or to striatum alone (st-A(2A)R KO) in recognition memory, working memory, reference memory, and reversal learning. This comprehensive, comparative analysis showed for the first time that depletion of A(2A)R-dependent signaling in either the entire forebrain or striatum alone is associated with two specific phenotypes indicative of cognitive flexibility-enhanced working memory and enhanced reversal learning. These selective pro-cognitive phenotypes seemed largely attributed to inactivation of striatal A(2A)Rs as they were captured by A(2A)R deletion restricted to striatal neurons. Neither spatial reference memory acquisition nor spatial recognition memory were grossly affected, and no evidence for compensatory changes in striatal or cortical D(1), D(2), or A(1) receptor expression was found. This study provides the first direct demonstration that targeting striatal A(2A)Rs may be an effective, novel strategy to facilitate cognitive flexibility under normal and pathologic conditions.     

Soccer,rooms, and the quality of your life: Mood effects on judgments of satisfaction with life in general and with specific domains

Two studies on the impact of temporary moods on judgments of satisfaction with life in general and with specific life-domains are reported. It was hypothesized that individuals simplify the complex task of evaluating their life in general by referring to their mood at the time of judgment, but evaluate specific life-domains on the basis of domain-specific information. In accordance with this hypothesis, both studies demonstrated strong mood effects on judgments of general life-satisfaction but only weak and non-significant effects on judgments of specific domain-satisfactions. The findings are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that affective states serve informative functions.     

EQ-nomics: Understanding the relationship between individual differences in Trait Emotional Intelligence and entrepreneurship

Past studies highlight the importance of Trait Emotional Intelligence (EI) in the prediction of career success. Given the evidence that trait EI predicts job performance and job satisfaction, it is reasonable to expect this construct to also predict other forms of career success. In this study, we examine whether EI predicts entrepreneurship; that is, whether higher trait EI is linked to entrepreneurial behaviours and entrepreneurial success, and whether any effects of trait EI on entrepreneurship are independent of the personality trait of Core Self-Evaluations, demographic variables, and individual differences in entrepreneurial personality. Results show that trait EI predicts only some entrepreneurial outcomes beyond other variables examined, and with small effect sizes. This suggests that individual differences in entrepreneurship result only in part from inter-personal differences in trait EI. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

How generative drawing affects the learning process: An eye‐tracking analysis

Generative drawing is a learning strategy in which students draw illustrations while reading a text to depict the content of the lesson. In two experiments, students were asked to generate drawings as they read a scientific text or read the same text on influenza with author‐provided illustrations (Experiment 1) or to generate drawings or write verbal summaries as they read (Experiment 2). An examination of students' eye movements during learning showed that students who engaged in generative drawing displayed more rereadings of words, higher proportion of fixations on the important words, higher rate of transitions between words and workspace, and higher proportion of transitions between important words and workspace than students given a text lesson with author‐generated illustrations (Experiment 1) or students who were asked to write a summary (Experiment 2). These findings contribute new evidence to guide theories for explaining how generative drawing affects learning processes.     

Mobilizing the hijab: Islamic identity negotiation in the context of a matchmaking website

• This article explores the intended use and meaning of the hijab as a personal branding tool for Muslim users of an online matchmaking service. We analyze the motivations of male and female Muslim consumers for mobilizing the symbolism of the hijab as they construct online identities. We ask whether including information about ‘willingness to wear the hijab’ is motivated primarily by a desire to comply to normative rules of conduct or by an instrumental attitude driven by a desire to effectively build and communicate a personal online brand. Our results indicate that the meaning of the hijab is not fixed and uncontested but is dependent on the historical and social context of insertion. In the context of an online matchmaking site, the motivation to mobilize the hijab is predominantly instrumental. In addition, women are more likely to use the hijab for personal branding than men, whose motivation to mobilize the veil's cultural and traditional symbolism prevails. In accordance with previous research, we find that a higher degree of education reduces the likelihood of men and women to use the hijab in order to conform to community norms.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment of cognitive load in multimedia learning using dual-task methodology

In two pilot experiments, a new approach for the direct assessment of cognitive load during multimedia learning was tested that uses dual-task methodology. Using this approach, we obtained the same pattern of cognitive load as predicted by cognitive load theory when applied to multimedia learning: The audiovisual presentation of text-based and picture-based learning materials induced less cognitive load than the visual-only presentation of the same material. The findings confirm the utility of dual-task methodology as a promising approach for the assessment of cognitive load induced by complex multimedia learning systems.