Conditioned inhibition of rotation-induced taste aversion

In three experiments, we investigated the existence of conditioned inhibition of body rotation-induced taste aversion. Rats were given conditioned inhibition training in which the taste of saccharin was always followed by rotations, but the taste of vanilla was not. Flavor-preference tests, retardation-of-acquisition tests, and summation tests of inhibition indicated that the vanilla stimulus had acquired conditioned inhibitory properties. These findings could not be interpreted as functions of either initial solution preferences or simple nonassociative effects of flavor preexposure. They lend support to a theory that views learning mechanisms as being central to the phenomenon of motion sickness, and suggest that inhibitors might be effectively employed to ameliorate its symptoms.     

University Counseling Centers’ Perceptions and Experiences Pertaining to Emotional Support Animals

Increasing numbers of students are requesting accommodations for emotional support animals (ESAs) in higher education settings. Since the legislation pertaining to this type of service animal differs from the laws governing disability service animals, colleges and universities are faced with developing new policies and guidelines. A sample of 248 University Counseling Centers (UCCs) completed a survey about student requests for ESA letters of support from their counselor. The UCCs were also asked if they issue official disability diagnoses for clients. Responses showed that UCCs are not yet being asked to write many letters of support for ESAs—56.9% almost never do it, and 31.05% do it only several times per year. And, only 47.18% of UCCs write official diagnosis letters in support of disability accommodations. Yet, most UCCs are aware of the need for official policies in this arena. This article provides general recommendations for establishing university policies.     

Adaptations for young children with visual impairments in regular settings

Adaptations must be made in order to maximize the learning potential of children with visual impairments to compensate for learning which occurs through visual observation. As the impetus for integration in national and state legislation accelerates, more young children with visual impairments are being educated in community settings with nondisabled peers. The purpose of this article is to provide the child-care and preschool teacher with information that may facilitate the development of children with visual impairments with integrated or inclusive settings.     

Kindergarten Teachers' Use of Developmentally Appropriate Practices and Attitudes About Authority

This study examined the relationship between kindergarten teachers' use of developmentally appropriate practices and their attitudes toward authority in the classroom. The study found an overall low use of developmentally appropriate practices. Instead, the classrooms exhibited academically oriented, skill-centered programs. However, kindergarten teachers who rated themselves higher in authority sharing as opposed to authority controlling were more likely to use developmentally appropriate teaching strategies as delineated by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Aspects of the teachers' professional experience and education had little relationship to their attitudes about authority in the classroom. The positive relationship between an authority-sharing attitude and developmentally appropriate practices suggests that more importance be placed on developing teachers' and prospective teachers' attitudes about adult/child authority orientation than on simply prescribing overt teacher behavior.     

Self-punitive avoidance behavior in the mouse

Mice were trained to avoid shock by leaving a startbox and traversing a straight alley. During the first extinction phase (Phase I), two groups were given 30 regular extinction (RE) trials, while another two received punished extinction (PE) trials in the center of the alley. During the last 50 extinction trials (Phase II), conditions were reversed for one of the two groups receiving the same treatment in Phase I. This resulted in two nonshifted groups (RE-RE and PE-PE) and two shifted groups (RE-PE and PE-RE). PE treatment led to higher running speed in both phases and reversed an extinction trend. Furthermore, punishment-induced facilitation was greater for the group receiving PE following RE than for the group receiving PE immediately after avoidance training.

     

The role of postsecondary Education Institutions in the U.S. Department of Education's adult literacy initiative

On September 7, 1983, the U.S. Department of Education announced a nationwide adult literacy initiative designed “... to promote functional literacy for the entire adult populations.” The department is committed to conducting several activities to attack and solve the problem of adult literacy. Two of the activities pertain specifically to postsecondary education. They are:

? working with postsecondary education institutions to develop demonstration programs utilizing college work-study students in adult literacy programs;

? promoting college student involvement through literacy tutoring experiences in college courses and through student volunteerism.

The authors believe that there should be much greater participation in the initiative by postsecondary education institutions, and they propose that more extensive participation can be attained through the institutions' performance of their usual functions of teaching, service, and research.     

Dimensions of stress among university faculty: Factor-analytic results from a national study

Previous studies on the role of the professor reflect the existence of a multifaceted complex of strains on faculty. This research study investigated identifiable patterns of faculty stress. From a sample of 80 doctorate-granting institutions, 1,920 professors were selected and stratified by academic rank and Biglan's academic discipline model. The response rate was 75.28%. The multidimensionality of the 45-item Faculty Stress Index, investigated through factor analysis, resulted in five distinct dimensions of perceived stress: reward and recognition (55% common variance); time constraints (12% common variance); departmental influence (7% common variance); professional identity (6% common variance); and student interaction (6% common variance). Each factor was also analyzed according to professional and personal characteristics, and the analysis resulted in significant differences in the areas of tenure, rank, age, gender, and marital status. No differential pattern was discovered among disciplinary categories.     

Where Have All the Midwives Gone?

In past centuries, only women attended women in childbirth. Birthing women were in control, choosing who should attend them and where and how to give birth. Men were usually excluded unless they were needed for their strength and their tools if labor was obstructed. Eventually, with the medicalization of childbirth, male physicians became involved, introducing new techniques that interfered with the normal birth process and competed with midwives. By the 19th century, midwives struggled to hold onto their profession and advance through education. Midwives survived in Europe, but in America, they were eventually usurped in the early 20th century when birth began taking place in hospitals and as medical science and technology advanced. Midwives eventually rose again as educated nurse-midwives. Technology and obstetric interventions in normal childbirth continue, in spite of lack of evidence of their efficacy. Midwives are again in jeopardy because of rising malpractice insurance costs, women''s trust in technology, and, most recently, renewed efforts by physicians to once again prevent midwives from practicing autonomously and outside the hospital environment in the United States.