Food versus intracranial self-stimulation: failure of limited-access self-depriving rats to self-deprive in a continuous access paradigm.
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Animals↗
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Rats with lesions of the vestibular system require a visual landmark for spatial navigation.
The role of the vestibular system in acquisition and performance of a spatial navigation task was examined in rats. Male Long-Evans rats received sham or bilateral sodium arsanilate-induced vestibular lesions. After postoperative recovery, under partial water-deprivation, rats were trained (16 trials/day) to find a water reward in one corner of a black square enclosure. A cue card fixed to one wall of the enclosure served as a stable landmark cue. The orientation of the rat at the start of each trial was pseudo-randomized such that the task could not be solved by an egocentric response strategy. Rats with vestibular lesions acquired the task in fewer trials than the sham treated control rats. Vestibular lesions did not influence the motivation or motor function necessary to perform the task. Performance of sham rats was maintained during probe trials in which the cue card was removed from the enclosure, while lesioned rats were markedly impaired. Rotation of the cue card (+/-90 degrees ) caused an equivalent shift in corner choice behavior of the lesioned rats. However, sham rats often disregarded the rotated cue card and made place responses. These results suggest that the vestibular lesions disrupt idiothetic navigation or path integration and render navigational behavior critically dependent upon external landmarks. These results are consistent with the navigational abilities of humans with bilateral vestibular dysfunction.
Animals↗
A two-stage model of peer influence in adolescent substance use: individual and relationship-specific differences in susceptibility to influence.
A two-stage model of peer influence was proposed. The model served as a framework for examining individual and relationship-specific differences in susceptibility to influence. The two stages are (1) the acquisition of a peer context and (2) conforming to the behavior of a peer. Data from a four-wave longitudinal study were used to assess (1) the initial selection of cigarette- and alcohol-using peers and (2) influence from peers. Relationship factors and variables identified as risk factors for substance use were hypothesized to increase susceptibility to peer influence. The results indicated that adolescents who did not value school achievement or spending time with parents were more apt than others to choose friends who smoked cigarettes more than they did. Adolescents who chose friends who drank more than they did not differ from other adolescents on any of the risk factors. Thus, low-risk adolescents were as likely to acquire a friend context where drinking was likely to occur as were adolescents who had more risk factors. When the second stage was examined, only high peer acceptance and high friendship quality resulted in adolescents being more apt to conform to their friend's substance-use behaviors.
Adolescent↗
Interviewing techniques with adolescents in primary care.
PURPOSE: Privacy is of utmost concern to adolescents seeking advice regarding life-style and behavior choices. Lack of privacy and confidential health services are barriers to adolescents' access to health care. This study describes primary care physicians' practices with regard to inviting parent(s) to leave the room in order to interview the teen alone, and the factors associated with use of this technique. METHOD: A cross-sectional random survey of 1,630 pediatricians, internists, and family practitioners in a large metropolitan area was performed using a confidential mailed questionnaire. RESULTS: The majority of the physicians were in private practice, male, board certified, Caucasian, and did not have a subspecialty. Forty-nine percent of the respondents "almost always" or "always" invite parent(s) to leave the room in order to interview the teen alone. Physicians who were female, board certified, and completed residency from 1974-94 were most likely to use this technique. Among physicians who frequently employ this strategy, the decision to interview the teen alone varied according to the clinical scenario. Using logistic regression analysis, only gender and board certification were significantly related to use of this interviewing method. CONCLUSION: A large proportion of physicians do not interview their adolescent patients alone, therefore, not affording them privacy to discuss confidential health concerns. Future research should focus on developing and validating methods to teach physicians skills to interview adolescents privately.
Adolescent↗
Spectral sensitivity of monocularly deprived cats.
The reports of rod-dominated psychophysical spectral sensitivity from the deprived eye of monocularly lid-sutured (MD) monkeys are intriguing but difficult to reconcile with the absence of any reported deprivation effects in retina. As most studies of MD retina have been from cat, we have examined psychophysically the increment threshold spectral sensitivity of MD cats using both reaction time and simultaneous two-choice behavioral procedures. Although the deprived eyes exhibited an absolute increment threshold sensitivity deficit, both rod and cone spectral sensitivity functions were obtained on large white backgrounds. This normal transition from rod to cone vision, as background luminance increased, was also found in threshold vs. intensity functions. Using their deprived eye, some cats exhibited a rod spectral sensitivity function when a smaller, normally photopic, background was used providing some support for a hypothesis that the rod-dominated spectral sensitivity observed in monkey may represent detection of scattered stimulus light. Alternatively monocular deprivation may reveal a rod-dominated mechanism which exists in monkey but not in cat.
Animals↗
"Who am I? Why am I here?": self-esteem, self-clarity, and prototype matching.
Recent research has demonstrated that individuals with low self-esteem lack self-clarity; they have less certain and less stable self-concepts than do those with high self-esteem (A. H. Baumgardner, 1990; J. Campbell, 1990). Self-concept confusion should mitigate against the use of a decision-making strategy that involves using the self to guide choice behavior (i.e., prototype matching, P. M. Niedenthal, N. Cantor, & J. F. Kihlstrom, 1985). Two correlational studies demonstrated that people with high self-esteem, but not low self-esteem, made use of prototype matching in forming preferences. In a 3rd study, the self-concept was made more clear or made more confused. Clarity was associated with the use of prototype matching regardless of level of self-esteem. Self-concept confusion was associated with a failure to use the strategy regardless of level of self-esteem.
Adult↗
The importance of frameworks for directing empirical questions: reply to Goodie and Fantino (2000).
A. S. Goodie and E. Fantino (2000) make two main criticisms of the predictions of M. C. Lovett and C. D. Schunn's (1999) RCCL model. (RCCL is pronounced "ReCyCLe"; it stands for Represent the task, Construct a set of action strategies, Choose from among those strategies according to success rate, Learn new success rates.) In both cases, the authors believe the criticisms reflect a failure to appreciate the difference between broad frameworks and specific mathematical/computational models. In this article, the value of a broad framework, such as RCCL, in directing new empirical analyses and guiding theoretical development is shown. In particular, RCCL expands on existing work to reveal how variability and change in mental representations influence base-rate sensitivity. The authors also address several other issues raised by A. S. Goodie and E. Fantino (2000) and show that qualitative shifts in individuals' choice behavior are present in their original data--a key prediction of RCCL that does not appear in previous accounts.
Decision Making↗
Behavioral economic analysis of activity choice in obese children.
Evaluated children's choice for sedentary versus vigorous activity. Experiment 1 assessed the influence of percent overweight (less than 20%, 20% to 80%, greater than 80%) on choice of a moderately liked vigorous activity at a constant variable ratio (VR) 2 reinforcement schedule versus a highly liked sedentary activity with the schedule varied from VR2 to VR32. All children chose the sedentary choice when the schedules were VR2. As the cost for sedentary activity increased, lean and moderately obese children switched to the vigorous activity, but the very obese children still chose the sedentary activity. Experiment 2 compared moderately obese children's choice between easily accessible, highly or least liked vigorous activities (VR2) and highly liked sedentary activity with the schedule varied from VR2 through VR16. When the reinforcement schedules were equal, and sedentary activity and vigorous activity were rated as equally linked, children chose the sedentary activity. All subjects switched from the sedentary to the vigorous activity, but there were no differences in choice as a function of liking for vigorous activities.
Child↗
Differential ontogeny of working memory and reference memory in the rat.
In two experiments we examined the ability of 15-, 21-, and 27-day-old rats to perform two spatial working memory problems (delayed alternation and discrete-trials delayed alternation) and a reference memory problem (position habit) in a T-maze. In the delayed alternation problem, each animal was presented with a series of free-choice trials and was rewarded for regularly alternating responses to the left and right arms of the T-maze. In the discrete-trials delayed alternation problem, each animal was forced to one maze arm and rewarded (forced run) and was then placed back into the start box and given a choice of arms (choice run). The direction of forced runs followed an irregular, counterbalanced series, and animals were rewarded for choosing the alternate maze arm on choice runs. In the position habit problem, animals were rewarded for consistently choosing one of the two arms of the T-maze. Performance on these problems was assessed relative to control conditions in which reward was not contingent on choice behavior. At all ages, rat pups learned to perform the delayed alternation and position habit problems (Experiment 1). However, only 21- and 27-day-old rats were able to learn the discrete-trials delayed alternation problem. The 15-day-olds were unable to learn this task (Experiment 2). The results of these experiments show that reference memory capacity is present by at least 15 days of age in the rat and does not develop further at later ages.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Aging↗
Conditioned opioid release in ten-day-old rats.
Ten-day-old rats, for whom an orange scent predicted morphine injections at 5 days of age, exhibited a marked preference for orange that was fully naltrexone reversible. Moreover, such rats, when smelling orange during a heat-escape task, exhibited a higher pain threshold than control rats. Together, these findings suggest that the orange odor in conditioned rats caused a release of endogenous opioids that both sustained choice behavior and modulated pain systems.
Animals↗
Organizational effects of early gonadal secretions on sexual differentiation in spatial memory.
Neonatally castrated (MNC) and control male rats (MC) and female rats treated neonatally with estradiol benzoate (FNE) and female controls (FC) were studied. In Exp. 1 spatial memory was assessed using a 12-arm radial maze. During acquisition, MC and FNE groups were more accurate in choice behavior than FC and MNC groups. In Exp. 2 the discriminative control exerted by different types of cues was evaluated. Alteration of the geometry of the room but not movable landmarks disrupted performance of MC and FNE groups. For the FC and MNC groups, alteration of either geometry or landmarks did not disrupt performance. In Exp. 3 the effect of a 15-min delay was determined. MC and FNE groups were more disrupted by a delay than MNC and FC groups. Together, these data suggest that early exposure to gonadal steroids (probably estradiol) improves acquisition of spatial tasks by reorganizing and simplifying associational-perceptual processes that guide spatial ability.
Animals↗
Interaction between drug discriminative stimuli and exteroceptive, sensory signals.
Interactions between drug discriminative stimuli (based on 5.6 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg pentobarbital) and exteroceptive stimuli (visual and auditory) were studied in a T-maze. In three groups, visual stimuli (light vs. dark) were differentially paired with drug stimuli; the fourth group discriminated combinations of tonal frequencies (1 kHz or 10 kHz) and the presence or absence of pentobarbital. (10 mg/kg). In general, visual stimuli controlled choice behavior (left or right turn) to a greater extent than did the drug training stimuli, whereas the auditory stimuli exerted no apparent control over the pentobarbital stimulus in Group 4. Tests with doses higher than the training doses indicated augmented stimulus control by the drug dimension in two groups (Group 1, 10 mg/kg pentobarbital vs. saline; Group 2, 5.6 mg/kg vs. 10 mg/kg pentobarbital) but not in the third group (5.6 mg/kg pentobarbital vs. saline) in the "conflict" situation, that is, the exteroceptive conditions signaled one response whereas the drug stimulus signaled the opposite response. Discrimination training with only one of the stimulus dimensions resulted in stimulus control in the following order: 10 mg/kg vs. saline greater than 5.6 mg/kg vs. saline greater than 1 kHz vs. 10 kHz, results indicating that the auditory stimuli were of marginal significance. In conclusion, drugs can complete with exteroceptive, visual stimuli for associative strength.
Animals↗
Are choice and self-administration of marijuana related to delta 9-THC content?
The effects of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content on choice marijuana, number of marijuana cigarettes smoked, and ratings of marijuana's effects were examined in 6 adult male marijuana smokers during a residential study consisting of four 3-day blocks of 2 sample days and 1 choice day. Days were divided into 6.5-hr work and social-access periods, beginning at 1000 and 1700. On sample days, marijuana cigarettes containing different THC concentrations (0.0% vs. 3.5% and 2.0% vs. 3.5% THC) were smoked at least once during each period. On choice days, independent choices between previously sampled marijuana cigarettes were made during each period. A maximum of 8 cigarettes could be smoked per day, and drug ratings were obtained after each period. Only choice behavior was sensitive to changes in THC content, whereas only the number of smoked marijuana cigarettes was related to context (i.e., work and social-access period).
Adult↗
Relationship between coping styles and perceptual asymmetry.
This study examined the relationship between coping styles and hemispheric asymmetry, on the basis of prior evidence of reduced posterior right hemisphere (RH) activity in depression, and the relationship between ruminative coping and depression. Two samples of undergraduates (N = 170) completed chimeric faces tasks and 2 measures of coping styles, the self-report Responses Styles Questionnaire and a behavioral choice task. In women but not in men, self-reported rumination was associated with a decreased RH bias on the emotion-based chimeric task. In both genders, choosing to engage in an emotional task was associated with increased RH involvement. Results indicate that although brooding and dwelling on the negative may be associated with decreased RH involvement, openness to emotion may be associated with increased RH involvement.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Understanding knowledge effects on attitude-behavior consistency: the role of relevance, complexity, and amount of knowledge.
The role of properties of attitude-relevant knowledge in attitude- behavior consistency was explored in 3 experiments. In Experiment 1, attitudes based on behaviorally relevant knowledge predicted behavior better than attitudes based on low-relevance knowledge, especially when people had time to deliberate. Relevance, complexity, and amount of knowledge were investigated in Experiment 2. It was found that complexity increased attitude- behavior consistency when knowledge was of low-behavioral relevance. Under high-behavioral relevance, attitudes predicted behavior well regardless of complexity. Amount of knowledge had no effect on attitude- behavior consistency. In Experiment 3, the findings of Experiment 2 were replicated, and the complexity effect was extended to behaviors of ambiguous relevance. Together, these experiments support an attitude inference perspective, which holds that under high deliberation conditions, people consider the behavioral relevance and dimensional complexity of knowledge underlying their attitudes before deciding to act on them.
Analysis of Variance↗
The psychology of doing nothing: forms of decision avoidance result from reason and emotion.
Several independent lines of research bear on the question of why individuals avoid decisions by postponing them, failing to act, or accepting the status quo. This review relates findings across several different disciplines and uncovers 4 decision avoidance effects that offer insight into this common but troubling behavior: choice deferral, status quo bias, omission bias, and inaction inertia. These findings are related by common antecedents and consequences in a rational-emotional model of the factors that predispose humans to do nothing. Prominent components of the model include cost-benefit calculations, anticipated regret, and selection difficulty. Other factors affecting decision avoidance through these key components, such as anticipatory negative emotions, decision strategies, counterfactual thinking, and preference uncertainty, are also discussed.
Decision Making↗
Does Octopus vulgaris have preferred arms?
Previous behavioral studies in Octopus vulgaris revealed lateralization of eye use. In this study, the authors expanded the scope to investigate arm preferences. The octopus's generalist hunting lifestyle and the structure of their arms suggest that these animals have no need to designate specific arms for specific tasks. However, octopuses also show behaviors, like exploration, in which only single or small groups of arms are involved. Here the authors show that octopuses had a strong preference for anterior arm use to reach for and explore objects, which points toward a task division between anterior and posterior arms. Four out of 8 subjects also showed a lateral bias. In addition, octopuses had a preference for a specific arm to reach into a T maze to retrieve a food reward. These findings give evidence for limb-specialization in an animal whose 8 arms were believed to be equipotential.
Animals↗
Searching beneath the shelf in macaque monkeys: evidence for a gravity bias or a foraging bias?
The reasons underpinning search biases in 2 species of macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta and Macaca arctoides) were explored over the course of 3 experiments requiring monkeys to search for a hidden food reward. The results reveal that monkeys are adept at exploiting perceptual cues to locate a food reward but are unable to use physical constraints such as solidity as cues to the reward's location. Monkeys prefer to search for a food reward beneath a solid shelf, not because they have an expectation that the reward should be there, but rather because, in the absence of usable cues, this bias emerges as a default search option. It is hypothesized that this bias may have its roots in a history of competition for food resources.
Animals↗