A cost-benefit analysis of demand for food.

Laboratory studies of consumer demand theory require assumptions regarding the definition of price in the absence of a medium of exchange (money). In this study we test the proposition that the fundamental dimension of price is a cost-benefit ratio expressed as the effort expended per unit of food value consumed. Using rats as subjects, we tested the generality of this "unit price" concept by varying four dimensions of price: fixed-ratio schedule, number of food pellets per fixed-ratio completion, probability of reinforcement, and response lever weight or effort. Two levels of the last three factors were combined in a 2 x 2 x 2 design giving eight groups. Each group was studied under a series of six FR schedules. Using the nominal values of all factors to determine unit price, we found that grams of food consumed plotted as a function of unit price followed a single demand curve. Similarly, total work output (responses x effort) conformed to a single function when plotted in terms of unit price. These observations provided a template for interpreting the effects of biological factors, such as brain lesions or drugs, that might alter the cost-benefit ratio.     

USING STIMULUS EQUIVALENCE PROCEDURES TO TEACH NAME-FACE MATCHING TO ADULTS WITH BRAIN INJURIES

On pretests, 3 men with brain injuries matched dictated names of three therapists to written names, but did not match dictated or written names to photos, produce correct names in response to photos, locate offices given written names, or name therapists on sight. Match-to-sample training established conditional relations between dictated names and photos. Posttests showed the emergence of untrained conditional relations involving photos and written names, indicating development of three classes of equivalent stimuli (each containing a dictated name, photo, and written name). For 1 participant, conditional relations involving photos of office nameplates were also examined, but did not emerge pre- or posttraining. Two participants produced names orally when given photos and sorted written names and faces together after training; the 3rd participant was unavailable for these posttests. After training, 1 participant located and named all three therapists in their offices.     

Developmental psychology in the real world: A paradigm of parent education

Twenty years ago, William Kessen, Greta Fein and I developed and tested a model of parent education, a model which involved variation in curricular content, didactic approaches, and child outcomes–experimentally contrasted. Our experience yielded some valuable lessons about the extent to which researchers can influence parents' behaviour, and parents their children's development. In the present article I suggest that these lessons might be useful for researchers now as they were for us then. I present some observations about the research that developmental psychologists have done in the intervening two decades and suggest that we could learn much by using such a model of parent education to answer questions about the effets of parents' behaviour on children's development. Carefully done, parent education studies can yield valuable information about many of the questions raised in recent correlational research. Parent training research can suggest hypotheses that can be tested with data collected non-interventively and analysed in causal model analyses–and vice versa. What is more, because one reason for studying parent effects is so that we can offer guidance to parents about rearing their children, this design has a particular advantage; it is both the medium and the message.     

Brain bases of English morphological processing: A comparison between Chinese-English,Spanish-English bilingual,and English monolingual children

How do early bilingual experiences influence children's neural architecture for word processing? Dual language acquisition can yield common influences that may be shared across different bilingual groups, as well as language-specific influences stemming from a given language pairing. To investigate these effects, we examined bilingual English speakers of Chinese or Spanish, and English monolinguals, all raised in the US (N = 152, ages 5–10). Children completed an English morphological word processing task during fNIRS neuroimaging. The findings revealed both language-specific and shared bilingual effects. The language-specific effects were that Chinese and Spanish bilinguals showed principled differences in their neural organization for English lexical morphology. The common bilingual effects shared by the two groups were that in both bilingual groups, increased home language proficiency was associated with stronger left superior temporal gyrus (STG) activation when processing the English word structures that are most dissimilar from the home language. The findings inform theories of language and brain development during the key periods of neural reorganization for learning to read by illuminating experience-based plasticity in linguistically diverse learners.     

Episodic memory effects of gamma frequency precuneus transcranial magnetic stimulation in Alzheimer's disease: A randomized multiple baseline study

Episodic memory decline is the prominent neuropsychological feature of typical Alzheimer's Disease (AD), for which current treatments have a limited clinical response. Recently, gamma entrainment therapy has been used as a non-invasive treatment in AD, providing evidence that it may have the potential to alleviate brain pathology and improve cognitive function in AD patients. At the same time, the precuneus (PC) has been recognized as a key area involved in AD related memory deficits and as a key node of the Default Mode Network. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a 40 Hz Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) intervention, delivered bilaterally to the precuneus for 10 days, in improving the patients' episodic memory performance. Secondary outcome variables investigated included general cognitive function, semantic and spatial memory, as well as attention and executive function. A concurrent multiple baseline design across five cases was employed. Four patients completed the study. Visual analysis combined with effect size indices were used to evaluate changes across phases. An increase in the average level of immediate recalled words was observed in three out of four patients. Effect size indices indicated significant improvement of attention skills in two patients. No treatment effect was observed for semantic and visual memory, or for executive function. An immediate treatment effect was observed in all patients' general cognitive function as assessed with the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (mean reduction of 5 points), which was maintained and improved further three months post-treatment. The neuropsychological evaluations indicated improved performance three months post-treatment in immediate and delayed recall, attention, phonological verbal fluency, anxiety, and neuropsychiatric symptoms. This study provides preliminary evidence for the efficacy of a novel non-pharmacological treatment using gamma-band TMS in addressing cognitive dysfunction in AD.     

Cognitive habilitation in schizophrenia: A theoretical review and model of treatment

Evidence has accumulated for information processing deficits in schizophrenia. The functional significance of these deficits is only beginning to be understood. There are indications that these deficits may respond to intervention. Training on deficient functions has been demonstrated to relate to improvements in performance. A treatment program of cognitive rehabilitation is deduced from the literature and induced from clinical experience. The treatment is designed to impact directly on the information processing deficits of schizophrenic patients and indirectly to ameliorate functional deficits.     

行为与脑的关系及其与机体其它属性间的相互作用的研究──心理学研究展望

“二十一世纪的心理学”的论题是当今许多科学家感兴趣的．这种预测是一种想象与现实相结合的尝试。审视过去和现在．心理学未来的雏形的基础可能是行为与脑的关系及其与生命其它属性之间的相互作用。     

Brain dynamics,psychophysiological uncertainty and behavioral learning

The present paper takes a first step toward the integration of recent findings on brain dynamics and learning into established fields of psychophysiological science. Leading-edge studies of brain dynamics have shown that the brain manifests an inherent variability and that, when new stimuli (i.e., “problems”) are presented to the organism, brain chaos increases.     

Neurobehavioral deficits,adolescent traumatic brain injury,and transition to college

Outcome following traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been frequently evaluated for adults, although there has been minimal research on adolescents with TBI. It has been argued that TBI sequelae may be more difficult for adolescents to adjust to given developmental changes in physical (puberty), interpersonal (self-concept), and environmental domains (transition to college). In addition, it is commonly acknowledged that moderator variables such as psychiatric history, family functioning, substance use, and sexuality impact functional outcome following TBI, although it is often difficult to objectively evaluate these variables. The current study examined relationships among TBI-related deficits, moderator variables, and academic outcomes for six adolescents transitioning to college. The findings suggest that it may not be appropriate to predict functional outcome based solely on objective neuropsychological results. However, moderator variables appear to have a more direct relationship with outcome, depending on the moderator variable and the individual.     

Clinical neuropsychology and brain injury rehabilitation in Israel: A twenty-year perspective

The development of the field of neuropsychology in Israel is primarily the result of the development of rehabilitation services for traumatic brain-injured patients. The responsibility to care for and help disabled veterans has always been an important motivation for the establishment of rehabilitation services. Israel is probably one of the first countries in the world to develop community-based services specifically designed to address the needs of young patients with severe traumatic brain injury. The fairly extensive therapeutic and community services available today for both military and civilian brain-injured persons in Israel are the result of initiatives and funding by the Israel Ministry of Defense's Department of Rehabilitation. There are two principles that characterize most of the programs in Israel: (1) multidimensional remedial intervention and (2) life-time commitment to provide support. The accessibility of patients in a small country enables professionals to conduct follow-up studies in order to evaluate the long-term effects of brain injury. Current developments in neuropsychology are in three directions. First, formal training programs in neuropsychology are being set up. Second, the involvement of neuropsychologists is being extended beyond the treatment of young patients suffering from traumatic brain injury to include the treatment of different brain pathologies in children and the elderly. Third, sophisticated neuroimaging techniques are being applied to studies in cognitive neuropsychology.