Ontogeny of spontaneous recognition memory in rodents.

Spontaneous recognition memory tasks explore thewhat,whereandwhencomponents of recognition memory. These tasks are widely used in rodents to assess cognitive function across the lifespan. While several neurodevelopmental and mental disorders present symptom onset in early life, very little is known about how memories are expressed in early life, and as a consequence how they may be affected in pathological conditions. In this review, we conduct an analysis of the studies examining the expression of spontaneous recognition memory in young rodents. We compiled studies using four different tasks: novel object recognition, object location, temporal order recognition and object place. First, we identify major sources of variability between early life spontaneous recognition studies and classify them for later comparison. Second, we use these classifications to explore the current knowledge on the ontogeny of each of these four spontaneous recognition memory tasks. We conclude by discussing the possible implications of the relative time of onset for each of these tasks and their respective neural correlates. In compiling this research, we hope to advance on establishing a developmental timeline for the emergence of distinct components of recognition memory, while also identifying key areas of focus for future research. Establishing the ontogenetic profile of rodent spontaneous recognition memory tasks will create a necessary blueprint for cognitive assessment in animal models of neurodevelopmental and mental disorders, a first step towards improved and earlier diagnosis as well as novel intervention strategies.

Implementation of stimuli with millisecond timing accuracy in online experiments.

Online experiments are growing in popularity. This study aimed to determine the timing accuracy of web technologies and investigate whether they can be used to support high temporal precision psychology experiments. A dynamic sinusoidal grating and flashes were produced by setInterval, CSS3, and requestAnimationFrame (hereafter, rAF) technologies. They were run at normal or real-time priority processing in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Internet Explorer on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Timing accuracies were compared with that of Psychtoolbox which was chosen as gold standard. It was found that rAF with real-time priority had the best timing accuracy compared to the other web technologies and had a similar timing accuracy as Psychtoolbox in traditional experiments in most cases. However, rAF exhibited poor timing accuracy on Linux. Therefore, rAF can be used as technical basis for accuracy of millisecond timing sequences in online experiments, thereby benefiting the psychology field.

Experimental psychology meets behavioral ecology: what laboratory studies of learning polymorphisms mean for learning under natural conditions, and vice versa.

Behavior genetics, and specifically the study of learning and memory, has benefitted immensely from the development of powerful forward- and reverse-genetic methods for investigating the relationships between genes and behavior. Application of these methods in controlled laboratory settings has led to insights into gene-behavior relationships. In this perspective article, we argue that the field is now poised to make significant inroads into understanding the adaptive value of heritable variation in behavior in natural populations. Studies of natural variation with several species, in particular, are now in a position to complement laboratory studies of mechanisms, and sometimes this work can lead to counterintuitive insights into the mechanism of gene action on behavior. We make this case using a recent example from work with the honey bee, Apis mellifera.

The manipulation of affect: A meta-analysis of affect induction procedures.

Affect inductions have become essential for testing theories of affect and for conducting experimental research on the effects of mood and emotion. The current review takes stock of the vast body of existing literature on affect induction procedures (AIPs; also referred to as mood inductions) to evaluate the effectiveness of affect inductions as research tools and to test theories of affect (e.g., the bipolarity hypothesis, negativity bias, positivity offset, and theories of emotionality and gender) using meta-analytic data. In doing so, we seek to address whether AIPs are effective for inducing affective states, what conditions maximize their effectiveness, for which emotions they are most effective, for whom they are most effective, and whether affect induction findings can provide insight into theories of affect. A meta-analysis of 874 samples and 53,509 participants suggests that affect inductions are effective on average (δ = 1.32), but this effectiveness varies with the type of affect induction, the emotion being induced, and the gender of the participants. Further, results indicate coupled activation where the induction of positive (negative) emotions leads to a corresponding reduction in negative (positive) emotions, which provides support for the bipolar continuum of positive and negative affect. Results also revealed a negativity bias in which individuals display stronger reactions to negative stimuli than positive stimuli. A practical guide in the choice of affect induction procedures for researchers is presented and implications for emotion theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

An experimental study of a virtual reality counselling paradigm using embodied self-dialogue.

When faced with a personal problem people typically give better advice to others than to themselves. A previous study showed how it is possible to enact internal dialogue in virtual reality (VR) through participants alternately occupying two different virtual bodies - one representing themselves and the other Sigmund Freud. They could maintain a self-conversation by explaining their problem to the virtual Freud and then from the embodied perspective of Freud see and hear the explanation by their virtual doppelganger, and then give some advice. Alternating between the two bodies they could maintain a self-dialogue, as if between two different people. Here we show that the process of alternating between their own and the Freud body is important for successful psychological outcomes. An experiment was carried out with 58 people, 29 in the body swapping Self-Conversation condition and 29 in a condition where they only spoke to a Scripted Freud character. The results showed that the Self-Conversation method results in a greater perception of change and help compared to the Scripted. We compare this method with the distancing paradigm where participants imagine resolving a problem from a first or third person perspective. We consider the method as a possible strategy for self-counselling.

Virtual reality in episodic memory research: A review.

Although virtual reality (VR) is a promising tool for the investigation of episodic memory phenomena, to date there has been relatively little examination of how learning mechanisms operate in VR and how these processes might compare (or contrast) with learning that occurs in real life. Moreover, the existing literature on this topic is spread across several disciplines and uses various distinct apparatuses, thus obscuring whether the differences that exist between studies might be due to genuine theoretical discrepancies or may be more simply explained by accounting for methodological variations. The current review is designed to address and elucidate several issues relevant to psychological researchers interested in understanding and/or using this technological approach to study episodic memory phenomena. The principle objectives of the review are as follows: (a) defining and discussing the various VR systems currently used for research purposes, (b) compiling research of episodic memory effects in VR as they have been studied across several disciplines, and (c) surveying major topics in this body of literature (e.g., how virtual immersion has an impact on memory; transfer effects from VR to the real world). The content of this review is designed to serve as a resource for psychologists interested in learning more about the current state of research in this field and is intended to highlight the capabilities (and constraints) associated with using this technological approach in episodic memory research.

A reflection upon methods to explore timing in patients with schizophrenia.

Phenomenologists have provided a detailed description of the disorders of the subjective experience associated with minimal-self disorders in patients with schizophrenia. Those patients report a range of distortions of their conscious experiences, including a sense of inner void, confusion between self and others, and, sometimes, a disruption of the sense of time. These reports have been interpreted as distortion of the first-person perspective and a lack of immersion in the world, associated with a breakdown of the temporal structure of consciousness, and especially a disruption of the sense of time continuity. Further, it has been proposed that these disruptions are based on a difficulty to retain past information and to predict future information, that is, the mechanisms that help to relate events with one another and to reach a sense of time continuity. Experimental psychology results seem to converge to similar conclusions, inasmuch as some results in patients with schizophrenia suggest a deficient ability to predict sequences of events at the millisecond level. Several studies have underlined this convergence. Here we reflect on the limits of both the phenomenological and experimental psychology approaches, and of the convergence of their hypotheses. We think that this reflection is necessary to avoid premature conclusions on the mechanisms underlying the impairments in patients, but also to enrich our understanding of schizophrenia.

Applying mixed-effects modeling to single-subject designs: An introduction.

Behavior analysis and statistical inference have shared a conflicted relationship for over fifty years. However, a significant portion of this conflict is directed toward statistical tests (e.g., t-tests, ANOVA) that aggregate group and/or temporal variability into means and standard deviations and as a result remove much of the data important to behavior analysts. Mixed-effects modeling, a more recently developed statistical test, addresses many of the limitations of more basic tests by incorporating random effects. Random effects quantify individual subject variability without eliminating it from the model, hence producing a model that can predict both group and individual behavior. We present the results of a generalized linear mixed-effects model applied to single-subject data taken from Ackerlund Brandt, Dozier, Juanico, Laudont, & Mick, 2015, in which children chose from one of three reinforcers for completing a task. Results of the mixed-effects modeling are consistent with visual analyses and importantly provide a statistical framework to predict individual behavior without requiring aggregation. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results and provide recommendations for further integration of mixed-effects models in the analyses of single-subject designs.

Rank-permutation tests for behavior analysis, and a test for trend allowing unequal data numbers for each subject.

We advocate for rank-permutation tests as the best choice for null-hypothesis significance testing of behavioral data, because these tests require neither distributional assumptions about the populations from which our data were drawn nor the measurement assumption that our data are measured on an interval scale. We provide an algorithm that enables exact-probability versions of such tests without recourse to either large-sample approximation or resampling approaches. We particularly consider a rank-permutation test for monotonic trend, and provide an extension of this test that allows unequal number of data points, or observations, for each subject. We provide an extended table of critical values of the test statistic for this test, and both a spreadsheet implementation and an Oracle® Java Web Start application to generate other critical values at https://sites.google.com/a/eastbayspecialists.co.nz/rank-permutation/.

Bayesian data analysis as a tool for behavior analysts.

Bayesian approaches to data analysis are considered within the context of behavior analysis. The paper distinguishes between Bayesian inference, the use of Bayes Factors, and Bayesian data analysis using specialized tools. Given the importance of prior beliefs to these approaches, the review addresses those situations in which priors have a big effect on the outcome (Bayes Factors) versus a smaller effect (parameter estimation). Although there are many advantages to Bayesian data analysis from a philosophical perspective, in many cases a behavior analyst can be reasonably well-served by the adoption of traditional statistical tools as long as the focus is on parameter estimation and model comparison, not null hypothesis significance testing. A strong case for Bayesian analysis exists under specific conditions: When prior beliefs can help narrow parameter estimates (an especially important issue given the small sample sizes common in behavior analysis) and when an analysis cannot easily be conducted using traditional approaches (e.g., repeated measures censored regression).

Bayesian methods applied to the generalized matching law.

We demonstrate the usefulness of Bayesian methods in developing, evaluating, and using psychological models in the experimental analysis of behavior. We do this through a case study, involving new experimental data that measure the response count and time allocation behavior in pigeons under concurrent random-ratio random-interval schedules of reinforcement. To analyze these data, we implement a series of behavioral models, based on the generalized matching law, as graphical models, and use computational methods to perform fully Bayesian inference. We demonstrate how Bayesian methods, implemented in this way, make inferences about parameters representing psychological variables, how they test the descriptive adequacy of models as accounts of behavior, and how they compare multiple competing models. We also demonstrate how the Bayesian graphical modeling approach allows for more complicated modeling structures, including hierarchical, common cause, and latent mixture structures, to formalize more complicated behavioral models. As part of the case study, we demonstrate how the statistical properties of Bayesian methods allow them to provide more direct and intuitive tests of theories and hypotheses, and how they support the creative and exploratory development of new theories and models.

Translating experimental paradigms into individual-differences research: Contributions, challenges, and practical recommendations.

Psychological science has long been cleaved by a fundamental divide between researchers who experimentally manipulate variables and those who measure existing individual-differences. Increasingly, however, researchers are appreciating the value of integrating these approaches. Here, we used visual attention research as a case-in-point for how this gap can be bridged. Traditionally, researchers have predominately adopted experimental approaches to investigating visual attention. Increasingly, however, researchers are integrating individual-differences approaches with experimental approaches to answer novel and innovative research questions. However, individual differences research challenges some of the core assumptions and practices of experimental research. The purpose of this review, therefore, is to provide a timely summary and discussion of the key issues. While these are contextualised in the field of visual attention, the discussion of these issues has implications for psychological research more broadly. In doing so, we provide eight practical recommendations for proposed solutions and novel avenues for research moving forward.

The time for action is at hand.

The science of mental life and behavior has paid scant attention to the means by which mental life is translated into physical behavior. Why this is so was the topic of a 2005 American Psychologist article whose main title was "The Cinderella of Psychology." In the present article, we briefly review some of the reasons why motor control was relegated to the sidelines of psychology. Then we point to work showing that experimental psychologists have much to contribute to research on action generation. We focus on studies showing that actions are generated in a way that, at least by default, minimize changes between successive actions. The method is computationally as well as physically economical but also requires consideration of costs, including costs of different kinds. How such costs are compared is discussed in the next section. The final section offers comments about the future of psychologically focused action research. Two additional themes of the review concern methods for studying action generation. First, much can be learned through naturalistic observation. Second, subsequent experiments, designed to check naturalistic observations, can use very simple equipment and procedures. This can make the study of action generation easy to pursue in the psychology laboratory.

Distress tolerance and cannabis craving: The impact of laboratory-induced distress.

Low levels of distress tolerance have been identified as an important vulnerability factor for negative cannabis outcomes. The current study is the first known experimental manipulation of state distress to test whether distress tolerance interacts with state distress to predict the urge to use cannabis. Current cannabis users (N = 126; 88.9% with cannabis use disorder; 54.0% non-Hispanic Caucasian) were randomly assigned to a distress task condition or neutral (reading) task condition. Participants in the 2 conditions did not differ on distress tolerance, negative affect (NA), or craving at baseline. The distress tolerance × condition interaction significantly predicted task NA, such that low (but not high) distress tolerance was related to greater state NA throughout the task. The distress tolerance × condition interaction significantly predicted cannabis craving during the task, such that the distress condition was related to greater cannabis craving at lower (but not higher) levels of distress tolerance. In the distress condition, those who endorsed coping motives during the task reported lower distress tolerance. Together these findings suggest that individuals with lower distress tolerance experienced greater NA during a laboratory-induced distress and reported greater cannabis craving when NA was greatest during the task. This experimental study adds to a growing, but limited, literature implicating lower levels of distress tolerance to the maintenance and relapse of cannabis use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

A system for the real-time tracking of operant behavior as an application of 3D camera.

The capacity of 3D cameras to measure many different aspects of behavior (e.g., velocity, pattern, and posture) could contribute to the understanding of behavior. The present article describes a system for the real-time tracking of operant behavior, which is applicable to other domains of behavioral science as well. Methods for real-time 3D tracking of animal behavior are described, along with sample C++ programs. A demonstration using one zebrafish as a subject indicated that the present system successfully tracked the 3D motion of the fish. Moreover, the acquisition of a target response (i.e., approach to a corner of the aquarium) was demonstrated with the arrangement of a reinforcement contingency at the corner in the absence of a traditional, salient operandum. The system offers the capacity to characterize more completely ongoing behavior in learning tasks across a range of species than simply performance of discrete operant responses. The system also is capable of tracking multiple individuals simultaneously so it is possible both to study social interactions and arrange contingencies for engaging in social behavior. Other possible applications of 3D cameras are discussed.

Name Norms: A Guide to Casting Your Next Experiment.

Psychologists often test hypotheses by constructing vignettes depicting people engaging in behavior and displaying characteristics designed to operationalize specific variables. People described in these vignettes are typically given names, but names have a variety of connotations that could lead to unwanted variance between conditions of an experiment and in other ways have implications for the results of a study. An up-to-date source of information to help guide the selection of names would be useful for researchers. Participants from four different regions of the United States rated a large sample of names in terms of perceived age, warmth, and competence. The full set of names is presented, along with some simple demonstration studies concretely illustrating the implications of name choice.

The natural mathematics of behavior analysis.

Models that generate event records have very general scope regarding the dimensions of the target behavior that we measure. From a set of predicted event records, we can generate predictions for any dependent variable that we could compute from the event records of our subjects. In this sense, models that generate event records permit us a freely multivariate analysis. To explore this proposition, we conducted a multivariate examination of Catania's Operant Reserve on single VI schedules in transition using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo scheme for Approximate Bayesian Computation. Although we found systematic deviations between our implementation of Catania's Operant Reserve and our observed data (e.g., mismatches in the shape of the interresponse time distributions), the general approach that we have demonstrated represents an avenue for modelling behavior that transcends the typical constraints of algebraic models.

PredPsych: A toolbox for predictive machine learning-based approach in experimental psychology research.

Recent years have seen an increased interest in machine learning-based predictive methods for analyzing quantitative behavioral data in experimental psychology. While these methods can achieve relatively greater sensitivity compared to conventional univariate techniques, they still lack an established and accessible implementation. The aim of current work was to build an open-source R toolbox - "PredPsych" - that could make these methods readily available to all psychologists. PredPsych is a user-friendly, R toolbox based on machine-learning predictive algorithms. In this paper, we present the framework of PredPsych via the analysis of a recently published multiple-subject motion capture dataset. In addition, we discuss examples of possible research questions that can be addressed with the machine-learning algorithms implemented in PredPsych and cannot be easily addressed with univariate statistical analysis. We anticipate that PredPsych will be of use to researchers with limited programming experience not only in the field of psychology, but also in that of clinical neuroscience, enabling computational assessment of putative bio-behavioral markers for both prognosis and diagnosis.

The replicability of the negative testing effect: Differences across participant populations.

Although memory retrieval often enhances subsequent memory, Peterson and Mulligan (2013) reported conditions under which retrieval produces poorer subsequent recall-the negative testing effect. The item-specific-relational account proposes that the effect occurs when retrieval disrupts interitem organizational processing relative to the restudy condition. Rawson et al. (2015), in contrast, failed to replicate the negative testing effect despite repeated high-powered attempts. This article examines the discrepant results, ruling out differences in procedures, and concludes that differences in participant population produced the varying outcome. Specifically, participants from the University of North Carolina (UNC) and Kent State University (KSU) completed the same version of the negative-testing paradigm and were assessed on several measures of cognitive ability (working memory capacity, Raven's progressive matrices, and SAT or ACT score). For the UNC sample, free recall scores and the amount of category clustering (a measure of organizational processing) was greater in the restudy than retrieval condition (i.e., the negative testing effect was found); for the KSU sample, there was no difference on either measure. Furthermore, in the restudy condition, recall and clustering was greater for UNC than KSU students whereas in the retrieval condition, there was no effect of site on either measure. As expected, measures of cognitive ability were greater for the UNC than KSU sample. The results indicate that the negative testing effect is replicable but is subject to limitation related to the participant population. An analysis in terms of the relationship between cognitive ability and memory predicted this pattern of results. (PsycINFO Database Record

What's Worth Talking About? Information Theory Reveals How Children Balance Informativeness and Ease of Production.

Of all the things a person could say in a given situation, what determines what is worth saying? Greenfield's principle of informativeness states that right from the onset of language, humans selectively comment on whatever they find unexpected. In this article, we quantify this tendency using information-theoretic measures and report on a study in which we tested the counterintuitive prediction that children will produce words that have a low frequency given the context, because these will be most informative. Using corpora of child-directed speech, we identified adjectives that varied in how informative (i.e., unexpected) they were given the noun they modified. In an initial experiment ( N = 31) and in a replication ( N = 13), 3-year-olds heard an experimenter use these adjectives to describe pictures. The children's task was then to describe the pictures to another person. As the information content of the experimenter's adjective increased, so did children's tendency to comment on the feature that adjective had encoded. Furthermore, our analyses suggest that children balance informativeness with a competing drive to ease production.