Testing problem solving in turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) using the string-pulling test.

To examine problem solving in turkey vultures (Cathartes aura), six captive vultures were presented with a string-pulling task, which involved drawing a string up to access food. This test has been used to assess cognition in many bird species. A small piece of meat suspended by a string was attached to a perch. Two birds solved the problem without apparent trial-and-error learning; a third bird solved the problem after observing a successful bird, suggesting that this individual learned from the other vulture. The remaining birds failed to complete the task. The successful birds significantly reduced the time needed to solve the task from early trials compared to late trials, suggesting that they had learned to solve the problem and improved their technique. The successful vultures solved the problem in a novel way: they pulled the string through their beak with their tongue, and may have gathered the string in their crop until the food was in reach. In contrast, ravens, parrots and finches use a stepwise process; they pull the string up, tuck it under foot, and reach down to pull up another length. As scavengers, turkey vultures use their beak for tearing and ripping at carcasses, but possess large, flat, webbed feet that are ill-suited to pulling or grasping. The ability to solve this problem and the novel approach used by the turkey vultures in this study may be a result of the unique evolutionary pressures imposed on this scavenging species.

Symptoms of depression together with trait anxiety increase the ability to predict alpha power change between attention and resting states.

Research suggests that symptoms of anxiety may result in atypical alpha activity associated with cognitive functioning. It is well documented that symptoms of anxiety are often comorbid with symptoms of depression. However, the combined influence of these symptoms on alpha activity changes between engaged attention states and rest is poorly understood. We therefore aimed to investigate the specific added contribution depressive symptoms may have in predicting alpha power compared to anxiety alone. We measured the disparity in alpha power between a selective attention state compared to a resting state using EEG. Selective attention was engaged using the Eriksen flanker task. Our results show that alpha disparity was predicted significantly better when symptoms of depression were incorporated into the model, compared to trait anxiety alone. Also, both symptoms were significant predictors of alpha power change, but in opposite directions. Alpha disparity increased between rest and attention as trait anxiety symptoms increased, while disparity was negatively correlated with increased symptoms of depression. Clinical symptoms did not predict flanker task performance during incongruent trials, but did strongly relate to global executive dysfunction. Given that clinical symptoms were related to alpha change between attention and rest but not behavioral performance on the flanker task, it is possible that these neural patterns could reflect a compensatory strategy. These results further emphasize the importance of examining how the compounded influence symptoms of anxiety and depression manifest in executive abilities, and add to the growing body of evidence that there is a neurological differentiation between these disorders.

Feasibility of School-Based ADHD Interventions: A Mixed-Methods Study of Perceptions of Adolescents and Adults.

OBJECTIVE: Little is known about perceptions surrounding academic interventions for ADHD that determine intervention feasibility. METHOD: As part of a longitudinal mixed-methods research project, representative school district samples of 148 adolescents (54.8%), 161 parents (59.4%), 122 teachers (50.0%), 46 health care providers (53.5%), and 92 school health professionals (65.7%) completed a cross-sectional survey. They also answered open-ended questions addressing undesirable intervention effects, which were analyzed using grounded theory methods. RESULTS: Adolescents expressed significantly lower receptivity toward academic interventions than adult respondents. Stigma emerged as a significant threat to ADHD intervention feasibility, as did perceptions that individualized interventions foster inequality. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that adolescents' viewpoints must be included in intervention development to enhance feasibility and avoid interventions acceptable to adults, but resisted by adolescents.

Towards a hybrid philosophy of surgical education.

BACKGROUND: Surgical training involves a complex amalgam of skills. This publication seeks to incorporate concepts about higher education into a philosophy of surgical education. METHODS: The core of the present review is derived from a literature search of a computer database (Medline). The notion of competence is used to illustrate the concept of a philosophy of surgical education. CONCLUSION: A predefined philosophy of surgical education may serve as a useful reference point when choices arise during the development of surgical training.