Employability: review and research prospects

Professional transition, employment, and reemployment are major concerns for nations facing adverse economic situations. The employability construct represents a scientific challenge in order to better understand the relationship between the job seekers’ issues and the expectations of the world of work. This paper presents a review of the concept of employability. Three main perspectives (educational and governmental, organizational, and individual) that are not exclusive can be identified. This review highlights the importance of adopting a systemic integrative approach and a wider interpretation of employability. A research agenda to develop the theory and applications of the concept of employability is proposed.     

Spatial learning by rats across visually disconnected environments

Experiments were designed in which some properties of spatial representations in rats could be examined. Adult subjects were trained to escape through a hole at a fixed position in a large circular arena (see Schenk, 1989). The experiments were conducted in the dark, with a limited number of controlled visual light cues, in order to assess the minimal cue requirement for place learning. Three light cues identical in shape, height, and distance from the table were used. Depending on the condition, they were either permanently on or alternatively on or off, contingent on the position of the rat in the field. Two questions were asked: (1) How many identical visual cues were necessary for spatial discrimination in the dark, and (2) could rats integrate the relative positions of separate cues, under conditions in which the rat was never allowed to perceive all three cues simultaneously. The results suggest that rats are able to achieve a place discrimination task even if the three cues necessary for efficient orientation can never be seen simultaneously. A dissociation between the discrimination of the spatial position of the goal and the capacity to reach it by a direct path suggests that, with a reduced number of cues, prolonged locomotion might be required for accurate orientation in the environment.     

Brain opiates

Morphine, which is obtained from poppies, has pharmacological properties which make it both a powerful pain-relieving drug and a narcotic feared for the dependency which it induces in those who use it. Study of the mode of action of morphine has revealed related endogenous substances in the brain. These brain opiates have remarkable properties, which researchers are just beginning to discover.