Is the number of trials a primary determinant of conditioned responding?

Acquisition of conditioned responding is thought to be determined by the number of pairings of a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US). However, it is possible that acquisition is primarily determined not by the number of trials but rather by quantities that often correlate with the number of trials, such as cumulative intertrial interval (ITI) and the number of sessions. Four experiments examined whether the number of trials has an effect on acquisition of conditioned responding, once cumulative ITI and number of sessions are equated. Results of the experiments with rats and mice favor the hypothesis that over an eightfold range, variation in number of CS-US pairings has little effect. It is suggested that learning curves might more accurately be plotted across cumulative ITI or number of sessions, and not across number of trials. Results pose a challenge to trial-centered accounts of conditioning, as demonstrated by simulations of the Rescorla-Wagner model, a simplified version of Wagner's standard operating procedure model (SOP), and Stout & Miller's sometimes competing retrieval model (SOCR). A time-centered account, rate estimation theory (RET), predicts the main finding but has trouble with other aspects of the learning process more easily accommodated by trial-centered models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A parallel method for numerical solution of delay differential equations

0　ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＴｈｉｓｐａｐｅｒｄｅａｌｓｗｉｔｈｉｎｉｔｉａｌｖａｌｕｅｐｒｏｂｌｅｍｓｆｏｒｄｅｌａｙｄｉｆｆｅｒｅｎｔｉａｌｅｑｕａｔｉｏｎｓ (ＤＤＥｓ) :ｙ′(ｔ) =ｆ(ｙ(ｔ) ,ｙ(ｔ-τ) ) ｔ≥ｔ0ｙ(ｔ) =φ(ｔ)　　　　　　 ｔ≤ｔ0( 1)　　Ｗｅａｓｓｕｍｅｔｈａｔ ( 1)ｉｓａｓｃａｌａｒｅｑｕａｔｉｏｎ ,ｔｈｉｓｈａｓａｎａｄｖａｎｔａｇｅｔｈａｔｗｅｃａｎａｖｏｉｄｔｅｎｓｏｒｐｒｏｄｕｃｔｓｉｎｏｕｒｆｏｒｍｕ ｌａｔｉｏｎ .ｆ ,φｄｅｎｏｔｅｇｉｖｅｎｆｕｎｃｔｉｏｎｓａｎｄ…     

Not yet human: Implicit knowledge, historical dehumanization, and contemporary consequences.

Historical representations explicitly depicting Blacks as apelike have largely disappeared in the United States, yet a mental association between Blacks and apes remains. Here, the authors demonstrate that U.S. citizens implicitly associate Blacks and apes. In a series of laboratory studies, the authors reveal how this association influences study participants' basic cognitive processes and significantly alters their judgments in criminal justice contexts. Specifically, this Black-ape association alters visual perception and attention, and it increases endorsement of violence against Black suspects. In an archival study of actual criminal cases, the authors show that news articles written about Blacks who are convicted of capital crimes are more likely to contain ape-relevant language than news articles written about White convicts. Moreover, those who are implicitly portrayed as more apelike in these articles are more likely to be executed by the state than those who are not. The authors argue that examining the subtle persistence of specific historical representations such as these may not only enhance contemporary research on dehumanization, stereotyping, and implicit processes but also highlight common forms of discrimination that previously have gone unrecognized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit learning of higher order sequences in middle age.

Previous studies have demonstrated age-related implicit learning of higher order sequences in coparisons of college-age and elderly adults (e.g., J. H. Howard & D. V. Howard, 1997). This study examined whether these age deficits begin in middle age. Results showed a reliable age-related deficit in pattern sensitivity in "older" compared with "younger" middle-aged people, and age reliably predicted sensitivity to the sequence by using both speed and accuracy measures. The results are consistent with an age-related decline in a generic cognitive resource as reflected in T. A. Salthouse's (1996) simultaneity mechanism of cognitive aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of manual-based training on treatment fidelity and outcome: A review of the literature on adult individual psychotherapy.

The authors examine training issues related to the use of treatment manuals in psychotherapy outcome research. In particular, they examine methodological considerations such as the operationalization of manual-based training, trainer effects, therapist variables that mediate training, issues related to experimental design, and the choice and definition of appropriate dependent variables. The research literature indicates that manual-based training can produce technical adherence. Improvements in treatment competence were seen within, as opposed to across, cases. Researchers have been unable to draw strong links between treatment fidelity and patient outcomes. The review concludes that the limited focus on training studies in the manual-based treatment field compromises conclusions drawn from psychotherapy outcome research that relies on manuals to ensure a uniform delivery of the experimental variable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

基于集对分析的培训效果综合评价

企业把效益的最大化作为经营管理的首要目标。培训效果的评估则是为度量培训的价值提供依据。借助集对分析,建立培训效果综合评价的新方法—“优、良、中、差”评价模型,运用模型定量处理培训效果问卷调查,为培训评估提供分析结果,具有操作简便、结论直观等特点。     

提高水电职业院校毕业生就业竞争力初探

如何增强毕业生竞争力，提高就业率是每所学校无法回避和必须长期研究解决的一个重要课题和任务。结合多年教育工作经验，指出要增强高职高专毕业生竞争力，就必须转变教育观念，以就业为导向，深化教学改革，加强校企合作，加强学生综合素质培养和就业指导。     

小浪底水库拦沙运用期大洪水对温孟滩移民安置区河段影响的试验研究

小浪底水库移民安置区温孟滩河段河道整治模型试验研究结果表明，在水库拦沙运用期冲刷严重的初始河道地形条件下遭遇大洪水后，河势变化不大，河道整治工程对大洪水是基本适应的，但存在个别工程入流过死，局部冲深大和送溜不力等情况。由于前期河床已冲刷下切，河槽泄洪能力大大增加，洪峰期（Ｑ＝１００００ｍ３／ｓ）基本未出现明显漫滩。本文对局部冲刷的基本规律也作了探讨。     

Evidence-based parent and family interventions in school psychology: A commentary.

Do the authors provide us with convincing evidence that parent and family interventions change children's behavior and learning at school? The answer is not a simple or straightforward one. First off, there appears to be more support for interventions that are part of a multi-component program, that are highly focused in scope, and that entail active collaboration between parents, students, and the schools; hence, more support appears to be available for family/parent consultation and family-school collaboration/partnership programs than for the more unidirectional and limited parent education and parent involvement programs. Second, although 100 studies are examined, it is readily apparent that the studies reported on in the various reviews are characterized by numerous methodological shortcomings that compromise their scientific integrity and the conclusions we can safely draw from them. Third, it is evident that nearly all of the efficacious treatments are behavior or cognitive-behavioral ones. Fourth and finally, it will be important to begin to identify the students, families, and schools that are most likely to benefit from the various interventions and to examine the specific mechanisms of change in each of the proposed interventions. In sum, it seems safe to conclude that evidentiary support for the effectiveness of parent and family interventions in school psychology is mixed at best. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

城市河道渠化方案探讨--以兰州市黄河段为例

以兰州市为例研究黄河兰州段河道渠化整治方案与泄洪等的关系。在对河道地形、河相关系，造床流量及河床演变规律分析的基础上，提出了切实可行的整治宽度240m，泄洪宽度300m及相关建议，并进行了物理模型试验和数值计算，实验与计算基本吻合，该方案的实施不但可满足泄洪的要求而且并未引起水位，流速及河床断面地形较大幅度的变化。