Conditioned defensive burying in rats: Availability of burying materials

Rats shocked once by a stationary, wire-wrapped prod mounted on the wall of the test chamber incorporated sand, wooden blocks, or commercial bedding material on the floor of the chamber into a defensive response. They moved the available material toward and over the shock prod in all three conditions, adapting the response topography to the particular demands of the available material. In the sand and bedding conditions, the rats buried the prod by pushing and spraying piles of the material with snout and forepaws, whereas, in the blocks condition they picked up the blocks with their teeth and placed them individually around the prod. In Experiment 2, the rats buried the shock prod with blocks even when they had to first carry the blocks to the prod from the back of the chamber. Thus, conditioned defensive burying is not a simple, reflexive response to objects paired with a painful stimulus: it is a complex behavioral sequence that can vary as a function of the availability of burying materials.     

A cross-national survey of cultural expectations and sex-role standards in reading

Cultural expectations and sex-role standards about reading in Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, Israel, Japan, and U.S.A. were investigated. A picture test showing various activities and objects including reading and books was administered in each country to six sub-samples that approximated to the levels: students in grades I, IV, VIII, and XII, college students, and adults. Subjects had to ascribe the activity or object as being appropriate for either a boy or a girl. The results were consistent with the hypothesis that cultural expectations and sex-role standards about reading are congruent within one country but that they differ between countries. In particular, boys in Canada and the U.S.A. rapidly learn to perceive reading as a feminine activity, whereas Danish and Japanese males at all ages consistently view reading as acceptable masculine behaviour.     

A developmental analysis of the relationship between response strength and punishment

Two levels of training (100 vs. 500 trials) and two ages of rats (young and adult) were used in a developmental analysis of the relationship between response strength and the effects of punishment. The apparatus was a Y maze with three discriminably different arms. After 100 or 500 reinforced trials, subjects were shocked each time they responded in one arm. The recovery sessions followed the punishment session. Results from the punishment day indicated that: (a) young rats received a greater amount of shock, and (b) additional training increased the amount of shock received by the young but decreased it in the adults. The recovery data showed that: (a) the suppressive effects of punishment were greater for the adults than for the young, and (b) the recovery scores were not influenced by degree of overtraining. The Age by Overtraining interaction suggested that the relationship between response strength and punishment is age dependent. The age differences found with the amount-of-shock and recovery measures provided additional support for the position that younger rats are less competent than adult rats in inhibiting responses.

     

Self-concept development and educational degree attainment

The present study explores changes in the academic, social, and artistic self-concept of college students over a nine-year period. While the findings demonstrate a positive relationship between the educational degree attainment levels of students and their formation of a more healthy self-concept, the findings further indicate that the relationship is not consistent for males and females. In general, the findings suggest that the collegiate experience does not diminish self-concept gender differences that exist at the time of matriculation. The degree to which changes in students' self-concept is related to selected aspects of their collegiate experience and characteristics of their undergraduate institutions is also explored. The findings indicate that changes in students' self-concept is related to their level of social and academic integration during their undergraduate careers and to the size and selectivity of colleges they attend. The implications of these findings for enhancing students' self-concept during the college years are discussed.     

Maternal social support as a predictor of mother-child stress and stimulation

There is increasing interest in the role of social support in determining risk for child abuse and neglect. The present study assessed the relationship between maternal social support and two areas: stress in the mother-child relationship: and level of stimulation provided in the home. Maternal social support was assessed prenatally and at a two-year follow-up, while the latter variables were compiled at the two-year follow-up. The data were obtained from 38 urban, low SES (80% on public assistance) mothers and their 2-year-old children. Maternal social support correlated positively with level of stimulation and negatively with level of mother-child stress, and was the best predictor of both, relative to any SES, mother or child variables. In addition, high stress, low support mothers provided significantly less stimulation to their children. The theoretical implications for social support as a mediator variable as well as its implications for early identification and prevention efforts in abuse and neglect are discussed.     

Time and response matching with topographically different responses

Four pigeons were exposed to several nonindependent concurrent variable-interval schedules of reinforcement. One schedule component required a keypecking response; the other component required a treadlepressing response. The birds matched the ratio of their behavior (as measured by responses and time) between the two topographically different responses to the ratio of reinforcement in those two components. When additional foods not contingent on a keypeck or treadle-press were then added, the birds matched time spent in the components to total rates of food delivered in those components; response matching was somewhat disrupted. The matching law, developed under concurrent variable-interval schedules requiring similar responses, can thus account for choice behavior involving topographically different responses.