Background: Measuring the self-perceptions, thoughts, hopes and inner lives of persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) has long been a research challenge. Unlike objective or projective tests, semi-projective tasks may provide persons with ID with just enough structure or cues to convey their self-perceptions in a spontaneous and unbiased…

"Science Briefs" summarize the findings and implications of a recent study in basic science or clinical research. This Brief summarizes the findings and implications of "Exposure to Repetitive versus Varied Stress during Prenatal Development Generates Two Distinct Enxiogenic and Veuroendocrine Profiles in Adulthood" (H. N. Richardson; E. P.…

Peter B. Dews played a significant role in shaping the distinctive characteristics and defining the underlying principles of the discipline of behavioral pharmacology. His early and sophisticated use of schedules of reinforcement in the 1950s, incorporated from research in the experimental analysis of behavior and integrated into the discipline of…

Pigeons' choice in concurrent chains can adapt to rapidly changing contingencies. Grace, Bragason, and McLean (2003) found that relative initial-link response rate was sensitive to the immediacy ratio in the current session when one of the terminal-link fixed-interval schedules was changed daily according to a pseudorandom binary sequence (e.g.,…

In this article, the author discusses the High School Scalloped Hammerhead Shark Tagging Program in Hawaii which is an example of a successful partnership research collaboration. High school students and teachers worked with biologists from the University of Hawaii-Manoa (UHM) to conduct research on the life history of scalloped hammerhead sharks…

Animals are increasingly being used for emotional support and therapeutic intervention in a variety of settings including, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and prisons. Therapeutic animals can bring comfort to the ill, bereaved or lonely, and there are indications that owning a pet may positively influence an individual's health and well-being.…

We studied economic choice behavior in capuchin monkeys by offering them to choose between two different foods available in variable amounts. When monkeys selected between familiar foods, their choice patterns were well-described in terms of relative value of the two foods. A leading view in economics and biology is that such behavior results from…

The cannabinoid CB1 receptor has been shown to be critically involved in the extinction of fear memory. Systemic injection of a CB1 receptor antagonist prior to extinction training blocked extinction. Conversely, administration of the cannabinoid uptake inhibitor AM404 facilitated extinction in a dose-dependent manner. Here we show that bilateral…

Repetitive, unilateral stimulation of "Aplysia" induces long-term sensitization (LTS) of ipsilaterally elicited siphon-withdrawal responses. Whereas some morphological effects of training appear only on ipsilateral sensory neurons, others appear bilaterally. We tested the possibility that contralateral morphological modifications may have…

Feeding behavior of Aplysia provides an excellent model system for analyzing and comparing mechanisms underlying appetitive classical conditioning and reward operant conditioning. Behavioral protocols have been developed for both forms of associative learning, both of which increase the occurrence of biting following training. Because the neural…

All animals must make choices regarding what foods to eat, where to eat, and how much time to spend feeding. Optimal foraging theory explains these behaviors in terms of costs and benefits. This laboratory exercise focuses on optimal foraging theory by investigating the winter feeding behavior of birds on the goldenrod gall fly by comparing…

This document was developed in response to California Senate Bill No. 885, "The Endangered Species Education Project," that called for a statewide program in which schools adopt a local endangered species, research past and current efforts to preserve the species' habitat, develop and implement an action plan to educate the community…

Seven activities designed to teach kindergarten students about animals are offered in this unit. Instructions for each activity include a behavioral objective, materials needed, step-by-step procedures, and an evaluation suggestion. Topics of the activities are: (1) characteristics that distinguish animals from other living organisms (including…

This unit consists of a four-part game designed to provide students with a basic understanding of four possible interactions between animal populations. Management of the white-tailed deer, one of the most abundant large wild animals in Missouri, is the central focus of the game. Included with the unit are: (1) unit objectives; (2) pre-game…

The Makah coloring book tells the story of how the raven twice tricked the crow and her hungry children out of a meal. The captions tell the story in English with some Makah words inserted in the text. The book contains a Makah-English glossary of 11 words. (SB)