The still-face paradigm in Latin American mother-child dyads at 2 and 3 years: Effects of socioeconomic status and temperament.

The still-face paradigm (SFP) is a common method in infancy used to assess emotion regulation and interactions when an adult (typically the caregiver) abruptly stops a positive interaction with a child and switches to a more neutral affect. The effect of this paradigm has been studied in different countries and age ranges, but research in Latin America and with toddlers (e.g., 2-3 years old) of different socioeconomic backgrounds is scarce. The current study analyzed caregiver-child interactions in this novel sample, to analyze the possibility of generalization of the typical response of this paradigm (i.e., less positive affect, reduced gaze, and more negative affect in children when parent affect changes). The sample consisted of 114 caregiver-child dyads from low to middle socioeconomic status (SES) (children's Mage = 26.61 months, SD = 6.73, range = 18-36; 61 girls). The SFP modified version (i.e., on the floor and with a series of standardized toys), the temperament Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire adapted for Argentina, and an SES scale were used. The typical SFP response was observed in Latin American children. In addition, older children and children with higher SES exhibited better general regulation, and there were weak associations with temperament. For gender differences, boys demonstrated more aggressive behaviors at Phase II. Results from this study suggest that children's response to this paradigm is an unconditional response to the lack of social reinforcers and is only partially associated with social and individual variables.

Frustración, temperamento y vulnerabilidad social en bebés: estudio comparativo / Frustration, temperament and social vulnerability in babies: a comparative study

Resumen Antecedentes: la frustración se define como las respuestas del organismo que se desencadenan cuando existe una discrepancia negativa entre un incentivo esperado con el que realmente se recibe. Estas situaciones provocan respuestas conductuales, emocionales y neurofisiológicas análogas a las que ocurren con la presentación de estímulos aversivos o su anticipación. Existen investigaciones en bebés, pero pocos sobre sus asociaciones con diferencias individuales y ambientales y ninguno en población argentina. Objetivos: asociar la frustración, el temperamento y la vulnerabilidad social en una muestra de infantes. Metodología: se realizó un estudio asociativo-comparativo con una situación observacional estructurada donde se evaluaron a 22 bebés de 10 a 14 meses durante una tarea de frustración y su relación con el temperamento a través del Cuestionario de Conducta Infantil (IBQ-VSF) pertenecientes a dos extractos sociales evaluados con una ficha sociodemográfica. Resultados: se halló que a mayor extroversión, menor manipulación del objeto; y a mayor esfuerzo de control, menor fue la respuesta de morder, y viceversa. No se encontraron diferencias significativas en función del nivel socioeconómico. Conclusiones: se discutieron los resultados en función de la teoría de la frustración y las limitaciones del estudio, incluyendo recomendaciones para futuras investigaciones.

Abstract Background: Frustration is defined as the body's responses that are triggered when there is a negative discrepancy between an expected incentive and the one actually received. These situations elicit behavioral, emotional and neurophysiological responses analogous to those that occur with aversive stimuli or their anticipation. There is research on babies, but few on the associations with individual and environmental differences and none on the Argentine population. Objectives: To associate frustration, temperament and social vulnerability in a sample of infants. Method: A comparative associative study was carried out using a structured observation technique where frustration and its relationship with temperament were evaluated in 22 babies aged 10 to 14 months through the infant behavior questionnaire-revised very short form (IBQ-R VSF). The study population belonged to two social strata according to a sociodemographic record. Results: An inverse correlation was found between extroversion and manipulation of objects, and between effortful control and biting response. No significant differences were identified based on the socioeconomic level. Conclusions: The results were discussed taking into account the frustration theory, the study limitations and the recommendations for future research.

Attachment Styles, Personality, and Frustration Intolerance.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationships between attachment styles, personality traits, and their effects on frustration intolerance (FI) in a sample of 300 adults. The Argentine Attachment Styles Scale, the Eysenck Revised Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-RA), and the Frustration Intolerance Scale (EIF) was used. In the two Full Latent Variable Models developed, it was determined that neuroticism and avoidant attachment had the greatest mediating effects on FI. Avoidant attachment stood out for its mediating effect on anxious attachment. These two factors were found to explain a considerable percentage of neuroticism and, as a consequence, the four dimensions of FI. It is concluded that it is necessary to reinterpret certain concepts of neuroticism and study them from a perspective that starts from attachment theory.

Emociones y frustración en bebés: el temperamento y la vulnerabilidad social como factores moduladores / Emotions and frustration in babies: temperament and social vulnerability as modulating factors

Las emociones son consideradas como mecanismos que se configuran a largo del tiempo para adaptarse a las demandas del medio ambiente, procurando de esta forma la supervivencia. Una de ellas es la frustración que se define como las respuestas del organismo que se desencadenan cuando existe una discrepancia negativa entre un incentivo esperado con el que realmente recibe. Estas situaciones provocan respuestas conductuales, emocionales y neurofisiológicas análogas a las que ocurren con la presentación de estímulos aversivos o su anticipación, tales como la ansiedad, el miedo, el estrés y el dolor nocioceptivo. El objetivo del presente artículo es: a) presentar los principales modelos teóricos de la emoción y frustración, su desarrollo y sus relaciones con factores individuales (temperamento) y ambientales (pobreza), y b) hacer un relevamiento de la bibliografía existente sobre los efectos de la frustración en bebés de hasta un año. Se encontró que el temperamento contribuye a los niveles de emoción y frustración expresados por los infantes. Son necesarios más trabajos para evaluar la influencia del ambiente y en un segundo momento, realizar intervenciones que puedan aumentar la tolerancias a la frustración(AU)

Emotions are considered as mechanisms that are configured over time for conflicts to the demands of the environment, thus seeking survival. Frustration is defined as an organism response that is triggered when there is a negative discrepancy between an expected incentive and the one that actually receives. These situations provoke behavioral, emotional and neurophysiological responses analogous to those that occur with the presentation of aversive stimuli or their anticipation, stories such as anxiety, fear, stress and nocioceptive pain. The objective of this article is: a) to present the main theoretical models of emotion and frustration, their development and their relationships with individual (temperament) and environmental (poverty) factors, and b) to survey the existing bibliography on the effects of frustration in babies up to one year old. Temperament and vulnerability were found to have the levels of emotion and frustration expressed by infants. However, it will be necessary to carry out more studies to decrease the contradictory results and generate, in a second moment, those that can increase the levels of this ability(AU)

Regulation During the Second Year: Executive Function and Emotion Regulation Links to Joint Attention, Temperament, and Social Vulnerability in a Latin American Sample.

Although a growing body of work has established developing regulatory abilities during the second year of life, more work is needed to better understand factors that influence this emerging control. The purpose of the present study was to examine regulation capacities in executive functions (i.e., EF or cognitive control) and emotion regulation (i.e., ER or control focused on modulating negative and sustaining positive emotions) in a Latin American sample, with a focus on how joint attention, social vulnerability, and temperament contribute to performance. Sixty Latin American dyads of mothers and children aged 18 to 24 months completed several EF tasks, a Still-Face Paradigm (SFP) to examine ER (Weinberg et al., 2008), and the Early Social Communication Scale to measure joint attention (Mundy et al., 2003). Parents completed the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire Very Short Form to measure temperament (ECBQ-VS, Putnam et al., 2010) and the Social Economic Level Scale (SES) from INDEC (2000). Results revealed the typical responses expected for toddlers of this age in these EF tasks and in the SFP. Also, we found associations between EF and ER and between non-verbal communication related to monitoring infants' attention to objects (i.e., responding to joint attention) and initiation of pointing (e.g., pointing and showing of an object while the child alternates his gaze to an adult) with EF. Regarding social factors, family differences and type of housing contribute to regulation. For temperament, effortful control was associated with both regulatory capacities. Finally, only age predicted EF. These results suggest that many patterns regarding the development of these abilities are duplicated in the first months of life in a Latin American sample while further highlighting the importance of considering how the environment and the individual characteristics of infants may associate to these regulatory abilities, which is particularly relevant to developing public policies to promote their optimal development.

Intolerancia a la frustración y estrategias cognitivas de regulación emocional en la predicción de la agresividad / Frustration intolerance and cognitive strategies of emotional regulation in the prediction of aggressiveness

Resumen La conducta agresiva constituye un problema que afecta a los individuos y a la so ciedad. El Modelo de Agresión General integra un conjunto de variables que influyen en la pro babilidad de exhibir una conducta agresiva entre las cuales está la regulación emocional y la frustración. Esta investigación evalúa las relaciones entre la regulación emocional cognitiva y la intolerancia a la frustración. A 419 sujetos adultos se les administraron la Escala de Intoleran cia a la Frustración, la Escala de Regulación Emocional Cognitiva y el Cuestionario de Agresión. Se hallaron relaciones positivas en la mayoría de las estrategias desadaptativas cognitivas de regulación emocional y relaciones negativas entre la mayoría de las estrategias cognitivas adap tativas de regulación emocional con la conducta agresiva, y relaciones positivas entre todas las dimensiones de la intolerancia a la frustración y la conducta agresiva. El Análisis de Regresión Múltiple muestra que las variables que producen un cambio significativo en la agresividad son la catastrofización y culpar a otros, así como la intolerancia a la frustración referida a derechos. Mediante path análisis se verificó que estas tres variables mencionadas permiten explicar un 41% de la variabilidad en la agresividad.

Abstract Aggressive behavior is a problem that affects individuals and society. The General Aggression Model integrates a set of variables that influence the probability of exhibiting aggressive behavior, among which is emotional regulation and frustration. This research assesses the relationships between cognitive emotional regulation and frustration intolerance. A total of 419 adult subjects were administered the Frustration Intolerance Scale, the Cognitive Emotional Regulation Scale and the Aggression Questionnaire. Positive relationships were found in most of the maladaptive cognitive emotional regulation strategies and negative re lationships between most of the adaptive cognitive emotional regulation strategies with the aggressive behavior, and positive relationships between all the dimensions of the frustration intolerance and the aggressive behavior. The Multiple Regression Analysis shows that the vari ables that produce a significant change in aggressiveness are catastrophization and blaming others, as well as the frustration intolerance referring to rights. By means of path analysis, it was verified that these three variables can explain 41% of the variability in aggressiveness.

Comprendo y siento tu dolor: Efectos emocionales de viñetas sobre exclusión social en adultos / I understand and feel your pain: emotional effects of vignettes on social exclusion in adults

Resumen Se presentan estudios que evaluaron si los efectos emocionales inmediatos de la exclusión social se pueden provocar con viñetas. Estudio 1: los participantes (n=20) se dividieron en 4 grupos; dos leían una viñeta donde un niño era excluido de un juego; en los otros dos, era incluido. Cada clase de relato variaba según su modalidad: descriptivo o con contenido emocional. Los lectores contestaron a cómo creían que se sentían los niños en cuestionarios sobre necesidades básicas fundamentales (NBF, Williams, 2009), estado de ánimo (EA) y frustración. Las viñetas de exclusión, independientemente de su modalidad, produjeron un decremento significativo en las NBF, mayor EA negativo, menor EA positivo y mayor frustración respecto de los de inclusión. El Estudio 2 (n=103), intrasujeto, usó una viñeta de inclusión y otra de exclusión y los mismos cuestionarios del Estudio 1, agregando el EA y uno de Empatía Emocional para responder a "cómo se sintieron los lectores". Se hallaron datos congruentes con los del Estudio 1. Los lectores experimentaron mayor EA negativo, menor EA positivo y mayor empatía emocional ante el relato de exclusión comparado con el de inclusión. Estos resultados abren un nuevo campo de experimentación sobre el tema.

Abstract Humans have a fundamental need to connect socially with others. Being ignored and excluded, Ostracism, rejection and other forms of social exclusion, threatens this need, triggers painful feelings, and elicits a wide range of negative effects. The episodes that individuals register as social exclusion (SE) immediately induce negative effects and decrease the four basic psychological needs (i.e., belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaningful existence), decrease the intelligent behavior, decrease self-regulation, change the consumption, increase riskier behaviors, decrease the pain threshold, greater dislike of slightly aversive stimuli, altered heart rhythm, increased blood pressure, increased blood cortisol, digestive disorders and respiratory system, increased temperature in the nasal and perioral area, and decrease in pupillary size and greater activation of brain areas related to sensory pain. Two studies are presented that evaluated whether the immediate emotional effects of social exclusion can be provoked by reading a vignette. Study 1: participants (n = 20) were divided into 4 groups; two read a narration where a child was excluded from a game; in the other one, it was included. Each kind of story varied according to its modality: merely descriptive or including emotional content. The readers answered how they thought the children felt in questionnaires about fundamentals needs (Williams, 2009), mood state and frustration. The narrations of exclusion, regardless of their modality, produced a significant decrease in fundamental needs, higher negative mood, lower positive mood and greater frustration with respect to inclusion. The Study 2 (n = 103), an intrasubject design, used a narration of inclusion and another of exclusion, and the same questionnaires of Study 1, adding the questionnaire of mood and another of emotional empathy to respond "how the readers felt". Data were consistent with Study. 1. In addition, readers presented higher negative mood, lower positive mood and greater emotional empathy towards the exclusion story compared to inclusion narration. These results open a new field of experimentation on the topic.

Percepción de estudiantes y graduados sobre el estatus de la Psicología en Argentina / Perception of students and graduates on status of Psychology in Argentina

Hay evidencia que muestra que existen diferencias entre estudiantes y graduados sobre los puntos de vista acerca de la naturaleza de la Psicología. El objetivo del trabajo es evaluar la percepción sobre el status de la disciplina entre estudiantes y graduados de Psicología de Argentina con la Escala de Psicología como ciencia, basada en la de Friedrich (1996). Consiste en 20 afirmaciones que se deben puntuar con una escala likert, que va desde completamente en desacuerdo (1) a completamente de acuerdo (7), clasificadas en tres factores: F1, la Psicología es una disciplina análoga a la Biología o la Física; F2, la investigación llevada a cabo en entornos controlados de laboratorio es esencial para la comprensión de la conducta cotidiana, y F3, la conducta es predecible. El Factor 4 contiene ítems de relleno para ensombrecer el objetivo del cuestionario. La Escala se envió mediante un sistema on line y en forma presencial. Los graduados presentaron puntajes significativamente mayores que los estudiantes en los tres factores de interés. Los graduados de orientación cognitiva-conductual obtuvieron un puntaje medio que indica que están muy de acuerdo o de acuerdo con el estatus científico de la Psicología a diferencia de los estudiantes y psicoanalistas. Además, los estudiantes de los primeros años presentan puntajes significativamente más altos en F1 y F3 en relación a los de los últimos años. Los resultados se discuten en relación a la enseñanza de la Psicología.

One of the fundamental goals of education is for people to learn to differentiate scientific knowledge from the one derived from common sense and pseudoscience. Learning to thinks cientifically is considered an easy task. It is not natural to humans; it requires changing certain structures of knowledge towards notions that need reflection, and an important transformation of some conceptual networks that are involved in the information processing mechanisms natural of all living organisms. In the case of psychology, the conceptual change from folk psychology (or common sense) and pseudos-cience to psychological science is also difficult to teach, perhaps even more so than in physics or biology, as the latter are more developed, more remote from human problems and there are less epistemological controversies about their methodology. There is evidence of differences between students and graduates on their views about the scientific basis of psychology. In this paper, the perception of psychology's status was evaluated among psychology students and graduates from universities in Argentina using the Psychology as a Science Scale (Friedrich, 1996PAS). It's comprised of 20 items with a 7 point Likert style response ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). It is divided into three factors. F1: psychology can be considered as a science similar to biology or physics (4 items, e.g. A degree in psychology should be a Bachelor of Science rather than one in Arts or Humanities); F2: research conducted in controlled laboratory environments is essential for the understanding of everyday behavior (5 items, e.g. Being able to do experiments is as important to psychology students as for chemistry, physics or biology students); and F3: behavior is predictable (6 items, e.g. Although each person is unique, it is possible for science to find general laws to explain human behavior). It also has 4 filler questions (FR) to hide the objectives of the survey and control social desirability (eg. An introductory course in psychology should encompass the widest range of possible topics). Friedrich (1996) reported that the scale has an internal consistency coefficient alpha of .71 for a sample of students and Holmes (2014), reported alpha of .74 for graduate / teachers. For the sample presented, Cronbach's alpha was .74 for all items. The Spanish translation was done by the authors of the study and evaluated by two experts in psychology and English proficiency. Then it was administered to a group of psychology students to confirm the understanding of the items. The survey was administered both through an online system and in person. The main results show that students have significantly lower score than graduates in the three factors of interest. However, graduates who identify with a cognitive-behavioral framework or with an integrative-eclectic approach strongly agree or agree with the scientific status of psychology as measured in F1, F2 and F3, unlike students and psychoanalysts who scored significantly less in F1 and F3. Moreover, students of the first years of study have a significant minor score than students of the last years on F1 and F3(p < .05). This work has as limit that the sample is not representative and the questionnaire was not validated in its version in Spanish. However, the results are similar to those of other countries, although it was the first that discriminated the opinion of the graduates in function of the theoretical orientation. Future research confirms these results. These results are discussed in relation to studies in other countries and to the teaching of psychology.

Adaptación Argentina de la "Escala de intolerancia a la frustración" / Argentinean adaptation of the Frustration Intolerance Scale

La "Escala de intolerancia a la frustración" (EIF; Harrington, 2005) permite evaluar una serie de creencias que promueven la intolerancia a las molestias, el esfuerzo, la injusticia y las emociones incómodas. A pesar de la importancia de este instrumento, no existe una versión en español de la EIF. En este trabajo se evaluó la equivalencia de una traducción de la EIF mediante un panel de expertos. Posteriormente, mediante análisis factorial confirmatorio (n= 799) se concluyó que la EIF posee una estructura multidimensional de cuatro factores: Intolerancia emocional, Derecho, Intolerancia a la incomodidad y Logro. Sin embargo, debieron eliminarse 11 ítems, lo cual afectó la consistencia interna de algunas dimensiones. También se examinó la invarianza del instrumento considerando la edad, sexo y nivel educativo de los participantes, obteniéndose pruebas de validez de criterio correlacionando la EIF con los niveles de autoestima. Los resultados psicométricos fueron aceptables, aunque se identificaron algunas limitaciones a considerar antes de utilizar a nivel profesional. Este trabajo inaugura futuros estudios sobre IF en países de habla española

The Intolerance to Frustration Scale (IFS, Harrington, 2005) assesses a series of beliefs that promote intolerance to annoyance, exertion, injustice and uncomfortable emotions. Despite the importance of this instrument, there is no Spanish version of the IFS. In this work, the equivalence of a translation from thecIFS was assessed by a panel of experts. Subsequently, by means of confirmatory factorial analysis (n= 799) it was concluded that the IFS has a multidimensional structure of four factors: Emotional Intolerance, Right, Intolerance to Discomfort and Achievement. However, 11 items had to be removed, which affected the internal consistency of some dimensions. The invariance of the instrument was also examined considering the age, sex and educational level of the participants, and evidence of validity as obtained by correlating the IFS with self-esteem levels. Psychometric results were acceptable, although some limitations should be addressed before the scale is used professionally in Spanish-speaking countries

Emisión de Conductas de TDAH por Niños "Normales" en Opinión de Maestros Argentinos / Emission of ADHD Behaviors by "Normal" Children according to Argentinean Teachers

Resumen Según el DSM-IV un niño que emite "a menudo" seis de 18 conductas debe etiquetarse con TDAH. Los maestros generalmente reportan la frecuencia de emisión "anormal". El estudio averiguó la frecuencia de emisión de conductas del TDAH por niños "normales". Maestros de primaria (N = 113) señalaron la frecuencia (0 = nunca; 3 = muy frecuentemente) con la que un niño "normal" emite en clase las conductas del TDAH incluidas en el DSM-IV. Según el 25.7% de los maestros, los niños normales emiten frecuentemente (más de cuatro veces por hora) seis o más conductas del TDAH. Las características sociodemográficas de los maestros y variables del contexto escolar se relacionaron con la frecuencia considerada como normal. Se concluyó que las conductas del TDAH son emitidas muy frecuentemente en clase por los niños normales. El juicio sobre si dicha frecuencia es o no anormal dependerá del subgrupo al que pertenecen los maestros. Por tanto, una misma conducta puede juzgarse como anormal por un maestro y como normal por otro. Los resultados son congruentes con la aproximación psicológica a la conducta anormal que postula que cada observador juzgará como normal o anormal una conducta conforme su propio criterio, determinado por factores culturales.

Abstract According to the DSM-IV a child that "often" emits at least six of 18 behaviors should be diagnosed with ADHD. Generally teachers are the first to report the "abnormal" frequency of behaviors of their students. The study aimed at determining the frequency of emission of ADHD behaviors by a "normal" student during class hours. Elementary school teachers (N = 113) reported in a 4-point scale (0 = never; 3 = very frequently) the frequency with which a "normal" child emits in class the ADHD behaviors included in the DSM-IV. Results showed that according to 25.7% of the teachers, "normal" children emit frequently (i.e., more than four times per hour) six or more ADHD behaviors. Results also showed that the sociodemographic characteristics of the teachers and school-situational variables were related to the frequency of a beha vior that was deemed as normal. It was concluded that ADHD behaviors are emitted quite frequently by normal children du ring class hours. The judgment on whether that frequency is or not normal will depend of the subgroup to which each teacher belongs. Thus, a same behavior could be judged as normal by one teacher and as abnormal by another. The results are in accordance with the psychological approximation to abnormal behavior that states that each observer will judge a behavior as normal or as abnormal according to his/her own criteria determined by cultural standards.

Cholinergic transmission underlies modulation of frustration by open field exposure.

Frustration can be defined as an emotional state generated by the omission or devaluation in the quantity or quality of an expected appetitive reward. Thus, reactivity to a reward is affected by prior experience with the different reinforcer values of that reward. This phenomenon is known as incentive relativity, and can be studied by different paradigms. Although methodologically simple, the exploration of a novel open field (OF) is a complex situation that involves several behavioral processes, including stress induction and novelty detection. OF exposure can enhance or block the acquisition of associative and non-associative memories. These experiments evaluated the effect of OF exploration on frustration and the role played by the cholinergic system in this phenomenon. OF exploration before first or second trial of incentive downshift modulated the expression of frustration. This effect of OF was blocked by the administration of scopolamine either before or after OF exploration. These results indicate that the cholinergic system is involved in the acquisition and consolidation of OF information.

Assessment of Environmental Quality, Degree of Optimism, and the Assignment of Responsibility Regarding the State of the Environment in Latin America / Evaluación de la Calidad Ambiental, Grado de Optimismo y Asignación de Responsabilidad con Respecto al Estado del Ambiente en Latinoamérica

This study explores the assessments made by the inhabitants of eight Latin American countries regarding the current state of the environment, at a local, national and global scale, and how it is perceived looking ahead to the future. It also examines the assignment of responsibility in the future management of the environment. A total of 944 people took part in the study from the eight participating countries, men and women over the age of 18 with different levels of education. The study uses the Environmental Futures Scale to which two relevant items have been added to assess the environment in the region, as well as the Assignment of Environmental Responsibility Scale. The results show differences between the countries, although in general they are pessimistic regarding the current and future state of the environment at the local, national and global level, with the exception of Brazil. In general, and with the exception of Brazil, in the countries surveyed, people assign a high level of responsibility to external social agents at the different levels, increasing their judgement of external responsibility at the national and global levels of analysis. The implications of these findings for environmental policy and education in the countries of this region are also discussed.

El presente estudio explora las evaluaciones realizadas por los habitantes de ocho países de América Latina en relación con su percepción sobre el estado actual del medio ambiente a escala local, nacional y mundial, así como las expectativas hacia el futuro del ambiente y la asignación de responsabilidades en cuanto a la gestión del futuro ambiental. Participaron un total de 944 personas de ocho países, hombres y mujeres de más 18 años con diferentes niveles de educación. Se aplicó la Escala de Futuros Ambientales a la que se le añadieron dos ítems pertinentes para evaluar el medio ambiente en la región y los ítems correspondientes a la Escala de Responsabilidad Ambiental. Los resultados muestran diferencias entre los países, aunque en general son pesimistas sobre el estado actual y futuro del medio ambiente a nivel local, nacional y mundial, con la excepción de Brasil. Igualmente en general, y con la excepción de Brasil, en los diferentes países encuestados las personas asignan un alto nivel de responsabilidad a los agentes sociales externos en los diferentes niveles, siendo más grande la responsabilidad asignada en los ámbitos nacional y mundial. También se discuten las implicaciones de estos hallazgos para la política del medio ambiente y las implicaciones para la educación en los países de esta región.

Postweaning isolation affects responses to incentive contrast in adulthood.

Adolescence is a time involving a series of changes in the use of appetitive reinforcers like food, as well as neuroendocrine changes like those taking place in the mesolimbic dopamine function. Social isolation from postnatal day 21 to 36 in rats leads to behavioral and neurophysiological alterations such as increased consumption of appetitive reinforcers. The work is focused on studying how exposure to chronic stress induced by social isolation during adolescence can have a long-lasting effect on responses to reinforcement shifts in adulthood. Two experiments were performed in rats in order to analyze the effect of adolescent isolation on the responses to unanticipated shifts in reinforcement during adulthood, in reinforcement devaluation (32-4% of sucrose solution), increase (4-32% of sucrose solution), and extinction (32-0% of sucrose solution) procedures. Adolescent isolation intensified the intake response resulting from a reinforcement increase (i.e., greater positive contrast), but had no effect on the response to reinforcement devaluation and omission. The implications of this procedure are discussed, along with the underlying behavioral and neurochemical mechanisms.

Change in the hedonic value of an aversive stimulus in the presence of a pre-exposed odor.

Rats exhibit a sensitive period from the time of birth until postnatal day 10 during which they develop preferences for odors even if those odors are paired with a moderately aversive stimulus. It is still unknown whether pre-exposure to an odor produces alterations on intake responses of basic tastants, and on other patterns that indicate a change in the hedonic value of reward, such as nipple grasping behavior. The current study assessed the effect of pre-exposure to an odor immediately after birth on intake responses of appetitive and aversive tastants. The objectives were to assess if 3-hour-old rats adjust their behaviors to obtain different values of appetitive and aversive rewards in the presence of a familiar odor. Specifically we wanted to determine whether the intake of saccharin or quinine, administered through the artificial nipple, increases in the presence of the familiar odor. Results showed that 3-hour-old rats differentially respond to two different concentrations of saccharin and two concentrations of quinine. In the presence of the pre-exposed odor newborn rats increased intake and grasp responses to the artificial nipple containing quinine. This effect disappeared with a higher concentration of quinine. These results suggest that the pre-exposed odor generated a change in the hedonic value of the aversive reward.

Propranolol reverses open field effects on frustration.

Reactivity to a reward is affected by prior experience with different reinforcer values of that reward, a phenomenon known as incentive relativity. Incentive relativity can be studied via the consummatory successive negative contrast (cSNC) paradigm, in which acceptance of 4% sucrose is assessed in animals that had been exposed to 32% sucrose. These downshifted animals usually exhibit significantly less sucrose acceptance than animals that always received the 4% sucrose solution. In previous work, we found that exploration of a novel open field (OF) before the first trial with the downshifted solution attenuated the contrast effect. The goal of the present experiments was to expand the knowledge on the effects of OF exposure on cSNC. We evaluated the effect OF exposure before the second downshift trial and assessed the mediational role of the adrenergic system in the effects of OF during the first and second trial of cSNC. The results indicate that OF applied before the first or second downshift trials exert opposite effects and that the adrenergic system is involved in the acquisition and consolidation of the OF information.

Ontogeny of consummatory successive negative contrast in rats.

Consummatory successive negative contrast (cSNC) occurs when organisms repeatedly exposed to a high-magnitude reward are suddenly given a low-magnitude reward. This results in a significant reduction in the consumption of the devalued reinforcer, at a level even below that of a group which had been always exposed to the low-magnitude reinforcer. A scarcity of animal studies assessed the expression of this phenomenon during early development. Three experiments assessed age of cSNC onset in preweanling rats. Percent body weight gained (%BWG) and taste reactions associated with reinforcement devaluation were measured. A reduction in %BWG and a significant increase in emission of aversive hedonic behaviors, indicative of cSNC, occurred on postnatal day 18 (PD 18; Experiments 1 and 2), but not on PD 14 or PD 17 (Experiments 3a and 3b). The neurobiological mechanisms underlying these effects and theoretical implications are discussed.

Proactive interference of open field on consummatory successive negative contrast.

Reactivity to a reward is affected by prior experience with the different reinforcer values of that reward, a phenomenon known as incentive relativity, which can be studied using the consummatory succesive negative contrast (cSNC) paradigm, in which the performance of animals that receive a 4 % sucrose solution after trials on which they were exposed to 32 % sucrose is compared with that of subjects that always receive the 4 % sucrose solution. The exploration of a novel open field can enhance or block the acquisition of associative and nonassociative memories. The effect of open field on cSNC has not yet been explored. The main result of the present study was that open-field exposure significantly modified the expression of cSNC. Exposure to an open field 1 h but not immediately before the downshift interfered with the expression of cSNC. These animals drank more of the downshifted reward than did controls that were not exposed to the apparatus, and this behavior persisted for up to three recovery trials. This phenomenon was observed even when the animals were given a more protracted preshift phase and when the discrepancy between the preshift and shift incentive values of sucrose were increased. An open field also interfered with incentive downshift when open-field exposure occurred 6 h before the downshift, and repeated exposure to the apparatus did not deteriorate this effect. The present study adds to a growing body of literature that indicates that open-field exploration can interfere with memory formation.

Efecto de contraste sucesivo negativo en la valoración emocional de imágenes / Successive negative contrast effect on the emotional evaluation of images

Se presentan dos experimentos para estudiar el efecto de la reducción del valor de incentivo sobre las respuestas de tiempo de observación y valoración de la emocionalidad de las imágenes, mediante una escala Likert. En ambos estudios un grupo de sujetos observó una serie de fotografías del Sistema Internacional de Imagen Afectiva (International Affective Picture System; IAPS) clasificadas como placenteras de alta activación (fase de precambio) y luego, placenteras de baja activación (fase de postcambio, Grupo Experimental, GE). Otro grupo observó en ambas fases solamente las imágenes placenteras de baja activación (Grupo Control, GC). No hubo efectos en el tiempo de observación de las imágenes pero sí en su valoración emocional. Durante la fase de post-cambio el GE evaluó las imágenes de baja activación como menos emocionales que el GC. El Experimento 2 replica el resultado cuando se interpone una tarea distractora entre cada ensayo de presentación de las imágenes. Estos resultados indican que la valoración afectiva de las imágenes está modulada por efectos de contraste negativo y que su mecanismo es de origen central (AU)

Two experiments were presented in which the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) was used to study the effect of the incentive value downshift upon the observation time and emotional valuation responses in humans. One group observed pleasant slides of high arousal (pre-shift phase) and then pleasant slides of low arousal (post-shift phase, Experimental Group, GE). The Control Group (GC) observed pleasant slides of low arousal in both phases. There was not an effect on the observation time measure, but a successive negative contrast (SNC) effect was found in the emotional valuation measure. During the post-shift phase, the GE evaluated the slides as less emotional than the GC. These results indicate that the affective evaluation of the images is modulated by negative contrast effect (AU)

Evaluación del temperamento en perros de refugio y de familia. Un estudio comparativo / Avaliação do temperamento em cães de refúgio e de família. Um estudo comparativo / Evaluation of the temperament of shelter dogs and family pets. A comparative study

Este estudio comparó el desempeño de perros de refugio y de familia en una batería de pruebas comportamentales de temperamento, con el fin de evaluar si existe una asociación entre las condiciones de alojamiento en refugios (restricción social y espacial) y la aparición de alteraciones del comportamiento. Se utilizaron 30 perros domésticos mestizos a los que se les administró una batería de cuatro pruebas de temperamento: sociabilidad y miedo interespecífico, entrenabilidad, agresión interespecífica y miedo no social. Los resultados muestran que, comparados con los perros de familia, los perros de refugio permanecieron más tiempo cerca de la experimentadora en la prueba de sociabilidad y presentaron puntuaciones significativamente más elevadas en la prueba de miedo no-social.

The study compared the performance of shelter dogs and family pets in a battery of behavioral temperament tests, in order to evaluate whether there is an association between the living conditions in shelters (social and spatial restriction) and alterations of behavior. Thirty half-breed house dogs were given a battery of four temperament tests: sociability and interspecific fear, trainability, interspecific aggression, and non-social fear. Results show that, compared to family pets, shelter dogs remained close to the experimenter for a longer period during the sociability test and their scores were significantly higher in the non-social fear test.

Este estudo comparou o desempenho de cães de refúgio e de família em uma série de provas comportamentais de temperamento, com o objetivo de avaliar se existe uma associação entre as condições de alojamento em refúgios (restrição social e espacial) e o surgimento de alterações do comportamento. Utilizaram-se 30 cães domésticos mestiços aos quais foram dadas quatro provas de temperamento: sociabilidade e medo interespecífico, treinabilidade, agressão interespecífica e medo não social. Os resultados mostram que, comparados com os cães de família, os de refúgio permaneceram mais tempo perto da experimentadora na prova de sociabilidade e apresentaram pontuações significativamente mais elevadas nas provas de medo não social.

Consummatory suppression due to incentive downshift is not a consequence of enhanced search behavior.

Rats shifted from 32% to 4% sucrose solution consume less from the 4% solution than rats that experience only the 4% solution. This consummatory suppression, a phenomenon known as consummatory successive negative contrast (cSNC), is accompanied by an increase in other behaviors such as rearing, nose-down locomotion, ambulation, sampling new sources and grooming. Despite a large body of studies on the cSNC, it remains to be determined whether reduced consumption is part of the direct response to the reward downshift or a byproduct of the increase in alternative competing behaviors. The objective of the present study was to determine if consummatory suppression would occur when most competing behaviors are prevented from occurring. Rats were trained either with 32% or 4% sucrose solution for ten days in restrainers that limited almost all movement. On the next five days, all subjects received the 4% sucrose solution and a robust suppression in drinking in the downshifted animals was observed. These results suggest that consummatory suppression is a direct consequence of incentive downshift and not a byproduct of the increase in competing behaviors.