Search PubMedSearch

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Homing Behavior”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: does cognitive behavioral therapy improve home behavior?

This study evaluates the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in improving the home behavior of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Twenty-five boys (age 7 to 13) with a diagnosis of ADHD were randomized to a CBT or supportive therapy control group. Outcome measures included parent and teacher ratings of the child on the Behavior Problem Checklist-Attention Problem Subscale (BPC-AP), and the Self-Control Rating Scale (SCRS), parent ratings on the Modified Werry Weiss Activity Scale, and child ratings on the Piers Harris Self-Concept Scale and Matching Familiar Figures Task. Data were analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance for main effects. A significant improvement favoring CBT was found on the Werry Weiss Scale, which measures the parent's perception of the child's hyperactivity in the home, and the child's rating of his/her self-esteem on the Piers Harris Self-Concept Scale. Other outcome measures did not demonstrate statistical differences. This research provides support for the use of CBT in children with ADHD. CBT was found to improve the parent's perception of the child's hyperactivity in the home as well as the child's self-esteem.

Adolescent

Homing behavior, orientation, and home range of salamanders tagged with tantalum-182.

Using radioactive tags, we recorded movements of salamanders (Plethodon jordani) in their home areas and during homing. Males occupied home areas about three times larger than those of females and made occasional excursions into outlying regions. Homing after 22-to 60-meter displacements was direct and rapid, once initiated. Course headings at 1 meter from release were random; those at 2 meters and more were home-oriented. Males initiated homing movements sooner than females, although both sexes traveled at similar rates. Increased incidence of climbing on vegetation after displacement suggests olfactory mechanisms of orientation. These observations give direct evidence of homing orientation in caudate amphibians.

Animals

A comparison of homing behavior in feral and homing pigeons.

Three series of experiments were conducted to determine whether the orientational and homing behavior of feral pigeons ("Commons") in the U.S.A. is comparable to that of homing pigeons. Wild-caught adult and juvenile Commons showed meaningful nonrandom orientation when released at unfamiliar sites. When such birds were phaseshifted 6 h fast, their vanishing bearings were deflected approximately 90 degrees counterclockwise, thus indicating use of the time-compensated sun compass. Young Commons reared and trained with Homers of the same age differed behaviorally from the Homers in a variety of ways and many fewer returned home from training and test releases, but the season for the fewer returns appeared to be more concerned with social behavior than with orientation capability.

Age Factors

[Homing behavior in Salamandra salamandra (L.)].

Homing behavior in salamanders (Salamandra salamandra) was studied in the field (52 adults) and in laboratory experiments (75 adult animals). Displacements, occluding of sense organs and experiments with different visual patterns revealed that the home-site orientation is guided by vision. While visual landmarks are most important, Salamandra is also able to use a moon-compass.

Animals

How nursing homes behave: a multi-equation model of nursing home behavior.

This paper estimates a multi-equation model of nursing home behavior using the 1973 NCHS National Nursing Home Survey for data. The paper investigates empirically the effects of public reimbursement and regulatory policies, as well as other exogenous factors, on the following dependent variables: (1) average operating cost; (2) nursing hours per patient-day; (3) an index of rehabilitation-type services; (4) the occupancy rate; (5) the mix of public and private patients; and (6) the rate charged to private patients. The results dramatize the importance of endogeneity concerns in nursing home behavior. Rate setting and many regulations are shown empirically to have unintended and often undesired consequences on cost and other policy criteria of interest. While there has been anecdotal evidence of such system-wide interdependencies, this study affirms that such possibilities must be taken seriously. Rational nursing home regulation cannot proceed apart from a comprehensive understanding of the nursing home behavioral environment.

Bed Occupancy

The Nursing Home Behavior Problem Scale.

Nursing home patients frequently have serious disturbances of behavior that can lead to use of chemical or physical restraints. To support research into better management of these problems, we developed the Nursing Home Behavior Problem Scale (NHBPS), a 29-item inventory of serious behavior problems designed to be completed by nurses and nursing assistants. NHBPS scores were obtained for two samples of nursing home residents: 431 in Tennessee and 122 in Texas. The interrater correlation was .754 in the Tennessee sample and .827 in the Texas sample. The NHBPS had a correlation of -.747 with the NOSIE scale and .911 with the CMAI. There was a pronounced association of increased NHBPS scores with mental impairment and use of sedative drugs or restraints. These data suggest the NHBPS is a useful research instrument for measuring serious behavior problems in nursing home residents.

Behavior

Home behaviors of children in three treatment settings: an outpatient clinic, a day hospital, and an inpatient hospital.

OBJECTIVE: To compare parents' ratings of home behaviors of three groups of children: those entering an outpatient clinic, a day hospital, and an inpatient hospital. It was hypothesized that the home behaviors of children starting day and inpatient hospital treatment would be rated as significantly more deviant than those of children beginning outpatient treatment, and there would be no significant differences in behavior ratings of children beginning day and inpatient hospital treatment. METHOD: A standardized behavior checklist was completed by the primary parent at the time treatment was begun. Scores on four factor scales were obtained, and a multivariate analysis of covariance was carried out. RESULTS: The hypotheses were partially supported. Children beginning day and inpatient hospitalization were seen as more disordered, anxious, and aggressive than were those starting outpatient treatment; children starting day treatment were reported as more learning disabled than were those in both outpatient and inpatient settings; and children entering the inpatient setting were perceived as more aggressive than were those in day treatment. CONCLUSION: Aggressive behavior and learning disability appear to be determinants of choice of treatment setting. The progression from least to most restrictive placement was demonstrated for aggressive behavior only.

Adolescent

Not safe at home: behavioral treatment of a child's fear of being at home alone.

The behavioral treatment of a child's fear of being alone in her own home is described. Gaining control over frightening images and increasing coping behaviors such as relaxation, distraction, and self-instruction during progressive behavioral rehearsal reduced self-reported fears and increased adaptive responding. The utility of such techniques, particularly control over frightening imagery, is discussed.

Accident Prevention

Homing behavior of pigeons after telencephalic ablations.

In a first experiment, dorsomedial forebrain ablated birds showed similar homeward orientation when compared to untreated controls independent of whether the birds were released from a previous training site or a site they had never been before. However, although all control birds returned to the home loft, only 2 of 28 birds with lesions homed successfully. In a subsequent experiment, both sham operated control birds and birds with lesions of the visual Wulst homed successfully when released only 800 m from and in full view of their respective home lofts. Pigeons with dorsomedial forebrain lesions, however, failed to return to their respective home lofts. The results show that the avian dorsomedial forebrain plays a critical role in that step of the homing process by which a pigeon returns to its home loft once in its vicinity, and that the failure to reassociate with the home loft is a likely result of deficient recognition of the home loft and/or its surrounding area. In an additional experiment, pigeons with Wulst lesions were shown to orient as controls and to successfully return to the home loft when released from two distant sites. This experiment demonstrated that the avian Wulst plays no necessary role in the homing behavior of pigeons.

Animals

Desferrioxamine and Alzheimer's disease: video home behavior assessment of clinical course and measures of brain aluminum.

Drug trials designed to modify the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have required the development of mental state and behavior evaluation instruments that are sensitive to cognitive decline and measure skills useful in everyday living. We describe a videotaped home behavior (VHB) assessment instrument with high construct validity and reliability and a strong relationship to criterion references. The VHB was employed to test the hypothesis that aluminum is an important pathogenic factor in AD. The trivalent chelating agent desferrioxamine (DFO), 125 mg i.m. twice daily five days per week, was used in a randomized single-blind, oral lecithin, placebo-controlled clinical trial in 48 patients with AD. Analysis showed that the treatment and no-treatment groups were closely matched at entry into the trial but that the rate of decline, as measured by the VHB over 2 years of observation, was twice as rapid in the no-treatment group compared with the DFO-treated group. Furthermore, trace-metal analysis of autopsied brain confirmed that extended treatment with DFO lowered neocortical brain aluminum concentrations to near control concentrations. Aluminum ion-specific chelation may be a useful palliative treatment for AD, and further clinical trials are indicated.

Aged

Daily biorhythmicity influences, homing behavior, psychopharmacological responsiveness, learning, and retention of suckling rats.

A total of 385 suckling rats were used to investigate the effects of 24-hr biorhythmicity on performance. Nest seeking (homing) in 7-day-old pups and its facilitation by d-amphetamine varied across time of day. Analysis of initial choice revealed that the pups' ability to detect and position themselves in the direction of the nest did not vary across time of day. Homing behavior was not an artifact of random activity level but was related to the pups' motor performance which varied with a daily rhythm. Circadian rhythmic influences on the acquisition and retention of an amphetamine-induced odor aversion were shown by manipulating time of day of conditioning and subsequent retention testing. The time of day effect on conditioning was attributed, in part, to daily rhythmic changes in the effectiveness of the unconditional stimulus. Retention was optimal in pups tested at the time of day corresponding to that of their original training. Time of day may serve as a contextual stimulus that is important for retention in immature as well as adult animals. An appreciation of these 24-hr rhythms is warranted for an accurate assessment of the behavioral competence of developing animals.

Animals

Homing behavior of hippocampus and parahippocampus lesioned pigeons following short-distance releases.

The avian hippocampal formation has been proposed to play a critical role in the neural regulation of a navigational system used by homing pigeons to locate their loft once in the familiar area near home. In support of this hypothesis, the homing performance of pigeons with target lesions of either the hippocampus or parahippocampus was found to be impaired compared to controls following releases of about 10 km. Further, radio tracking revealed that the in-flight behavior of the hippocampal lesioned homing pigeons was characterized by numerous direction changes and generally poor orientation with respect to the home loft. The results identify a local navigational impairment on the part of the hippocampal lesioned pigeons in the vicinity of the loft where landmark cues are thought to be important. Additionally, target lesions of the hippocampus or parahippocampus were found to be similarly effective in causing homing deficits.

Animals

Effects of prenatal alcohol on homing behavior, maternal responding and open-field activity in rats.

A radial-maze was used to study homing in offspring and maternal retrieval behaviors after prenatal exposure to alcohol. Pair-fed and untreated (ad lib control diet) groups were included and all offspring were either fostered or cross-fostered at birth. Offspring given ethanol prenatally exhibited a deficit in homing development and were retrieved significantly longer by ad lib control dams over the ten days of testing. The observed retrieval response may represent a compensation for the delayed development of the ethanol-exposed offspring. Consistent with our previous work, ethanol treatment had long-lasting effects on maternal body weight, offspring growth, and juvenile and adult activity as measured in the open-field. The findings suggest that these effects can be attributed to ethanol per se and not undernutrition or postnatal maternal influences. Further work aimed at identifying the stimulus properties underlying the complex maternal-infant interaction is needed in order to explain the observed differences in maternal retrieval response.

Animals

Differential effects of prenatal protein malnutrition and prenatal cocaine on a test of homing behavior in rat pups.

The effects of prenatal cocaine exposure and protein malnutrition on orientation to home nest material was assessed in rat pups. Sprague-Dawley dams were fed a diet of low protein content (6% casein), and isocaloric diet of adequate protein content (25% casein, control), or a laboratory chow diet prior to mating and throughout pregnancy. Within each diet group, rats received either cocaine injections (30 mg/kg IP 2 times per week prior to mating and the 30 mg/kg SC daily from day 3 to 18 of pregnancy) or saline injections. All litters were fostered on the day of birth to control mothers fed an adequate diet. On postnatal days 7, 9, and 11, a single pup from each litter (n = 11-15 per treatment) was tested repeatedly in a clean test cage for the rapidity of approach, and level of attraction to their own home (nest) bedding compared with fresh bedding. Prenatal malnutrition and prenatal cocaine exposure each gave rise to independent effects on performance, based upon factor analysis. Prenatal malnutrition, but not prenatal cocaine increased the time taken for rat pups to approach their nest bedding, reduced the time spent on this bedding, decreased the number of entries into the sector containing the home bedding and reduced pup weight. Prenatal cocaine, but not prenatal malnutrition, produced a reduction in activity, but had no effect on pup weight. The lower activity level was most pronounced on postnatal day 7. Surprisingly, interactive effects of prenatal cocaine and prenatal malnutrition were not observed on any behavior examined. Nevertheless, the co-existence of drug addiction and malnutrition in human populations raises the possibility that some of the effects generally attributed to drug exposure may, in fact, be due to malnutrition.

Animals

Effects of unusually early visual stimulation on the development of homing behavior in the rat pup.

Two studies examined the theory that early limitations on sensory functioning contribute to the organization of a structure for perceptual development and intersensory functioning. Rat pups' eyelids were surgically opened on Day 7, following which the development of homing to their nest site was investigated, with each animal alone in its living cage. Control pups increased homing until Day 14, and then decreased. Experimental pups showed no such decline, with the highest rate of homing evident on the last day of testing. The importance of visual cues for this altered development of homing was examined. Visual cues for the home were reduced by removing all shavings during testing, while leaving an odorous substrate in place. Under these conditions, both groups showed the characteristic increase and decline in homing, suggesting that premature eyelid opening results in a modification of the distribution of attention to visual and olfactory characteristics of the nest.

Animals

Mother-toddler problem solving: antecedents in attachment, home behavior, and temperament.

In a widely cited study, Matas, Arend, and Sroufe showed that mother-toddler interaction during problem solving at age 2 years was related to the child's prior attachment security. The current study asked (1) whether an independent laboratory could replicate this attachment finding, and (2) whether problem-solving interactions relate to mother-child interactions observed at home and to child temperament measured at 6, 13, and 24 months. Replicating Matas et al., secure dyads worked more competently, and mothers showed better quality of assistance and supportive presence. Mother-child home interaction also predicted problem solving: positive involvement at home predicted effective, unconflicted problem solving. Negative control at home did not predict problem-solving interaction. Unadaptable temperament was generally related to dependency in problem solving. Several patterns of correlations appeared to be mediated by sex of child, e.g., difficult temperament in boys predicted more effective, unconflicted problem solving, while for girls it predicted more conflict.

Affect

Effects of dopamine receptor blockade on alimentary behaviors: home cage food consumption, magazine training, operant acquisition, and performance.

Administration of the dopamine receptor blocker pimozide (1.0 mg/kg) disrupted the initiation, but not the maintenance, of home cage food consumption. Likewise, the number of pellets consumed during magazine training was decreased among pimozide-treated rats during the first, but not the second day of training. The acquisition of a bar-press response for food reinforcement (using a retractable bar) was severely retarded by pimozide. However, such an impairment was not evident if animals initially received 2 training days in the absence of the drug. Further, among rats trained to bar press to asymptote using a nonretractable bar, pimozide reduced the within and between days bar-press rate such that performance was indistinguishable from that of animals placed on extinction in the absence of the drug treatment. When transferred from the pimozide treatment to extinction in the absence of drug, the response rate increased to the level observed during the first session of either extinction or pimozide in the continuous reinforcement condition. The results are discussed in terms of sensory-motor and reinforcement consequences of dopamine receptor blockade.

Animals