Damage to the medial region of the thalamus, both in clinical cases (e.g., patients with infarcts or the Korsakoff's syndrome) and animal lesion models, is associated with variable amnesic deficits. Some studies suggest that many of these memory deficits rely on the presence of lateral thalamic lesions (LT) that include the intralaminar nuclei,…

Like many forms of Pavlovian conditioning, eyelid conditioning displays robust extinction. We used a computer simulation of the cerebellum as a tool to consider the widely accepted view that extinction involves new, inhibitory learning rather than unlearning of acquisition. Previously, this simulation suggested basic mechanistic features of…

eThese experiments examined the effects of posttrial peripheral and intra-amygdala injections of the cholinergic muscarinic receptor agonist oxotremorine on memory consolidation underlying extinction of amphetamine conditioned place preference (CPP) behavior. Male Long-Evans rats were initially trained and tested for an amphetamine (2 mg/kg) CPP.…

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are known to play a role in synaptic plasticity and learning. We have previously shown that mGluR7 deletion in mice produces a selective working memory (WM) impairment, while other types of memory such as reference memory remain unaffected. Since WM has been associated with Theta activity (6-12 Hz) in…

Over the past 3 decades we have witnessed an increase in the complexity of theoretical models that attempt to explain development in a number of behavioral domains. The conceptual movement to examine behavior from both developmental and contextual perspectives parallels recent methodological advances in the analysis of change. These new analysis…

Within the study of human sexuality, researchers have undergone a cognitive shift toward the use of self-report measures to identify motivations for sexual behaviors. This article creates an argument for a re-orientation to including implicit or "drive" motivations within the field in order to better understand the forces that likely determine…

Stevens postulated that we can use the responses of a participant in a ratio scaling experiment directly to construct a psychophysical function representing the participant's sensations. Although Stevens' methods of constructing measurement scales are widely used in the behavioral sciences, the problem of which scale type is appropriate to…

Although it may be disconcerting to contemplate, true and false memories arise in the same way. Memories are attributions that we make about our mental experiences based on their subjective qualities, our prior knowledge and beliefs, our motives and goals, and the social context. This article describes an approach to studying the nature of these…

This study examined the influence of diagnostic criteria and diagnostic labels for psychopathy or conduct disorder on judicial decisions. A national sample of judges (N = 326) rendered hypothetical dispositions based on 1 of 12 mock psychological evaluations. The evaluations varied the presence of 2 sets of diagnostic criteria (antisocial…

In educational research, nonessential factors are commonly ignored and when accounted for, they are often treated statistically as fixed effects. Yet many researchers in these situations generalize their findings beyond the specific levels selected; however, the analyses may require treating the factor as a random effect. Such inappropriate…

The study found that influential tactics employed by instructors during students' course evaluation (praise, and praise combined with food) had a significant effect on the ratings of the Illinois Course Evaluation Questionnaire, raising them, although the experimental and control groups agreed on relative profiles of instructors' strong and weak…

Current literature suggests that a teacher's expectancies for a pupil may in part determine the pupil's subsequent behavior. This review asks how such expectancies affect the teacher's own behavior, with the goal of determining what teacher behaviors mediate the observed effect on the pupil. A model of this process is proposed. (Author)

The role of educational institutions in the differentiation of age strata, regulation of relationships between strata, and distribution of social roles along age dimensions shows that altering the interlock between age and education affects the structure of major institutions and the psychosocial experiences specific to life-cycle stages.…

In an effort to learn more about the cumulative nature of psychological gerontology, an analysis was undertaken of professionally published articles dealing with psychological and related processes and listed in Shock's Current Publications in Gerontology and Geriatrics. Findings indicated a remarkable amount of noncomparable data. (Author)

A study to investigate the effect which a graduate course in supervision would have on the empathic skills of allied health workers produced statistical data indicating "the students were remarkably more capable of identifying the empathic statement" at the end of the course than at the beginning. (Author/BP)