Temporal integration in Pavlovian appetitive conditioning in rats

We used an appetitive sensory preconditioning procedure to investigate temporal integration in rats in two experiments. In Phase 1, rats were presented with simultaneous compound trials on which a 10-sec conditioned stimulus (CS) X was embedded within a 60-sec CS A. In Group Early, CS X occurred during the early portion of CS A, whereas in Group Late, CS X occurred during the latter portion of CS A. In Phase 2, CS X was paired simultaneously with sucrose. On a subsequent test with CS A, the rate of magazine entries peaked during the early portions of the stimulus in Group Early and during the latter portions of the stimulus in Group Late (Experiments 1 and 2). Similar response peaks were not observed on tests with a control stimulus that had been presented in compound with a stimulus that did not signal reward (Experiment 2).     

Assessing Marijuana Use,Anxiety, and Academic Performance Among College Students

This article examines the relationship between marijuana use and anxiety symptoms among college students, with a secondary focus on marijuana use and grade point average (GPA). A secondary analysis was conducted on data obtained from the American College Health Association–National College Health Assessment. Results indicated that marijuana use was negatively associated with GPA among students with current anxiety and no formal treatment. The relationships between these variables may be more complex than previously thought.     

Recognition and reproduction of Bender-Gestalt figures: A developmental study of the lag between perception and performance

The performance of 132 pre- and primary school children on a Bender-Gestalt copying task was compared with that of a multiple choice version that was specially constructed by systematically varying four attributes of the stimulus figures. Significant correlation coefficients were obtained between the copying and recognition scores at all age levels except one. The multiple choice version was also as successful as the copying test in predicting reading achievement scores.     

Enhancing the Executive Functions of 3‐Year‐Olds in the Dimensional Change Card Sort Task

Executive functions enable flexible thinking, something young children are notoriously bad at. For instance, in the dimensional change card sort (DCCS) task, 3‐year‐olds can sort cards by one dimension (shape), but continue to sort by this dimension when asked to switch (to color). This study tests a prediction of a dynamic neural field model that prior experience with the postswitch dimension can enhance 3‐year‐olds' performance in the DCCS. In Experiment 1A, a matching game was used to preexpose 3‐year‐olds (n = 36) to color. This facilitated switching from sorting by shape to color. In 3 , 3‐year‐olds (n = 18) were preexposed to shape. This did not facilitate switching from sorting by color to shape. The model was used to explain this asymmetry.     

THE BULLYING DYNAMIC: PREVALENCE OF INVOLVEMENT AMONG A LARGE‐SCALE SAMPLE OF MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES

Bullying has been the topic of much debate and empirical investigations over the past decade. Contemporary literature contends that students with disabilities may be overrepresented within the bullying dynamic as both perpetrators and victims. Unfortunately, prevalence rates associated with the representation of students with disabilities is limited due to measurement, disability status identification, and definition issues. The present study attempted to address these issues by assessing the prevalence rates of specific subgroups of students with disabilities in a large‐scale cross‐sectional study with 13,325 students without disabilities and 1,183 students with disabilities in Grades 6 through 12. Results suggest that overall, students with disabilities reported proportionally higher rates of bullying, fighting, relational aggression, victimization, online victimization, and relational victimization than did their peers without disabilities. These findings suggest that schools must begin to establish targeted interventions to support skill development based on characteristics associated with specific disability identification.